Did you hear the Magic brass isn’t too smart? That’s what it feels like. Since none of us are a part of Orlando’s organization, we can sit here and talk about “Well, they might as well trade Dwight Howard now and get the most for him. They can’t let him leave for nothing.” We can call for the GM, Otis Smith, to start reaching out to everyone, mainly the Nets and the Lakers, to figure something out. But if we were Smith, we definitely wouldn’t have said what he did yesterday. In an interview with Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel, Smith said about the Howard trade rumors: “I think you have to look at everything. I don’t think you can take anything out of consideration.” Read More »

PETA has used many NBA athletes in their longstanding “Ink, Not Mink” campaign against the fur industry. You had to only assume that Chris Andersen would one day get the call. Following in the footsteps of Amar’e Stoudemire and Gilbert Arenas, check out Birdman’s ad and some behind-the-scenes footage from his photo shoot. Read More »

The other day, our friends at Converse held an event in NYC to showcase their two new basketball sneakers – the Converse DEFCON and Converse Pro Leather 2K11. Hosted by Bobbito Garcia, Converse athletes Chris “Birdman” Andersen, Lou Williams and Kyle Korver were there to represent. After about a 30-minute Q&A with Bobbito, the athletes had the opportunity to interact with the media, and I got the chance to catch up with Birdman and Sweet Lou. Read More »

With three contributing players inked to overseas deals that may prevent them from rejoining the NBA in the 2011-12 regular season (should it exist) and with at least two significant free agents to re-sign, the Denver Nuggets make for an intriguing study from a fantasy basketball perspective. While all that means the Nuggets will likely have fewer fantasy assets than they did last season, it might open things up for other players on the team. Let’s take a glance at the potential fallout. Read More »

One thing this lockout made perfectly clear is that He Got Game is by far the most popular basketball movie of this generation. By far. It’s been a minute since I actually sat down and watched the flick, but during our Dime Ultimate Movie Baller tournament, no player generates as much interest or popularity as Jesus (say what you want about Billy Hoyle’s miraculous Cinderella run). For every vote Neon got or Moses got or Scott McKnight got, Jesus got 5-10. Fans just cared more about seeing Lincoln’s finest in the final. Read More »

Endorsement deals can score an athlete millions of dollars. Of course, such are relegated to shoes and clothing, but in the name of branching out with their branding, why don’t NBA players sign with booze companies?

Okay, it’ll probably never happen. They’re role models, no matter what Charles Barkley says. If the taboo ever goes away, here’s some pairings of players and alcoholic beverages that might make some marketing sense. Read More »

This weekend, on a 90-degree day that seemed to shuffle between gray clouds and blinding sunlight, we got after it. Beers and pizza. There was the head coach, the assistants, the volunteers and the graduate assistants, the whole football staff my dad coaches on. It was for me, red and peeling from way too much sun.

Amazing how everything turns out; my birthday parties as a kid growing up were nothing but basketball and ice cream cake. Read More »

Apparently Jimmy Kimmel just started to notice that players in the NBA had tattoos. So who better to judge the artwork than the always entertaining Mike Tyson. Watch as Iron Mike dishes on the ink of Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, DeShawn Stevenson, Kenyon Martin, Chris “Birdman” Andersen and Marquis Daniels – where they actually use photos that originally ran in Dime.

Read More »

Since we know Steve Nash is starring in his own self-titled documentary, presumably on what it means to be Steve Nash, what other NBA players need their own movie? We’ve heard enough about LeBron and Kobe and Shaq and MJ and Magic and Bird. What about Matt Bonner and his penchant for living the wild life? How about an entire documentary dedicated to the life of James Harden‘s beard? Kendrick Perkins‘ scowl? These are the real stories, the stories that need to be told. Read More »

I’m always wondering what types of music NBA players listen to during the playoffs. I could see someone like Tyler Hansbrough just head-bobbing and fist-pumping to some intense trance. Who knows, maybe Kurt Thomas listens to Pops Stoppers.

Why compare hip-hop groups mostly from the golden ages of the 1980s and 90s to teams? Mostly because it’s much harder to compare NBA players to people like Ke$ha and Young Chris since I only listen to those artists when I’m out making bad decisions. I do love stacking racks on racks on racks though. Read More »