Aside from the bizarre internet videos he posted over the summer, Stephon Marbury has managed to stay out of the headlines. Ever since the Celtics lost in the second round of the 2009 playoffs, Marbury has been out of work. That all changed over the weekend, as the former two-time All-Star signed with the Shanxi Zhongyu of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) according to Yahoo! Sports. Read More »

Beast of the Night: Tyreke Evans had no problem overcoming Charlotte’s defense, finishing with 34 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 3 blocks and 3 turnovers. He hit 65 percent (13-20) of his shots and 73 percent (8-11) of his free throws. The return of Kevin Martin hasn’t hurt his value much at all so far. Read More »

Not that Tony Parker is sweating a 2010 All-Star snub — I’m guessing he’d rather spend the winter weekend curled up with Eva Longoria instead of getting booed every time he touches the ball in Spurs-hating Dallas — but TP nonetheless issued a late reminder yesterday that he shouldn’t be forgotten in All-Star talk.

On paper, Parker went against nemesis Chris Paul and gave him 25 points while snapping the Hornets’ seven-game home win streak. In reality, CP and TP rarely guarded each other; but no matter who was in front of him, Parker thrived. Read More »

Long before he even landed in Canada, DeMar DeRozan was known worldwide for his dunking abilities. The Compton native has been compared to everyone from the Chicago playground legend Ronnie Fields to another former Raptors high flyer, Vince Carter. There’s no question that people in Toronto were thrilled when the Raptors made the super athletic shooting guard out of USC the ninth overall selection in last June’s draft. Read More »

So long as they can get their superstars to re-up when the time comes — which, knowing Joe Johnson and Kevin Durant, is a likely scenario — would it be too crazy to predict a Hawks/Thunder NBA Finals matchup sometime this decade? Maybe in the next five years? The up-and-coming contenders gave a preview in one of yesterday’s early MLK holiday games … With 2:30 to go in the fourth, Durant’s jumper coming off a curl broke a tie. After trading bricks for a while, OKC had the rock with 20 seconds left, still up two. The Hawks denied Durant (29 pts, 14-15 FT), leaving Jeff Green with an iso on Josh Smith near midcourt. Not exactly the guy you’d draw up that play for, Green put his head down, got a step on J-Smoove, and banged on his head, plus the foul. Read More »

Who are your sports heroes?

I don’t know why, but when I was growing up and coming into my identity as a Black male, I felt I was supposed to pick a side between Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Whether it’s the same old divisiveness that’s stood in the way of progress for decades or it’s something else, I can’t explain it. But that said, I was more of a Malcolm fan: Read the autobiography, bought the posters, romanticized “By any means necessary” even if I didn’t completely understand what it meant. Read More »

Today at Penn Station in Manhattan, the NBA announced the participants in the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest that will take place on All-Star Saturday Night on February 13. Rather than just naming the participants, the league took a creative and innovative approach to their announcement. They hired speed-painter Dan Dunn to sketch out the chosen dunkers in front of a curious crowd of around 100 in the crowded train station right under Madison Square Garden. Read More »

Weekend Wonder: Chris Paul was a fantasy fiend in two games this weekend, averaging 23 points, 1 three, 6.5 rebounds, 12.5 assists, 3 steals, 0.5 blocks and 2.5 turnovers. He’s handed out double-digit assists in seven straight games and has stolen at least two balls in 12 straight. Read More »

“I hope to hear more from Nate Robinson. He is going to have an entire country looking up to him as an inspiration. I am part filipino as well and proud to say “I am pinoy.” – YouTube user Pacman344140Hagler

Manila might be more than a dozen time zones away from Los Angeles, but people in the Philippines are fully aware of what’s going on with the Lakers as well as the other 29 teams in the league. To put things bluntly, Filipinos are crazy for the NBA. And by crazy, I mean like what college football is to people in South Bend. Or what soccer is to people in England and what hockey is to folks in Toronto. Get the point? The league has also taken notice of the passion Filipinos have for basketball. Read More »

Phil Jackson is the king of the smart-ass, “Did he just insult me?” sneaky insult; Stan Van Gundy is good for more blatantly throwing you under the bus and making it work; Gregg Popovich will scream at you in front of 20,000 people but never lose your respect; and Mike Brown will get himself ejected in a minute going to bat for you — so long as your name is LeBron James. But you have to love the way Jerry Sloan gets it done: No games, no tactics, just telling it like it is whether he’s in a closed locker room or in front of a crew of reporters … Watching the Nuggets spend all night at the free throw line (41-of-49 FT) in Sunday’s win over Utah, most coaches would blame the refs. Sloan wasn’t going there. Read More »