As we mentioned in Smack, I got the chance to participate in a conference call yesterday with TNT and the voices of the Eastern Conference Finals: Reggie Miller, Steve Kerr and Marv Albert. They broke down the Chicago and Miami matchup for nearly 45 minutes, and TNT alerted me that Game 1 on Sunday night was actually the most watched NBA game of all-time in cable history. It finished with a 6.2 rating and over 11 million viewers. The amount of hype and anticipation for this series is clearly exceeding even our own lofty expectations. Read More »

During the Suns-Lakers series, TNT showed Marv Albert‘s interview with President Barack Obama. If you remember, the interview was really interesting. Usually when a politician talks about sports, you yawn and don’t pay much attention. However, with Obama, I was drawn in the entire time and thoroughly impressed by his basketball knowledge and insights into the game. Obama is a great speaker, and his interview proved that not only is he great when writing his own speeches, but also when doing an interview. Even if you hate Obama’s guts as a politician and disagree with everything that he does in office, as a basketball fan, there is no denying how awesome it was to see the President talk hoops with Marv. Read More »

Unlike some nights when you have to choose between five different games on League Pass, one on NBA TV and reruns of “Jersey Shore,” tonight was one of the few instances where everything came together. As the League’s top two teams and top two players squared off, all eyes were on Kobe vs. LeBron, and the League’s No. 1 and 1a did not disappoint … The mood was set before the jump, as “O Fortuna” from Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana blasted from the speakers. Aside from perhaps “The Ride of the Valkyries” when the helicopters attack the village in Apocalypse Now, there’s nothing more epic … Read More »

50 Cent is easily hip-hop’s biggest bully. He’s had beef with everyone from Ja Rule to The Game to Rick Ross. Now he can add legendary TV commentator Marv Albert to that list. According to a bizarre LA Times story, on Thursday night Marv Albert got into an altercation with 50 Cent and his posse. Both were guests on Jimmy Kimmel Live and apparently the altercation stemmed from Albert walking into 50′s dressing room. 50 and his posse did not recognize Albert and got hostile with the NBA announcer. Read More »

You know you pulled off an incredible dunk when your team doesn’t even win the game, you lost to a team that features arguably the best/most famous (active) basketball player in the world and one of the two other most famous players in the world, the dunk itself happened way back in the first quarter of an East Coast tip-off, and it’s STILL the first everybody is talking about around the water cooler. A few minutes into Heat/Cavs, LeBron looked like he was gonna put somebody on a poster when he got a step on his defender and approached the rim with bad intentions. LBJ got stuffed by Jermaine O’Neal, though, creating a one-man fast break for Dwyane Wade. Read More »