No Kobe Bryant meant mismatch at times last night in the Clippers’ 108-103 win, their second straight in as many games against their crosstown rivals. It was a barrage of turnovers and highlights that battered the Lakers to the ground in the third quarter. Then it was Blake Griffin that drove a stake into the Lakers’ hearts in the fourth quarter. The next time someone puts Troy Murphy on Blake (30 points, seven assists, six boards), call us. It’s must-see TV. Yet somehow, the Lakers still had a shot at the end, but first DeAndre Jordan had a huge block on Metta World Peace. Then Griffin flopped his way to a charge call on Matt Barnes, securing the win. Read More »

Pistol Pete better be unbeatable. He better be out there throwing in wild hook shots from behind the backboard, and tossing in scoop shots from the three-point line. For all of the eccentric stuff the Pistol did in the NBA, he’ll always be remembered more appropriately for his college theatrics, and the trick shots he mastered so completely (Remember all of those old H-O-R-S-E TV programs). Upon playing the “Legends Showcase” for the first time, and jumping immediately into H-O-R-S-E, I thought Pete Maravich needed to come correct. If the 2K developers didn’t arm him with justice, there would’ve been Hell to pay. Thankfully, the Pistol was at his gun-slinging best. Read More »

I’ll never forget watching Seattle’s run during the 2005 playoffs. They played the future champs – San Antonio – to a virtual tie in the second round, losing in six games but not before they nearly pushed it to seven. They were a fun team, really one of the last in Seattle to matter. Ray Allen was in his prime as an all-around player, and they gave minutes to a lot of memorable guys. Their front line packed more beef than an offensive line: Danny Fortson, Reggie Evans, Nick Collison and Vitaly Potapenko. But the biggest of them all was Jerome James. In 11 playoff games, he provided us with the first and the last glimpse of the Jerome James that mattered. Read More »

Doesn’t it feel like Isiah Thomas is always behind the bad stuff going on in the NBA? It’s happening again. Billy Hunter has taken his fare share of shots so far during this lockout. But now his job might be in jeopardy. Thomas has great relationships with a number of players, and he’s angling to get Hunter’s job as head of the union. Thomas has a notorious track record for screw ups, but has done some good things in the NBA as well. Is that a good thing if he were to takeover the union? What does this teach us? If something bad is going on in the NBA, blame Isiah … Read More »

Is it possible to be any less cool than John Stockton? It wasn’t just the short shorts either, or the fact that he played in Utah. It was because everything about him was so, quite literally, vanilla. As old-school as old-school gets. Putting together a decent highlight video for Stockton might be one of the hardest things an NBA TV executive could do. His YouTube videos have to be the first time – and possibly the last time – it’s ever not fun to watch a tape of one of the greatest basketball players ever. Stockton was really only memorable because he was so boring. Read More »

To say that Charles Oakley doesn’t mince words is a dramatic understatement, especially when you consider that he’s one of a very select few with the cache to bust Michael Jordan’s chops.

“We have a lot of heated conversations about the league,” said Oakley with a hint of mischief about his longtime friend and current boss with the Bobcats. “About how he was the only guy who could travel 95 percent of the time and get seven fouls every game.”

Oak made an appearance at K1X’s new flagship store in New York City on Saturday to celebrate the rollout of their Charles Oakley Collection, and before signing autographs for fans, he held court with the media on a variety of topics, pulling very few punches as usual. Read More »

We’d normally be abuzz with preseason and training camp talk around this time but you already know how it goes by now. As Blake Griffin tweeted: First day of training camp finally here can’t wait for… Oh what’s that NBA owners? You won’t let us play? Sorry everybody… On the morning of the start of training camps last year, what was everyone doing? Checking for photos of new J.R. Smith tattoos or seeing how long it might take Boris Diaw to get in shape or even to get some funky quote from Ron Artest or Stephen Jackson. Now this year? The gyms around the league look pretty vacant. Read More »

A nice dish may be the most underrated play in basketball. Obsessing over a dunk or a crossover is common, but how often do you really see a one-of-a-kind assist? Very rarely. They’re always overblown and overhyped. A no-look pass is almost never that. We almost never get a truly breathtaking pass because lets face it, no one practices passing. Kids go to the gym and work on ballhandling for hours – crossovers, behind-the-backs and through-the-legs. Then some Plyometrics or squats because we all want to dunk and we all want to walk into a gym and get instant cred. No one respects a pass; Everyone respects a dunk. Read More »

According to the New York Daily News, Isiah Thomas has been working behind the scenes in an effort to bring Chris Paul to the Knicks. Though Thomas doesn’t have an official position with the Knicks, apparently he’s doing his best to form the next “Big 3.” The New York media got hold of this CP-to-NYC thing and just won’t let it go, huh? Read More »

The best ever? That’s hard to do. Even with a limitless library like YouTube, it’s virtually impossible to make a list of the best alley-oops of all-time and not miss a couple. All of the NBA’s greatest players have their most popular highlights, but what about the average or no-name players? Some of them have great alley-oops too, but you’ll be lucky to find them anywhere, much less remember them.

When a video was posted last week, it became painfully obvious pretty quickly that it was missing a few. So I figured I’d make the REAL top 10 list. No gimmicks. No timetables. Just straight raw ferociousness. Read More »