Z-Booooooooooooo. If you wanted to watch the story of Zach Randolph, just check out the tape of the Grizzlies come-from-behind 101-93 overtime win over Oklahoma City. He wrapped his entire basketball career up in one 53-minute autobiography, being selfish and disruptive early before redeeming himself late in ways no one thought possible. Oklahoma City led by 16 points in the third quarter and were on their way to a series lead. But Kevin Durant (22 points, 12 rebounds) and Russell Westbrook(23 points, 12 assists) started filming Episode VII of Star Wars and slowly let the Grizz inch closer and closer. Then in overtime, Memphis pushed the Thunder all over the court, ending the extra frame without any more drama … Read More »
Up 87-81 with only a few minutes to play, it felt like the Lakers had their mojo back. But just as they have all year, the defending champs couldn’t close as Dallas ended on a 17-5 to win 98-92 and push the Lakers from worried to dead. L.A.’s final minutes read like a movie script from a drunk screenwriter: no one could solve the Dirk Nowitzki (32 points) high post-up, and the German either scored or found wide-open shooters. Read More »
Before the run of “can’t stop, won’t stop” offensive playoff explosions from Dirk Nowitzki this year, 2006 stood as his magnum opus. We can’t forget, despite Dallas falling apart in the Finals, what he did that year. Here was his greatest moment: a 50-point annihilation of Phoenix in a pivotal Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals.
As you can imagine, when we’re not in the office during the spring and summer, we’re out on the blacktop hooping. And some days, we’ll even bounce from the office to do just that. Now, thanks to our friends at AXE, after you’ve done your work on the court, you can proceed to do your work off of it. Read More »
If this playoff run has shown anything, it’s that the game is changing. Not only are new teams sprouting up to beat back the mentally and physically-spent giants, but there’s a whole new era of players ready to take control.
Earlier this week in Smack, a debate surfaced: who are the best power forwards of this generation? Dirk Nowitzki is a monster right now, Tim Duncan appears to have finally hit the wall and Kevin Garnett may be on his last legs. How does it all fit in? Where do these players rank as they inch closer to finishing the final chapter in their careers? Read More »
If you were to just go off jersey sales, Rajon Rondo would be the third most popular player in the NBA behind LeBron and Kobe. And one reason people might like him so much is because he’s always wearing the freshest kicks. Tomorrow, Rondo will debut the Nike Zoom Hyperfuse Low iD in Boston, and we have pictures from NIKEiD of two colorways made special just for him. Check ‘em out: Read More »
To celebrate his newly awarded Rookie of the Year hardware, Blake Griffin and Nike decided it was finally time the Clippers forward had his own late-night talk show – this is Hollywood after all. And along with help from comedian Andy Richter, they did just that last night at the Nike Vault in front of a very small, studio-sized crowd of onlookers. The set, props, theatrics and even sidekick host all helped to create a pretty awesome atmosphere for the first taping of The Blake Show. Luckily for us, we got to catch the show’s only performance and get up with both Griffin and Richter to hear how their first show all went down.
Not to get technical, but the real Rookie of the Year this season was John Wall. I mean, he was a rookie, and Blake Griffin was not. It’s that simple. Averaging 16.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 8.3 assists, Wall wasn’t able to follow in the footsteps of former John Calipari point guards Derrick Rose and Tyreke Evans by winning ROY honors, but as Coach Cal said, “He was tremendous.” So what does he have to do to keep up with the league’s youngest MVP? Read More »
Two point guards. Two completely different games. You know the position is in good hands when one team has a defensive disrupter who sets people up as well as anyone in the league while the other is lead by a player who thinks attack first and attack harder second, and yet both are considered all-league players who can lead a team deep in the playoffs. Read More »
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