Sneaker historian Rich ‘Maze’ Lopez of KixAndTheCity.com has pics of the Christ the King H.S. Nike Zoom LeBron VIs. If you’re not familiar with Christ The King H.S., you must not be up on your high school bball. Read More »

One of the most talented prospects in the class of 2009 has finally made a choice between USC and UCLA. 6-10 F Renardo Sidney has decided to play for the Trojans.

This is a bit of a surprise to some people, who heard that UCLA was leading the race one week ago. But by the end of last week, the balance tipped in favor of the Trojans. No one is exactly sure what happened, but Tim Floyd has to be happy about that.

From the look of all NBA Draft projections, it looks as though the Trojans’ freshman DeMar DeRozan would be well-advised to jump to the pro’s after this season, as he’ll fall somewhere in the Top 20. But the truth is, he could really use another year – if not two – to learn how to play at a high level. He could end up following in the Gerald Green mold if he tries to jump after this season and he isn’t ready. Read More »

After pulling off the Jermaine O’Neal trade before the deadline, the Miami Heat appeared to have filled their beyond-obvious need for a legit big man, landing a former 20-10-2 machine (who’s only 30 years old) who could help them down the playoff stretch and maybe even play a part in Miami winning a series. After all, it wasn’t that long ago when J.O. was arguably the best big man in the Eastern Conference, during his heyday with the Pacers.

But following yesterday’s blowout loss in Orlando — where J.O. and the rest of the Heat front line got destroyed by Dwight Howard to the tune of 32 points and 17 boards — the team doesn’t look any better off with their new center. Despite Dwyane Wade‘s career-high 50 points, the Heat still got blown out because they had no interior presence.

”I actually apologized to [Wade] at the end of the game — and I haven’t had to do that a lot,” O’Neal told the Miami Herald after his six-point, two-rebound effort. Read More »

If you watched Suns/Celtics yesterday during the first half, you heard Jeff Van Gundy‘s monologue defending Terry Porter.

In short, he said that at the end of last season, the Suns all sat down following another playoff loss and were asked what they needed/wanted to make a serious title run. According to JVG, pretty much everyone said that they wanted to improve defensively.

So Phoenix’s management went out and hired a defense-oriented coach in Porter. But therein lies the problem. Read More »

Here’s a look at AND 1′s ME8. The ME8 is Golden State Warriors’ guard Monta Ellis’ signature shoe. Now, I know we’re all used to AND 1 for their mixtapes and whatnot, but give their footwear a look see. Read More »

What does a story about N.O.R.E. getting arrested have to do with basketball? Not much, but a couple years ago I got to interview the rapper, born Victor Santiago, and asked him if he plays ball.

“Oh yeah, they call me ‘Poppi Mo’ on the court,” N.O.R.E. said. “I’m real smooth. I’m like George Gervin out there, finger rollin’ on n****s. I bust they ass, then I go home and drink a Crystal Light and Alize.”

At least that’s how I remember it. Anyway, this is from the Miami Herald:

New York rapper N.O.R.E. was arrested on Miami Beach on Sunday afternoon after punching a man in the face and throwing a cup of yellow liquid on him, according to police. Read More »

Shaq first proved that he could out-dance Dwight Howard in that infamous Vegas shootaround. He then one-upped that with the help of Jabbawockeez during the intro’s to the ASG in PHX. Though Kevin Durant, KG and Dwyane Wade aren’t really trying to break out their best moves, you can tell from this video that the Diesel is likely one of the best dancers in the League.

Not only is Carlos Boozer making his return to the Jazz lineup tonight against Atlanta, he’s also expected to be in the starting five right away, moving Paul Millsap back to the bench. This will be the first game all season where Utah has its full roster intact. From the Salt Lake Tribune:

“I handle it like any other game,” Millsap said. “I’ll get used to it after a while. My career has been up and down anyways. It’s for the better of the team. Booz is back and I’m going to continue to take my role off the bench.”

Once Boozer resumes playing regular minutes, he and Millsap can expect to play together for stretches. That could be either as an undersized power forward/center combination or with Millsap seeing minutes at small forward. Read More »

Though there weren’t any real blockbuster deals over the trade deadline, about half of the League got better or worse. Here’s how they fared.

Kings – C+ * Sent Shelden Williams and Bobby Brown to Minnesota for Rashad McCants and Calvin Booth

* Sent Brad Miller and John Salmons to Chicago for Drew Gooden, Andres Nocioni, Cedric Simmons and Michael Ruffin

* Sent Michael Ruffin to Portland for Ike Diogu and cash Read More »

While everybody is always talking about Stephen Curry, Andrew Lovedale is the heart and soul of the Davidson Wildcats. Over on BallersNetwork.com, Lovedale talks about learning to play the game at the Amaechi Basketball Centre in Manchester, UK (having only played basketaball for the past seven years) and who his favoite player is. You might be surprised… Read More »