Upon leaving New York City for All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles, we knew there was a very good possibility that either the Knicks or Nets would pull off a deal, most likely involving Carmelo Anthony. But what transpired last week for both New York teams (yes, the Nets will soon be in Brooklyn) has been nothing short of astounding. Read More »

When we talk “rivalries” in sports, the first question that needs to be asked is the following: Have both teams been competitive during the same established period of time?

The answer, of course, when it comes to the Knicks and Celtics is “No.” We are not talking about Boston vs. New York, which has been dominated by Yankee/Red Sox in terms of a sports rivalry with sprinkles of Jets/Patriots and even Giants/Patriots (Super Bowl XLII) recently mixed in. Read More »

There are certain players that you always wonder what could have been. But because of poor decisions, bad luck or both – they never reached their NBA potential. Jay Williams, Eddie Griffin and Michael Ray Richardson are just a few names that come to mind. Probably the biggest example of someone who had a chance to be special but fell well short of his potential is Isaiah “J.R.” Rider. Read More »

Light schedule of only four NBA preseason games on a day where the biggest (rumored) news was that the replacement refs probably won’t make it to the regular season due to the League being close to an agreement with the union guys. We hit on this a little bit yesterday, but it’s funny how so many media and fans are bashing the replacements as if they’ve been so much worse than the regulars. We even heard one TV talking head praise the return of the “real” refs, because the ones they’ve had in the preseason are obviously fake refs. How long will it take for NBA players to start complaining about every call again and for the rest of us to remember we thought the “real” refs stunk at their jobs, too? About 24 minutes into the first game? … Read More »

When a young phenom stumbles, or goes all the way and completely falls from grace, the race is on amongst guys like us (media) to say “I saw it coming.” Whether it’s a young Mike Tyson‘s behavior around women or Todd Marinovich‘s father creating a recipe for his son’s rebellion, pundits like to say they saw the signs before anyone else. In the case of Michael Beasley, playing the “We saw it coming” card initially seemed like opportunistic hindsight, and yet, thinking back to our time spent with Beasley, everything that’s come to light this week makes sense. Read More »