By now you’re familiar with our “Pass the Mic” series – a feature where he give the pen and pad to some of our best readers to let them drop knowledge on the NBA. We’ve had previous posts on everything from game-saving rule changes to essays on how money is ruining the world’s greatest game to imagining what life would be like without Mike. Today, we’re turning the space over to Michael Kochan, who reflects on what REALLY happened in the 1994 NBA Finals. Read More »

After a season that saw him take his game to another level while everyone else around the Orlando organization dropped about four levels, Dwight Howard wants to meet up with Hakeem again. The Magic center says he plans to meet up with Olajuwon again at some point this summer because if he wants to continue to meet his goals and get better, meeting up with the Dream is necessary. Last year, Howard officially tapped into some of the incredible potential he has. And while it’s hard to expect guys who’ve been in the league for as long as he has to drastically improve, watching Howard all last year surely felt like he had turned a corner. Read More »

Born and raised in America, I don’t really have an outsider’s perspective on leaving my home country for another place, another culture, another world. I only know patriotism in reference to the good ol’ USA, not an adoptive pot I’ve melted into or otherwise. Developing a patriotism for a new place in my adulthood is a concept out of my grasp.

But basketball players do it all the time. Sometimes they’re born on one continent and move at a very young age where they develop their hoops skills. Sometimes they come to America to play for the NBA, eventually gaining U.S. citizenship. Other times, guys flee their home country to play for a national team despite them ever having learned the country’s official language. Read More »

News flash: there may not be basketball next year. We don’t mean to be the bearer of bad news, but amidst all of the excitement of a sick Finals and a wildly unpredictable upcoming draft, the uncertainty of the NBA’s financial future continues to hang over our heads like a teetering bedroom ceiling fan. In negotiations, any step is a positive step, so the fact that owners and player reps have been spending hours in a room together has gotten us a few winks of sleep these past few nights. Read More »

Early in the first quarter of a Dec. 21, 2007 matchup between the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Clippers, Dirk Nowitzki became the highest scoring German-born player in NBA history. Nowitzki took a pass from Devin Harris 16 feet from the basket with 6:35 on the clock and nailed the jumper, giving him 15,763 career points – two more than former Sonic and Pacer standout Detlef Schrempf. Read More »

For his first and only Dime cover story in Dime #38 (December 2007/January 2008), we wanted to get Shaquille O’Neal‘s take on his legacy, the new crop of NBA big men waiting in the wings and some of the most pressing issues facing the League, and basketball in general, at the time. I spoke to Shaq towards the end of the exhibition season one day after practice. His Heat squad was facing an uncertain future, knowing that Dwyane Wade would be out until at least mid-November, and the interview took place shortly before the team jettisoned Antoine Walker to Minnesota for Ricky Davis in an effort to keep afloat until Wade came back… Read More »

How long will it take the Mavs to get the creaky joints moving again? The Western Conference Finals finally kick off in Dallas tonight at 9 p.m. ET and the Mavs need to be sharp after having more than a week off. One team is coming off a dragged out, never-ending, physical war while the other has been sipping on green tea and getting deep-tissue massages on all of their old limbs. Read More »

As the NBA Playoffs rapidly approach, we here at Dime want our readers to be prepared for the postseason. To accomplish this, we assembled a definitive panel of experts including your high school coach, the 40-year-old guy at the park (who’s still got next, by the way) and your girlfriend. These authorities have given us exclusive information on all four of the first round series. Use this guide to make huge wagers on your team of choice, unless your team of choice is Atlanta. Read More »

With Boston’s average performance in Chicago last night, Shaquille O’Neal might be more important than ever for the Celtics. The team is struggling and the presence of Shaq could turn things around.

O’Neal isn’t the physical freak that he once was. Back then, his best rival was Hakeem Olajuwon. Come to think of it, they are still rivals.

In their prime, who was better? We argue. You decide. Read More »

Legendary. That’s what it was, all it was. That’s how everyone chooses to remember it. That’s the only word Rudy Tomjanovich used to describe it. It was a performance, a six-game odyssey that shocked nearly everyone. Before the championships, before the odd-year title runs, before Tim Duncan, there was a harsh judgment and that attitude was forming here. Too timid. Soft. Sound familiar? One team, but more specifically one man, reshaped history, changed time.

It was a dream. It was The Dream. Read More »