If there was one bright spot at the end of the season for the Toronto Raptors, it was Amir Johnson. After being buried on the bench in Detroit, Johnson finished his first year with the club on a tear. And remember, those games mattered, as the Raptors were making a playoff push. Try 26 points in a win against the Pistons, and 21 points, five rebounds and three assists in a win against the Knicks. If T-Dot loses Chris Bosh, they may just need to call upon the 6-9, 210-pound to step up. Read More »

Just a few months ago, John Salmons was left for dead. His numbers were down across the board in Chicago, and it seemed he was headed nowhere. Then a trade to Milwaukee brought him back to life. Now, after helping to lead the Bucks to the playoffs, Salmons thinks he might be able to capitalize on it. According to Gery Woelfel of The Milwaukee Journal Times, the Bucks are seriously attempting to extend Salmons’ contract before possibly losing him to free agency this summer, but word is that Salmons wants to test the free agent waters. Read More »

This was the text message I got last night from Austin after this happened: James Johnson‘s just been assassinated. Cops have it on tape: It was LeBron James.

Right before Cavs/Bulls tipped off last night, Charles Barkley said, “Unless something happens to LeBron James in the next two minutes, this game is history.” It wasn’t nearly that easy, but LeBron did dominate down the stretch as Cleveland won by 10 and took a 2-0 series lead … The first half was memorable for LeBron unleashing a dunk on James Johnson that may technically count as rookie hazing. Or as Reggie Miller put it: “Click-click, get ready for your Kodak moment!” The game was close until late in the fourth, when LeBron (40 pts, 8 rebs, 8 asts) started raining jumpers to stretch the lead. Read More »

In the midst of the mass exodus of NCAA underclassmen declaring for the NBA Draft (including THIS GUY), one sure-fire first round/lottery pick is headed back to school.

Earlier today, Duke’s Kyle Singler announced that he is returning to school for his senior season. It seemed like the smart move for Singler would have been to go pro now – after the way he played for the majority of the NCAA Tournament, his stock will likely never be higher than it is right now.

So why did he decide to go back to Duke? Read More »

The other day, our friends at Lakers Nation put together a piece titled Jay-Z: I Have A Message For The Lakers. It’s an extremely detailed post that saw them dedicate one of Jay-Z‘s songs to each of the Lakers players, as every song has special relevance to the Lake Show. And in their mind, it will hopefully serve as a guide as they defend their title. Read More »

Welcome to the “extreme” era of sports media. Thanks to an increasing number of outlets having to fight for an decreasing attention span of the audience, we’re not getting an overabundance of extreme arguments: Everything is “the best” or “the worst,” a smash hit or a bust, an all-time epic or an utter disaster. The point is, say something that makes people listen to you and put down the remote or chill on the left-click.

Charles Barkley is good for throwing out those extreme statements. Read More »

Yesterday, Shawn Marion had nine points, five rebounds, three assists and two blocks to help the Mavericks beats the Spurs. But the best part of his game was what he was wearing on his feet. Check out the Nike Air Max Turnaround that the Matrix wore in Game 1. Read More »

During the Blazers/Suns game last night, there were more than a few people commenting on Twitter how other NBA teams – most notably Denver – should have made a play for soon-to-be free agent Marcus Camby before the trade deadline. Well, it appears the Blazers aren’t going to let him go anywhere. According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, Portland is working toward securing Camby to a contract extension. Read More »

Back in high school, I always thought it’d be funny to declare for the NBA Draft. Coming from Vermont, I figured that the story would get picked up by ESPN and at least some scout/GM would have to check to see if I was the real deal or not. Because let’s be honest, no one follows prep hoops in VT. Anyways, this past weekend, I came across a similar story as 2011 J.D. Candidate Ryan McAteer from the University of Kansas School of Law published his intentions to enter the 2010 NBA Draft in the Kansas Law Free Press. Check out his letter to David Stern and Stu Jackson below. Read More »