Crank up the Willenium because Ray Allen is Miami bound and needs a welcome. Just when we thought all the pieces were coming back together for the Celtics, their sharpshooter is bolting for the Heat to win a title, at albeit lower price. It’s kind of a shock considering how comfortable he’d been in Boston and how well his group of teammates had worked together to get them to three conference finals and two NBA Finals during their time. And it’s another coup for Pat Riley and the Heat, even though we all know Allen, who turns 37 this month, is diminished physically and his defense was exposed like a glass house without curtains in the playoffs because of ankle trouble. Read More »

Look familiar? It’s not deja vu in Oklahoma City; this really is the second time TV has caught an opposing GM looking like he’s just seen a ghost from his seat in Chesapeake Energy Arena this postseason. First it was the Lakers’ Mitch Kupchak looking stunned and lonely on elimination night in the Western Conference Semifinals. Tuesday night, Heat architects Alonzo Mourning and Pat Riley were caught amid a sea of blue looking, well, pissed. Read More »

If the rest of the NBA Finals go anything like Game 1, LeBron James is going to have one crappy summer. As for his critics, could it have been scripted any better? Miami comes out scorching before the duo we dubbed the best since Shaq and Kobe completely dominate the second half. Yep, sounds a lot like a Skip Bayless wet dream. After trailing for almost all of the first 36 minutes, OKC went off in the fourth quarter to secure Game 1, 105-94. Read More »

It took Miami 18 years to reach the franchise’s first NBA Finals. Six years later, the city is watching its third Finals trip start tonight when the Heat play in Oklahoma City in Game 1. But don’t think just because it’s not a long history of playoff dominance that there aren’t some crazy moments from their Finals history that still have us in awe. Read More »

Want to see LeBron James and Shane Battier in a wig? How about Pat Riley singing “My Girl”? Or Juwan Howard in a powerful duet with his wife? Battier was able to get a number of his teammates to support his Take Charge Foundation by taking part in a recent karaoke-based fundraiser called “South Beach Battioke”. The event raised money for college scholarships for Miami area students and as Battier puts it on the Take Charge’s website: “We are changing lives one (ahem, colorful?) rendition of Sinatra at a time.” Read More »

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 »