With Lakers guard Kobe Bryant becoming the fifth and fastest player in NBA history to score 30,000 points, Dime is looking at all angles of the five-time champion’s career today. (Hey, we already called him the greatest player since 2000.) It’s equal parts celebration and examination of one of the NBA’s most polarizing and talented players in history. Read More »

Well, there are certainly worse ways to open up a new arena. The Barclays Center opened for business Friday in Brooklyn with a Jay-Z-headlined show. We felt like we were there thanks to all the updates and photos we saw blowing up social media. Read More »

NBA training camp is right around the corner. Which means NBA TV’s “The Association” is right around the corner. Which means we’re all going to get to know the Brooklyn Nets a lot better. No, there won’t be as many crazy personalities as an NFL locker room, but on a positive note, there won’t be nearly as many heartbreaking stories of guys getting their dreams crushed. And on paper, this team has some made-for-TV potential: Josh Childress‘ slight nerdiness, Brook Lopez‘s overt nerdiness, Reggie Evans‘ blatant creepiness, the reclamation project that is Andray Blatche, and the tabloid hell that is Kris Humphries‘ life. Oddly enough, the two most “boring” guys on the squad may the two best players: Deron Williams and Joe Johnson. Read More »

We can’t wait until the season — training camps, even — begins and we can mention something about Dwight Howard that involves his game, not Orlando. His back rehab is what really has us the most interested right now because the Lakers need all the time together they can get to build the elusive chemistry every great team needs. Read More »

Utah’s Raja Bell was never used in the Jazz’s first-round playoff series with San Antonio this spring, a fact he said grew from coach Tyrone Corbin making punishment “personal” against him. Why the two were at odds in the first place never was made public, but the falling out was anything but limited to the Jazz offices. Bell’s statement on Corbin is not something many — anyone, really — would say with a year left on a contract, but Bell used the mutual misgivings to secure a buyout in early July. Problem solved? No. Read More »

There are a few basic certainties around basketball, from the rec league to the NBA: Players will dribble and shoot and scream “Oooohhhhh!” at the top of their lungs at contact.

No matter if it’s a full-speed encounter or the slightest thread count of jersey touching, flopping happens. On Sunday, as Sean Sweeney posted earlier today, Jeff Van Gundy read the Riot Act against flopping after Miami’s James Jones went down in an Oscar-worthy heap.

It got us thinking: What are some of the worst offenses we’ve seen? Read More »

Ranking the NBA from worst to first …

30. New Orleans Hornets (3-15) Last Week: 25, -5 Since they started off the year 2-0, the Hornets have lost more than just their sting. They’re 1-15 since and haven’t sniffed an ounce of winning. One thing you can say about them is they fight. Their last nine losses have all been by 10 or less against teams sporting a .606 winning percentage. Read More »

It’s not like flopping is a cultural phenomenon solely owned by the NBA. It’s a disease that’s infiltrating every corner of professional sports. Take last weekend for example. Jerome Simpson, a 25-year-old wide receiver for Cincinnati, drew a 15-yard penalty against the Browns last Sunday by flopping harder than Rollerball. One little shove and boom, he was up, up and away, launching himself five feet off the ground, the largest jack rabbit anyone had ever seen. What made it even worse was the ref didn’t see it and yet still drew the flag. Read More »

The Utah Jazz are a frontcourt-heavy team. They have about 3-4 big men capable of producing usable numbers if given sufficient minutes, which means that unless a trade happens to free things up there, some frustrating minutes-based limitations are in the cards. That said, the Jazz have a nice balance of productive veterans and up-and-coming players ready to make an impact on fantasy basketball whenever the NBA starts again. Read More »

How will this lockout affect the game? A lot… if you ask Brandon Jennings. He’s a basketball junkie – you could literally find him anywhere this summer – but he can recognize that taking the time off might throw off teams’ timing. For example, what if anyone in Milwaukee comes back next year with a new game? “It’s been so long,” Jennings told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. “We haven’t been around each other. For me as a point guard, it’s something I’m worried about right now.” Could a lockout really affect the way a team plays? It’s possible, especially a young team still coming into its own. Jennings might have much to work on as a player, but he knows ball and he’s right in this instance … Read More »