J.J. Barea broke a cardinal rule in sports yesterday on ESPN's First Take when he was asked whether he'd like his Mavericks to face the Thunder or the Grizzlies in the Western Conference Finals. Namely, that you never—ever, ever, ever!—name the team you'd rather play, no matter how obvious it is. "I think personally, if I have a preference, I would rather play Memphis," he said. "But it really don't matter. As a team, if we keep doing what we're doing and play defense the way we are and scoring the ball, we're going to be fine."
He tried to back off his pick moments later, but it was too late. "I'm just trying to put it out there," he said, "and maybe pick one, but I really don't know." Great. So it sounds like both teams will have something to pin up on the bulletin board now when one of them faces Dallas. Welcome to the spotlight, son. [via ESPN]
