NBA Playoffs- The Best Absentees

The playoffs are now only days away and I'm sure that if you're like me, you're barely able to sit still with all the potential drama that's going to follow in the NBA's postseason. But like every postseason, there are always those who aren't good enough to make it. 14 of the NBA's 30 teams are going fishing early, and some of these 14 teams have serious talent, too.

In the playoffs, we will get a chance to watch the likes of Derrick Rose, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Dwight Howard, Joe Johnson, Al Horford, Amar'e Stoudemire, Carmelo Anthony, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Dirk Nowitzki, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul, and many, many more stars... But before we splurge into the future and see who amongst these will rule the roast, let's take a moment to celebrate those whose season has already ended.

Steve Nash - Suns: Steve Nash is once again going to be the league leader in assists, and its a shame that he will not be able to step into the postseason to battle once more. The 2-time MVP perhaps saw his finest moment last year when he took the Suns to only a few games away from the NBA Finals. Ever since, Amar'e Stoudemire left and the team has been subpar at best without him. Of course, the 37-year-old point guard's efforts are not to be blamed, as he continues to be one of the strongest players not making an appearance in the post-season.

Deron Williams - Nets: Oh, poor Deron... Remember him? Just last year he was considered to be perhaps the best point guard in the league. With a mid-season trade to New Jersey, went from a team contesting for a playoff spot to one just hoping to not be the league's worst. His departure saw Utah plummet away playoff contention too, but this perennial playoff superstar will be missed this post-season.

Kevin Love - Timberwolves: Yes, Love has never made the playoffs before, and no, there wasn't even a chance for the lowly T-Wolves to make it this year, but he is the league leader in rebounds - that has to count for something, right? Hopefully we'll see his hustle in the playoffs soon in the near future.

Blake Griffin - Clippers: Along with Deron Williams, Kevin Love, and Yao Ming, Griffin is the fourth all-star this season not in the playoffs. Too bad, because the electrifying rookie would've been the toast of the league for a couple of games. At least he'll be able to drown his sorrows with the Rookie of the Year trophy.

Monta Ellis - Warriors: Some believe Monta is only a few steps away from being one of the most talked-about players in the NBA. After all, he did spend the season averaging 24.1 ppg, which by the way, makes him the highest-scoring player not in the postseason.

Special Mention - Kevin Martin & Yao* (Rockets), Al Jefferson (Jazz), Stephen Curry & David Lee (Warriors), Brandon Jennings & Andrew Bogut (Bucks), John Wall (Wizards), Tyreke Evans (Kings).

*Yes, I had to mention Yao.

And then there are those who are missing due to injury; these guys have teams in playoff contention but we will probably not be seeing them in action this postseason - Caron Butler (Mavericks), David West (Hornets), Greg Oden (Trailblazers). Fans will be wishing to see the likes of Shaq (Celtics) and Udonis Haslem (Heat) return to their squads sometime in the course of the playoffs.

The NBA - where even the losers are pretty damn good!

Indian software mogul becomes owner of the Golden State Warriors

So what if Indian basketball players are still several years away from being good enough to play in the NBA? India leads the world in other fields - particularly software, and business acumen. Mumbai's Vivek Ranadivé, who is the chairman, CEO, and founder of computer software company TIBCO, took up ownership of the Golden State Warriors last week as the vice-chairman of GSW Sports LLC Executive Board. Ranadivé is the first Indian owner of an NBA team, and could open the flood gates for many more Indian entrepreneurs looking to invest in basketball.

The CEO and governor of the ownership group is Joe Lacob.

Ranadivé, a 53-year-old businessman, grew up in Juhu, Mumbai, and has been a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and postgraduate from the famed Harvard Business School. He founded TIBCO in 1997, which is "an infrastructure software company, [that] uses technology to help companies bridge the gap between the time something happens and the understanding of that event."

Ranadivé has also authored two books: The Power of Now (1999) and The Power of Predict (2006).

Here are more interesting details from Desi Hits:

Ranadive does not play basketball, however he is a big fan of the Golden State Warriors and has been a ticket holder for many years. He also coached his daughter Anjali's basketball team and helped the girls win a championship.
Seeing that the team consisted of 12 year old girls who weren't very tall and didn't have a lot of experience playing basketball he knew he had to come up with a strategy to help them succeed. He made the decision to have the girls do a full-court press for the whole game, and it worked out.
He hopes to use this out-of-the-box thinking with the Golden State Warriors as well.

He added "The areas that I hope to bring to the table in making the Warriors a 21st century team: I will help with everything from fan base managing customer loyalty programs, structure, community outreach and game play. I would also like to help make it a global brand, especially helping to popularize it in the Indian community."

This is exciting news, both from an Indian point of view and for Golden State Warrior fans. The Warriors have been an up-and-coming squad this season, boasting the talents of Monta Ellis, Stephen Curry, and David Lee who have given them one of their best starts in several years. They have lost a few games since then and currently hold a 7-7 record.

My next question is this: how soon before Vijay Mallya buys the Knicks?