Welcome to our first ever NBA Playoff Blogger Faceoff, where we pit our favorite team-related writers against each other to let them tell why the teams they represent will win their matchups. We gave them no set format, no style guide – we just told them to do their thing. Check it out and join in the debate in the comments section.

Last up: Lakers vs. Magic: Read More »

This year’s finals are going to come down to the big men. This is as close as we’re going to get to seeing a decent heavyweight-boxing match. These two young centers Dwight Howard (23) and Andrew Bynum (21) were taken a year apart in the NBA Draft, and both are competing in their first NBA Finals. Read More »

Meet the new adidas TS Commander, the shoe that Dwight Howard will be wearing throughout the NBA Finals. Dwight asked the Three Stripes to build him a lighter shoe to help carry him through the fourth quarter of games and adidas came back with this custom makeup that is a full 6 oz. lighter than the kicks he was playing in during the regular season. And Dwight and adidas are giving fans the chance to own DH’s actual NBA Finals game-worn TS Commanders. Read More »

Before Mike Beasley ever donned a Miami Heat jersey, he proved that he belonged with the big dogs at Nike Pro City (Hunter College, 68th St. & Lexington Ave.). Before Brandon Jennings went to Italy, he made his “pro” debut here. Pro City has been the New York summer tournament for as long as a lot of us can remember. It’s where you can find Al Harrington, Ron Artest, Nate Robinson, Smush, Mike Campbell, Corey “Homicide” Williams, Allan Houston, and every other major relevant NYC player in the summer months.

Some rumors were swirling that Pro City wasn’t going to be back this year. But let’s put those worries to rest – it’s officially back. Read More »

Even if Dennis Rodman‘s final episode of NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice” hadn’t ended with him being fired and Donald Trump leading an awkward quasi-intervention with the rest of the cast about Rodman’s drinking, you could still easily predict The Worm’s next reality TV revival.

Rodman, 48, will be on “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew,” a VH1 show airing sometime in 2010. Read More »

Growing up, there are certain things that you always wanted to do surrounding basketball: (1) Make it to the NBA; (2) Make millions of dollars; and (3) Be featured on the cover of a video game. After today, Kobe Bryant will have achieved all three. Read More »

There’s a difference between being insane and being crazy. Birdman is a posterboy for craziness. That became obvious during his interview with ESPN’s super-hot Colleen Dominguez. He refers to himself as “Chris” off the court and “Birdman” on it. But he doesn’t seem like he has some grand diabolical vision. He’s just a crazy dude.

Kevin Garnett, on the other hand, is insane. Read More »

With so much talk about how the ’09 Finals will define Kobe Bryant‘s legacy, no one is talking about what this means for Phil Jackson. Just as a Lakers win allows Kobe to step out of Shaq‘s shadow and prove he can win without The Big Tweeter, it also gives Phil 10 championships as a head coach, pushing him ahead of Red Auerbach for the most all-time.

But for both Phil and Kobe, the one player who will play the biggest role in helping them get those all-important rings is the one player they’re both terrified to trust: Lamar Odom. Read More »

Before he played himself onto the ’09 postseason map with bursts of effective/annoying defense against LeBron James, Orlando swingman Mickael Pietrus was — by definition — just your average NBA player.

According to the League’s annual survey tallying the average height, weight, age and experience of its players, Pietrus was found to be the closest thing to the quintessential average pro: 6-foot-6, 215 pounds, 27 years old, six seasons in the League. Read More »

Scott Skiles isn’t exactly the guy that you want to be compared to headed into the NBA Finals, unless you’re actually playing in the game. Just as Skiles did with Charlie Villanueva following Twitter-gate earlier this year, Phil Jackson issued an edict that his players should put their cell phones down and not pick them back up until the Finals are over.

The difference here is that Phil is trying to give his guys a mental advantage. Skiles was punishing Charlie V, who had just found his competitive advantage. Read More »