If this didn’t hype you up for today’s Christmas Day matchup between Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, then this certainly will. While the Black Mamba debuted the Zoom Kobe V in front of media earlier this month in Los Angeles, he has yet to wear the shoe in a game. This afternoon, on the biggest of stages, that will change. Read More »

Everybody had the day off on Christmas Eve, with no pro or college hoops on the schedule. So if you weren’t into watching SMU beat the brakes off Nevada in the Hawaii Bowl, or that 7th-8th-9th replay of Home Alone, it was just sitting and waiting for today’s all-national TV slate. Consider this a user’s guide on what to watch for Christmas Day …

Heat at Knicks (12 p.m. EST, ESPN). D-Wade‘s history with New York is up-and-down: He dropped 55 on ‘em last year, but also got 52 dropped on him at MSG by Jamal Crawford a couple years back. Read More »

I’ve seen countless videos of Kobe Bryant and LeBron James in my day, but none really come close to this. This is one of the best produced videos of the epic battle between the two greatest basketball players in the world, and someone should get the green light to show this before tomorrow’s game.

Beast of the Night: Dwight Howard put up 13 points, 20 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 4 blocks and 3 turnovers in 33 minutes of a blowout victory over the Rockets last night. He shot 71 percent (5-7) from the floor and 75 percent (3-4) from the free throw line. His scoring, rebounding and blocks are down this year, and his turnovers are higher compared to last season, but you know what you’re getting with Howard. Read More »

Yesterday was up there for one of the worst days of my life. Supposed to be headed to LA for sunny goodness, I get stuck in the US Airways terminal of LGA until I can board a flight to then be stranded in Philadelphia. Rather than brave it out in the airport until my new flight which is 6:00 PM this evening, I decided to find the cheapest hotel I could. While I would never recommend the Days Inn in Chester, PA, I will tell you this: they have flat screen TVs and ESPN in HD. So at least I got to see this.

The list is undeniably impressive — those who either retired without an NBA championship or went a long time without a ring directly because of Michael Jordan. Members include Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Patrick Ewing, Gary Payton, Mark Price, Alonzo Mourning, Tim Hardaway, Reggie Miller …

Almost as star-studded is the list of talent kept permanently ringless or who suffered longer than expected thanks to Tim Duncan. Read More »

Two days ago I asked for everyone’s favorite dunk of the decade. I spoke highly about two Vince Carter dunks, saying they were the only two I would consider in the running to be my favorite. Then the comments began to roll in. There was a ton of love for Vinsanity but some people brought up the Boom Dizzle. I completely forgot about the hurt Baron Davis rained down on Andrei Kirilenko. I sincerely apologize to Boom Dizzle for not giving him his due respect.

Arguably, the ’96 Chicago Bulls are the greatest team of all-time. You had (again, arguably) the greatest player of all-time in Michael Jordan, a top 50 NBA player in Scottie Pippen, one of the greatest rebounders of all-time with Dennis Rodman and the Zen Master himself, Phil Jackson, roaming the sidelines. Then you have their 72-10 record (best in NBA history) and the fact that they won the championship that year – the first of three. It’s hard to build a case why they aren’t the best squad ever. Read More »

When did the Sacramento Kings get so interesting? Formerly a staple in the “Other stat lines” portion of Smack — the one usually headlined by Gerald Wallace nowadays — Tyreke Evans‘ team (we’ll figure out where Kevin Martin fits when he gets healthy) is suddenly on the League’s must-watch list. Just in the last week, Sacto beat Milwaukee on a Tyreke game-winner and pulled off a historic 35-point comeback in Chicago; then last night, they did something we can’t remember ever seeing before in an NBA game … At first, it looked like the only intrigue in Cavs/Kings would be how many points LeBron would score. Read More »

Pau Gasol is on a roll. Over the last eight games, all double-doubles, he’s averaged 16.2 points and 15.7 rebounds while the Lakers have gone 7-1. And in an interview aired on ESPN over the weekend, Kobe Bryant said Pau is the best low-post player in the NBA today — presumably knowing that Tim Duncan and Dwight Howard would be included in that discussion.

And today, Gasol signed a three-year contract extension with the Lakers for a reported $64 million, according to the Los Angeles Times. Read More »