On Sunday night, Dwyane Wade celebrated his 30th birthday at the Setai Hotel in South Beach. As you can see in the video below, Gabrielle Union, LeBron James, Kelly Rowland, Usher, Alonzo Mourning, Common, Rick Ross, T.I., Fat Joe and DJ Irie came out to support the old fella. Read More »

Without the NBA in our lives, we fans might have time for the things we’ve been putting off for too long. Maybe we’ll have time to finish that historical biography that sits next to the bed getting dusty. Maybe we’ll get more exercise. Maybe we’ll start following hockey? As we get closer to the end of year, we’ll take a look back at all things — inside basketball and out — that occupied our attention alongside the game we love. That means over the next few weeks, we’ll break down the best music, movies, styles, plays, players and more. Each debate will be put to a vote by you the readers, and by the close of the year, we’ll have compiled a list of the Top 11 of ‘11. Read More »

If you’re looking for a new song to ride to this weekend, look no further than “Blue Sky,” Common‘s second single off his upcoming album, The Dreamer/The Believer. It’s basically been on repeat ever since it dropped. In addition to listening for the hoop references, check out some behind the scenes footage from the shoot after the jump.

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We told you about the opportunity last week, and the lucky ones made it through. From the adidas store on Michigan Avenue and Foot Locker on State Street, to the James Jordan Boys & Girls Club for the exclusive “Run with D Rose” event, Derrick Rose and the adidas adiZero Rose 2 were on full display. I mean, even Common laced ‘em up to hoop with the MVP. See what went down: Read More »

After recently saying this lockout is a direct cause of all the NBA’s stars running to team up in major markets, Charles Barkley also sat down with azcentral.com to talk hoops and the current lockout. When asked about his thoughts on the owners and NBA commissioner David Stern, Barkley said that Stern was the best commissioner in sports and would do whatever is best for the small market teams. In regards to Amar’e and ‘Melo’s statements about starting their own league, Barkley said that it was one of the stupidest things he’s ever heard. Right up there with New Coke. Read More »

In the aftermath of Watch The Throne hype-induced comas, with everyone walking around like sheep, Common and Nas dropped a dope video for Common’s joint “Ghetto Dreams” off his album The Dreamer The Believer which comes out this fall. Com is my dude, but I LOVE Nas if you haven’t noticed by now. This record will be a good addition to my library (I’m on a never-ending quest to own every piece of music Nas has ever jumped on). You can also find “Ghetto Dreams” on iTunes. Hit the jump for a crazy throwback picture of the two emcees.

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Chicago breeds superstars. As far as basketball, they have that covered. But in entertainment, they aren’t bad either. Common, once known strictly as one of the illest emcees in hip-hop, has now branched out to become an actor, model and a public speaker.

But one thing he says he will never forget were his experiences as a Chicago Bulls ball boy during the early-to-mid 1980s. His timing was perfect; he was there just as the old regime was being run over and toppled by an exciting rookie from Chapel Hill, Michael Jordan. Read More »

Baron Davis schooling helpless New York City pedestrians? Classic. The fact it’s over a J Dilla track (from Dilla’s latest album, Jay $tay Paid, in which our boy DJ Reason A&R’d with Pete Rock) and has cameos from Common, DJ Clue, Jim Jones, and Irv Gotti (plus his Bentley) make it that much cooler.

This will get the LeBron haters’ blood pressure up. The Orlando Sentinel polled 11 “NBA experts” (a.k.a. media) to handicap the Eastern Conference for next season, and the Cavs were given the No. 1 spot. The Celtics ranked second, and Orlando third. Apparently replacing Hedo Turkoglu and Courtney Lee with Vince Carter and Matt Barnes was seen as a step backwards for the Magic, while a healthy Kevin Garnett and the addition of Shaq helped pushed Boston and Cleveland to the top … Read More »

Dwyane Wade, Dwight Howard and almost everyone from the New Jersey Nets were at the Izod Center yesterday filiming “Just Wright,” a movie starring Queen Latifah and Common. The story revolves around a sports trainer (Queen Latifah) who finds herself falling in love with a professional basketball player (Common) while rehabilitating him from a career-threatening injury. Check the clip below.