60% of NBA Players Broke After 5 Years...

The NBA Players’ Association met with the Toronto Raptors recently to discuss financial prudence among players and during that meeting cited a statistic that scared the heck out of most of the team. It was said that 60% of NBA players go broke after only 5 years of retirement! Are you kidding me?!? That statistic however is said to be an educated estimate and some players actually have a hard time believing it. The statistic could be used as a scare tactic, but it is definitely something these players should be paying attention to.

“Sixty percent is a ballpark. But we’ve seen a lot of guys who’ve really come into hard times five years after they leave the league,” said Roy Hinson, the former NBA forward who’s a representative for the players’ association. “The problems are, for a lot of guys, they have a lot of cars, they have multiple homes, and they’re taking care of their parents. They’re taking care of a whole host of issues. And the checks aren’t coming in anymore.”

“Sometimes you can stop the bleeding, and other times you can’t stop the bleeding,” said Hinson, who added that many players associate with “too many ‘yes’ people.”

We’ve all heard the stories of NBA players owning 15 cars and 5 vacation homes. The sad part is most of these players lack educations and support outside of their posses and families. Most of these players could use some legal guidance as well as financial guidance but seem at times to not be so willing. The players’ association has continually proposed a financial firm that offers players free 2nd opinions on their financials, but getting these players to act has been a challenge.

Back in October, Jason Caffey, who made an estimated $29 million during his eight-year NBA career, was in bankruptcy court seeking protection from his creditors, among them the seven women with whom he fathered eight children.

Shaquille O’Neal of the Miami Heat was in the news recently with a court document representing his annual income as well as his annual and monthly spending. The “Diesel” pays $156,000 a month just in rent and mortgages on the various properties he owns or leases and another $1500 just for his cable TV bills! Of course Shaq is on another level than most other NBA players with the simple fact that he pulls in $20 million a year in salary but this still shows you a great example of the kind of money players are capable of spending.

Remember former Chicago Bull, 6 time NBA Champion, Michael Jordan running mate and top 50 player of all-time Scottie Pippen? Just 2 years removed from retirement, Pippen was back in the news looking to make an NBA comeback to a team that was a title contender. NBA teams laughed at a Pippen return which was later rumored to be based on his poor financial standing. The rise and fall of Pippen was so drastic that he was seen overseas playing 2 games for Finnish powerhouse, Helsinki ToPo to make a little cash.

Besides the fact that players fork out all of this dough for houses, cars and cable bills you still can’t forget that many of them have multiple children from multiple women. This is yet another expense that must be accounted for and child support is one of those bills that doesn’t go away for at least 18 years. Again, you can see how 5 years removed from an NBA career with 2-3 child support payments a month and you could run out of millions pretty damn fast.

Jason Kapono of the Toronto Raptors expressed his thoughts after the players’ association presented their materials. “Going above and beyond isn’t worth it. I don’t want to be a part of that 60% that’s in trouble five years down the road. It’s a short career and I’m blessed to be earning a great salary playing basketball. But if it ended, my contract only takes me to age 30. Life expectancy is 80-plus. So I’ve got another 50 years. Do I really need to buy another car?”

Home Crowds, stop talkin' trash to Lebron!

For the second time this season a home crowd has cost its team a win against Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Why would you do this to your precious home team? They work their butt off for you and give you a huge lead, and then you go and tick the man off!

The first home crowd loss came when the Cavs traveled to Toronto and two young women sitting courtside decided to get into Mr. James' ear. At that point the Raptors were entertaining a solid 13 point lead heading into the 4th quarter and looked to be wrapping up a home win against a strugging Cleveland team; well Lebron had other plans. James rattled off 24 points in the 4th and made sure the two young lady hecklers knew what was happening and it was because of them. They continued to jaw at each other as the game wound down until LJ got in the final words and that being a victory.

The latest home crowd loss came tonight from the fans of the Portland Trail Blazers. The Blazers led this game by as many as 14 in the second half and then the 4th quarter came and a confident fan decided to jabber at Lebron. Sure enough, James nailed 3 consecutive 3-pointers to tie the game and then finished the Blazers off with a driving left hand reverse lay up. Lebron racked up 17 points in the final period and once again had the last laugh.

When are these home crowds going to realize this is bad, bad idea!? You might possibly be talking trash to the future greatest player we have ever seen! He just ran over Kobe and the Lakers in L.A. and now you, Trail Blazers fans, thought your 14 point cushion was enough to take down King James? You may be having a fantastic and surprising season, but please don't get so confident that your mind turns into googly mode and decides that Lebron James can't beat you!

Let this be a lesson home crowd fans to never trash on the King!

NBA Heading to India...

The NBA has most recently announced the division known as NBA China to conduct all of the league's business in Greater China. However, in its goal to become the ultimate global sport, the National Basketball Association has begun its development in a new country, India.

"India and China are two emerging markets in Asia . We have already set our foot in China , and India is our present target. It is a long term association that we are looking forward, to build the game of basketball in the country," NBA vice-president Mark Aronson said Monday night.

The NBA will start by setting up camps including an initial camp taking place in New Delhi from July 3-6 for 50 young basketball players from all over Asia. The camp is named 'Basketball Without Borders' and is the 4th installment, with the first 3 taking place in China.

"During the camp we will have NBA players and coaches as mentors. We will also lay emphasis on health, HIV AIDS and similar issues. We are also exploring opportunities for girls as well," said Brooks Meek, director of international basketball operations of NBA.

This is an exciting time to be an NBA fan especially with the talent we are starting to accept from the rest of the world. The European players have made a major impact over the last 5-7 years and we are now seeing China's best performing at a high level. The Euroleague has become a fixture for the up-and-coming stars from overseas and has helped develop some American born players into NBA caliber players.

Although Indian fans closely follow NBA action on television, national teams have struggled at the international level due to a lack of technical and financial support. India is fast growing as a market for staging major sports events thanks to its booming economy.

There will be two other such camps this year in Moscow, Russia from June 4 to 7 and in Johannesburg, South Africa, from September 3 to 7.

Sonics End Skid, Beat the Spurs?

Tonight turned out to be a nightmare for the ailing San Antonio Spurs. Earlier in the day, coach Greg Popovich decided to bench his All-Star point guard Tony Parker indefinitely while he deals with bone spurs in his left foot. Then the team found its way up I-5 to Seattle to take on a team that had not won in 14 straight games. Well that streak came to an end tonight!

The Seattle Supersonics found a way to win tonight against the reigning NBA Champs. Kevin Durant had his first solid game in quite some time including a late basket to seal the deal for his young Sonics. Seattle desperately needed a win like this to try and salvage some of their season.

The Spurs on the other hand are looking bad in all the wrong places. Parker takes a seat for what could be weeks to come leaving the Spurs with an aging Duncan and a busted up Ginobili. Without one of the big 3 this season the Spurs are just 9-9 and have looked horrible at times.

San Antonio began its season at 17-3 and has gone just 11-13 since. The Spurs are 0-2 at the beginning of their annual 9 game road trip in which the AT&T Center gets overrun with stock and rodeo festivities. This could prove to be the turning point in their season and should be the indicator as to what seed they will find come playoff time.

Are we seeing an end to the Spurs run? Are they aging too fast while the rest of the NBA continues to get younger?

Tony Parker out, now what for the Spurs?

Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs has found himself some bone spurs! He's a Spur with spurs...OK bad joke. His left heal seems to be the issue and was initially not a major worry for Parker and his team, but things have changed.

Does this mean the Spurs are in on the Damon Stoudamire sweepstakes now? My guess is going to be "YES!" Stoudamire has gone through a contractual buyout with the Memphis Grizzlies and is expected to be courted by several teams, now including the Spurs. Boston showed as an early front runner but have slipped down the pole with the Suns, Raptors and now Spurs joining the race.

Stoudamire is supposed to contact Greg Popovich on Tuesday and we'll should help to determine which way this thing swings. The Spurs could easily use Stoudamire skills although I'm not sure he is quite the fit they may be looking for. Jacque Vaughn will step in as starting point guard for the time being but is obviously not the presence on the court each night that Parker is.

Stoudamire would provide some scoring and a veteran poise, but do the reigning NBA Champions really need a player with the selfishness and past of a Mighty Mouse? Should make for an interesting week or so in the NBA; we'll see which team is really THAT desperate.

This Year's Super Bowl XLII Drinking Games!

The time has come gents! Super Bowl XLII Sunday approaches and that means your spectacular party should be on the mind as well as those timeless drinking games. Of course this year we have the New England Patriots vs. the New York Giants which is a fantastic match-up in itself on the field, but off the field it will create some amazing Super Bowl drinking games!

Chug your beer...

1. Every time the camera finds its way onto the Manning Family. I doubt you'll make it through the first half with this one!

2. Every time an announcer makes reference to Gisele Bundchen!

3. Every time Vince Lombardi's name is brought up.

4. Every time Bill Parcells is brought up.

5. Every time you hear a player is giving it "110%"!

6. Every time Tom Brady is referenced as the "MVP."

7. Every time your buddy says "that commercial sucked."

8. Every time you see Peyton Manning in a commercial. Good Luck!

9. Every time you wish Bob Costas was announcing the game.

10. Every time you are happy that Bryant Gumbel is NOT announcing the game.

11. Every time Eli throws an interception.

12. Every time you hear the word "Dynasty."

13. Every time "Spygate" is mentioned.

14. Every time a new dot com company is unveiled in a commercial.

15. Every time Eli frowns and mopes by looking at the ground.

16. Every time Brett Favre is mentioned, and this possibly being his last season.

17. Every time you see a commercial for another worthless sitcom.

18. Every time a team goes 3 and out or fails to get a first down.

19. Every time Randy Moss is noted as now being a hard worker or mature.

20. Every time "American Idol" is mentioned.

21. Every time the Daytona 500 gets a plug.

22. Every time you pee after "breaking the seal."

23. Every time a friend yells out "that was a horrible call!"

24. Every time the Miami Dolphins or Don Shula or champagne are mentioned.

25. Every time a player says "I'm going to DisneyLand!"

26. Every time anyone mentions the new "Spygate" featuring the Rams.
That should be enough to get you through the game or at least through the first quarter! And of course, depending on the level of alcoholic you are, you may need to adjust the amounts of each rule.

And I apologize for the football blog on a basketball blog, but the Super Bowl tends to effect everyone! Enjoy...

Hi Eli!

Sunday Recap Day!

Another Sunday down and another amazing day of hoops! Check out the results:

• The Suns take down those poor little Baby Bulls. Hinrich even managed 31 points tonight; still not enough. 88-77 Phoenix.

• A KG-less Boston team gets dropped at the buzzer by H-E-D-O Turkoglu of all players! Boston just lost 5 of its last 10? Uh oh. 96-93 Orlando.

• Lebron just told the Lakers who he thinks the MVP should be, himself. Is it just me or can you see Kobe aging a little? A lot of miles on those legs. 98-95 Cavaliers.

• Caron Butler hands the Bucks a cool 40 points and the Wizards still manage to lose! Not saying they need Agent Zero back yet, but losses like this shouldn't be happening. 105-102 Milwaukee in OT.

• You think Brandon Roy wanted those votes for an All-Star bid? Well added him to their ballots today. Erasing a 19 point deficit, the Blazers roll! 94-93 Portland.

• Dirk plays like a former MVP, and the Nuggets surely needed Melo. 90-85 Dallas.

• Al Jefferson is REAL good. Career high good today. And the Nets are pathetic. Minnesota has won 3 of 4 and New Jersey just made it 9 losses in a row. 98-95 Timberwolves.

• The Utah Jazz are on fire at the right time, and the Rockets are really looking banged up. Yao out today and they lose. 97-89 Utah.

• The Warriors beat the Knicks and are looking forward to Chris Webber rejoining the team. 106-104 Golden State.

• Seattle is close to falling behind the T-Wolvesfor the worst record in the NBA. Well they lost another to the lowly Kings tonight. 103-101 Sacramento.

So I Went to Steve & Barry's...Holy Starbury!

So I went to Steve & Barry's today for the first time ever. You see we don't have Steve & Barry's in Oregon and just opened one across the Columbia River from us in Vancouver, WA. Now I'm well aware of the store and also aware that Stephon Marbury sells his inexpensive line of basketball shoes known as Starbury here.

Well today, the significant other decides she wants to go shopping at this store because they sell a line of clothing by the Sex and the City most irritating woman on the planet, Sarah Jessica Parker. At first I was a little un-interested in this idea until I realized I could experience Starbury for the first time! Off we went!

We make our little way up I-5 and off onto a couple of interesting side roads in the hole that is Vancouver until we reach our destination. I breath a little, and prepare myself for a Sunday strip mall experience. Fortunately, it decided not to rain today and of course with this being the case, we find a parking spot right up front. And so we enter, Steve & Barry's! You can tell the store is brand new because the strip mall it is located in is completely empty on a Sunday, yet the parking lot in front of S&B's is full.

As I walk in the front door, I decide this looks just like an Old Navy store, but a little less peppy and neon (being peppy & neon sucks). So my other half runs off to frolic in girl land and I head off to Starbury land! I didn't have to walk far, the Starbury collection pretty much takes up half of the entire men's section in this store. If you are not familiar with the collection, please head here.

I browse the store analyzing all of this Starbury stuff and decide this is a pretty damn good deal! Steph actually has everything you could need as an aspiring young basketball player. He's got game shoes, casual shoes, ballin' clothes, not-ballin' clothes and this can all be found exclusively in this one store. It is actually a pretty brilliant idea and he even managed to get Ben Wallace on board.

So today, everything in the store was exactly $8.98 and not a penny more. You could buy shoes, clothes, jerseys, jackets and even dress wear for this unbelievable price! But besides the prices, the one thing that I definitely noticed was Mr. Marbury. His face is plastered EVERYWHERE: on plasma's, on t-shirts, and on posters. It was probably a tad bit more Steph than I could have actually needed on any day during my 26 years on Earth, but it definitely got the point across.

The shoes aren't bad if you were into that whole Dada shiny metallic shoe thing and the clothing line could work if you can pull of that fresh young baller look (I cannot). As I finish browsing the store and decide not to buy anything I have decided this Starbury thing is a winner. As crazy as its creator is, the idea of bringing style and sport to a ridiculously affordable level for "the kids" can never be a bad thing. As many women as Steph has degraded and the number of times he's had sexual relations in a limousine with his cousin's girlfriend can be pushed a side for a moment. He has actually done something right here. Congrats Steph.

This was not exactly the way I wanted to spend half of my Sunday especially with all this basketball on, but sometimes the girl needs to get her way. And it also allowed me to see a positive idea directed at the youth of our country and that will always make my day.

Isiah Thomas' Son Busted!

Joshua Isiah Thomas, the son of Knicks coach Isiah Thomas, was arrested Tuesday morning for underage drinking! It sure is not a good time to be a Thomas. Thomas' son attends the University of Indiana and was allegedly punched in the face at a bar while attempting to order a drink.

We all know the troubles Isiah has found with the Anucha Brown-Sanders trial and now the many issues with the Knicks franchise. I'm going to go out a limb here and guess that he probably didn't need his son to be getting arrested and shouting obscenities at police officers. Like father like son?

NBA - Yahoo! Sports:

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) -- New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas' 19-year-old son has been arrested for underage drinking.

Joshua Isiah Thomas was charged with illegal consumption of alcohol and being a minor in a tavern, both Class C misdemeanors; and disorderly conduct, a Class B misdemeanor, early Tuesday morning, according to Bloomington police.

The younger Thomas is a student at Indiana University, where his father won a national championship in 1981. Joshua Thomas doesn't play basketball at the school.

Thomas and two friends were at the bar Kilroy's on Kirkwood when Thomas attempted to order a drink and started talking with another man, according to the police report. Thomas told police the man punched him, causing a laceration above the right eye.

Other witnesses said Thomas was hit with a beer bottle.

Thomas was taken to a hospital, and police were called around 1:20 a.m. Tuesday. Officers said Thomas appeared intoxicated, with slurred speech and bloodshot eyes. He became irate and started shouting obscenities at officers at the hospital, after his friends got into an argument with police.

Thomas told officers he wanted to pursue criminal charges if they found the man who hit him.

The Knicks have said Isiah Thomas won't comment on the case.

I Love Rumors 5!

Another installment of "I Love Rumors" is always a good thing! Let's see what is cooking this week!

• "Lamar doesn't have that same ability to know how to get his own shot out of the offense the same way [Bryant does]," Jackson said. That was Phil letting us know that Lamar Odom is pathetic in the triangle offense.

• Kevin Pritchard, General Manager of the Portland Trail Blazers continues to deny trade rumors. This team could be sliding and it actually might be a good time to start entertaining offers.

• Shaq is going "full term" and will not leave the Heat before his final 2 years are up. Should we take bets on how many games he'll actually play during this next couple of years? I'm betting less than 80.

• The Phoenix Suns are looking to host the first ever outdoor basketball game; preseason of course. Can you imagine the weather and wind excuses if it was a regular season game?

• David Harrison is questioning the NBA drug policy. And why is this getting coverage? When did employees start having say in whether or not their employer's drug policy is fair or not?

• Chris Webber back in Golden State with Nelly! What a return this will be, or not...

• Gilbert Arenas will be back in the Wizards line-up any day, and according to coach Eddie Jordan, should be starting.

• Mike Dunleavy is starting to think his Clippers will become the new Knicks, lord help them now!

Make Money With Your Sports Blog!

Looking to monetize your sports blog? Thousands of blogs are created on a daily basis and just like many others you probably wish to make some money off of one. Making money with a blog is not easy, but through the following we have provided our top 10 list to making money with your sports blog! These have provided us fantastic results and should help you grow your sports blog into a winner!

1. Once your blog has been created it needs to be set up with advertisements and you have hundreds of choices. Our top choices are Google’s Adsense, Amazon Ads, BlogAds, and Razor Gator. Each site gives you options to place advertisements on your websites do some research on each and the rates at which they will pay you. There are all kinds of options out there and your site may benefit from having different ads than our favorites. These are your moneymakers so make sure they are going to appeal to your audience and make sure you understand the best ways to use them.

2. To have a successful money making blog you need traffic and in order to get traffic you need to have great content. If you don’t write anything that anyone wants to read, how do you expect to get traffic and ad clicks? Writing interesting material may not be as difficult as you are thinking. Let’s say your blog topic is football, you can do a Google News search for NFL or football news and it will give you thousands of pages with up-to-date information you can use to inspire you to write new meaningful material. Keep your writing fresh and entertaining; the last thing the blog world needs is another “Sports Game Recap” blog. Remember, I can get my scores and highlights from ESPN.com!

3. To attract a high volume of readers, you need to be the first to break news. Being one of the first to break news about your topic can send your page views through the roof. Monitoring sports forums and other major sports sites can be your biggest resource when looking for new topics that have not yet serviced in the blog world. My favorite again is Google News. If you do a Google News search during the middle of the night, you tend to get news stories from around the world that have not yet been spammed through the blog world in America. Use topics from here to break news and have the post delayed until the morning peak hours to be released. Don’t forget, we also always love a good top 10 list!

4. Key words are your best friend. Every time you post a new blog you need to have specific key words built into it. What I mean by that is, depending on the topic, you should have key words that someone would think about using when searching for the topic you just wrote about. If I’m writing about “Super Bowl Drinking Games” or "Making Money With a Sports Blog" a link to my article on that topic better come up when I type in those key words into Google. Sure enough, that is the case here.

5. Once you have some content and advertisements in place, your next step is to get your blog out to as many websites and people as possible. This will probably be the longest and hardest work you will do with your blog besides writing great material. There are thousands of blog search engines out there to join that will help you receive some traffic and are a good idea to join. Make sure you submit your site to Google, Yahoo and possibly to MSN. If you really want to see early volumes, working your magic in your topic related sports forums is your best bet. If you break news on a specific topic or wrote up a tidy little top 10 list, a forum is a great place to share. Depending on your sport, you need to find its top forums and make friends there fast! Become a regular to these forums and join in conversations. Once you have been heard and provided interesting insight to your topic, you will create some credibility for yourself. This will also give you a chance to find other related blogs and hopefully help your blogroll which will discuss in step 7.

6. JOIN BALLHYPE, DIGG AND DEL.ICIO.US! If you do not know what these are, please visit them immediately. Each article you write should be placed on all 3 of these websites. Every time an article of yours is HYPED or DUGG, you stand a great chance at earning some traffic. If you look at DIGG’s main page you will see topics that have been DUGG thousands of times. You can multiply that number by at least 3 in order to get the amount of initial readers that topic alone created. These websites will be your biggest ally in the beginning stages of your blog and also into the future. Every successful blogger should become a master with DIGG and if you are a sports blogger, BALLHYPE.

7. Creating a solid BlogRoll is a step you cannot miss. Linking to other relevant sports blogs can be a great asset to you. Your goal however, is to get those blogs to link back to you! Trading links can be a blog’s best friend if you can do it. The easiest way to do it is of course to simply ask the owner of the site. You will get yes’s and no’s but just keep working at it. The number of pages you have linking back to you is called your authority and can means thousands of page views depending on how high yours is. Authority should be a research topic for you and is also a part of step 8.

8. JOIN TECHNORATI! Most of the blog world tends to run through Technorati. Registering your blog with Technorati must happen in the beginning stages of your blog’s life. You can track your authority through this site and see who actually linked to you and also a fan of you. Make sure to tweak your Technorati to appear as you’d like and make as many friends here as possible. Once your authority starts to grow you can see you rank within the site; the higher the rank the better.

9. Find some free blog tracking services. My favorite is MyBlogLog which can be easily set up if you have a Yahoo! Account. MyBlogLog allows you to track the different websites your readers are viewing and clicking on. It also allows you to see which of your ads are working the best and getting the most action. You can join communities and add friends to your MyBlogLog; it has been instrumental for us in growing our blog. Without the ability to track your stats, you will have zero idea on how your blog is actually doing. Google Adsense also gives you the opportunity to track traffic, ad clicks and lets you view all of these in report form.

10. Create a Zimbio page! Zimbio is the Wikipedia of blogs! You can write articles on other Zimbio pages as well as yours and Zimbio allows you to easily import your already written blogs into any page. This is a newer website and has been steadily increasing; you should jump all over this as it will soon be the next big thing in blogging!

Enjoy these steps and leave us your feedback on how your blog is coming along! You can find tons of useful articles out there to tweak and mold your site to its specific niche. Thanks for stopping by!

Hoops Video Snurp 1: Nike Freestyle

Top 5 Nike commercial of all-time? This commercial is beautiful and should spark all your memories of the beginning of mainstream streetball. Kids all over the nation mimicked the moves seen here and it changed the way a lot of players today play the game.

There is one issue though...Darius Miles sighting!

Nike Basketball "Freestyle" Commercial

NBA Recap: 1/26/08

Friday was quite the night for hoops! We had some snoozers, some blowouts, and a ton of tight ones. Let's get this recap going!

• Lebron James did all he could, but the Suns just came in waves! Phoenix really is picking up steam at this point; look out world. 110-108 Suns.

• Rip Hamilton goes off, and the Pistons romp on the Magic. This game was not close, don't let that score fool you. 101-93 Detroit.

• The Wizards continue their fiery play and take down the Grizzlies. I thought this could have been a turn around year for Memphis, wow was I wrong. 104-93 Washington.

• What is up with the Bucks? Toronto of all teams wins by 31 in Canada. Bosh proving he is worthy of an All-Star bid. 106-75 Raptors.

• Garnett sets a late double pick and comes away with the game winning steal to overcome...the Timberwolves? Minnesota has been on a role! Still not enough against he best team in the NBA. 87-86 Boston.

• Who's hot? The Knicks! I guess it's time for me to stop trashing on them, because they just keep winning. The Sixers were their most recent victim. 89-81 Knicks.

• New Orleans lights it up from behind the arc and destroys those pathetic little Clippers. I feel bad for Mike Dunleavy. 111-92 Hornets.

• Jason Kidd was wrong, the Nets are worse than a .500 team! The Nuggets take care of that lousy team from out east without Carmelo Anthony. 100-85 Nuggets.

• Utah is looking forward to the second half of the season and taking over first place in the Northwest Division. The Kings were their pawns tonight. 127-113 Jazz.

• Houston rallies in Portland to pull off a huge road win. The Trail Blazers starting to slip a little? How long can this feel good story last? 89-79 Rockets.

• Marvin Williams emerges for the Hawks, and the Sonics continue to suck. Maybe they'll be better in Oklahoma City? 99-90 Atlanta.

• Chicago loses another as the Bobcats are beginning to show life during this Jordan era. Maybe it's the new shoes he's releasing? 90-77 Charlotte.

• Kobe takes over for 40, and the Lakers still lose. The Mavericks are once again for real people. Hopefully Golden State doesn't show up again. 112-105 Dallas.
  

Are you kidding me: Allen Iverson, All-Star starter?

Are you freaking kidding me? Allen Iverson of the Denver Nuggets actually got voted in as a starter for the west All-Stars? NBA basketball fans have absolutely disappointed the hell out of me this time. I truely have no response for this except a stern head shake.

Is it the ridiculous corn-rows that went out of style 5 years ago? Is it the arm sleeve that also went out of style 5 years ago? Is it the absurd amount of tattoos he has on his neck? Is it the fact that he hates practice and shoots the ball 19.5 times per game and makes only 8? Is it because he does that we're only getting away with this in the NBA cross-over? Is it because he uses his lack of body weight to flop all over the court and get laughable fouls called for him? WHAT IS IT?

What are you all missing with Chris Paul and Steve Nash? The stat comparisons between the three are not even close! The only category you can put AI ahead in is obviously points and that goes back to his 19.5 shots per game and a whopping 45% of those made. Steve Nash and Chris Paul are class acts, show respect for the game, and always do the right thing. AI has represented the downfall of the NBA since he entered the league back in 1996. The whole selfish, me against the world attitude is pathetic. He's gone through more coaches and teamates than possibly anyone in the league and it all comes down to his character.

I just absolutely hate to see great people lose great opportunities because of the ignorance of other people. I understand the NBA All-Star starters are voted based on popularity while half of the really deserving players are hand picked by the coaches after the fact. And I also do not want to see the way the All-Star voting is done, changed at all. I just wish people would get off the thuglife #1 basketball jock strap and wake up.

NBA All-Star Starters Announced!

The 2008 NBA All-Star game starters have been announced! Any surprises? Not really. However, there is one spot still open, the coach of the West All-Stars!


The West:

• Forward - Carmelo Anthony - Denver


• Forward - Tim Duncan - San Antonio


• Center - Yao Ming - Houston


• Guard - Kobe Bryant - Los Angeles


• Guard - Allen Iverson - Denver


• Coach - Byron? Mike? Phil?

The East:

• Forward - Kevin Garnett - Boston


• Forward - Lebron James - Cleveland


• Center - Dwight Howard - Orlando


• Guard - Jason Kidd - New Jersey


• Guard - Dwyane Wade - Miami


• Coach - Doc Rivers - Boston

We may not have any surprises but we definitely have our disappointments which is not unlike any other year. The east team looks to be just about right except for maybe Wade. He's had a decent year, but his team is so pathetic that the Heat should be banned from any All-Star activities. If you asked me to find a replacement for him at starting guard though, I can't say there is one one out there that just roles off of my tongue.

KG, Lebron and Howard are all MVP candidates and will have spots on this starting team until they retire. And Jason Kidd is the best point guard out east and has been doing it for so long that no one can take his spot. The man keeps aging, and also keeps getting better.

The west on the other hand has some issues and you can argue it all over the board. Allen Iverson should not be an All-Star starter. I'm so sick of the infatuation with a guy that shoots the ball 30 times a night, has never been a leader on any team, and is still pulling his "look I'm carrying the ball" cross-over. Fans just disappoint me for loving his "we're talkin' 'bout practice" attitude and selfish in-game performances. Steve Nash or Chris Paul deserve that spot for leading their teams year in and year out into uncharted territory. Both are MVP candidates and both put up better numbers while grabbing more respect around the league.

The forwards out west are a difficult decision although the fans got it right. I think both Melo and Duncan are deserving of spots but you could make your case for Josh Howard, Dirk Nowitzki and Carlos Boozer. At center, Yao-zer is the correct choice and could have been challenged by Stoudemire, but the west tends to lack big time centers.

And of course Kobe should be an All-Star until he dies.

And what about those reserves? We'll just have to wait and see, but you know that will create some good blogging!

Air Jordan 23: On Sale Friday

The time has come! The Air Jordan XXIII (23) will be released this Friday at 23 stores throughout the nation and each store will have only 23 pairs available. The shoe is the 23rd installment for MJ and of course we all know he wore number 23 during his playing career. The shoes are selling for $230 a pair just to continue with the "23' theme. For a list of stores selling them tomorrow, go here.

Fans have lined up for days to hold their place in line to purchase the monumental shoe from the greatest basketball player of all time. Hasn't Nike done a fantastic job of promoting this damn thing? Well of course they have and it's just freakin' fantastic!

"The AIR JORDAN XX3 is deeply meaningful to me, as a celebration of both my life and career. The number 23 is obviously of great significance to me and the release of the XX3 is a pinnacle moment in the Brand's history," said Michael Jordan. "I'm honored and humbled by the AIR JORDAN franchise's loyal following after all these years. The release of this shoe is exciting and a dream come true for me."

This is the first basketball shoe in Nike history to embrace the Nike Considered design ethos, where details in the development and design of the shoe seek to reduce waste and allow for the use of environmentally preferred materials wherever possible--all without compromising athletic performance.

Jordan Brand is set to launch several colorways of the AIR JORDAN 23. The first exclusive limited release will launch this Friday, January 25,2008. An All-Star release will launch on Saturday, February 16, 2008 and the nationwide launch will be released on Saturday, February 23, 2008 both with a suggested retail price of $185.

You can expect to see some of these babies on Ebay within minutes of their purchase. You can actually find a posting on Ebay for them already which is absurd.

This has been rumored to be the last Air Jordan ever, let's hope that claim is completely false, what would we do without MJ?

Here is the version that will be released tomorrow.

Trail Blazers end road trip with flop.

The Portland Trail Blazers were ousted by Jannero Pargo of the New Orleans Hornets last night. That’s right, Pargo, the back-up to MVP candidate Chris Paul. Pargo was hot all night dropping a season-high 24 points in a rout of the young Blazers.

Portland jumped out to an early lead looking to extend its fiery play as their 7 game road trip wound down and then everything went south in the 2nd quarter. The Hornets turned a 12-point deficit around within minutes and never looked back.

David West scored 22 points and CP3 added 18 point and 10 assists in a game needed to prove they belong with the elite of the west. The Hornets are for real people, and with Chris Paul at the helm, this ship won’t be sinking any time soon.

The Blazers on the other hand end a 7 game road trip in which they went a solid 3-4. They should stay positive after playing so many games in so few nights while actually coming away with a few wins. Most people had this road trip penciled in as the breaking point to the Blazers fast start. Well the young team held on and now heads back home for a long 7 game stretch.

Portland boasts an incredible 17-3 record at home, but should find themselves tested with the likes of Houston, Cleveland and Denver during this stand. Brandon Roy ended his road trip on a sour note with a measly 14 points; let’s hope he gets hot again in the Rose Garden!

OJ Mayo, violating NCAA rules?

OJ Mayo just couldn't resist could he? Mayo, a college freshman standout at USC, accepted free NBA tickets to last night's Lakers vs. Nuggets game and may have violated an NCAA rule. The tickets, given to him him by Carmelo Anthony are valued at $230 a piece, were near mid-court and easily over the limit on what a college athlete should be accepting. The only way out of this situation is if the NCAA decides Melo is just a friend, and not representing a professional sports organization.

Carmelo supposedly made the offer to Mayo at a party he was hosting on Sunday night.

"I was talking to him like, `Man, you're out pretty late. You've got a game tomorrow night against Kobe [Bryant],"' Mayo said. "He said, `Nah, it will be all right.' And then he asked, `You want to come to the game?' And I was like, 'Sure.' "

This is not a surprise at all! The kid ran through controversies in high shcool like Marion Jones ran through steroids! He made his way to USC by personal choice and was not even recruited by the university. In fact, he said he wanted to come to USC because L.A. is a big time marketing town, and he was looking to get started early.

USC has been a disappointment so far this year and losing OJ to a few games would probably not destroy the program. They have some other outstanding players like freshman Davon Jefferson. We all expected Mayo to leave after this season anyway, this will just make his time even easier.

NBA Season Half Over: Top 5 Stories

It has been a fantastic first half to this NBA season and you can feel that buzz starting to creep in as the All-Star break approaches. Critics have moved on from their hatred of the NBA and young stars and feel-good stories are taking over. As a basketball fan, you cannot help but love what you are seeing and will most likely continue to see in the second half and on into the playoffs.

We're giving you our top 5 story lines of the first half of the season. Tell us what you think!

5. The Knicks.

One of the most historic franchises in all of sports has turned into a complete joke. The New York Knicks have us all shaking our heads in disgust, but also laughing in shock. The downfall of the Knicks began last year with the contract extension of Isiah Thomas as coach when he had his team in position to possibly make the playoffs. James Dolan forgot however, that the season is longer than 40 games and of course the Knicks weren't close to a playoff bid as the season wound down.

The off-season gave us some great insight as to how much of an idiot Isiah Thomas truly is. We listened in to the updates of the Anucha Brown-Sanders trial and the eventual embarrassment sustained by the Knicks once the juicy details slipped on out. We realized how crazy Stephon Marbury is through his whack-o interviews and love of limousine sex. We envisioned the termination of Thomas, but then decided that was never going to happen and that he most likely has some great blackmail material on James Dolan.

This season was exactly what we expected and possibly even a little worse. The Knicks of course are pathetic, but their actual basketball play has not been the focus of NBA writers and fans. The front office has had the spotlight and will continue to get it as long as Dolan and Thomas are running this team. There have been rumors of Thomas denying trades and getting into personal verbal battles nightly with players. He's insisted that he will "never, ever" quit and is the only person alive that can fix this team.

It is a tragedy, but I can't help but smile a little. Isiah Thomas has been hated throughout the NBA for years and it pleases me to finally have it all come out. Anyone remember the Dream Teams? Ever wonder why Thomas was never a part of any of them? You can bet the Knicks drama will only get worse as the season continues, and man can I not wait!

4. Too Many Injuries.

Each year we deal with significant injuries to some of our favorite players, but this year we've dealt with it in waves! Top notch All-Stars have been dropping like flies and many of them started the year on the bench in street clothes and have yet to set foot on a basketball floor.

Gilbert Arenas had off-season knee surgery and was supposed to be ready to play by the beginning of the year. Well, he started the season, played 8 games, had another knee surgery and was within the last couple of days cleared to begin shooting again. You could tell from the get-go that Arenas was not at 100% and soon began to see swelling in the surgically repaired knee. After multiple opinions, Agent Zero shut it down and has been rehabbing since. Lucky for the Wizards, they have been on fire!

Dwyane Wade came into the year after having off-season knee and shoulder surgeries. He was also not ready to come back as soon as everyone had hoped and actually missed the first 7 games of the year. Once Wade had returned, you could see the tentativeness in his game. Major shoulder and knee surgery is never something to take lightly and Wade probably could have used another couple of months to get fully healed. The Heat have been horrific this year and much can be attributed to their not-so-healthy star. Wade has looked close to normal in that last week or so, but unfortunate for him, this season is long gone.

Elton Brand tore his achilles tendon in the off-season and has yet to return. A MAJOR injury and who knows when he is likely to see minutes on the hardwood again. The Clippers have felt this blow more than just about anyone. Brand was coming off 2 MVP caliber seasons only to be halted by this nasty little tendon. He's been in street clothes all year and will be examined again at the end of January to decide whether or not he can make his comeback.

Greg Oden, the #1 draft pick in 2007, came to Portland to celebrate, was named the "Savior," played a couple of summer league games, and then had micro-fracture surgery. We'll never know what the rookie year for Oden could have been like, but we do know the Blazers will be quite the force once he returns. The Blazers have surprised everyone this season, and can only look to the sky once GO returns.

The list goes on and on and includes the likes of Tracy McGrady, Shaq, Andrew Bynum and Mike Bibby. At least we've had some great basketball to watch, but these injuries need to stop!

3. The Disappointments.

There have been some great stories so far, but we have also had some huge disappointments through half of the season. Teams came into the season with high expectations not only from themselves but from the rest of us as well.

The Miami Heat, only a year removed from winning an NBA Championship have lost a staggering 14 games in a row! Shaquille O'Neal has been injured on and off, Zo tore a couple tendons in his knee, and Dwyane Wade has been at 80% almost all year. They made off-season moves that only Isiah Thomas could understand and they have reached the gutter of the Eastern Conference. At the half way mark, the Miami Heat have locked themselves out of the playoffs unless they win 40 of their last 41 games. I'm not sure how this can be fixed.

The Houston Rockets should be a title contender every year with their current roster. They hired a new coach, brought in a couple of key contributors and actually started the season off hot! That quickly ended, T-Mac hurt his knee and elbow and they have been sliding all over the board during the last couple of months. They rank 4th in their own division which is probably the toughest division in all of basketball and won't be easing up anytime soon. U