Keeping up with the Joneses is a phrase that took on a life of its own, and when you look at it through NBA-colored glasses, you can see why: it’s a pretty popular last name. 45 NBA players have been named Jones, and while that’s a pretty cool stat, three other last names are actually more common among NBA/ABA players.

On Friday, I put together a list of some of my favorite NBA names ever. In the process of writing that, I figured I should do something on the best/most frequently used last names in NBA history. Read More »

The best arguments are the ones you can’t prove. And today on First Take, Skip Bayless called Deion Sanders – the man who recently suited up his new Hall of Fame bust with his signature bandana – the best athlete of all-time. Neon Deion was by far the best cornerback of all-time, maybe the best return man, a great baseball player and in high school, he was an all-state basketball player in Florida which is like being the smartest kid at an Ivy. Read More »

It was 2003 and I was 14 years old spending a weekend at my grandma’s place. Let’s admit it – while we all love seeing our grandparents, their houses are never the most exciting places to hang out for prolonged periods. That is, unless you enjoy watching TV shows that make James Lipton‘s Inside the Actor’s Studio completely enthralling. So as an excuse to leave, my uncle used my desire to watch a meaningless Game 1 between the Suns and Spurs first round matchup to get out of the house. Read More »

Earlier this spring, I caught up with former NBA All-Star Alonzo Mourning. And while our meeting wasn’t necessarily to talk NBA Playoffs/LeBron/Scottie Pippen/MJ, we sort of got around to comparing eras. Read More »

How quickly we forget. 36 years ago to the day, the legend of Allen Iverson was born. Only two years ago, the name Allen Iverson was relevant to the basketball world. Only five years ago, he was the icon, the NBA’s ultimate non-conformist. If the Fab Five began the transformation, Iverson was its eventual monarch. But now he’s a mere memory, swallowed by the unfamiliar anonymity of European basketball. Read More »

For his first and only Dime cover story in Dime #38 (December 2007/January 2008), we wanted to get Shaquille O’Neal‘s take on his legacy, the new crop of NBA big men waiting in the wings and some of the most pressing issues facing the League, and basketball in general, at the time. I spoke to Shaq towards the end of the exhibition season one day after practice. His Heat squad was facing an uncertain future, knowing that Dwyane Wade would be out until at least mid-November, and the interview took place shortly before the team jettisoned Antoine Walker to Minnesota for Ricky Davis in an effort to keep afloat until Wade came back… Read More »

Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin was officially named the NBA Rookie of the Year Wednesday afternoon in Playa Vista, Calif., finally putting to rest a decision that, I don’t know, everyone knew was going to happen since early November.

With the award now in hand, Griffin becomes the NBA’s first unanimous Rookie of the Year since David Robinson was crowned ROY in 1990. He also collected all possible first-place votes, with rooks John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins respectively following suit behind. In a very crowded gym at the Clips’ practice facility this afternoon, Griffin talked about his progression in his first season as a pro. Read More »

While everyone was busy talking about Kemba Walker and the resurgence of New York City basketball this year, Hofstra senior Charles Jenkins was doing work under the radar. Finishing his career as the Pride’s all-time scoring leader with 2,513 points, he became just the 63rd player in NCAA history to log over 2,500 points in a career, finishing second in Colonial Athletic Association history behind Hall of Famer David Robinson. As the CAA Player of the Year for the second year in a row, Jenkins averaged 22.6 points this season, ranking him sixth in the country, along with 3.4 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.7 steals per game. But what makes him so special? The 6-3, 220-pound guard from Queens could be the first New York City public school graduate to be selected in the first round of the NBA Draft since Sebastian Telfair. Read More »

Legendary. That’s what it was, all it was. That’s how everyone chooses to remember it. That’s the only word Rudy Tomjanovich used to describe it. It was a performance, a six-game odyssey that shocked nearly everyone. Before the championships, before the odd-year title runs, before Tim Duncan, there was a harsh judgment and that attitude was forming here. Too timid. Soft. Sound familiar? One team, but more specifically one man, reshaped history, changed time.

It was a dream. It was The Dream. Read More »

A little piece of Utah died today. The announcement that Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan is resigning after 22 and a half seasons with the team came as a shock to those outside of the organization and marks the end of an era for the NBA. We will likely never see a coach who sticks around with one team as long as Sloan, not to mention one who defines his team’s identity as much as Sloan.

When Sloan was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009, Dime reader and Jazz fan/blogger Amar penned this piece on the legacy of a true pro’s pro: Read More »