If you’re going to copy someone else’s signature dunk in a game, you might as well make it one of the best of all-time. Last night during the Pacers/Nets game in Indy, Paul George got out on a break and unleashed a Dominique Wilkins-esque double-pump reverse. Read More »

Back when life was simpler, there was no lockout and people actually cared about the dunk contest. Some still say Dominique Wilkins should’ve beaten Michael Jordan on this night.

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As practice gyms remain dark and abandoned, droves of NBA players are headed all over the planet to fine-tune their skills. European teams are champing at the bit as Americans have finally arrived to wow audiences overseas. With players from everywhere invading today’s NBA, the transition for these athletes should be seamless. However, it wasn’t so long ago that finding a foreign player on an NBA court was well, downright foreign. Over the past 20 years, the NBA has seen a mass influx of international stars, and this team is a compilation of the best. Read More »

The trendy thing to do these days if you’re an NBA player is to publicly announce that you are thinking about playing overseas. All the cool kids are doing it. Dwight Howard said he was thinking of jumping to Europe or China and Kobe Bryant was reportedly nearing a deal with Turkey’s Besiktas basketball club – the same team that recently signed Deron Williams. And why not? Playing overseas seems like a pretty sweet gig: you get to hang in some awesome foreign country for a couple months while playing against solid competition.

But that’s only if you pick the right league. Pick wrong and you could end up freezing your ass off on a bus in Siberia traveling from one empty gymnasium to another. That’s why we’re here to break down the five best leagues for NBA players looking to get some burn outside the U.S. Read More »

Football is more than just a sport at the University of Georgia; it is like a cult that seduces the entire campus into a frenzy every Saturday each fall. Students and alumni alike, 92,000 of them in all, head to Sanford Stadium each Saturday to watch their beloved Bulldogs play “between the hedges.” The team has produced two national titles, 12 SEC titles, and 731 wins in its history. Recently the team has enjoyed enormous success under Coach Mark Richt (outside of this past season when the team finished with only six wins) and has recently been home to some of college football’s biggest stars including quarterback Matthew Stafford (Detroit Lions), running back Knowshon Moreno (Denver Broncos), and wide receiver A.J. Green (Cincinnati Bengals). With the success and popularity of football at Georgia so dominating on campus, the basketball program has struggled to make a dent in Athens. Read More »

Dirk Nowitzki‘s scalding destruction of the Thunder last night was one of the best shooting performances in NBA history. It was so good, Dirk had people suddenly vaulting him into the discussion with the best players ever. While Nowitzki will ultimately be considered one of the 20 best players in the game’s history, he needs a capper. He needs that ring. That way when he walks into a room, Barkley and Malone and Reggie all have to shut up. Amazing right? Read More »

Normally, starting Smack with a Knicks/Nets game must’ve meant that the rest of the league either had the night off or every other game just sucked. We could’ve started with all of the misplaced anger going around the NBA last night – guys were throwing bows, players were getting thrown out for grabbing their junk, there were punches thrown between announcers and fans. People were going harder than Malice on a solo cut, but we’ll get to it all after last night’s main basketball event from Madison Square Garden … 68 first-half points. To the Nets. Even Jay-Z would’ve had to laugh at that. Mike D’Antoni and the Knicks were probably laughing themselves. New York’s defense couldn’t have been more lax if they tried. Still, it was fun. Runs, highlights, the return of Deron Williams (22 points) Read More »

Dominique Wilkins. Michael Jordan. Kobe Bryant. Vince Carter. Dwight Howard. The world is waiting for Blake Griffin to join the list of the NBA’s dunk contest kings, the (now rare) superstar who descends from the League’s upper echelon to make its All-Star Saturday Night showcase his own personal playground.

After putting together a collection of facials Peter North would be proud of in the first half of the season, Griffin warmed the L.A. crowd up in last night’s Rookie Challenge, and tonight takes center stage at the Slam Dunk contest, which he is expected to win. Looking to spoil the coronation are JaVale McGee, DeMar DeRozan and Serge Ibaka. Read More »

It doesn’t seem like that long ago, but it’s been six years since Josh Smith put his name in the NBA All-Star history books with an impressive Slam Dunk contest showing that earned him the 2005 dunk championship.

In what was argubaly the best contest since Vince went HAM in 2000 — featuring a J.R. Smith behind-the-back dunk and a Steve Nash alley-oop header to Amar’e Stoudemire — Josh wowed the Denver crowd with a windmill over a seated Kenyon Martin, and another powerful windmill while wearing a Dominique Wilkins jersey, among others. Read More »

Who do you want your offense to run through with the game on the line? Counting down from 30th to 1st (one per team), I’ve ranked the League’s go-to guys…

JOE JOHNSON, Atlanta Hawks There is a very good chance that Joe Johnson is as good right now as he’s ever going to get. Which is very good: Solid 20-point, 5-board, 5-dime type, All-Star staple, spontaneous combustions of 35 to 40 points some nights, no stranger to game-winners and daggers, one of the 15 to 20 best in the world at what he does for a living. Read More »