Actually I don’t, but that’s not that point. While I immensely respect and admire Kobe the athlete — still the best basketball player I’ve ever seen in person — there’s a side to him I just haven’t been able to root for. The sudden “I’m a great teammate” shift seems fake. The flopping and flailing and ref abuse is annoying. And there’s that whole Colorado business. Read More »

Facing elimination, Dirk Nowitzki played like Video Game Dirk last night. And not just because his numbers were ridiculous (44 pts, 13 rebs), but because video games can’t account for things like heart and nerves and a conscience, there was no trace of the big-game/crunch-time meltdown Dirk critics had come to expect. He was closer to a machine in the fourth quarter, scoring 19 in the quarter including the go-ahead bucket on a pretty fadeaway over K-Mart. Read More »

After Melo’s jumper to wrap up Game 3 for the Nuggets, a Denver sweep seems predestined. The Dallas faithful still believe in Dirk, J-Kidd and Co. though. Talk about Game 4 here with the Dime Crew as it happens …

Will LeBron dispatch Atlanta with another dominant performance? Will the Hawks man up, fight through their injuries, and live to fight another day? Talk about it with the Dime Crew here as it happens …

With nine days left until the deadline for high school players to sign their national letter of intent, the craze surrounding John Wall’s recruitment is kicking up a notch. He promised to cut his list from Kentucky, Duke, Florida, Memphis, NC State, Baylor, Miami to about three schools at some point last week. Though he hasn’t done so, there’s some talk over at High School Hoop that he might keep one non-high major on that list when he does cut it. For the rest of the story on Wall’s potentially shocking move, head HERE.

With the Mavs and the Hawks facing elimination tonight, you gotta think both squads are preparing to go out guns blazing, doing whatever it takes to stay alive for one more game. Come back to dimemag.com, where the Dime Crew will be talking about the games as they happen with readers. We’ll be live once the first game tips off …

It’s Armageddon over in Laker-Land. Clicking through the L.A. Times this morning, a couple things stood out. First was this bit on Andrew Bynum, whose postseason has gone pretty much the exact opposite of Rajon Rondo‘s: Whereas Rondo went from X-factor to legit star over the last few weeks, Bynum has gone from supposed-to-be star to Kwame Brown Reincarnate. From Times writer Mike Bresnahan: Read More »