Apologies for the season awards posts delay - stuff on the regional is killing me this week. A few links to enjoy:
- Michael Lee has a great look at John Wall's rookie season. Wall tells Lee that the one thing he regrets is coming back too soon from injury, which he did at the time because he "didn't want to disappoint anybody." A must-read. [Washington Post]
- Today's other must-read: Kyle Weidie's look at Jordan Crawford and whether he can reign in his shot selection. The article includes a lot of insight into Crawford by his former Atlanta teammates, including some ironic comments by coach Larry Drew questioning whether a player like Crawford can fit into more of a team setting. As if Atlanta's system is a beacon of team play. [Truth About It]
- Ernie Grunfeld says he hasn't talked to Ted Leonsis about a contract extension. Ernie has one year left on his current deal. [Michael Lee]
- Ernie also joined "The Mike Wise Show" on 106.7 The Fan, during which he said John Wall should have won Rookie of the Year because Blake Griffin "was a rookie last year." [Audio]
- ESPN's David Thorpe thinks the Wizards need to draft Enes Kanter, who could team with JaVale McGee to provide a frontcourt similar to the Carlos Boozer/Joakim Noah one Chicago has. [ESPN Insider]
- Ted Leonsis on the Wizards' rebranding. He seemed annoyed that logos leaked on the Internet. [Washington Times]
- Michael Katz on what the Wizards should do with the NBA Draft now that so many players have pulled out. [SB Nation D.C.]
- Scott Jackson and I talk to Mike about his feature on SB Nation Radio. [Audio]
- More on Ernie's press conference yesterday. [Craig Stouffer]
- Frank Hanrahan's year-end grades for CSN Washington. [Guards, Bigs]
- An ode to Kirk Hinrich, in poetry form. Etan Thomas would be proud [Truth About It]
- JaVale McGee: Name That Tune champion. Add yet another goofy trophy to his collection. [Capital Games]
- Nick Young finished 15th in Most Improved Player voting, getting one second-place vote and two third-place votes. [@craigstouffer]
- An Orlando columnist argues that the Gilbert Arenas contract is worse than the one Grant Hill signed in 2000. Wow. That is harsh. [Mike Bianchi]
- Non-Wizards: I'm doing daily NBA Playoff memes for SBNation.com every weekday. Check out today's edition here. [SBNation.com]