LeBron James was once a football player. He was a first team all-state wide receiver as a freshman and played football until his senior year when he turned his focus solely to basketball. That decision was not broadcast from a Boys and Girls Club to a local public access channel. At least, I don’t think […]

Michael Jordan has a lot of bravado. He could not become one of the greatest players of all time if he did not exude a sense of confidence in himself and his teammates. That finger-wagging, tongue-sticking-out style of play that he exhibited on the court moved off it as he was always a stalwart for […]

Shoe sales might be suffering during the lockout, but that won’t stop shoe companies from releasing new shoes and selling them to the masses. Dwight Howard’s new adiPower is set to hit the markets with a suggested retail price of $100. Howard probably explains the shoe best: Yeah, that about says it all. As only […]

This lockout is about one thing: money. The owners have sought cost certainty and want to rid themselves of the dead-weight contracts that hamper their roster maneuverability and are just, plain bad investments. These are guys that want to see a return on their investment — preferably proportional to the amount of their investment. Cost […]

Kevin Durant has been the trend-setter for the entire summer. He played in just about every summer league pro-am game he could find and many of his superstar compatriots followed. There have been some epic battles on the basketball streets and back-channels while teams were locked out. If anything, we have seen how many players […]

We are close. No matter what the two sides say to each other and what the rhetoric might be on a day-to-day basis, both sides know a deal is near. There are hang ups to be sure, as the hard-line positions have dug in one last time. Well, hopefully, it is one last time. Coming […]

Jameer Nelson probably understands Dwight Howard as well as anyone in the league right now. The two were, after all, drafted together in 2005 when the Magic coupled taking Howard with their number one pick with the acquisition of the 20th pick from Denver (Nelson). Nelson, despite being nearly a foot shorter than Howard, is […]

If there is one owner who wants to see basketball ASAP, it is Heat owner Micky Arison. Arison is the one paying the super trio of the 2010 free agency class and he knows what ever collective bargaining agreement is made is going to threaten the crazy collection of talent that he signed last year. […]

After three days of intense negotiating, the lockout persisted. Signs of positivity were quickly washed away after five-plus hours of talks Friday when the two sides broke for the day and with Derek Fisher reportedly flying back to Los Angeles. Now the calendar gets to laugh. David Stern announced Friday that the NBA has canceled […]

Yesterday, Kyle Boenitz asked in this space for stories about the “little guys” the lockout is affecting. The more than 400 employees who NBA teams have let go as a temporary cost-cutting move. These include scouts, ticket sales representatives and general workers for the teams for sure. But there are still others who are going […]

After the NBA began its lockout, the rumors swirled wildly as everyone began expecting players to jump all over European offers. Now that Euroleague and the foreign leagues have started, there are not many players heading over there. Denver Nuggets’ Ty Lawson was one of them. He hopped a plane to play for BC Zalgiris […]

Isiah thomas is a master negotiator. He somehow convinced Eddy Curry to take a six-year, $56 million contract to play “center” for the Knicks. Must have been a very difficult negotiation. The fact this specific contract has been painfully singled out as one of the reasons the NBA is in such trouble right now might […]

The owners and the players broke mediation sessions last week with some nasty rhetoric and fingers pointing at each other. It was not pretty and got everyone thinking that negotiations might be back to square one and whatever progress was made in those three days of mediation is completely gone. Nobody is quite sure when […]

It is sometimes tough being a Magic fan these days (I should know). Earlier this week, an interview Howard had with Esquire was released and sent Magic fans and the NBA world back into the will-he, won’t-he leave Orlando mode. Dwight Howard is going to become a free agent, that is about all we know. […]

Remember when the New Orleans Hornets stretched their playoff series against the Los Angeles Lakers to six games behind some incredible play from Chris Paul? Now, imagine the Hornets could add a borderline All-Star averaging 18.9 points per game, 7.6 rebounds per game and shot a 55.8 percent true shooting percentage. That might have been […]