Indiana coach Frank Vogel knows his team will face a huge challenge in Miami in the Eastern Conference semifinals, but believes the talents in South Beach include an inordinate amount of flopping. A hatred toward flopping, seemingly even more pronounced than usual, has become the campaign issue du jour of the NBA postseason. Will it mean the win or loss of a series? Likely not. Is it the easiest thing to work up hate about? Yes. Read More »

While it isn’t completely official yet, all signs point to James Harden winning this season’s Sixth Man of the Year. Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman writes that Oklahoma City has scheduled a news conference for this afternoon where it is expected they will announce Harden as the winner. The Beard dropped 16.8 points, along with 4.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists a night, and probably had this award locked up since February. He’s been too good for too long, and as he’s shown at times in the playoffs – most notably in Game 4 against Dallas – he has the potential to start and perhaps make some All-Star Teams down the road. Read More »

None of us have seen Greg Oden play since December 5, 2009. Oddly, for someone who represented failure for so long in NBA circles, Oden’s grip on the public has wavered, dwindled and ultimately in the past year, he’s been somewhat forgotten about. Outside of his cell phone picture scandal, the big man is getting exactly what he says he always wanted these past two years: anonymity (or at least as much of it as possible for someone who was once picked over Kevin Durant). The man who used to never be able to go anywhere without drawing attention now has to make people take him seriously once again. Read More »

Brandon Roy put the NBA behind him once he chose his quality of life over the Trail Blazers, and while the timing was sudden, most figured he had made the right decision. Without cartilage in his knees, Roy’s joints were a ticking time bomb.

Still, just months after his surprising exit, the man who led the Blazers out of the shadows of the Jail Blazer days is contemplating some type of comeback. At the very least, he’s talking about it. So is Jamal Crawford, who told Softy on KJR radio in Seattle that Roy looks like he’s in better shape than he was even prior to last season, and that playing ball is still Roy’s escape. Read More »

If Chris Webber, who spent years playing with the man often credited with bringing acting to the NBA, is criticizing how much a team flops, there are problems. Webber partnered with Vlade Divac. He knows the intricacies of flopping and ref-goading. It became a perfect marriage then to have C-Webb call last night’s Game 4 between the Clippers and Grizzlies for TNT because that might’ve been the most blatant prolongation of flopping we’ve seen all year. It was ugly. It was bad. At times, it was downright embarrassing and frustrating. The Clippers’ star players are so good flopping should never come into it. Read More »

It feels okay that Al Jefferson seems defeated because, in a sense, the Jazz are done too. The Spurs made sure of that on Saturday night, defeating their ravenous home crowd and a pre-planned green-and-yellow balloon monsoon, as well as their celebrated three-headed monster frontcourt (Jefferson, Paul Millsap and Derrick Favors combined for 45 points and 33 rebounds). One extra pass was never enough for San Antonio. They’d make another. One wide open three or one easy layup were never enough either. Every Utah bucket in the second half was answered with an equally easier one. Jefferson did what he could with 21 points and 11 rebounds, but whether he got the better of Tim Duncan didn’t really matter. Big Al already had it figured out. Read More »

Every once in a while, Vince Carter has to remind us. He can still do it. Last night, he powered through the lane against OKC and put down a rendition of the spike dunk that was a mind-bending staple of his earlier years in Toronto and New Jersey. Those shots of adrenaline are few and far in-between nowadays with VC looking all of his 35 years of age. But when they come, they’re still spectacular to see, and when we put together our recent list of the top 20 dunkers in the NBA, Carter was right on the edge. Pretty good for a guy who’s supposed to be washed up, right? Read More »

Okay, we’ve all had our laughs and our jokes about heat extinguishers and attacking the glass. Crosstown New York even made a shirt out of it. Some are already concluding this fire extinguisher escapade will be to Amar’e Stoudemire what Scottie Pippen‘s Game 3 walk-off in the closing seconds against the ’94 Knicks was to the Bulls’ legend. But to get back to the business at hand, Stoudemire had surgery today to repair a small muscle, and is ruled out for Game 3 while being doubtful for Game 4. Read More »

Kevin Garnett has never been one to mince words, and the Celtics as as group have only made it this far (into the fifth year of a three-year plan as the most dangerous sleeper in the East) because they just don’t care what anyone else thinks. They have a lot of pride and always will, the edginess stemming from the 37 combined All-Star Games their top four players have played in. After a somewhat disastrous start to the year, historical-level defense and the rise of Avery Bradley pushed them into the No. 4 seed in the East where they’ll begin what’ll probably be their final run together in Atlanta. Read More »

Everything is changing with the Nets, and now it looks like someone might have leaked what could be the team’s new logo. Someone working IT at the Barclays Center tweeted out a photo recently, and now UNDRCRWN posted this photoshop job on their Instagram account for a better view. What do you think of this sleek, old school design? Going off this photo alone, the Nets might be changing their colors as well. Read More »