Ever since we dropped Dime #65 with Aquille Carr on the cover, people have been telling us how much they love the issue. So before our next issue drops, we want to take you behind the scenes of our last cover shoot. We shot “The Crime Stopper” in his hometown of Baltimore, Md., and had the cameras there to capture what went down, documenting his story by talking to the people closest to him. Check it out and let us know what you think…

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Despite the NBA lockout, this was hands down one the best summers for the game of basketball that I can remember. And if you need reassurance, check out the following highlights of from all over the place through the eyes of The Mars Reel.

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Basketball historians and old heads must have mixed feelings about YouTube. On one hand, the ultimate On Demand channel gives them access to every piece of NBA footage that’s locked away in some vault. But at the same time, it’s going to warp history. There’s no question in that. Players who weren’t all that get complimented as if they were All-Stars, and some of them last longer in our collective search engines than they should. Bill Walker is the ultimate NBA journeyman and his name will forever live on from inside the Internet TV. James White is another YouTube success story. There’s a ying and a yang to this, a white and black. Read More »

A few weeks ago we introduced Under The Armour, a new web series starring the one and only Brandon Jennings. In the fourth episode, travel with Young Money to L.A., where he kicks it with his people in Gardena, gets in a workout and then hoops with Bow Wow, Game, J.R. Smith, Derrick Williams, DeMar DeRozan, Cuttino Mobley, and Marcus Williams. To wrap it up, Jennings hits the Boost Mobile Elite 24 with appearances by Aquille Carr, Kevin Durant, John Wall and Jamie Foxx.

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By now you need no introduction to Baltimore’s Aquille Carr. And as you’d expect, our cover boy dominated the 2011 summer circuit. The following mixtape features highlights from nearly everywhere “The Crime Stopper” played this summer, and after watching, you’ll realize why we’re all witnessing a high school legend in the making.

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He might be saying he has nothing to prove, but someone is definitely playing like he’s a little pissed off he went so Bambi on us last spring. Pau Gasol had his third straight big game yesterday, dropping 21 points in an easy 17-point win for Spain over Britain. His little brother chipped in 18 and 11. If the elder Gasol keeps balling like this well into the season then perhaps Ron Artest is on the money when he says the Lakers will win the title. Actually, if both brothers keep this up, we could be looking at a very interesting Memphis/L.A. playoff series should they meet at some point. Read More »

Ron Arest isn’t afraid of making crazy proclamations, and he’s guaranteeing that the Lakers come back next season and win another championship. Artest told ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith that he really doesn’t care about the reaction should L.A. not get it done. He’s so focused on a championship that nothing else is entering his mind. While the Lakers should be better simply because last year was such a terrible ending, everything has to fall in line for them to win it again. Read More »

Anyone remember School Sports? Back in high school, right outside the principal’s office, I could find a stack of that magazine once every few months. I’d grab three or four copies, spend the next few classes sifting through the pages, keep one copy on ice and then cut apart the others, taping every picture up onto my wall. They had national stories and local stuff too, which was always weird (seeing names you know in a magazine). Coming up the stairs from gym class, I always snuck a glance to my left to see if they were sitting there on a ledge, right outside of the main office. Read More »

People have accused us of some anti-international crusade a few times this summer because of pieces of news we relayed about overseas ball. Let’s clear it up a bit: if you’re a basketball fan (like we all are) you WANT to see the players overseas. Obviously, you’d rather see the NBA down to get down, but if that won’t happen, give us the next best thing. Every player we’ve talked to this season has said the same things: they would play overseas. No questions asked. Some, like Will Bynum, even admitted the international game made them the players they are today. But when you get these odd stories, like goat heads being cut off and rubbing the blood around for good luck, how can you not read with your eyes wide open? Read More »

For a summer filled with so much uncertainty, one thing has become undeniably clear: Basketball has never been better. After an epic NBA Finals, pundits around the world saw July 1’s expiration of the collective bargaining agreement as the “End of Days.” Instead, we witnessed NBA superstars Kobe Bryant, Derrick Rose and Chris Paul fly to the Philippines for an exhibition game; Kevin Durant, Brandon Jennings and John Wall hit every top-flight Pro-Am across the country; and two of the most well-known summer leagues – D.C.’s Goodman League and L.A.’s Drew League – battle for bragging rights in our nation’s capital.

But amongst all that, we could not help but find ourselves completely enraptured with an electric 5-7 point guard from Baltimore named Aquille Carr. Read More »