Left out of the boomtime summer for older players in free agency has been the over-35 crowd’s most accomplished player. Even for a guy who, at 38, has declined physically faster than his peers it’s still more than a little odd to write that in late September Derek Fisher is still shopping for a team. The trade that sent him from Los Angeles to Houston last March, a move that eventually landed him in Oklahoma City for a chance to win a sixth NBA title, was a shock, to be sure. That he’s facing the possibility of not going to his first training camp since 1996 is even more of a jolt. Read More »

It’s no secret that the NBA is on the mainstream backburner right now — stuck in that period when everybody is paying attention to football and the MLB playoff chase, when pretty much every important free agent has been signed, and when training camp isn’t exactly right around the corner. But in places like Oklahoma City, they’re just as basketball-obsessed as they were during the NBA Finals. Even on days when there’s no other NBA news to report, there’s still something coming out of OKC. Lately it’s been all about James Harden and Serge Ibaka. Read More »

If you’re not improving, you’re losing. I heard that growing up, and in the context of the NBA offseason, it fits perfectly… especially if a team is coming off a deep playoff run. For some, and OKC could easily fall into this trap, maintaining the status quo is important. It seems logical, too. You win a few rounds in the playoffs, maybe a conference title, so you should bring everyone back without a second thought. There’s still youth on your side. They have to get better, right? Read More »

The big names signed on the dotted line – or in Deron Williams‘ case, on the iPad – weeks ago, and the pool of talent is pretty much completely dry. But for contending teams, and even those who are just in the market for a veteran to give them a few good minutes or a few good pre-game speeches, there are still a couple of names available. None of these guys will be making consistently key contributions for a contender, but they’re all still viable NBA players. Read More »

Now that Steve Nash has been formally introduced as a Laker, his time in Phoenix has finally closed its final chapter. Luckily, we had the chance to hang with Nash in the desert during his final year with the Suns and get a glimpse into how he plans to keep going as a player. The following story was printed in Dime #69… 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 »

Today brings the news that the Lakers’ point guard of the last half of the season, Ramon Sessions, plans to opt out of his deal with Los Angeles and test his worth in free agency. L.A. got one of the best deals of the trading deadline when they got him from Cleveland for Luke Walton, Jason Kapono and a draft pick. It was expected he’d test the water after he’d played such a strong 23 games with the Lakers. Read More »

You could have crammed an entire postseason’s worth of story lines into last night’s Game 4 of the NBA Finals. Which would be a big help to us, because Miami’s 104-98 win over OKC was so incredible and intense that we almost forgot all about the other stories from these playoffs that led up to it … As usual, it starts with LeBron. His 26-point, 12-assist, 9-rebound performance featured some passes borrowed from Magic and some buckets borrowed from Kobe, but then it really got interesting after LeBron went down late in the fourth quarter with what appeared to be leg cramps (or a busted hip, or a thigh bruise, depending on who you ask). Read More »

Everything was going Tony Parker‘s way in May. He had that 20-game winning streak with the Spurs. The people at Merriam-Webster basically were putting the Spurs’ team photo next to “team” in their dictionary. They weren’t just beating Oklahoma City, they were teaching them a lesson. Then it all came tumbling apart in a four-game losing streak. Now, Parker has a damaged cornea thanks to being collateral damage in a Wednesday throwdown between Chris Brown and Drake in a NYC club. Parker says he can’t do anything for seven days but will still play in the Olympics for the French national team, and that he got hit because he was shielding his girlfriend from the shards. Read More »

With the NBA Finals kicking off tonight, everyone has an opinion on what’s going to happen. It’s been a while since there was no definitive favorite in the Finals. This year figures to be one of the best series in recent memory. Miami has the best player. OKC has the home-court advantage. We think it’s fair to say that the Heat have the most pressure on them, and how they respond to that could go a long way in determining this series. Read More »