Last week we asked the Dime faithful for your favorite and least-favorite NBA nicknames. Reader Chaos best summed up ours and everyone else’s general feeling: “We need to start giving players real nicknames man. I miss those days. How can you beat Hakeem the Dream, Air Jordan, Sir Charles, The Admiral, Clyde the Glide and The Worm. All the names these days are lazy like Melo, CP3, CB4, King James, Joe Jeezy … smh.” Read More »

Arguably, the ‘96 Chicago Bulls are the greatest team of all-time. You had (again, arguably) the greatest player of all-time in Michael Jordan, a top 50 NBA player in Scottie Pippen, one of the greatest rebounders of all-time with Dennis Rodman and the Zen Master himself, Phil Jackson, roaming the sidelines. Then you have their 72-10 record (best in NBA history) and the fact that they won the championship that year – the first of three. It’s hard to build a case why they aren’t the best squad ever. Read More »

Almost like it was scripted by our friends at Nike, just as the Kobe and LeBron “MVPuppet” ads begin to resurface, the brand’s two showcase guys are on hot streaks and look like they could be headed for an NBA Finals matchup … The Lakers won their ninth straight on Sunday, 20-piecing the Suns behind Kobe’s 26 points and an overall dominant performance on both ends of the floor. It’s this simple: PHX doesn’t have a single defender who can really give Kobe trouble (although Grant Hill tries) while L.A. has enough horses to withstand the Suns’ speed and are significantly taller and more talented in the post … Read More »

Andrew Bynum’s game has come so far since he entered the league out of high school in 2005. When healthy, Bynum can throw up numbers that are on par with almost any center in the league. He averaged a career high 14.3 ppg to go along with 8 rpg and 1.8 bpg. This season, he’s looking to make a bigger impact as the Lakers work towards winning back-to-back championships. Bynum took some time after yesterday’s training camp session to talk to Dime on the phone. Read More »

Yesterday must have been unofficial Sh*t-Talking Day around the NBA. With most teams kicking off training camp this week — check out the first installment of Dime’s team-by-team season previews HERE — most teams are having their annual preseason Media Day, and a few guys have been talking reckless. Monta Ellis raised the most eyebrows in Golden State. Ever since the Warriors took Stephen Curry and didn’t trade him to Phoenix, the rookie has been penciled into the starting backcourt next to Monta. But apparently nobody ran that idea by Cold-Vicious. “Us together? No. Can’t. We just can’t,” Monta said, sounding like somebody had asked him to film a Brokeback Mountain scene. Read More »

Now that NBA training camps are underway, some guys will have to get used to having all eyes on them — or more specifically, all eyes on their knees, shoulders, ankles, etc. — waiting to see if they’ll hold up or crumble like a toothpick sculpture … Chris Bosh wasn’t supposed to be on that list, especially given the results we’d seen from his offseason workout, but then he tweaked his hamstring right before Raptors camp opened. Bosh apparently hurt himself while playing golf, which just sounds like the first chapter of another bad-luck season in Toronto … Read More »

Unlike a tenured professor, once you make it to the NBA, it doesn’t automatically mean you get to stay there. Just ask Jerome Moiso. So with training camp starting in a month, here are ten guys that need to break out this season: Read More »

When a young phenom stumbles, or goes all the way and completely falls from grace, the race is on amongst guys like us (media) to say “I saw it coming.” Whether it’s a young Mike Tyson’s behavior around women or Todd Marinovich’s father creating a recipe for his son’s rebellion, pundits like to say they saw the signs before anyone else. In the case of Michael Beasley, playing the “We saw it coming” card initially seemed like opportunistic hindsight, and yet, thinking back to our time spent with Beasley, everything that’s come to light this week makes sense. Read More »

Chris Wallace should have gotten a cut from Mitch Kupchak for helping construct the Lakers’ championship team. And if he’s able to get Allen Iverson to Memphis next season, he should also get a chunk from HBO after they create a spin-off of their hit boxing series “24/7″ about the 2009-10 Memphis Grizzlies. Read More »

This has been a summer full of teases. The Cavs teased their fans into thinking it was their championship to lose; Sacramento was teased into thinking their terrible record would at least land them Blake Griffin; Ricky Rubio (might have) teased the Wolves into thinking he was their next PG; DeJuan Blair was teased into thinking he was a first-round pick; and Knicks fans were teased into thinking they had Stephen Curry in their pocket … Yesterday it continued, as Hedo Turkoglu apparently teased the Blazers into thinking they had him ready to sign for $50 million over five years, until — while he was in Portland visiting with his almost-new team — Hedo decided he’d rather go to the Raptors for $56 million over five … Read More »