There’s something purely Americana about the hometown kid making good in front of the hometown crowd.

Whether it’s David Freese blasting home runs to lead his St. Louis Cardinals to a World Series title, or Chauncey Billups going from prep legend to college superstar to NBA bust back to NBA superstar in Denver, or even Jerome Bettis winning a Super Bowl in Detroit in his final NFL game while playing for another team, we like these stories. In a sports culture where free agency and stressed-out GMs eager to trade make it increasingly tougher for fans to claim one group of players as “our guys” for any length of time, hometown ties remain nearly impossible to break. Read More »

The last time we ran this rookie report, there were a few surprises (Greg Stiemsma anyone?) but in the end, the No. 1 pick in last June’s draft was right where he should’ve been: at the top of this class. To say he’s keeping the status quo would be an understatement: In the past few weeks, Kyrie Irving has stepped up his game even more, already hitting the 20-plus point mark in six games this month. Read More »

The Wizards are SO depressing to watch, and it’s not even because they can’t win a game. No one seems to care. JaVale McGee gets stripped in the lane and stands there looking all depressed like someone just jacked his all-black matte truck as the action takes off past him. Nick Young only seems to be into it when he’s scoring. The crowd seems like they’re listening to an opera instead of watching a basketball game. It’s not hard to figure out why this team is struggling. Damn Washington, you might suck but you should at least be exciting to watch. They took an uppercut to the chin from the best 3-5 team in the NBA yesterday, losing by 21 to the Wolves. Read More »

When Kyrie Irving was chosen No. 1 in the 2011 NBA Draft, he knew his rookie year would be impacted by the league’s lockout. He just didn’t know how great that impact would be. After his close brush with unemployment, the Rookie of the Year front-runner can now resume the business of proving he belongs here. Read More »

Beast of the Night: Kyle Lowry lit up the Lakers for 22 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists, two steals and four three-pointers. He shot 42 percent (8-19) from the field, 100 percent from the free-throw line (2-2) and turned the ball over twice. Believe it or not, Lowry is putting up top three overall averages so far this NBA season. Read More »

Just when we were set to believe in Atlanta, they collapsed, fell apart, couldn’t make a free throw and now everyone in Chicago is probably sending Jeff Teague thank you cards. Derrick Rose reached out and ripped out the Hawks’ heart before Luol Deng put the winning touches on top in the Bulls huge come-from-behind win (the Hawks led by 19) at home against Atlanta, 76-74. How did the final few possessions go? It was a lot of Rose vs. Teague. First, with about a minute left, the MVP blew by Teague and nearly elevated to Mars at the rim. After the Hawks’ point forced Rose (30 points, seven assists) into an ugly miss on Chicago’s next possession, Teague came down and with tap water in his veins, missed both freebies. So just to rub it in, Rose came down and sped past Teague again to score at the rim. Read More »

I tell people all the time that I didn’t really pay much attention to college basketball last year. March Madness killed me. I hadn’t watched most teams play for longer than one half during the season, and for once I felt like one of those office chicks who were too stupid basketball-wise to do anything other than guess on colors and mascots and hope for the best. Some of it was work – the NBA took up all of my time. But most of it came down to one thing: I didn’t care about that draft class. Read More »

We thought we’d mix it up a bit this morning. Instead of your regular dose of SMACK, we decided to bring you our Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions for the NBA in 2012.

These are just 10 of ours – add yours in the comments section below and we’ll post the best. Happy New Year to all of our Dime readers … Read More »

It seems like forever ago that the members of this year’s draft class were welcomed to the NBA. After patiently waiting for nearly five months, training camps have opened and these rookies’ lifetime goals are finally coming to fruition. But in a season of constant travel and drastically shortened training camps, which of these youngsters have the capability to break out this year? In perhaps the only top ten list where you can find two members of both the Timberwolves and Cavaliers, we give you the most likely rookies to make a big positive impact on the league this season. Read More »

Kobe Bryant is having no trouble drawing attention, and putting himself into position to make money with this lockout looming overhead. He’s been in negotiations with the Italian club Virtus Bologna for a minute now. When we first heard the club had offered $1 million to Kobe for one game, we almost lost it. Now, reports are saying the offer was increased to $2 million for one game. You can’t say no to that. The club says they have lined up some sponsorships and networks to support the “Kobe Night.” Read More »