Are you old enough to remember Glenn Robinson when he played at Purdue in the early 1990s? He was absolutely terrifying on offense. Buckets, buckets and more buckets. And he didn’t look like it, but he was explosive.

After watching yet another monster dunk by his kid last night on national TV, I found myself watching Big Dog Youtube highlights today and found this gem. Watch Glenn hit 7-0 Greg Ostertag with a jump-stop from the post and then massive dunk right in his face. Then Ostertag walks up and shakes his hand! Read More »

When you’re considered a “former NBA player” in the D-League, this is often one of two things: 1) You’re on the 30-something-I-still-want-to-play comeback trail, or 2) You made it for a minute but never really got your shot. Either way, the following 10 players received paychecks with David Stern‘s signature and at least one complimentary pair of NBA socks. Now, they’re doing everything they can to try and persuade NBA GMs that they’re worth a second look. Read More »

Ricky Davis is back. Yes, he of great beards, lots and lots of shots, and cheating-to-get-himself-a-triple-double fame (watch after the jump) has returned. Sort of.

Ridiculous Upside is reporting that Ricky (as well as Greg Ostertag!) has signed a contract with the NBDL and will find out what team he is on once he clears waiver Tuesday afternoon. Read More »

Like a lot of kids who grew up in the ’80s, I was an avid baseball card collector. It started with my Dad, who would tell me stories of his own baseball card collection, long since lost. He would shake his head sadly, as if these lost treasures were why we lived in a three-bedroom house and not a sprawling mansion. Inspired, I spent every quarter I could find on packs of Topps cards, intent on recapturing the dream. I would rifle through the cards for hours, inspecting the little brown cardboard rectangles and sorting them into stacks. At some point all of us from that era put our Bo Jackson and Dwight Gooden cards in a special container, so that our Moms wouldn’t throw them out. And then we lost our Bos and Dwights. Read More »

A little piece of Utah died today. The announcement that Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan is resigning after 22 and a half seasons with the team came as a shock to those outside of the organization and marks the end of an era for the NBA. We will likely never see a coach who sticks around with one team as long as Sloan, not to mention one who defines his team’s identity as much as Sloan.

When Sloan was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009, Dime reader and Jazz fan/blogger Amar penned this piece on the legacy of a true pro’s pro: Read More »

It doesn’t matter if you’re a fan of the NBA, NCAA or high school – great basketball is great basketball. And yesterday has to go down as one of the greatest days in hoops history. Ever. Take for example the first four games of the day: you had a one point game, a buzzer beater for an upset, an overtime scare and a double overtime thriller. Only if Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery called all four games, could you have asked for anything better … If you were on the site at all yesterday, then you know the Dime crew was on top of everything. So we’ll try and bring some new thoughts and observations to Smack … Let’s start with BYU’s Jimmer Fredette. Read More »

The Knicks signing Jonathan Bender over the weekend was surprising on a variety of levels. For starters, Bender hasn’t played in the NBA or any professional basketball leagues for that matter, since the 2005-06 season. A persistent knee injury forced the former lottery pick to retire at just 25 years old. Read More »

First Isaiah Rider wants back in the NBA, now Greg Ostertag? The 36-year-old former Utah Jazz center has told the Lawrence Journal-World that he is attempting to make an NBA comeback.

“Watching the playoffs last year got me excited. My wife said, ‘Why not go try it again?’ One day I said, ‘What the heck. I’ll get in shape and get back on the court and give it a try.”

“I’ve got nothing to lose.” Read More »

With the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony scheduled for this Friday, we wanted to give the true diehard fans of the Dime Magazine community an opportunity to write about the 2009 class. First up, Dime reader and Utah Jazz fan Amar (who maintains his own Utah Jazz blog) shares his thoughts on Jerry Sloan:

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What do you say about a man who has been involved with the NBA (as a player or coach) during the Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton, Bush Jr. and Obama Administrations that has not already been said before? Read More »

Like we’ve said before, the offseason is prime time for supreme optimism and high expectations. In Chicago, you’ve got a lot of people pegging the Bulls as a Top-5 team in the East. And from Derrick Rose specifically, he’s gunning for the likes of Chris Paul, Tony Parker and Chauncey Billups sooner than you might have expected — not to mention eyeing the crowns atop Kobe and LeBron‘s respective heads. Asked in a Chicago Sun-Times interview about his Year 2 goals, Rose said, “To be the best player in the League at my position, and hopefully be the best player in the NBA. There’s no point of playing basketball if you don’t want to be the best — or doing anything if you don’t want to be the best.” Read More »