Originally posted in October of 2011, we’re revisiting some of our favorite Kobe Bryant content after he became the fifth player to ever score 30,000 points last night.

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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 30s, he relies more on his skills and fundamentals than simple athleticism and explosiveness. Read More »

Every year, NBA players, owners, coaches and general managers donate hundreds of thousands of dollars to charity. Not all of their philanthropy is voluntary. In the NBA, it’s a fineable offense to wear a headband upside down, to publicly criticize an official, or to execute a chin-up on the rim. As you can imagine, some of these things happen quite frequently. Read More »

Because Yao Ming is an absolutely massive human being, he can make just about anything look different. The man is 7-6, so you could probably film him grocery shopping and then put it up on YouTube with the title, “Yao Ming Goes Grocery Shopping,” and it would flood the Internet. Golfing is no different. Watch him hit a shot here that at least makes him look better than Sir Charles. Read More »

Yao Ming‘s birthday is today, but I feel like it should arrive with a qualifier. You know, like a perpetual but that’s haunted his injury shortened career. Much how the Weather Channel tells you the temperature but also what it “feels like” outside, it doesn’t seem accurate to call Yao 32, which he is. He’s 32, but he feels much, much older because the talk about his arrival and promise seemed to last just as long as his eight seasons in Houston. Here’s another qualifier: He wasn’t in the NBA as long as many hoped thanks to numerous foot injuries — but when he was healthy, he could be one of the most dominant big men the NBA had ever seen. Read More »

Stephon Marbury wasn’t always a former star who later turned to China to play before eventually getting dissed in records by Eminem. Once upon a time, he was the only cat in NBA history outside of the Big O to have 20/8 lifetime averages. He also dropped the NBA’s most famous rookie, Yao Ming, with a crossover one night in Phoenix. The move cracked the entire Phoenix bench up, but more than likely, they were just laughing at Shawn Marion‘s jumper. Read More »

There isn’t a franchise player in the NBA tougher to peg than Danny Granger. The man gets paid like a superstar, and he’s unquestionably the most talented scorer and all-around player on the Indiana Pacers. He’s hit his share of game-winners and will take on tough defensive assignments. But is Danny Buckets really that guy to take his team deep into the playoffs? Is he a go-to scorer, or just a really, really, really good spot-up shooter? Over the weekend Granger gave the Knicks bulletin-board material, then went out and got hobbled, Misery-style. But last night, Granger dropped 25 points on the Clippers to lead Indiana to an upset win … Read More »

Remember when everyone was so concerned about taking Kyrie Irving No. 1 overall this summer? Between his ROY play so far this year and last night’s dominating performance in the Rising Stars Challenge, he’s shut everyone up. Last night he won MVP by leading Team Chuck to a 146-133 victory over Team Shaq by going OFF for 34 points, nine assists and not missing a three (in eight attempts) all night. Despite the presence of Linsanity, unbelievable highlights from John Wall and Evan Turner‘s forgotten about near-trip-dub, Irving showed he’s the real deal … Read More »

Earlier this morning, it was confirmed that with Iman Shumpert‘s left knee injury, he wouldn’t be participating in the dunk contest this weekend and will be replaced by Utah’s Jeremy Evans. That’s great news. We’ve been trying to #LetJeremyDunk for quite a while. But why isn’t anyone talking about Chase Budinger? The dude is a monster volleyball player, has a recorded max vertical of 38.5 inches, and recently dunked over Yao Ming. Read More »

Even though he hasn’t played in a game since Nov. 10, 2010, you can definitely feel Yao Ming‘s absence in the NBA this season. And with 2012 NBA All-Star Balloting tipping off today, over 1 million people will have to find another suitable candidate among Western Conference centers. (Although I hope people still write him in.) Even though Yao is retired from playing ball, the 31-year-old is not resting on his laurels. His latest endeavor? The Chinese wine scene. Read More »

NBA 2K12 won’t stop with just a few basketball legends. They’re going all out this holiday season, giving us everyone from George Mikan to Jamal Mashburn. It was recently announced that 2K would be offering a special mode – called the “Legends Showcase” – for download at some point soon where gamers would have the chance to hit the blacktop in Times Square and play one-on-one, H-O-R-S-E, 21 and any other number of games like two-on-two teammate challenges against some of the best the NBA has ever seen. We knew that. Now we also know what players will be in the add-on. If you didn’t think you would be purchasing the “Legends Showcase,” this might change your mind. Read More »