Been meaning to post this for some time, but the (temporary?) departure of Zydrunas Ilgauskas from the Cleveland Cavaliers now makes it worth mentioning.

How about this for an “all-decade” team: Kobe Bryant and Paul Pierce in the backcourt (I guess Kobe would have to play point), Dirk Nowitzki at the wing, and Tim Duncan and Z down low?

Well, according to The Truth’s blog (yes, he has one!), posted back in December, these five were the only five that have been on the same team for the past ten years. Wow! Not bad.

Z can still be part of this five since his trade to the Wizards doesn’t change the fact that he’s been with the Cavs for over a decade, but it’s a tad different now, this “all-decade” lineup.

Anyways, Pierce writes…

I remember a couple years ago — the summer I signed an extension — I was talking with my mom and my brother about the possibility of going to play in other cities, maybe trying to win somewhere else. It was something that I was always talking about with the people closest to me. And it was crazy because my mom said to me, “You’ve already started building something special over there in Boston.”

I had great friends here, knew the restaurants, the hotels, the club owners. I was really comfortable, you get so used to it. When I moved from Oakland to LA — I think I was 8 or 9 years old — and it was traumatic because I thought I lost everything I knew, all my friends all the relationships I had built. It’s like you’re starting over, and you think about that. 

This one’s a diamond in the rough, so I thought I’d spend a blogpost on it.

Pleasanton native Kevin Laue is 6′10″, just got a Division I NCAA scholarship to play at Manhattan College in NYC, and was born with only one hand.

Here’s one of my favorite quotes from the article…

The demands on Laue’s time are so great that his mother, Jodi Jarnagin, was happy when he lost a fall election for freshman class president at Manhattan.

“He’s a little overwhelmed,” Jarnagin said. “The media thing does not make a difference to him. Affecting people’s lives does.”

…because I know someone else who’s a first at something, commands a lot of media attention, and has a bit of burden on his shoulders.

Here’s another quote I really like…

Coach Fletcher Arritt, who says he has sent more than 200 players to Division I schools in his 40 seasons, said he needed just one look to know Laue was Division I material.

“He catches the ball better than some guys with two hands. And remember, it only takes one hand to block a shot,” Arritt said. “If he had two hands, he wouldn’t have been at Fork Union. He’d have been at Kentucky or North Carolina.”

…because someone saw through the superficial and evaluated him purely from a basketball skill standpoint. More people should have, but that’s the way it goes. Again, sounds like somebody I know.

Here’s the link to the article:

East Bay native plays with one hand, big heart

Now that the Jan 4, 2010 Harvard at Santa Clara event page is up, I feel compelled to tell you why I really, really want you to go with us to see Jeremy Lin make his potential once-in-a-lifetime appearance here in the Bay Area.

From my perspective, time is running short and I can’t spent the next 27 days proofreading and making this plea perfect because for the next 26 days, I need to be out fighting for my cause and referencing this. So if this comes out with flaws, so be it.

Let me say it bluntly:

If you attend the game on 1/4/2010, it is my firm belief that you will help, ever so slightly, Jeremy make it into the NBA.

read more from "I believe YOU can help Jeremy Lin make the NBA, and what it will mean to young Asian-Americans"