After reminiscing on Latrell Sprewell in the late ’90s, we figured we’d take it back again. Some of the young cats out there might know Glen Rice just as that dude who got with Sarah Palin, but back in the day he gave nearly everyone the biz. Besides MJ (who wasn’t a fan of him growing up?), Rice was my favorite player and Charlotte my favorite team. Even though this game comes from the year before he ended up in the Beehive, respect is due. Rice dropped 56 (on 20-27 from the field) on Penny & Shaq‘s domes, and did it all while leading a pedestrian Heat team to a 123-117 win. If you must know, O’Neal had 38 & 16 and Penny gave Miami 28 & 18 in this one as well.
It was 2003 and I was 14 years old spending a weekend at my grandma’s place. Let’s admit it – while we all love seeing our grandparents, their houses are never the most exciting places to hang out for prolonged periods. That is, unless you enjoy watching TV shows that make James Lipton‘s Inside the Actor’s Studio completely enthralling. So as an excuse to leave, my uncle used my desire to watch a meaningless Game 1 between the Suns and Spurs first round matchup to get out of the house. Read More »
Penny has reached the big 4-0. Amazing. Before he became a casualty to injury, he was a beast. During the Bulls’ historic 72-win season, one of the losses came in Orlando, to a team that was missing Shaquille O’Neal…probably because they had another 24-year-old stud who dropped 36 points.
The world is evil. God might be good, but the world we live in is undoubtedly evil. For an athlete, there’s nothing worse than an injury. Some are lucky enough to never experience a real one. Others are never challenged. But two players, two people with enough talent to one day make the Hall of Fame, dealt with one break after another, one tear after another, one debilitating surgery after another.
Before the Allen Iversons, the Carmelo Anthonys, before the Dirk Nowitzkis, there was a question. And we all thought we had the answer. Read More »
With the sudden retirement of Shaquille O’Neal from the NBA, we got to thinking about all the great players that the Big Social Security Applier played with during his 19 seasons in the league. There’s a long list of All-Stars, but in making the list, we ask this question: Who was at their best while playing with Shaq? For example, the Kevin Garnett that O’Neal played with this season won’t rank as highly as the 2007-08 Amar’e Stoudemire that he shared the court with in his Phoenix stint.
Obviously, we’ll save all the center slots for the Big Aristotle himself, but without further adieu, we present the First, Second and Third All-Shaq teams: Read More »
I’m not normally one to mute commercials. First off, I’m not 80. And second, I’ve never had a problem with most. Sometimes, you’ll get annoying ones. Yet every once in a while, you’ll catch a gem. But some of these commercials being run now in the playoffs…man, specifically that T-Mobile one with the weird hipster dude rapping, that’s just outlandish, nonsensical gibberish. It’s an ugly monopoly; I feel like I’m seeing the same ones over and over again. Read More »
As we mentioned in Smack, I got the chance to participate in a conference call yesterday with TNT and the voices of the Eastern Conference Finals: Reggie Miller, Steve Kerr and Marv Albert. They broke down the Chicago and Miami matchup for nearly 45 minutes, and TNT alerted me that Game 1 on Sunday night was actually the most watched NBA game of all-time in cable history. It finished with a 6.2 rating and over 11 million viewers. The amount of hype and anticipation for this series is clearly exceeding even our own lofty expectations. Read More »
It’s more than just Jordans. eBay’s strongest tie to basketball is not documented footwear, but an infinite inventory of NBA junk, official and otherwise, wearable or not. If it’s old and NBA, it’s worth watching. Keep checking back for the best in vintage NBA memorabilia around. This week, we have Penny Hardaway‘s 1965 Ford Mustang and Carmelo Anthony‘s 1971 Chevrolet Chevelle. Read More »
Some day next decade, when they write the Wikipedia version of Blake Griffin’s basketball career, the pieces will all fit together sensibly. He was a high school All-American (and won the McDonald’s national dunk contest), then a college All-American, then the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft. So of course he would take the League by storm as soon as possible, running (and jumping, and dunking) away with the Rookie of the Year trophy and leading the woeful L.A. Clippers back to being a real-life pro sports franchise. Read More »
Trevor Ariza is only 25 years old, but in his seven years in the NBA he’s been through more experiences than a lot of 35-year-old veterans.
Drafted at age 18, Ariza had to fight for a roster spot as a second-round pick. He has played for five pro teams since then, having been traded three times and signing one contract worth nearly $35 million. He has lived in New York City and Los Angeles. He has played with Kobe and Penny and Grant Hill. He has won an NBA championship and played for Lottery teams. He has been an NBA Finals hero and a little-used benchwarmer. Read More »
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