While all the NBA exhibition and charity games during the lockout have been great, there’s been one element missing: school pride. So if guys can put on for their city or their team, the next logical step for them was clearly to put on for their alma mater. And it only makes sense that one of the most heated and storied rivalries in sports kick things off. Read More »

During the 2000-01 season, Jerry Stackhouse scored at least 20 points in 73 of the 80 games he suited up for. He played at least 40 minutes in over two thirds of those games, and had just two nights all season where he took less than 17 shots. The dude averaged 29.8 points a game – better than Shaq, better than Kobe, better than Vince – and led the entire league in total points. So why doesn’t anyone remember this? Read More »

With the trade deadline having come and gone last Thursday, you may be wondering why there has been a flood of NBA activity going on the past few days. Today is the deadline for players to be released from their contracts (whether that is bought out or waived) and still be able to appear in the playoffs for another team. The first domino to fall was Troy Murphy, who according to ESPN.com’s Marc Stein chose the Celtics over the Heat. But who’s next? With that, here are the Top 5 available NBA free agents on the market right now. Read More »

So with the Brett Favre ending his NFL iron man streak and Cliff Lee signing with the Phillies (which I’m loving, by the way) dominating the headlines lately, I felt a little sports overkill. This all changed when I learned my childhood hardwood idol would be playing and I could catch him online.

That’s right, Allen Iverson, who has had his share of troubles this year, would be playing for his Turkish club team Besiktas for the world to see. This excitement quickly diminished into disappointment upon hearing news of A.I. sitting out because of an ankle injury. Read More »

Whether you thought they’d be 14-0 at this point in the season or 8-6, surely you didn’t expect the Miami Heat to have so much turmoil this early in the first year of their projected dynasty.

It’s not just that the Heat are losing games. It’s that they’re losing with Dwyane Wade looking worse than DeShawn Stevenson some nights, with Chris Bosh pulling a Samson act and getting beasted in the paint, with LeBron openly questioning his coach’s tactics, and with injuries ravaging the bench. Read More »

Depending on how you look at it, Friday night’s Heat/Grizzlies game was either sweetly nostalgic or bitterly depressing for NBA fans like myself who fell in love with the game in the 1990s.

On the court, Jerry Stackhouse was starting at two-guard for the Heat … but in 19 minutes he finished with 2 points and 2 fouls and had a couple ugly misses. Read More »

Watching the Miami Heat go down in their highly-anticipated regular season opener in Boston — much to the delight of LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Eddie House haters everywhere — I was reminded of Oscar De La Hoya. More specifically, reminded of the night in December 2008 when Oscar stepped into the ring with Manny Pacquiao. Read More »

As the NBA regular season approaches, we preview the upcoming campaign with the “Highs and Lows” system — predicting the respective ceiling and basement for each team.

Added: LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Mike Miller, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Eddie House, Jerry Stackhouse, Juwan Howard

Lost: Michael Beasley, Jermaine O’Neal, Quentin Richardson, Dorell Wright, Daequan Cook, Rafer Alston Read More »

Now that the NBA preseason is out of the way and the regular season is right around the corner, it’s time to take stock of the notable injuries around the League and how they might impact the games that count … The three most watched players right now from a health standpoint are Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant and Yao Ming. D-Wade’s entire preseason was almost shorter than Kanye‘s “Power” video, but all sources say he and his hamstring will be ready for Opening Night. Read More »

You Know It’s NBA Preseason When … Lamar Odom is guest-commentating at the announcer’s table during the second quarter, and he’s still wearing his warm-ups. Assuming L.O. wasn’t going commando under the sweats, he could have conceivably moved directly from his seat next to Mark Jackson to the court … For the most part, though, intensity was the name of last night’s Lakers/Warriors game in Ontario, Calif., which was technically a “neutral” site but definitely housed a pro-Lakers crowd. Fill-in coach Brian Shaw even had Kobe Bryant (22 pts, 7 asts) and Pau Gasol in for most of the fourth quarter and some of overtime, while G-State ran Monta Ellis and David Lee almost all night … Read More »