Average NBA honors its most average player

When the news came out last week that NBA commissioner David Stern was considering contraction for the league, I cannot say I was opposed. It is easy to sit back and say, "It's not like it was back in the day,"  about a lot of things. Perhaps it is unfair to say that when talking about the NBA, but to me it just doesn't seem like the same hard-nosed, competitive game it was 15-20 years ago.

Contracting a couple — or four — teams would not be a bad idea to perhaps bring some competitive balance to a league that just began its season but already seems destined to have one of three teams in the Eastern Conference (Boston, Miami or Orlando) go up against the only legitimate team in the West in the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals. It's not a good thing when you're in week 2 of a season and there's a good chance the other 26 teams in the league are already playing out the string.

The league seems average, which is the word that prompted this blog today. When scouring the Web, I came across a league-issued news item.

"Mr. Wright is Mr. Average" the headline read. So it seemed funny to me in an average league to read a headline from the league about something average.

Here are the details from the release:

"Sacramento's Antoine Wright has never averaged more than 7.3 points in an NBA season. He's never played more than 26 minutes per contest. He's a career 41-percent shooter. Everything about his play on the court screams average. This year, even his NBA vitals are average, allowing Wright to capture 'Mr. Average' honors for the 2010-11 season, according to this year's roster survey, which is determined based on opening night rosters submitted to the NBA. The breakdown for this year's 'Mr. Average' goes as follows: height (6-7), weight (220), age (26 years, nine months) and experience (4.8 years served). Wright is 6-7, tips the scales at 215, was born on Feb. 6, 1984 (26 years, nine months) and has completed five full seasons in the NBA."

So there you have it — an average league honors the average.

Just struck me as funny to see the release.