Sam Joynt - Contributor

January 18, 2010 by Sam Joynt

I find it important to say that I once loved Vince Carter. Just as anyone who has ever lived and died by their favourite sports team loves their team's star player. It was a love made even more special as his arrival to the Toronto Raptors coincided with my birth...

July 9, 2009 by Sam Joynt

Basketball, like life, is all about those few poignant moments that are miraculously able to overshadow all of the hard work, the sweat and the disappointment otherwise known as our everyday existence. It is the anticipation of such moments that motivates us to get up each morning and to keep...

June 1, 2009 by Sam Joynt

With the finals for each respective conference quickly drawing to a conclusion and the championship round set to begin many diehard fans have been rendered average spectators. Our teams have long been eliminated (many of them from playoff contention months ago), leaving the hope of a championship to only those...

April 29, 2009 by Sam Joynt

In 2001, Atlanta made little known Spanish forward Pau Gasol the No. 3 overall pick in the NBA draft, and following his subsequent trade to the Grizzlies he soon garnered Rookie of the Year honours. Since then, guards Jose Calderon, Juan Carlos Navarro, Sergio Rodriguez, Rudy Fernandez, Raul Lopez, forward...

April 14, 2009 by Sam Joynt

The University of Kentucky boasts the winningest basketball program in the history of the NCAA. The Wildcats all-time percentage of .758 says it all; winning is everything. So, when second year head coach Billy Gillespie was dismissed following a .597 campaign (the worst Wildcat record since Basil Hayden's squad went...

March 24, 2009 by Sam Joynt

The term fairytale implies fallacy; the overcoming of seemingly insurmountable odds en route to the achievement of an improbable victory over a highly favoured opponent. Few times in life does such an achievement come to fruition, with the exception of those rarest of moments where the fabled Goliath falls victim...

March 19, 2009 by Sam Joynt

The 2003-04 season began just like any other, with each of the 30 NBA teams hopeful for a playoff berth. Some were seeking championships, others division titles, and some were just hoping to eclipse the .500 mark. Needless to say, however, everyone wanted a spot in the postseason. Despite the...

March 4, 2009 by Sam Joynt

Speculation continues to swirl around the possibility of LeBron James relocating to New York city in the summer of 2010, and while the prospect of King James moving his throne to the league's largest market is an exciting possibility, the city's treatment of king's passed does nothing to enhance their...

February 24, 2009 by Sam Joynt

Isiah Thomas left quite the mess in New York. A bloated payroll built on a roster comprised of underachievers and unhappy campers, who couldn't even manage to co-exist with a great coach like Larry Brown resulted in a highly dissatisfied fan base in the league's largest market. In the face...

February 17, 2009 by Sam Joynt

Things done changed folks. Pete Babcock's legacy with the Atlanta Hawks and the NBA is unforgettable. Both have occurred since my last column. Life as a general manager in the NBA is difficult to say the least. Any job that relies on performers can be tumultuous, and injuries can often...

February 12, 2009 by Sam Joynt

His game-time introduction echoes through the arena infinitely louder than all of the others. Spectators and opponents alike stop in silence as the announcement of his name and Alma Matter sends a familiar chill down their spines. He bears a strikingly undeniable resemblance to the man whose name he shares...

February 3, 2009 by Sam Joynt

The Oklahoma City Thunder have one of the worst records in the NBA. They allow their opposition to score 103 points per game, while only scoring 97 themselves, and they've only won 11 of their first 48 contests to start the season. Still, with a talented young core in place...

January 27, 2009 by Sam Joynt

If you happened to glance over the Memphis Grizzlies' roster heading into this season you may or may not have been surprised to find Antoine Walker's name penciled in amongst the plethora of young talent assembled in Tennessee. To the untrained eye, his addition to the team was undertaken simply...

January 20, 2009 by Sam Joynt

There are few constant truths in the world of professional sports. No one stays at the top forever, and no formula guarantees success every time. All that is certain is that one way or another you have to give up something of potential value in order to...

January 13, 2009 by Sam Joynt

Over the past two months I have made cases for the players which I believe deserve to represent their franchises in February's talent showcase in Phoenix. My selections have been based on both speculation and merit, and as such have been accompanied by statistical analysis, popularity considerations...

January 6, 2009 by Sam Joynt

The major schools didn't recruit him. He was too small, too skinny, and looked too much like a twelve year old. Mid-major Davidson University took a chance, and the rest, as they say is history. In just over two short years with the Wildcats, Stephen Curry has become the school's...

December 30, 2008 by Sam Joynt

Losing your star player to injury for the first half of the season can cause some major problems. Losing your team leader and point guard to free agency can cause even more. When two of your other starters demand a trade (one's already been dealt) problems seem to arise everywhere, unless...

December 23, 2008 by Sam Joynt

How quickly things have changed for Kevin Garnett. Just two years removed from the consistent struggles that overshadowed his personal brilliance in Minnesota, KG is now the proud owner of a championship ring, and in pursuit of another in record fashion. With December underway, the Boston Celtics are in the...

December 17, 2008 by Sam Joynt

Things done changed folks. In most jobs, status doesn't alter from month to month, the corporate executives stay in the office and those in the mail room, well, they stay in the mailroom. The NBA's a little different. Players can rise from obscurity to...

December 9, 2008 by Sam Joynt

How, in a sport so contingent on one and done talent, where the longest a player can remain eligible to compete is five years, do the same teams remain amongst the top ranked squads every year? Look no further than the University of North Carolina for the answer. The unanimously...

December 2, 2008 by Sam Joynt

This past summer a new trend emerged amongst the NBA's annual crop of free agent talent. Led by formidable Atlanta sixth man Josh Childress, a number of players opted to take their games overseas in exchange for lucrative contracts, the perception of enhanced playing time and, by extension, more vital...

November 25, 2008 by Sam Joynt

Who is Anthony Morrow? Well, prior to November 15th he was an undrafted rookie by Golden State averaging an unspectacular 7.7 points for the guard depleted Warriors in about 13 minutes of burn per contest.The 6'5" Georgia Tech product averaged 14.3 points and 4.1 boards in his senior campaign...

November 17, 2008 by Sam Joynt

Yes, I know it's only mid-November, but the NBA just recently released the ballot for the 2009 edition of its annual talent showcase and it got me thinking about who would be selected if the votes were counted today. As far as starting players go, it has always been more...

November 11, 2008 by Sam Joynt

Maybe you've heard of him, and maybe you haven't, but if you've familiarized yourself with the AAU circuit, watched any high school all-star games lately or opened an issue of SLAM in the past four or five years then chances are pretty good that the name Lance Stephenson rings a...

November 4, 2008 by Sam Joynt

Like many general managers in the association Joe Dumars is no stranger to controversy. The difference between Dumars however has been his ability to thrive on this controversy, to prove the critics wrong and above all, to win. Dating back to his playing days, Dumars has been engulfed by controversy...

October 28, 2008 by Sam Joynt

Len Bias had that swagger, you know what I'm talking about, like the Fab Five, like Jordan, that no-nonsense, I can do what I want, dress how I want, and be what I wanna be, because I am that good kind of swagger. The kind of shit you can't teach...

October 21, 2008 by Sam Joynt

To the untrained eye, the annual McDonald's All-American game is just another in the long list of high school all-star games, but to the rest of us it's a preview; a glimpse at the future of professional basketball, and perhaps no class has been more indicative of this foresight than...

October 3, 2008 by Sam Joynt

It was the year 2000. The location was Sydney, Australia. Gold was the prize. The story of these Olympics Games is different than most however. It doesn't revolve around medal counts, world records or national supremacy. The story of these games follows two basketball players. The first player was a...

September 28, 2008 by Sam Joynt

They are fast, strong and athletic. They play above the rim in traffic, own passing lanes and can dominant with their backs to the basket, and although they may not look like John Stockton, make no mistake, these players are point guards in the truest sense. With the drafting of......