With the Conference Finals about to start, the NBA has graced us with their first commercial spot for the 2011 NBA Finals. Watch as the official basketball of the NBA (this time voiced by John Slattery) looks back on a special moment he shared with Michael Jordan after MJ came back to win his fourth championship in 1996 on Father’s Day.

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Yesterday, the NBA All-Rookie First Team was finally unveiled, with Blake Griffin securing the only unanimous selection of the group including John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Landry Fields and Gary Neal. As for the Clips’ wonder kid, we’ve been dropping highlights of his monster games and dunks all season long. Griffin may have gotten the winner’s share of the media limelight this year, but all five of these guys rose to the occasion on more than a few instances. And to celebrate their inclusion on the All-Rookie First Team, here are our favorite individual highlights of the rooks. Read More »

Who will coach the Lakers next season? Almost immediately upon getting knocked out of the playoffs, the focus of L.A.’s offseason turned to who will replace Phil Jackson and his 11 championship rings. Because they are the Lakers and because they still have a ton of talent on the roster, L.A. should have the pick of the litter. GM Mitch Kupchak says that while he expects Jackson to retire, he is not yet ready to talk about the probable coaching vacancy. But we can. Read More »

After Miami took out the Celtics last night, potentially shuttering Boston’s “window” forever, LeBron was plaintive in the post-game press conference. In this clip he discusses his path to Miami, and although he doesn’t mention “The Decision” by name, ‘Bron apologizes for “the way it happened.”

<a href="http://video.msn.com?mkt=en-us&#038;brand=foxsports&#038;playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:f0b2a7c2-b922-4d09-8182-4334514579e8&#038;showPlaylist=true&#038;from=IV2_en-us_foxsports_videosearch&#038;fg=RAMP" target="_new" title="LeBron apologizes for Decision">Video: LeBron apologizes for Decision</a>

It’s officially “No Country For Old Men.” Talent kept Miami in it for 44 minutes. But intensity won it for them in the final four. The Heat finished their series-ending 97-87 win over Boston on a crazy 16-0 run. Want to know how polarizing LeBron is? On back-to-back tweets in our Twitter feed, we saw the words “classless” and “classy” when describing his end-of-game celebration/comments. For everything he’s had to go through this year, LeBron’s late-game heroics were an enormous “How my booty taste?” to all of the haters. Read More »

Kevin Durant is definitely a man of the people. Need another reason why? Tonight, he’ll debut this fan-designed colorway of the Nike Zoom KD III iD in Game 5 against the Grizzlies. Check ‘em out: Read More »

In honor of the late Robert “Tractor” Traylor, check out the Nike Camp Force commercial he starred in alongside Charles Barkley and Cynthia Cooper.

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This could be it for one of the most dominant players in NBA history. At the very least, it’s looking like it’ll be it for the rest of this season. While attempting to come back from a troublesome calf injury this weekend, Shaquille O’Neal played just 12 restricted minutes, and was barely able to get up and down the court. Now, it sounds like unless the Celtics extend their season not just beyond tonight, but into the next round, Shaq will sit it out. Read More »

It’s tough to honestly pick an All-American team. Gone are the days when so much of the nation’s high school basketball talent was concentrated in major cities like New York, L.A., Chicago and Philly – now the game is everywhere, with superstars coming out of small Midwestern towns, previously overlooked Northwest suburbs and the football territories of the Deep South, to name a few. So even in an era where YouTube highlights and regular national TV broadcasts allow more people to see more high school stars outside their own area code, the sheer volume of quality players spread around the map can be overwhelming. As a result, hype and reputation play too much of a role in determining who gets what awards and honors, and people make lazy picks, sometimes without even having seen a kid play. Read More »

Even in the postseason, the season-long journey of the great Boston’s Got Wings program has continued to make a real, tangible impact on the City of Boston’s basketball courts. All season long, Red Bull has been donating $500 to Boston’s Parks and Recreation Department for every steal recorded by Rajon Rondo, with every single dollar going towards the refurbishments of outdoor basketball courts all over the city. We were on hand in Boston the other day to see some of the transformation taking place at the Back Bay Fens. Read More »