With the NBA season right around the corner, I caught up with three former players-turned-anaylsts from NBA TV today to preview the upcoming season. Chris Webber, Steve Smith and Greg Anthony broke down questions for an hour on everything from Kwame Brown‘s signing to the effect the lockout will have on young egos. While they disagreed on a number of things, they all seemed to be convinced that Boston’s old vets will actually be helped by the lockout. Read More »

Watch as Kobe Bryant goes from attacking strong to attacking fast in the blink of an eye with the new Nike Kobe VII System Supreme. With the simple switch of an insert, the shoe enables you to play your game better. Read More »

By now you’ve seen Kevin Durant‘s latest signature shoe, the Nike Zoom KD IV. But we guarantee you’ve never seen it like this. Introducing the “Christmas” edition, made exclusively for KD’s game against the Magic on Christmas Day. Check it out: Read More »

The Chris Paul drama has touched on the fact that the New Orleans Hornets do not have a true owner – the NBA owns them. David Stern has repeatedly said that he wants to keep the Hornets in New Orleans and is only interested in selling the team to buyers who will do just that. Read More »

By now you’ve seen the Nike Zoom Hyperdunk 2011. Now, the folks at Nike Basketball have given it a whole new look. Inspired by Blake Griffin‘s alternate career path as a late-night talk show host, “The Blake Show” edition pays homage to just that. Check it out: Read More »

People always say one of the main reasons NBA players are so marketable is because they don’t wear anything on their head during a game. Football and hockey have helmets. Baseball has fitteds. But basketball? Other than perhaps a headband, fans have an unobstructed view at each player’s grill. And from mullets to corn rows to jheri curls, the Association has seen just about every ‘do possible. As you can imagine, it would be difficult to come up with a list of the 50 ugliest haircuts in NBA history, but our friends over at Complex have done just that. Read More »

YES! That was my reaction upon seeing this tweet from The Commercial Appeal in Memphis: Proposed Mayo-McRoberts deal is officially dead, source tells the CA. Mayo told this morning that he won’t be traded anywhere. In what seemed like deja vu, yesterday it was reported the Grizzlies and Pacers had agreed on basically the same deal that was on the plate at last season’s trade deadline: O.J. Mayo to Indiana for Josh McRoberts. But now, the Grizzlies have turned around and told Mayo not to worry about the rumors. He’s staying in Memphis. Read More »

Along with the NBA lockout came an inevitable domino effect: Owners and players couldn’t reach an agreement, so the players couldn’t play. Thus, the executives couldn’t sell tickets. The vendors couldn’t push products. The fans had no game action to rehash. The bloggers couldn’t blog (as well). And the critics and sportscasters were forced to push golf, tennis and soccer onto us – like we actually care about that nonsense. Fortunately, the recently agreed upon labor contract should ensure that the worst is behind us. Yes – after what felt like a whopping 149 years (not days), the NBA is finally back. But not all was cause for complaints during the extended offseason. Our beloved sportswear companies, responsible for lacing us up with the finest on-court and off-court accents, couldn’t quit their day jobs. So we were repeatedly reminded that basketball never stops. Word to Nike. Read More »

You have Chris Paul, asking – demanding – for a trade, hanging suspended in limbo at the fingers of the master puppeteer David Stern, playing for a team with no talent in a city where no one shows up on game nights. You have Dwight Howard going back and forth, worried “Will this make them hate me? Will they call me names?” One day he wants out. The next he never wants to leave. You have J.J. Barea, who recently broke the traditional sports code: left a championship team for more money. He went for the cash, and wasn’t looking back. But then you have Paul Pierce, the old cowboy who never left his post, and survived the Antoine Walker era, coaching changes, a nearly fatal stabbing, an 18-game losing streak and the steely glare of Red. Read More »

Let’s be honest: Drafting the sleepers you want in the round you want is one of the most satisfying feelings in fantasy basketball. That said, sleepers are a dangerous breed. Like fair trades in the NBA these days, sleepers are not sure things and can sometimes burn you if you pounce too early on them. To help sort out the sleepers you should be eyeing in your fantasy basketball drafts this year, here’s a list of players who are napping, dozing and comatose (assuming nine categories). Read More »