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Busta Rhymes To Appear On Justin Bieber’s Christmas Album [Broken Cool]

12-Year-Old Boy Turns Hero As he Thwarts Armed Robbery [Brobible]

ESPN’s NSFW-ish Body Issue: Naked Gymnastics, Awkward Nude Dunking [With Leather] Read the rest of this entry »

The end is always ugly, but rarely has a team heard the death knell in such a complete fashion as the Lakers did this past week. Expected to easily dispatch of a Dallas team that didn’t seem particularly stronger than past iterations, the Lake Show may have had the curtains called on them instead. The finality of Game 4’s blowout, complete with the petulant acts of childishness from Bynum and Odom, belies this truth: the Lakers as we know it are done winning titles. Read the rest of this entry »

Just in case you’ve spent the last 50 years of your life taking stool samples of rhesus monkeys in the forests of Thailand and have missed the Celtics-Lakers rivalry in its entirety, here’s a brief recap. The 1960s Celtics made the Lakers into their personal Washington Generals, beating them six times in the Finals in less than a decade. In the 80s, Magic and Kareem finally exacted revenge against Larry Legend and company as the two titans of the NBA traded titles while simultaneously raising the league to newfound heights of popularity. The Lakers continued to reign supreme in the NBA throughout the last few decades while Boston entered what can only be known as the Dark Ages of the franchise. The rivalry was thought to be dead.

That is, until two years ago, when a few shrewd trades from both front offices returned both teams to their rightful places in the NBA hierarchy: battling for supremacy on the respective sport’s biggest stage. This time it was the Celtics that prevailed, embarrassing the Lakers and their golden boy Kobe Bryant with a 39-point blowout victory in a clinching Game 6. Undeterred, the Lakers bounced back to snag their own title in 2009, while Kevin Garnett’s knee injury prevented Boston from defending their crown.

The teams took different roads to get back to the mountain top in 2010. L.A. rode home court advantage and a vintage Kobe hot streak, while Boston rediscovered their defensive dominance and late-game execution after a shoddy regular season. Ultimately none of it matters as it’s time for both the rubber match of the last three years and the 12th installment of this classic showdown. Lakers. Celtics. Kobe. KG. The Truth. The Zen Master. Fake boobies for Laker Fans. Big Baby’s boobies for the Irish. If you can’t get excited about this, you need to seriously consider a cocaine addiction. To get you ready for tonight’s Game 1 tip-off, the TSS NBA Crew breaks down the matchups and makes their predictions on who will be laughing last. Read the rest of this entry »

Brace yourself, there’s about to be a shootout in the cities of Los Angeles and Phoenix. The Lakers and Suns have met a total of 11 times in the playoffs with the Lakeshow winning seven. However, their last meeting in the first round of the 2006 playoffs is what is still etched in the minds of millions – most importantly Kobe Bryant.

After falling behind 3-1 in the series, Phoenix pulled off one of the greatest postseason comebacks in history by winning the next three games. Lakers fans haven’t forgotten that since. Nothing short of drama and nothing short of firepower, the present day match up is being billed as potentially the best series of the entire playoffs. With names like Gasol, Stoudamire, Nash and Bryant leading the charge, it very well could be. Read the rest of this entry »

Four wins down, 12 to go. If you’re into math, that’s 25% of the way home to being crowned the H.T.I.C. of the NBA. For some, the first four wins were essentially a cake walk. For others, scratching, clawing and the sheer grace of the ghost of James Naismith are the reason they’ve advanced to the round of eight.

Regardless, you’re here. And that’s all that really matters.

Since Mike played his last game as a Chicago Bull in June of 1998, David Stern’s league and the power that came with it have rested in the west. It is a conference of big men, agile guards and competition trumping that of their eastern counterparts. The 2004 Detroit Pistons, 2006 Miami Heat and 2008 Boston Celtics were the only exceptions to the rule. Other than that, the Lakers and Spurs have presented themselves was kings of the court winning eight combined titles since 1999. Even with the league’s MVP resting in the Eastern Conference, the Western Conference could very well continue their dominance with the emergence of the already coined “team of the future,” the Oklahoma City Thunder.

We’re getting ahead of ourselves though. There is a series set to kickoff in Hollywood.

Los Angeles Lakers Vs. Utah Jazz

Playing without several of their top players, the Jazz are running off heart – and behind the league’s best point guard in Deron Williams. If Jerry Sloan’s crew can keep their head above water until Game 3 (i.e. at least take one in L.A.), the return of Andrei Kirilenko could be big. The Jazz can find solace in knowing they can potentially dictate the tempo of the series with Williams having the supreme advantage over the Lakers point guards. And Boozer is coming off a stellar first round series, including a 22/20 performance in the Game 6 clincher versus Denver.  All that’s standing in their way is that 14 game losing streak at the Staples Center.

But the Lakers are the Lakers and beating them four times in a seven game series isn’t exactly the easiest task to accomplish. Especially when you consider the Lakers have won 77% of their games since acquiring the Pau Gasol a few seasons ago. The Spaniard and Odom are the size that the Jazz do not have and Phil Jackson probably will look to expose this from the opening tip. Even more so than consistent help off the bench, Ron Artest has to be more of an offensive threat as completely disappeared at times in their opening round series. And like him or not, Kobe Bryant is still one of the best players on the planet and arguably the best closer in the game.

J. Tinsley | MZ | S. Cadet — Lakers in 6 Jason H. — Lakers in 7

Patrick M. — Utah in 6

Join as we watch would could potentially be the last NBA game of the season…unless you count the WNBA.

It’s now okay to don your jerseys, authentics only please.

Keep the chatter here folks. And no switch-siding lol.

No it isn’t Lakers versus Celtics. And no it isn’t LeBron versus Kobe. But this year’s finals still features two teams that play an entertaining style of basketball focused on offensive execution, team play and athleticism. There’s still plenty of star power with Kobe and Dwight Howard, even if The King has retreated to his summer palace. And arguably, these have been the best two teams over the grueling grind that is the NBA playoffs.

In preparation for a potentially epic Finals, The Crew’s Patrick M, Sam C and MZ are breaking down the match-ups and committing their predictions to cyberspace. Listen close and take notes.

The Breakdown:

Point Guard: Rafer Alston (12.7, 2.50, 4.4*) vs. Derek Fisher (7.1, 1.8, 2.4)

Jameer Nelson may give it a go, but I think the Magic would be wise to pull a Drew Bledsoe on his ass (for this year at least.) Skip To My Lou’s performance the last two rounds has been a hidden key to the Magic’s success. He played Rajon Rondo to a virtual draw and helped Read the rest of this entry »

It’s pretty simple. If Denver wins tonight, the series is theirs. If L.A. wins tonight the series is (more than likely) theirs. Nuggets coach George Karl knows & relayed this to his team.

“My focus to our players is that this is our must-win game, almost as much as Game 4 was,” Denver coach George Karl said the day after his team had an impressive, 120-101 beatdown of Los Angeles. “You want to win there in Game 5 because history is against you in Game 7. — George Karl

Carmelo, Chauncey & J.R. will all need to be Read the rest of this entry »

The Nuggets have been on a roll so far. They’re 8-2 in the playoffs and team chemistry is at an all time high. Chauncey and Carmelo have led this healthy squad to this point, but let’s not forget the defensive contributions of Denver’s frontcourt in Kenyon Martin, Birdman and Nené. The team is tougher, more focused and just flat out better than last year’s squad. It wouldn’t be farfetched to say this is the best roster the franchise has ever seen.

All of this is fine and dandy, but is it enough to beat L.A.? Read the rest of this entry »