I’ll never figure out why I was such a huge Glen Rice fan. This was before we found out he was all about those Alaskan sweethearts. The Hornets were my squad, and Rice was that dude, a guy that could light up an All-Star game just as easily as any regular season game. During the mid-to-late ‘90s, he was more than just a shooter for Charlotte. He was their best player, a lights out marksman who could also take you off the dribble and post you up. But after five consecutive years averaging at least 20 points a night, Rice was traded for Eddie Jones, an explosive swingman from Los Angeles, and even I knew the move wasn’t worth it. Read More »

With the sudden retirement of Shaquille O’Neal from the NBA, we got to thinking about all the great players that the Big Social Security Applier played with during his 19 seasons in the league. There’s a long list of All-Stars, but in making the list, we ask this question: Who was at their best while playing with Shaq? For example, the Kevin Garnett that O’Neal played with this season won’t rank as highly as the 2007-08 Amar’e Stoudemire that he shared the court with in his Phoenix stint.

Obviously, we’ll save all the center slots for the Big Aristotle himself, but without further adieu, we present the First, Second and Third All-Shaq teams: Read More »

“Soprano the rock, handle like Van Exel” – Jay-Z

There was a reason why Hova would name drop Nick Van Exel’s name in a verse. Nick the Quick was everything you wanted out of a small guard: a smooth south paw stroke, crafty dribble moves, great court vision and money in the clutch. And best of all, everything he did, he did it with style. Read More »

It’s too bad YouTube didn’t exist back in the year 2000. If it did, I guarantee a lot more people would know who Eddie Robinson is. E-Rob’s hops were straight up ridiculous. He was the sixth man for those Charlotte Hornets teams that boasted guys like Baron Davis, Ricky Davis and Eddie Jones. Even with all those high risers on the squad, E-Rob’s crams might have been the nastiest. Night in and night out, he was good for at least two Sports Center worthy crams. My favorite was his signature showboat dunk: a self alley-oop on the fastbreak (see vid below). Read More »

We’re pretty sure that when Courtney Lee visualized his first NBA Finals experience, this wasn’t how he thought he’d make headlines. Getting a heaping serving of blood pudding from Kobe Bryant? That honestly shouldn’t have been a stretch to see coming. But missing the biggest shot of his life and being called “The Next Nick Anderson“ for all the wrong reasons? That’s tough. In the aftermath of Lee blowing Orlando’s best chance at winning Game 2 the other night, opinions in the Dime office were split: Read More »