Hopefully Kobe knows who Jeremy Lin is now. After spending time between the Lakers’ win in Boston and last night’s 92-85 loss in NYC doing his best to try to say he had no clue who the NBA’s newest sensation was, Bryant got one-upped by the man who has now scored more points in his first three starts than any player ever has since the NBA/ABA merger. Lin blew up for 38 points and seven assists, incubating Derek Fisher (He had one spin move in the first half that sent Fisher back to 1996) and running the lazy Lakers all over the half-court. Read More »

It’s a misnomer to call Thursday’s picks for the rest of the All-Star squads “reserves” considering their place as some of the world’s best ballers, but we learned who filled out the All-Star rosters last night on TNT. Some experts weren’t thrilled by all the picks, which opens up the annual conversation: Do fans want the big names or should they deserve the best in the moment? A perfect example is LaMarcus Aldridge, who was balling last season in Portland but got cut because he wasn’t a hot name. He got his much-deserved All-Star spot last night. Paul Pierce, Luol Deng and Dirk Nowitzki, though? And no Rondo? Read More »

When Dime‘s own Sean Sweeney ventured into the Dean Dome last night, all we wanted was an overtime or a buzzer beater. We got what we came for. Austin Rivers is a stone cold assassin. He’s like Vincent from Collateral, except with blacker hair, and just doesn’t give a you know what. On the final possession of the biggest game of his life, Rivers came off the screen and roll just as he had probably 30 other times throughout the game, sized up Tyler Zeller and unleashed hell to bring Duke a one-point win on the road. Read More »

Last night’s Warriors/Thunder game was full of great highlights. Potentially lost in the flood of Monta Ellis craziness and Kevin Durant buckets was this Stephen Curry fake-pass-bullet to David Lee under the hoop: Read More »

A legend passed a legend in Boston tonight. Paul Pierce needed 10 points to move past Larry Bird for No. 2 in Celtics history but Pierce dropped him by the third quarter as the Celtics beat the Bobcats, 94-84. Pierce will never move past the man from French Lick in the hearts and minds of Boston fans, even with now 21,797 points, but tonight wasn’t just about the points for The Truth. He added nine assists and eight boards to go with 15 points. Is that how a Celtic captain does it or not? … You knew Rajon Rondo (14 assists and 10 points) was looking for Pierce every time down the floor, too, and the C’s were setting up sets for him every chance they got. Not that the Bobcats could focus solely on the record man tonight. The other Big Two, KG (22 points) and Ray Allen (17 points) kept the Bobcats guessing … Read More »

Dime’s Sean Sweeney is one of a handful of select media out at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey this afternoon for the unveiling of the new Air Jordan 2012 with Tinker Hatfield. When Sean gets back, he will put together a full recap, but we wanted to get you some pics and info right away.

So here’s what you need to know: Read More »

All hail Jeremy Lin. That’s now two games in a row that the seldom-used backup has torched opponents and lit the Garden on fire as if he was John Starks. Lin dropped 28 and eight in New York’s 99-88 win over Utah. Beast? Lin seems to finish every three point play, make all the right decisions out of the pick-n-roll and has even shown off his deep ball. At one point in the second half, he dropped a high-arching shot and then trotted back on defense with a swag unlimited smirk before sticking his tongue out (It looked like he had been sucking on some blue lollipops during the quarter break). Read More »

The gym was open for Miami basketball players this past weekend and we were lucky enough to be a part of it. We’ve posted stories about Converse Open Gym in this space in the past, but Saturday’s event was something new, something different for basketball players 16-24.

Converse took over the famed Jose Marti Rec Center in Little Havana for the day, and more than 500 players came through to play ball, compete for kicks, and hang out with and listen to Miami’s top radio personality, DJ Laz. Read More »

We’re a little late to post this, but we think it’s worth a look for our readers. Last week, our friends at Foot Locker debuted this video to kick off February – aka “The Hottest Month Ever” at the retail chain.

For four straight weeks, Foot Locker will be hitting consumer with premium releases from Nike, Jordan, adidas, and more in every category. Read More »

It’s only a matter of time before Denver Nuggets rookie swingman Jordan Hamilton makes his mark in the NBA. Even though he may be struggling for minutes and shots right now, Hamilton’s time will come – there’s no doubt about that. While Jordan may have a ways to go on the court, he is already an all-star in terms of his sneaker collection. When it comes to copping exclusive kicks, this L.A. native is a grizzled vet.

Just days before his first NBA season officially got underway, we got up with Jordan in his L.A. apartment to check out the heat he was lining up for his rookie year. You can see it over at the Foot Locker Unlocked Blog.