I’m sure you’ll be reading and seeing a lot about Shaquille O’Neal over the next few days, but it’s time to take it back for a minute to the moment it all started: June 24, 1992. I wonder if Craig Sager even remembers this…

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There’s a reason that basketball has been thriving again in Manhattan, Kansas. And it’s less about Bob Huggins, Michael Beasley and Bill Walker’s respectively quick residencies; it has to do with Coach Frank Martin and his beast of a senior guard, Jacob Pullen. Read More »

Shaquille O’Neal recorded 12 points, 18 rebounds and three blocks in 32 minutes before fouling out in his first NBA game on Nov. 6, 1992 against Miami. He now retired with 28,596 points (5th in NBA history), 13,099 rebounds (12th in NBA history) and 2,732 blocks (7th in NBA history) in 19 NBA seasons, earning 15 All-Star selections and four championships along the way. Take a minute to look back at some of the highlights from his career, set to Green Day‘s “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life).” Of course.

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As a social media pioneer in his own right, Shaquille O’Neal has broken another barrier today, this time becoming the first NBA player to announce his retirement on Twitter – via video no less. Using the hashtag #ShaqRetires, O’Neal simply titled his video, “Shaq ooout.” Watch it here: Read More »

Many things were different in 2006. Our president was still white, Osama still roamed the deserts and no one had even heard of Soulja Boy. Yet, the NBA was still as competitive as ever as the upstart Miami Heat took on the Dallas Mavericks in a wild six-game series. Five years later, as the two teams hook up again in the Finals, we take a look at the top 5 reasons why the 2011 Finals is not the 2006 Finals. Read More »

The NBA Draft is simply the most important time of the year for rebuilding franchises. Just ask the Portland Trail Blazers. Whether it is the next Michael Jordan and Kevin Durant, or the next Sam Bowie and Greg Oden, we are out to identify the legitimate prospects from the phony ones. Every week, we will deliver a profile of a top prospect and breakdown their game. We will give you player comparisons, ratings, outside opinions on the prospects, and much more. Last week we had Duke University’s Kyrie Irving, and this week’s prospect is University of Connecticut point guard Kemba Walker. Read More »

You may have noticed that the drama surrounding Scottie Pippen‘s comments concerning the NBA’s G.O.A.T. had begun to die down. Well, that was only because Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was late to the party. In the letter below posted on his website, he had some less than kind words for Mr. Pippen. Read More »

NBA 2K is back with a vengeance. Here’s the official TV spot that premiered before the start of the NBA Finals last night. And if you’re looking to circle a date on your calendar, NBA 2K12 will be available everywhere Oct. 4, 2011. (Note: The gameplay footage is from NBA 2K11.) We’ll get you new gameplay footage as soon as it’s available…

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Trading your best player never, at least on the surface, appears to be a solution. Trading your leading scorer, an offensive jackrabbit that can get you buckets all over the court, is going to make you better? Seems backwards. But sometimes, change is good, for both parties. Ever since they brought in Stephen Curry, there were questions around the Warriors’ organization: can you win with both Curry and Monta Ellis in the same backcourt? Read More »

As we wrote last week, Jim Buss has stamped the untouchable label on Andrew Bynum’s forehead. Well congratulations, Mr. Bynum. Thanks to the only higher-up that counts, you’re probably even impervious to Archimedes’ Death Ray. Less impressively, you’re now the only player in this elite class not among the NBA’s top ten players. But that begs the question: Who are the rest of these untouchables? The best and the untouchables are certainly not mutually exclusive, nor are they completely overlapping. Some have rings, some don’t. They do, however, share one exclusive trait: If they depart for another team, it would gruesomely devastate the infrastructure of that city’s fanhood. Here’s the list of the NBA’s only truly untouchable players. Read More »