Trying to stop a three-game losing streak, start the post-All-Star portion of the season on a good note, and simply protect their home court against one of the NBA’s better teams, the Lakers had a big test in front of them against the Hawks. We just didn’t know it was as big as Chris Webber made it sound. “They need to put the fear of this sport into others,” C-Webb said. So the Lakers needed to make the Hawks fear basketball? That’s heavy … But they may have done just that. Derek Fisher got the ball rolling, sticking three straight jumpers after tip-off to help L.A. get out to an 8-0 lead before Atlanta scored. Read More »

As much pain as Ben Wallace‘s swollen ankle may have caused him while sitting at home Tuesday, his eyes would have been hurting more had he watched League Pass last night. Big Ben, Gary Payton, Bruce Bowen, Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo, Mookie Blaylock — anybody who’s ever made a living shutting down NBA scorers would have cringed at some of the comical “defense” on display … In Denver, the Suns showed up for about 15 minutes before the Nuggets started shooting holes in their D like a game of Duck Hunt. Read More »

When we talk “rivalries” in sports, the first question that needs to be asked is the following: Have both teams been competitive during the same established period of time?

The answer, of course, when it comes to the Knicks and Celtics is “No.” We are not talking about Boston vs. New York, which has been dominated by Yankee/Red Sox in terms of a sports rivalry with sprinkles of Jets/Patriots and even Giants/Patriots (Super Bowl XLII) recently mixed in. Read More »

We argue. You decide.

CARLOS BOOZER (by Jorge Azze) Booz is undersized at 6-9, but has been the face of consistency at the power forward spot.

Since getting to the League in ’02, Boozer has averaged a double-double in five of his eight seasons, including the last four years in a row. He is a smart guy, Duke alum, with ridiculous work ethic. Read More »

It’s funny how people start pitching trade ideas and forget that both teams would actually need a reason to pull off said trade.

For example, with everybody trying to figure out the best trade for Carmelo Anthony, some of the ideas are just terrible: ‘Melo straight-up for Andrei Kirilenko (why would Denver do that?), ‘Melo for Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum (why would L.A. do that for a one-year ‘Melo rental?), etc. With some of the crazy offers being considered, I began to think about some of the all-time worst trades in NBA history: Read More »

After Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley weighed in with their thoughts on Miami’s “Super-Friends” collaboration, now Magic Johnson is having his say:

“We didn’t think about (superstars teaming up) ’cause that’s not what we were about,” Magic told reporters during a visit to New York. “From college, I was trying to figure out how to beat Larry Bird.”

That’s following Jordan’s comments over the weekend that he never would have teamed up with Magic and Bird because, “In all honesty, I was trying to beat those guys.” Read More »

Tuesday was “Bring Your Real-Life NBA Player to Summer League” Day, as J.R. Smith, O.J. Mayo and J.J. Hickson suited up for the Nuggets, Grizzlies and Cavs, respectively, for a dose of authenticity. Well, kind of. While O.J. is seriously working on his point-guard skills and J.J. is fine-tuning his game as the probable starting power forward in Cleveland, J.R. was in straight clownin’ mode. The stat line says J.R. only took five shots in 15 minutes (9 pts), but trust us: He was looking to shoot every single time he got the ball. Read More »

The Phoenix Suns seem destined to make the desert a family affair. With NBA agent Lon Babby getting some looks as a candidate to be their future GM, the Suns went out and acquired two players that he’s involved with: Hedo Turkoglu (with Babby as his agent) and Josh Childress (whose agent James Tanner comes from the same law firm, Williams & Connolly, that Babby works out of). Oh yeah, and Babby also represents the Suns’ Grant Hill. Read More »

Last night, NBA fans were given something we’ve never seen before. No, not just LeBron James‘ widely-criticized but highly-viewed “The Decision” TV special, but we saw an unprecedented collection of three superstar teammates form like the Justice League … Think about all the other “Big Three” combos: Bird, McHale and Parish were nowhere near as athletic as Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh. Jordan, Pippen and Rodman were a different bunch, consisting of one explosive scorer, one Swiss Army Knife in the flesh, and one defensive/rebounding savant. Read More »

Immediately after winning a championship, we have a pretty good idea what Kobe, Pau, Ron-Ron, L.O. and the rest of the Lakers are doing right now: Sleeping. Clyde Drexler once told us in a Dime interview that after he won the ’95 title with Houston, he spent the next two weeks sleeping all day, and on NBA TV right after Game 7, Kevin McHale said he would sleep about 15 hours a day for a few days after his Boston ‘chips. (This was when broadcast partner Chris Webber could only nod, smile and wonder.) … Read More »