Oh, so the Association wants to offer these fools 99% ($74 million) of a $75 million development cost to build a new arena in Sacramento that was agreed to months ago?  Where the River City did EVERYTHING asked of them and then some?



Nope.

Not good enough.

Spare me the platitudes, George, Gavin, and the other bankrupt family members who have had to sell their party casino, beer distributorship, and anything of value as they continue to chase their hope of being Anaheim's attache.

So what are fans in the Sacramento Valley supposed to do now?  Throw their money at this family and hope they have a change of heart (yeah right)?  (Well, they did have a change of heart...to what they really wanted to do in the first place.)

Hope that 29 other owners will be able to prevent them from leaving in this blatant ploy to shore up their own finances at the cost of the Paupers' longest-running home city?

Accept the 2002 Western Conference Finals as a legitimate sporting result?

What else can really be said at this point, the fans did their part, Mayor Kevin Johnson did his part, the NBA was willing to reduce the Maloofs' obligations to negligable...and here we are.

This chapter in the saga is the textbook definition of bawful, ladies and gentlemen.

Labels: beer, conspiracy theories, failure, fan loyalty, historical fail, hypocrites, infamy, Maloof brothers, megalomania, owned, Sacramento Kings, Seattle Supersonics, why don't I have a rich uncle

Basketbawful reader DeWoof01, who sent in the picture of the unhappy younster shown below, wrote in to say: "I was at the Blazers game last night, and as most of you know this was the first game in Portland for the Oklahoma City Thunder. So there were about 15 people in our section as well as hundreds of others around the stadium who were wearing Sonics jerseys. The best thing was they weren't there to cheer on Portland, but rather just to boo the Thunder. I never saw a single one of them react when Portland made a good play...only when the Thunder committed a turnover or made a dumb play."

Thanks again, Clay Bennett! You are the Wicked Destroyer of Dreams and the Icky Bane of Children. I'm very seriously considering adding you to the Mount Rushmore of Basketbawful. I'm thinking four faces, all you...

Labels: bitterness, Clay Bennett, fan submissions, Oklahoma City Thunder, Seattle Supersonics

As Henry Abbott pointed out the other day, the official (though completely unsurprising) announcement of the Oklahoma City franchise name -- which, regrettably, is not Thundercats -- was also the official end of the Seattle SuperSonics...not to mention unequivocal proof that true evil exists.

Seriously, people: The bad guys won this one. It's like Joker shot Batman in the face at the end of The Dark Knight. It's like Darth Vader cut Luke Skywalker in half at the end of Return of the Jedi. It's like General Bethlehem defeated the Postman at the end of The Postman. Uh, forget I mentioned that last one...

Well, enough is enough. The purpose of my life, my raison d'etre if you will, is to make this world a better place. I'd like to think that, had I been on the Titanic, people would have drowned more peacefully. So as of right now, I'm rewriting history. In that spirit, here's a new movie for you. It's called Deadly Revenge of the SuperSonics. In it, the part of Sonics fans everywhere is played by Jean-Claude Van Damme. (Appropriate.) The part of Clay Bennett is played by an ugly woman in a penguin costume. (Even more appropriate.) I think everyone -- with the possible exception of Clay Bennett and Furries -- will be happy with the ending to this story.

Labels: Clay Bennett, evil, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Oklahoma City Thunder, Seattle Supersonics

That's just wrong. Shawn Kemp's former sidekick Vincent Askew was busted this week for allegedly making sexy time with a high-school girl. Something we don't condone in any way, but we totally understand.

We stumbled upon a re-enactment of the arrest. The part of Askew is expertly played by a 49-year-old baked goods connoisseur, who just happens to be a recently released sex offender. What. No way. (probably NSFW)

Labels: dead sexy, Seattle Supersonics, Vincent Askew

Even as Sam Presti prepares to select the fourth overall pick in tonight's NBA Draft, the battle wages on to determine whether the SuperSonics will be moving to Oklahoma City or staying put in Seattle. Anything can happen, but I personally think the Sonics are going to be seeing a lot less rain very shortly.

So I'd like to take a few minutes and harken back to everything the Seattle SuperSonics have given us over the years: Those back-to-back finals appearances, the 1979 league championship, that improbable run to the '87 Western Conference Finals, the most epic first round failure of all time (until the Mavericks trumped them last year), the follow-up failure, that NBA Finals appearance against the Bulls, the Shawn Kemp of elevator operators, and an unforgettable cast of characters: Dale Ellis, Dennis Johnson, Detlef Schrempf, Gary Payton, Gus Williams, Jack Sikma, Lenny Wilkens, Nate McMillan, Rashard Lewis, Ray Allen, Sam Perkins, Shawn Kemp, Spencer Haywood, Xavier McDaniel, and...

...Predrag Drobnjak?!

Yes, Predrag "the other Peja" Drobnjak. He was a Sonic for two largely forgettable seasons (2001-02 and 2002-03). And while his averages (about 8 PPG and 3 RPG) were nothing to write back to Montenegro about, he did make one lasting contribution to the franchise that may even surpass the extreme awesomeness of that '79 title: A series of commercials promoting the "Super Sonic Seat Sale."

Prepare for space bears, a cat named Jinkies, third-degree burns, a Brent Barry talking bobblehead, lines like "Don't probe my body," and the acting skillz of Jerome James. Originally posted at Fan IQ and With Leather (and maybe some other places I don't know about).

Labels: commercials, litigation, Predrag Drobnjak, Seattle Supersonics, space bears

Boston Celtics: I'm not saying that that this team has lost focus now that there's nothing left to play for...actually, you know what? That's precisely what I'm saying. The Celtics turned their effort on and off all night, cruising here, making a run there, hitting big shots and then committing careless mistakes (they had 20 turnovers). The up-and-down, sometimes lackadaisical play led to a 109-95 defeat that gave the Wizards, a potential playoff opponent, more confidence than they probably deserve. Not a big deal, maybe, but you never want to give your foes any type of psychological advantage going into the postseason.

Doc Rivers: Doc couldn't quite decide whether to rest his stars or go all out to beat Washington, so he did the worst possible thing: He yanked The Big Three but then put them back in the game because the score was still close in the fourth quarter. The end result? He didn't rest his stars or win. Paul Pierce played 37 minutes, Ray Allen logged 36, and Kevin Garnett put in 30. Okay, KG got some rest, but what in the name of Lincoln's wart was Ray-Ray doing on the floor that long? We've been hearing all season that Allen's fragile ankles now have the relative durability of two dowel rods wrapped in toilet tissue. If there's one Celtic -- besides Sam Cassell, that is -- who should be sitting, it's Ray Allen. Save him for the playoffs, Doc.

Brian Scalabrine: Everybody's favorite candlepin bowler-slash-instructional video star actually got some PT last night. He would have scored a one trillion, but he gonked a shot and committed a turnover. Which, now that I think about it, is even sadder than getting a trillion.

Maurice Ager: There's our one trillion of the night. Thanks, Maurice.

Ben Wallace: It's good to see Big Bum disappoint somewhere other than Chicago. Wallace's line against the Nets: 1 points (0-for-2), 4 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 turnovers and the worst +/- score on the team (-12).

The Nets' fourth quarter: New Jersey started the quarter down by two points, but they quickly went up by one when Bostjan Nachbar hit a three-pointer. The Nets didn't know it at the time, but their first field goal of the period would also be their last; they went 0-for-19 the rest of the way. And so New Jersey got outscored 28-9 in that final stanza and lost 104-83. Mind you, their very playoff lives were at stake. You hear that, Nets? It's a bell tolling for thee.

Chicago Bulls: It's official. They're not even really trying to win at this point. And Ben Gordan -- who last summer announced that he's the best player on the team -- said it's hard for the players to motivate themselves with nothing to play for and no reason to care. Said Gordan Gordon: ''Anybody who says it isn't, is not telling the truth."

Well, you're wrong, Ben. There's at least one Bull who still cares: Rookie Joakim Noah. And he had some strong (and refreshingly frank) words after the game. Said Noah: "'Losing is like a disease, it spreads throughout the whole team,. It's really hard right now, because regardless of what we do, there's no light at the end of the tunnel, especially for this season. I feel like we're not really playing with a lot of pride and respect for the jersey. It's just hard because you can't point at anybody individually. You can talk about Florida, but if you're a Bulls fan, I'm not a champion anymore. We're losers. We lose. We're losers. That's all there is to say." He's not wrong."

And Noah wasn't done. ''There's going to have to be a serious team talk before the end of the year about approach to every game; the things that are going to be tolerated and the things that aren't going to be tolerated. Not the little, stupid things. I'm talking about winning; the sacrifices that need to be done in order to win.'' Amen, brother. Amen. Say whatever you want about his maturity or his hideous jump shot, but the kid is focused, intense, and dedicated to winning. I wish whatever he has would spread through that lineup. In the meantime, the Bulls have stolen the Chicago Cubs' mantra: Wait 'till next year.

Patrick Ewing: From Odenized. You know that fat lip Dwight Howard's sporting these days? It's a little something Ewing likes to call "payback." Still, I figure Stan Van Gundy might prefer if his assistant coach didn't endorse injuries to the team's superstar until after the playoffs.


Isiah Thomas, quote machine: With his team riding a three-game winning streak -- and yes, that's a season-high -- Isiah is all bright eyes and wistful smiles. "Finally the spirit of the team is good. The camaraderie of the team is good. I just think that they’re a team now. A little late, but nevertheless." Wow. It took him only four years to make them a real team. Congratulations, Zeke.

Mark Madsen: We had a Mark Madsen signing! He played 4 minutes and had 1 rebound. That's it. Did you know this is Madsen's 8th NBA season? Wow. And I said Kwame Brown was going to be out of the league soon? What was I thinking?! There's obviously always room at the end of an NBA roster for a big, talentless stiff.

Seattle SuperSonics: In the two games they've played since dropping 151 points on the Enver Nuggets, the Sonics have scored 83 (on 38 percent shooting) and 80 (on 36 percent shooting). A few more bricks, and they'll be ready to build their new stadium from scratch!

San Antonio Spurs: Memo to Gregg Popovich: Shaq is not dead quite yet. Pop decided to stick with single coverage on The Big Resurrection, and his team paid the price for it. Shaq scored 8 points in the fourth quarter, including two huge hooks over Tim Duncan that gave the Suns what turned out to be an insurmountable lead over the defending champs.

Matt Bonner: Ugh. Three trillion. You, sir, are a disgrace to the name "Matt." I say you return that name for something for fitting, like maybe "Poindexter" or "Booger."

Bruce Bowen: What? Bowen pulled a move out of his Dirty Player Aresenal especially for his team's game against the Suns? I can't believe it. (I'm kidding. I can totally believe it.)


Amare Stoudemire: After getting the old atomic elbow from Bowen, Stat tried to go all hombre on him. "Bruce came elbow first. Elbowed me right in my rib cage. You know, definitely wasn’t a basketball play on his part and I reacted. I definitely didn’t appreciate it. So, I let him know about it." Stoudemire is crazy athletic, and he's an amazing scorer. But he is so not a tough guy. Button the lip, Amare, and let Shaq be your hombre, okay?

Shaq: The Big Cactus played well, but he got a little grandiose after the game (as he is wont to do). Said Shaq: "I'm still the baddest 36-year-old ever created." No offense, Shaq, but you're wrong. The baddest 36-year-old ever created was Karl Malone. Take a look: 25.5 PPG (on 51 percent shooting), 9.5 RPG, 3.7 APG, and -- if you're into advanced stats -- a PER of 27.1 which, according to John Hollinger's handy reference guide, would have made him a "Strong MVP Candidate." Nobody has ever played better at 36. Not even Kareem. (Seriously.)

Labels: Amare Stoudemire, Ben Wallace, Boston Celtics, Bruce Bowen, Chicago Bulls, Doc Rivers, Isiah Thomas, Joakim Noah, New Jersey Nets, Patrick Ewing, San Antonio Spurs, Seattle Supersonics

Phillips Arena timekeepers NBA official Eric Lewis: This is a situation that would make Vince McMahon proud. T.J. Ford seemingly hit a game-winning layup at the buzzer -- off an amazing halfcourt lob pass from Carlos Delfino, by the way -- but after a lengthy video review, the officials determined that Ford released the shot after the clock had expired. It was on to overtime, where the Hawks prevailed over the Raptors 127-120.

Just one problem. The arena's timekeepers Referee Eric Lewis shaved 0.1 off the clock, which deprived Ford of the split second he needed -- and deserved -- to complete the play. And here's the video evidence to prove that the ball hadn't even touched T.J.'s hands with 0.4 left on teh clock, anyway. (Evidence the officials also had access to, by the way.)


Toronto fans are pissed, and they have every right to be. Here's one angry e-mail I received from Basketbawful reader Raps Gurl, which pretty much sums up how they feel about this game in the frozen north: "I am FURIOUS over the blatant cheating that went on in the Raptors loss* to the Hawks this evening. Replays CLEARLY SHOW THAT THE CLOCK WAS STARTED EARLY ON THE LAST INBOUNDS PLAY! That extra 0.1 seconds lost would have made his basket count and the Raptors would have won the game. Instead, the biased scorekeepers once again reigned and like last year the game was unfairly decided. I hope game tape is sent in by the Raptors organization and this despicable cheating in an already tarnished league is dealt with. And no, this isn't just another Raptors fan crying foul, we legitimately got ROBBED."

*If it can be called that.

On the bright side, Rasho Nesterovic hit his first ever career three-pointer last night. (By the way, thanks to Basketbawful reader Michael for alerting me to the real culprit behind this mess.)

Toronto Raptors: Yes, they got totally hosed by the time-shaving thing. However...the dinos were leading by 17 points in the third quarter before totally collapsing in the fourth, during which they hit only one shot in their last nine possessions. (Although technically they hit two shots in those nine possessions, since Ford's last-second basket should have counted. But I digress.) You've gotta close bad teams out, guys. You've gotta close out.

LeBron James, quote machine: You might want to sit down for this one. Okay. Ready? King James fouled out of a game. Yeah, I know! I guess the NBA has a secret rule that allows the refs to call fouls on him during one game every season, and last night was that game. Of course, The Chosen One was a little cranky afterwards (despite the fact that his teammates pulled out the win without him): "There were a few questionable [calls]. I know how to keep myself out of foul trouble for the most part. In my career I’ve done a great job of that." You know what his "stay out of foul trouble" secret is? Here's a hint: Being LeBron freaking James.

Sasha Pavlovic: Benched!

Daniel Gibson: Memo to Booby: Your role on this team? Shooter. And 1-for-7 (0-for-4 from beyond the arc) ain't gonna get it done. By the way, welcome back.

James Posey: He flushed in a lame "cotton candy" dunk during the first quarter that had his teammates booing him from the sideline. Weak. Hey James, I've got Bill Walton on the phone, and he wants me to tell you to THROW IT DOWN, BIG MAN!

Doc Rivers, time manager: Ray Allen is probably the most fragile of Boston's Big Three, Doc played him the most minutes by far (37). When asked why he wasn't playing Sam Cassell (who ended up with a DNP-CD), Rivers said, "I played him all night last night." Huh. I guess in Doc's world, "all night" means 14 minutes and 16 seconds out of a possible 48. Math: It makes my brain hurt.

(By the way, the bigger problem, and the reason Ray-Ray put in so many minutes, is that the Celtics kept letting the Pacers back into the game.)

The Pacers shooting: As the game dragged on, Hubie Brown kept commenting that the Pacers are one of the best three-point shooting teams in the league. But based on the way the game went -- Indiana shot 35 percent from the field and 6-for-29 from three-point range -- that's like trying to explain to your friends that you don't usually pass out and make a mess in your pants after a night of drinking. Good to know, but also kind of meaningless.

Washington Wizards: Not only did they choke up a nine-point lead in the closing minutes -- despite Agent Zero's emotional return -- they couldn't make a defensive stop with 1.1 seconds left on the clock. Oh, and the game-winner got knocked in by rookie and D-League escapee Ramon Sessions. Nobody should ever lose to a man named "Ramon" unless his first name is "Razor." And here's some extra bad news: DeShawn Stevenson rolled his ankle and Antawn Jamison hurt his shoulder diving into the crowd after a loose ball. I guess Washington signed some kind of agreement that at least two of their starting five will be out with injuries at all times.

Miami Heat Washington Generals: Good Lord, make their season stop already! (Thanks for the reminder, Carlo.)

New York Knicks: Well, now that Donnie Walsh is on board and Isiah is likely on his way out, the future is a little brighter in New York. But the present is as ugly as ever. The Knicks gave up 130 points on 60 percent shooting to...the Memphis Grizzlies. Eight [!!] Grizzlies scored in double figures, INCLUDING KWAME BROWN. I feel very unclean right now.

Golden State Warriors: Sure, they got blindsided by Dirk's unexpected return, but when you control your own postseason destiny and lose by 25 points to one of your primary competitors for one of the final two playoff spots, well, you have a pretty bleak destiny. (Did I just hear Don Nelson say "Beer me!"?)

Elton Brand: Welcome back, big guy. You were gone 74 games and yet didn't miss a beat. But...why'd you have to go and ruin your team's tanking plans? There's a lottery pick at stake, man! You're...you're not planning to opt out of your contract this summer, are you? Are you?!

Seattle To Be Named Laters: Let's see, after that 18-point home loss to the Clippers, Seattle has lost 19 of their last 21 games and would have to win their last seven -- against Houston (twice), Denver, Dallas (twice), San Antonio and Golden State -- to avoid the worst season in franchise history. So go grab a double-frapacheeny whatever the hell and some scones...it's going to be a painful last seven games.

Raef LaFrentz: Five seconds, one foul.

Labels: Atlanta Hawks, Doc Rivers, Elton Brand, Indiana Pacers, Lebron James, Miami Heat, New York Knicks, Sasha Pavlovic, Seattle Supersonics, Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards

Houston versus Atlanta: Who knew 20 in row could make me feel so nauseous. I already described this nightmare once...and I'm not sure I have the iron will necessary to do it again. So here's another take on it from Matt (via email) at Hardwood Paroxysm: "7:10 in the third. 43-43. Rockets shooting 28%, Hawks shooting 33%. Scola goes up, gets blocked. Goes up again, miss. Misses the tip. Misses the tip. Misses the tip. Dikembe grabs it. Goes up. Misses it. Is fouled. Rafer Alston drives, goes baseline, runs out of room. Jumps, goes nowhere underneath the basket, and somehow manages to underthrow on the pass to a guy under the basket. It's like watching paraplegics play tether-ball. Make it end."

Jeremy Richardson: A mere 9 seconds of playing time. He must be the new Mario West. (Mario got 7 minutes and 37 seconds. Go Mario!)

Al Thornton: I like this kid. I really do. But I don't like the fact that he scored 17 points on 24 shots. I like my big men to be like my high-priced call girls: Fast, efficient, and discreet. Or the first two, anyway.

Dwight Howard: Mr. Butterfingers had 7 turnovers (to 1 assist) against the Clippers. It was Dwight's 14th game this season with at least 5 turnovers. May I suggest some Stickum?

New York versus Miami: I didn't think a Knicks/Heat game could possibly be any harder to watch than it did in the mid to late-90s. Hoooooo-boy, was I ever wrong! Ricky Davis and Mark Blount combined to shoot the ball 35 times. That's pretty much all I have to say about this one.

The Trade Gang: Paging Mr. Hollinger, Mr. Hollinger to the front desk please. Here's what the "new guys" did for the Cleveland Cavaliers last night: Ben Wallace had a DNP-CD (back spasms). Delonte West scored 5 points (1-for-3), dropped 2 dimes, and lost the ball 5 times. Wally World was 3-for-8 from the field, and 0-for-2 from The Land of Three. Joe Smith scored 5 points (2-for-6) and had 7 rebounds. Update: And, as Basketbawful reader Coonejrj4 reminded me: "Don't forget, Joe Smith also managed to give up an offensive rebound to the always hard-working Vince Carter off a free throw late in the game that essentially locked up the game for the Nets." Remember, that trades was a "big time win" for Cleveland. Just sayin'.

Sasha Pavlovic: Welcome back, Sasha. I think that Mike Brown was hoping for more than zero points (0-for-3) and a turnover, though. But I'm sure you'll get your rhythm back. Pretty sure.

DeSagana Diop: He was the hidden gem in the Kidd trade, but the Nets are still waiting for him to shine. Last night: 2 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assists, zero blocked shots, 2 personal fouls. This situation kind of reminds me about how Ike Diogu was the hidden gem in that Pacers/Warriors trade last season. And we all know how that's turned out. (Actually, nobody follows the Pacers anymore, so you probably don't.)

Seattle SuperSonics: They got routed so thoroughly that Boston's Big Three each played only 25 minutes or less, and everybody on both teams got some PT. Even Donyell Marshall and Francisco Elson. (They combined for 4 points on 2-for-8 shooting.)

Sam Cassell and P.J. Brown: You can't spell "veteran" without "old." Actually, you totally can, but that's not the point. These guys are creaking louder than the Tin Man before Dorothy lubed him up. (A combined 9 points on 4-for-13 shooting.) Brown you can kind of understand, because a few weeks ago he was watching NBA action from what I'm assuming is a large, luxery sofa. Sam-I-Am has been playing all season, hasn't he?

Detroit Pistons: That home loss to Philly was kind of inexplicable for a team that everybody and Bill Simmons thinks is going back to the NBA Finals this season. Here's hoping their Playoff Alarm goes off a few weeks early.

Kevin Ollie: Thanks, Kevin. I haven't handed out a one trillion in a while.

Craig from The Association: This is just a little good natured ribbing. But we were exchanging emails yesterday and he was pretty hard on the New Orleans Hornets. Seems he doesn't think they're really a "top team" in the West, despite the record and despite the fact that they've beaten every other Western Conference playoff team at least once. Well, if last night's 25-point spanking of the defending champs doesn't convince him, nothing will. (Unless they beat the Lakers on Friday.)

The San Antonio bench: They contributed 12 points on 6-for-27 shooting, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists. And those numbers were split up among seven guys. That's what I call the opposite of depth.

Utah Jazz: They scored 114 points - including 40 in the first quarter - on 52 percent shooting and had 30 assists (to 12 turnovers) and still had to rally to beat the Bucks in Milwaukee. Why do the Jazz struggle on the road? Do they miss their teddy bears that much? What's the deal?

Bobby Simmons: He crawled back into the starting lineup and then slithered back into his dark hole after only 13 minutes. This is probably because he scored zero points (0-for-3) to go along with 2 boards, 2 assists, and 2 turnovers. Oh, and 5 personal fouls.

Darko Milicic and Jason Collins: These big men combined for a sum total of zero points on 0-for-3 shooting in about 30 minutes of PT. But we know how mighty the Nuggets are on defense...wait...they gave up a season-high 12 points to Brian Cardinal...

Denver Nuggets: They gave up a season-high 12 points to Brian Cardinal.

Update!! Elgin Baylor: The Clippers found a replacement for the recently bought out Sam Cassell. And his name is Smush Parker. Wooooow. Well, I guess the Clips finally got a former Lakers guard, but I'm pretty sure this isn't exactly what Donald Sterling originally wanted. Basketbawful reader Wild Yams, who drew my attention to the signing, said: "Are the Clippers trying to get Elton Brand to opt out this summer or something?" It makes you wonder...

Update!! Bruce Bowen: Congrats on 500 consecutive games played, Bruce. I also like to celebrate special occasions by kicking Chris Paul while he's on the ground. What a coincidence. Dick. (Thanks to the mighty Farfa, who kicked my butt for not including this earlier.)


Bizarre and passive-aggressive complaints: We recently received what may be the strangest letter in Basketbawful history. Here's one version of it. In case you don't have eagle eyes, you can go here to read a larger version. Now, I don't know Tank McNamara, I've never spoken to him, and I have no idea why he has a beef with our site, but I think his complaints are groundless and, frankly, pretty lame. So yeah, I think we're just gonna ignore this one.

Labels: Al Thornton, Atlanta Hawks, Denver Nuggets, DeSagana Diop, Dwight Howard, Houston Rockets, Miami Heat, New York Knicks, San Antonio Spurs, Seattle Supersonics, Utah Jazz

Bobby Simmons and Charlie Bell: I know that I've mentioned this before, but it bears repeating: Simmons was Milwaukee's big free agent signing in the summer of 2005 (5 years, $49 million), and Bell was resigned - against his will, no less - by the Bucks last summer (five years, $18 million). I'm no financeologist, but the Bucks aren't getting much of a return on their two huge (and seemingly foolish) investments. Last night, Bell scored 6 points on 2-for-10 shooting and Simmons barely missed a seven trillion by bricking a shot and grabbing a single rebound. Memo to self: Contact Bucks management and ask if they'd like to invest in some rural Indiana swamp land; describe as a nice "fixer upper" opportunity.

Nick Young: The Washington rookie scored a career-high 22 points on, like, nine dunks in a win over the Bucks. But he decided to give the stink-eye to Milwaukee center Andrew Bogut, who -- according to the Associated Press -- "knocked the rookie guard aside like a rag doll." Here's some advice, rook: Guards should not challenge big men. Unless it's Shawn Bradley, and he's not even in the league anymore.

Seattle SuperSonics: I know the Sonics aren't exactly defensive stalwarts -- they're ranked sixth in the league at 105 PPG allowed -- but last night they let Mike Dunleavy Jr. beat them with 32 points on 10-for-16 shooting. And he had an ankle injury! I have a few simple rules that I live by, and one of them is this: Never trust a team that let's Mike Dunleavy Jr. pull a Willis Reed on them.

Donyell Marshall and Francisco Elson: When you're traded to a really lousy team -- in this case, the 16-win SuperSonics -- and you still can't get any PT, chances are you're about 18 games away from being out of the league. Here's hoping D-Marsh and Geico both both invested in a nice 401K plan.

Jarrett Jack: Somebody must have replaced this kid's shooting eye with a glass marble, or maybe an old radish. JJ hit only one of his eight shots last night. He's 13-for-41 (31 percent) in the month of March.

Antoine Walker: You might have missed this -- I know I did -- but Kevin McHale didn't buy out Walker's contract. That means Employee #8 is still a Timberwolf. And it might shock you to discover this, but he's not happy about it. "Obviously, they're rebuilding, and obviously I'm not in the future plans, so I felt like maybe there was an opportunity for me to leave. They wanted money back that I wasn't willing to give back. It didn't work out that way. We'll just have to play it out, six weeks, and then we'll see what happens in the summer." Walker, who's averaging 8 PPG on 36 percent shooting, is making $8.5 million this season. He said that the team "low-balled" him, offering a buyout he felt was unreasonable and "ridiculous, actually." The only thing that would be ridiculous would be offering Walker anything more than cab fare and a few Rainbow Brite stickers. But here's some good news for 'Toine fans: His official Web site is coming soon! Personally, I can't wait.


Utah Jazz: One of the most dangerous obstacles in the NBA is what's known as The Trap Game, where a good team plays poorly and drops a game to an inferior team on the road. And that's what happened to the Jazz last night against the Bulls. Utah shot 42 percent, got outrebounded, and turned the ball over 17 times (to 18 assists). Said Jazz coach Jerry Sloan: "They beat us with points in the paint (48-34). They drove down the middle. We got out of the way and let them shoot layups. They were the aggressors from the beginning and we never did get to that point. We just tried to outscore them." Not good. The Jazz can't afford many more of these brainfarts. One loss is the equivalent of three or four losses in this crazy Western Conference playoff race.

Jim Boylan: Despite the constant and open rebellion of crappy players like Aaron Gray, Chris Duhon, and Tyrus Thomas, Boylan is, amazingly, still trying to keep his job. Personally, I think he should just resign and try something a little less stressful, like poisonous food taste tester, or wild animal masturbator, which, according to Popular Science, can be accomplished in a variety of ways, from ramming an electric probe up an animal's rectum, shoving an artificial vagina onto the animal's penis, or simply doing it the old-fashioned way...manual stimulation. All I'm saying, Jim, is that you should probably keep your options open. Anyway, Boylan obviously took a course in Coaching Platitudes 101, which enabled him to make the following statement after the Bulls inexplicably stunned the Jazz: "When people question our team, I respond that we have guys in the locker room with a lot of character who care about their craft and work at it. The guys were hurt the last couple days. There were a lot of things swirling around our team, and no one likes to see that stuff in the paper. This is a basketball team, not a soap opera." Too bad. At least all the drama would actually make sense on a soap opera.

The "ironmen" on the Phoenix Suns bench: Even though this video is sure to appear on every basketball-related Web site and blog in the universe, my favorite Phoenix Suns fan asked me to post it...and I never say "no" to a Suns fan. (Don't get any funny ideas, starang.) Quick explanation: Shaq goes running toward his team's bench in hot pursuit of a loose ball, and those dudes scrambled out of the way like a bunch of 10-year-old girls. Actually, I take that back, since it's an insult to 10-year-old girls everywhere. Now, here's the video:


Vladimir Radmanovic: The Radman finally cracked the Lakers' starting lineup and immediately proved why he hadn't already been in the Lakers' starting lineup: Zero points (0-for-5) and 1 personal foul in 19 minutes. Don't worry though, Vlad. Coby Karl saved a nice spot on the end of the bench for you.

Ginger Grant: Fans of Gilligan's Island probably already know this, but the "Ginger versus Mary Ann" debate took a stuning turn in the Mary Ann direction yesterday when Dawn Wells, the actress who played the hillbilly hottie, was arrested for reckless driving, possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, and driving under the influence. Wells' official cover story is that she picked up some hitchhikers and then kicked them out when they started smoking something, although a friend of hers also told her lawyer that he left the drugs in the car when he borrowed it earlier that day. Whatever. There's no shame in being a party girl.

Center for Disease Control and Prevention: Don't you just hate it when a federal health organization has to rain all over the free love parade? The CDC just released a study which found that at least one in every four American teenage girls has a sexually transmitted disease. This means that we can no longer trust our naughty teens to be clean and innocent. Turns out that they're only naughty. And here's another shocker that's based on nothing more than my own personal observations during random Internet searches: Some, if not most of them, aren't even teens!

Labels: Antoine Walker, Chicago Bulls, Mike Dunleavy Jr., Milwaukee Bucks, Phoenix Suns, Seattle Supersonics, Utah Jazz

DeSagana Diop: The Man The Mavericks Should Not Have Given Up had yet another sucksational game last night: Zero points (0-for-0), 3 rebounds, 1 blocked shot, and 5 fouls in 9 minutes of lack-tion. For the record, those are Greg Kite-like numbers.

Vince Carter: Half-Man, Half-I-Hate-Physical-Contact led the Nets with 26 points, but it took him 23 shots to get there. And according to the shot chart, 18 of those attempts were jumpers...seven of which were catapulted from at least 27 feet out. I'll give him a mulligan on the 42-footer he launched at the end of the second quarter, but that doesn't change the fact that he's not even trying to take it to the rim anymore.

Sacramento Kings: Well, it had to happen at some point. Some unlucky team was going to hand the Miami Heat their 10th win of the season, and that unlucky team was the Kings. And they did it in truly craptacular fashion, scoring 11 points in the third quarter on 2-for-20 shooting en route to a 21-point blowout.

Ron Artest: If you haven't already read about Ron Artest's soon-to-be-famous "They were trying to get government cheese, and I'm Kraft" quote, you have now. Now that Mike Bibby is out of the picture, Artest finally has the chance to be the Big Cheese in Sacramento. But last night, he was just the Big Cheez Whiz, shooting 3-for-14 and getting lit up on defense.

Pat Riley: I know it's been a long time between wins, but that doesn't really explain the following post-game quote from Riles: "I feel like a mosquito in a nudist colony. I know what to do. I just don’t know where to start." And I feel like a dog in a backyard trying to decide whether or not to eat my own poop.

The Cleveland Cavaliers' end-of-game defense: LeBron James hit a layup with 5.9 seconds left, after which the Bucks inbounded to Michael Redd, who drove unmolested down the length of the court before hitting the game-winning shot at the buzzer over the outstretched hands of Wally Szczerbiak. Said LeBron: "There's nothing you can do about that. The guy made a 35-footer fading away." Well, first of all, it was a 27-footer, and second of all...nothing you can do about it?! There were less than 6 seconds left in the game. They knew Redd would have to take the ball at least 70 feet and take a quick shot, so why not double-team him or use a full-court press to get the ball out of his hands. Why give the opposing team's best player a chance to win the game?

Wally Szczerbiak: Not only did he get immortalized in Redd's poster, Wally World shot 5-for-18 from the field. You know, when the Cavs acquired him to fill Larry Hughes shooter/scorer role, they didn't intend for him to actually shoot like Larry Hughes. How's that PER comparison looking now, Mr. Hollinger?

Yi Jianlian: Haven't heard Yi's name in the highlights lately? There's a reason for that. He sucks. Last night Yao's heir scored 2 points (0-for-1) in 15 minutes of off-the-bench lack-tion. Kwame Brown and Andrea Bargnani had better look out...Yi is starting to eye the "Worst Draft Pick Ever" crown.

ESPN's NBA Playlist: Can you find Waldo in ESPN's playlist of videos from last night's NBA action? Here, let me help you...


Raja Bell: On a night in which his team shot almost 60 percent from the field, Raja missed all his two-point field goal attempts and hit only 3-for-12 overall. Didn't Shaq say he was going to make Raja the best shooter in the league? He's only 8-for-29 in the four games he's played with the Big Cactus.

Kwame Brown: From starting center to DNP-CD in just one game.

Marc Iavaroni: After his Grizzlies got caught in the Suns' bear trap, the former Phoenix assistant said: "I think they were just trying to outscore us." There's some crack analysis, huh? First off, it's the Phoenix Suns. Secondly, isn't the goal of every basketball game to outscore your opponents? Just checking, but I'm pretty sure that's the case.

Utah Jazz: There is no excuse whatsoever for a Western Conference playoff contender and division leader to lose to the Minnesota Timberwolves. For today, I am ashamed to be a Jazz fan.

Antoine Walker: You'll notice he hasn't been on the Minnesota roster for a few games. That's because Fatoine wants the T-Wolves to buy him out so he can go get more playing time for a contender. You might be tempted to think that last sentence was the result of all the glue I sniffed this morning, but I promise you that it's the God's honest truth.

Fickle Fate: Yao Ming, injured again, this time with a stress fracture in his left foot. It's not easy being a giant, it just isn't. And it looks like Yao may require surgery to implant a couple screws in his foot to hold the bones together. I'm guessing that wouldn't do a lot to improve his already limited mobility. I can't tell you how much Yao's injury saddens and disappoints me.

The Washington Wizards: The Wiz scored a franchise-low 23 points in the first half, shot 31 percent for the game, and received a 94-69 spanking from the now Yao-less Rockets. Remember all those "They're playing so well without Gilbert Arenas" stories? Man, that seems like a long time ago.

DeShawn Stevenson: The Locksmith followed up his first-ever game-winning shot with an ugly 5-point, 2-for-12 performance. I guess he celebrated a little too hard the night before.

Dikembe Mutombo: The ancient center had this to say after starting in place of the injured Yao: "I believe I set the tempo early and everybody just followed." Now, don't get me wrong, because Mount Mutombo played pretty well for an old guy. But well past the point of setting tempo, unless it's for a funeral march. Edit: Oops. I was wrong. He really did set the tempo.

Seattle SuperSonics: It's not so much that they lost -- I stopped expecting anything out of the Sonics months ago -- it's that they let Austin Croshere beat them (14 points, 6-for-6 shooting, all in the second half). You can never trust a team that gets beaten by Austin Croshere.

Al Harrington: He scored 5 points on 2-for-9 shooting last night. That's not his worst game of the season, but it is a reminder that the Harrington-for-Dunleavy Jr. swap has -- so far -- been a bigger benefit for the Pacers than the Warriors. And that's bad.

Kelenna Azubuike: This second-year man out of London, England was last night's one trillion award winner. Congratulations, Kelenna!

Derek Fisher: Fish was a big part of the Lakers' resurgence earlier this season, but he's been The Forgotten Man in L.A.'s offense since the Pau Gasol trade. And last night's 2-point performance was the first game this season he failed to hit a single field goal (0-for-4).

Labels: Antoine Walker, Cleveland Cavaliers, DeSagana Diop, Dikembe Mutombo, Pat Riley, Ron Artest, Sacramento Kings, Seattle Supersonics, Utah Jazz, Vince Carter, Wally Szczerbiak, Washington Wizards

Sweet Lincoln's mullet! Did somebody in the NBA head office fall asleep and mash their face all over the keyboard of the trade machine? There was a flurry of last-minute player movement over the last couple days, and most of it made very little rational sense. But don't worry about forming an opinion on all those crazy deals. I'll go ahead and do that for you.

Chicago Bulls: It's just like Teddy said to Leonard in Memento: "Someone has to pay, Lenny. Somebody always pays." John Paxson needed a scapegoat for the way he mismanaged his team's roster and continued to misjudge its talent. On Christmas Eve, the sacrificial lamb was coach Scott Skiles. Then, minutes before the trade deadline, it was Ben Wallace.

Wallace became the de facto poster boy for a Bulls team that has fallen wildly short of the lofty "We're going to the NBA Finals this year!" preseason expectations. That might not be fair - after all, the disappointing play of Luol Deng, Ben Gordan, and Kirk Hinrich has been at least as crippling - but it's true. That's the burden of being not only the team's highest paid player, but also the free agent acquisition that was supposed to catapult a promising young team into glory.

The Ben Wallace signing was a mistake from day one. And I'm not just speaking with the perfect 20-20 vision of 127 games worth of hindsight. Looking back to the summer of 2006, the Bulls wish list included "proven low post scorer" and "go-to scorer who can create his own shot, preferably a big guard who can also defend other big guards." Wallace couldn't address either of those needs. He can't score, not from the perimeter, the post, or the line. (I don't know if the NBA keeps stats on number of airballed freethrows, but I'm pretty sure Ben leads the league in that category.) What's worse is that Wallace's known skills - defense, rebounding, shot blocking - declined considerably about five seconds after he put on a Bulls uni for the first time.

I know why Pax signed him, though. Buying Ben Wallace away from the Pistons was as much a symbolic move as anything else. It was supposed to show that the Baby Bulls were "all growed up," a team to be taken seriously come playoff time. The fact that it weakened a division and conference rival didn't hurt either. Although the Pistons didn't suffer that much of a dropoff, and that was an ominous sign. As was Wallace's deteriorating stat line. As was the headband flap. As was Big Ben's habit of showing up late for practices and games...not often enough, maybe, to cause a full-blown controversy, but often enough to make management and fans question his passion and dedication.

Paxson should have made a big move last season. He should have aggressively pursued Pau Gasol when he had a lot of trade value in the likes of Deng and Gordan, not to mention P.J. Brown's big, fat, expiring contract. He also should have made a move over the summer. Anybody who watched the Pistons' systematically dispatch the Bulls in the second round of the playoffs should have been able to tell that Chicago was at least a piece or two short of making any kind of serious run at the Finals. I think some people were still delirious about that first-round sweep of the defending champion Miami Heat. But now we know for sure that The Sweep was more about the Heat falling than the Bulls rising. So once again Pax stood still while the Celtics got Kevin Garnett. He didn't bother to make a strong push for Kobe when it looked like The Mamba might be available, nor did he try to pry Gasol away from the Grizzlies. "I like our team," he said over and over again.

Oh well. You can't change the past. And now Ben Wallace is gone. In his place are Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes (plus Cedric Simmons and Shannon Brown, but we all know they were just throw-ins). And actually, Gooden is probably a significant upgrade from Wallace. He's younger, can (kind of) score inside, and can actually hit his freethrows (who knew 72 percent would ever sound so good?). Hughes...well, he's an overpaid gunner who shoots a low percentage (37) and needs a lot of touches to be effective. Basically, he's a taller Ben Gordon.

I have no idea what the Bulls want with Hughes. They already have both Gordon and Thabo Sefolosha at the two-spot. I assume Hughes will probably start and Gordon will come off the bench, leaving Sefolosha (once again) in No Man's Land. I suppose it gives Paxson some off-season flexibility. With the Hughes security blanket - smelly and full of holes though it is - Pax can choose to not re-sign Ben Gordon, or maybe trade him. But for now, there's a logjam in the backcourt, where the Bulls have not one but two inefficient shooters.

Cleveland Cavaliers: I'm pretty sure this trade was not what LeBron James had in mind when he asked for more help. Kobe throws a bitch fit and gets Pau Gasol, while LeBron plays the good soldier and gets Ben Wallace, Joe Smith, Wally Szczerbiak, and Delonte West. Doesn't give King James much of an incentive to play nice next time, does it? I've heard that this was a "win now" move for Danny Ferry and the Cavs. Win now? With Ben Wallace and Wally Szczerbiak? Seriously? Wallace is aging at an exponential rate. By next Thursday, he might be a skeleton in a tattered jersey with a wispy 'fro. That's a downgrade in my book. Wally, actually, is an improvement over Larry Hughes. He's a better shooter, which will provide better spacing for LeBron's many drives to the basket. Joe Smith was actually playing great for the Bulls, and he'll be a decent backup for Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Mike Brown will probably play West enough for a few games to find out why nobody wants him. All in all, the Cavs got a little bit better, but not enough that it'll matter come playoff time.

Detroit Pistons: Juan Dixon gives the Pistons another scoring guard off the bench. Dixon didn't like playing limited minutes in Toronto. But I'm sure he'll just love doing it in Detroit.

Houston Rockets: They got rid of locker room cancer Bonzi Wells and salary cap burden Mike James. That's a classic example of addition by subtraction. Bobby Jackson is a nice option to bring off the bench, plus he's tough and has playoff experience. Adam Haluska and Gerald Green were a couple of "whatevers" in this trade.

Minnesota Timberwolves: Let the Kirk Snyder Era officially begin! Wait, what? His contract expires at the end of the season? Never mind, then.

New Orleans Hornets: I heard that coach Byron Scott was concerned about the team's depth, which led to the acquisitions of Bonzi Wells and Mike James. It's funny, but wasn't that why Houston acquired those guys? And it didn't work out? And it's going to work out now because...? Seriously, this is one of those moves that looks better on paper than it will look in action. Wells and James are both proven 20-point scorers...during a contract year. I have no idea why Hornets owner George Shinn would want to mess with the team's chemistry. They have the best record in the West! If it ain't broke, why break it? More reactionary madness brought on by the Gasol trade, I guess.

San Antonio Spurs: Leave it to the Spurs to do the impossible once again: They actually got older by trading for Kurt Thomas. Still, Thomas is a strong defender and can hit the mid-range jumper with regularity. He's also a really good rebounder. And the best thing is, his contract expires at the end of the season. I think San Antonio will miss Brent Barry's shooting, though.

Seattle SuperSonics: They sure picked up a mismash of crap: Brent Barry, Francisco Elson, Ira Newble, Donyell Marshall, Adrian Griffin. I have no idea why the Sonics wanted any of these players, unless maybe Clay Bennett wants to create his own version of The Most Dangerous Game with a bunch of humans that nobody will ever miss. But hey, more useless players equals more shots and an inevitable Rookie of the Year award for Kevin Durant, right?

Toronto Raptors: They got Primoz Brezec. Fear the Dinos!

Labels: Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets, Minnesota Timberwolves, New Orleans Hornets, San Antonio Spurs, Seattle Supersonics, Toronto Raptors

Admit it. This gave you a little wood, didn't it?
Kobe Bryant: Señor Black Mamba scored 39 points (a team high) and grabbed 10 boards (another team high). Brilliant game, right? Sure, if you overlook his severe case of fumbleitis. For much of the game, Kobe handled the rock like somebody had replaced his hands with two honeybaked hams. He coughed up the ball a career-high 11 times -- 7 of which came in the first half -- on his way to his first career triple bumble. He also unleashed some of his trademark "subtle" criticism of his teammates: ""What are you going to do when guys are open? If I catch the ball, what am I going to do, go one on three? We made the right play, we just didn't complete it." I ran this one through the Kobe-to-English translator in my Batcomputer, and apparently that comment means, "Hey, not my fault. Go talk to Lamar. He airballed the final shot." But this also begs the question: When has Kobe ever shied away from going one-on-three?

The Kobe-aires: Kwame Brown, Lamar Odom, and Sasha Vujacic all shot 1-for-5. Vlad the Rad hit 2-for-6, and Jordan Farmar was 2-for-5. Don't bother pulling out your calculator, I'll just go ahead and tell you that adds up to 7-for-26 shooting (26 percent) from the Lakers not-so-supportive cast.

Rasheed Wallace's shooting eye: He shot 3-for-13 even though the Lakers don't really have anybody who can guard him. Yo, 'Sheed, you need to stop practicing those trick shots and focus on the fundamentals: Position your feet side-by-side about shoulder width apart, focus on the rim, keep your knees bent and your elbows in, and always follow through. Now go out there and practice, big guy!

Eddie Jones: He is old, and he is lame. Last night's line: 2 points (1-for-5), 2 rebounds, and 2 fouls in 23 minutes. Seriously, shouldn't he be playing for the Spurs?

DeSegana Diop: He played 1 minute and 55 seconds, contributing naught but a single turnover. To put this into perspective, Juwan Howard got almost twice as much PT, and I bet you didn't even know he was still in the league! (Also, at least Howard grabbed a rebound.)

Dirk Nowitzki: He was the star for Dallas last night, going for 31, 11, and 6. But Rajon Rondo -- who's approximately 50 percent Dirk's size -- tore a rebound out of Nowitzki's hands and then went under him for a reverse layup with 42 seconds that put the Celtics ahead for good. Said Rondo: "He didn't block me out, so I went up under and got the ball." When you're seven feet of gangly manbeef, how do you not block out a pint-sized point guard like Rondo? It's also worth noting that the last two Maverick possessions were "Jason Terry missed jump shot" and "Jason Terry turnover." Der Herr may be the league's reigning MVP, but the ball never seems to be in his hands at the end of close games.

Brian Scalabrine: He went scoreless in 16 minutes of graceless action. In the absence of Kevin Garnett, Secaucus Red has started three games and has three total points. Hey, one point per start! That's...not...that bad...right?

Cleveland Cavaliers minus Lebron James: Damn, those guys are helpless without Lebron. I'm sure everybody figured Cleveland could still beat a miserable, 10-win team without their leader, who was nursing a sprained ankle. Well, "everybody" needs to take a second look at the Cavs' roster. First off, Sasha Pavlovic and Anderson Varejao are out. Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who supposedly got snubbed off the All-Star team, shot 3-for-13. (Although the rest of Z's game was in order: 11-for-11 from the line, 9 boards, 5 assists, 3 blocks.) Drew Gooden continued to suck, shooting 3-for-8 and grabbing only 3 rebounds (4 fewer than Dwayne Jones). I could go on, but hey, just trust me on this: Cleveland sans Lebron is a very bad team.

Donyell Marshall: Marshall amused his teammates and horrified fans in attendance late in the first quarter when he took off both his warm-up shirt and jersey while subbing into the game. Good times. Now watch Lebron go absolutely bonkers over it. I mean, sweet breakdancing Jesus, he was laughing so hard you'd think that Marshall had just gotten a pie in the face and then slipped comically on a banana peel.


Seattle Supersonics: Sure, they beat the "Cavaliers," but without Lebron (and the other missing starters), they might as well have been playing the Bakersfield Jam. The Sonics wasted 56 percent shooting and a 20-point halftime bulge and barely held on to win this ugly dogfight. Said Seattle coach P.J. Carlesimo: "The next time we have a 20-point lead, we'll close out better." That's a safe enough promise, since I don't see this team building that kind of lead again any time soon. And by "soon" I mean "this season."

San Antonio versus Phoenix: Okay, David Stern needs to pass some kind of legislation prohibiting these teams from playing each other ever again. The Spurs always manage to drag the Suns down to their level, transforming what should be a titanic clash of two great teams into something so ugly, so foul, that I honest-to-god almost chose to watch The Santa Claus 3 on cable instead. Both teams shot 38 percent and combined to commit 32 turnovers. The final score -- 84-81 -- might remind you of the old Knicks/Heat games from the late 90s, and the game would have too, assuming you had a strong enough stomach to sit through that crapfest. The most entertaining part of this game was when Craig Sager interviewed Gregg Popovich, and Pop stole Sagar's hanky and wiped his oily nose on it. And, even though it cracked my shit up, a Gregg Popovich interview should never be the highlight of a game between these two teams.

Francisco Elson: This guy has all but disappeared from Gregg Popovich's rotation, and last night's three trillion sort of explains why.

Matt Bonner: The line: 2 minutes, 3 fouls, zero everything else.

Manu Ginobili: There are certain rules of life that men are expected to uphold. One of those is that, unless you are being threatened with imminent and inescapable bodily harm, you do not hit, nudge, poke, slap, or otherwise abuse another man's nuts. You. Just. Don't. Do. It. Unless you're Manu Ginobili. (Thanks to Basketbawful reader sonofjorel for the link to the video, and props to Reggie Miller for coining the term "Man Region," a future Word of the Day.)


Leandro Barbosa: This dude should have been the X-Factor against the Spurs, because, without Tony Parker, nobody on San Antonio's roster has a prayer of staying with him. Yet he scored only 5 points on 2-for-10 shooting. And let me break this down for you: He was 0-for-5 on jumpers, and only 2-for-5 on layups. That's right. Three missed layups.

Amare Stoudemire: He couldn't keep Tim Duncan off the glass (TD had 17 rebounds). But even worse, he missed four freethrows in the fourth quarter, the last of which would have tied the game with 15.6 seconds left. Instead, the Suns were forced to foul and that was pretty much Game Over. Look, Amare, everybody knows you want to be The Man in Phoenix. Well, part of that is hitting your foul shots. I mean, vicious dunks are nice, high-percentage shots, and they'll get you on SportsCenter, but blocking out and hitting clutch freethrows wins games.

If you love giant robots...go check out my NBA Closer column at Deadspin. Actually, check it out even if you don't like giant robots.

Hey, nice sweater, LT. For me to poop on!

Labels: Amare Stoudemire, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dirk Nowitzki, Donyell Marshall, Kobe Bryant, LaDanian Tomlinson, Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, Rasheed Wallace Rule, San Antonio Spurs, Seattle Supersonics

Al Horford: Yeah, I know it was an accident and everything, but Horford's foul on T.J. Ford looked pretty bad. Not only that, it ended with Ford -- who missed the entire 2004-05 season after neck surgery -- getting carried off the floor on a stretcher. Ford is going to be hospitalized overnight, so we'll know more tomorrow, but Raptors spokesman Jim LaBumbard confirmed that Ford "had feeling in his upper and lower extremities when he was taken off the floor." So let's keep our fingers and toes crossed for this kid.

Fun fact: I feel kind of like a jerk for saying this, but you know, Ford might not have gotten hurt if the refs had just made the call on what was a pretty obvious travel. I mean, he took three full steps after his last dribble.

Josh Smith: Maybe Smith had a hot date after the game or something, because his mind sure wasn't focused on playing basketball. The Hawks' second-leading scorer (18.4 PPG) had put up 28, 25, and 25 in his last three games, but tonight he scored only 5 points (2-11), committed 7 turnovers, and fouled out in 28 minutes of action.

Fun fact: Raptors rookie Jamario Moon hasn't attempted a freethrow since November 30. In fact, he's only gone to the line in 8 of the Hawks 21 games this season for a total of 18 freethrow attempts.

Indiana Pacers: These guys just can't seem to stay above .500. They were down 21 after the first quarter (37-16) and never seriously threatened after that. Lebron James finally returned from his tender vagina sprained left index finger, but the real story was the return of Larry Hughes. In only his second game back from an 11-game absence (bruised leg), Hughes scored 36 points (13-17) in only 26 minutes of action. Said Pacers coach Jim O'Brien: "I thought they had two Lebron Jameses out there."

Fun fact: With Lebron and Hughes both out, Eric Snow had actually been getting some big minutes (for him). Now that those guys are back, I figured he'd be back on the bench, waving towels and passing out Gatorade during timeouts. Fortunately for him, Daniel Gibson missed the game with "a wisdom tooth problem," and so Snow was once again called upon to provide a warm body: 2 points (1-1) in 29 minutes. He's now scored a grand total of 10 points this season on 2-15 shooting.

Antoine Walker: I was tempted to bust on Minnesota's Chris Richard and his line of 9 minutes, 1 rebound, and 1 foul. But to be fair, the kid's a rookie who was drafted in the second round. But Walker -- who played 8 minutes, scored 2 points (1-6), grabbed 1 rebound, and committed 2 turnovers -- that guy's a three-time All-Star and a...a...a former NBA champion (yes, I just threw up in my mouth a little). Now he's playing garbage minutes on the worst team in the league. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

Fun fact: On December 17, 2001, Walker shot 0-11 from three-point range, thus setting the record for most three-point attempts by a player in one game without a make.

New Jersey Nets: They shot 32 percent (26-81). Kidd had one of his patented triple-doubles -- 11 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists -- but he and the rest of the Nets' "Big Three" (Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson) shot a combined 14-46 from the floor. Think Kidd wants out? You'd better believe it.

Fun fact: Jason Collins went scoreless again, marking the 14th time in 23 games that he hasn't scored a single point. He has more than twice as many fouls (62) as points (26). Keep in mind, the man is seven feet tall, 260 pounds, and a starting center in the NBA. Even Greg Ostertag wasn't this bad.

Brevin Night: Remember how a few seasons ago he was averaging 12 points and 9 assists per game? Heck, he was second in the league in assists to Steve Nash during Nash's first MVP season. Now he's transformed into Eric Snow 2.0. His line against the Nets was: 29 minutes, zero points (0-3), 2 rebounds, 7 assists. He also had his first blocked shot of the season, which puts him only one blocked shot behind Zach Randolph.

Seattle Supersonics: You know, young, unproven teams are supposed to bring hustle and passion to every single game. That's how respect is earned. Well, apparently, the Sonics don't feel like they have much to prove. The whole team looked lethargic in their 27-point loss to the Bulls. After they were outscored 40-18 in the second quarter, they basically just gave up and went through the motions until the final buzzer. As an aside, Chicago is in the midst of a little mini-surge. They've won three of four and actually look like the Bulls of last season.

Fun fact: Some people have been leaving comments that I've been unfair in my criticism of Kevin Durant, so I decided to watch him very closely last night. And you know what? I wasn't that impressed. It's not all negative; he runs the floor well, has a real nose for the basket, and is generally able to get his shot off when he needs to. But he's completely one-dimensional; he's a scorer and that's it. He had one lonely rebound, and not once did he crash the boards or even commit himself to blocking out his man. He defense was substandard at best. And he really doesn't create for his teammates. I know this was only one game, and not one of his better games of the season. Even so, I'm just not seeing anything from this kid that I haven't seen before from volume shooters.

Utah Jazz: They lost their fourth straight game to the suddenly surging Blazers (9-12). To make matters worse, they lost at home (where they had been 8-1) to a lousy road team (they had been 1-9) that was missing their leading scorer (LaMarcus Aldridge). Most of the Jazz were misfiring all night: Deron Williams (4-14), Mehmet Okur (3-10), Matt Harpring (1-5), Gordan Giricek (1-8), Jason Hart (2-7), and C.J. Miles (2-7). But Utah's biggest problem was the fact that Andre Kirilenko transformed into the Invisible Man: 25 minutes, 3 points (1-3), 4 rebounds, zero assists, 2 turnovers. Yes, Carlos Boozer and Williams are the twin engines that run the Jazz, but Kirilenko is the catalyst, the game changer, the defensive stopper. When he's not doing what he does, the Jazz become a pretty mediocre team.

Fun fact: Jaron Collins must be having a Suck-Off Competition with his brother Jason. Jaron's line was 2 points (0-1), 2 rebounds, and 1 foul in 13 mintues of action. I don't know what's more pathetic, that stat line or the fact that it was vastly superior to Jason's line (see above).

San Antonio Spurs: Playing without Tim Duncan finally caught up with them. Pretty much everybody on the team sucked last night except...Matt Bonner?! Yes, that's right, Bonner was fantastic: 25 points (9-16) and 17 rebounds. But before you run off to pick him up for your fantasy team, keep in mind that those numbers are about 25 points and 17 rebounds higher than his season averages.

Fun fact: When Bonner was drafted in 2003, Jay Bilas referred to him as a "poor man's Brian Scalabrine." Three years later, in his NBA preview on ESPN.com, Chad Ford ironically called Scalabrine a "poor man's Matt Bonner." And life comes full circle.

Robert Horry: Hm, 8 minutes, zero points (0-1), 2 rebounds, 1 assist, and several applications of Ben-Gay. Yeah, I'd say he's showing his age.

Troy Hudson: He went above and beyond the call of duty, notching the exceedingly rare two trillion.

Labels: Al Horford, Antoine Walker, Eric Snow, Indiana Pacers, Josh Smith, New Jersey Nets, Seattle Supersonics, T.J.Ford, Worst of the Night

Kris Humphries: The former Golden Gopher notched a one trillion in Toronto's 91-82 victory over Cleveland.

Fun fact: Lebron James' injury has cracked a hole in the Cav's lineup, and Eric Snow has responded with his best two games of the season: 2 points (0-1), 2 rebounds, and zero assists against the Raptors and 5 points (1-2), 2 rebounds, and 2 assists against the Celtics. Those 7 points give Snow 7 points on the season. The sky's the limit for this grizzled veteran.

Philly's three-point shooting: The 76ers managed to eke out an 85-84 win over the Wizards, but the backboards paid a terrible, terrible price: Philly shot 0-14 from beyond the arc. Andre Iguodala -- who shot 3-19 -- was 0-6 from three.

Milwaukee Bucks: The Knicks were coming off a beating of historic proportions in which they had all given up on their coach and themselves. The Bucks were coming off a full day's rest and promptly built a 17-point lead. I'm sure you know where this is going: New York edged Milwaukee 91-88 by outscoring the Bucks 26-11 in the fourth quarter. "The ceiling fell in," moaned Bucks coach Larry Krystkowiak. "I'm speechless," said Michael Redd, who nonetheless continued talking. "I'm more speechless about us losing three in a row, not that we lost to the Knicks. The Knicks are a talented team. We knew they would come back and fight hard. When you have a lead like that, you've got to be able to defend and put your foot down and take advantage of the situation, and we didn't do that tonight." That's further proof, if you even needed it, that "speechless" athletes don't really understand how to use that word. Anyway, the Bucks bounced back from that loss to lose even worse the next night, losing by 25 at home to the Pistons. "We're kind of in the middle of a downturn, no doubt," said Krystkowiak. Uh, you think?

Fun fact: Four games ago, the Bucks (7-8) were leading the Central Division. Now they're fourth, and they're only that high because they share the division with the Bulls (4-10).

Peja Stojakovic: This guy is a human Dow Jones chart: Up one day, down the next, then up, then down, then up. Earlier in the week, he followed a 3-point game in which he shot 1-6 with 22 points (7-12). On Friday night, he contributed 4 points (2-12) in the Hornets' 92-86 win over the Hawks, then rebounded to score 22 points (7-14) in 112-108 victory over the Mavericks.

Fun fact: Peja has five games this season in which he scored 5 points or less. He also has five games in which he scored 20 or more points. Coincidence? Yeah, probably.

Miami Heat: It's like this team has just rolled over and died or something. They dropped to 4-12 after going 0-for-the-weekend. On Friday night, they were down by as many as 28 points against the Celtics and used a 34-12 fourth quarter surge (after Boston totally fell asleep) to make the final score look respectable. Then, on Sunday, the Nuggets put them into a 20-point hole in the first quarter and the Heat never really challenged after that. Even worse for the Heat, Shaq and Wade were almost invisible in those two losses. There's a funerary feeling about this team right now.

Fun fact: I've always said that, even in decline, Shaq is better than, say, a Zach Randolph because he's a better passer. Well, Shaq has 17 assists and 44 turnovers on the season. Randolph has 18 and 46. Of course, Shaq's shooting 60 percent from the field and Randoph is shooting 43 percent. Wait, what?? Randolph -- an inside player -- is shooting 43 percent? Ooooh, that's bad. Okay, Shaq's still the better choice.

Indiana Pacers: They just concluded a successful 3-1 Western Conference road trip and pushed their record back to .500 in the process, so you might be wondering why they're on this list. Well, two of their wins came against the Blazers (5-12, four straight losses) and Clippers (6-9, five straight losses), so they don't really count. They lost to Seattle (3-15), which was the worst team they faced on the trip. And their next three games are against Phoenix (13-4), Orlando (15-4), and Cleveland (only 9-9, but Lebron should be back by then). So I don't think they'll be .500 for long.

Fun fact: The Pacers had won four of five games without Jermaine O'Neal -- including wins over the Hornets, Mavericks, and Nuggets -- and then lost his "return game" to a 2-win team. Coincidence? No way.

Los Angeles Clippers: Hm, 0-for-the-weekend and five losses in a row by an average of 13 PPG. Yep: They are who we thought they were.

Fun fact: The Clippers next seven opponents -- Milwaukee, Seattle, Sacramento, Miami, New Jersey, and Charlotte -- are all currently below .500. Yet the Clippers will still lose most of those games. Depressing, isn't it?

Houston Rockets: Uh, what's going on here? The Rockets are loaded with talent. Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming are playing well. But they're only 9-9 after losing seven of their last 10 games, including Saturday's embarrassing loss to the Kings (6-10). I mean, how do you lose to a crapy team when T-Mac springs for 40 and Yao gives you 29 and 11? Somebody needs to remind Rick Adelman that his teams don't start sucking until the playoffs.

Chicago Bulls: Ah, sweet relief...Chicago has finally won two games in a row. And on Saturday night, they finally looked like the Bulls again. Ben Gordon scored 34 points (13-21) and hit five three-pointers. Luol Deng scored 29 points (13-21). Kirk Hinrich shot 50 percent (3-6) and dished 7 assists. Ben Wallace grabbed 19 rebounds to go with 5 steals and 4 blocks. It just begs the question: Where were you guys? Did aliens finally return the real Bulls and take their lifeless duplicates back into the mystery of space? I guess we'll find out soon, since the Bulls have games against Dallas, Detroit, and Boston this week.

Boston Celtics: The Celtics are an NBA-best 14-2, and they won both of their games this weekend...but they didn't necessarily look good doing it. They coughed up most of a 28-point lead against the Heat on Friday and slogged their way to an 80-70 victory over the Lebron-less Cavs yesterday. I guess sometimes winning is ugly.

Fun fact: Ray Allen is second all-time in three-pointers made with 1959. Reggie Miller is first with 2560.

Portland Trailblazers: Forget the fact that they've lost four in a row and nine of their last 10 games. Last night, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Bruce Bowen, and Michael Finley combined to shoot 8-32, and Duncan only played 10 minutes because of a bruised knee and sprained ankle, and the Blazers still lost by 21. How demoralizing is that?

Fun fact: Robert Horry played his first game of the season yesterday. He was 0-1 for zero points to go along with two rebounds and zero assists.

Seattle Supersonics: They had their winning streak snapped at one game and their home record fell to 1-8 after yesterday's 109-96 loss to the suddenly unstoppable Golden State Warriors. Kevin Durant, fresh off a season-high 35 points against the Pacers, missed his first six shots, went scoreless in the first half and finished with 6 points (2-12). He even blew a dunk in the fourth quarter. That's what we call an ego-ectomy.

Fun fact: The NBA is now tracking something that's called The Lenovo +/- Stat. It looks at the point differential when players are both in and out of the game, to see how the team performs with various combinations. Ray Allen currently leads the league with a score of +198. Kevin Durant, on the other hand, is the worst in the league at -187...worse than Stephon Marbury and Eddy Curry combined. Yikes.

Labels: Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Clippers, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, Peja Stojakovic, Portland Trailblazers, Seattle Supersonics, Worst of the Weekend

"Yeeeeaaaaaarrrrrrgggghh!!"
Kyle Korver: The hero of the 76ers' big road win against the Bucks became the goat in the team's homecourt flameout against the Jazz. After scoring 20 points (8-13) on Tuesday night, Korver scored only 4 points (1-9) against the Jazz. He was also limited to 21 minutes thanks to his 5 personal fouls. Of course, the real villain of the game was the 76ers' defense, which allowed the Jazz to shoot 55 percent from the field. Said coach Maurice Cheeks: "We talked before the game about eliminating layups and they (Jazz) had 20-plus layups. That's something I'm trying to stop." Better luck next time, coach Cheeks.

Fun fact: Carlos Boozer, who scored 26 points (12-17), is shooting 71 percent (44-62) over his last four games. He's currently fourth in the league in scoring (25.4), seventh in field goal percentage (57.7), and ninth in rebounding (11.2). With all due respect to Dirk Nowitzki and Tim Duncan, I think Boozer may be the best power forward in the Western Conference right now. Of course, we all know that Duncan will be the best PF come playoff time.

Memphis Grizzlies: The game was pretty much decided in the second quarter, during which the scary bears were outscored 30-10. I know the Raptors are a top-ten defensive team this season, but a 10-point quarter? You'd think a professional basketball team could score 10 points by accident.

Fun fact: Did you know that Brian Cardinal is making almost $6 million this season? Or that he'll be making over $6 million next season, and almost $7 million the season after that? His season totals -- not averages, but totals -- are: 17 points (on six field goals), 15 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, zero blocks, and one hilarious picture of him getting knocked on his ass by Jeff Green. Also, check out Cardinal's arms. Those look like my grandpa's arms.

Milwuakee Bucks: Hey, Bobby Simmons was back! Unfortunately, his 5 points (1-4) couldn't prevent a 96-80 spanking from the Hawks (6-8). After this loss, construction of the Bucks Bandwagon has been halted until further notice. The Bucks committed 19 turnovers, clanked away from three-point range (3-17), and Charlie Bell -- the guy they wouldn't let bolt for Miami last summer -- contributed zero points (0-4), 3 rebounds, zero assists, zero steals, zero blocks, and 1 personal foul. I can see why they wanted to keep him.

Fun fact: Andrew Bogut is a talker, and he had a few choice things to say about his team after they lost to Atlanta. Basically, he thinks the Bucks suck against bad teams. "Without giving anyone bulletin board material or calling guys out or anything, it's just a problem that we're having with the franchise since I've been here." And hey, you can't say that Bogut didn't do his part: 18 points (7-12), 11 rebounds, 4 blocked shots.

Lebron James' supporting cast: James sprained his left index finger in the second quarter and didn't return to the game. What ensued was a ruthless thrashing of the Cavaliers by an undermanned Pistons team. The Cavs scored only 31 points in the second half, and even if they'd doubled that number, they still would have lost by four points. Yes, it was that bad.

Fun fact: According to basketball-reference.com, Donyell Marshall has earned almost $60 million in salary over his career. So why does it look like he bought his clothes off the clearance rack at Sears?

Matt Bonner: He notched a one trillion during the Spurs' relatively merciful drubbing of the Wizards. Yet he was still shown up by Dominic McGuire, who managed the even more rare two trillion. Even in a battle of futility, Bonner comes out the loser.

Fun fact(s): Matt Bonner might be a lousy NBA player, but he still leads a rich and complex life. To whit: Bonner received only one B in his scholastic career after failing a chemistry exam in late 2002. Among Bonner's favorite food is a Mr. Sub smoked turkey breast submarine sandwich with mayo and mustard on whole wheat. Bonner bought his car, a white Pontiac Grand Prix, in New Hampshire to avoid paying sales tax. He chose it because it had good leg room and decent gas mileage. [From Wikipedia]

The Dallas defense: Okay, maybe the Mavs' problem isn't ball movement after all. They strugged mightily to "limit" the lowly Timberwolves (2-11) to 103 points -- almost 10 points above their season average -- on 50 percent shooting. Here's the sad thing: The Mavs had to shake up their rotation, moving Jason Terry and Erick Dampier back to the starting lineup, just to barely end a three-game losing streak against the worst team in the league. Yikes. As a sidenote, the Mavs shot 1-10 from three-point range.

Fun fact: Turns out that Al Jefferson kid is just as good as projected: 20.7 PPG (on 52 percent shooting), 11.2 RPG, and 10 double-doubles in 13 games. This guy is Kevin McHale's one last flickering chance at redemption as a GM. But don't worry: I'm sure he'll screw this up too.

Starang: A few days ago, loyal reader and Suns fan Starang left the following comment on our blog: "Do you hear that clicking noise? Yeah, that one...it's the Suns' chemistry...we are about to rattle off 19 in a row...of the next 13 games, we play Spurs and Mav's 12th and 13th with no one in between, except maybe Utah, but that still should be a win." Congratulations, Starang: You successfully stat cursed the Suns, who have now lost two in a row since your bold and foolhardy prediction. I sincerely hope you've learned your lesson.

Jermaine O'Neal: The Pacers are now 6-1 without you this season. Jamaal Tinsley and Mike Dunleavy Jr. both play like All-Stars when you're not around. Do you get it? Without you clogging the lanes and fattening your stat line on a steady diet of contested 15 to 20-foot jumpers, the other Pacers can actually drive to the hoop and move the ball around for open shots. It's amazing. I wish you could be a part of it, but I know your titanic ego -- which insists you're almost as good as Kevin Garnett -- won't allow you to adjust your game to help the team. Look, we'll welcome you back with open arms, but only if you show up prepared to rebound, play defense, and settle into your new role as the third or fourth option on offense. Oh, and when you do get the ball, we'll expect you to take it strong to the hoop. No more fading away from the basket. Be a man. Signed -- Larry Bird.

Fun fact: Hey, we had a Raef LaFrentz sighting last night...only the fifth one of this young season. He's now amassed 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 1 assist for the season. Can you believe this dude is still on the books for $11 million this year and $12 million the next? Also: Portland has lost seven of its last eight games.

Seattle Supersonics: They held the Magic to 43 percent shooting and still lost by 16 points at home? How is that possible? Oh, they shot 35 percent themselves, thanks primarily to Kevin Durant and Wally Szczerbiak, who combined to hit only 12 of 41 shots. P.S. I think I'm falling into man love with Dwight Howard. If he gets any better, his game will cure cancer by 2014.

Fun fact: Rashard Lewis grabbed 10 rebounds last night, his first double-figure rebound game of the season! Did I mention he's 6'10"? Oh well. Kevin Durant still hasn't had a double-figure rebounding game.

Labels: Carlos Boozer, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Jermaine O'Neal, Kyle Korver, Matt Bonner, Memphis Grizzlies, Milwaukee Bucks, readers, Seattle Supersonics, Worst of the Night

Thanks, Red.
I know this sounds strange, but Greg Oden's season-ending injury isn't just a heaping helping of poop gumbo for the Portland Trailblazers. It's a clear sign from God that the Boston Celtics' Curse has been lifted.

Think about it. Had the Celtics won the draft lottery and gotten the number one pick -- as they'd hoped, wanted, and tanked for -- Danny Ainge would have selected Oden and kept everything else pretty much the same. Which would have meant that, once Oden's knee spontaneously disintegrated, the Celtics would have fielded the same craptastic team that won only 24 games and had an 18-game losing streak last season. That would have been as catastrophic to the Celtics and their fans as Oden's health has been to Oden's career.

Speaking of which, isn't it ironic that the Trailblazers won the draft lottery and selected the one player that, while it's probably still too early to tell for sure, is starting to look like the new century's Bill Walton, the team's last number one overall pick? Seriously. Like Oden, Walton had unlimited potential and could have become one of the greatest centers ever, but injury after strange injury limited him to five and a half season's worth of games over a 10-year career. In Walton's first two seasons alone, he broke his nose, foot, wrist, and leg. He once broke his foot (for the umpteenth time) while riding an exercise bike -- which is better than breaking your knee sitting on a couch, but still. Even in his great MVP season of 1977-78, he played only 58 games due to injury (imagine how the blogosphere would erupt if something like that happened today).

Although, truth be told, Oden's case is even worse than Walton's. At least Big Bill had four reasonably healthy seasons at UCLA, during which he was one of the best college players of all time. Oden didn't have a single healthy season at Ohio State; he had wrist surgery before his freshman year even started. He still played very well for the Buckeyes (15.7 PPG and 9.6 RPG), but certainly not great (which everyone blamed on the fact that he wasn't fully recovered from his wrist injury). Then he missed most of the summer league because he had his tonsils out, and now he's not even going to play his rookie season because of microfracture surgery on his knee. And that kind of surgery means that he might not ever be as good as he possibly could have been. The final book on Oden is far from written, but...wow.

The poor Trailblazers sure have had some rotten luck over the years. You can put this tragedy right up there with their failure to defend the title in '78 (thanks, of course, to a Walton injury), drafting Sam Bowie instead of Michael Jordan in the '84 draft, Clyde Drexler's evisceration (by Jordan) in the '92 Finals, and of course the infamous 2000 Western Conference Finals meltdown.

Everybody's talking about how fortunate the Supersonics are for getting Durant instead of Oden. And they are. But the Celtics are the real winners here. Instead of a relatively unproven, seemingly injury-prone center with a huge question mark hanging ominously over his career, they dealt for Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. Which, as I pointed out, means the curse is officially over. If it wasn't, the Celtics would have won the lottery, selected Oden, and everybody would be comparing this to Boston's many doomed draft picks (Len Bias, Michael Smith, Acie Earl, etc.). I'm telling you, Red Auerbach's ghost is behind this. He sacrificed himself to break the jinx. I will always believe that.

As a final note, Evil Ted just came by my cube and said: "I hope you're writing about Greg Oden." After I told him I was, he said, "Good. Tell everybody we were right. That dude's 40 years old if he's a day. Microfracture surgery at 19? Yeah, right. The man is middle-aged, and this is what happens to middle-aged men who play professional basketball."

Labels: Bill Walton, Boston Celtics, curses, Greg Oden, Keven Garnett, Kevin Durant, Len Bias, Portland Trailblazers, Ray Allen, Red Auerbach, Seattle Supersonics