One thing I’m going to miss this St. Patrick’s Day is staying up all night by force, not by choice. Last March 17, we were living literally right next door to an Irish pub; since then we’ve moved to a condo across the street and just out of earshot of the tragic karaoke renditions of “Sweet Caroline.”

For that, I’d say I’m lucky. But my kind of lucky isn’t close to NBA-player lucky; there are no eight-figure contracts involved when regular people get lucky. So on this St. Patrick’s Day, we have the 10 luckiest players in the NBA… Read More »

Yesterday, the Hornets found out Chris Paul will miss the next two months or so following surgery on his left knee, which he hurt against the Bulls the other day. With the game in-hand, all New Orleans had to do was inbound the ball, get fouled and the game would be over. Instead, David West sends the rock to the other end of the floor, and in pursuit, CP3 smacks his knee, the Bulls get the ball and score, and eventually win it in overtime. Paul is definitely out for All-Star, meaning somebody – Chauncey Billups, Monta Ellis or Aaron Brooks – will be getting the alternate spot. But the bigger question is this: What will the Hornets do now? Read More »

When Blake Griffin went down for the season last week, there was a lot of disbelief emanating from Southern California. Whether it was talk of a curse or simply that the Clippers will never catch a break, it’s safe to say that no one knew how to stomach it. So searching for answers, I reached out to Steve Perrin (a.k.a. ClipperSteve), the brains behind popular Clippers blog, Clips Nation. Check below as Perrin sheds light on the injury, the curse and the fan reactions from Clips Nation. Read More »

I don’t believe in curses. If I did, I wouldn’t have allowed myself to become a Cleveland Browns fan in the ’80s — and then again in the ’90s. I wouldn’t have been surprised when Aaron Boone hit that home run in ‘03. And I wouldn’t have looked into a bathroom mirror and said “Candyman” five times. (OK, I didn’t really do the last one. Tony Todd still scares me to this day.)

Point is, I don’t believe there’s a curse on the L.A. Clippers. Read More »

Just when you thought things were going well for Eric Maynor in Utah, the Jazz go and trade him to Oklahoma City. The Thunder acquired the rookie point guard, along with Matt Harpring’s expiring $6.5 million contract, in exchange for the draft rights to Peter Fehse from Germany, a 2002 second-round pick. Since Fehse will most likely never play in the NBA, and Harpring is out for the season (possibly the rest of his career) after numerous ailments and surgeries, you can see why the Jazz made the move: to save some money. Read More »

A couple years ago I had an opportunity to interview John Calipari for Dime. Aiming to do something different with the biggest rock-star coach in the college game, I came up with the idea to have Coach Cal talk to me like I was a big-time recruit and give me his pitch on why I should play for him at Memphis. Thus was born “The Pitch,” our now-regular feature where we’ve had everybody from Rick Barnes to Reggie Theus share their recruiting tactics.

It was only right that Calipari set the standard. After all, he is the best salesman in the college game. Read More »

Last year we debuted the “Highs and Lows” system — previewing the NBA season by predicting the respective ceiling and basement for each team. Same theme, different season…

Added: James Harden, Byron Mullens, Serge Ibaka, Etan Thomas, Robert Vaden, Kevin Ollie

Lost: Desmond Mason, Earl Watson, Damien Wilkins, Robert Swift, Malik Rose, Chucky Atkins 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 »

You want to cause a splinter within the ranks of the Solar Temple of Michael Jordan followers? Ask them whether they think MJ’s second comeback with the Wizards was a good idea. It’s like if Lauryn Hill dropped an album this year: Half her fans would be thrilled to snatch up anything by L-Boogie, while the other half would be terrified of the potential damage to her legacy when she’s clearly not at the top of her game right now.

But really, the concept of “going out on top” is one that has become strangely unique to sports. Read More »

Classic example of the difference between the NBA summer league and the real-life NBA: Yesterday’s matchup pitting #2 pick Hasheem Thabeet against #3 pick James Harden drew a good-sized crowd at the Thomas & Mack Center in Vegas, and later headlined NBA TV’s “Gametime” highlight show. But wait until the regular season, whenever the Grizzlies and Thunder play each other for the first time. Half-empty gym, and it probably won’t even make the nightly highlight shows unless it happens to be A.I.’s first game with Memphis or Kevin Durant scores 50 … Read More »