The Miami Heat’s shortcomings last season were well-documented. That said, it should do nothing to diminish the fact that this time has some serious fantasy firepower. Aside from the Big Three, there is some residual value to be had on this squad. Whenever the NBA starts up again, fantasy owners would do well to keep a close eye on which players the Heat adds to its roster, and which of its free agents it chooses to re-sign. It’s very possible that this team will have a whole new batch of role players once its retooling is over with. Read More »

When O.J. Mayo told Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix there were times last year where he wasn’t sure he even wanted to play basketball anymore, my eyes opened. I’ll admit that Mayo is and always will be one of my favorite players. His ruthlessness in high school hooked me. Three years into his pro career, I never would’ve guessed that someone had stolen his confidence. But it definitely happened.

One thing you realize when speaking to enough players is that it’s more about the situation than it is the player. Sure, there are times when someone loses motivation, and their game falls off. But take away the very best players in the world, and what do you have left? Read More »

Deron Williams is now officially a member of the Besiktas basketball club, tweeting that he signed his contract and is headed to Turkey. This will continue to be one funny summer; We won’t believe any of this until we actually see it, until someone like Williams actually puts on another jersey and suits up. We’re skeptical … While that’s some pretty significant news, there’s perhaps an even bigger splash making the rumor rounds. Read More »

The media doesn’t often come to a consensus, but regarding this year’s NBA Draft class, there seems to be widespread agreement: it blows. From bloggers to radio show hosts to television pundits, everyone is saying this could be the weakest draft class in years.

“I tend to think that there’s so much media out there that there’s no way we’re going to think just one way,” says basketball analyst Jay Bilas. “Sometimes it pays to be contrarian in the media. [But] you just don’t hear the contrary view this year.” Read More »

It was the same story of Game 4 all over again, only this time it involved two high-scoring offenses and Dallas didn’t need Dirk Nowitzki to be the man down the stretch.

The Heat fell to the Mavericks 112-103 despite a triple-double from LeBron James and Dwyane Wade toughing it out through a hip injury that saw him spend more time than he’d like in the locker room. Dallas hit the clutch shots to put Miami away, setting up Game 6 in South Beach with a must-win for the home squad. Read More »

We’ve seen it far too often in the NBA. Corporate elites married to their BlackBerrys occupy the best seats in the house, relegating the beer-drinking, obnoxiously chanting fans to the inaudible back corners of the arena. At first it brought tears to my eyes, watching the heart of the NBA, the fans, being pushed away from the action. But now that it’s an undeniable facet of every NBA arena, we have to accept it. Read More »

Everyone and their mothers pointed out that Game 3 was the deal-breaker, the game that both teams needed to win to take the series. History tells us this, but after a Miami Heat victory, more recent history also tells us that the Dallas Mavericks don’t fold, even when it appears they’re finished.

Comebacks against Portland and OKC in this year’s NBA Playoffs were in the midsts of single games, but don’t discount that the Mavs’ tough mindsets could help them come from behind over the course of a seven-game series. Read More »

There are some things I will never quite understand about Avatar. For all of the hype, all of the months/years spent building, all of the insanely futuristic special effects and the mountains upon mountains of money put into the project, the movie was supposed to suck. It told the same story I’ve seen a gazillion times, and did it with weird blue creatures that weren’t nearly as cool as “Two Socks” from Dances With Wolves…not to mention that the scenes where the avatar and his alien lady hooked up got my stomach gurgling. Awkward for more than one reason. Read More »

Before I unveil Game 3’s winners and losers, let’s get one thing straight: the Miami defense, and not Dwyane Wade, closed out that game. Sure, D-Wade knocked down some jump shots, but that’s exactly the point. He took jumpers. For those of you keeping score at home, LeBron went the same route in Game 2, except he missed. So Erik Spoelstra and Dwyane Wade, you are this week’s first official losers. You got lucky this time, but history has proven that end-of-the-shot-clock heaves are not the answer. Read More »

What he said. Although I can’t decide if Miami lost or Dallas won. Most likely it was some indeterminate combination of the two. But no matter how you look at it, it was fun watching Erik Spoelstra quietly s*** his pants as Miami decided to go November 2010 on us. Anyway, here are the winners and losers of Game 2. Read More »