Even the biggest Jeremy Lin fans couldn’t have expected this. Beating up on a few bad teams was crazy enough. But the Lakers – with one of the better defenses in the league – in MSG on national TV? That’s big time. Read More »

As we wrote in Smack, Channing Frye surprised everyone last night with what was probably the best dunk of his career. But no one got caught slipping more than Samuel Dalembert. The best part of this though is the aftermath when Big Sam is so flabbergasted that you can see him in the background cheesing like Will Ferrell in Elf. Read More »

The ultimate basketball warmup track has finally gotten the video treatment, and I’m not sure whether I should turn it off for fear of a headache or appreciate the uniqueness. Jay-Z and Kanye‘s “Ni**as In Paris” is a popular song, and I’m sure this video of the two performing it will catch a lot of discussion as well. Is Kanye wearing a skirt? As you might expect, this isn’t safe for work. Read More »

It took me about two minutes of game time last night to realize OKC was in for a fight. The Kings obviously knew they were playing on national TV, and the energy in that building made it seem like it was April of 2002. But Russell Westbrook brings that energy every night, and on this play, the Kings gave him enough room to show it off. He’s a point guard by the way. 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 »

Kyrie Irving is good enough to be the best rookie in the league, and good enough to make the cover of magazines (this mag in particular). How does he do it? With workouts centered around Pepsi MAX. Irving’s personality/marketability is a little bit unknown at this point, being a rookie and all. Could he be a really funny spokesman? You be the judge. Read More »

Will Ferrell is in New Orleans to film a movie and stopped in last night to announce the starting lineups for 80′s Night at the Hornets game. Will Ferrell Will-Ferrell’d it. Awesome. Watch it here: Read More »

Monta Ellis is without a doubt one of my favorite players to watch play ball. The guy is incredible. When rumors were surfacing last year that my Sixers were in talks to potentially deal Andre Iguodala for Ellis, despite the fact that I’m supporter of Iguodala, I was all about it. The idea of bringing in the best scorer in Philly since an Allen Iverson-in-his-prime to drastically change our sputtering offense had me fired up.

There are plenty of guys in the NBA who can score, but there are few players in the world who can do it like Ellis does. The guy is so fast, so explosive, so single-minded in his attack mode – he’s one of those guys who was put on this planet solely to get buckets. The show he put on against the Oklahoma City Thunder last night was just incredible. Read More »

Showing up and getting 28 in Madison Square Garden in your first start for the Knicks doesn’t just happen. There’s a reason Jeremy Lin is in the position that he’s in, stealing headlines in New York City from the Giants the day after they won the Superbowl.

A lot of it is obviously a right-time right-place thing, but most of it is pure and simple hard work. Lin has worked his ass off to be the player we saw last night carving up the Utah Jazz‘s pick and roll defense. Read More »

Ahh, the pick and roll … the giver of the majority of NBA dunk highlights. Teams generally don’t defend it well, don’t rotate quickly, and the result is an offensive player rolling down the heart of the lane with nothing between him and the rim and the SportsCenter highlights in his head.

Example: Trevor Booker‘s cram last night on Aaron Gray and the Toronto Raptors: Read More »