Chris Paul might not be Dwyane Wade, who seems intent on turning himself into some sort of fashion icon. But he’s stylish enough to make the cover of GQ (along with actors Denzel Washington and Javier Bardem), and in the subsequent interview, he admitted he was happy to end up with the Clippers instead of the Lakers. The former JV team had better pieces, and as Paul said, “winning with the Clippers would be legendary.” Read More »

Leave it to Kanye West to postpone the summer as long as David Stern did the NBA season a year ago. The G.O.O.D. Music performance that capped off Jay-Z’s Made in America music festival teased us almost as much as a new NBA 2K13 trailer from 2K Sports. But the best things in life are always worth the wait. Now, Yeezy has dropped Cruel Summer upon us, while the NBA’s offseason is at a dead period until training camp starts. Read More »

Fellow Dime colleague, Dylan Murphy, is right. No one’s talking about Sam Presti picking Serge Ibaka over James Harden. And there are plenty of reasons behind the continued silence. The entire topic is a moot point. It’s clearly apparent to every basketball fan that James Harden should’ve been the choice for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Read More »

The NBA offseason still isn’t quite over – we don’t know what’s going to happen with Dwight Howard … will anyone give Tracy McGrady and Gilbert Arenas another chance? … who is signing Josh Howard? – but for the most part, the big moves have been made. Deron Williams, Eric Gordon, Steve Nash, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan and the rest of the best available names have chosen teams for next year. Read More »

Much of Spain’s talented roster has spent significant time in the NBA. They know mind games when they see them, and more importantly, they know how to play them. Of course, none of them are as affluent in playing possum as Gregg Popovich or Phil Jackson are. But that’s beside the point. They just have to be somewhat believable, and in an event like the Olympics where so much is on the line in so little time, that can make a Boris Diaw-sized difference. The two best teams in the Olympics square off today at 4:30 ET on ESPN2, and while it’s only an exhibition, it feels like so much more. Read More »

The Olympic gold-medal favorites have their squad in place. Team USA can now get down to the business of defending their crown after fillings its three remaining roster spots on Saturday with Blake Griffin, Andre Iguodala and James Harden. That trio will join LeBron, Kobe, Carmelo, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Russell Westbrook, Tyson Chandler and Kevin Love in taking on the rest of the world at the London Games … To be honest, Blake’s spot was never really in doubt. Read More »

We think it’s unfair to make jokes about Jason Kidd playing with a cane now that he’s agreed to a three-year deal worth reportedly $9 million to return to Dallas. Wait, what’s that? Oh, he changed his mind three hours later to play with the Knicks. That about-face was the story of the NBA on Thursday in what has become even more of an old guards’ league. Free agency so far has been a job fair where only old point guards have shown up, and everyone’s fighting over them. Note to the draft class of 2013: Help wanted if you’re a point guard. Read More »

It was only last December when Brandon Roy stepped away from Portland in early retirement, his knees (with little to no cartilage left) as sought after as radioactive waste. His love of playing wasn’t the question, but the knees were supposedly the definitive answer to any plea he still had of suiting up: No. Seven months later, Roy is planning a comeback and his skills are in demand by at least the five teams he’s narrowed his interests to. This is one free-agent pickup where the physical isn’t simply an afterthought. Read More »

The aftermath of the NBA Draft is always a good time to tell who actually knows something about basketball and who should just sit in a corner and think about hockey. One particularly popular non-informed opinion we’ve heard across sports-radio shows and Internet columns since Thursday is that the Cavs messed up by taking Dion Waiters with the No. 4 overall pick. Now we’re not guaranteeing that Waiters will be a good pro. He might not pan out, just like any Top-5 pick could potentially be a bust. But if your only reason to bash Cleveland’s pick is that Waiters wasn’t a starter at Syracuse, well, you need a better reason. Read More »

That gasp you hear is the rest of the NBA. As if Miami wasn’t top-heavy enough, they’re looking to add another Hall of Famer to the cast of LeBronaires for next season, and for once, it doesn’t feel like a pipe dream. The money may not be great, but it doesn’t have to be to attract Jesus. The Ray Allen era in Boston is hanging by a strand of Paul Pierce‘s loose facial hair. He could go back, but the Celtics don’t have a starting spot for him and won’t overpay to bring him back. Does Mr. Shuttlesworth want to go to Miami? Yes, he’s interested. Would he be willing to accept a bench role behind two of the best players in the NBA? That’ll dictate whether we ended up seeing Flo Allen-Hopson in AmericanAirlines Arena next year. Read More »