LeBron James just can’t win can he? People get so offended over a couple of tweets that it’s almost kinda sad. We can’t even tell you the number of people who hit us up after this “story” broke. Plus, like 90 percent of them were ready to crucify LeBron. He was probably messing around about Steve Nash and Jamal Crawford. But one way or another, the Heat will almost assuredly improve their depth at some point over the next year or so. If Nash were to come ring chasing in Miami, would you care? Ring chasers get no love from the public, but if that happened, we could see people twisting the story to let Nash slip by without criticism … Read More »

Kobe Bryant has maintained his spot as the best basketball player in the world because, even as his nagging injuries pile up and he moves into his 30′s, he relies more on his skills and fundamentals than simple athleticism and explosiveness.

Don’t get it mistaken, though: Kobe can still get up every once in a while, even if some analysts and fans talk about his hops like he’s Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Read More »

We seem to be talking a lot about video games lately. There was the return of GoldenEye that we had the chance to check out. Then there is the constant flow of news out of the NBA 2K12 camp. I don’t get to play video games as much as I did when I was younger. Now we have things like work, responsibility, waking up early, stuff like that. But, video games will never totally be out. Read More »

Somebody call Smush Parker and tell him to dust off his purple kicks. Because if Kobe Bryant is at all missing the time he played with Kwame Brown, a 10-day for Smush in L.A. could be in the cards … OK, so Kobe didn’t say he misses Kwame — he didn’t say anything at all — but during last night’s loss to the Bobcats, Kobe had to notice Kwame was outplaying his more talented opposition for key stretches simply because he went harder. Read More »

Nothing hurts like getting beat in a video game when someone like Richard Jefferson goes off for 14 dunks in one game. It’s a continuous, unending slap in the face. Being at the receiving end of a Kobe Bryant 65-point game is one thing. But losing because your opponent discovers the sweet spot for some scrub three-point shooter is worse than jury duty.

In real NBA games, coaches want certain guys doing certain things and everyone has a role. In the gaming world, if you want Kwame Brown to drop 25 a game, you could probably make it happen (he actually catches passes). Read More »

I guess once you’re in the NBA fraternity, you’re in it for life. (Try telling that to Stephon Marbury.) Anyways, although Smush Parker has been playing basketball in China with the Guandong Southern Tigers Hongyuan for the past two years (with two championships to show for it), the five-year NBA veteran wants back in. And according to Joseph Staszewski of the New York Post, he’s going to do what it takes to get there. Read More »

Despite the fact Dirk Nowitzki signed a new four-year contract with the Mavericks this summer, the realistic oddsmaker knows Dallas’ championship window for the Dirk era only has a couple of years left — if it hasn’t been slammed shut already by the likes of Tim Duncan, Dwyane Wade and Baron Davis — before it’s officially rebuilding time. The Mavs took another hit this weekend, as rising star Rodrigue Beaubois broke his left foot while playing for Team France, a setback in the young guard’s development. Read More »

This morning on the subway I was reading Best American Sports Writing‘s 1998 edition, in particular a Sports Illustrated piece by Rick Telander about New York City playground ball. Telander, as you know, wrote the iconic Heaven is a Playground back in 1974, and in this SI piece, was going back to NY to see how (or if) the playground game had changed.

In one scene, he’s talking to talent-finder Rodney Parker (R.I.P.), a central figure in Heaven who used to ball with Lenny Wilkens and had seen Dr. J and Wilt and all the legends who came through spots like Rucker Park and West 4th back in the day: Read More »

Game 5 tonight (8 p.m. EST, ABC) will be like every other Lakers game: First you start with Kobe, then go from there. Whether he’s surrounded by All-Stars or carrying Smush Parker and Slava Medvedenko, no player in the NBA has his number of shots picked apart and scrutinized more than Kobe, and over the last two games it’s been no different. He hoisted 29 FG’s in Game 3, and took 11 threes in Game 4; but in both games Kobe seemed tired by the fourth quarter and went for long scoreless stretches at the worst time. Read More »

Anybody who watches MSNBC’s “Lockup” knows this much about prison etiquette: It’s all about perception. You might come into the bing at 5-foot-4 with a real pretty mouth, but if you create the perception right away that you’re stone crazy, you can drop the soap all you want and not have to worry.

Same rules apply in basketball. Guys only mess with you if you let them think they can, which is what makes Kobe Bryant such a strange case. Read More »