Curt Flood is somewhere smiling upon NBA free agency 2010. A historic, once in a lifetime happening involving a collection of the best players in the game free to sign with any team.  The notable players of course are Lebron “KING” James, Dwayne “FLASH” Wade, Chris “DB4″Bosh, Dirk “Diggler” Nowitzki and Paul “The Truth” Peirce.  Other notable free agents include Carlos “Booz” Boozer, Amare “Stat” Stoudemire and Joe Johnson.

In the above list there’s one name there without a nickname listed. Joe Johnson.  Sure I could’ve put Joe Cool, which he is referred to by some but that doesn’t fit here. I will place the nickname he will forever have from now on.  ORDINARY.

Joe Johnson has an offer on the table from the Atlanta Hawks reportedly worth $20 million for 6 years!!! If he accepts this, which you have to believe he will, his nickname will forever be Ordinary Joe.

When you sign for that type of money, you instantly go from “Joe Johnson is nice” to “Joe Johnson just can’t get it done”.  Your expectation rises when you make that kind of money. No longer will he be a pleasant surprise when you turn a game on and see the Hawks. You expect him to take over games, average 25 pts and be mentioned in the same class of the elite players.  He will now be expected lead his team to titles, take most if not all of the criticsm when the team struggles or doesn’t win. He not only can afford to be a nice player, he will now be judged on how he makes others around him better.

Juwan Howard went through a similar situation when he signed his unreal 7 year $105 million dollar contract. He failed miserably to make the same transformation that Joe will be asked to make.

Will Joe Johnson conquer the pressure and join the elite of the NBA or will he just be Ordinary?

I’ve been a fight fan for as long as I could raise my own dick beaters. I remember as a 10 year old kid listening to the Ali vs. Holmes fight on the radio and being mesmerized by the audible action, as well as, envious of the people lucky enough to be at the fight. I remember a few years later seeing the Livingston Bramble vs. Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini fight on free television and the whole event just captured my imagination. The network did a great job building up the fight with stories and interviews in an attempt to get us in the minds of the combatants. At the time Ray Mancini was a crowd favorite, a title-holder and had been on television numerous times at this point in his career. A son of a fighter, Mancini was a rugged warrior in the mold of Rocky Marciano where pressure, power and endurance were the ingredients he used to cook his opponents. His father was a fighter who was on the path to a world title himself until an injury he suffered while serving his country in World War II left him a shell of his former self. The Mancini story was the stuff Hollywood movies are made of.

Then there was Livingston Bramble, a virtual unknown to everyone outside of boxing circles. He came across as a very determined fighter who said the one phrase that scripted the whole night ahead. When asked why he thought he could beat Mancini, Bramble simply answered, while patting his well chiseled stomach, “His Belly full. My belly empty. I’m Hungry”. After hearing him utter those words with conviction, I knew there was no way Mancini had a chance in this fight. I was proved right after fourteen brutal rounds with both fighters fighting their guts out. Bramble was able to dig a little deeper from the area he patted in the pre-fight interview and took the title from Mancini. Mancini actually earned my respect because the average fighter would’ve quit (or as I like to refer to now as “pulling a Kosta”) under the brutal fire that Bramble was spitting from his hands. Not only did he take it but he dished out much of his own during this classic phone booth fight.

Now fast forward 20 years to the third Antonio Tarver-Roy Jones Jr. fight and we can clearly see how much has changed in boxing. First, to watch this fight I had to part with a half-a-hundred as opposed to the freebie I received 20 years ago. Second, the fight two decades ago was a fifteen round affair instead of the twelve rounders that we witness today. If not for the fifteen rounds, we would not have witnessed some of the greatest rounds in history. Pryor-Arguello I, Hearns-Leonard I and the aforementioned Bramble-Mancini war would all have denied us some true boxing history. I definitely believe we are leaving history on the table by cutting these fights short but that is a topic for another day. The last and most telling difference in the 20 year span may go back to the “His Belly Full” phrase. Many elite fighters today gain financial security while losing the initial hunger that enabled them to chew through the ranks on their way to the title early in their career.

Roy Jones Jr., at this point in his career, embodies this statement more than anyone in boxing. Early on however, there were no “belly full” signs to be seen. Despite being jacked for the gold medal in the Olympics, Roy Jones Jr. was destined for stardom. He came equipped with all the tools that make a great fighter. Roy possessed blinding speed, knockout power, eye-popping defense and a burning desire to show the world he was the best after his Olympic debacle. As expected he mowed through the middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight divisions with mouth-watering results. His first 17 fights were all happy endings as he prematurely evacuated his opponents. Even his first loss was a dominating performance but he was disqualified for hitting Montel Griffin after he had already knocked him down. The only thing that wasn’t tested in Roy Jones Jr. at this point was his heart. Though no fault of his, he had not been tested or faced with any real adversity or as some would say, real competition. This time however, he would have to come back from a loss against someone who many thought gave him one of his toughest fights before being floored and winning by DQ. In true Roy Jones fashion, he annihilated Griffin by first round KO. After the fight, he lets everyone know about his alter ego named “RJ”. He tells us that “RJ” only comes out when challenged and he is a scary dude that is not to be messed with.

We thought we had our answer. On top of all the other skills, he also has heart and can dig deep if necessary. He even seemed to display a hunger that was similar to what Bramble showed 20 years earlier. He can now officially be put on legendary status with fighters like Ali and Leonard right? Wrong!

After blowing out more suspect competition in the light heavyweight division, Jones even moves up to the heavyweight division and captures one of the belts from one of the worst champions of all time, John Ruiz.
He is now on top of the world. He is the only middleweight in the history of boxing to move up in weight and win a heavyweight title. Certainly now he is one of the elite fighters and the Boxing Hall of Fame can get the bust ready? Not so fast.

After not being able to secure a big money fight with the severely declining Mike Tyson, Roy moves back down to light heavyweight to defend his title against Antonio “Magic Man” Tarver. Roy Jones Jr. defeats Tarver on a disputed decision. He showed true heart in this fight after looking drained from coming down in weight after capturing the heavyweight crown. He sucked up whatever he had in the championship rounds and pulled out the victory. In Jones-Tarver II, Tarver KO’s Jones on a Joe Frazieresque left-hook that had Roy looking as if he was slipped a mickey. In boxing, even the great ones can fall victim to a knockout. Now Roy would be forced to give us the definitive answer we had been looking for. He was humiliated by Tarver via the KO and by the “Any Excuses Tonight Roy” comment that Tarver made at the opening instructions referring to Roy blaming the close decision on his weight loss. Roy had to get revenge.

Unfortunately, we would hit a detour on the road to our answer in Roy’s next fight. He would get KO’d by a journeyman named Glen Johnson. Since this fight was supposed to be a tune-up for the third fight with Tarver, this KO was a complete shock. Even more shocking was seeing the great Roy Jones Jr. on the canvas for about 15 minutes in the last rights position.

Now coming off of two knockouts, Roy would step up and fight Tarver for the third time. I was eagerly anticipating Jones-Tarver III. Roy Jones did commentary for both of the Tarver-Johnson fights. It seemed that Roy, in the spirit of Sugar Ray Leonard, had discovered a weakness in an opponent while doing commentary and was ready to exploit it just as Ray Leonard did many times before. Roy was about to join the elite fighters by avenging a loss against a credible opponent while silencing all the critics who claimed he was done in the process. To me this fight had a chance to be Bramble-Mancini I all over again. Roy was hungry to rebuild his legacy and Tarver was now the darling as well as the favorite with the full belly.

We would soon find that money is a much more filling ingredient than desire. Roy would take no chances in the fight and seemed very happy to just survive a third straight KO. Tarver did not appear to be at his best on this night but it was enough to beat Roy decisively and almost KO him again in the late rounds. I don’t think I have ever been more disappointed in a performance since Michael “Pray for Me” Spinks ran for cover against Tyson. At least Spinks had the decency to spare us a petrified performance by checking out early. Diehard Roy fans, myself included, kept with the belief that the scary dude “RJ” would appear using all of his skills and steal victory from the clutches of defeat with 12th round heroics. The only heroic performance he displayed was tricking the public into believing his pre-fight rhetoric where he stated that he was “motivated again”.

Sometimes one can go far and wide when looking for an answer that is jabbing them right in the face. Roy Jones’ comments after the fight said all we need to know when he stated, “It made money, it made sense. How many people do you know of, who are crazy enough to come back after two consecutive knockouts and fight one of the guys that knocked you out. When it comes down to it, this really shows the heart I got.”

With that comment and the fight itself, the answer I was looking for hit me harder than any of the punches Roy landed in the fight. Roy Jones will not join the elite fighters on my list. And if he thought just jumping in the ring with Tarver showed heart, we truly know that “His Belly Full”.

Everyone has been employed where there were a couple of co-workers who were seemingly overpaid with a skill level far below your own.  We get very angry because we often have to pick up the slack to get the job done and don’t get any recognition or extra pay for it. Elite NBA players also have to deal with this problem. Fortunately for them, the whole world watches while they do their job and can judge who deserves the most credit. This is why I came up with the Class of the NBA. We need to separate the meat from the gristle.  Salaries will play no part in my selections. If they did, Brian Grant and his 17 million dollar heist would be in Class A.

We will designate all players into four different classes.

Class A will consist of the true superstars of the NBA. This is rare air that only a few players can breathe.  These are players that will become the face of the franchise for years to come.

Class B will include the great players of the league.  Players you could build a team around but are just below being a true superstar.

Class C is where the majority of your NBA players will reside.  This class will consist of your average NBA player who gets the job done but not someone you would build a team around.

Finally, there is the Class D (which could stand for D-League) player who should not be in the league but for some strange reason has hung around and fed off of players in the other classes for years. These players, because of guaranteed contracts, stick to NBA rosters like rats in a glue trap. You are not allowed to discard this rat but passing it around to other teams is acceptable until the contract expires.

Before we get started, I will mention that I will not waste time putting every NBA player in a category.  I will put many but would like your feedback on the players on my list or if you would like to classify a player not on my list.

CLASS A

• Kobe Bryant – One of the greatest players in the history of the NBA with time to build on his legacy.  No one has come closer to mimicking Jordan’s skills and some would say is better than Jordan at this point in his career. (I am not one of those.). Scares the life out of opponents at the end of close games. The best closer in the business.  Will snitch on you if it helps his cause.
• Lebron James – His playoff performance was the stuff of legends. Has a chance to re-write history with his freakish skills.  A blend of Jordan, Doctor J and Dominic Wilkins.  Some serious ingredients to fry his opponents.  Will have the pressure of the entire league on his back.  Needs to do a better job of eliminating the visibility and audibility of his mother.
• Dwayne Wade – Has proven that he can take a team on his back all the way to the title.  With that team, there was an occasional very large piece of luggage that he had to carry.  Speed to get around anyone and the strength to finish in the lane. Gets better with the game on the line. Probably the best all-around player in the league. May need to look at tapes of Kevin Johnson to see that spending most of the game on the floor could shorten your career.
• Kevin Garnet – Awesome player willing to do everything it takes to win.  Could average 30 points a game if he wanted but sacrifices his game for the good of the team.  Outside of Iverson and Arenas, the best motor in the game. A monster stat filler. Hopefully he can “Sprewell” some sense into his GM to get him some help.
• Tim Duncan – Not the prettiest game around but one of the most effective.  Unstoppable in the paint and has been known to demoralize opponents with his ease of scoring over them.  Lets not forget the equally demoralizing bank shots that he seems to hit from anywhere on the floor. He wakes up in the morning with a double-double but looking at him and his game can put you to sleep.
• Allen Iverson – Pound for pound the best player in the NBA.  Can dominate a game like no player before him at his size.  Sacrifices his body by regularly driving amongst the trees and scoring in traffic. Fastest player with the dribble but remains under control. Fearless competitor and can change the game on both sides of the floor. If his jumper is falling, scoring fifty is like a walk in the park.  Needs a new hobby in order to stay out of hip-hop studios.

CLASS B

• Tracy McGrady(Honorable Mention for Class A) – If not for his injuries and his willingness to settle for jump shots, he would definitely be in the first class.  When healthy and determined to take over a game, his skills are on par with anybody. Breathtaking to watch when he is in the zone.  If he spends any more time on the injured list, I think Cottonelle will have their new spokesman.
• Shaquille Oneal – Would be in Class A if not for his many “when he is” declarations.  When he is healthy, when he is motivated and when he is in shape.  Also a liability late in games with his awful free-throw shooting.  If all of his “when he is” stars are aligned, one of the most disruptive forces in sports.  Nothing more amusing than seeing people bounce off Shaq after he dips his shoulder into them on the way to a rim-rattling dunk.  Someone needs to tell Shaq that he’s not young invincible Shaq anymore.  Fat old Shaq is a lot less menacing.
• Dirk Nowitzki – One of the deadliest shooters in the league and stepped his game up to a new level this postseason.  Even drove to the hole more in the postseason to take advantage of the fact that he always has a match-up advantage because of his size and range. Definitely a franchise player.  Not Class A player because of his inability to guard a Beverly Hills 7-11 with 2 guns.  Horrible footwork and pulled a disappearing act in the finals. Hard for a defender to guard a guy that looks like their wife.
• Vince Carter – Probably has the most raw talent in the league.  I would put his vertical leap up against anybody.  Can score in bunches and can do it all offensively. Has the demeanor and facial expressions of a spoiled little girl.  Since coming to New Jersey and playing with J-Kidd, he has been like Half-Man Half-Amazing instead of Half-Woman One-third-Amazing. Would’ve got the comeback player of the year award if not for the fact that he came back from quitting on the Raptors.
• Gilbert Arenas – Very skilled, hungry and passionate player. Improves a part of his game every year and you can see that he genuinely respects his craft. Can go to the basket with both hands with ease. Very quick player whose jump shot is becoming deadlier and deadlier. He works very hard on defense but still can’t guard any other point guard in the league. His pull-up 20 footers on a 4 on 1 break can leave you scratching your head.
• Ray Allen – One of the sweetest strokes in the league. He played Jesus in a movie. That would count for something until you remember it was a Spike Lee movie where anything can happen from Malcolm X gliding down the street to Wesley Snipes standing in the middle of the street screaming “no” at the top of his lungs for 5 minutes to end the movie.
• Steve Nash – Fun player to watch (minus him primping his hair all game). Runs a team about a well as any guard in the game and makes everyone around him better. Has a nearly automatic jumper and can make an accurate pass from anywhere on the court.  I skipped defense since he does too.  Players may lack incentive to steal the ball from him because it’s wet from him licking his hands 500 times a game.
• Amare Stoudemire – On Lebron’s level as far as freakish ability is concerned. Averaged 26 points per game on just raw ability alone.  If not for the injury, could’ve threatened for Class A entry.  If he comes all the way back from injury and his mid range jump shot improves, he could be unstoppable. No one in the league can match his speed, size and power.  Will eventually have to learn more post moves.  Should include wardrobe rehab with his knee rehab.  I didn’t know he could still fit his junior high school suits
• Elton Brand – Very underrated player that can dominate the game on both ends of the floor. Can very quietly score 30 points without anybody noticing.  His mid-range game has become deadly. With his wingspan, he will have to watch his knuckles while he walks.
• Paul Pierce – Fearless baller. Above average skills to go along with a killer instinct. Can drain the jumper and knife (probably not the best term) through traffic with the best of them. Can fill a stat sheet but needs to improve his shooting percentage. Has appeared to mature this past year to become a leader. Maybe Ainge can get him something to lead.
• Jermaine O’neal – Very well-rounded game.  Nothing spectacular but solid.  Has continued to improve his game and may have reached his ceiling.  Awesome low post game but not the size to truly dominate inside against bigger competition.  If the NBA doesn’t work out, maybe he has the skills to settle the heavyweight championship mess as witnessed by his sliding marvel comics type right hand he landed on the Detroit fan in the brawl.
• Chris Paul – The point guard of the future. Has already shown an ability to take charge of a team. Lightening fast guard with sick handle that can get anywhere he needs to get on the floor.  Hopefully he doesn’t go the way of Chris Jackson aka Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf. I had the same things to say about him.
• Dwight Howard – A man child with the body of a 30 year old.  Very active and can bang with anybody outside.  Limited game around the basket at this point but makes up for it with energy and aggressiveness.  Just needs to stop reminding me of David Robinson with that ice cream softy smile on his face.
• Carmelo Anthony – After a sub-par sophomore season for him, he quietly became a dominant player last year.  Is a cold-blooded scorer. Can score from anywhere on the court. Has a devastating low post game that has become unstoppable. Was invisible in the first round playoff loss to the Clippers.  A word of advice: It might be time to start keeping it a little less real.

CLASS C

• Jason Kidd – His best days are behind him but still on of the best point guards in the game.  Still has the ability to make people around them better.  He forces his will on his teammates who have no choice but to play harder.  Should be credited for breathing life back into Vince Carter.  Has me thinking of hiring the DC sniper to stop him from blowing kisses at the free-throw line.
• Michael Redd – Very solid play with a deadly outside game and has developed the ability to take people of the dribble. Plays with passion but still too one dimensional to join the other classes.  The fact that he looks like Kanye West is also held against him.
• Mike Bibby – One of the most underrated point guards in the game. Being in Sacramento has probably hurt him as far as exposure. Showed his true worth during the Kings playoff runs by carrying supposed superstars Peja Stojakovic and Chris Webber.  Would just like to suggest that he forget his sun block and chill on the beach for about 10 days straight.
• Chris Bosh – Shut the mouth of many critics and has become a very solid player with lots of room to improve. Very long and athletic player who can disrupt the game from the defensive end.  Should be locked inside of a steak restaurant.
• Other Class C players include: Sam Cassell, Ron Artest, Josh Howard, Shawn Marion, Kirk Hinrich, Chris Webber, Steve Francis, The Pistons starting five, Jason Richardson, Baron Davis, Tony Parker, Yao Ming, Corey Maggette, Shaun Livingston, Lamar Odom, Pao Gasol, Charlie Villanueva, Richard Jefferson, Peja Stojakovic, Stephon Marbury, Grant Hill, Manu Ginobli, Kenyon Martin, Rashard Lewis, Andrei Kirilenko, Carlos Boozer, Larry Hughes, Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler, etc.

CLASS D

Class D Valedictorians

• Eric Snow – An 11 year point guard who is still left alone at the top of the key.  Whenever on the floor, his team is always playing four on five because of his lack of any skills. Has been on teams with two of the great superstars of our time in AI and Lebron.  In a robbery of epic proportions, he has accumulated over $31 million dollars in salary while in the league!
• Jacque Vaughn – One of the worst players to ever wear a uniform. Classic example of an over-hyped college player. Has put up a barely noticeable 4.8 ppg during his 9 year career. Only a CSI investigation can explain how he has survived this long.  Has stolen over $7 million and counting!
• Mateen Cleaves – See Jacque Vaughn. His career points per game stands at a whopping 3.6! Has ripped off $5 million!
• Kwame Brown – Will go down as the worst first pick in the draft ever. Doesn’t have one skill on either end of the court.  Has horrible hands, no touch around the basket, terrible footwork and no range. Add in the fact that he’s soft and you have a six feet 10 inches of dead weight. During his five years in the league, he has averaged 7.6ppg while raking in over $24 million!!
• Michael Olowokandi – Was let off the hook as the biggest first pick bust thanks to Mr. Brown(see above). Was supposed to be the center of the future for the Clippers. Instead he left them searching for a future center. Looked about as interested in improving his skills as Kenneth Lay looked towards serving time. Average 8.6ppg during his 8 years in the league and cashed checks totaling over $36 million!!
• Shavlik Randolph – A player that was awful in college (Duke) who somehow made it to the NBA. The fact that the GM of the Sixers is a Duke grad is lost on no one.  Any scout would be hard-pressed to find anything he does well except stand up and be 6’10”.  Averaged 2.3ppg while catching 2.3rpg.  Earned $400K in his first year in the league for merely standing up.
• Other notable D-listers:  Marcus Fizer, Brendan Haywood, Damon Jones, Adonal Foyle, Jerome James, Calvin Booth, Erick Dampier, Mark Madsen, Greg Ostertag, Michael Ruffin, Luke Schenscher, Loren Woods, etc.