Over the course of his 16-year career, Theo Ratliff played for nine different franchises (and two of them twice). But with the 2011-12 NBA season set to start on Christmas Day, the 38-year-old free agent will be watching from home. A league source told Dime on Wednesday afternoon that Ratliff is retiring. Read More »

During the NBA Finals, all the sneaker companies involved brought the heat for their guys’ feet. Unfortunately for Serge Ibaka and sneakerheads worldwide, the Thunder didn’t quite make it, meaning the following home and away colorway of the adidas adiPure in size 17 got shelved until the start of the 2011-12 season. Personally, I don’t know anyone – including Dikembe Mutombo – that wouldn’t want to cop a pair of these. Check ‘em out: Read More »

For the first time since 1994, Georgetown’s Patrick Ewing, Dikembe Mutombo and Alonzo Mourning will be together again – that is, in Africa. The three NBA legends will headline Basketball Without Borders‘ trip to South Africa next month, where the global basketball development and community outreach program will use basketball to influence positive social change. 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 »

“He’s wasted his talent.” “He’s soft.” “He doesn’t care.” Vince Carter has heard nearly every insult you could ever throw at a player. But none of that takes away from this: He is the greatest dunker this game has ever seen.

With the recent news that Suns coach Alvin Gentry was benching VC in favor of Jared Dudley, some are taking this as a sign that Carter’s career is pretty much over. But in Wednesday night’s loss against the Thunder, Carter went retro, scoring 28 points and giving us a nice baseline reverse. After that, I figured I would make a list similar to the one I did of Kobe Bryant. Here are the 10 greatest dunks of Vince Carter’s career (no dunk contest and no celebrity-game dunks). Read More »

As much pain as Ben Wallace‘s swollen ankle may have caused him while sitting at home Tuesday, his eyes would have been hurting more had he watched League Pass last night. Big Ben, Gary Payton, Bruce Bowen, Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo, Mookie Blaylock — anybody who’s ever made a living shutting down NBA scorers would have cringed at some of the comical “defense” on display … In Denver, the Suns showed up for about 15 minutes before the Nuggets started shooting holes in their D like a game of Duck Hunt. Read More »

As NBA training camps get underway, we preview the upcoming season with the “Highs and Lows” system — predicting the respective ceiling and basement for each team.

Added: Jordan Crawford, Josh Powell, Etan Thomas

Lost: Joe Smith, Randolph Morris, Mario West Read More »

The NBA Draft is typically overstocked with two types of big men: (1) High-profile guys who went to high-profile schools and have teams just as intrigued with their potential as they are afraid they’ll be a bust, and (2) So-called “undersized” bigs who go underrated annually and have to prove themselves in an uphill battle from Day One.

Hassan Whiteside doesn’t fit either description. The 7-foot freshman was an unheralded recruit who burst onto the scene this season at Marshall, leading the nation with 5.4 blocks per game. Whiteside is projected to go anywhere from the Top-10 to later in the 20′s, but whichever team gets him, odds are their fan base won’t know anything about their new project. Read More »

The Grizzlies were one of my favorite teams to watch this season. Not just because they employed my main man Zach Randolph and helped him get his first All-Star nod, but because I like seeing a young team begin to realize its potential.

While the Grizzlies ultimately fell short of the playoffs after hanging in there with the best in the West most of the season, their 40 wins was the most they’ve had since 2006, when Pau Gasol was the face of the franchise and Mike Fratello was the coach. The Oklahoma City Thunder occupied the spot as the NBA’s shiny new toy this year, but the Grizzlies were the silver medalists.

Going into the ’10-11 season, making the playoffs is a reasonable goal. While a couple of Memphis’ key players will be free agents this summer, they can still improve with a few smart moves: Read More »

I don’t smoke tweeds, but I grew up much closer to the greenery than just listening to The Chronic and Cypress Hill. So while 4/20 is more significant to me because the new season of “Deadliest Warrior” debuts tonight, I understand the importance of the stoner’s holiday.

According to some of my more laid-back colleagues, “nuggets” is a term commonly associated with 4/20. You can probably guess why. So with that, here are my 10 favorite Denver Nuggets of the past 25 years: Read More »