The Shaq vs. Dwight battles continue, even off the court. Now our question is: Whom would you rather follow on Twitter, Shaq or Dwight? Read More »

Which sport has the best athletes?

I’m probably in the minority, but this is one of my favorite stretches of the sports calendar. The most important NBA games are being played, football is close enough around the corner that there’s no shortage of preview shows and classic re-runs, baseball is in full swing, every weekend there’s free boxing on somewhere, and the international track and field outdoor season is underway.

Working in the basketball industry, I often hear the argument that the NBA employs the best athletes in the world. Read More »

All due respect to Ohio State’s Evan Turner, who dutifully pointed out during last week’s Chicago pre-draft combine that he won all the National Player of the Year trophies, but John Wall was the biggest story in college basketball this season.

His Kentucky Wildcats didn’t live up to their national championship expectations, but on his way to putting up 16.6 points, 6.5 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game, Wall maintained his spot as the consensus No. 1 pro prospect in the nation. And if everything goes according to form, next month Wall will be chosen as the savior of the Washington Wizards — possibly signaling the exit of Dime’s last Wizards’ cover guy, Gilbert Arenas. Read More »

Even the staunchest L.A. supporters probably expected a loss Sunday night. Eight straight playoff wins, and there was reason to believe a slip up was coming. It’s clockwork. Plus, it could be argued that no other Western Conference squad has shown as much resiliency as Phoenix has this past season. They went from darlings to dead to playoff surprises, all in one season. Predictions on how they will come out in Game 4 will be all over the place. The Lakers? It’s never a secret what they need to take the W. Read More »

The Suns pulled off an exhilarating victory Sunday night in front of the Orange-clad faithful, but people are wondering if they can do it again tonight. Let me let you in on a little secret: the Suns can beat the Lakers again and even up this series, and here are three reasons why. Read More »

When I think of the NBA Draft, three things come to mind: 1) Becoming a millionaire, 2) Shaking hands with David Stern, and 3) Putting on the hat of the team that selected you. (Yes Kobe, you were drafted by the Hornets.) Now you too can be part of the action, as the 2010 NBA Draft Cap from adidas – the first authentic piece of team apparel a player receives after being drafted – is available on NBAStore.com. Read More »

People were going nuts for this tee, and the submissions we got for Kobe‘s stat line were great. His final line the other night was 36-9-11-1-1 for a total of 58. The contest was not about who was closest to the actual stat line, but closest to the combined total of points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. Here are the winners. Read More »

When watching Lakers-Suns, any time they show shots of the Lakers’ bench, it is hard to miss Adam Morrison sitting there. And it is sad to see. The guy still has his long locks and facial hair, and looks as messy as he did in college, but as opposed to looking like a kid having a ball, he has a look of disappointment on his face. Read More »

With yesterday’s firing of Mike Brown, who just last season was named the 2008-09 NBA Coach of the Year, it made me begin to think that winning the award could be more of a curse than a blessing. And after looking at the last five winners, you begin to see – as they say in the Twitterverse – a “trending topic.” Ever since the 2005-06 season, all the previous winners (except this year’s) were fired within the next two seasons. Check it out. Read More »

It seems like forever ago, but the Rockets still hold the distinction of giving the reigning NBA champion Lakers their toughest playoff battle of the last two years. After pushing Kobe to just his third Game 7 of the last decade (’02, ’06, ’09), however, the Rockets essentially lost their top three players this season and wound up in the Lottery.

And yet, Houston has plenty of reasons to be optimistic. In a season of turnover and turmoil — where Yao Ming missed all 82 following foot surgery, Ron Artest left in free agency, T-Mac played a handful of games before a deadline trade, and fan favorite/future building block Carl Landry was also traded — the Rockets cultivated a new, younger core and still finished above .500 in the West. How can they get back to the playoffs in 2011? Read More »