We’ve seen it far too often in the NBA. Corporate elites married to their BlackBerrys occupy the best seats in the house, relegating the beer-drinking, obnoxiously chanting fans to the inaudible back corners of the arena. At first it brought tears to my eyes, watching the heart of the NBA, the fans, being pushed away from the action. But now that it’s an undeniable facet of every NBA arena, we have to accept it. Read More »

Many things were different in 2006. Our president was still white, Osama still roamed the deserts and no one had even heard of Soulja Boy. Yet, the NBA was still as competitive as ever as the upstart Miami Heat took on the Dallas Mavericks in a wild six-game series. Five years later, as the two teams hook up again in the Finals, we take a look at the top 5 reasons why the 2011 Finals is not the 2006 Finals. Read More »

From the announcer table to the ESPN studio, the media chorus line from last night’s Celtics/Magic game was unanimous when it came to one particular issue: Kendrick Perkins got a raw deal when he was ejected by referee Eddie F. Rush in the first half. (But really, what do you expect a bunch of former NBA players and coaches to say?) Then checking the response from other writers and Dime readers today, it seems the majority has sided with Perkins. Read More »

The Suns vs. Spurs is one of the most underrated rivalries in sports, and it even flies under the radar as an NBA rivalry. It seems that every year now we have a Spurs vs. Suns bloodbath to look forward to, although under different circumstances each time. Read More »

If only Radio Raheem was around to see this. Back in ’89, Do The Right Thing, Radio elaborated the concept of love versus hate with the assistance of five-finger rings and a big-ass radio.

He was talking about true hatred, the hate that begets stress and the type of violence that would eventually cost him his life. But today, the word “hate” in pop culture has been watered down to something more like criticism. Read More »

While his book won’t be dropping anytime soon, Tim Donaghy will at least have a chance to schedule meetings with publishers in person starting tomorrow. Finishing a 13-month prison term at the Hernando County (Fla.) Jail, the 42-year-old will have his life back. Sort of. Read More »

When the Spurs smacked the sting out of the Hornets in their season opener the other night, everybody but Tim Duncan looked like world-beaters. Last night in Chicago, Duncan proved he’s still dominant when he needs to be, but his teammates didn’t show up and San Antone took an L … The Bulls just had too many weapons to counter the Spurs’ one-man show. Derrick Rose put up 13 points and seven dimes and Luol Deng had 17 and nine boards, as the whole starting five and sixth man Kirk Hinrich scored in double figures. Read More »

Kendrick Perkins has figured out how to turn yesterday’s biggest non-story into an issue. Yesterday, some excuse-making Celtic fans spread word that two of the refs from Game 4 in Chicago were both Chicago natives. And get this, their families left the game wearing Chicago Bulls gear! Holy crap. If that’s the case, David Stern should probably investigate before we’ve got another Tim Donaghy scandal on our hands. NOT.

These conspiracy theorists now have more fuel in their fire thanks to Perkins because of his comments after practice yesterday. Read More »