I never called Nick Van Exel shy. Too many jumpers early in shot clocks proved he had no conscience. I never called him timid either. Too many arguments with Del Harris proved that. I also never called him faint-hearted. He had enough street cred to get name-dropped in a song by Jigga. I figured he had a little Cypress Hill in him when he shoved Ron Garretson into the scorer’s table. And busting out “the monkey” midgame, against the Jazz no less (I doubt anyone on that team had even heard of “the monkey”), should’ve been all the evidence needed to sum it up: Van Exel had himself some big ol’ Sam Cassell-sized balls. Read More »
Screw you Dave Checketts. Screw you. If you were following along with lockout news yesterday, you would’ve noticed that at some point in the late afternoon, people started getting really excited. It’s because this dude Checketts – who used to be general manager of the Jazz, president of the New York Knicks and president of Madison Square Garden – said in a radio interview that he had heard the players and owners had agreed to a deal. Checketts knows David Stern well, and his name is big enough that it gave people a quick fluttering of the stomach. But it wasn’t long before everyone and their momma shot it down. Read More »
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Another week, another DimeBag. We’re a little downtrodden this week – okay, let’s be honest – depressingly terrified of the owners’ “take it or leave it” demands, or, the day basketball blew up in a puff of immature bargaining smoke. It’s a sad state of affairs, especially when the owners can roll around in their leverage and hurl ridiculous ultimatums wrapped in extended middle fingers. Alright, enough lockout talk. Let’s get to the mindless minutae that will carry us through. Read More »
Born and raised in America, I don’t really have an outsider’s perspective on leaving my home country for another place, another culture, another world. I only know patriotism in reference to the good ol’ USA, not an adoptive pot I’ve melted into or otherwise. Developing a patriotism for a new place in my adulthood is a concept out of my grasp.
But basketball players do it all the time. Sometimes they’re born on one continent and move at a very young age where they develop their hoops skills. Sometimes they come to America to play for the NBA, eventually gaining U.S. citizenship. Other times, guys flee their home country to play for a national team despite them ever having learned the country’s official language. Read More »
The dunk may be the most efficient method for securing two points, but it has evolved into the most visible platform for pure power, unbridled enthusiasm and exuberant jubilation. In the grand scheme of basketball, one basket midway through the game does little to change the outcome. Yet we cannot help but celebrate the supreme athleticism of the dunker and the abject misery of the dunked-upon. But our love, however cruel it may be to witness for the defeated, is honest. It is why thousands upload these moments of sovereignty and humiliation to YouTube on a daily basis. When Taj Gibson posterized Dwyane Wade in Game 1, I was obligated to relive the past glory of other immortalized playoff dunks. Here are, in descending order, the Top 10 NBA Playoff Dunks of the 21st Century. Read More »
Go ahead. Make your jokes. Tell him he sucks. Laugh about T-Mac straddling him like a cowboy after dunking in his grill. Laugh about Space Jam. Say it was the highlight of his career. Forget about the 2,119 blocks. Forget that he always put himself in the way, even if it meant 20 or 30 posters. Death Stick don’t care.
Somewhere in Utah, there’s a man riding a custom chopper through the bucolic streets, completely at peace with the game of basketball. He doesn’t need your pity, and I’ll tell you why. Read More »
It would appear though, that some BYU/Jimmer fans have taken their hero-worship to new, frightening levels. For example, this “You’ve Been Jimmered Music Video” starring none other than Shawn Bradley and former Philadelphia Eagle Chad Lewis, both wearing wigs, pretending to play instruments and singing about Jimmer over Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive” (We caught it on this post from The Big Lead yesterday):
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So with the Brett Favre ending his NFL iron man streak and Cliff Lee signing with the Phillies (which I’m loving, by the way) dominating the headlines lately, I felt a little sports overkill. This all changed when I learned my childhood hardwood idol would be playing and I could catch him online.
That’s right, Allen Iverson, who has had his share of troubles this year, would be playing for his Turkish club team Besiktas for the world to see. This excitement quickly diminished into disappointment upon hearing news of A.I. sitting out because of an ankle injury. Read More »
With the most exciting night in the NBA upon us, we often tend to focus on the players who get picked and their dreams finally coming true. But Draft Night is not always such a wonderful dream. For some franchises, selecting the wrong player turns a night of dreams into nightmares. With that in mind, here are my Top 5 Draft Day Disasters: Read More »
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