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. After UNC, then Oklahoma, then Kansas, Barnes recaps his trip to Duke last weekend. Here’s an excerpt: Read More »

For various reasons, disgraced NBA ref Tim Donaghy‘s tell-all book about his antics in the League has been canceled by the book’s publisher. “Blowing the Whistle: The Culture of Fraud in the NBA” was supposed to drop later this month, covering Donaghy’s experience in the NBA and the events leading up to his conviction on federal wire fraud charges.

The official cancellation didn’t hit though until some explosive excerpts were released to some media outlets including Deadspin.com. The clips Deadspin posted from Donaghy’s book are jaw-dropping. We’re not taking sides here, we’re just passing some of them along … Read More »

Between the Delonte West fiasco and the team’s back to back losses to begin the ’09-10 campaign, it hasn’t been the smoothest start for the Cleveland Cavaliers. With 80 games to go this season, there isn’t any reason for the team or fans to start panicking yet. But they should definitely be worried. Read More »

Beast of the Night: LeBron James repeats as Beast of the Night, hanging a triple-double to the tune of 23 points, 1 three, 11 rebounds, 12 assists and 2 steals in a loss against the Raptors last night. He had 4 turnovers and shot 57.1 percent (8-14) from the free throw line, which seems to be his one flaw yet again this year. Read More »

It would have been assumed that the young Bobcats were not headed in the right direction after drafting both Adam Morrison and Alexis Ajinca in the first round of the draft. But when Sheldon Williams drops a near double-double on you, things really aren’t looking too good. Read More »

Even with seven new faces on the roster, the Orlando Magic have been playing like they’ve been together for years. After posting a perfect 8-0 preseason record and dominating Philly 120-106 in the home opener last night, the team is showing why they were the Eastern Conference Champions last year.

One member of the Magic that could have a bigger role in the team’s quest to return to the Finals is fourth-year guard J.J. Redick. With a 5.5 ppg career average, it’s fair to say the former Duke All-American and lottery pick has not lived up to his billing so far. 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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#1: KOBE BRYANT, L.A. Lakers

Grown-man fear is a complicated thing. It’s not a pure phobia, nor the fear one experiences through startled shock, nor is it a fear that cripples, like that of failure or open spaces. Read More »

For a franchise that supposedly doesn’t have any money, the Grizzlies went all-out for their home opener. After introducing the Pistons to the theme from Beverly Hills Cop (cute), the Jumbotron showed a dramatic over-the-top video where Allen Iverson and Rudy Gay talked about “Grizz Nation” and defending homecourt. Then the DJ put on a Michael Myers/Halloween-inspired track, and the Jabbawockeez appeared at midcourt to dance. THEN they brought out Three Six Mafia, wearing Memphis jerseys and performing “Stay Fly” to bleed into the player intros, complete with smoke machines and everything else. Read More »

There’s no other way to describe Melo’s juggernaut hammer to the face of an extended Paul Millsap than how our Aron Phillips’ twitter feed read 20 seconds after the fact: “Carmelo just ripped out Millsap’s heart!!!” I felt like I was watching the Temple of Doom or something. Love me some mile high skywalking.

Thanks to @jose3030, you can check out Damien Wilkins‘ buzzer beater to win the game for the Timberwolves. Tough loss for the Nets.