Two weeks into Jeremy Lin’s Mach-speed rise to fame, more intel comes out daily about his crazier-than-fiction journey. Specifically, just how fine a line he walked from being another nobody to the most popular guy from New York City to Palo Alto, Calif.

Case in point: Reports have shown the Knicks were considering cutting the point guard soon after their game with New Jersey on Feb. 4. He needed the chance to play and got it against the Nets, which led to 25 points and seven assists, which led to the chance to score 28 against the Jazz three days later, which led to world domination (or something close to it) now. Read More »

I found myself two tables away from a conference room’s closed doors in June of 2007. I watched Portland general manager Kevin Pritchard, Martell Webster, LaMarcus Aldridge and the rest of the Trail Blazers walk into the restaurant’s private section, and then close the doors.

It was a day before the NBA Draft, and Portland had the No. 1 pick. Soon enough there was clapping and a few muffled yells coming from the pre-draft banquet. It sounded like excitement.

Then Pritchard stepped out to take a call. Reading his lips failed to grasp, Greg Oden or Kevin Durant? Read More »

Last year Dime told you in issue No. 62 Blake Griffin would find you and dunk on you. Saturday at Staples Center, he seemingly tried to slam on just about everyone when his highlight show, aka the Clippers’ matinee against San Antonio, rolled into Staples Center. Read More »

It’s pure speculation, sure, but chances are new Knick J.R. Smith did not go to the Far East and find enlightenment during his three-month stay in the Chinese Basketball Association. We do know, though, that he found a green light in his three months balling for Zheijang.

The former Nugget gunner averaged 34.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 2.5 steals and 4.2 turnovers per for Zhejiang — also the home of ex-UConn and Net forward Josh Boone — in a stint that began with him twisting his knee and calling out management in his first game. Read More »

Just do yourself a favor and save the retirement home jokes for the NBA’s elite older players.

Before 35-year-old Chauncey Billups tore his left Achilles tendon on Feb. 6, he was one of a handful of guys proving NBA effectiveness isn’t tied to an age range. Even calling Phoenix’s Steve Nash (38) and Grant Hill (39) “effective” misses out that the pair are the lifeblood of an otherwise nondescript Suns season. You already know about the Celtics’ Big Three, highlighted by Ray Allen (36), who’d be my No. 1 pick to be voted most likely to play past 45. Read More »

Kris Humphries went “Keeping Up With Dahntay Jones” on a fast break to end the third quarter on Thursday in Indy.

The Pacers’ Jones was driving on the last man back, New Jersey’s Sundiata Gaines, with five seconds left in the third. He thought he had only one man to beat, but he didn’t see the trailing Humphries, who altered the ball’s trajectory into the floor instead. It was also a microcosm of the game, which featured all of seven fast-break points. Read More »

Tuesday night didn’t squash any talk that tempers have boiled over for the Trail Blazers this season. Portland became just the third road victim for Washington, who had only beaten Detroit and Charlotte away from D.C. before that. Not a good night in the Rose City, except for … Nicolas Batum‘s right-handed throwdown all over JaVale McGee and Trevor Booker. Read More »

The Knicks’ Jeremy Lin has spurred incredible highlights, sustained enthusiasm from the world’s toughest fans and created a cottage industry of awful puns of his last name.

But don’t pretend he’s the first to burst on a hoops scene like this. The second-year guard’s jaw-dropping five-game run is, instead, the perfect time to remember another unheralded guard’s flash of fame back in 2003. Read More »

The fourth time Chris Johnson arrived in Portland as a professional, he should have been able to take a deep breath and relax. The game should have slowed down for him. But as a Trail Blazer for the second time in two months, Johnson was racing around going “100 miles an hour” when veteran, but new, Blazer Gerald Wallace stopped him on the court. Read More »

Sacramento rookie point guard Isaiah Thomas doesn’t believe in the title of “Mr. Irrelevant” for being the No. 60, and final, pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.

Instead, “Mr. Irrelevant” is the title of a documentary that has followed him from his junior year at Washington through now with the Kings. Created by filmmaker T.J. Regan, Thomas and Alonzo Weatherby, it promises to bring hoop heads as close as possible to the journey of a player in one of the most unique seasons in NBA history. Read More »