One of the more feeble darts thrown from Cleveland Cavaliers fans to LeBron James this summer is something along the lines of, “We made you.”

Right. Except now that LeBron is gone, the team that won 60-plus games in each of the past two seasons, that went to the ’07 NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history, that during the LeBron era put together its first five-year string of consecutive postseason appearances since its ’92-96 run, went from a legit title contender to arguably the worst team in the League the moment LeBron said he was moving to Miami. So who made who again? Read More »

When it comes to women’s basketball, it doesn’t get any better than Diana Taurasi. She wins, she scores and she’s the fiercest competitor out there. Basically, she’s the female equivalent of Kobe Bryant. Averaging 22.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and a career-high 4.7 assists per game (including a 30-point, 10-assist performance on August 1), Taurasi led the WNBA in scoring for a record fourth season, while also managing to become the fastest player in league history to record 4,500 points, 1,000 rebounds and 900 assists for her career (224 games).

So what could go wrong for the league’s reigning MVP? Nothing. After Taurasi indicated earlier this summer that she might take next season off, the seven-year veteran re-signed with the Phoenix Mercury yesterday, right before she leads her squad into the postseason for the second consecutive season and the third time in the last four years. And remember, those last two trips ended with championship trophies. Read More »

Kwame Brown was on NBA TV twice yesterday: First when the news of his agreeing to a free-agent deal with the Charlotte Bobcats was announced, and again during the day-long celebration of Kobe Bryant’s 32nd birthday — Kwame making his cameo during the replay of Kobe’s 81-point game against the Raptors in January 2006.

Darko Milicic also made an appearance during the 81-point game. A graphic from the Lakers broadcast showed the top five picks of the ’03 Draft — LeBron, Darko, Carmelo, Bosh and D-Wade — and their scoring averages from that season. While LeBron was dropping like 30 ppg at the time, and ‘Melo, Wade and Bosh were all above 20 points a night, Darko stuck out like a white-collar criminal in a gen-pop prison yard, boasting an average of 1.6 points per game. Read More »

Given the “appeal” of Charlotte to NBA free agents, the lack of cap space the team had this offseason, and the fact that the Bobcats are actually coming off a decent year (losing their playoff virginity) and didn’t need to make any major trades, there were only like two or three realistic moves Michael Jordan could have made this summer to wind up in the headlines. And yesterday he made one of them by bringing Kwame Brown to the Bobcats … Granted, it’s just a one-year deal for the veteran minimum. And as far as backup centers go, you could do a lot worse than Kwame. But this is just like when the Knicks re-hired Isiah Thomas for those 20 minutes a couple weeks ago: What does Kwame do so well that you couldn’t have signed anybody else and avoided the bad PR and constant jokes? Read More »

With all five of the cities completed from this summer’s Red Bull 2on2 Revolution tour, we figured that we’d continue to lace y’all up – even if you weren’t able to make it through. In each of the cities, we collaborated with a sneaker boutique for an exclusive players only t-shirt. And let me tell you, people have been fiending for them! Next up, we’re giving away the Dime x Shop Gentei x Red Bull 2on2 Revolution t-shirt from Baltimore. Check it out in greater detail after the jump. Read More »

Today is the Kobe Bryant‘s 32nd birthday. Growing old? Not quite.

At 32, Bryant is arguably the NBA’s best player, and according to some, not far from MJ on the list of greatest ever. The 14-year veteran has been a 12-time All-Star, 10-time All-Defensive Team selection, 12-time All-NBA selection, has earned five NBA championship rings, one Olympic gold medal, one league MVP, two scoring titles, one slam dunk title, is the L.A. Lakers’ all-time leading scorer, and recorded the League’s second-highest scoring single game when he dropped 81 points on the Toronto Raptors in January 2006. This adds up to the best career of any current player in the league. Read More »

You may remember seeing J.R. Giddens and his ink featured in Dime #46 right after he came into the League. But this summer, where Giddens finds himself currently without a team, he decided to get some new ink for inspiration. Check out the “Underdog’s Underdog,” brought to you by L.A.’s Adam Daniel of 264 Customs. Check out these pictures exclusive to Dime in greater detail after the jump. Read More »

Back in 2001, Michael Jordan and the Wizards drafted Kwame Brown with the No. 1 pick. Nine years later, the two are reuniting, this time in Charlotte. According to ESPN.com’s Marc Stein, Brown’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, told ESPN.com that the 27-year-old has agreed to sign a one-year deal with the Bobcats for the league’s veteran minimum. Read More »

Not trying to steal Trey Kerby and Ball Don’t Lie’s “Create-a-caption” steez, but this pic from Amar’e Stoudemire‘s Twitter feed is just too funny not to post. As STAT said, he’s at Disney World making candy apples. And why wouldn’t he be? Leave us your best caption for this photo in the comments below. Read More »

With all of the Floridian love aimed down south at Miami this offseason, most have forgotten that its other team – the one that’s currently riding two consecutive Eastern Conference Finals – has also strengthened its squad through free agency. And Orlando has not only looked to reload its bench, it has accomplished the task mostly by staying in-house. Read More »