OK, so the Shaq and Terry Porter experiment failed and now the Phoenix Suns are back to runnin’ and gunnin’ full time. Over the summer, Steve Kerr re-signed the quarterback behind the seven-seconds-or-less offense Steve Nash, re-upped with Grant Hill and acquired two slim and athletic big men in Channing Frye and lottery-pick Earl Clark. Under coach Alvin Gentry (who was one of D’Antoni’s assistants in Phoenix), the team will try to trying to rewind time back to the 2004-’05 season and attempt to put up 115 or more points per game. Read More »

Every NBA team has a go-to guy, and there’s really only room for one. And it’s not strictly who takes the last-second shot. It’s the guy who regularly gets the ball when things are getting tense in the fourth; the guy expected to calm things down when teammates are getting sloppy; the guy called upon to snuff out an opponent’s rally, or spark a rally of his own; the guy who’s not just supposed to make shots, but make the right decisions.

Bottom line: Who do you want the offense to run through when everything is on the line? From #30 to #1, these are the League’s best go-to guys… Read More »

No team will ever admit it — not even the OKC Thunder — but some NBA uniforms are just plain ugly. From the ’90s Nets (tie-dye?) to the original Vancouver Grizzlies to the Wizards’ gold/black tragedy, there have been some bad ones along the way. And with their bright orange base and the checkered-flag side panel for “special” occasions, the Charlotte Bobcats have cracked the list since their inception. Yesterday, however, the ‘Cats unveiled their new unis, the one Gerald Wallace is wearing in the photo. No more bright orange overload; it’s blue for the road and white at home. (The orange is “avant garde” according to the press release.) Read More »

To celebrate the opening of two new House of Hoops locations in Europe – Oxford Street in London and Les Halles in Paris – the HOH in Harlem will be releasing two limited versions of the Nike Hyperize Supreme tomorrow, September 24th. And I might even camp out tonight to cop those Paris joints. Read More »

This got kind of buried and lost in this morning’s Smack, so we wanted to bring it up on its own:

Funny story: An Oregon football fan made the road trip for the Ducks’ season opener at Boise State (the game where LaGarrette Blount played Marvin Hagler on homeboy’s chin), and after the team laid an egg, he sent head coach Chip Kelly an invoice for his expenses. And then Kelly actually wrote the dude a check! Has your favorite basketball team ever made you feel like you wanted your money and/or time back? What was the most memorable example? Read More »

The rumors have been floating around for the last few days, but now it is apparently official: The AP is reporting that Russia’s richest man has reached a deal to purchase a controlling stake in the New Jersey Nets and half of a project to build a new basketball arena in Brooklyn. Read More »

On at least 10 different occasions this offseason, some media outlet reported that Nate Robinson was going to re-sign with the Knicks that day or that week. Then a week would go by and nothing would happen. Today, Alan Hahn of Newsday reported that Nate Robinson will sign a one-year deal at some point today to remain a Knick. The deal is expected to be around $3 million with bonuses – slightly higher than the qualifying offer.

We called the Knicks for confirmation and a PR rep told us, “There is no official announcement about that at this time.” Read More »

Even if you haven’t seen the movie yet, without a doubt you’ve heard Drake‘s new track, “Forever,” featuring Kanye West, Lil Wayne and Eminem from the More Than A Game soundtrack. Directed by the legendary Hype Williams, this music video just dropped and will surely rise to the top of the charts. I love LBJ playing online poker in the car to start. What do you think?

If you haven’t read Sneaker Wars by Barbara Smit (2008), you might not know the history of — or even be aware of — the feud between PUMA and adidas.

Well beyond simply landing pro athletes or putting out the hottest product, this goes way back to Germany, where brothers Adi and Rudi Dassler began Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik (“Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory”) out of their mother’s house in 1924 and blew up on the scene when Jesse Owens wore their track spikes at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. By the end of World War II, however, the brothers had bitterly fallen out for personal and political reasons and split the company into the two brands you know now. Read More »

By now you’ve heard the news that Lamar Odom is getting married to Khloe Kardashian. Nevermind that L.O. only met her about a month ago (at a party thrown by Ron Artest, no less), or that this means any and every detail of dude’s personal life is now fair game for the E! network. Odom is a grown-ass man and we’re not his keeper.

But somebody needs to get us into L.O.’s bachelor party. We heard he’s hired Joe Francis — the guy who made “Girls Gone Wild” famous — to throw that party.

A while back we asked who you would have perform at your party. Now here’s a question: Who would you want to plan your ultimate party?