My favorite team wore green, too. No, the Seattle Supersonics don’t perfectly blend into the St. Patrick’s Day theme — we damn sure aren’t lucky, although the whole situation does make you feel like drinking sometimes — but I’m going to steal Aron’s idea anyway and commemorate the holiday with my 10 favorite Sonics: Read More »

Who are your sports heroes?

I don’t know why, but when I was growing up and coming into my identity as a Black male, I felt I was supposed to pick a side between Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Whether it’s the same old divisiveness that’s stood in the way of progress for decades or it’s something else, I can’t explain it. But that said, I was more of a Malcolm fan: Read the autobiography, bought the posters, romanticized “By any means necessary” even if I didn’t completely understand what it meant. Read More »

Watch as Jason Kidd, Gary Payton and Damon Stoudamire talk about their likes and dislikes as they wait for some clothes the dry. Classic.

The list is undeniably impressive — those who either retired without an NBA championship or went a long time without a ring directly because of Michael Jordan. Members include Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Patrick Ewing, Gary Payton, Mark Price, Alonzo Mourning, Tim Hardaway, Reggie Miller …

Almost as star-studded is the list of talent kept permanently ringless or who suffered longer than expected thanks to Tim Duncan. Read More »

Remember Terry Tate, Office Linebacker? One of my favorite ad campaigns of all-time has been replicated by one of my favorite people of all-time, Gary Payton. The Glove is going to appear on the “Sports Soup” 2009 Countup Countdown show, airing Dec. 20 at 10 p.m. EST on Versus. He’ll join host Snoop Dogg, plus Manu Ginobili will also be involved. Here’s a sample of what’s in store:

Of all the WTF-inducing headlines I expected to see coming from Golden State Warriors camp this season, “Anthony Randolph is on the trading block” definitely wasn’t one of them.

Not to say I straight-up inhaled the Kool-Aid being served around the Bay Area over the summer, but I could originally see why a lot of people would think Randolph is the future of the franchise. Read More »

A couple years ago I had an opportunity to interview John Calipari for Dime. Aiming to do something different with the biggest rock-star coach in the college game, I came up with the idea to have Coach Cal talk to me like I was a big-time recruit and give me his pitch on why I should play for him at Memphis. Thus was born “The Pitch,” our now-regular feature where we’ve had everybody from Rick Barnes to Reggie Theus share their recruiting tactics.

It was only right that Calipari set the standard. After all, he is the best salesman in the college game. Read More »

Think about LeBron James and Dwyane Wade on the same squad, forming what could possibly the most talented duo in NBA. Better yet, imagine them playing for the Knicks together or the soon-to-be Brooklyn Nets. It would be a marketing jackpot. Picture them running the break together, taking turns throwing lobs to each other. It’s good to dream, but does it make any sense? Read More »

It’s too easy to start rolling out predictions and watch lists two weeks into the season. Unlike football, where two weeks means you’ve only played two games, two weeks of the NBA translates to almost 10 games, a good enough sample for most to gauge how a guy is going to play for the next 7-8 months. That’s why Steve Nash, Carmelo and Kobe are already running an MVP race, Brandon Jennings is running away with R.O.Y., and Ron Artest and LeBron are vying for Defensive Player of the Year.

So if he isn’t already on the ballot, here’s my early vote for Luol Deng as the NBA’s Most Improved Player. Read More »

My standout memory of Michael Jordan does have Byron Russell prominently involved — but it’s not the moment you’re thinking of.

We’re going back to Game 7 of the ‘96 Western Conference Finals, Jazz versus my Sonics. This was our year. Stockton and Malone weren’t willfully passing the Mr. Inside/Mr. Outside torch to Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp; Glove and Reign Man were TAKING it. The city had gone all-in for this squad. Three calendars after he’d recorded it for the ‘93 Sonics, Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Not In Our House!” was back on the radio. Read More »