It’s not personal. It’s just business. That’s one of the closing lines in a Boston Herald piece today on why the Celtics have to trade Ray Allen ASAP in order to A) put this Celtics season back on track and B) really set out to re-build the team around Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins. And they couldn’t be more right – Ray must go.

Anyone who has seen the Celtics play over the course of the last few weeks knows that they are old, injured, slow, and in dire need of a dramatic shakeup. Unfortunately for Ray, he’s by far their best trading chip. Read More »

It seemed Kevin Martin was destined to play out his career like Mitch Richmond, quietly dropping buckets outside of the spotlight during his prime before hooking up with a title contender in his late-30’s to snag a ring on his way out.

But depending on how things go down at this month’s NBA trade deadline, K-Mart could find himself on one of the League’s high-profile contenders while still on top of his game. In addition to rumors connecting Martin to Boston in a deal involving Ray Allen, new rumors have surfaced of trades that would send K-Mart to Dallas or Minnesota. Read More »

Beast of the Night: LeBron James led the Cavs to victory with 36 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, 4 turnovers and a three. He shot 56 percent (9-16) from the field and 81 percent (17-21) from the line. Is anyone else yawning? Read More »

Two things stood out to me when Jerry West was being interviewed on NBA TV last night. Fielding questions about Kobe Bryant, whom earlier in the evening had passed West as the L.A. Lakers’ all-time leading scorer, Mr. Clutch admitted, “I don’t have contact with [Kobe] anymore,” in a spot where guys will usually at least fake it and say, “We talk every now and then.”

The other time was when West said Kobe will ultimately go down in history as the greatest Laker of all-time — even if a lot of L.A. fans are “mad or disappointed” to hear that.

Therein lies the most complicated part of Kobe’s enduring legacy. Read More »

In the free cable TV classic Face/Off, John Travolta the FBI agent and Nic Cage the criminal switch faces (it’s complicated and corny) and go about their good guy/bad guy business while basically being the other guy. Last night was like the NBA version of Face/Off, only instead of Travolta and Cage, it was starring Kadeem Hardison and Dolph Lundgren. Blazers/Mavs saw one guy drop 52 points and absolutely dominate down the stretch, using awkward herky-jerky moves to beat his defenders between sticking jumper after jumper. Dirk Nowitzki? Nope. It was Andre Miller … Read More »

It’s not that Rashard Lewis isn’t clutch. Anybody who watched him take down the Cavs and scare the Lakers with some big-time shots in last year’s playoffs knows better than that. But the way Raw Lew sent the Celtics home last night — not with a corner three or a turnaround jumper, but with a strong drive to the cup past one of the best defenders in the world — it was the last thing you’d expect out of him … Read More »

So much for suspense. Since every reporter and their intern decided to leak the 2010 NBA All-Star reserves earlier today, tonight’s official announcement on TNT loses quite a bit of intrigue. Still, here are the official rosters as named a few minutes ago…

EAST G – Dwyane Wade G – Allen Iverson F – LeBron James F – Kevin Garnett C – Dwight Howard Bench G – Rajon Rondo G – Derrick Rose G – Joe Johnson F – Gerald Wallace F – Chris Bosh F – Paul Pierce C – Al Horford Read More »

It seems like all the attention of All-Star Saturday Night goes to the Dunk Contest. That’s completely understandable, considering the other events they do or have done in the past like The Skills Challenge or 2Ball (remember that?). One event that always has the potential to be exciting is the Three Point Shootout. Who could forget that image of Larry Bird hitting that final shot and raising his arm in the ‘88 Three Point Shootout in Chicago. Read More »

I was talking to someone at the NBA the other day, and they told me that they go to great lengths to keep the names of the players that make the All-Star team under wraps until they’re officially announced. Someone apparently forgot to forward that memo to Yahoo! Sports‘ Adrian Wojnarowski & Marc J. Spears. According to them, here’s your All-Star reserves: Read More »

The thematic stat you’re going to hear whenever the Mavericks get into another close game is that, dating back to last season, the Mavs are 10-0 in their last 10 games that were decided by one point. The Mavs are also 3-0 this season in games decided by two points, including last November when Dirk Nowitzki hit a game-winner in Milwaukee. Last night the Mavs hosted the Bucks, and again it went down to the wire … Read More »