On August 11, 2012, the Los Angeles Lakers completed their second blockbuster trade of the offseason. After luring two-time MVP Steve Nash away from division rival Phoenix, they worked out a four-team deal that brought Dwight Howard to the bright lights of L.A. Expectactions immediately went through the roof, a team with four future Hall of Famers (Nash, Howard, Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant) was supposed to keep the Pacific Division title away from the pesky upstart Los Angeles Clippers, supposed to reclaim the Western Conference title, and supposed to challenge the Miami Heat for NBA supremacy. Read More »

Times have changed at the center position in today’s NBA. It wasn’t long ago that the best players in the NBA were the centers. Between Olajuwon, Ewing, David Robinson and Shaq, the center position was easily the best position in the league for much of the last 20-25 years. In today’s game, one could argue it’s the least talented position. Read More »

You will be hard-pressed to find a living soul pleased with the way things went in Laker Land this season, especially when it comes to all things Dwight Howard.

Some close to the organization are more vocal than others in their criticism and displeasure. Arguably the loudest voice all season has belonged to Magic Johnson, who has pulled few punches, frequently ripping the front office and players alike. Last night, Dwight was the focus of a mini Twitter rant from Magic after Howard was booted in the third quarter of an elimination game: Read More »

In case you didn’t catch this during the Lakers‘ fitting mess of a finale yesterday (or the 7,000 replays on SportsCenter this morning), this could very likely be the last image we see of Dwight Howard in a purple and gold uniform: Yelling at GM Mitch Kupchak on his way to the locker room after getting ejected in the second half: Read More »

Jason Terry admitted it after Boston’s season-saving seven-point overtime win over New York yesterday afternoon. The JET hasn’t had the greatest of seasons, falling off from a super clutch old timer to… just some guy who takes up space, gets tattoos he can’t back up anymore and does annoying fighter plane dances. Read More »

Sometimes in the NBA Playoffs, two squads will matchup and eventually it’ll become so obvious who the better team is that even the players just have to give in. The Knicks and Celtics have reached that point, and they got there in the early moments of the second half during New York’s 90-76 Game 3 win. Carmelo Anthony was lighting people up on his way to 26 points, and whenever he took a break, J.R. Smith (15 points) responded with fadeaways and pull-ups. Read More »

Continuing our two-part series on the most disappointing players this season, we’re shining the light on the Western Conference, where there were lots of underwhelming performances. Again, in fairness, those who were injured for the majority of the season were not included. Read More »

There’s a first time for everything, and in yesterday afternoon’s matinee in San Antonio, we saw an injured star player attempt to coach a playoff team through 140 characters. Anxious that he can’t be out there helping his teammates, Kobe Bryant took to Twitter with the same aggressiveness he usually shows on wing isolations. Not everyone was feeling it. Read More »

With the playoffs starting this weekend, we look to the only person whose opinion matters about each team’s playoff outlook: 2 Chainz. From the top-seeded Heat to the limping Lakers (sorry, Utah fans), we used the Tity Boi scriptures to find out how all 16 teams will perform this postseason. Read More »

Can we speak on how Steve Blake dominated Tony Parker last night? Yes? That surprising turn of events was just a small part of a truly wacky game in Los Angeles. The Lakers beat the Spurs, 91-88, and are now just one win away (or one Jazz loss away) from making the playoffs. Dwight Howard looked like… well, someone who’d just been given his own team to control and lead. Read More »