NBA legends are still being molded but the ones that gutted it out with one team — through the thick and thin times — has all but become a hardwood fable. No sooner than the recent accomplishment of Kobe Bryant’s (one of those rare sole squad lifer) surpassing of Shaq, the soon-to-be-retired jersey of #34 illuminated the Garden as it has done for 13 consecutive seasons. Read the rest of this entry »
We’re around the first quarter mark of the 2012 NBA season, and it’s been difficult to ignore the hype surrounding Kyrie Irving. His stellar play continued Sunday night, as he made a game-winning layup against the Boston Celtics to give the Cavs an 88-87 victory. Read the rest of this entry »
Early predictions stated the NBA lockout would affect players and teams in a variety of ways. No one could have guessed the game’s fundamental shots would suffer as well. Read the rest of this entry »
It remains one of the darkest stories in all of sports because it had the brightest of futures. Never having the opportunity to see Len Bias play live remains one of my personal biggest disappointments as a basketball fan. He died when I was only four months old, yet his life, talents and circumstances surrounding his death remains a paralyzing romance gone horrifically wrong. Read the rest of this entry »
After a long and storied career, Shaquille O’Neal has decided to call it quits on his basketball career. As unusual as always, The Big Aristotle decided to use social networking to announce that he was leaving the game, posting a short video message on the website Tout via his Twitter account. “We did it. Nineteen years baby,” Shaq shared. Read the rest of this entry »
While I’m not sure if LeBron and the Heat dispatching of the Celtics ranks alongside Jordan having to overcome the Pistons, a lot happened during and after last night’s Game 4 to help erase the lingering questions and criticisms of Miami’s squad. The action centered around James and, as far as denouements go, most everything panned out in his favor. Read the rest of this entry »
As a fan, we watch each game of the NBA playoffs with knowledge that we potentially have a front row seat to history. Last night was just that. Carmelo Anthony’s 42 points and 17 rebounds performance vindicated every fan who supported trading damn near the entire franchise to obtain his services and Melo carried the Knicks to a layup away from one of the more improbable victories in recent memory.
The more ironic (and forgotten) facet? It came within a few hours from landing on the exact day Michael Jordan blitzed the same Celtics franchise for his now mythical 63 points. Read the rest of this entry »
We’re not even going to talk about how the Knicks all but forgot Amar’e Stoudamire was on the court after he single handedly kept them in the game that last quarter.
There is a science to the NBA playoffs, especially when a team opens a series on the road. Read the rest of this entry »
The NBA’s regular season is a grueling campaign. Yet, come mid-April, bottom-feeders and ne’er do wells are sent home early while the league’s best vie for the Larry O’Brien trophy. Of course, some squads will serve as fodder for the ensuing rounds. However this years match ups and trends warrant meaningful discussion. Read the rest of this entry »
NBA franchises play 82 games for the chance to contend in “the second season” and win 16 that actually matter. Still, the playoffs are far from being rocket science. Sixteen teams enter the postseason, but a select few have a legit chance to actually hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy come June. Read the rest of this entry »
Here we are folks. The first full Sunday sans football. Here’s to your and yours holding up and August getting here quicker than a Charlie Sheen high. I say August because I refuse to believe the owners and players will leave potentially billions of dollars sitting on a table because they cannot come to an agreement on how rich they’ll be for the next few seasons. Thankfully for myself and others, the NBA is here (and March Madness is looming) to remedy my football woes. Read the rest of this entry »
Considering the amount of shots the average avid-hooper takes in a lifetime, the number 2,561 doesn’t exactly scream “record-breaking.” Reggie Miller sat on the retirement bench for years with that particular count minus one, that is, until the waning hours of February 10th, 2011 when Ray Allen decided he felt a certain way about the way history had been written.
But while Ray and Reggie both have likely triple the number of treys it took for them to be etched in stone during sideline shootarounds and backyard BBQ’s, the feat was accomplished by playing professional ball, during intense competition which ultimately revolves around teamwork and winning as an unit opposed to personal statistics and accolades.
We may be witnessing the greatest pure shooter that has ever played the game when factoring in the notion that the 35-year-old Celtic hit his landmark number while netting nearly 40% of those bombs and still has a few more miles left on his warranty.
As if the night couldn’t get anymore historic, Allen coincidently landed in the record books while facing off against legendary rivals the Los Angeles Lakers (over an onlooking Kobe Bryant at that!). Unfazed, the Lake Show went on conquer this singular battle in the never-ending war with a tally of 92-86. Yet, that minor victory will go on to be a mere afterthought in light of the monumental moment in Allen’s storied career. Come playoff time, both episodes could be utterly pointless if a NBA championship is the on the line. We shall see.
Related:SBNation has a nifty compare and contrast by the numbers between Reggie Miller and Sugar Ray Ray.
For as important as yesterday was to the NFL, Sunday NBA basketball takes me back to my youth nearly as much. It had it all: the NBA on NBC, the flawless trailers which left the feeling each game was literally life or death and, of course, Bob Costas with the play by play. Now I’m an adult with the league as exciting as it has been in years, Sunday basketball still gets me going. Read the rest of this entry »
Christmas day basketball was the only thing that kept me sane as I finished out my workday on Saturday. Thankfully I was out the door during the second quarter of the Heat-Lakers game. I caught most of the Celtics-Magic game & that shot by J.J. Reddick was clutch. I just didn’t realize how clutch it was until I caught this stat provided by the cracker jack video team over at TrueHoop: Read the rest of this entry »
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