[Shaun Livingston shows no fear going against the JaVale McGee tree.]

[Livingston ended up missing the tough shot ... but man, he and McGee are some lengthy dudes.]

Along with “no cheering in the press box”, and “no soliciting autographs from the players”, one of the rules of game-attending media says that we aren’t supposed to openly root for players. We are supposed to be as objective as possible so we can freely vacillate between criticism and praise, without worrying about offending our own sensibilities.

In three years covering the NBA, I think I’ve done a stellar job of obeying all of these rules.  I’ve slipped up a few times and pumped my fist, but I catch myself before anyone can see me.  I’ve  praised and criticized players and coaches (most recently Flip Saunders) with a clear conscience, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. And lest we forget, basketball writers tend to be basketball fans too.

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[Ed. Note: I'm going to warn you. Rashad is about to divulge himself as a Philadelphia Eagles fan. Please, do not be outraged. I already knew this and it is okay. He's a fine young man (who's older than me) and you should not hold his fandom of a certain team about 140 miles north against him. Now Mr. Mobley is going to explain why the Bobcats are worth checking out, aside from wondering if Gerald Wallace is going to injure yet another Wizard. -Kyle W.]

I have been a Philadelphia Eagles fan since 1985 when I saw Randall Cunningham running and passing his way to superstardom.   And although they have just one Super Bowl appearance and no titles during my 25 years of  loyalty, my allegiance remains strong.

Unfortunately,  since sports is mostly about business and not fan loyalty, some of my favorite players have left the Eagles via trade, free agency or waivers.  Randall Cunningham retired as an Eagle and then unretired and played for Minnesota; Reggie White left for Green Bay via free agency; Terrell Owens was released and then he signed with Dallas; and just this past summer, Donovan McNabb was traded to the Washington Redskins.

{Antawn looks confused about Cleveland}

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Ira Winderman of the Miami Sun-Sentinel is reporting that Juwan Howard is close to signing with the Miami Heat (H/T to Slam). Finally, after all these years, Juwan will be playing for Pat Riley and the Heat. When the agreement goes through, as pointed out by Winderman, it will mark almost 14 years to the day when Howard signed a $100-plus million contract with Miami, which was later voided by the NBA, granting Howard a return to the Washington Bullets.

I wrote extensively about Howard’s tumultuous tenure in Washington (and 1996 flirtation with Miami) back in April. Him going to the Heat now seems kind of weird, an anti-poetic justice (for Washington fans, not so much for Miami fans). And even though Howard’s agent, David Falk, said the “Cold War” between him and the Wizards was over back in mid-June, he’s surely taking some devious satisfaction over the late Abe Pollin’s former franchise that he’s finally ushered Howard to South Beach to win a championship.

And I suppose this also means that the proctologist has finally removed the NBA’s 17-foot pole from Pat Riley’s rear.

A home for Shaun Livingston?

K.C. Johnson of Chicago Breaking Sports is reporting that the Chicago Bulls have had internal discussions about adding Shaun Livingston to their roster to backup Derrick Rose (H/T to Bulls Confidential and @ShamSports).

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{flickr/Rob Inh00d}

I recently took part in a Wizards-related round-table at the DC Pro Sports Report. You should go check out the whole thing, but one question in particular got me pondering … What should the Wizards do with their cap space next season?

[Which, by my calculations, factoring in the salaries of the 1st, 30th and 35th picks, assuming that Quinton Ross takes his player option and that the Wizards do not extend Randy Foye a qualifying offer, will be around $21.4 million. Sham Sports used for salary info.]

Here’s what I wrote:

In a perfect world, the Wizards take their six current players (Arenas, Young, Ross, Thornton, Blatche & McGee), draft Wall, sign Livingston, Howard and Singleton (to around $11-14 million total between the three of them — could be auspicious pricing here), draft a couple promising big men with the 30th and 35th picks (Larry Sanders and Jarvis Varnado anyone?), and sign whomever else for the minimum to fill out the roster.

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I recently received a copy of “The Business of Happiness: 6 Secrets to Extraordinary Success in Life and Work,” by Ted Leonsis, the soon-to-be full owner of the Washington Wizards. I’ve yet to delve into reading, but I get the premise: true success is making money from doing something you enjoy while allowing for yourself and those around you (family, friends and employees/co-workers) to be happy. Doesn’t sound like the easiest task in the world given the constraints of our society today, but that’s why Leonsis wrote the book, to help others understand what he has learned.

“The Business of Happiness” could also apply to the upcoming free-agency of Shaun Livingston. It would certainly make Wizards fans and Flip Saunders happy if Ernie Grunfeld found a way to retain the revitalized guard at a fair price. And it goes unquestioned that Livingston’s basketball presence would also be good for business. But it will ultimately be Shaun’s decision to make, what really matters is his business of happiness.

The guy obviously wants, and needs, to get paid. When you’ve been through a devastating injury like Livingston has, you want some career security, especially when the 24-year old’s athletic skills will continue to diminish with age. But before we get into the balance of playing basketball as a profession and making as much money as possible while putting yourself in a situation to succeed, let’s rewind to look at the player-coach relationship that developed between Livingston and Saunders toward the end of the season.

The Making of a Point Guard Leader

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We’ve seen Shaun Livingston throw down some surprising dunks since he joined the Wizards. I’m not even sure the double-clutch two-hander he threw down against Pau Gasol and the Lakers (posted below) is his best one. No matter how much I now know he is okay, I still cringe every time I see him slip at the end … because of the whole injury thing. I thought Livingston’s dunk against the Jazz was better (also below).

But did you see that shot Livingston hit over Dwight Howard? To put it simply, it was sweet … some Dwyane Wade/Michael Jordan (but taller and skinnier) type stuff. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to become too familiar with Shaun’s game before his devastating knee injury, but I’m glad I’ve got a chance to see his skills as a Wizard since.

Let’s pause for a second to check out that shot over Dwight Howard: [another angle and more after the jump]

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The Wizards lost in typical Wizards fashion on Friday against the Chicago Bulls. Through three quarters, they fought hard against a team with playoff urgency … well, actually, the Bulls never really looked like a playoff team. But still, it wasn’t too shabby for the Wiz to be down just 76-75 after three quarters to a team 14 better in the win column.

Then the fourth quarter came. Before it started, Washington had 19 assists to nine turnovers and out-scored Chicago 40-32 in the paint as well as 19-10 on second chance points.

But in the final period, the Wizards didn’t score until the 8:29 mark when Fabrico Oberto hit a couple free-throws, and only scored two points on a couple free-throws after the 4:26 mark. Overall, Washington only made two field-goals and were out-scored 19-12 by Chicago to close out the game 95-87.

So what was the problem?

Flip Saunders ran the gambit of reasons after the game … the Wizards got tired, the Bulls did a good job of protecting the basket, etc.. But the most damning accusation handed down by the coach is the fact that his team became selfish.

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Flip Saunders took an unusually long amount of time to get to his press conference after Saturday night’s 109-95 loss to Orlando. Wait, strike that, nothing has been “usual” this season, or rather consistent when it comes to how long the coach takes to get from locker room to media room.

It’s just that on Friday after the 105-99 loss to the Hawks, Flip was at his podium seat and ready to answer questions before anyone knew it. The only initial witnesses were cameramen and perhaps one, two at the most, members of the media.

Saturday the healthily attending media waited and waited, humorously speculating on what the coach could be doing. Others, myself included, looked at the box score, calling out numbers of note and then applying the proper reactionary facial expression. All of this is leading to a story about Shaun Livingston, trust me.

When Flip’s presser finally concluded, the media scrambled toward the locker room knowing it could be relatively empty. One of the games few positives, Andray Blatche, was already dressed and talking in the hallway amongst his post-game posse, meaning that pickings could be slim.

What players would be left? Only Al Thornton, JaVale McGee, Alonzo Gee and the two point guards, Randy Foye and Shaun Livingston. Gee didn’t garner any media attention and McGee was able to escape while Thornton was being questioned.

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Shaun Livingston has been through basketball hell, but the point guard just might be the godsend Flip Saunders has been searching the heavens for to lead his team.

The Wizards, as was pretty much expected, lost their third game in as many nights 109-95 to the Orlando Magic on Saturday, but Livingston broke out with his best game (most points with 18 and most assists with eight) since his career-changing knee injury in February 2007 .

Livingston has barely been with the Wizards two weeks and he appears more comfortable running Flip’s offense than anyone else has been all season.

“The biggest thing is he’s got a very high basketball I.Q. He seems to calm everybody down a little bit when he’s on the floor,” said Saunders. “And he’s got great size so when things break down he’s has the ability to back somebody down and get a shot off.”

More and more Saunders is turning to the player in his second consecutive 10-day contract to succeed where Randy Foye and Earl Boykins have fallen short. Down 15-13 to Orlando after a Jameer Nelson free-throw, Livingston took the floor at the 6:30 mark in the first quarter and led the Wizards on a 20-5 run to finish the period. During that time Washington went 9-13 from the field with seven of those baskets being assisted upon while not committing one turnover.

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