Throughout the NBA lockout, David Stern said repeatedly that he and the owners would be willing to lose the season if that is what it took to get what they deemed to be a “fair” deal. While those claims by Stern would most likely have come to fruition if the two sides didn’t come to a last-minute agreement, once a deal was in place, Stern wanted to maximize the number of games played this season. It was announced that the NBA would have a 66-game season this year stretching from Christmas Day until the end of April. Read More »

There are a lot of very cool things that happen on daily basis here at Dime. 10 years in, among lots of other things, we still get excited every time the new issue arrives, every time we pull off a great photo shoot with a player, or every time one of the team pens an inspired story for the magazine or web site. For a small company made up of guys always trying to do big things, the little stuff never gets old.

One of those things that has popped up in recent years is the result of our collaboration with Dime China. Read More »

The first month of the college hoops season has already had enough defining moments to warrant the Luther Vandross treatment.

There was the poignant high of Coach K surpassing his mentor Bob Knight as the all-time leader in NCAA D-I coaching wins; the gut-wrenching (and ongoing) low of Syracuse assistant Bernie Fine throwing his program into scandal; the inspiring comeback stories of Arizona forward Kevin Parrom and Kansas forward Thomas Robinson; made-for-March upsets like UNLV over North Carolina, Presbyterian over Cincinnati, and Central Florida over UConn; and big-time matchups like Ohio State vs. Duke, Kentucky vs. Kansas, and Syracuse vs. Florida that were dipped in Tournament atmosphere.

This past weekend, though, gave us the most thrilling game, the highest display of talent, and the most grand exhibition of the best of college basketball, all wrapped in one 40-minute showcase in Lexington, Ky. Here is that game, plus the rest of the best and worst of the weekend: Read More »

It’s not like flopping is a cultural phenomenon solely owned by the NBA. It’s a disease that’s infiltrating every corner of professional sports. Take last weekend for example. Jerome Simpson, a 25-year-old wide receiver for Cincinnati, drew a 15-yard penalty against the Browns last Sunday by flopping harder than Rollerball. One little shove and boom, he was up, up and away, launching himself five feet off the ground, the largest jack rabbit anyone had ever seen. What made it even worse was the ref didn’t see it and yet still drew the flag. Read More »

Like it or not, the NBA lockout allowed the game’s biggest stars to ball in games we never thought we’d see them. From Kobe Bryant to LeBron James to Kevin Durant, from New York to Chicago to Los Angeles, dreams were realized and memories were made. With that, our friends at The Mars Reel have compiled their top 10 most memorable plays from the lockout. Read More »

So who wants more buckets in their lineup? Potentially 20 points per night? Free agent swingman Jason Richardson seems like a pretty good get for a lot of different teams, especially for a franchise like the Chicago Bulls, who are probably just a player or two away from making a real run at a title.

It’s a fact not lost on the Bulls or a bunch of other teams as they’re officially allowed to talk directly to free agents today. I wouldn’t be surprised to see J-Rich get a lot of attention from teams, he makes a lot of sense for a lot of clubs. Read More »

Before real NBA action kicks off again on Christmas Day, take a couple minutes to relive the dramatic 2010-11 NBA season and get ready for big things to come. Read More »

While Marc Spears is reporting that Greg Oden is “strongly leaning” towards taking the one-year $8.9 million qualifying offer from Portland and just becoming a free agent next summer, there is another team who could go out and snatch up the oft-injured big man. When you roll an entire season with a list of centers that miraculously tops out at Joel Anthony, taking a chance on a talent like Oden isn’t a big risk. Sure, he’s a risk individually. But for the Miami Heat, it’s moves like this that could turn them into a potential dynasty, and if it doesn’t work out, it might not do much harm. Read More »

Matt Barnes is a little crazy, but Laker fans are hoping he’s not lying. While working out Friday in El Segundo, Barnes was asked about all the rumors going around and whether he listened to any of them. He doesn’t, unless they are dealing with his own team. But this rumor does, and it’s a pretty big one. So it wasn’t surprising Barnes was asked, and then spoke on it. His answer was a little more revealing than everyone expected: “You know, I’ve been hearing [rumors about] Dwight. I’ve been hearing [rumors about] Baron [Davis in the event of getting amnestied]. I’ve been hearing stuff a lot lately. I’ve talked to both of those guys and they wanna be here, so we’ll see what happens.” Read More »

There’s no player in the league who draws as much conversation as Rajon Rondo. For some reason, people either love him or hate him. Maybe it’s the jumper (or lack thereof). Or maybe it’s the attitude. He has talent, but in certain areas, he desperately struggles. There have been rumors all summer about where he could be ending up, and yesterday he told Boston that all he wants is clarity. Rondo would love to be in Boston, as long as he was sure the Celtics wanted him. You can feel his pain; Danny Ainge has told him he isn’t trading him, and yet we’ve heard his name in trade rumors for three consecutive summers. Read More »