Dwight Howard (photo. Mannion)
Right after the final buzzer sounded and the Pistons had taken a 2-0 series lead on the Magic, we got a great camera shot of Stan Van Gundy spewing venom at a referee, screaming “That’s f***ing bulls***!” before storming off to the locker room. He could have been talking about a couple […]

Joe Johnson (photo. Zach Wolfe)
The ‘94 Nuggets. The ‘07 Warriors. The ‘08 Hawks? A monumental playoff upset can do a lot to legitimize a franchise and its star player, which is why Joe Johnson (or Josh Smith) is one game away from putting himself on the mainstream map, just like Baron Davis did last year […]

Caron Butler
While Soulja Boy was locked in a room somewhere working on that response diss to Hova and LeBron (because only so many things rhyme with “Youuuuuuuuuu!”), his man DeShawn Stevenson helped extend the Cavs/Wizards series and, of course, extend the NBA’s dumbest feud at the same time … In the first quarter of yesterday’s […]

Standing Tall and Ticked (photo. Mannion)
Cue another summer of the Phoenix Suns (secretly) and their fans (very publicly) blaming the refs and whatever other straws they can grasp onto while trying to come to grips with another heartbreaking playoff exit. You could say last night’s game hinged on a few crucial calls/no-calls, most of which […]

Joe Johnson (photo. Zach Wolfe)
Game 3 was Josh Smith’s time to shine. Game 4 belonged to Joe Johnson. Getting wherever he wanted to go off the dribble while unleashing mixtape moves (pity James Posey and Leon Powe), then wetting jumpers from every angle and distance, Joe went Terminator on the Celtics, putting the red beam […]

Carmelo Anthony (photo. Mannion)
Is Carmelo Anthony destined to become the next Tracy McGrady? Same lead-the-League-in-scoring type offensive ability, same game/personality that’ll keep him a superstar as a player and endorser for the long haul, and — well, we’re in Year Five of Carmelo’s pro career, and he’s now looking at a fifth straight first-round playoff […]

Kobe (photo. Mannion)
Talk about an East Coast bias; yesterday the New York City airwaves were devoid of the Lakers/Nuggets game until about midway through the fourth quarter, with every major network pre-empting their regular programming to show the Pope conducting a mass at Yankee Stadium. It was understandable — after all, there are more Catholics […]

Photo. Tadder
Whether he was just trying to build suspense or he’s been operating on J.R. Rider Standard Time, Gilbert Arenas‘ comeback in D.C. was plenty dramatic. After going M.I.A. for morning shootaround and pre-game warmups — even the actually beginning of the game — Gil strode out from the locker room halfway through the first […]

T-Mac (photo. Marc Morrison)
After the Rockets notched consecutive win #19, we asked in the DimeMag.com poll when T-Mac’s crew would finally lose. Understandably, not many of you thought last night’s game in Atlanta would be the streak-breaker. But there the Rockets were, in a one-possession game with five minutes left before Mac (28 pts, 9 […]