Watching “SportsCenter” run their Top 10 NBA plays of the decade the other night — where the top three coincidentally involved LeBron and Kobe directly — I officially ran out of patience for this “decade” stuff. I know it seems fitting to have the best plays of the decade topped by (depending on who you ask) the best player of the decade, but was Kobe’s game-winner against the Suns in ’06 really the best play of the last TEN years? (I would have put Derek Fisher‘s 0.4 shot ahead of Kobe’s shot.)

So I have just one more piece to add to the decade celebration, then I’m done. Read More »

Steve Nash would not be starting in the 2010 All-Star Game if voting ended today. The latest All-Star voting results were just announced and Nash is exactly 1,005 votes shy of the second guard spot in the West. That honor currently belongs to Tracy McGrady, who has played all of six games this season and is technically not even on the Rockets anymore. In order to make up the difference for the next round of voting, Nash just released this video of himself. It doesn’t exactly show him in his proudest moments but you’ve got to love his sense of humor.

Beast of the Night: LeBron James celebrated his 25th birthday by going off for 48 points, 10 boards, 6 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. He added 4 threes and 3 turnovers while shooting 65 percent (15-23) from the floor and 88 percent (14-16) from the line. This was a nice present for his fantasy owners. Read More »

Word on the street is the Chicago Bulls could be interested in acquiring a certain disgruntled former All-Star out in Texas. The Tracy McGrady saga in Houston has gone from bad to worse last week when the team sent him home in the middle of an Eastern Conference road trip. T-Mac has been at odds with the Rockets ever since he announced he was getting season-ending surgery without telling the team first back in February. Since then, the team has flourished without him and have not welcomed him back now that he’s healthy. Read More »

For the second night in a row, Cavs/Hawks played out with postseason-type intensity, ratcheted up a notch because it came 24 hours after their last physical down-to-the-wire contest, and with an extra spotlight due to it being LeBron‘s birthday … The Hawks led by as much as 17 in the third quarter, but midway through the fourth, Cleveland cut it to three on Anthony Parker‘s Wade-esque spinning no-look layup where the replay showed he tapped the ball in from waist-level rather than release an actual shot. “Wow, no foul!” cried Cavs announcer Austin Carr, forgetting that LeBron pretty much manhandled Josh Smith while going for the loose ball that set up AP’s shot. Read More »

As much as the end of a calendar year lends itself to making New Year’s resolutions, it’s also a time to look back and brag or try to forget what you did right and wrong over the last 12 months.

Over the summer, I predicted the Bucks would become the next appointment-viewing team on NBA League Pass, followed by a prediction that the Wizards would make the 2010 playoffs. “If the core guys stay healthy, a seventh or eighth seed isn’t just a lofty goal, it’s a likely scenario.”

A lot of people got on me for low-balling the Wizards, insisting they’d be a top four or five seed easily. Read More »

Danilo Gallinari is full of surprises. People thought he was going to be a bust and now he’s one is the best sophomores in the NBA. People thought he was just a shooter, then he pulls the Shammgod dribble move. Now Danilo shows that he can have fun too by singing “Halo” by Beyonce. He’s not that good of a singer, but at the same time, he’s not terrible. The funniest part is the fact that he actually knows all the words to the song.

Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve never seen consecutive nights with nasty blocks on Kobe. First it was Robin Lopez with the chase down block, and now his former teammate Ronny Turiaf rising to block the Black Mamba’s dunk.

Beast of the Night: Kobe Bryant scored a season-high 44 points against the Warriors, chipping in 2 threes, 4 rebounds, 11 assists, 1 steal and 1 turnover. He shot 48 percent (13-27) from the field and 100 percent (16-16) from the charity stripe. Kobe scored 40+ points just four times last season but has already done it seven times this season. Read More »

Anything is possible in the National Basketball Association. On any given night a team can pull out an upset victory, David Stern can fine you for something you didn’t even say or a superstar can be traded for pennies on the dollar. For the most part we don’t know what General Managers and team executives are thinking. The general NBA fan has the common sense to know when a front office decision is a bad move. For instance everyone knew when Isiah Thomas signed Jerome James to his ridiculous contract that it was unwarranted. It is knee jerk reactions like that which create the special group of NBA players called the Untradeables. Read More »