In what’s becoming old hat this Olympic men’s basketball tournament, Kobe became the sixth U.S. player with double-digit scoring in a single quarter when he had 13 — halfway through the first on Friday. The U.S., and really Kobe, was rolling like a truck going downhill at the start of the semifinal game against Argentina. The finish was 109-83 Team USA and the destination is now the gold medal match. It looked like a sure thing right from the start. Read More »

Now that Lindecision 2012 is all over, and Jeremy Lin is going to be formerly introduced as a Houston Rocket sometime soon, we need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. No, we’re not talking about how, for once, the Knicks resisted the urge to indulge as they have so many times before (even though, for once, there were PLENTY of reasons to do it). We’re talking about how we got here. Lin never wanted to leave New York, and opened up about it to SI.com yesterday. Read More »

We’ve seen a few rapper vs. NBA player beefs. J.R. Smith and Joe Budden had themselves a little girl fight over Twitter, and there were recent rumors suggesting Lil Wayne and James Harden were fighting over Trina. But for the most part, the two sides have lived in harmony. Thankfully, the whole Kanye West/Kris Humphries/Kim Kardashian love triangle didn’t pop open and burst because that one actually had the potential to do some damage. Kanye certainly tried to – claiming on Twitter that he had been with Kim K while Humphries was married to her – but when has Kanye ever been anything other than a completely classless fool? Read More »

So much has been made about age in this year’s NBA playoffs that everybody is overthinking the obvious. Here’s all you need to know: Young teams (Clippers, Thunder, Sixers) don’t win championships without experience, while old teams (Spurs, Lakers, Celtics) don’t win championships without youthful energy. It’s no more complicated than that. Like everything else in basketball, you need a balance. Last night’s two conference semifinal games were split between one older, energetic squad whose signature vets played like it was 2004 again, and one younger, experienced squad that showed incredible fourth-quarter composure … Read More »

Does a dwindling lead equal diminished confidence? It was the question on our mind Thursday as Chicago went from 12 down, to five down, to three up in the final minute. Philadelphia, after going Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol in the season’s final weeks before slipping in, was never the most headstrong team. This is a way of saying that when Doug Collins threw up his arms after the final buzzer in obvious jubilation, it was about relief as much as celebration. Read More »

Last Friday, Doug Collins recorded his 400th win as a coach when his Philadelphia 76ers beat the Boston Celtics. After the game, Sixers part owner, actor Will Smith, congratulated Collins.

“In west Philadelphia born and raised / On the playground where I spent most of my days”

Those iconic lyrics from the theme song of Smith’s popular sitcom “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” were not just created for the show. Smith actually grew up in Philly and is realizing a childhood dream by being a part owner of the Sixers – the team he’s been rooting for all his life. Read More »

Facebook is about to go public with its IPO, which has everyone in a buy/sell mood and streaming “The Social Network” soundtrack on Spotify. It leads to conversations about how big the company can become. If you’re a hoops fan looking for a steal, it’s time now, at nearly a third of the way through the season, to see what teams you should invest your hopes in and who to sell off quick while you still can.

I don’t know anything about tech stocks but here’s who you believe in and what teams, if bought too aggressively, could ruin your portfolio. Read More »

Damn, are the Nuggets trying to send their whole team to China? They better hope the lockout ends sometime soon because they won’t have enough players. First Wilson Chandler. Then it was reported that J.R. Smith may soon become the highest paid player in Chinese Basketball Association history. Now, he may be topped by teammate Kenyon Martin, who has significant interest from two different clubs in the CBA. They are ready to give him an offer even greater than Smith’s. K-Mart is in line to have to take a huge pay cut from any NBA team that signs him (he’s a free agent). But in this setting, he’ll be the king. Read More »

Few things can match the power of a Darryl Dawkins dunk — that is, except for Dawkins’s personality. Known during his playing days for his backboard-shattering slams, Chocolate Thunder could most recently be found charming basketball fans across the country as an ambassador for NBA Nation on its eight-city summer tour which ended in Washington D.C. this June.

In addition to meeting with fans, Dawkins’ responsibilities on the tour included serving as a judge for the 2011 Sprite Slam Dunk Showdown, an amateur dunk contest. Chocolate Thunder’s credentials more than qualify him for the job. Dawkins earned the title of the NBA’s original power dunker during the 1979-80 season when he broke two backboards in less than a month. Read More »

What do you do the day after getting smashed by 45 points in a basketball game? And what do you do when, on that day after, you have to suit up in Boston and play arguably the best team in the NBA to try and get your swagger back?

For the Philadelphia 76ers, who were routed 121-76 in Chicago last night before facing Boston tonight, you just try to forget it. NFL teams perform elaborate ceremonies like burying the game ball from a bad blowout because they have to live with that loss all week, but the day-to-day nature of the NBA allows opportunities for quick recovery. Read More »