Basketball

Charles Barkley at an Arizona jail. In a radio interview on WIP in Philadelphia with Howard Eskin, Charles Barkley was asked about his three days in an Arizona jail (he lived in a tent) for driving under the influence. The conversation strayed to the one thing guys always think about when it comes to discussing […]

It was great to see the positive vibes coming out of the NBA All-Star game over the weekend, thanks in large part to two guys who have been painted as mortal enemies: Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. First, Shaq started it off with his "JabbaWockeeZ" intro (vid after the jump), which was energetic and contemporary. […]

The NBA seems committed to completely destroying what is already a meaningless event in its All-Star Game. Like the other three big leagues, the NBA tries to make it into a big party and surround it with a bunch of nonsense. The latest is a game of H-O-R-S-E that will be played between Kevin Durant, […]

It sounds like the latest in Abercrombie & Fitch’s line of saucy “athletic”-inspired T-shirts, but in fact Longwood is a university in Virginia that recently became a Division I program. The “Longwood Lancers,” piercing opponents with vim and vigor. I heard about their move to D-I because they played against the University of Virginia while […]

I was at the Wachovia-soon-to-be-Wells-Fargo Center for the 76ers-Knicks game tonight, as was Jimmy Rollins of the 2008 World Series Champion Phillies. (No, not together — he sat courtside while I was, well, not.) With so many people in the sports complex for the finish of the Phillies' parade, the 76ers came up with a […]

Spoiler alert: This post has nothing to do with college football. It has everything to do with the over-compensating head women’s basketball coach at Southern Methodist University. The phrase “thou doth protest too much” came to mind when I read about Rhonda Rampola and allegations by former player Jennifer Colli, a lesbian, who says the […]

Thanks to reader Adriana for this tip for WNBA fans in New York: Just saw this from the NY Liberty via a MySpace bulletin and thought I'd pass along to share the wealth. When you buy tix here, all you have to do is type in the code "LIBERTY" It will basically get you half […]

The all-muscle U.S. Redeem Team continues its romp through Olympic basketball this morning, closing out its first half against Angola 55-37. It's a guilty pleasure to be able to watch these guys play live at 8 a.m., but that's the beauty of the Olympics — 17 days of round-the-clock sports. The U.S. women's team also […]

The U.S. Redeem Team opened today with a 101-70 thumping of Yao Ming’s Chinese team, which despite a valiant first-half effort couldn’t overcome the combined talents of Kobe, LeBron and Dwayne. The spectacle included President Bush, Henry Kissinger and other dignitaries. The U.S. team faces Angola on Tuesday. Beyond their first win, what's impressed me […]

Oh, the woes of a pro athlete trying to unload a house. Shaquille O’Neal, no longer on the Miami Heat, wants to ditch his house. It’s a quaint abode on the waterfront of Star Island in Miami Beach. Built in 1992 by Heat center Rony Seikaly, the house has eight bedrooms, an indoor basketball court, […]

It's now official: the Seattle SuperSonics will move to Oklahoma City for the 2008-09 NBA season. A settlement between team owner Clay Bennett and the city was reached, which ends the city's lawsuit attempting to keep the team in Seattle until the team's lease with KeyArena ran out after the 2009-10 season. A judge was […]

The New York Knicks, in the first round of the NBA Draft, selected Italian star forward Danilo Gallinari. Of course, being in New York, he was promptly booed when his name was called Thursday. What’s amusing is that Gallinari’s nickname is “Il Gallo,”or the cock (rooster, not what you were thinking), which has prompted the […]

I did not watch a second of Game 6 of the NBA Finals, but recorded it. After seeing that the Boston Celtics crushed the Los Angeles Lakers, 131-92, I figured I just saved myself two-plus hours. The Celtics won the series, 4-2, and the 39-point margin is the largest ever in a series-clinching NBA Finals […]

As the NBA Finals continue, it’s a good time to remember the 1982-83 Philadelphia 76ers, the last pro team from the sports-crazy city to win a title (Joe Guckin did a great job chronicling the city’s sports woes the past 25 years). A whole generation of Philly sports fans have grown up without ever having […]

Twenty-one years after the last time Bird and Magic met in the NBA Finals, the green and yellow will meet in the Finals. It’s been talked about since mid-season when the Lakers got Gasol and they started streaking. One of the things I find nice is that, because these two teams haven’t been there against […]

The San Antonio Spurs beat the New Orleans Hornets, 81-72, to win on the road in Game 7 of their NBA playoff series. It was only the third win by a road win in 25 conference semifinal games. The star of the game was the uber-hot Manu Ginobli (right), who had 26 points for the […]

This year’s NBA playoffs have lacked the drama of the past few years. It’s not that bad basketball is being played (LeBron James’ dunk against the Celtics on Monday was major highlight material). Rather, one need only look at what team is wearing white and you can figure out who will win. Through 16 games […]

The Detroit Pistons finished off their NBA first-round playoff series with a 100-77 rout of the Philadelphia 76ers tonight. The Pistons won the series in 6 games, but it was really two series in one. Most observers expected the Pistons to win in no more than 5 games. However, the Sixers shocked everyone by not […]

It never gets tiring watching Al Horford play basketball. And these day, it’s pretty exciting to watch him and the Atlanta Hawks on the court. The team that most everyone thought would be swept by the Boston Celtics in this first round series upset the Green Machine on Monday, amazingly sending the series back north […]

I got to watch three NBA Playoff games tonight, and I have to agree with something Jim said a few days back: The NBA Playoffs, for some reason, are so good. Watching the Sixers dismantle the Pistons was fun, but not nearly as fun as meeting up with Joe in Philly and Canmark right afterward […]