“Alas! How dreary would be the world if there was no Santa Claus!” Francis P. Church wrote those words in the New York Sun way back in 1897, responding to the inquiry of a young girl by the name of Virginia. Today, with the holidays in full swing and the (lockout shortened) NBA season set to begin, we wanted to take a look at the league’s most charitable on-court players – the ones you would much rather be playing with as opposed to against. Whether they are passing up shots in favor of assists, grabbing tough boards, playing tight defense, diving on the floor for loose balls, forfeiting minutes to youngsters and touches to superstars, or simply reveling in unselfishness and team leadership, these are the guys that will sacrifice and give of themselves for the betterment and happiness of their teammates and franchises. Read More »

Congratulations to Big Baby Davis: You produced the most famous glob of spit to hit American TV since the blonde who launched a loogie in homegirl’s face on Flavor Flav‘s show. Big Baby’s slobber made more highlight shows yesterday than the crunch-time bucket that preceded it, the one that really stamped Boston’s win over the Lakers. Between that spit and this interview, dude should capitalize on his new popularity while the iron is hot: Get a little promotional deal with the new Shrek movie and book a commercial for paper towels … Read More »

Of the four teams that played in last night’s NBA preseason games, three were of the “new-look” variety: Orlando, Dallas and Detroit. Most relevant to the 2010 championship race, the Magic debuted Vince Carter in their win over the Mavs. Starting at two-guard next to Mickael Pietrus at the three and Rashard Lewis at the four, Vince scored 21 points on 7-of-18 shooting, 3-of-12 beyond the arc. Dwight Howard had 17 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks, and Rashard scored 18 with four threes … Dirk Nowitzki — looking like an awkward Thor with the long-hair/headband combo — scored 23 points (17-19 FT) for the Mavs, who were without Shawn Marion (rest) and Josh Howard (ankle) … Read More »

Seeing as LeBron has given 15,000 “I’m cool where I’m at/I love Cleveland” interviews and yet you’ve still got dudes in New York City hawking homemade LBJ #23 Knicks jerseys on the street, there’s really no point in superstar free-agents-to-be saying anything about their situation in the months before they hit the market. Especially when they have a chance to sign a contract extension and don’t do it. Dwyane Wade probably gave Miami fans a lift with some recent quotes in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: “Next year will be a big year for myself and for the team, but the plan has always been to stay with the Heat, and that’s still the plan,” Wade said. Read More »

While the Orlando summer league wrapped up on Friday, the Vegas summer league — the more “glamorous” of the two — was just getting started. Lots of Lottery picks on display: Brandon Jennings had 10 points (3-12 FG) and three assists against Dallas; DeMar DeRozan had 10 points and five boards against the Lakers; Tyreke Evans scored 15 on the Pistons, and Stephen Curry put up 16 points (4-14 FG) with four turnovers and seven fouls against Houston. Hasheem Thabeet and Jonny Flynn will also be in action this weekend … That Lakers/Raptors game was an NBA junkyard of “Whatever Happened To That Guy” candidates. Read More »

Basketball is back. Kinda. If you don’t live in a playground hotbed like NYC or Chicago, and you’re not so desperate that you’re watching classic games on NBA TV and trying to pretend you haven’t seen them before, the Orlando Pro Summer League debuted yesterday to fill the NBA void … Since nobody really cares who wins the games, we’ll just look at the stats: The Celtics rolled out what could be both the worst and the slowest NBA frontline tandem ever, starting Robert Swift (20 mins, 4 pts) and Mike Sweetney (15 mins, 3 pts, 5 rebs) against Utah. Read More »