This is what happens when Jeff Van Gundy wishes upon a star… Read More »

Our Saturday started off as perfectly as possible with news greeting us as our alarm clocks rang that a tentative labor agreement had been reached, and that the lockout was finally, if unofficially, over. For now, we can’t completely invest ourselves in a new season – scheduled to be 66 games, starting on Christmas day – but pretty much everyone agrees on one thing: this deal will get approved and will get done. Book it. So who won and who lost? With the cancellation of games, everyone loses: the fans, the owners and the players. But as far as the approved deal, many of the leading names on both sides came out of this looking as good as they could’ve under the current circumstances. Read More »

While we might’ve seen this coming – the end of the road for Yao Ming – we weren’t ready for it just yet. Now the next phase in Yao’s life has all but begun. Gone will be the 20/10 nights. Gone will be the All-Star games. And gone will be any chance at a championship.

The focus has shifted to his place in history. Is he a Hall of Fame player? Some say he didn’t do enough on the court, and that should be the only thing that matters. Others say his overall impact was greater than probably half of the players already elected into the Hall of Fame. Read More »

Imagine this: Amar’e Stoudemire putting up elbow jumpers in the Holy Land. Kobe posting up in Rome after a stroll down the Spanish Steps. And most realistically, Deron Williams trading Russian billionaire for Turkish Delight in Istanbul. If D-Will is giving us good info, then this just might be the case – ever since, Williams announced his plans to migrate to the Turkish team, Besiktas, rumors have swirled about locked-out NBAers starting up a mass migration to Europe to play ball in 2011-12. Read More »

During Game 6 in Dallas last night, Jeff Van Gundy said “the best predictor of future behavior is prior acts.” (I went back to my DVR at midnight and fast-forwarded through almost the entire first half to find the exact quote.)

Why did I waste 30 minutes of my life searching for this?

Because Rick Carlisle has coached three teams in the NBA, and he always makes them better. A lot better (see the below graphic). Read More »

We’ve seen it far too often in the NBA. Corporate elites married to their BlackBerrys occupy the best seats in the house, relegating the beer-drinking, obnoxiously chanting fans to the inaudible back corners of the arena. At first it brought tears to my eyes, watching the heart of the NBA, the fans, being pushed away from the action. But now that it’s an undeniable facet of every NBA arena, we have to accept it. Read More »

OMG. LOL. WTF. LMAO. Seriously, what did we watch? How did that happen? One minute Miami was introducing the first ever NBA Finals Dunk Contest, and the next the Mavs were canning Js all over the place, erasing a 15-point lead in the final seven minutes and grabbing the win they absolutely had to have, 95-93, after Dirk hit a layup with just three seconds left. Was this the swing game? It’s too early to say. But one thing it did do was turn this jaunt from a coronation to a series. Read More »

Many things were different in 2006. Our president was still white, Osama still roamed the deserts and no one had even heard of Soulja Boy. Yet, the NBA was still as competitive as ever as the upstart Miami Heat took on the Dallas Mavericks in a wild six-game series. Five years later, as the two teams hook up again in the Finals, we take a look at the top 5 reasons why the 2011 Finals is not the 2006 Finals. Read More »

A few years ago, I visited the ruins of a Turkish bathhouse outside Istanbul. The tour guide informed our group that the bathhouse managed to survive the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and various other wars throughout history. As much as I hate tours and sightseeing, I would be lying if I told you that I was not impressed. Despite everything the world had thrown at this stone structure, it still stood strong. Read More »

UPDATE: Reports are now that this a is a done deal. Chris Broussard just tweeted the following: “Deal is done. Mike Brown and Lakers agree to 4-year, $18.25 million deal. Team option for 4th year. Brown gets $2.5 mil if option not taken.”

Out of all the potential head coaching candidates for the L.A. Lakers, Mike Brown wasn’t considered a favorite. Most figured he was at the bottom of the list, below Rick Adelman, below Brian Shaw and possibly below Jeff Van Gundy and Mike Dunleavy. But somehow it appears Brown has emerged and will be named the new head coach of one of the most celebrated organizations in sports. Read More »