Just because LeBron James wrecked Bill Walker on Friday and jumped over John Lucas III on Sunday, don’t forget there was a solid weekend of college basketball being played, too. There were two days of action, but only five teams won the weekend. Here they are: Read More »

I now understand what it’s like to be Kobe Bryant or LeBron James. During the 149-day lockout, I was repeatedly asked the same question over and over again: “How does the lockout affect your job?” By about the eighth time I heard this, I had developed a stock response that I could tell people. “NBA or no NBA, we’re still good. There’s college, high school and overseas ball, and now we just have more time to cover the players’ lives off the court.” Truthfully, I only partly believed myself. Read More »

You may know Cappie Pondexter as the sweet-shooting New York Liberty guard – the one who has posted an 18.4 scoring average through the first third of the 2011 WNBA season. But that’s just her summer job. In the winter, you can find Pondexter in Russia hooping in the EuroLeague for UMMC Ekaterinburg. Or you can find her working for 4 Season Style Management, the image consulting company she co-founded. Read More »

Despite only entering the league this spring, Maya Moore has already become the proud owner of the WNBA’s best-selling jersey. Why is this a big deal you may ask? This is based on sales from October 2010 through June 2011. Not bad for this April’s No. 1 pick sporting No. 23 for the Minnesota Lynx. And in case you were wondering, Moore supplanted Candace Parker who has held the top ranking since October 2008 and boasts the best-selling jersey in NBA Store history. Read More »

The WNBA season tip-off passed by like the 10-year anniversary of the release of Final Fantasy IX – unnoticed. Despite all those clever “Basketball is Basketball” commercials, hoops fans were too busy hating on LeBron and Dwyane Wade’s celebratory antics in Game 2 to pay much mind to the June 3 season opener between the Los Angeles Sparks and the Minnesota Lynx.

But now that Dirk Nowitzki’s game-winning drives and Jan Vesely’s smooch are distant memories, hoops fans need something new to satisfy their basketball fix. Now I know the WNBA might not seem sexy, but I’ve got four reasons for you to follow this summer’s campaign. Read More »

The sequel never, ever lives up to the hype. The Godfather II. Jaws II. Even Caddyshack II couldn’t do it. Last night in Cleveland, the game was at least closer than the last Return of the King. But no one cared about that. They wanted fireworks. And got absolutely none (unless you’re a Cavs fan) … Despite nearly blowing a 23-point second-half lead, the Cavs held on to beat the Heat 102-90 to deny them a chance to move ahead of Boston and into second place in the East. The first time LeBron James came back to Cleveland, everyone was nervous he was going to slip up at a red light and some Cavs’ fan would pull up and get their Sonny Corleone on. This time, the reaction wasn’t nearly as antagonistic. Maybe that was because James didn’t show up for introductions. Yes, when they called his name, he was back in the locker room, waiting it out while his teammates had to soak in the boos. Read More »

No disrespect to Caron Butler — who is one of our favorite guys to work with in the NBA and tougher than your first night in prison — but at this stage in his career, if he is your primary scoring option against a team like the San Antonio Spurs you’ll have to play an almost flawless game to win. Without Dirk Nowitzki (knee) in the lineup on Thursday, the Mavs had to lean on Caron (30 pts) against the Spurs, and they just didn’t play perfect enough to get the W … Meanwhile, the Spurs were overloaded with options. Read More »

We mentioned it in Smack this morning, but figured we’d give you a little more detail into what actually went down yesterday in President Barack Obama‘s pickup game. As you can see from the picture, Chicago’s Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah got the invite, but who else was selected for Obama’s personal Dream Team? Read More »

It’s like there’s no middle ground: NBA teams either make decisions that seemingly take no forethought (e.g. New York re-hiring Isiah Thomas and subsequently pissing off Donnie Walsh), or they overthink decisions that should be easy. The most recent example of that? Detroit still mulling whether or not to sign Tracy McGrady. Why wouldn’t Joe Dumars make the move? From everything we’re hearing it’s a one-year, vet-minimum contract, so no risk there. It’s not like you’re throwing off the chemistry of a championship-contending group. Read More »

While the Wizards are still introducing their new franchise point guard (John Wall) and figuring out what to do with their old one (Gilbert Arenas), the team’s power forward of the future just suffered a major setback. Andray Blatche broke his left foot earlier this week, and following surgery yesterday is expected to miss about three months. Coming off his breakout half-season — the Antawn Jamison trade opened up a starting spot, where Blatche averaged 20 and 8 boards down the stretch — this was arguably the biggest summer of Blatche’s career. Read More »