Feeding The Post is a weekly column that is full of a bunch of crap like the author’s meals, only it’s filled with basketball-related and lesser topical items and yields zero calories.

Chris Paul is Well, it seems like all is well in NOLA with reports that Chris Paul had a good meeting with the New Orleans Hornets’ top brass.  What that exactly means, who knows, but the rampant rumors of where CP3 will end up playing ball next season should begin to die.  Of course this is the NBA and the rumors can do like Jason and come back from the dead.  In any case, props must be given to the Hornets for not giving in and exploring trade possibilities with all of the news that Paul wanted to play somewhere else, even coming out with a list of desirable teams.   You have to know that a lot of teams were blowing up new Hornets GM Dell Demps’ phone checking in on CP3, but getting rejected like each Demps hangup was a meaty paw from Mark Eaton.

Still, the whole situation had me peeved last week.  Let’s be honest, this trade demand by Paul and his associates was ludicrous and a lot worse, at the essence, than the LeBron James situation (yes, I’m referencing “The Decision” for the umpteenth millionth time this summer and I feel all kinds of dirty for it).  James was at least a free agent at the time, and challenges to his legacy aside (what does that even mean anymore), he could do what he wanted in regards to which team he would be with for the next several seasons.  It’s just that the execution was wrong and he did his hometown dirtier than me on a container of Popeyes.

In CP3′s case, he has two years left on his contract before he can opt out.  I will give Paul this, he wants to win and no one can hate on that. Who doesn’t like to win, right?  I mean I still block my kid’s shots like Shaq at LSU when we play Nerf basketball and he’s only eight!  But, real talk, don’t the Hornets pay Paul millions of dollars to help that team win?  Yes, they do.  Can I blame him for wanting to jump ship to a better team?  No.  Can his teammates and Hornets fans blame him?  You best believe.  But will any of them have the cojones to call out one of the best players on the planet and one who means a lot to that team and city? …

And this just points out one of the saddest things in sports today.  It’s all about rooting for teams now, which is obviously the base of fandom, but it’s rare to root for individual players anymore because at any moment their jerseys can find their way on the sales rack at your local sporting goods establishment.  Los Angeles is lucky as Kobe Bryant has been and likely will be a Laker his whole career.  Same thing for San Antonio with Tim Duncan, Dallas with Dirk Nowitzki, Boston with Paul Pierce.  But how many more great current players will most likely stay with one team their whole careers?  Off the top of my head I can’t think of anyone.  There are possibilities such as Kevin Durant with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Dwyane Wade with the Miami Heat, but those players still have some time before getting into the latter stages of their respective careers.

That said, there’s no more loyalty in sports.  I know, I have an extraordinary knack for pointing out the obvious.

It’s not just the players’ fault as ownership should bear the blame just as much as anyone. But it stinks and who suffers for it?  The fans.  If you don’t know what I’m talking about, imagine yourself being a Cleveland Cavaliers fan on July 8th during the 9PM ET hour.  Do I need to explain further?  And while I’m in my upper 30s and truly believe that men in my age bracket that wear sports jerseys on the regular are kind of sad (Seriously, wearing a jersey as everyday wear as a man in your 30s is really bad.  Don’t be that guy.), I’d like to buy a basketball jersey, but refuse to.  Why would I invest any money in a player on a specific team, knowing that he could be shipped off for various reasons – salary cap, chemistry problems, disagreements with the GM on the choice of Team Edward or Team Jacob, whatever – and I end up with an out-of-date piece of clothing bearing the name of a current player, but for another team. Thanks to LeBron James shafting his hometown team, as well as the latest rumbling from Chris Paul, it’s not safe to root for a player and buy his jersey lest you waste your hard-earned money.  It might just be bad enough investing time. I’m looking at you, Cleveland.

More Basketball Thoughts

What is up with David Kahn?  As the leader of the Minnesota Timberwolves, he selected Ricky Rubio, Jonny Flynn, Ty Lawson, and Nick Calathes – all point guards – in the 2009 NBA Draft and just traded for Delonte West and Sebastian Telfair, sending away lead guard Ramon Sessions, whom he signed last offseason.  Obviously he doesn’t keep all of the one guards, but what is up with his seeming obsession of point guards?  He treats them like they’re going to be his Jimmy Chitwood.

I think if there is one player’s jersey that could be a huge seller, it’s Jeremy Lin’s.  I know that I complained about putting dough into a player, but there’s a lot of reasons to cop Lin’s jersey if you’re a Golden State Warriors fan.  Sure, we know he’s smart because he went to Harvard, and we get the whole Asian American thing, but this dude is an underdog that overachieves.  For a quarter during Summer League, he went toe-to-toe with top draft pick, John Wall gaining everyone in the gym’s attention.  Lin earned UConn coach Jim Calhoun’s respect when he dropped 30 points on the Huskies this past college season.  But, even more impressive to me, he led his Palo Alto high school team to the California state championship by beating Mater Dei, a perennial nationally ranked high school basketball program.  The kid can straight up ball.  And now he gets to do it with his hometown team, the team he grew up rooting for, the boy is hungry for success, and I’m pretty sure it won’t end up being a LeBron type of thing either.  I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for him.

Oh, and don’t get it twisted.  Part of the reason the Warriors signed Lin was because of the huge Asian population in the Bay Area.  The boy can hoop for sure, but he’ll also be able to put butts in seats.

Hearing that Yao Ming might retire from basketball if his foot doesn’t heal properly is bad news for the NBA and its fans.  Yao is a great player, but unfortunately falls under the “when healthy” category.  As great as he’s been, you know he never reached his full potential due to injury and that would have been a great thing to see, especially considering how much he’s the main draw for Chinese fans of the NBA.  If he retires, how many fans from China will really care about Yi Jianlin?  I would guess two… and one of them is probably one of his parents.

Can we assume that Kevin Durant will be the top overall fantasy basketball draft pick this coming season?  Depending on your league structure, I think so.  However, it would be tough to not draft LeBron James and the potential of double-digit assists from the small forward position, even if his scoring will drop.  Oh, and a shout-out to my boys Nels, Patrick, and Erik over at Give Me The Rock.  Erik paid me with chocolate chip cookies to say that.  If you’d like a shout-out in future columns, sugary treats are a viable currency to me.

Some Non-Basketball Thoughts

I’m a huge sports fan and love the NBA and MLB as a whole.  However, when it comes to the NFL, while I love the league, I only root for one team and can give a crap about any other.  It’s all about the J! E! T! S! JETS! JETS! JETS!  In any case, I see that SI.com has them as their preseason number one team, which scares me.  That’s a lot of pressure and the key for the team will be chemistry.  There’s a ton of talent there, but also a lot of egos.  I obviously hope they keep it together and finally win another Super Bowl because this is as good a chance as any this coming season.  I don’t want to end up being like long-time Boston Red Sox fans that died before 2004.  Just saying.

Matt Garza of the Tampa Bay Rays recently pitched the fifth no-hitter of the 2010 season, adding to the “Year of the Pitcher” sentiment being bandied about.  One of the reasons for this thought is that all of the former steroid users aren’t hitting as well anymore without the PEDs.  However, hitters weren’t the only ones taking steroids, you have to know that pitchers were too.  So, all things being even, if anything, I think this season just goes to show you that good pitching will beat good hitting any time.

I recently gave my wife my top five list of celebrities that I’d be allowed to have relations with and was met with approval for the most part.  Topping the list was Angelina Jolie, followed by (in no particular order) Jessica Alba, Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, and Natalie Portman.  My wife questioned the Portman selection, but being a Star Wars fanboy, I had to choose Padme Amidala!  In any case, my wife is a film snob and after some wrangling, she’ll admit that.  However, she studied film at NYU Film School, so I guess it’s allowed to some degree.  Annoying, but still allowed.  In any case, the reason I mention that is because I like to watch dumb movies and will see them without her sometimes.  Now, I really want to see Salt with the aforementioned Jolie in it, but here’s my conundrum – if I go to see the movie by myself and buy a bucket of popcorn, would it be considered cheating?

This MTV show, “If You Really Knew Me” has me blinking hard the two times it’s been on.  If you don’t know what it’s about, basically it takes place in high schools where the show breaks down the walls of cliques and stereotypes.  And, not to be all John Hughes and stuff, but high school was a really big deal in my life, as I’m sure it was for most people, so I’m really feeling this show.

Speaking of high school, for me, it was the time when action movies were at its peak and actors such as Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, and Julius Carry (SHO’NUFF!!!) ruled the big screen.  Okay, maybe not the latter actor, but I loved The Last Dragon.  Anyway, The Expendables, a movie that stars the aforementioned actors, along with more current action stars, will be coming out later this summer and I obviously can’t wait for it.  Do I think it’ll be a great movie, of course not.  But it should be entertaining as hell.  In any case, if you regularly visit the movie theaters like I do, you probably saw a huge cardboard display of the cast from the movie.  Well, I’m sorry to say that I was a dork and actually took a picture with the cardboard cast of the movie.  I even used Photoshop to add my name to a lesser marquee spot.  Yeah, I know, I’m a loser.  In any case, I thought I would add the picture here for fun and because I don’t mind a laugh at my expense.  Boo to me!

Hip Hop Lyrics of the Week

We sell crack to our own out the back of our homes
We smell the musk at the dusk in the crack of the dawn
We go through episodes too like Attack of the Clones
Work ’til we break our back and you hear the crack of the bone

Name the artist and song and you get a bunch of nothing.

You can find more Dennis Velasco written goodness at Nets Are Scorching and Fanway. For written badness, follow Dennis on Twitter at @dv140.