The league starts and finishes another day of the dreaded lockout today, which saw a glimmer of hope as the NFL rebooted up to normal. However, just like last week, our foreign friends are continuing to try to lure superstars onto courts far away from home. Amar’e Stoudemire is the newest big-time attraction on the overseas market. The Knickerbocker big man’s phone is attracting calls from all sorts of places, including Israel, Turkey, China and Spain. Read More »
After a season that saw him take his game to another level while everyone else around the Orlando organization dropped about four levels, Dwight Howard wants to meet up with Hakeem again. The Magic center says he plans to meet up with Olajuwon again at some point this summer because if he wants to continue to meet his goals and get better, meeting up with the Dream is necessary. Last year, Howard officially tapped into some of the incredible potential he has. And while it’s hard to expect guys who’ve been in the league for as long as he has to drastically improve, watching Howard all last year surely felt like he had turned a corner. Read More »
Vince Carter may realize that his time in Phoenix is pretty much up – how short it was – but he still wants to play ball. Not overseas. Not in a rec league. In the NBA. At 34 years old, Carter wants to eventually do some commentating, but for now he wants a few more years with a contender. If you’re the Mavs, the Lakers, the Thunder, the Celtics, the Heat, the Bulls, the Spurs, the Hawks, the Magic or anyone else who wins a decent number of games, would you sign him? The big thing with VC is, most teams would welcome having a vet who can still get you 20 here and there, and you know you can count on him to give you 12-15 a night off the bench. That’s a luxury in pretty much any case. Read More »
Surprise: Kevin Durant was not among those cut from Team USA when Coach K brought out the axe yesterday. The four who were let go — O.J. Mayo, Gerald Wallace, Tyreke Evans and JaVale McGee — will not make the trip to New York City in August for the World Basketball Festival, the first exhibition games, and the final round of cuts … Tyreke was the only “sure” cut, and that was only because he hurt his ankle early in training camp and wasn’t able to participate. Crash and McGee had to be considered just because Team USA is lacking depth in the frontcourt, and O.J. was raining buckets in the intra-squad scrimmage. Read More »
Almost a full month into free agency, and still no home for Shaq, T-Mac and Allen Iverson. If you had told somebody back in 2001 that those future Hall of Famers would be standing in the same unemployment line next to Lou Amundson, Keith Bogans and Eddie House, they would have looked at you like you had lobsters crawling out of your ears … So far T-Mac appears closest to finding a new team; the Bulls are interested but want to make sure he’s (1) healthy, and (2) willing to come off the bench. Even banged-up McGrady has more offensive game than Ronnie Brewer, but defensively he can’t keep up like that anymore. Read More »
Is anybody getting tired of how over-the-top and dramatic some of these writers and other media types have become during the NBA offseason? With Chris Paul as the latest center of attention, we keep reading and hearing terms like, “destroying his legacy” and “throwing everything away” when it comes to CP’s latest drama with the Hornets. SETTLE DOWN. We can list some potential legacy-destroying and image-trashing acts that guys like Magic, Kobe, Jordan, Karl Malone and Bird have committed over the years, but here’s the truth of the matter: Read More »
Following Day 4 of free agency, this much we do know: Joe Johnson is staying in Atlanta and could now use Chipper Jones‘ house as a garage if he wanted, Amar’e had a talk with Mike D’Antoni to smooth things over and appears a lock for the Knicks, and LeBron won’t make his decision until at least Wednesday. ‘Bron is running his annual Nike camp in Akron this week, so if some other college kid dunks on him this time, you won’t read a word about it in any Chicago, Miami, Cleveland, New York, New Jersey or L.A. newspapers … Joe Jeezy re-upped with the Hawks for six years, $120 million. Read More »
The Grizzlies were one of my favorite teams to watch this season. Not just because they employed my main man Zach Randolph and helped him get his first All-Star nod, but because I like seeing a young team begin to realize its potential.
While the Grizzlies ultimately fell short of the playoffs after hanging in there with the best in the West most of the season, their 40 wins was the most they’ve had since 2006, when Pau Gasol was the face of the franchise and Mike Fratello was the coach. The Oklahoma City Thunder occupied the spot as the NBA’s shiny new toy this year, but the Grizzlies were the silver medalists.
Going into the ’10-11 season, making the playoffs is a reasonable goal. While a couple of Memphis’ key players will be free agents this summer, they can still improve with a few smart moves: Read More »
Even with training camp starting next week, there are still guys out there looking for jobs. And while the opportunity to get a non-guaranteed deal for the chance to even fight for a roster spot gets slimmer and slimmer, there are definitely more free agents left on the market than jobs available. Take a look at who’s left: Read More »
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