Bruce Bowen: Defensive Stopper or Dirty Punk With Limited Talent

I'm going for the longest blog post title so far.

So watching the NBA playoffs so far this year (I know Stefan is refusing to watch as an act of solidarity for the soon-departing Sonics, but I like playoff basketball and caved immediately) has gotten me thinking about that age old question:

"Is Bruce Bowen really the tough-but-loveable, 110-percent-hustle, super-competitive defensive machine that most NBA commentators and journalists make him out to be or is he a good athlete with mediocre NBA talent who decided he would do whatever it takes to make it in the League, even if it means being dirty and potentially hurting other players?"

Now if you do a quick Google search on Bowen's "defensive" antics, you'll find a couple things. There are a couple of sites with lengthy tirades about how dirty Bowen is, as well as a lot of big name sites (SI.com, ESPN, etc.) with articles that raise the question and then essentially say "nope." To me, neither of these types of sites are particularly convincing. If you're a Vince Carter fan or Steve Nash fan or a Chris Paul fan or a fan of any of the other players that Bowen has hurt or almost hurt, then you're probably not going to like the guy. On the other side, if your a respected member of the NBA media, you can't exactly accuse a dude of being a punk b*tch and expect to get locker room access and exclusives. (This seems to be a problem particularly with the TNT commentators this post-season. I think I dislike Reggie Miller more now than at anytime when he was in the League.)

There are two big issues that people seem to have with Bowen. First and foremost, he puts his feet under the feet of jump shooters as they are in the air. Dangerous... yes. Against the rules... if it's intentional, yes; if it's not intention, maybe (NBA rules are a bit ambiguous about this). Dirty... in my humble opinion, once a pattern forms, which it has, this is definitely dirty. If lots of other NBA players can play stifling defense without sticking their feet under shooters, then Bowen can too. Second, Bowen seems to take a lot of cheap shots at the guys he's guarding, either during the play or after the whistle. Dangerous... almost always. Against the rules... almost always. Dirty... while its tough to argue that kicking a guy in the back while he's on the ground isn't dirty, supporters point out that Bowen often takes as much as he gives. He just happens to almost always give to the best offensive player on the court. Plus, he has a great "rags to riches" story, so how can you really hate on that?

So is Bowen a defensive stopper or a dirty player? The answer is both. Bowen uses his "questionable" tactics to intimidate and get under the skin of opposing players. Given his success against some of the better players in the League and his All Defensive team selections, his tactics seem to work, at least some of the time. In the end, the real question is whether the NBA should continue to tolerate Bowen's defensive tactics and antics, which have repeatedly injured players and constantly push the limits of League rules. And since that doesn't seem to be a question anybody in the NBA is going to touch with a 20 foot pole (even most retired NBA players are diplomatic when asked), I guess all the average fan can do is make up his or her own mind and write long, rambling blog posts about it.

I'll leave you with this: