ESPN the Magazine’s NBA Preview edition hit newsstands today with a very cartoonish-looking Carmelo Anthony gracing the cover. I managed to skip past the picture of four sumo wrestlers and Geico pigs (not an easy thing to do) and dove right into the Eastern Conference and Western Conference rankings.

I’m rarely shocked by anything these days, but the predictions printed in the magazine left me in the same state as when Darth Vader told Luke who his daddy was.

I flipped through the pages fully expecting to see Golden State in that 7-10 range only to find that they hadn’t been listed there. The thought of “Did they forget to add the Warriors entirely?” ran through my head especially when I saw the Hornets ranked 10th and the Kings ranked 12th. I flipped one more page and there the Warriors were, sitting at 13th and a 0% likelihood of making the playoffs.

13th? Obviously the Warriors’ success this season hinges a lot on their health but to say that they’re going to be the third-worst team in the West again with an improved roster doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me.

In no way am I saying that they should have been handed a playoff spot soley based on their offseason moves, but to say that this team won’t improve on their ranking at all from a season ago just seems silly.

Other rankings that stuck out to me:

– Denver finishing 1st in the West

– Timberwolves finishing 3rd in the West

– Lakers finishing 4th in the West

– Hawks finishing 2nd (!!!!!!!!!!) in the East

All was not lost in the purchase of this magazine though. The “LeBron: King of Rings” comic book included with it is both entertaining and hilarious. Any publication that involves a cartoon drawing of a 395-pound Eddy Curry is a winner in my book.

3 Responses

  2. von

    that rankings—let’s take it a challenge.. and lastly, thats why i didnt subscribe with their mag cuz it seems they dont do it right, on Mags….

    • Dan

      with currys ankle problems AGAIN they are probably right about the warriors……..