Category: In the News

Oklahoma inmate now regrets asking for sentence matching Bird’s number

Oklahoma inmate Eric Torpy’s favorite player always was Larry Bird.

His allegiance to the iconic Boston Hall of Famer led him to ask a judge to tack on three more years to his original 30-year sentence for armed robbery and two counts of shooting with intent to kill to match Bird’s jersey number in 2005.

The judge obliged and Torpy has spent the last six years in a 10-foot-by-15-foot cell at the Davis Correctional Unit in Holdenville, Okla.

“He said if he was going down, he was going to go down in Larry Bird’s jersey,’’ Oklahoma District Judge Ray Elliott told the Associated Press in 2005. “He was just as happy as he could be.’’

Today, Torpy.

“Now that I have to do that time, yes I do,’’ Torpy told the Boston Globe. “I kind of wished that I had 30 instead of 33. Recently, I’ve wisened up.

“That three is a big deal, you know? Three years matters.’’

Torpy’s body is kind of a shrine to Bird and the Celtics. Put his arms together and the tattoos on his elbows read “33.’’ He also has a small green shamrock tattooed near his eye.

The Globe also reports that Torpy will turn 33 later this year and is not eligible for parole until 2033.

Nike planning to sell KD-inspired backpacks

Kevin Durant soon will become one of the most influential basketball players in the world — if he isn’t there already.  

Nike is planning for that day, too. And they would like to see legions of his fans wearing Kevin Durant backpacks with straps buckled in the front – just like he wears at his post-game press conferences.

The Oklahoman reports that the mammoth shoe company as part of Durant’s KD III line.

Nike isn’t saying what the backpack will look like or its cost. Or even if it will have his initials or some neat swoosh-inspired logo — with his initials or not.

We already have a Kobe Bryant backpack that retails for $90.

But it’s not perceived as being that stylish. Heck, Bryant doesn’t even appear at his post-game press conference wearing one.

Durant, on the other hand, is different.

His appearance at the Thunder’s press conferences makes him look only a couple of long jump shots removed from the student who was wandering “The Drag” in Austin headed to English composition class when he briefly attended Texas only four years ago.

And as for what is in Durant’s backpack?

It’s not really that exciting, according to the Oklahoman.

It usually contains his bible, iPad, headphones, three phones and phone chargers.

“I’m a little lazy,” Durant said, “so I don’t like to carry all that stuff in my hands.”

TP, Ice listed among players in Deadspin’s fantasy one-on-one tourney

 

The NBA once stumbled upon the greatest halftime filler programming in the history of professional sports.

The question I have is why we’ve never seen a reprise of the classic Vitalis One-on-One tournament that was conducted in the 1971-72 and 1972-73 seasons?

Long before “Red on Roundball,” halftime Horse competition or the inane blathering of analysts at halftime, we had honest-to-goodness competition where top players faced off in classic man-to-man competition.

The league offered $50,500 — big money back in those days — so players were intent on the competition. In 1972, Bob Lanier defeated Jo Jo White for the title. There’s a video clip of the competition still available on . Lanier earned $15,000 winning the competition and was presented a suitcase full of $1 bills by Bill Russell for his prize money. If you look closely, you can see Wilt Chamberlain of the Lakers snickering on the bench when Lanier is presented with his bounty.

In the following season, Portland guard Geoff Petrie defeated Seattle forward Barry Clemens for the title.

This competition too often evolved into big players backing smaller opponents into the paint. But if it was done today, the 3-point line would even things up and make the competition interesting.

It would be fun to watch something like this with today’s players, as Deadspin.com writers Drew Magary and Tommy Craggs . They came up with a competition involving active and former players and selected Tony Parker and George Gervin among their participants.

Neither Parker or Gervin received much chance of winning their competition. But it still brought back some good memories of watching Lanier walk away with a suitcase full of $1 bills generated by his basketball talent.

And the best part of all was that it was absolutely legal.