Issue Date: April 20, 2003
Hoop fever
It's spreading across the land now that we just recovered from March Madness and are amid the high-flying NBA playoffs. As an admitted b-ball junkie, I recently searched the Web for the best places to get my fix.
When you've got it bad, it's not a question of want, but of need. That led me to the most obvious spot: NBA.com. Here you can get pretty much any piece of NBA data imaginable, because the league is the site's sole focus. What are tonight's matchups? Who's got the edge? Did Kobe school T-Mac last time they played, or was it the other way around? NBA.com has a little extra value, because it offers links to official team sites, which have local chatter. That way you can check out what fans of other teams are saying, too.
Because the NBA owns all the rights to its broadcasts, its site is the only place on the Web to get streaming video footage of past games. "We license out the footage to various TV stations, but for the Web we keep it only for our site," says Brenda Spoonemore, who oversees NBA.com. So go here if you want to see a pixilated replay of Yao Ming taking it to Shaq.
Of course, ESPN.com, CBSsportsline.com and even foxsports.com will have stats, player information and recent news that compete with NBA.com. But if you want to know something the league would rather keep benched (like which player is in rehab, or what coach is ready to throw in the towel), jump to insidehoops.com. Here you get "NBA rumors" and "daily shots" pages compiled from press clippings, albeit somewhat tangential at times. On one drive down that lane, I found out that a source close to one current player said the player finally realizes he has an alcohol problem, and that an ex-player owes $50,000 in child support. Sure, it's not pivotal information, but gossipy fans certainly can make use of it.
David Lipschultz
|
