Dr. Balkman... The Chemist

portega1968

El Cacique
Had to laugh at this post by Bill Simmons mocking Kiyaman's favorite Tazmanian:

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7525589/20-questions-part-2

During pregame intros for a Knicks-Suns game at MSG, I noticed Renaldo Balkman had thrown himself into that James Posey-type role for the Knicks: In other words, he's the last guy every starter greets during the intros, and he's the guy who waits at midcourt before the opening tap for one last round of "good luck" hugs and hand slaps. That got me thinking … why does every team suddenly have someone like this? Did James Posey start it? Was it Damon Jones? Was it someone earlier than them? Do teams elect this player or is it more of an unspoken embrace of that role? Does the player elect himself? What if two guys want to play that role? And what should we call this person?

Anyway, Grantland's Rembert Browne and I came up with the perfect name for this job ("The Chemist"); in terms of office chatter, it's reached the point where Grantland's Jay Caspian Kang sends us e-mails from Clipper games like, "Reggie Williams Jackson — F+ performance as OKC's chemist tonight!!!!" From what I've seen, the best two NBA chemists right now are Dr. Balkman and Dr. Nate Robinson; they're like the Bird and Magic of that job. If you think there's a better one, e-mail us or tweet us at twitter.com/nbachemist — we're planning on cranking out an NBA Chemist Power Rankings later this season. And you're right, I'm a little too obsessed with this. At every Clippers home game, I'm muttering to myself, "For God's sake, Mo Williams, just let Reggie Evans be the Chemist! Your heart's not in it! Just let him do it!"


Balkman does not have the highest basketball IQ and is very inconsistent. His best asset was his hustle and if he had a great work ethic he could've probably overachieved to be a decent player off the bench. But, truth is he's a slacker. I cringe at his tweets, such as "pizza for dinner tonight" or a pic of him slouching with his PS3. SMH

Can you imagine still having Nate around as a sidekick to Balkman?
 

platnumn

Benchwarmer
Simmons is a boston tool. But thanks for a brief and semi-entertaining read.

Simmons is actually a good writer. I read a lot of his articles and always enjoy his style of writing. And in this case he does shed light on something I probably never would have noticed anyway. All I seem to notice with Balkman is his hustle and his gigantic schnozz.

But thanks for the lame post.
 

unloopme

Benchwarmer
Simmons is actually a good writer. I read a lot of his articles and always enjoy his style of writing. And in this case he does shed light on something I probably never would have noticed anyway. All I seem to notice with Balkman is his hustle and his gigantic schnozz.

But thanks for the lame post.
Your very welcome. Sorry if offended you, simmons, or your sneaker.
 
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