LeBron haters fuel his hunger for a ring

Game 5 tonight may be the night where all the LeBron haters will continue to hate, but will WITNESS one of the greatest player to ever play this great game in our beloved nation, one win away from winning his first ring. So, all the name calling, jokes on his hairline, and continue criticism will deteriorate tonight. For all the non-LeBron fans thank you for fueling his fire from the behalf of lebron himself. 

NBA Top 5 PG, where is Rondo or Deron Williams?

The Charlotte Bobcats have new uniforms

It is a time of renewal in the Charlotte Bobcats organization, as the team looks to make a clean break from a dreadful 7-59 season that was, in terms of winning percentage, the worst in NBA history. Heading into next year, the Bobcats will have a new focal point, selected with the No. 2 pick in the upcoming 2012 NBA draft. They will have a new coach, with news breaking this week that the team will hire former St. John's Red Storm assistant Mike Dunlap to man the sidelines.

And they will have new uniforms, which were unveiled Tuesday night in photo galleries published by the Charlotte Observer and the Bobcats' official site, respectively. Take a gander at the new togs, modeled (from left) by guard Kemba Walker, swingman Gerald Henderson and big Bismack Biyombo:

They all look reasonably pleased with their new clothes! And why shouldn't they be? They are, if nothing else, different from the ones in which they just lost 59 of 66 games. The Observer's Rick Bonnell details the changes:

They're switching to a darker navy blue, adding Carolina blue as an accent, and further de-emphasizing the orange color that dominated their uniforms their first two seasons.

They're also shortening their nickname on the white home jerseys from "Bobcats" to "Cats." The blue road jerseys will continue to say, "Charlotte."

If the first thing the "Cats" shortening made you think of was, "Well, that's a nice symbolic sayonara to Robert Johnson" — the original owner of the franchise, after whom the Bobcats were named (well,kind of) and who sold the team to Michael Jordan in February 2010 — then you are not alone; I thought that, too. But team president Fred Whitfield told Bonnell that the shortening is "not purposefully" about Johnson, that it is "about brand identity" and intended to reflect what Charlotte fans actually call the team during games. (I guess "WAIT WHY DID YOU DO THAT, OH MAN, YOU GUYS ARE THE WORST" wouldn't fit on the front.)

Kevin Durant sued over ‘Durantula’ nickname by famous ’80s rock guitarist we have all heard of

Sorry, Oklahoma City Thunder fans. I know you were hoping that Kevin Durant, the league's reigning scoring champion and your team's best player, was going to be 100 percent focused on keeping the Thunder's season alive by winning Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night, but that just doesn't seem to be in the cards. He will undoubtedly turn all his attention today to mounting a legal defense against a guitarist who claims the Oklahoma City star is a trademark thief. Because that is happening now.

News of the federal suit comes, as you'd expect, from TMZ:

Durant was sued [Wednesday] in Federal Court by a guy named Mark Durante — a guitarist who, according to the lawsuit, was a big deal in the 80s ... playing with Public Enemy, The Aliens, The Next Big Thing, and (our favorite) The Revolting Cocks.

TMZ obtained a copy of the lawsuit, in which Durante says he adopted the name "Durantula" for his "on-stage and performance persona" — and has used it to market "music, recordings, apparel, t-shirts, guitars, and related merchandise."

Meanwhile, sports fans have adopted the handle for the Oklahoma City Thunder star and current NBA scoring champ.

Durante claims he sent KD's people a couple letters "demanding they stop using the nickname" — but says Durant's reps claimed he wasn't using it.

In the suit though, Durante claims Nike has used the moniker to launch a shoe campaign — and KD himself signed "Durantula" on basketballs that are for sale through his website.

David Stern asks Jim Rome, ‘Have you stopped beating your wife yet?’ in response to lottery-fixing question in radio interview

"Have you stopped beating your wife yet?" NBA Commissioner David Stern asked sports talk radio personality Jim Rome during a contentious interview on Rome's nationally syndicated radio program on Wednesday afternoon.

Stern's remark — the textbook example of a loaded question, intended to suggest that the subject has been asked a question he cannot answer without incriminating himself — came in response to a question asked by Rome about public perception that the NBA had rigged the 2012 NBA draft lottery to ensure that the New Orleans Hornets came away with the No. 1 overall selection, despite having fewer chances at the top prize than the Charlotte Bobcats, Washington Wizards and Cleveland Cavaliers heading into the proceedings.

The NBA has owned the Hornets since December 2010. The league recently sold the Hornets to New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson, who will reportedly pay $338 million to take control of the franchise. That sale is expected to be finalized this week, according to Stern; at present, the league still maintains control of the team.

Rome, a well-known radio host and former ESPN personality whose radio show is syndicated nationally by Premiere Networks and who hosts a daily television program on the CBS Sports Network, is married with two children, according to the bio on his website.

Brandon Roy confirms his wishes to return to the NBA, through an ex-teammate’s Twitter account

In March of 2006, Twitter was created; three months before Brandon Roy was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves and traded to the Portland Trail Blazers. In the time between those epic events and Roy's retirement from the NBA last December, the All-Star guard missed 89 out of a possible 410 contests his team played due to a series of knee ailments, a remarkably low figure considering the severity of the ailments he suffered through. So why doesn't Roy have a Twitter account, this far into the game?

And why, through former college teammate Will Conroy's twitter account, is Roy choosing to announce his potential comeback to the NBA, when it looked for years that his bone-on-bone condition would prevent him from performing anywhere near his franchise-level abilities? This doesn't seem to matter to Roy, who apparently is chomping at the bit and ready to return after having to walk away from the Blazers last winter. Alex Kennedy from HoopsWorld (beware, annoying auto-play video at the link) put two and tweets together on Saturday to boil down Roy's intentions. Here's a summation:

"Lord willing, I will play again soon," Roy wrote in a series of tweets. "Yes, I'm preparing for a comeback. I'm training daily. I'm preparing for a return next year. I appreciate the love. Hopefully I'll be back on the floor soon. Health is good."

And this is where we play fake doctor.

We're sure Roy's health is good. We're sure, after a series of workouts and 14 months removed from his last appearance and the NBA's day-to-day grind, that he's as rested and ready as he's ever been. There's little doubt, considering his layoff, that his wheels are at their peak point of being able to overcome his condition.

The condition, sadly, still remains. You don't re-grow cartilage, and you don't regain the day-to-day explosiveness that cartilage helps provide by sitting out for months and working out diligently. This isn't some ligament tear that Roy is recovering from; his body is missing essential buffers and no amount of rehab can overcome the severity of what he's lacking.

This doesn't mean an NBA return is off the table, though. At worst, Roy could receive a camp invite this fall. He could work out with a squad and let NBA team officials gauge just how far removed he is from his All-Star peak. He doesn't have to play like an All-Star, as well. Rather, Roy could join a team as a serviceable backup off-guard, ready to contribute on an every-other-game schedule rather than sadly disappointing both himself and his Blazers team with those sorts of every-other-game exploits as he did in his final year in Portland, with those knees getting in the way of Roy returning to the sort of production that his smarts, drive and former athleticism once assured him nightly.

Because of issues with insurance and NBA bylaws, Roy couldn't return to the Portland Trail Blazers (as he pointed out on Conroy's Twitter feed) until the 2014-15 season, when the contract extension he signed in the summer of 2010 ends.

This wouldn't, or shouldn't, stop another franchise from at the very least taking a look at the former All-Star, mindful of his struggles and aware of his limitations. Again, Roy isn't working under the same scenarios that befall those who undergo microfracture surgeries (although he's dealt with that procedure) and ligament tears — there are considerable obstacles in his way that no rehab or surgery will aid him in overcoming — but that doesn't have to mean his career is completely over. Despite his retirement last December.

And you can tell the guy is working out. After all, he apparently doesn't even have time enough to set up a Twitter account. 

Lakers Forward Devin Ebanks Punches Chair After Being Ejected (Video)

In the final minutes of last night's Thunder/Lakers series game one, Los Angeles forward Devin Ebanks got into an altercation with Oklahoma City's Royal Ivey.

Ebanks was ejected from the game and before leaving the court, Devin got a nice punch in against one of the chairs on the Lakers bench:


No word yet if the chair will receive any penalty.

Kobe walks out on press conference

Monday night’s blowout in Oklahoma City simply confirmed what we all already knew: The Lakers are going to have their hands full with the Thunder. The Thunder are the most talented team in the West. L.A. has experience, but Oklahoma City is probably too athletic for the Lakers to keep up over the course of a seven-game series.

Kobe Bryant knows that. But is he ready to pack it in after one bad loss? Of course not. After Game 1, a reporter asked Kobe if the Lakers are capable of guarding the Thunder. In case you couldn’t tell by the expressions on his face, Kobe was being completely sarcastic when he answered “No” and walked away from the podium.

While he has a tendency to be short with the media and act like a jerk after losses, I can’t say I blame Kobe for this one. There are more effective ways to ask that same question. Instead of talking about match-up problems and athleticism, the reporter basically asked Kobe if he thinks the Lakers stand a chance in the series. I would have got up and walked away too.

Carlisle gets four-year deal to stay with Mavs

DALLAS 'We've got an extremely attractive situation here,' Rick Carlisle said recently. 'We've got a great owner, it's a great city, the physical setup is second to none in terms of the proximity of everything and this is a franchise that's always going to be in the hunt.' And now Carlisle is locked in as part of the future with a new four-year contract, announced midday Monday. Dallas Mavericks executives said all the right things as the four-year 17.5-million contract Rick Carlisle signed in May 2008 expired at the end of this season. "He likes us, we like him and those situations generally get worked out," GM Donnie Nelson said. "Rick's not going anywhere." "I've got one of the top three coaches in the league," owner Mark Cuban said. "It proves the point that coaching matters. The hardest thing to do in the NBA is hire the right coach, a coach that fits your culture, your chemistry. It took us a few tries. We think we've got a great coach." And now they're keeping him. "We are excited that Rick will be back with the Mavericks for at least the next four years,Cuban said on Monday. "He is a proven winner, a great teacher and a coach that will help the Mavericks improve as a team and as an organization. The Mavs face plenty of questions regarding the Dirk Nowitzki-led roster going forward. But that's obviously not a problem for Rick, whose thoughts on the franchise's stability deserve mention. "Going forward, we've got an extremely attractive situation here," Carlisle said at the end of the season, as the defending champs were swept out in Round 1 by OKC. "We've got a great owner, it's a great city, the physical setup is second to none in terms of the proximity of everything and this is a franchise that's always going to be in the hunt. This is a summer that's going to be very exciting for our fans and our franchise. There's flexibility for the first time in a long time." "Cap flexibility" alone doesn't win titles, of course. But the first step to that was retaining a coach that seems a fine fit with both the people he works for and the people he works with. Those people include Cuban and Donnie, of course. (Donnie and Carlisle has known each other since their teen years). But Dirk himself is also high on the list. There is no conflict between star player and the coach, despite one local media outlet suggesting that Dirk's support for Carlisle's return was "tepid." Dirk's view of the coach who he notes "led us to the promised land"? The UberMan recently noted that Carlisle is frequently still at work when Nowitzki returns for his private evening shootarounds, is a "preparation freak" and is "a great coach." Was the Carlisle-Mavs marriage ever in doubt? We've speculated that Carlisle might've been interested in listening to what Portland might have to offer. But agent Warren LeGarie and Mavs management never let things go that far. Should this have been done sooner? That seems a moot point to us; it's a Cuban guideline to resist extending a coach while he's still under contract. Carlisle obviously understands it (unlike Nellie, who felt disrespected by it). Meanwhile, Chicago's Tom Thibodeau and OKC's Scott Brooks are also working on expiring deals, so it's not completely unorthodox. More interesting might be the dollars and cents of the deal for the only coach to win a Mavs title and one of just three active coaches with championships. Terms have not been released, but... Avery Johnson's last deal was four years and 20 mil at 5 mil per season in excess of the 4.4-million average Carlisle's earned in the last four seasons. Worth noting: At 4.5 mil, Carlisle's previous salary was top-seven in the NBA but not outrageous; Doc Rivers (Celtics) makes 7 million, Gregg Popovich (Spurs) makes 6 million. Those two join Carlisle as the only active NBA coaches with titles. Even fired coaches like Mike D'Antoni (Knicks 6 million), Nate McMillan (Trail Blazers 5.5 million) and Flip Saunders (Wizards 4.8 million) make more than Rick does. At season's end, Carlisle began his look to the future. "As great as the championship run was, there always comes a time when you have to look forward and that's where things are at now," Carlisle said. "I look at this summer for this franchise as a summer of opportunity and excitement and I don't think anybody should look at it any differently." And now that summer of opportunity and excitement officially includes Rick Carlisl

Bulls Derrick Rose could seriously miss 2012-13 NBA season

Just minutes ago the Chicago Bulls concluded a press conference discussing the surgery and recovery time of their franchise player Derrick Rose. The reigning NBA MVP tore his ACL, and today was an opportunity for a post-surgical update. Answering questions from the media were Bulls GM Gar Forman, trainer Fred Tedeschi and the orthopedic surgeon who performed Rose’s operation Dr. Brian Cole.

A lot was said, but this exchange says the most, in just a few words:

Andrew Seligman, AP: “I just want to make sure I’m clear on one thing, in the best case scenario, Derrick comes back around the end of January, early February, and he could (still) possibly miss the season. Is that (correct)?”

Dr. Cole: “That’s clearly the range of what’s possible.”

Yeah, that’s what Bulls and NBA fans are facing here with the health of the superstar point guard. For real. Rose comes back at mid-season at best, and could possibly miss next season at worst. Dr. Cole said earlier in the press conference that in years past, many athletes saw their careers ended from this type of injury, but that medical science has progressed to the point where athletes make more often come back from ACL reconstruction.

Forman “We’re hopeful he’ll be back next season, but we’re not making plans as if he will be, but we’re optimistic he will be at some point.”

Dirk Nowitzki Wants Other Superstars to Join Him in Dallas

by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

The OKC Thunder put an end to the Dallas Mavericks’ season in emphatic fashion on Saturday night, sweeping the defending NBA champions. And despite the inevitable sadness, there was a sense around the Mavs that this season was always about the future for them.

No matter what team owner Mark Cuban may claim, the Mavericks never really put their best foot forward — on the court, or in the front office — and the feeling was that they were setting themselves up for a roster upgrade, beginning next season.

More than anyone else, Dirk Nowitzki realizes that he needs other top-notch talent alongside him. Per theDallas Morning News:

It is believed that Mavericks owner Mark Cuban didn’t re-sign Tyson Chandler , J.J. Barea and DeShawn Stevenson because he wanted the salary cap space to make a run at a couple of stars to pair with Dirk Nowitzki. However, Cuban has said he isn’t necessarily trying to acquire both Williams and Howard, claiming he could spread the cap room around among several star players instead of two superstars.

But listening to Nowitzki’s comments following Saturday’s season-ending loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the franchise’s greatest player is hoping for superstars. “We need some guys that can make plays for themselves,” Nowitzki said. “That’s pretty obvious. If you look at all the top teams now, they have at least two-three guys they can throw the ball to and they do their thing.” Nowitzki then specifically mentioned how Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden each carried a Thunder team on different nights in the four-game sweep of the Mavericks. “If you want to be an elite team in the league right now, you have to have 2-3 guys that can go off at any time,” Nowitzki added.

Mark Cuban has been pretty consistent with his claims that he’s not obsessed with the idea of signing a superstar (or two) this summer, preaching smart use of the new CBA rules instead. It remains to be seen if Dirk Nowitzki will buy into this philosophy going forward.

Mayor of Columbus wants an NBA team

While most people believe any change in the construct of the NBA should be focused toward contraction, if anything, the Mayor of Columbus, Ohio feels differently.

Or perhaps he wants to steal a team from an existing city. Mayor Michael Coleman has informed the NBA that the City wants a pro basketball team.

NBA Vice President of Communications Tim Frank told the Columbus Dispatch he wouldn’t comment. He says there are no plans to expand, and no teams have applied to relocate.

While there is only one professional team currently in Columbus (The NHL’s Bluejackets), Columbus is a college town & Ohio State Football is king. Add the proximity of the Cavaliers, and I’m not sure this makes much sense.

The City did, however, recently purchase Nationwide Arena (home of the Bluejackets) and I’m sure they would love to add an additional revenue stream. But it’s actual feasibility seems highly questionable.