Updated: January 2, 2004, 1:40 AM ET

The year that wasn't

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Aldridge By David Aldridge
Special to ESPN.com
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You know what I hate about the NBA?

Nothing ever changes.

Every year, the same people in the same places, doing the same things. That's why recapping the year always seems so futile. What's different now than 12 months ago? The old coaches never leave, nobody new ever gets a shot, there are never any trades, the same teams that stunk a year ago stink now. But I'm a pro, so we'll slog through the previous 12 months and show you how little anything ever changes in this league.

  • January 1, 2003. Conventional Wisdom Set in Stone: Michael Jordan will run the Wizards well into the next decade. First, he'll get them into the playoffs -- where they could make the conference finals -- and then he'll return to the front office. There have been a couple of bumps in the road, but when Jordan goes back upstairs, he and Doug Collins will continue to push Washington to annual postseason appearances.

  • February 1, 2003. CWSIS: Ray Allen is a Buck for life. He's a favorite of owner Herb Kohl, and he's a perfect fit for the more laid-back Milwaukee lifestyle. Fans love him -- he's always been the most popular of the Big Three. And who would take him, with that big contract he has? He has his problems with George Karl, but neither of them are going anywhere.

  • March 1, 2003. CWSIS: Allen Iverson will never make the Olympic team. How could he and Larry Brown coexist? They can't stand each other. And Iverson is way too selfish to play the international style. He'd never be willing to give up an entire summer for a medal. Why, Iverson will never be a leader on the Sixers!

  • April 1, 2003. CWSIS: Doc Rivers is the man in Orlando. What a coaching job, integrating Drew Gooden and Gordan Giricek so quickly into the lineup after getting them from Memphis? Sure, it meant trading Mike Miller -- Tracy McGrady's best friend on the squad -- but the Magic are in the playoffs and they match up pretty well with the Pistons. T-Mac is good for three wins by himself.

  • May 1, 2003. CWSIS: Rick Carlisle will coach the Pistons until he's 60. What a perfect match of hard-nosed leadership with a tough-minded team! He's won 50 games two seasons in a row, won the Central Division this year, got to the Eastern Conference finals. What's not to like? He keeps to himself, but coaches aren't hired for their personalities; they're hired to win games.

  • June 1, 2003. CWSIS: The Lakers are in big trouble. They won't be able to add any significant free agents as long as they have Kobe and Shaq. What good player would take millions less in this era of free agency, even to have a shot at a ring with the league's two most dominant players? You're going to tell me that somebody would take a million dollars in L.A. when they could get $20 million someplace else? Never gonna happen.

    Gary Payton, Mitch Kupchak and Karl Malone
    Christmas came early for Mitch Kupchak, center, with the signings of Gary Payton, left, and Karl Malone, right.
  • July 1, 2003. CWSIS: Kobe Bryant is the face of the NBA. Nobody can identify with Shaq, McGrady plays in a small market, KG never gets out of the first round, and this LeBron kid is too young. Kobe's got the team, the pedigree, the commercials. With Jordan retiring as a player, the torch is officially passed. The guy speaks fluent Italian! Kobe's image is so clean-cut; who else would the Commish want representing his league?

  • August 1, 2003. CWSIS: The Nuggets will never be able to sign quality free agents. Yeah, they have all this cap room, but they're coming off a 17-65 season. They need a point guard desperately to get the ball to Carmelo Anthony, but nobody wants to be the first guy in on a reclamation job. It's going to be another long season for Kiki Vandeweghe and Jeff Bzdelik.

  • September 1, 2003. CWSIS: The Nets will be the class of the Eastern Conference. They kept Jason Kidd away from the Spurs and they added Alonzo Mourning! Sure, Kenyon Martin didn't get a new deal, but that will get worked out. They have stable ownership and management, and they'll get a new arena in Jersey soon enough. Mourning's kidney disease is under control. What could go wrong?

  • October 1, 2003. CWSIS: Pat Riley will coach in Miami until the job's done. He hasn't sounded this excited in years. He was finally able to get a free agent to sign on the dotted line, giving Lamar Odom his word that they were in this together. The Heat have stunk for years, but there's finally light at the end of the tunnel: Odom, rookie Dwyane Wade and Caron Butler. Miami has some young talent to go with Eddie Jones and Brian Grant, and Riles is ready to throw them out there and let 'em play.

  • November 1, 2003. CWSIS: The Jazz and Bucks are going to be awful. Utah lost two Hall of Famers. You don't recover from that. Yeah, Jerry Sloan is a good coach, but he can't make chicken salad out of Carlos Arroyo. Who's going to score? And how is first-time coach Terry Porter going to win in Milwaukee with a 5-foot-10 rookie point guard and no proven big men up front? Can't see the two teams winning 40 games combined.

  • December 1, 2003. CWSIS: Scott Layden isn't going anywhere. Layden has ingratiated himself to the Garden hierarchy with his fierce loyalty to Don Chaney and his obstinance with the New York media. And James Dolan likes guys that don't talk to the press. Plus, Dolan knows that Layden has been unfairly blamed for things that he, Dolan, wanted done -- like trading Latrell Sprewell.

    See? This league is so boring.

    The Aldridge Awards

    And now, for some hardware ...

  • Team of the Year: San Antonio Spurs.

  • Player of the Year: Tim Duncan.

  • Coach of the Year: Jerry Sloan, who advanced to the playoffs again with a team led by two 40-year-olds, then came back three months later with a totally different team ... and kept right on winning.

  • Rookies of the Year: LeBron James, Yao Ming and Amare Stoudemire. Stoudemire ultimately got the hardware for the '02-03 season, based on his sensational inside play in helping Phoenix back to the playoffs. He showed strong leadership for a kid who didn't have much guidance coming out of Florida. Yao came from another country, and another culture, and another language, who had the hopes and dreams of a billion people placed on his shoulders, not to mention the expectations of being the first pick in the draft. Bron Bron didn't have a billion people looking at him, but he was expected to sell a billion or so pairs of shoes. And get the Cavaliers to the playoffs. And save the league.

  • Veteran of the Year: David Robinson, who closed out his career by ably being Duncan's second in San Antonio. By the end, D-Rob couldn't do much at the offensive end -- not with that back -- but he could still Spaulding weak stuff into the second row. He set the no-nonsense, professional tone that has been the hallmark of the Spurs since ... well since he got there from the Naval Academy in 1989.

    Maurice Cheeks and Natalie Gilbert
    Maurice Cheeks, left, had the assist of the year in helping Natalie Gilbert finish the national anthem.
  • Moment of the Year: Before Game 3 of the first-round series between Dallas and Portland, 13-year-old Natalie Gilbert came to midcourt at the Rose Garden to sing the National Anthem. She got about 15 seconds into it when it became obvious that she had forgotten her place, or got a case of the nerves, or whatever. The words weren't coming out of her mouth. The 20,000 or so in attendance began to murmur. Poor kid. And then the most amazing thing happened. Blazers coach Maurice Cheeks walked over, put an arm around Natalie, bent over the microphone and led Natalie and everyone else in a slightly off-key rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner." Within 30 seconds, Mo, Natalie and everyone else was singing in unison, with a lump in their throat. I know. I was there. Singing. All lumped up.

  • Comeback of the Year I: Hubie Brown, ancient, 69-year-old Hubie Brown, is pulled out of mothballs by Jerry West and named coach of the Grizzlies in November, 2002, after Memphis gets off to an 0-8 start. Most everyone thinks the Logo has lost his mind. Hubie's not even pontificating on TV anymore. But Brown still has it. He gets Jason Williams to play under control, gets the Grizzlies to buy into defense, and makes Memphis into a playoff contender.

  • Comeback of the Year II: Suns, down 29 in the first half, rally and beat the Celtics in Boston on Dec. 5, after losing Stoudemire to a badly sprained ankle. But it's not enough to save Frank Johnson's job; he's cashiered a week later.

  • Disappointment of the Year: When isn't it the Blazers?

  • Surprise of the Year: Donald Sterling actually opened his wallet and spent some of his money. He gave Mike Dunleavy more than $2 million a year to coach, and he re-signed Elton Brand and Corey Maggette. True, other teams had to set the parameters with offer sheets, but hey, you've got to start somewhere.

    Jeannie Buss
    Jeanie Buss might have the influence to lure Phil Jackson back to coach the Lakers.
  • Save of the Year: The girlfriend insists that her boyfriend go see a doctor when he complains of strong chest pains. Her boyfriend is very busy with work and doesn't want to go. She insists, again, and he goes. Doctors discover a 90-percent blockage in his left anterior descending artery and perform a two-hour angioplastic procedure, saving him from an almost certain massive heart attack. The boyfriend, Phil Jackson, is grateful. As is Jeanie Buss, the girlfriend and the Lakers' executive vice president of operations.

    So, it's been a busy 12 months. Which means this last week of the year should be a time of rest, contemplation and rejuvenation with family and friends. Here's hoping you had a wonderful holiday season, and join me in my annual holidays wishes.

    Happy ones to the Commish, Big Russ and Mr. Silver; Billy Hunter, Klempner, Biagas.

    McIntyre, Washington, Frank, Broussard, Grumet, Jean.

    Carelli, Gourdine, Harris, Jones.

    Bron Bron, Melo, Bosh and the best rookie class in years.

    'Zo and Grant.

    KG, GP, TD; AI, BD; T-Mac, C-Webb, J-Will; J-Kidd, J-Rich.

    Linton Johnson, Jon Stefansson, Josh Moore, Alex Garcia, Ben Handlogten.

    Stevie Franchise, Diesel, Air Canada, Dirk Diggler, AK 47, The Matrix, Spree, Starchild.

    The Van Gundy Brothers.

    The Barry Brothers.

    Tony Brothers.

    Matt Carroll, Mark Pope, Luke Walton, John Salmons.

    Reggie Miller, Andre Miller, Mike Miller, Brad Miller, Oliver Miller.

    Sean Marks, George Lynch, Roger Mason, Tim Thomas, Paul Pierce.

    Vin Baker, Brian Cook, Mitchell Butler.

    Jonathan Bender, Carlos Boozer, Antoine Walker, Jarron Collins, Antonio Daniels.

    Eddy Curry, Darvin Ham, Glen Rice.

    Baron Davis, Brevin Knight, Raja Bell, Marquis Daniels.

    Rodney White, Devin Brown, Willie Green, Michael Redd, Brian Cardinal.

    Abdur-Rahim, Boumtje-Boumtje, Christie, Dunleavy, Ely, Finley, Gugliotta, Hughes, Ilgauskas, Jefferson, Kittles, Lopez, Maggette, Nene, Okur, Posey, Quentin (Richardson), Radmanovic, Snow, Tinsley, Udonis (Haslem), Voskuhl, Wesley, Yao, Zhizhi.

    Walsh, Dumars, Colangelo, West, McHale, Petrie, Grunfeld, King, Buford, Bass.

    Brown, Carlisle, Silas, Jackson, Nellie, Saunders, Sloan.

    Crawford, Stafford, Delaney, Javie, Kersey.

    LT. Gimme some "Worthy" and "Laker Girls."

    Natalie, who thought I wouldn't remember, and her dog.

    Benner, Gregg, Glass, Fie, Hanson (no, I'm talking about the other one), Hanson (yes, you), Hanson (and you, too), Frascona, Triche.

    D'Alessandro, May, Bulpett, Sefko, McNeal, Banks, Spears, Montieth, Brown, Turner, Beck, Ding, Tillery, Aschburner, Jasner, Ludden, Wyche.

    Everyone at the Worldwide Leader that makes my job so easy. And so much fun.

    (Joke of the Year: What goes clop, clop, clop, bang, bang, bang, clop, clop, clop? Amish Drive-by. Courtesy of Carroll Dawson, Rockets GM.)

    David Aldridge, who covers the NBA for ESPN, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. Also, click here to send a question for possible use on ESPNEWS.

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