It’s been at least a decade since we made it through the NBA Playoffs without a controversial call, and this year was no different. Even with all of the advanced technology, the replays and the added pressure refs are under to get it all just right, the reaction to nearly every game – and this is a major downside of Twitter – was to skin and sell the referees body parts. With OKC and Miami in the Finals, the two best teams, but more importantly the two most exciting teams, hopefully we can just focus on the ball. However, it will help to have Steve Javie around. Yep, the retired ref was hired by ESPN as a rules analyst for pregame and postgame coverage of the NBA Finals. Read More »

If Doc Rivers had his wish, he’d have all three of the Big Three in Boston back next season, it sounds like. Now it’s time to parse how much of that feeling is sentimental or practical on the Celtics’ part. We’ve read a lot of reports saying that Kevin Garnett is the most likely to return after his playoffs where he got nasty and snarly like his old 2004 self. Ray Allen is the question mark we are the most interested in seeing how it plays out. Read More »

When it came down to it, the Memphis Grizzlies refused to lose Marc Gasol. All along, team owner Michael Heisley said that he was going to do whatever it took to keep Gasol in Memphis, but when word came out that the Houston Rockets were planning to give the restricted free agent every dollar they could, I had serious doubts that the the Grizzlies would match their $55 million offer sheet.

Tonight, Heisley dug deep. Read More »

No matter what Memphis Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley says, teams are going to continue to make trade offers for Rudy Gay. And for a team like the Cleveland Cavaliers, who have long coveted the fifth-year swingman, they’re going to keep trying. According to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress, that persistence came in the form of an offer that would have sent Cleveland’s $14.5 million trade exception (acquired in the LeBron James sign-and-trade to Miami) and the No. 4 pick to Memphis for Gay. Read More »

On Feb. 1, 2008, Michael Heisley, the owner of the Memphis Grizzlies, and Chris Wallace, the team’s general manager, were the two most vilified men in the NBA. They had just traded Pau Gasol to the Lakers in a move that was seen as one of the most lopsided trades in NBA history. They turned the Lakers into instant championship contenders, while getting pennies on the dollar in return. The package they got included Javaris Crittenton (now out of the League), Kwame Brown, a practically retired Aaron McKie, two late first-round picks, and the rights to Pau’s brother, Marc Gasol. Read More »

While most of the trade chatter out of Memphis has centered around Zach Randolph and O.J. Mayo, apparently there is only one player Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley is looking to deal: Hasheem Thabeet. According to Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial-Appeal, the trade would bring Shane Battier back to the Grizzlies in exchange for Thabeet. But apparently it’s not that simple: Read More »

Apparently that whole “Don’t Sign Me!” act Jason Williams was putting on with Memphis went away after he realized no one else wanted to sign him. According to Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal, White Chocolate has agreed in principle to sign with the Grizzlies and will join the team by Monday. Read More »

A couple months ago, it looked like the Memphis Grizzlies were headed back to the playoffs. But in the volatile Western Conference, when the season ends in two weeks, it appears they’re going to be on the outside looking in. The problem is, all the teams in the playoffs now keep winning, and the Grizzlies have lost three in a row and are just 5-5 in their last 10 games. So with eight games left in the season, Memphis will have to try and win without their star center Marc Gasol, who is out for the rest of the season due to a torn neck muscle. This is not good. Read More »

After the Grizzlies destroyed the Celtics last night, it’s safe to say that no one thought it was going to be this way. Not even Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley. In a great interview with the Memphis Commercial Appeal, Heisley talks about the team’s draft history, offseason priorities and whether selling the franchise is still an option. But the most intriguing information that he divulges is surrounding soon-to-be free agent Rudy Gay. Read More »

While word has now spread around the League of Allen Iverson‘s retirement, Stephen A. Smith got up with the Answer to release a statement. While I doubt AI himself wrote this, you know he had to have been involved. You can read it below: Read More »