MJ's on a Different Level

When an athlete or celebrity walks into a party, it adds some excitement for a minute or two and then it quickly wears off.

But when MJ shows up, people just stare in astonishment. It’s even funny to see how star struck other celebrities get when MJ enters the building.

Michael Bivins has the details of his encounter with MJ down at All-Star weekend:

All-Star Game: A Few Bullets

• LeBron is on a level above everyone else. Even though it’s the All-Star game, LBJ still shines a tad brighter.
  
  
• For anybody that doesn’t think Kobe Bryant is furious that his All-Star game PPG average took a hit, well than, you just don’t know Kobe.
  
  
• D-Wade is really hitting the commercial circuit. It’s an honor to make Charles Fav-5, but there’s only so much Wade I can take during timeouts.
  
  
• Part of what makes the All-Star game so exciting for the players is the opportunity to play with stars from different teams. The Pistons All-Stars (Rasheed, Chauncy and Richard Hamilton) can’t enjoy being considered a trio; always having to be inserted into the game together.
  
  
• Yao Ming needs to freshen up. With 19 Billion people from China tuning in to see their beloved star, the Big Fella forgot to shave his neck. You got to go one way or the other Yao Ming!
  
  
• Rasheed just doesn’t care. The guy took 5 shots, 4 of which were lefty.
  
  
• Every time I watch Dwight Howard, I get more mesmerized with what he’s able to do on the basketball court. He’s the complete package.
  
  
• The East won by 6, but they were outscored by 20 when Richard Hamilton was on the court. Not a great stat for Richard.
  
  
• Am I the only person that feels like every time the ball is in Jason Kidd’s hands, something good happens? He should be mandatory at All-Star games.
  

NBA Dunk Contest: WOW

What a Dunk Contest! Creativity, Originality, Competitiveness… It was all on full display last night.



A Few Notes:

-Dwight Howard redefined what big man should be able to do… He’s 6’10 with athletic ability that is simply off the charts. Howard gave people the “What’s next?” feeling, which hasn’t been felt since 2000, Vince Carter.

- Rudy Gay’s second dunk when he caught the lob from behind the basket would’ve actually been cool, had it not been for Dwight Howard’s monster first dunk. Not such a great showing Rudy.

- Despite getting so much height on the superman dunk, Dwight Howard forgot to move toward the basket, hence the reason that he was forced to throw the ball in. Following the dunk, everyone had the expression on their face of “What just happened?”

- Gerald Green blowing out the cupcake was so impressive, but it needed replay for people to understand what actually happened.

- Not that I’m talking from experience, but the final Gerald Green jam in which he dunks the ball after going between his legs, without sneakers on, didn’t get near the credit it deserved.

NBA: Mid-Season Awards

With the first half of the NBA season wrapped up, its time to dole out some mid-season awards:

Are you still in the NBA Award?

Emeka Okafor: Has anyone seen or heard from Emeka Okafor? Outside of him rejecting a massive $65 million contract extension, I can’t recall hearing his name mentioned once during the first half of the NBA season. His 13.5 points and 11 rebound averages are about as silent as Mark McGwire standing in front of Congress.

The fact that scouts once debated who should be taken #1 overall, Emeka Okafor or Dwight Howard… Let's just say they can joke about that now.


Ready to Break Out Award

Monte Ellis: Monte Ellis is one Baron Davis strained hamstring away from becoming a star in the NBA. Ellis’s averages of 19, 4.5, 3.5 have propelled GS to a 32 – 20 record, despite the 0 – 6 start. Ellis is the complete package and as he continues to mature, he’s going to be a very difficult player to stop. He can shoot, penetrate, run the open court, and finish around the basket.

It’s not too long until Ellis is actually busy during All-Star weekend.


Look Who’s Laughing Now Award

Mitch Kupchak: With all of the heat Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak received over the summer, it takes a real set of balls to stick by what you believe in and not force a trade in an attempt to quiet the naysayer’s. Well, not only did Kupchak keep his young talent (Andrew Bynum), but he also managed to steal Pau Gasol from Memphis without giving up a core player in return. With a 35-17 record, all seems well in Laker land and there’s really one person who deserves much of the credit.


I’m in Need of a New Team Award

JR Smith: JR Smith is way too explosive and too good of a scorer to be playing such a limited role in Denver. With 2 prolific scorers (Melo and AI) already in the rotation, there are limited minutes left for one more, thus JR’s 17 minutes per game average.

With a change of scenery and an understanding to not just settle for deep three’s, JR Smith could become a Top 10 scorer in the league.


1st Team All-NBA

Chris Paul
Kobe Bryant
LeBron James
Kevin Garnett
Dwight Howard


First Half MVP:

Kevin Garnett: After the KG trade went down, everyone knew the Celtics were going to be a much better team. But 41 – 9… Not many people saw that coming. To put that record in perspective, the bookies had the Celtics over/under wins for the season at 48. (I’ll gladly win that).

KG turned around the entire culture of the Celtics organization. Prior to his arrival, the Celtics were a team stuck in mediocrity led by a miserable star in Paul Pierce, a coach that didn’t know what he was doing in Doc Rivers and an Executive Director of Basketball Operations whose job was on life support, Danny Ainge.

Instead of coming in and proclaiming this as his team, KG just tried to fit in as one of the guys. He’s brought a team oriented, defensive mind-set that everyone on the roster not only bought into, but seems to enjoy. Individual accolades have been put on the backburner and the Celtics are flourishing with the best record in the NBA.

RJ's Had a Tough Few Days

If there is one guy who’s not taking the Jason Kidd trade news all that well, it’s Richard Jefferson. Either RJ is furious about his star point guard potentially leaving him in ‘The Swamp’ or someone must have really gotten under RJ’s skin.

Jefferson is under investigation by Minneapolis cops for allegedly choking someone at a club and threatening to kick someone’s ass.

“It appeared that Mr. Jefferson had been choking Mr. Fox. Richard Jefferson quickly exited the club, at which point Dan asked him to wait a minute so they could all figure out what had happened. It was then that Mr. Jefferson verbally threatened Dan, stating that, ‘Say another word I will kick your ass.’”

To read the official report.

Just wondering, why is someone that lives in NYC going club hopping in Minnesota? Strange…Either way, any excuse to throw this picture up works.

(Assist: TMZ)

Get Used to Hearing This Name

Courtesy of HSSMTV, we’ve obtained recent footage of one of the best point guards in the nation, Brandon Jennings in recent action.

Game 1: Jennings’s (3) Oak Hill Academy Team (28 – 4) pummeled Piscataway (NJ) 81 – 39. Jennings full arsenal was on display as he poured in 32 pts and dropped 7 dimes. It wasn't really much of a contest, but Jennings’s made sure to keep the crowd entertained.

Shaq vs. Bill Walton

I’m not too sure about Big Man Code 2257, but whatever it entails, Bill Walton broke it. Shaq is one of the most respected and well-liked players in the NBA and its very rare to hear someone scrutinize him at that level.

There is no doubt; the Big Fella has a lot to prove.

(Assist: Fanhouse)

Bob Knight's Top 10

His approach might have been a tad different, but you can’t argue the results. Three NCAA championships, one NIT championship, eleven Big Ten Conference championships and head coach of the 1984 Olympic Team (MJ) that took home the Gold medal.

With all of these accomplishments, Bob Knight’s legacy will always be remembered with mentions of:



When my time on Earth is gone, and my activities here are past, I want them to bury me upside down and my critics can kiss my ass."

–Bob Knight, March 1994

What ever happened to ‘Fair’ trades?

Following my 12th call of the day to get my thoughts on the current Shaq trade that is about to go down, I’ve decided that its time to put my paying job on hold for the remainder of the afternoon. With that being said, let’s recap what’s transpired around the league:

Miami sends Shaq to Phoenix in exchange for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks

Phoenix - Have you seen Shaq lately?

On the offensive side of the ball, Shaq fits in with the Suns about as well as Pacman Jones at a Hannah Montana Concert. For a team that thrives in a run and gun style, pushing the tempo, and getting up quick shots, this doesn’t add up. At 35, Shaq can hardly move around the court, he can’t power over opposing centers anymore, he’s non existent on the offensive glass and he has limited athletic ability left, which makes it very difficult for Shaq to finish around the rim.

Defensively, Shaq is an even bigger liability. He can’t get out to contest bigs that shoot from the perimeter, he lacks the speed to hedge out on the pick and roll with time to get back and cover his man, and it’s very tough for the big fella to protect the basket.

Oh and by the way he has another 2 years remaining on his contract that will cost the Suns $20M per season. For a team looking to shred payroll in order to get luxury tax relief, this doesn’t help matters.

There’s no question Shaq is still a mid-tier center in this league, but opposing teams no longer fear “The Diesel.”

It will be interesting to see how this actually plays out, but I really can’t see how this trade made Phoenix more equipped for this season’s playoff run.


Miami – The Heat are a team that needed to make personnel changes in order to get back to their winning ways and this trade certainly fits that billing. Marion is one of the most athletic players in the league, he can defend, run the court and he plays with a youthful style that is currently missing from Miami’s lineup.

Marion will play alongside D. Wade and should flourish in a #2 role. Where Dwayne Wade needs the ball in his hands to be successful, Marion is the complete opposite. Wade can break down the defense at the top of the key with his standard high screen or isolation and Marion can slash all day long and get scrappy buckets and offensive rebounds. Marion will also take the assignment of guarding the opposing teams best perimeter scorer. Marion and Wade will form a very exciting, formidable duo.

Marcus Banks is also a guy that could be utilized under Pat Riley. Banks is a top tier on the ball defender, who can find a role in the Heats more conservative offense. Without a solid point guard on the Heat roster, this should reinvigorate Banks career.

Pat Riley very recently claimed that when healthy Shaq is still a dominant center in this league. Nobody actually believed him, well, except Steve Kerr.



Recent Trade: Pau Gasol to the Lakers for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, Marc Gasol, and two protected first round draft picks from the Lakers in 2008 and 2010.

The Grizzles are a team going nowhere; they’ve never been headed in the right direction and owner Michael Heisley wants to sell the team this summer. Therefore to make the team more attractive, he decided to part ways with a big salary and add expiring contracts and future draft picks in return.

With very few teams looking to bring in big contracts and unload expiring ones in return, Memphis decided to settle.

To bring back a slew of players that include: a career underachiever (Brown), a retired player who was an assistant coach with the 76ers (McKie), a player who isn’t even good enough to make an NBA roster right now ‘younger brothers rarely pan out’ (Gasol) and 2 protected draft picks… for a legitimate 20 and 10 guy, is depressing.

Since entering the league over 6 seasons ago, Memphis made Gasol the cornerstone of their franchise. As I’ve said on multiple occasions, in order to win in the NBA you need a superstar to build around, something Gasol is not. It shouldn’t have taken Memphis this long to realize that Gasol is better suited as a second option.

In Los Angeles, Gasol will get to play off Kobe Bryant and not be relied upon to lead the team. He brings the Lakers a legitimate post presence that can create his own shots and finish off the guards penetration. He can demand a double team on the block and he brings more height and length to an already big Lakers frontcourt. Gasol, coupled with Bynum and Odom combine to makeup a concrete front line that will be very difficult to score against.

The Lakers now have the parts in place for a championship run and a happy Superstar.

An Unscripted Ending

Not that I need to start thinking marriage at this point in my career, but after seeing this video, I’ve eliminated one place to propose – a basketball game.



It’s humiliating enough that this guy busted out of a box to ask her to marry him. But having thousands of people watch as she said “no” probably didn’t leave him feeling to good about himself.

Chalk this one up to a real Bad Day!

It's Official

After witnessing this past summers FIBA Championship in Vegas, one thing became very clear: LeBron James was about to snatch the throne from Kobe Bryant, as the best player in the world. Game by game, LeBron was establishing himself as the best player on the team and anybody that understands the game of basketball could see Kobe’s explosion deteriorating.

Kobe responded by proclaiming himself as the defensive stopper on Team USA. His ego is enormous and he didn’t want the world to think that he was being outshined. By doing so, he was able to let guys like LeBron and Carmelo patrol things on the offensive end, while Kobe would garner the accolades for his defensive prowess. It worked and all 3 superstars were able to share the limelight. However, it was still very easy to see what was happening.

Following the summer as my expectation level started to grow, I still needed further evidence that the torch once held for so many years by MJ, was ready to move hands and away from his successor.

That official day came this past Sunday and the entire world was able to witness this first hand. From his ability to attack the rim, to his open court play, there wasn’t a moment in the game that I ever believed Kobe was still in the same league as LeBron.

Clearly Kobe’s knee troubles have attributed to him losing much of the explosion that we’ve seen in the past and thus his ability to elevate on his jumper or around the rim, have been negatively affected. At the same time LeBron’s becoming more of a freak athletically and a better all around ball player, with each passing day. Not to mention his desire to win and his intensity have gone to another level since last season’s playoff run.

On the final play, as LeBron elevated and knocked down the final dagger to lift Cleveland to victory, it was Team USA’s defensive stopper that had no answer for the World’s best player.

Craigslist: Cleveland (OH)

Job Opening: Mouthguard Holder for Elite Athlete

Role: Travel with NBA team, Carry mouthguard holder, Sit courtside and Quickly facillitate athlete with mouthguard needs

Skills Necessary: Quick off your feet when a buzzer sounds, great anticipation of timeouts during game, ability to spot #23 at end of half and right after each game ends.

This once in a lifetime opportunity to stand next to an elite athlete as he does in-game interviews will be filled quickly, so submit your resumes now to: hr@cavs.com.


(Assist: FromCourtside reader -'Ticket')