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 »

Check out these highlights from the Lakers’ parade down Figueroa Ave. in Los Angeles. Construction workers are basically hanging off of their scaffolding to see Kobe & Co. going by on double-decker buses. Kobe was the most excited of the whole bunch, pumping his fists and screaming virtually the entire way. While everyone on the roster has a championship tee, check out what Kobe and D-Fish are rocking… Read More »

Yesterday was light in terms of NBA news and notes and rumors and all that: LeBron was released from the hospital following oral surgery, Leroy Smith took another step toward hoop/comedy immortality, and the combine results from the Chicago pre-draft camp were released. (James Harden is more athletic than you think, while Blake Griffin is exactly as athletic as you think.) At this point it’s really all about the NBA Finals, which tips off tonight in L.A. at 9 p.m. EST on ABC. For Smack today, the Dime crew gives their predictions: Read More »

As much as everyone has talked about the cooler, calmer, more collected Denver Nuggets in this second Chauncey Billups era, this is still an energy-driven squad, especially at home. So throughout last night’s Game 6 loss that ended Denver’s season and sent the Lakers to the NBA Finals, Kobe Bryant was all about delivering daggers and taking the crowd out of the equation. Kobe (35 pts, 6 rebs, 10 asts) was handing out silencers like Nic Cage in Lord of War, and in turn the Nuggets were generally listless, particularly in the second half when you’d expect them to come out on fire. Read More »