It’s not personal it’s business. Getting traded is just a part of the glamorous world of professional sports. But four times over a course of two months? Welcome to Quentin Richardson’s offseason. In a span of seven weeks, the 29-year-old forward was traded from New York to Memphis, Memphis to the L.A. Clippers, L.A. to Minnesota and finally Minnesota to the Miami Heat. Just days before Heat training camp, we caught up with Q-Rich to talk about his crazy summer, his days with the Knicks and his fresh start in South Florida. Read More »
Udonis Haslem is what the old-school types like to call a “pro’s pro.”
Coming out of the University of Florida in 2002, Haslem was the rare combination of undersized (6-8) and oversized (300 pounds) at power forward, and was subsequently undrafted by the NBA. So as the story goes, he signed with a pro team in France, never set his watch to European time so he wouldn’t get comfortable playing overseas, and came back to America some 70 pounds lighter. Read More »
It took about 47 and a half minutes for Don Nelson to really miss Stephen Jackson. In the Warriors’ first game since trading Capt. Jack to the Bobcats, they were actually hanging with the Cavs on the road last night. On a critical possession with under a minute to go and Cleveland ahead by four, LeBron of course had the rock, a situation where S-Jack would normally have been guarding him. This time, however, Nellie had to enlist Vlad Radmanovic for the job. (Well, he didn’t have to; Anthony Randolph might have been a better choice.) To the surprise of no one, LeBron scored easily, sticking a pull-up jumper for the dagger … Read More »
As this edition of Smack is being written, ESPN’s 24-hour marathon of college hoops is underway. Writing about basketball in the middle of the night while live basketball is showing on TV with no end in sight for hours? This is the life … Are the Hawks really this good? When we ranked Atlanta 5th yesterday on Dime’s weekly NBA Hit List — maybe the highest we’d ever had them ranked, at least in the last 2-3 years — the response was surprisingly strong that Joe Johnson and Josh Smith and crew should have been in the top three, maybe even holding the No. 1 spot. True, the Hawks had won four straight going into Monday’s schedule, but they’ve always been one of those Zab Judah/Asafa Powell-type teams: Read More »
While he has only been a Golden State Warrior a few months, there have probably been plenty of moments (with more to come) where rookie Stephen Curry wishes he was still living in the happy and stable surroundings of Davidson College. Now stuck in the drama-filled circus that is going in Golden State right now, Curry has already had to deal with disgruntled teammates, an erratic coach and inconsistent playing time. He went from starting the first six games to seeing just 2:30 minutes of action in Friday night’s game against the Knicks - the team Curry originally wanted to draft him. Ninety minutes before tip-off, I was able to ask Steph a few questions as he walked off the court after finishing his pregame shooting routine. Read More »
An NBA championship can do a lot of different things for a lot of different people.
If you’re a Hall of Fame-bound veteran who’s carried mediocre teams for years, e.g. Kevin Garnett in ‘08, a ring can be the final piece of validation to cap a stellar career. If you’re an up-and-coming superstar like D-Wade in ‘06, it’s a standard-bearer by which to set future goals and a quick booster into the next level of fame. Read More »
Beast of the Night: LeBron James scored 34 points and chipped in 2 threes, 4 boards, 7 dimes, 2 steals and a block last night as he outdueled Dwyane Wade. He shot 40 percent (8-20) from the floor, but the important thing is that he shot 89 percent (16-18) from the free throw line. It doesn’t matter what number he sports on his jersey – The King is a fantasy stud who makes you numb with his steady production of solid lines. Read More »
Major League Baseball won’t let anybody wear number 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson. LeBron James suggests the NBA should do the same thing with Michael Jordan’snumber. As you know, LeBron rocks number 23, but is aware that he probably shouldn’t. He said he’ll eventually switch to his Olympic number 6. Read More »
During the obligatory, “Where will LeBron and D-Wade end up in 2010?” segment of last night’s Cavs/Heat game, Reggie Miller talked about his own experiences as a free agent.
The Indiana Pacers icon admitted there was a time when he seriously considered signing with the Knicks, but New York chose to spend their money on Allan Houston instead. Read More »
