Harrison Barnes is the best high school ballplayer in the country. As the 6-6 wing from Ames, Iowa, navigates through the hectic recruiting process such a title entails, he agreed to chronicle his thoughts for us during each of his five official visits. First up was UNC, then Oklahoma; now Barnes recaps his trip to Kansas for “Late Night in the Phog” during the weekend of Oct. 16. Here’s an excerpt:

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After seeing them practice and play, I can see why people say that they’re No. 1 in the country. Read More »

Kobe and Captain Jack’s rivalry is nothing compared to what has apparently been brewing since the early 90s between two of the greatest point guards of all time. Isiah Thomas and Magic Johnson were so close during their playing days they famously exchanged a kiss before tipoff of the 1988 NBA Finals. I’m sure when Zeke heard Magic and the “Hick from French Lick” were co-authoring a book, he expected to take some shots from Larry Bird (he did fire him in Indiana), but he was blindsided by Magic. Read More »

Logically, after ticking off points, rebounds, assists and steals, it’s time to move on to looking at late-round players who can help you in the blocks category. This is a list of big men, naturally, so most can help field goal percentage as well, but our focus today is on blocks. Listed below, in no particular order, are some players that will likely be available in the later rounds of your fantasy drafts and can help fulfill your need for blocks. As always, let us know what you think. Read More »

Before all the Jeff Capel, Willie Warren and Griffin brothers hype surrounding the University of Oklahoma, a 6-1, buck-seventy pound point guard ran Soonerville. Hollis Price, originally out of New Orleans, was the star of Norman throughout his four years on campus. Read More »

In 25 years as league commissioner, David Stern has seen his fair share of great players from Michael Jordan to Larry Bird to Kobe Bryant. So who’s his favorite all-time player? Stern recently told Rick Harrow from The $ports Take (Versus) in an episode that runs on Oct. 27, that he’s quite the fan of the King. Read More »

While the 2006 NBA Draft is not considered one of the NBA’s finest, it is still loaded with some potential NBA stars. And even in a time of financial crisis and thrifty spending owing to the Summer of 2010, it’s time to pay up or shut up before the deadline to sign any of these guys to a contract extension hits on October 31.

So far, No. 1 pick Andrea Bargnani (five years, $50 million), No. 2 pick LaMarcus Aldridge (five years, up to $70 million) and No. 6 pick Brandon Roy (five years, $80 million) have been the only guys to see the money, leaving guys like Rajon Rondo (21st pick), Rudy Gay (8th pick) and Tyrus Thomas (4th pick) waiting for an offer. Read More »

After a solid 12-year career, veteran guard Bobby Jackson has decided to retire according to the Sacramento Bee. Jackson, 36, who played for the Sacramento Kings last season, has also suited up for the Nuggets, Timberwolves, Grizzlies, Hornets and Rockets. His best year came during his first stint with the Kings (2000-05), where he averaged a career high 15.2 ppg and won the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award during the ’02-03 season. Read More »

Last year we debuted the “Highs and Lows” system — previewing the NBA season by predicting the respective ceiling and basement for each team. Same theme, different season…

Added: Jonny Flynn, Ramon Sessions, Wayne Ellington, Ryan Hollins, Damien Wilkins, Sasha Pavlovic, Antonio Daniels, Oleksiy Pecherov, Jason Hart, Nathan Jawai, Mark Blount, Henk Norel

Lost: Randy Foye, Mike Miller, Sebastian Telfair, Craig Smith, Rodney Carney, Mark Madsen, Kevin Ollie, Jason Collins, Shelden Williams, Bobby Brown Read More »

Who do you want your offense to run through with everything on the line? Counting down 30th to 1st (one per team), I’ve ranked the League’s go-to guys…

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#4: LEBRON JAMES, Cavaliers

Under a different set of circumstances and a different kind of criteria, I could easily argue that LeBron is the all-around, pound-for-pound best player in basketball. In fact, save for the existence of one Usain Bolt, I could argue for ‘Bron as the top active athlete in any sport today. Read More »

One sequence defined last night’s Lakers/Nuggets national TV preseason game: In the second half, after Kobe Bryant had already come out of the locker room with That Look in his eye, he pulled off his new favorite move on Kenyon Martin; getting him in the air with a pump fake and spinning a quick 360 to his left, dropping a jumper as K-Mart harmlessly floated back to Earth. Then on the Nuggets’ ensuing possession, Kobe jumped a passing lane and finished with a breakway one-hander, slapping on the bottom-teeth snarl as an exclamation point … Read More »