Should the NBA have a team in Las Vegas?

During NBA expansion, there has been some talk about possible moving a team to Las Vegas, Nevada. Las Vegas is one of the few iconic locations in the United States that does not have a professional sports team. (You can check out my thoughts on gambling at this link)

The NBA held their All-Star Game in Vegas back in 2007 and the Sacramento Kings owners of Joe and Gavin Maloof are both owners of the Palms Casino. The Maloof brothers have been trying to move the team to Vegas as a possible relocation.

One of the major issues is dealing with gambling. Most professional sports leagues frown on the fact of possible having point-shaving scandals and other issues that come with having a professional sports team in Vegas.

For most of us who do online betting/wagering, we see the issues that arises from this not only in the NBA but in the NFL as well. NFL betting much like the NBA has point spreads that could lose or benefit bettors millions of dollars, if there is some scandal it would it be terrible negative publicity for the NBA.

However, I would not be against moving a team to Las Vegas due to the glitz and glamour of the city since there are ways to regulate players and coaches from betting on their teams.

Maybe in a couple years or so, we will all be seeing the NBA on the Vegas strip.

By Ben Chew with No comments

Odom stays with the Lake-Show

Well, the Lamar Odom sweepstakes has finally ended and he stays with the Los Angeles Lakers. The deal has been confirmed by ESPN as a four year deal with a player option for the final year.

It is rather interesting than he turned down more long-term deals with the Portland Trailblazers and the Miami Heat. However, a chance to be the sixth man on one of the best teams in the NBA is pretty hard to turn down.

It only seems at this point that the Lakers are the team to beat again out West and "The Candyman" is back to help them go for back to back titles.

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Ron Artest reenacts “Malice at the Palace” in Hong Kong

We already know that Ron Artest is in Hong Kong on some sort of goodwill/rap concert mission of sorts but we did not know that he was also live-vlogging.

In this video, he is discussing the "Malice in the Palace" with asian pop star Shin Shin. It is a rather weird video with cuts to him signing autographs and taking pictures with fans.

However, it's just "Ron Artest being Ron Artest." Safe Travels in Hong Kong, Ron.



(Courtesy of the Rookies)

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“It’s about to be a “Haddidi Fight”

Most of you know that I like to follow international basketball and well, I usually consider myself pretty knowledgeable about the game. However, I had not heard about the Jones Cup until I read about the Hamed Haddidi’s incident.

Current Memphis Grizzlies center Hamed Haddidi is playing for team Jordan and got into a little brew-haha with Team Iraq. After the little brawl, Jordan took their players off the court and forfeited the game.

Haddidi added a Mutombo finger-wag, kicked the basketball and got into a fight with a player who is shorter than him. I guess the Jones Cup brings out the worst in people.







(Courtesy of Beyond the Arc)

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Stephon Marbury’s sore throat remedy….Vaseline

Well, Stephon Marbury for the past 72 hours has pretty much been all over the interweb doing a “live-stream” of his life on U-Stream and Justin.tv.

Marbury was talking about remedies for a sore throat in the video above and he brought out the Vaseline. Then he ate some. Yep, HE ATE SOME. That is just nasty on so many levels but I guess Stephon Marbury gets a free pass since he is Stephon Marbury.

Allegedly, it is a home remedy and if you want to read more about the uses of Vaseline, you can check out the 50 things you can do with Vaseline at this link.

(Courtesy of So Yoked)

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The Definitive Compilation of Shaq on WWE Monday Night Raw

We already know that Shaquille O'Neal is one of the biggest stars in the NBA and now he has taken his cross-over appeal to the world of wrestling.

Last night, Shaq hosted WWE Monday Night Raw and did a little comedy along with the pure wrestling.

In the above video, you get to see the opening of Shaq's debut as host. In the bottom videos, you get to see Shaq meeting Hornswoggle and then Shaq taking on the "Big Show."

Keep it up Shaq and you might get an Oscar for this performance.

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The Ron Artest Rap Tour hits China

Well, a fair amount of you know that I am a fan of Ron Artest. One thing that I did not know is that he is China bustin’ a couple of rhymes for the Chinese people.

The above video comes to us from AllHipHop.com where Ron lays down some fat rhymes in China and to quote Ron himself, “The Hood is in China.” If you have never been to China, there is a hood. You just have to find it.

I will say that Ron is definitely a character of the game but let’s be honest, Artest is not the greatest rapper in the world. However, we can say that he is better than Kobe by leaps and bounds.

However no song he sings will ever touch, “Fever.”



“Chains hang from my neck but I’m not a slave.” Classic.

(Courtesy of Sharapova’s Thigh)

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David Arquette beats Derek Fisher from “the roof”

There has been much hoopla over ESPN SportsCenter moving to Los Angeles and to be honest, I have not really noticed a huge difference. However, this video does give new meaning to the term hitting a shot from long-range.

In this video, Lakers guard Derek Fisher, actor David Arquette, and everyone’s favorite clown Ronald McDonald practice taking shots off the Los Angeles SportsCenter roof.

Who hits the first one? David Arquette. Yep, the actor and not the NBA player who has hit some of the most clutch shots in NBA history. I guess Derek Fisher has to practice on his trick shots in his spare time.

One has four NBA championship rings and the other was the Scream trilogy, go figure.

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Should Lebron have played in the NFL?

Remember that Nike commercial with Lebron James where he is playing for the Cleveland Browns? Well, if we are in some creepy bizzaro world, he might be but this always begs the question did Lebron make the right decision to play in the NBA?

We know that Lebron was an MVP on the basketball court but watching his high school football tapes, you see a player that many scouts would put their money on as an elite receiver in the NFL.

I’m not saying that Lebron made the wrong decision by going to the NBA but it makes you wonder if NFL odds of the Cleveland Browns Super Bowl appearance would be drastically going up. However, football is a team sport where Lebron might not have the same impact as on the basketball court.

In the end, my expert betting opinion, I think Lebron made the right bet on the NBA but it does make you wonder though?

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We might have to call him, “King Puff-Puff Pass”

After the entire “Lebron getting dunked on video” fall-out from yesterday, you would think that we would be completely out of things to dig up about Lebron James.

Well, that is not completely true, a book about Lebron’s life called “Shooting Stars” which is due out in September co-authored by Buzz Bissinger will chronicle James’s high school career prior to joining the NBA. In the book, he reveals that he used marijuana in high school for one night.

We get more from the Cleveland Plain-Dealer:

LeBron James smoked marijuana during his junior year in high school. Three other members of the Akron St. Vincent St. Mary starting five smoked with him. Another drank alcohol.

All this took place in a hotel room in Akron the players "had gotten access to," in the guarded words of "Shooting Stars," a book to be released in September. It amounts to James' life story through his tumultuous high school years.

Now, I am not going to get on Lebron for smoking marijuana since most of us have experimented with illegal drugs or alcohol before we were of legal age. I have just become so fascinated by Lebron’s actions during his life-time and the media’s constant love-hate relationship with him.

He was legitimately the only player who lived up to the hype of jumping from high school to the NBA and at a period of time for this season, the best players in the NBA and the MVP. This just shows us that Lebron is only human and much the rest of us, it’s nice to see that he not just some walking automaton that is good at the game of basketball.

Some of his actions that I have disagreed with but you still have to marvel at a player this talented. Some writers might twist to say that Lebron is not “mature” and that his use marijuana in high school is bad influence on children. All I have to say to that is, who cares? It was a long time ago in high school; we all make stupid mistakes in high school and college. Some made bigger mistakes than others but we should not punish someone for making one mistake.

However though, I will find the many marijuana references to King James at various arenas for the upcoming NBA season pretty comical. Also, I guess King James could not hold out on the "Reefer Madness"

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Lebron getting dunked on: Finally Revealed (with better quality video and TNLP reaction) UPDATED

Well, we finally got what we all wanted to see. A video of Lebron James getting dunked on by Xavier's Jordan Crawford has surfaced.

The story from TMZ.com is that someone with a cell-phone camera was video-taping the event and a clear view of Lebron getting dunked on. Why did it take so long for this tape to be revealed? One of the reasons why is the guy trying to peddling it for the highest offer which he probably got from TMZ.

Here is the link to the infamous dunk: THE DUNK from TMZ.com

Damn, he put Lebron on a poster. The image is pretty tough to decipher since it was shot on a cell phone camera but Jordan Crawford clearly took Lebron James to school.

Was it all that we hoped for? Well, it wasn't the greatest dunk that I have ever seen but it was well worth the wait. At least, we now have the visual evidence that the dunk did happen. I guess we can save the myth for later. I still can't believe Lebron James would be mad over that sort of dunk but I guess he wanted to save face.

Too late to save face, Lebron.

Update

A new copy of the dunk has been circling the web for the past couple of hours and I want to make sure that I post it.



(Courtesy of eBaum Nation)

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Reggie Theus does not like sports bloggers, Who Knew?

Before the ESPY’s, Global Sports Fraternity sent out AAU Player of the Year, “Isiah Jones” to do some red-carpet interviews. Well, he got a hold of former Sacramento Kings head coach Reggie Theus who decided to have a little rant about sports bloggers.

Albeit, I think he is right on some level since some bloggers have absolutely no idea what they are talking about and one post about Erin Andrews can vault you to the top of the blogosphere.

However, there are many credible sites (including this one) that does provide people with the necessary facts and information that they would not normally receive from the main-stream media.

In the end, to each his own I guess but seriously Reggie, don’t go back to this.

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The NBA Summer League is like getting drunk….

The NBA summer league just finished up in Las Vegas and for the budding NBA fan you were able to see the beginning of the careers of some of the NBA’s brightest stars such as Blake Griffin, James Harden, and Hasheem Thabeet along with stellar performances from Anthony Randolph and Anthony Morrow.

For the rest of the NBA public, the summer league is more bore some than painting a picket fence. The NBA Summer League is like a fine wine; some people really enjoy it and will continue to drink it. Some other people would prefer to drink from the keg.

However, I still think that the best analogy for the Summer League is getting drunk at a party. When most people go to party, the plan is usually to meet old friends and gets yourself so plastered that you’ll forget that stupid story you told about that time that you thought you ran into Conan O’Brien.

Once you are a couple drinks in, you get a little loose and decided to let your inhibitions go. Much like watching Blake Griffin dropping 26 points on the Lake Show, you can do little wrong. The more fun that you are having, the drunker you and your bros become.

After you clearly could fail a breathalyzer test based on the amount of liquor that you had, you eventually get to the zone that few individuals get to. Your head gets light and spinny, every girl to you looks like Jenna Fischer at 25 years old, and well something tells you that you should go out on the dance floor and do the Macarena. It’s like watching Hasheem Thabeet swat shots from NBDL players; you know it’s going to happen you just do not know when and to whom.

Then, it’s the morning after. Your groggy and irritable, all sounds are like nails on a chalk-board and that girl you brought home has taken the walk of shame out of your apartment before you has even gotten up. It’s much like the Summer League, sure you had the time of your life but in the end that’s only a break from the real job at hand. Most of those players starting in those games will not see light at the end of the tunnel or will be slumming at Dairy Queen.

So, if we learn anything from the NBA Summer League is that it’s nice to see basketball again but maybe we take a break from it for awhile.

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Chris Bosh beats Charlie V to 50,000 twitter followers, gloats on ESPN's First Take

Let’s be honest for a second, Twitter has taken over the world and finally, two NBA players have found a good use for it. Chris Bosh and former teammate Charlie Vilanueva had an all-out “Twitter Battle” to see who would be the first to get to 50,000 followers.

Well, starting last night Bosh had exceeded the 50,000 mark and bet Charlie V who has to now donate some shoes and do something publically humiliating.

Bosh went on ESPN’s First Take to gloat about the victory and the lack of Charlie V not showing up to the interview. I guess that is what happens in “Love, War, and Twitter.”

By the way, did you follow us yet? Follow us at ThatNBAPick

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Tracy McGrady wants to "Three" Darfur

In the NBA like other professional sporting leagues, players have to fascination with certain numbers. Some players have meaning behind the numbers that they choose and others seemingly do not care what numbers is on the back on their jersey.

Tracy McGrady of the Houston Rockets is going to change his number this season from #1 to #3. The reason might surprise you:

Tracy McGrady will change his uniform number to No. 3 for the 2009-10 season to promote his “3 points Darfur” initiative, with an announcement expected this week.

McGrady put in the paperwork for the uniform change midway through last season and had received league approval.

Trevor Ariza will wear McGrady's former No. 1

It’s nice to see an NBA player finally give a decent reason for the acquisition of a new number. Free Darfur is one of the few campaigns that I have been behind during my time in college and it’s nice to see that Tracy McGrady is behind it as well.

However, it does seem a little trite that he will change his number but I can understand the reason behind it. Some players want their high school number, some want their college number, and Tracy McGrady wants to promote his charity.

(Courtesy of the Houston Chronicle)

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Antoine Walker writes bad checks, O RLY?

Remember when convenient stores had pictures of people “Do Not Accept Checks from these people,” and what not? Well, Antoine Walker is now in trouble for passing bad checks in casinos in Las Vegas.

We get more from the Associated Press:

Former NBA star Antoine Walker faces three felony counts of writing bad checks to Las Vegas casinos last year, the Las Vegas Sun reported on Tuesday.

The 32-year-old, who played in 2008 for Minnesota, won an NBA title with Miami in 2006 and was an All-Star playmaker for the Boston Celtics.

Walker is accused of writing 10 bad checks worth a total of one million dollars to three casinos. Prosecutors said Walker repaid 178,000 dollars of what he owed but still faces criminal charges for the remaining 822,000 dollars.

The debts were undertaken from last July to this past January.

“The NBA where bad checks happen” All kidding aside, how does Antoine Walker write bad checks? I’m assuming that he has at least accumulated over one million dollars in his playing career to not have to write bad checks.

However, in this tough economic time it would not surprise me for someone to sink to that level. Just not, Antoine Walker.

Long Live the Shimmy!

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Touché Kobe, Touché. Lebron gets served.

Well, most of you have probably seen by now the clip of Kobe Bryant telling a camper at his camp that he will not allow anyone to dunk on him at his basketball camp. The post itself has gotten an unlimited amount of hits on NBA blogs and well pretty much destroyed BallHype when it was posted.

One thing that I will say though is that Kobe Bryant still has a sense of humor and has a chance to outright give himself the title as the best player in the NBA with the latest championship win. Kobe “clowning” of Lebron should not be misconstrued though since the whole Nike-Lebron fiasco has taken a seemingly singular dunk into mythic proportions.

When Kobe came into the league as a rookie, his failures were shown and trumpeted by the media until he turned the corner. Remember those three “air-ball” three pointers in that playoff series against Utah? Those are a thing of the past now.

The media has trumpeted Lebron James as the greatest younger player to play the game of basketball. Now that media attention is focused on Lebron’s failures and every misstep continues to further his legacy as “LeBrick” and “LeDiva”

Kobe now can just sit on his thrown and teach at his basketball camp. Funny, how one ring can change the perception of a player, huh?

(Courtesy of You’ve Been Blinded)

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That is one bill that I won’t pick up…

The San Antonio Spurs have been movers and shakers during this offseason in acquiring forwards Richard Jefferson and Antonio McDyess. Well, they are now going to foot the bill in the form of the NBA’s luxury tax, to the tune of 15 million dollars.

The San Antonio Express-News informs us of this huge bill:

The Spurs have been proactive this summer, and along with an improved roster will come a sizable luxury tax bill.

San Antonio is expected to sign Antonio McDyess to a three-year, $15 million deal soon, and they traded for Richard Jefferson, who has $29.2 million left on his contract.

The moves have pushed the Spurs past the NBA's luxury tax line, and owner Peter Holt could be forced to pay a tax bill of around $15 million. That would be in addition to a payroll that is approaching $80 million.

Well, the one thing that you can say is that the San Antonio Spurs are committed to winning the NBA championship. I usually have an issue paying a dinner check that is upwards of one hundred dollars and the Spurs have to pay a 15 million dollars Luxury Tax because of players they acquired. (You think blogging pays the bills?; alright it does on some bills)

The NBA’s luxury tax is one of the few things that does level the playing field in the NBA and prevents some teams signing big name free agents to long-term deals without some sort of penalty.

All that I am saying, I’m not picking up the bill for the 15 million dollars on the acquisitions of the San Antonio Spurs, the fans are.

(Courtesy of the San Antonio Express-News)

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The Suns still rise in Phoenix

Remember the whole theory that the Phoenix Suns were rebuilding their team after the Shaquille O’Neal trade? Well, that appears that was over-exaggerated for now with Grant Hill resigning with the team.

Hill who will be entering his 15th year in the league, (wait it is Hill’s 15th year in the league, I feel old now) It is believed that he decided to stay with the team since it appears that Steve Nash will be rejoining the Suns. The deal is believed to be for three years and up to 33 million dollars.

Hill was not the only free agent signing for Phoenix as they acquired former Trailblazer forward Channing Frye. The terms to Frye’s deal is believed to be a two year deal at about four million dollars.

Suns forward Amare Stoudemire has used the social-networking site, Twitter, to inform the world that he is going to have surgery of his eye. Stoudemire had surgery back in February had surgery to repair a torn retina in his right eye. Here is his Tweet:

"Breaking News! Fans your hearing it first from me Amar'e. I'm having surgery to finish repairing my eye. StayTuned,"

(You can visit Amare’s Twitter page at this link)

So the Suns appear for now to still be a competitive team out in the Western Conference with a core of Amare Stoudemire, Steve Nash, and Grant Hill. They have a young center in the form of Robin Lopez and we will see if head coach Alvin Gentry will be able to return them to the “Run and Gun Suns” of the mid 2000’s. I’m not going to claim that they are going to be world-beaters but they have a solid enough team to compete for a playoff spot or general manager Steve Kerr will be facing the guillotine.

I guess the Suns are still rising in Phoenix. (Yeah I know, a sun “pun.” Play me off Keyboard Cat.)



(Courtesy of Yahoo Sports)

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Jon Koncak’s Pay Day Repercussions

In the past couple of days during the NBA’s free agency signing period, we have seen teams overpay for big men. Here is the quick run-down of the total contracts given to Marcin Gortat, Chris Anderson and Anderson Varejao.

Chris Anderson: 5 year contract worth up to 26 million dollars from Denver Nuggets

Marcin Gortat: 5 year contract worth up to 34 million dollars from Dallas Mavericks

Anderson Varejao: 6 year contract worth up to 50 million dollars from Cleveland Cavaliers

Yep, for those three players, there combined deals are worth 110 million dollars. Yep, you got it, 110 million dollars for individuals that are venerable reserves in the association. However, I am not quick to blame these teams and players for their spending habits since this was put into precedence by the Atlanta Hawks and former center Jon Koncak.

If we flashback to the year of 1989, Koncak was a back-up center for the Atlanta Hawks and was a very valued commodity on the free agent market. The Hawks decided to keep their back-up by offering a huge six year contract worth up to 16 million dollars.

At the time the deal was worth more than established superstars: Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and even Michael Jordan were below Jon Koncak in the payscale. Well, the Hawks got what they wanted with that deal, a back-up center who spent fair amount of time on the bench for the rest of his time in Atlanta. Koncak’s career was pretty much followed by the ghost of that huge deal until he retired in 1996 with the Orlando Magic.

However, “Jon Contract” started this trend of teams trying to overpay for certain talents specifically in today’s current NBA with lack of solid big men. That’s why you will see Cleveland shell out a contract upwards of 50 million for a player who scored 8.6 PPG and 7.2 RPG last season and Dallas dropping 34 million on a player who averaged 3.8 ppg.

So if your team decides to shell more than thirty million dollars on a back-up center or power forward, you have Jon Koncak and the Atlanta Hawks to thank.

By Ben Chew with 1 comment

Dallas needs a “three-way” to get Shawn Marion

Update: The new report of the Marion deal now includes four teams. The deal also includes Orlando's Hedo Turkoglu. Check out more information on the terms of the trade at this link.

I think most of you were probably thinking that I was going to make some lame “three-way joke,” in this article. However, I am going to do my best not to fall into that type of trap.

The Dallas Mavericks for now have acquired Shawn Marion from the Toronto Raptors. The deal also includes the Memphis Grizzlies but the players and possible draft picks included in this deal have not been finalized.

Some of the players that are rumored include Dallas Mavericks forwards Devean George, Jerry Stackhouse and Antoine Wright along with Toronto Raptors forward Kris Humpries.

What we do know for now? Marion has agreed in principle to a five year deal worth up to 39 million dollars with Dallas. The Mavericks already have Jason Kidd returning and Dirk appears to be back to his MVP form. Dallas definitely has regained their position as a top four team in the Western Conference. Marion is a definite “tweener” type of athlete but he is someone that Dallas desperately needs to cover some of the top guards and forwards in the Western Conference.

The other teams in the deal, Toronto and Memphis allow themselves to free up some cash in the bank along with possibly acquiring some solid reserve players in return.

In the end, all Dallas needed was a “three-way” to get what they wanted. (Alright, I could not help myself with that ending joke.)



(Some information was used from an ESPN.com article)

By Ben Chew with No comments

I Lose More Respect for Lebron James

Most of you are probably thinking as I write this article, back to back Lebron James articles, this guy must really be a true hater of Lebron James. This is much further from the truth but if you want to think like that go ahead.

Recently during a Lebron James Skills Academy Camp, Xavier guard Jordan Crawford dunked on Lebron James in a pick-up game. Two cameramen had caught footage of it and appeared that it could be circulating through YouTube but a Nike official instructed by Lebron James decided to quash that by confiscating the tapes.

This quote is from CBS Sports.com writer Gary Parrish:

Freelance photographer Ryan Miller was one of the cameramen shooting the game. He told CBSSports.com that Nike Basketball Senior Director Lynn Merritt took his tape.

"He just said, 'We have to take your tape,'" Miller said. "They took it from other guys, too."

Worth noting is that there is no policy against filming at the LeBron James Skills Academy, and Miller said he had been filming all day without incident. Nobody ever told him to stop. Nobody ever said there was a problem ... until after Crawford dunked on James.

"LeBron called Lynn over and told him something," Miller said. "That's how I knew his name was Lynn. LeBron said, 'Hey, Lynn. Come here.'" Minutes later, Miller said Merritt demanded his tape.

"There's nothing I can think of besides LeBron just not wanting it online," Miller said. "It's a good story to tell people, I guess. But then again, I'm kind of pissed. I lost my tape."

Here is another strike from “LeDiva” but I can understand why Lebron would not want that tape circulated and even could have been viewed on YouTube millions of time. However, it just makes Lebron look like a “sheltered” kid who does not want his failures put on television or the internet.

It just makes me believe that Lebron cannot handle “negative” publicity and honestly makes me believe that an NBA championship will continue to desert him. He is a tremendous talent but look at the amount of players who have tremendous talent not win the NBA championship. The list is longer than Tucker Max’s Black Book.

This situation might be making a mountain out of a mole hill but to be honest, in the 24 hour internet and news world, stories can be made out of everything. I just keep losing respect for Lebron James, it’s just sad after awhile for him to continuously make “image” mistakes. We want to see our heroes fail and look human, Lebron James just does not seem to get it. In the end, the move itself is good for James’s public image but bad for him in the court of public opinion.



(Story courtesy of CBS Sports.com)

By Ben Chew with No comments

Would you trust Lebron James?

The latest Lebron James rumor that has been swirling around for the past couple of hours is that he made a promise to current Houston Rockets forward Trevor Ariza that he would stay with the Cleveland Cavaliers after 2010, if Ariza signed with the team.

That rumor has been debunked for now by Lebron himself, but then that brings up a very interesting question, “Would you trust Lebron James?” On the outset, this appears to be the easy answer but it is more complex that it appears to be. Lebron is a surely one of the best players in the NBA and one of the most unselfish. Not only would you be playing with one of the best but you would get your touches as well. However, Lebron’s dedication to Cleveland has been tested from his lack of current championships along with the courting of New York City, real or fictional.

For the past couple of years, we all viewed Lebron as a trustworthy individual that many of us would love to build a team around. Then the Orlando handshake fiasco happened, when some of us questioned about Lebron’s character and sportsmanship. How can we take someone at their word if they cannot shake someone’s hand after a loss? At this point, the media circus already had taken control of Lebron for the better or worst but what did we expect from the “most-hyped” NBA prospect of all-time?

However, the media circus around Lebron is much to blame (we are even at fault here) to almost push an answer out of him. In most jobs, we are free to make decision until our contract ends with a company. Think about having your friends and the company that you work for draw attention to you possibly leaving the company for another one. Now, multiply that to the entire media and well, you get 21 thumbs up on BallHype regarding a story that Lebron might stay in Cleveland in 2010.

Would you trust Lebron James? That question might be one of the biggest mysteries of all time until 2010 occurs. In the end, the best answer is probably, “I don’t know.”

(Some information was used from a ESPN.com article)

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Ric Bucher’s Twitter Page Knows All

During the 4th of July weekend, we had a couple of NBA free agent signings “in principle.” Rasheed Wallace appears to be heading to the Boston Celtics where he has agreed to a two year deal under the NBA’s mid-level exception and Jason Kidd appears to by staying in Dallas to the tune of a three year contract worth up to 25 million dollars.

The most interesting piece of news about the Kidd staying in Dallas since the first report came from Ric Bucher’s Twitter page. Yep, Twitter has become the hot place to share information in 150 characters or less.

Here are the Tweets that came from Bucher about Kidd and Rasheed:

1. Kidd is staying in Dallas. Three years, $25 million-plus. about 13 hours ago from web
2. Sheed is going to Boston. about 14 hours ago from web

The world has suddenly been changed by the “tweeting” phenomena and it appears that it will not be slowing down anytime soon. Honestly, it is at the level that if you do not have a Twitter page, something is either wrong with you or you do not want to tell the world what you are currently doing at this instance.

At this point, why should you even go to ESPN.com to check up on the latest NBA free agent signings when Ric Bucher will post a “tweet” about the information. Sure, you probably want to know the details of the deal but you can always read that at a later time anyway.

If you’re an NBA free agency fanatic, it’s time to follow Ric Bucher’s Twitter page. (Check it out: Here) and while you are there, sign up for our Twitter page. (Check it out: Here)

By Ben Chew with No comments

Hedo Turkoglu is a Flip-Flopper

Former Orlando Magic forward Hedo Turkoglu has finally made a decision of where he is going to play in the upcoming season. Turkoglu has agreed in principle with the Toronto Raptors to a deal that is worth 53 million dollars at five years.

Turkoglu who was originally believed to be a Portland Trailblazer decided to change his mind and reportedly take the offer from Toronto. There were many published reports earlier in the week that his wife “loved” the city of Toronto and could be a force in this decision. (Toronto has a well-known Turkish population where Hedo and wife are from.)

At this point, Toronto looks like a formidable opponent in the Eastern Conference with Chris Bosh, Jose Calderon, and now with Hedo Turkoglu. The Raptors have a talented roster and gives them a much needed depth at the forward position. The major issue at this point is this a possible deal to tide Chris Bosh over or is this a part of a grand scheme by Raptors general manager Brian Colangelo to built the NBA’s equivalent of “Team Euro.” The Atlantic Division, now suddenly looks very interesting with this acquisition and watch for Toronto to possibly have a bounce-back season where they make the playoffs.

However, let’s not sway from the point that Hedo Turkoglu is a flip-flopper and that has nothing to do with him changing his mind prior to me having written an in-depth article about his impact on the Portland Trail Blazers. (Okay, I guess it does but seriously, he did flip-flop) I guess we know who wears the pants in his relationship with his wife.

In the end, I wish Hedo all the luck in the Great White North but next time, don’t be a flip-flopper.

By Ben Chew with No comments

Happy 4th of July, the 1976 ABA Slam Dunk Contest are all the fireworks you need

For our American viewers, today is July 4th. The day that we celebrate our independence and glutton ourselves with hamburgers and hot dogs.

When I think of red, white, and blue, I think back to the great days on the ABA and one of the most memorable slam dunk contest in 1976 which witnessed the birth of "Dr J" Julius Erving.

Enjoy the holiday and the 1976 ABA dunk contest.

By Ben Chew with No comments

Ron Artest in LALA Land

The NBA Free Agency Period is in full swing and Ron Artest has decided to pull the first big shocker as he will be joining the Los Angeles Lakers to pair up with Kobe Bryant.

The news came across the wire yesterday as Artest told Ken Berger of CBSSports.com that he was in Los Angeles to sign the deal. At this point, the deal itself is believed to be a three year deal but the monetary value is not known yet.

Former Laker Trevor Ariza has officially decided to move into Artest old spot in Houston as he has verbally agreed to a deal. It is obviously a step down for the Rockets but I think most of us figured that Artest was going to leave due to the Yao Ming injury. The future for Lamar Odom definitely looks a little brighter since it almost seems that he will be staying put in Los Angeles with this signing.

Can Artest coexist with Kobe and Company? To be honest, I do think so since I believe that Artest just wants to win a championship and will do anything to get one. He is a hard-nosed defensive player who is also a threat to score at any point of the court.

For everyone who believes that Artest might be a distraction for the Lakers, I doubt highly that he will. He has gone through two stints in Sacramento and Houston without incident. The Malice at the Palace seems to be behind him, for now.

With the flurry of moves that have occurred before this period of time, it appeared that the Lakers would be behind the eight ball. Now, it appears that they will be back in the clubhouse as the team most likely to win the championship in 2009-2010.



(Some information used in this story was from CBSSports.com and ESPN.com Articles)

By Ben Chew with No comments

Ben Gordon will be “Ballin” in Detroit and “V For Vendetta” as well

The Detroit Pistons wasted little time jumping into the free agent market as it is believed that former Bulls guard Ben Gordon and former Bucks forward Charlie Villanueva have agreed in principle to deals making themselves the newest Pistons.

It is being reported that Gordon has a deal is believed to be a five year deal worth up to 55 million dollars and Villanueva’s deal is believed to be a five year deal worth up to about 40 millions dollars.

The Pistons prior to these signings; fired first year head coach Michael Curry and are still looking for his replacement. The deals at this point are both listed as agreed to in principle since free agents cannot officially sign with a team until July the 8th.

What are the impacts these signings have on the Pistons? Well, both Gordon and Villanueva are solid players who can come off the bench and shore-up Detroit’s lack of scoring on their bench. Either player can start if necessary due to injuries or lack of effectiveness of the current starters. All in all, these are two solid basketball players and will definitely give Detroit the opportunity to bounce back in the East. The main issue is with major signings out East, the Pistons might a couple years away from getting back to the Eastern Conference Finals.

The above video if any indication, Gordon definitely has “ball-handling skills,” and Charlie V will be "tweeting" from another locker room.

(Some information is used from an article on ESPN.com)

By Ben Chew with No comments

What If, The NBA Free Agency Period was a Soap Opera?

The one thing that always amazes me about mid-day television are Soap Operas, some of these shows have been the longest running shows that are currently on television. Then I got to wondering what if the start of the NBA's Free Agency period had a show opening like a Soap Opera.

I think it would go something like this.....

"These are the Balls Of Our Lives"

Jason was tempted by a man who had a last name of Walsh wanted to show him the bright lights of the city again and make him a Knick. Jason's current owner, Mark was shocked and dashed to NYC at 12:01am to woo his star back.

Paul was unhappy in Salt Lake City since both Memhet and Carlos who appeared to be leaving the city decided to stay. Paul was then contacted by a man named Sam who wanted him to appear in a production being done in Oklahoma City.

Andy in Cleveland was a man who appeared to be set with a King and a Shaq but he wanted more and wanted to test the waters to see what his real value is.

Ron was a volitle man with many different possible destinations and his decision was hampered to stay in Houston by the fall of a giant. Many teams have come calling and want to show Ron, that he is the piece to the puzzle to fix their broken franchises.

Marcin was a foreigner in a strange place, his recent success had given him more than he ever wanted. The teams came in droves to court him but he yearned to possibly go back home.

Will Jason stay in Dallas?

Will Paul Find Happiness in Oklahoma?

and Will Marcin find what he is looking for?

All that and much more on the next edition of "The Balls Of Our Lives"

Coming up next.....

By Ben Chew with No comments