An NBA championship can do a lot of different things for a lot of different people.

If you’re a Hall of Fame-bound veteran who’s carried mediocre teams for years, e.g. Kevin Garnett in ‘08, a ring can be the final piece of validation to cap a stellar career. If you’re an up-and-coming superstar like D-Wade in ‘06, it’s a standard-bearer by which to set future goals and a quick booster into the next level of fame. Read More »

This season, several players came into camp with their bodies reshaped. Chris Bosh and Rajon Rondo both got jacked over the summer - each adding 15-20 pounds of mass to their once skinny frames. Other guys like Caron Butler, Quentin Richardson and Tim Duncan all dropped weight to increase efficiency and reduce the risk of injuries. The question is whether these body transformations actually translate into better performances on the court. Read More »

Every NBA team has a go-to guy, and there’s really only room for one. And it’s not strictly who takes the last-second shot. It’s the guy who regularly gets the ball when things are getting tense in the fourth; the guy expected to calm things down when teammates are getting sloppy; the guy called upon to snuff out an opponent’s rally, or spark a rally of his own; the guy who’s not just supposed to make shots, but make the right decisions. Bottom line: Who do you want the offense to run through when everything is on the line? From #30 to #1 (one per team), these are the League’s best go-to guys… Read More »

Michael Jordan really could have walked onto the Hall of Fame stage and only said “Thank you” before walking away, and he still would’ve garnered headline news. John Stockton’s speech was memorable because he showed more sense of humor in those 15-20 minutes than he did in 15-20 years in the NBA. Jerry Sloan’s speech was notable for its resemblance to the way his teams play ball: a rough grind that drags on forever. And then C. Vivian Stringer simply commanded the stage: entertaining, inspiring, thoughtful, gracious and heartfelt.

Then there was David Robinson. His H.O.F. speech didn’t stand out as much as the others because, well, we already knew what we’d get from The Admiral. Always a better citizen than a basketball player, always a man of God first and foremost, he was predictably thankful and humble, and of course he talked about his faith. Read More »

Here’s one straight from the Go Somewhere And Sit Down files: After Michael Jordan jokingly called out Bryon Russell during his H.O.F. speech, of course somebody had to go track down Russell for his reaction. And of course the 38-year-old Russell — who as recently as this summer was talking about trying an NBA comeback — had to go make himself look like the “Can’t let the game go” retired ballplayer, challenging MJ to a battle. “I’ll play his ass right now,” Russell told Yahoo! Sports. “This is a call-out for him to come play me. He can come out here in his private jet and come play. He’s got millions of dollars. He can pay for the jet. He can meet me at the Recreation Center in Calabasas. We can have Mark Jackson do the commentating. We can have Mitch Richmond do the officiating. We can put it on TV and see if Michael’s still got it.” Read More »

My standout memory of Michael Jordan does have Byron Russell prominently involved — but it’s not the moment you’re thinking of.

We’re going back to Game 7 of the ‘96 Western Conference Finals, Jazz versus my Sonics. This was our year. Stockton and Malone weren’t willfully passing the Mr. Inside/Mr. Outside torch to Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp; Glove and Reign Man were TAKING it. The city had gone all-in for this squad. Three calendars after he’d recorded it for the ‘93 Sonics, Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Not In Our House!” was back on the radio. Read More »

Today, John Stockton receives the highest individual honor a basketball player can get: an induction in the Basketball Hall of Fame. As a Jazz fan growing up, I couldn’t be happier. For 19 years, Stockton gave our boring and bland town something to get excited about. He was a huge reason why the Jazz were a playoff team every year and why they made it to the finals twice. It is almost impossible to be from our neck of the woods and not give him Pope-type status. Read More »

With the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony taking place today, we wanted to give the true diehard fans of the Dime Magazine community an opportunity to write about the 2009 class. Dime reader Dave Harrison, one of the most insightful Jazz fans we know, and who covered the team for a Salt Lake City TV station in the ’90s, shares his thoughts on John Stockton:

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There’s more than one reason the legendary John Wooden never hesitated to say “John Stockton” when he was asked who his favorite player was. Read More »

If media overhype isn’t your thing, or if you’re one of those people who was never a big Michael Jordan fan, you may want to stay in bed and keep away from the TV and Internet today. As you may have heard, MJ (and David Robinson, John Stockton, Jerry Sloan and C. Vivian Stringer) will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame today, so it’s gonna be all-Jordan/all-day on pretty much every sports outlet. Some of the Dime crew will be in Springfield, Mass., for the HOF festivities, where we’ll be providing live updates on Dime’s Twitter page. You should also check out @mitchell_ness on Twitter for updates from the VIP point of view, plus the latest on the hottest Jordan product ever released. They may be sold out already at the NBA Store, but we’ll let you know where you can get yours … Now about those “other” H.O.F. inductees: Don’t worry, we didn’t forget about them. 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. Dime reader Ian Queliz, who has repped his San Antonio Spurs harder than anyone we know, shares his thoughts on David Robinson:

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“The Admiral” is by far the most important Spur to ever put on the uniform — even ahead of Tim Duncan. Why? To put it simply: Without David Robinson, there probably wouldn’t even be a team in San Antonio. Read More »