At some point if you were a Creative Director for Jordan Brand you’d have to feel like the walls were closing in around you. With mediocre at best responses to Jordans XXII, XXIII and 2009 it wouldn’t be that far fetched to start thinking that the magic behind Air Jordans was fading away. Luckily for the powers that be (and therefore luckily for us) Jordans Retro revival has never really slowed down. Read More »

“The finals were simply amazing, a real spectacle… VBL is powerful, a must see for anyone who visits Los Angeles… real streetball, great games, love the music… the announcers are fantastic, I come every week with my family and stay for six hours.” These are just some of the things that people said to Nick Ansom, Director of the Venice Basketball League, this past weekend. And if you’ve ever been, you’d know why. Read More »

Four of the Raptors’ starting five is basically in stone. You know Calderon is starting at point, Hedo at the three, Bosh at the four and Bargnani at the five. The shooting guard spot? That’s where it gets debatable. While early indications out of TO suggest that top draft pick DeMar DeRozan will begin the season as a starter, there is no guarantee that will stick throughout the season and maybe even preseason. The sure-to-be fan favorite guard out of USC has his fair share of competition at his spot. Read More »

When Gerald wrote last week about cities that deserve an NBA team, he focused on just North American cities. But after reading that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Dominique Wilkins, Vlade Divac, Robert Horry and Tim Hardaway were going to touch down in Manila next week, I realized they weren’t just there for vacation. Turns out Filipinos are crazy about the NBA. Read More »

We argue. You decide…

CHRIS PAUL (by Ben York) On both sides, the argument for who is better cannot be made by simply comparing stats. On the contrary, it goes much deeper than that.

Let me start by saying that you really couldn’t go wrong with either of these players on your team. Even though I’m arguing for Chris Paul, if I had to pick which player I’d rather have in the playoffs, I would have absolutely zero hesitation in picking Tony Parker. He’s proven to be so damn good, and clutch, for the Spurs in the post-season it’s hard to make a fair comparison to Paul who has only been in the playoffs twice. Read More »

Between Stephen Jackson‘s trade request, Anthony Randolph‘s summer league breakout, and C.J. Watson‘s incredibly over-covered free agent situation (all this for a guy who’s like two steps above the minimum salary?), we’ve been talking about the Warriors a lot this offseason. Things have been such a mess in the Bay lately that it’s been assumed Golden State will stink again, but in reality, they could be better than you think. Monta Ellis will be healthy from Day One, everyone in the organization is convinced Randolph is about to blow up, Andris Biedrins will get his nightly double-double, and Kelenna Azubuike is one of the better sneaky-good players in the NBA. Read More »

It’s not exactly breaking news when an NBA backup says he wants more playing time, and that he’ll be gunning for a starting job come training camp. It is more noteworthy, however, if you’re talking about the defending NBA champions and a position battle where the backup could conceivably unseat the incumbent starter.

Early into L.A.’s most recent playoff run, I wrote that Jordan Farmar‘s sub-par performance throughout the season was part of the reason the Lakers faced an uncertain future at point guard. Last year, Farmar was supposed to challenge Derek Fisher for the #1 job, but a nagging toe injury, inconsistent play, and the rise of Shannon Brown kept him about as far away from starting as Vince Young is right now. Read More »

The 1999-’00 Cincinnati Bearcats team was one of my favorite college squads of all time. This team was tough. Bob Huggins’ roster consisted of Kenyon Martin, Kenny Satterfield, DerMarr Johnson, Pete Mickeal, Jermaine Tate and Steve Logan. A 5-11 combo guard with a mug like DMX, Logan was like a discount Tim Hardaway the way he could break down and bully bigger guards. After Martin, K-Sat and DerMarr bounced to the League the following year, Logan took his game to new heights. As a senior at UC, Logan averaged 22 ppg and was named first team All-American by the Associated Press. Read More »

If you could only play two video games for the rest of your life, which two would you choose?

Perfect storm for an unproductive week by me: Last Wednesday, I played a little Fight Night Round 2 on the PS2 with my (future) nephews. On Friday, my fiancee left town to help her sister get settled into college. On Saturday, I got paid. Hello, Fight Night Round 4 on my Xbox 360. Goodbye, doing anything else. Read More »

For those of you in New York, you know what it’s like when the US Open comes to town each year. Big screens in the parks, Wii setup at Niketown (which is amazing by the way) and long lines for the 7 train out to Arthur Ashe Stadium. Today, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) just made things even better, announcing that Jay-Z has designed a limited edition t-shirt featuring Arthur Ashe that will be sold at the 2009 US Open. Read More »