Who to Watch (March 8 – March 14)

At the end of the Nuggets-Lakers game, Rajon Rondo was sitting in the crowd, away from his teammates, because he’s Rajon Rondo (Credit: ESPN)

Welcome back to Who to Watch.  Congratulations to LeBron James, who passed Michael Jordan to move up to 4th overall on the all-time scoring list on Wednesday.  He is now 1,333 points away from passing Kobe Bryant for 3rd, 4,618 points points away from passing Karl Malone for 2nd, and 6,077 away from passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for 1st, and with the way he keeps his body in shape, he could be the all-time leading scorer in the NBA before it’s all said and done; too bad he won’t make the playoffs anytime soon (sorry Kerm).  In other news, the Celtics look like they came back to life this week, the Rockets look SCARY good (sitting pretty in the third seed out West), the Trail Blazers are pretty good themselves good (don’t tell Fredy) and Trae Young has been phenomenal.  There are some great playoff races in the NBA, such as the battle for seeds 3 through 5 in the East, the battle for the final three playoff spots in the East taking place between five teams, and the mess in the West for seeds 3 through 8, where only three and a half games separate all teams involved. Oh, and Antonio Brown was a Buffalo Bill for a few hours.

Upcoming we have a match between the Lakers and Celtics tomorrow night, college basketball conference tournaments will kick into high gear, and NFL free agency will begin next Wednesday.  Keep an eye out for all of that!

Here’s who you should be watching over the next week:

Will Pedrioa’s Knee Hold up?

Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

Dustin Pedroia is a player forever etched in Red Sox history. Winning championships in 2007, 2013, and 2018 is a nice resume. Especially when he played big parts in his first two.

Nick covered his accolades in his 2018 post about the 2nd baseman’s future with the team. I’m not going to argue that. From what I read, Cora and the other players appreciate his leadership in the clubhouse. I’m not doubting that. He’s been there longer than anyone, so if anyone deserves loyalty, it would be the guy who embodies a good Red Sox player (Although I am skeptical after that Machado incident). But, is his left knee going to get in the way of him being a regular almost everyday player?

13 Seasons in Sports

Bryce Harper just inked a 13-year, $330 million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, tying him to the franchise through 2031 (Credit: Sports Illustrated)

It finally happened. It took until the last day of February, but Bryce Harper FINALLY chose the team for his future, picking the Philadelphia Phillies.  In what ultimately looked like a competition between Philly, the San Francisco Giants, and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Harper chose the longevity and total dollars that the Phillies were offering.  The bid of the Giants is said to have been at least 12 years and $310 million, while the Dodgers are said to have offered 4 years and $180 million, an absolutely astronomical short-term contract that would have been the highest AAV in MLB history.

Ultimately, 13 years and $330 million, with a no-trade clause and no opt-outs, was the offer the was deemed the best.

The 300 Million Dollar Man

Manny Machado reportedly will sign a 10-year, $300 million contract with the San Diego Padres, the largest contract for a free agent in the history of the Unites States (credit: ESPN)

Manny freaking Machado.

In my junior year U.S. History class, my teacher asked the class what the strongest union in country was.

He suddenly looked over at me; “NIIIICK!?” he asked.

I knew it was sports related (and he knew I knew that), but this was the around the time the NBA had cashed in on a lucrative TV deal that was about to drown everyone in money (see: Timofey Mozgov), so my mind was swayed.

“Basektball…” I said.

He was kind of angry (or sad) I got it wrong; the answer was baseball.

The Greatest Dynasty of All-Time

Tom Brady (#12) and Julian Edelman (#11) celebrating winning Super Bowl LIII (Credit: Doug Mills/The New York Times)

The New England Patriots have now won 6 Super Bowls since 2001.

Simple, concise, a model of success.  In the NFL, there is no other parallel, and if you look closely, although the other four major sports have some worthy challengers, this run takes the cake.