We’ve been tight with AND 1 ever since the HoopsTV.com days years and years ago when our offices were located just down the street from one another. Those were good times - we’d run with those guys almost every single day during lunch and after work, so we’ll always have a soft spot for the brand.

When the AND 1 crew came through this morning, we were reminiscing about the good old days, from one of our favorite shoes ever, the Tai Chi (FYI: Making a comeback very soon), to one of the best basketball TV commercials of all-time, Latrell Sprewell’s “American Dream” spot. Check it out …

Friday was supposed to be the glorious return of “Showtime” for one night only as the Lakers returned to The Forum, but the Warriors turned it into a Run-TMC flashback instead. Coming off an ankle injury he suffered in the preseason opener, Monta Ellis dropped 24 points and eight assists in the GS 20-piecing, while Kelenna Azubuike scored 18 and Anthony Randolph added 18 points and eight boards. (OK, so maybe it was more like Hardaway, Spree and Billy Owens.) … You think Stephen Jackson might be trying to get himself traded? He picked up five fouls and a technical in NINE minutes. Read More »

With the last free agents still looking for teams, there’s one guy that always comes to mind: Latrell Sprewell. Walking away from the game at a time when he could have still held his own on any of the NBA’s 30 teams, Spree decided it was time to hang it up. I bet there are still teams that would sign the guy, even if he just turned 39.

Now that we know Ricky Rubio won’t be playing in Minnesota this season (or next), questions turn to whether he’ll ever play for the Wolves at all. Soon after it was reported that Rubio is definitely staying in Spain until 2011, some Minnesota sources said the Knicks were worming their way back into the picture, pitching trades to see if the Wolves would rather get something now than wait for Rubio later. Then some New York sources promptly denied it. (Why wouldn’t they?) If the teams are talking, apparently David Lee, Nate Robinson, and/or a No. 1 pick would be some of the bargaining chips on the table. Just for fun, let’s pretend there’s a chance of a deal here: We’ve been over how Rubio and the Knicks would be a perfect fit; but what about Lee or Nate in Minnesota? Read More »

Just yesterday, I was watching an old Suns/Rockets game on ESPN Classic when I was reminded of the time Robert Horry threw a towel in Danny Ainge’s face when Ainge was coaching Horry in Phoenix. (The only team with which Rob didn’t win a championship.) Like a lot of older controversial sports stories, I always wonder how things would’ve played out differently had it happened in 2009 with today’s media climate.

I thought that same thing just now when I heard about Al Harrington’s interview with Bay Area radio station KNBR. Read More »

Enough of the rumors; Tuesday saw one actual, real-life NBA trade go down (or at least be agreed to in principle) that seriously impacts the 2010 championship race, and another that great impacts the top of tomorrow’s Draft. The Spurs basically stole Richard Jeffferson from the Bucks, sending them Bruce Bowen, Kurt Thomas and Fabricio Oberto. And since Milwaukee will most likely buy out Bowen and he’ll re-sign with San Antonio for the minimum, the Spurs really didn’t lose much here … Jefferson fell off the map playing for the sorry, never-on-TV Bucks last year (19.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg), but he’s still the guy you remember from New Jersey, only a year removed from being heavy in the All-Star discussion. Read More »

What better way for the Nuggets to put the kill shot to Dallas’ dome than, with just under a minute to go in last night’s Game 5, Kenyon Martin spiking a VICIOUS alley-oop finish (via J.R. Smith) on the dejected Mavs with the appropriate post-dunk antics as the Denver crowd lost their minds. It could only have been more perfect if K-Mart’s d-bag nemesis was there to get a well-deserved glare/scream/verbal ass-whuppin’ … You do have to give Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd credit for keeping Dallas in it well into the fourth quarter, because everything before that was conspiring for them to get Oz‘d. Read More »