Honestly, there are few things that feel better than dribbling a basketball. Very few…and those are all outside of basketball. It seems natural: Basketball in hand. The basketball pounding against the gym floor. The sneakers squeaking. On the court, it’s art. Dribble low. Dribble high. Fast. Quick. I know it sounds corny, but for me it’s true. I could be in the gym for hours, and do nothing but push the rock through drills. Read More »

Daaaaaaamn. That’s all a fourth grader could say. And it wasn’t even like I actually spoke the words either; my nine-year-old cheeks would’ve gotten smacked if I had. I was young, but I wasn’t stupid. Still, I knew special when I saw it. Allegany Community College. Cumberland, Maryland. Steve Francis was ill even before the NBA, even before Maryland. Back then, in case you forgot, The Franchise was just beginning his takeover. Read More »

Has it really come to this? Derrick Rose can drop a 40-ounce on the best team in the League, the team with a 13-time All-Defensive pick patrolling the paint, and it’s not even a big surprise? At least it wasn’t to D-Rose, whose reaction at the end of his 42-point torching of the San Antonio Spurs last night had all the enthusiasm of a guy stuck in morning traffic … Chicago was up by seven at halftime, when Rose already had 21 points. He opened the third quarter in a brief jump shot duel with Tim Duncan, then took a backseat as Luol Deng and Carlos Boozer got theirs. Read More »

Although his reel of in-game dunks is about as short as he is, it’s hard to argue with that fact that Nate Robinson is one of the best dunkers in NBA history. He’s competed in four of the last five dunk contests, and won three of them – making him the only three-time dunk champion in NBA history. And when you think about it, at 5-9, it would be incredible if he just did dunked, period. So in anticipation of this year’s All-Star Saturday Night, we got up with Kryptonate to talk about his dunk legacy and this year’s contest. Read More »

Less than two weeks after his debut with the Beijing Shougang Ducks of the Chinese Basketball Association, former NBA All-Star Steve Francis is being cut.

According to reports confirmed by Francis’ agent, the 33-year-old is done with the Ducks after four games where he averaged 0.5 points in 14 total minutes. Francis was originally signed to a two-year contract. He made headlines last week when he was given a warning by the CBA for waving his middle finger while sitting on the bench. Read More »

What happened? When we heard that Steve Francis agreed to a two-year deal to play for the Beijing Ducks in China this season, we couldn’t fault the guy for getting his. But when we hard that the Chinese Basketball Association issued a “serious warning” for waving his middle finger as he sat on the bench, well, that’s a little much. Read More »

Who do you want your offense to run through with the game on the line? Counting down from 30th to 1st (one per team), I’ve ranked the League’s go-to guys…

DERRICK ROSE, Chicago Bulls The end of the era was about four years ago. The funeral was held over the past week.

Once upon a time, “score-first” point guards ran the NBA. At a time when quickness became more coveted than size, and the influences of Michael Jordan (long-term) and the AND 1 Mix Tape style (short-term) took hold, men like Allen Iverson, Steve Francis, Stephon Marbury and Baron Davis thrived. Read More »

After word broke that Steve Francis agreed to a two-year deal to play for the Beijing Ducks in China this season, it got us thinking: Remember when Francis used to be Stevie Franchise? Enjoy!

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After years of playing with “Roster Player #99″ during Michael Jordan‘s glory days, the real (digital) MJ is finally a usable character and cover athlete of a video game. Thank you, NBA 2K11, for breaking a drought that existed since, what, Bulls vs. Blazers? It was a ritual for me during the 90s to have to create-a-player and produce my own MJ for the Bulls roster. It was always disappoint for me as a youngster having to use the inadequately rated replica to substitute for Jordan. Read More »

In basketball, being a go-to guy isn’t always about who takes the last-second shot. It’s the guy who regularly gets the basketball when things are getting tense in the fourth quarter; the guy expected to calm things down when teammates are getting antsy; the guy called upon to snuff out an opponent’s rally or spark a rally of his own; the guy who’s not just supposed to make shots, but make the right decisions. Bottom line: Who do you want the offense to run through when everything is on the line? Read More »