Golden State Warriors swingman Dorell Wright spent his first six seasons in Miami learning the ropes from All-Star Dwyane Wade. Going straight to the pros out of South Kent Prep (Conn.), the 6-9, 205-pounder had to go through some growing pains before he finally arrived, but he wouldn’t trade it for the world. We caught up with him the other day to chat about his time with the Heat, learning from and playing against Wade, and proper protocol when you visit your old city or your teammates visit yours. Read More »

So what did Otis Smith say? Or what did he do? Something happened. Something weird, because just hours after Dwight Howard basically came out and said “Look man, trade me. I’m not feeling like we can work things out. You and I don’t have a good relationship,” the big man is now saying he loves Orlando and doesn’t want to leave. Whereas Chris Paul had made it pretty clear he’s not trying to stay in New Orleans, Howard has been going back and forth for the past few weeks on whether he wants to stay or not. Read More »

And you thought the Shaq vs. Kobe beef was over? It’ll never end. This will go on longer than anything, linger longer than Brett Favre, and it’ll probably still have people talking 10 years down the road. All was quiet on the front for a while, but O’Neal has a new autobiography dropping on Nov. 15 – it’s called Shaq Uncut: My Story and it’s co-written with Jackie MacMullan – and the book gives some more inside info on O’Neal’s view of the feud between two of the most polarizing players in NBA history. According to Shaq, it was Kobe that destroyed the team’s shot at a title in 2004, the year they had Karl Malone and Gary Payton. Read More »

Is there ever a June superstar celebrity who’s bigger than David Kahn? Seriously, ever since Minnesota brought him in before the 2009 NBA Draft, Kahn has become a one-man show. A human catch phrase around this time. And now this year, we get the ultimate treat: knowing Kahn and his assortment of basketball scientists will be dictating the entire draft from the second spot. The Wolves are the most active team in the field, looking to trade down, out, half the team. Apparently, they want a star for the second pick. Good luck with that. Read More »

On July 8th of last year, LeBron James announced in front of a national audience on ESPN, “I’m taking my talents to South Beach.” That announcement unleashed a strong legion of “haters” – primarily from Cleveland – but with members all over the country. These haters are people who suddenly became fervently anti-LeBron for a variety of reasons: “The Decision” was a slap in the face to Cleveland, he’s a coward who can’t win without Dwyane Wade, he turned his back on a city that adored him, and the list goes on and on. I must admit, I am one of those people. Read More »

There are few coaches in college hoops that have seen success in the Northeast and the Southwest and have lived to tell about it. One of them is recently retired Connecticut native, Tom Penders. Penders took four schools (Rhode Island, George Washington, Houston and Texas) to the NCAA Tournament – Fordham actually won the MAAC title and didn’t get a bid because the conference was not yet eligible – and retired trailing only three active coaches (Jim Boeheim, Mike Krzyzewski and Jim Calhoun in games coached. 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 »

I’ve never been one for self-help books, but over the last couple weeks I’ve been reading Rebound Rules, a motivational guide to getting one’s life in order written by my main man Rick Pitino.

Though it was printed in 2008, there is at least one chapter, “Surviving and Thriving in the Microwave Culture,” that becomes even more timely and relevant as 2010-11 sports media moves closer into tabloid territory, and jumping to premature conclusions becomes as natural as Northwestern missing the NCAA Tournament. Read More »

Maybe he killed Pat Riley‘s fantasy team one year. Maybe Riley, a Kentucky alum, just doesn’t deal with people from Mississippi State. Those are about the only two logical reasons why Riley, master and commander of the Miami Heat, would not take the opportunity to sign free agent center Erick Dampier when he had the chance. Read More »

Once upon a time, Michael Beasley was a can’t-miss future NBA superstar. But just two years after being drafted No. 2 overall, he was deemed expendable in Miami and traded to Minnesota for next to nothing. Aiming to silence critics who label him a bust, Beasley says he’s grown up now. Will his game grow along with him?

Ten games into this season, Beasley is averaging 20.5 points and 5.2 rebounds on 48 percent shooting from the field. Last week he dropped a new career-high 42 points on Sacramento, before pouring in 35 on New York and 25 on Atlanta over the weekend. For our Dime #60 NBA Preview issue, we got up with Beasley before the beginning of the rest of his career: Read More »