Smack / Mar 6, 2008 / 6:01 am

Prime Time Player

IMAGE DESCRIPTIONLeBron (photo. Mannion)

You know LeBron loves the big stage, and despite the sorry state of the Knicks, Madison Square Garden in prime time is still one of the biggest stages in basketball. Was ‘Bron pumped up? Check out the between the legs, off the glass lob he threw to himself during warmups — a dunk that would have killed had he done it in a contest — and you tell us … With Jay-Z in the house and Spike Lee making a rare ’07-08 MSG appearance (not to mention Steph‘s uncomfortable return to the Knicks locker room), LeBron was simply unstoppable. Being “guarded” by everyone from Q to Jared Jeffries to David Lee to Wilson Chandler to Mark Aguirre and Herb Williams, he smoked the Knicks for 50 points, including 7 threes. James was able to drive past whoever was in front of him whenever he wanted to, using his strength and hang-time to absorb contact and still finish at the rim, or set his man up and hit the brakes to nail pull-up jumpers while they were playing the drive … At one point a fan came onto the court, basically to say “What’s up” to LeBron and at the same time apparently scaring the hell out of a lot of people nearby. Asked in the post-game press conference if he was worried, ‘Bron laughed. “Nah, I’m 6-8, 260,” he said … The game of the night was supposed to be Celtics/Pistons, but LeBron and Boston conspired to make this one less than marquee. The C’s jumped out to a 17-3 lead in the first quarter, and never trailed the rest of the way, eventually winning by a dozen. Detroit got close a few times early in the fourth, but every time they did, the Celtics went on a run to stretch the lead back out. How about Kevin Garnett killing Rasheed, who’s supposed to be one of the best interior defenders in the League, giving him 31 points. KG only had 6 boards, but that’s only because Kendrick Perkins was being greedy, pulling down 20 of his own. ‘Sheed had 23 points to lead Detroit, but it was one of those games where he spent too much time playing 18-24 feet away from the basket even though his shot wasn’t dropping … Did you see that dunk Rajon Rondo put down on Jason Maxiell? Filthy … With all the attention focused on the Celtics, Pistons and LeBrons, the Magic have quietly won 40 games, becoming just the third Eastern Conference team to do so. Last night Orlando 30-pieced the Wizards, getting a 20-point, 11-board outing from Dwight Howard and 17 points apiece from Rashard, Mo Evans and Keith Bogans. They’re still a year or two away from seriously contending for a championship, but it’s coming sooner rather than later … We figured J-Rich would have a huge night against the Warriors, especially considering his first game against his ex-team earlier this season went so badly. Last night Richardson dropped 42 points in a Bobcats win, and he wasn’t the only one who made sure to get his shots up. Stephen Jackson (21 pts) seemed to shoot it every time he touched it in the first half, and Baron (30 pts) and Monta Ellis (32 points) also weren’t shy with the trigger … The Warriors announcers were making fun of how big Sean May had gotten, and they were right. The kid has blown up. Sean was on the ‘Cats bench wearing a gray suit, looking like a TV that had been turned off. Every time they showed him on-screen you wondered if your cable was acting up … And have you seen Adam Morrison lately? Dude looks like he’s been hanging with Benicio Del ToroChris Paul gave the Hawks 23 points and 18 dimes, but he always murders them. Does Hawks GM Billy Knight even watch when his team plays the Hornets anymore, or does he conveniently always have something to do now? Date Night with the wife, right Bill? … And you didn’t really think the Pacers were going to go into Houston and stop the Rockets’ win streak, did you? T-Mac scored 25 to lead the Rockets in a rout, the team’s 16th straight win … Watching the Pacers play, you notice how many of their guys were supposed to be big-time pro players coming out of college: Dunleavy, Murphy, Harrison, Diogu; really the only active Pacer who’s lived up to their hype is Danny Granger. (This discussion doesn’t apply to guys like Travis Diener and Jeff Foster who have exceeded expectations, because they had no hype coming out of school.) … Shaq had his best game as a Sun (12 pts, 18 rebs), but the team is still struggling, losing to the Nuggets on the road. Good point by NBA TV’s Peter Vecsey, who asked if the point of picking up Shaq was improving the defense, why is Phoenix they giving up 126 points in a game? Allen Iverson wasn’t worried about Shaq or anybody being in the way, pouring in 31 points and handing out 12 assists with ZERO turnovers. (Has he ever done that?) For people who insist A.I. has lost a step, did you see him blowing past Leandro Barbosa multiple times? … We’re out like S-Jack passing …

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59 Responses to “Prime Time Player”

  1. KIdd w/in says:

    fuck u lebron!

    he scored 50 points becoz of fucking nigga Jay-z !

    fuck!

    fuck!

    and phoenix! oh my phoenix

    last season they were one step away from the finals! if not for mr. fucking TIM Donaghy!

    and now

    they are miles away from the finals!

    they are not a contender anymore!

    they are just a playoff team!

    FUCK!
    FUCK!

  2. Utes Fan says:

    Wow vulgar

  3. qq says:

    You gotta be banned. Idiot.

  4. JOB33 says:

    what is it about Monta Ellis that makes me think of Carlton Banks every time i see him? Stephen “Jackin” Jackson pullin every time he touches the rock? get outta here! no way. nuggets and warriors have the same problem..all the talent in the world w/ 1-on-1 players. B-Does or B-Didz can hand it out..but he’s more for gettin his, but if it came down to it i want the rock in Diddy’s hands..i heard their openin a museum over there of old basketball memoribilia and they signed C-Webb to showcase it

  5. sans says:

    That’s cool that C-Webb will get more than 3 minutes of face time in the Bay Area–you know, other than when the camera pans to the bench area. Why did GS sign him? He obviously doesn’t care anymore, and, really, he’s like ‘Toine only a little more shine in his career. Back in the day, I seriously thought him and Peja were gonna take over the world. Now look at them.

    Thank God and David Stern that only the home team can resign players for max dollars. I know Bron wants to play for JayZ, but even Hov would tell Bron to take the extra $20MIL to save for a rainy day. Every year he gets closer to averaging a trip-dub, next season he could pull it.

    So, who are the top ten players that played for at least three teams? Traded or selfish, whiny or whatnot–who makes the list?

    1. Moses Malone
    2. Shaq
    3. Charles Barkley
    4. Bob McAdoo
    5. Scottie Pippen
    6. Jason Kidd
    7. T-Mac
    8. Ray Allen
    9. Dikembe Mutumbo
    10. Rasheed Wallace

    It was really hard to keep Webber off this list. It’s hard to believe how bad he got so quick, but everybody gets old.

  6. that dude says:

    I think Cavs/Lakers Finals would be sick. It could settle the MVP talk for real.

    …but I guess Spurs/Pistons will just have to do

  7. djKianoosh says:

    AI is the man, what else can you say? he played out of his mind again. and denver needed it. if they had lost this it would be time to panic in denver. that game was extremely entertaining. but it seemed like phoenix in the 3rd quarter just lost whatever mojo they had going for them. actually at the end of the first half i was like, man how did we get to the 3rd quarter already? it was something like 68-59 or whatever.

    can I just say I love Hubie… he’s great. i was agreeing with everything he was commentating on last night. he was loving the pace in the first half and practically wet himself over one Nash assist on a pick and roll to Diaw. hahah.. he’s just one of my favorite commentators, that ol’ man knows hoops.

    back to denver, can they at least follow this good win with a good showing against the Spurs?

  8. sans says:

    Scratch Rasheed on that list, I forgot the Worm somehow. Dennis Rodman is the most underrated baller in history, just because he looked at the game differently, and easily the greatest role player ever.

  9. djKianoosh says:

    @that dude, if the Spurs and Pistons meet up in the finals again they may shatter the space time continuum. Stern can only accept one of the two in there, not both.

  10. Brown says:

    I wonder what LeBron has against being in the dunk contest? Everyone wants to see him in it, and he would probably win. Winning a dunk contest could only help his career.

  11. White Snoop says:

    hold on to see the suns rolling. Daddy ain´t gonna let it blow up.

  12. QQ says:

    Hey, who the fuck is that cat who comes stealin’ my name? Come up with your own handle, bitch.

  13. srb says:

    nice job dime. hilarious smack today.

  14. Prof. TX says:

    Brown:

    I think the risk for guys like Lebron going into the dunk contest is that a loss would make a star of someone else. A sixth or seventh man on a sub-.500 team would build a career around the name “the guy who can out-dunk Lebron James.” A loss might hurt Lebron’s reputation more than a win would help him.
    I’m certainly not saying I agree, just that this is explanation that alot of sportswriters give.

    Next year should be Dwight defending his title against Kobe, Lebron, and McGrady.

  15. Kobeef says:

    @ Brown
    Lebron has nothing to gain and lots to lose in the dunk contest. He backed out in his rookie year cause he would have had to face JSmoove who has more lift than Lebron. Some of this lack of lift is because of his “duck-feet” stance. Apparently Amare had the same thing but corrected it with training. take a look at this pic of Lebron beside Carmelo and you can see lebron’s lower legs are kind of out of line.

    http://cache.viewimages.com/xc/71766015.jpg?v=1&c=ViewImages&k=2&d=17A4AD9FDB9CF193CC300C081D9F47007BECF735D330E39770118E3A40A98D06A55A1E4F32AD3138

  16. Smitty313 says:

    I don’t know how creative Lebron would be in the NBA dunk contest. He won the McDonalds highschool dunk contest but he didn’t do anything spectactculiar(spellcheck). He’s a game dunker like Rudy Gay. He dosen’t need to be in anymore dunk contest either. But I would still love to see Lebron in the dunk contest. Dunk contest is missing star power. All four guys don’t have to be stars at least 2 will do.

  17. E$ says:

    Damn, stop suckn’ Lebron D! It was the Knicks! (meanwhile on the southside of town) Rockets set a franchise record!

  18. Celts Fan says:

    I was driving home from the game last night just chuckling to myself thinking, “More worried about the Cavs than us, what an idiot.” then I saw the highlights. DAAAAAMN. I like what I saw from our young guys last night. It was obvious Rondo took the matchup w/ Chauncey personally and came out extremely aggressive (and out of control at times, Sam should help that) to prove he wasn’t afraid. Same with Perk (20 boards!) 2 months ago, I wasn’t sure Perk was an NBA starter, since then it seems like he’s gotten a much better touch (still has the touch of a rapist, but at least a not-too-violent rapist!) and his passing is so much better it’s like a different person. Props to Clifford Ray for the great job he’s doing w/ him (he was also in charge of Al Jefferson and Dwight Howard’s early years. Dude can coach!)

    Top Ten Guys that Played on 3+ Teams:
    1. Wilt (GS, Philly, LA, right?)
    2. Shaq (Moses over Shaq, are you crazy?)
    3. Dr. J (counting ABA teams, he was on the Virginia Squires, NY Nets, then the 6ers if I remember right)
    4. Moses
    5. Pippen
    6. Ewing (I know we’d like to pretend the last 2 Orlando then Seattle years didn’t happen, but they did)
    7. JKidd
    8. Bill Walton (talent wise he should be higher, but the injuries killed his career)
    9. Barkley
    10. Dikembe

    (I don’t remember enough about McAdoo to put him on. Was Rick Barry only on 2 teams or 3? If it’s 3, he’s #9)

  19. Tux says:

    Kidd w/in. For the second day in a row you done said some whack shit. SIT DOWN FOOL.

  20. K-Dizzle says:

    um, dude’s legs are “outta line” cuz his right leg is turned out

    that warm-up dunk woulda got him a 2nd place finish this year and I agree with the guy that said Bron wouldn’t gain or lose anything in the dunk contest

    Someone send Riley some flowers and a white flag cuz that team is garbage

  21. Kobeef says:

    @K-Dizzle

    If you haven’t noticed Lebron’s “duck feet” you have never seen him run…here’s another pick from the back. Lebron’s leg’s are slightly bowed which causes the duck stance. There is some concern that long-term it could be hard on his knees.

    http://images.allposters.com/images/PHO/AAGE008.jpg

  22. GayforRudy says:

    So what’s up Fed-hova or Young-hova or whatever your name is…are you hiding because your Piss tones got smoked last night? Nice game by Rip-hova last night. And no, I’m not a Boston fan.

    The only thing worse than a Celtics fan are those man chowda cravin Sawks / Pats fans.

  23. big stones says:

    duck feet, dick feet, what the hell ya’ll talkin’ ’bout

    Dude is gonna be fine.

    Duck feet……..sheeeeeeiiiiiitttt

  24. Celts Fan says:

    oops, gotta make a change to my top 10 list for guys on 3+ teams.

    #10 is now Gary Payton over Dikembe

    GayforRudy, don’t think all of us are like the loud-mouthed, obnoxious southie d-bags that give Boston fans a bad name. there are plenty of us that are reasonable, don’t scream at everyone and act like we’re god’s gift to sports. we do find those guys pretty entertaining though…

  25. SWAT says:

    Man honestly are yall pregnant w/ Kobe or lebrons baby yet? Yall suck their rod so bad superhead is jealoous! Yet my rockets get 1 damn line after setting a new franchise record for wins and blowing out their 11th team at home and another double digit win w/o f’in YAO. damn get real.

  26. SWAT says:

    and the cavs didn’t even kill the sorry ass knicks. it was 82-84 after 3 and even after that they didnt start blowing them out until midway thru 4th. yall dime cats are hilarious. dickriders.

  27. isotope says:

    Okay, so the Rockets win their sixteenth straight and all Dime could talk about was how bad the pacers are??? Comedy.

    Just to put things in perspective, the rockets have won their last 7 by 10 or more points. That includes a 20 point rout of the hornets. Their last close game was when Ron Artest almost single handedly brought the Kings back. During this streak they have beaten the Cavs (w/King of the world Lebron lol) twice.

    Last night they held the Pacers to 99 (and a lot of it was garbage time), well below their average. And no mention of that dunk Landry had on Ike Diogu. Nasty!

  28. Myrie says:

    the fella who ran onto the court at MSG to high five LeBron was my friends friends’ ex-boyfriend.

    ‘Bron told Spike he would score 50pts in the game. At that point there was only a few minutes left and LeBron had 38pts. You could easily read his lips.

    ….LBJames…stop messing around in Ohio and come ball for the Knicks. Your real goal is not championships; its to be the first billionaire athlete. That can only happen for you in NY. We will rename Broadway to LeBronWay if thats what it takes….

  29. GayforRudy says:

    Waaaaaahhhhh…”Dime didn’t mention my team. I’m so upset that they were disrepected!”

    SWAT, while your post is funny, no one gives a damn about the Rockets and lazy-eyed McGrady. Are you under the delusion that they will carry this momentum to the NBA finals.

  30. isotope says:

    I think GayForRudy’s name isnt about Rudy Gay. Dude is secretly in love with Rudy T and wishes he had the “heart of a champion”.

  31. Celts Fan says:

    right, someone call the waaaaaaaaaaambulance

    and come on Myrie, if LeBron ever has an NY address, it’ll be in Brooklyn for his boy Hova…

  32. Celts Fan says:

    no other Top Ten Players for 3+ Teams lists? I thought that was a fun, good idea Sans… (posts 5 and 18/24)

  33. isotope says:

    http://images.chron.com/photos/2008/03/05/10306572/600xPopupGallery.jpg

  34. SWAT says:

    nice response isotope. gayboy, the west playoff picture is more up in the air than it has ever been. the top teams are only seperated by a couple of games and honestly just a loss or two could jump anyone to the #1 spot. i’m so proud of my boys and how they have stepped up w/o YAO. I think losing him and the media bad mouthing us really pissed my boys off. a new franchise record, tmac playing w/ heart, skip ballin out of his mind…damn i love this game!

  35. Jim says:

    Celts Fan you are right, Wilt had 3. You are also wrong, Moses over Shaq. But dude, you are consistently one of the best voices on the board…lay of the rapist ish.

  36. dagwaller says:

    Good idea for a list, sans.

  37. Myrie says:

    Celts–

    3 teams…
    Hmmmm…..

    What about DENNIS RODMAN?!!?
    The Worm baby….
    Detriot, San Antonio, Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago

  38. GEE... Oh LORD I done found my swaaag says:

    First of DIME doesn’t need to say anything about the Rockets. 16, position 5, no losses as of yet without Yao, 5 more wins and I think they would have the second longest winning streak in the L eva!…and McGrady is taking his flinstone vitamins to stay healthy.

    Landry and Rondo def. got dunks of the night. Jason Max gets dunked on soooo much!

    Preshate the L. suspending Dirk and helping the streak possibly go to 17. Then, think on this, with all the other west teams playing each other and taking a loss every now and then, the Rockets should still be straight no matter when they take an L. Clutch City.

    Boston straight up showed hunger last night. Youngfed um you need to holla at ya boys! He gone have a great excuse for not being here today. We all know it’s SHAAAAME LOL!

    Suns, Denver, G.S. and Dallas all showing to much inconsistency right now. They better pull that ish together before it’s time to ride in the playoffs.

    Right now San An, and the Lakers are going to collide hard!

    Orlando is my sleeper pick in the East.
    I just want Bron to say 82 and then get that lol.

  39. GayforRudy says:

    nah isotope I’m more of a Kermit fan or as Youngfed would type a “Kermit-hova” fan.

  40. girlybballluver says:

    I can’t wait to see Spurs vs Lakers for the conference finals. Right now, the lakers are the only team in the west that can take the spurs in a 7 game series in the west.

    Even though watching Lebron is great, the rest of his squad isn’t really worth watching. I’d hate to see them in the finals again.

  41. . says:

    .

  42. Celts Fan says:

    I loved the Worm Myrie. He was amazing, had the heart of a champion (and head of a psycho, which was always entertaining!) and belongs in the HOF. Having said all of that, take a look at the list. Who do I take off? Barkley and GP are #s 9 and 10 (in post 24 I mentioned that I forgot GP so Dikembe had to drop off) and I just don’t see the Worm on their level.

    Jim, I stand by Shaq over Moses. He went to the Finals with every team he’s been on, excluding Phoenix where he hasn’t had a chance yet (and won’t. but Shaq’s well beyond Superman Shaq and more into the point of his career where Wilt evolved into a great passer/complimentary option instead of primary scorer/rebounder. Shaq has that kind of ability/footwork/hands, it’s a matter of accepting that role.)
    Didn’t appreciate the “touch of a rapist” Perk joke huh? Sorry if that offended anyone…

  43. GEE... Oh LORD I done found my swaaag says:

    Yea Girly can you picture if Lebron is in a game 6 and goes down with an injury in the 4th (but they win) where he can’t play in game 7???

    No LeBron on that team is like (hope this doesn’t offend) an East elite team playing a wheelchair squad.

    I don’t know who is hungrier Kobe or K.G. I have to give the edge to K.G. just for never having touched the trophy. Still with the focus Kobe is playing with you would think he hadn’t ever won a finals either.

    Them two on the same team would be explosive!

  44. Bxballer says:

    Is anyone else sick of Lebron?

  45. Celts Fan says:

    umm NO

  46. GEE... Oh LORD I done found my swaaag says:

    Naw not really

  47. GayforRudy says:

    I honest to God HATE him (Lebron). I was sick of him & ESPN when they were hyping him/showing his highschool games.

    I felt that there was plenty of time for the hype. I’m sick of it and his career has barely started.

  48. PALakerFan says:

    What about Dominique? Hawks, Clips, Spurs, I think.

  49. word says:

    Lebron= not human

    Celtics= ill

    Suns= make me angry (as well as themselves)

    Houston= ill

    Nuggets= first time KMart and Carter played decent all season, if they didn’t Denver would’ve lost.

  50. Celts Fan says:

    sorry PALakerFan, ‘Nique isn’t on the same level as the top 10 guys either (he’s not better than GP or Barkley, who are my bottom 2.) That list is actually MUCH better than I thought it’d be. Lots of guys bounce around toward the end of their career and there were a lot of old-timers that bounced around a lot cuz they weren’t the same big ticket, big $$$ producers that the same level player is today.

  51. Myrie says:

    CeltsFan–

    C’mon man. You have to find room for Dennis Rodman. 5 time NBA champ. 2 time dpoy, 2 time allstar, all nba 3rd team twice, rebounding champ 92-98, fg% leader in 1989…

    How many in your top ten can match is career accomplishments?

    And for all the mischief, chaos and baggage, Worm actually made his teams better.

    Remove Jason Kidd and enter Dennis Rodman into the Top 10.

  52. Myrie says:

    …and, I think he is the only man on earth to have had both Madonna(when she was still freaky) and Carmen Electra(when she was actually sexy).

    Thats has got to be worth a Top 5!

  53. Jim says:

    I think Rodman has to get in over Mutombo/GP, probably even Kidd…but otherwise that’s a hell of a hard list to crack, and that’s arguable since he obviously never lead a team. Crazy, that many iconic players played for 3 teams.

    And we should make another, Riles inspired list…Top 10 coaches who have flaked from bad teams 3x in their careers.

  54. D-Lite says:

    Celts on criuse control, celts/lakers anyone, sorry young fed, but you gotta hide out today. KG has no excuses, he has the individual talent as well as team talent. Just save the emotion for the offense like last night, noone can stop you!!! I hope Sam Iam doesn’t screw up the locker room or Rondo. Celts take Pistons in a series. Not a celts fan, but I like Docs style. DOC takes a beating and keeps on ticking, getting no credit when they win.

  55. What is this!? says:

    People were saying that Iverson was going to slow down since the age of 28 yrs old…they say the same sh*t every year about that guy “He’s going to slow down soon”…then they’ll say “Okay, I know we said he would slow down last year, but this year he is going to slow down”. GTFOH! That guy seems to get better every year, its sort of scary because of how small he is and how much he has had to shoulder his entire career, yet he won’t stop. But he is a freak of nature.

    I’m starting to think that the people that say “he’s lost a step” just want him to slow down so they’ll try to talk it into existance, and because he knows the HATERS are talking is the reason he won’t slow down. Even if he does slow down a step years from now, he’ll still be a few steps faster then everyone else, so what differense would it make? No one can seem to keep up with that guy. Not even the “Brizilian Blur”. The NBA has never seen anything like him. That guy is very unique and special. Let him play his game and quit hatin’ already…He crossed up Barbosa something crazy too, brought Melo out of his seat on the sidelines.

    And damn, did everyone totally forget about what K.G has done for the Celtics this year? Is he totally out the MVP talk now? Earlier this year everyone was on his nuts…now he ain’t sh*t? This bandwaggoning and “flavor of the week” sh*t is starting to kill me. BANDWAGGONING IS KILLING THE NBA!!

  56. What is this!? says:

    And i’m over here dieing laughing at “SWATS” comment about getting off of Kobe’s and Lebrons nuts. I swear I was thinking the same thing, but that doesn’t just go for DIME..that goes for ESPN as well. DIME is nowhere near as bad as ESPN. They show those two n*ggas every five minutes!! When Kobe was in troble for that little rape trial he had and when Shaq got traded folks were talking crazy sh*t about KOBE… now he hanging on people’s walls next to their pictures of JESUS CHRIST and MARTIN LUTHER KING? You gotta love AMERICA, full of two faced @ss people. Give me a break already.

  57. What is this!? says:

    ^^ I was just thinking that fan that ran up to Lebron after the game probably worked for DIME or ESPN. LMAO!!

  58. Brown says:

    JOB33, it’s Monta’s square head that reminds you of Banks. I never noticed it until just now.

  59. . says:

    ,

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