After Vince Carter choked at the foul line last night, I realized something: Vince will never escape his reputation as a player that isn’t clutch. While this label is certainly unfair to attach to Carter, it will nevertheless dog him throughout the remainder of his playing days and into retirement. Read More »

In last Monday night’s defeat of the Suns, Lamar Odom decided to make this one of the games he displays the all-around skills that make him one of most talented players in the game. Finishing with 19 points and 19 rebounds, should we be surprised at his output? As a superstar at Christ the King in New York, nightly SportsCenter highlights of Odom dazzling with his all-world talent were all but guaranteed by those who dubbed him the next Magic Johnson. Heck, the CBA offered him a $100,000 contract to sign with any team. That sounds like LeBron treatment. Nowadays though, it seems you never know what you are going to get on a nightly basis. Read More »

While last night’s immediate Lottery fallout was all about the Washington Wizards and John Wall, now we can begin to get an idea of how the rest of the draft will play out after the top spot. This is the first of many Dime mock drafts leading up to June 24. As usual, it’s a combination of what we think teams should do and what we think they will do: Read More »

Devastation is the one word that can truly describe how I was feeling yesterday as a die-hard Nets fan. I had endured the 12-70 season with the hope that John Wall would be the light at the end of the dark tunnel that was 2009-10. Instead, not only is Wall not that light, but neither is Evan Turner. The top two players in the Draft are no longer obtainable for the Nets, and after a season full of them, this is the worst of our 70 losses. Read More »

After the NBA Draft Lottery last night, the Draft horizon became a little bit clearer. And while ESPN spent most of the night talking about John Wall and Evan Turner, there are 58 other picks that will get their shot at the League. With that in mind, here are my Top 5 most underrated players in this year’s NBA Draft. Read More »

Here’s an e-mail thread from last night’s game:
Person A: “I would like to point out that Vince Carter can’t get back in the game because of how well J.J. Redick is playing.”
Person B: “You mean the guy that just hit the go-ahead bucket late in the fourth quarter. Redick doesn’t see the ball that possession.”
Person C: “Redick doesn’t miss those free throws.”
Person B: “No comment.”

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The cold part is that Vince Carter really is more clutch than a lot of people realize. But when your biggest crunch-time hiccups take place on the biggest stages, your reputation will say otherwise. And Vince has no choice but to eat a big bowl of “choker” criticism after last night … In the first half of Magic/Celtics Game 2, Vince could barely get on the court after J.J. Redick came in and started busting jumpers, but in the fourth quarter he started to make up for it. Vince (16 pts, 3 stls) hit a pull-up from the elbow to cut Boston’s lead to two with about five minutes left, then drained the go-ahead J a few possessions later. Kevin Garnett put the Celtics back on top with a turnaround, and with 30 seconds left, Orlando was down three with Vince at the line. Read More »

I just got off a conference call with Washington Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld. Outside of the typical happiness and optimism from getting the No. 1 pick in this year’s Draft, Grunfeld didn’t commit to picking consensus top prospect John Wall, and said Gilbert Arenas‘ place with the team isn’t in danger.

Dime: What was your immediate reaction to hearing you had the top pick? Ernie Grunfeld: Immediately I was just so happy, I think I did a double fist-pump when they announced Washington had the top pick. Obviously everybody wants the No. 1 pick, so we’re ecstatic about it. We’re going in a new direction with the team, in a rebuilding direction, and what better way to start that than with the No. 1 pick? Read More »

The drawing is done, and the Washington Wizards have the top pick in this year’s NBA Draft. Representing the recently embattled franchise at tonight’s Lottery event was Irene Pollin, widow of late owner Abe Pollin.

Two immediate questions: (1) How long do the Wizards need to debate before they decide on John Wall? (2) What does this mean for Gilbert Arenas? Read More »

Whose biopic film hasn’t been made yet (or made right) that you want to see?

Caddyshack, Braveheart, and the entire Star Wars series. People who don’t know me well tend to look at me like I have cockroaches crawling out of my ears when they find out I’ve never seen either of those movies.

People who do know me well are more shocked that I still haven’t seen Notorious. I can’t explain it, either. Biggie Smalls was and is my favorite artist of all-time, and I was beyond stoked when I first heard they were making a full-length feature biopic about his life. Read More »