Tag: ron artest

Categories
General Sports

Pros vs. Joes finally got interesting

Some sports fans have way too much free time on their hands, but we’re not complaining. After all, if it wasn’t for those losers then we wouldn’t be able to bring you hilarious clips like this. Today’s video of the day comes from Yardbarker who put together this awesome dream match-up between some of sports greatest athletes and your favorite animated real American heroes. That’s right; it’s “Pros Vs. G.I. Joes.”

Wonder no more what would happen if Gung-Ho tried to score a TD against Troy Polamalu or if Tracker can beat Ron Artest in a game of 21 because now we know. And knowing is half the battle.

Personally, we can’t get enough of that wacky Manny Ramirez! For some reason, Man-Ram going to bat in a Santa suit doesn’t seem all that farfetched.

Links:

[Yardbarker.com]: Pros vs. GI Joes

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: Portland gets a breath of fresh air



The next Jail Trail Blazer?

1. The West just got even better
It was one of the more shocking lotteries in recent history, as neither Memphis nor Boston grabbed either of the top two picks, a.k.a. Greg Oden or Kevin Durant, despite being the worst teams in the league, but instead it was a pair of Northwest Division clubs who changed their fortunes. With just a 5.3 percent chance of winning the whole shebang, the Portland Trail Blazers grabbed the top pick while Seattle ended up with a heck of a consolation prize. The beauty of this is that these two kids will grow as rivals for at least the beginning of their careers as they compete for the same division title every year. Unfortunately they will have some stiff competition for the crown as Utah, Denver and Minnesota all reside in the Northwest. But the real losers in this year’s lottery are those pathetic Grizzlies, Celtics and Bucks who put up some horrid regular season records but still had the statistical advantage slip through their fingers, giving their fans no reason to attend any home games in the next few years. That really sucks for those guys but our “kick to the crotch award” goes to Atlanta who came so freakin’ close to grabbing a franchise cornerstone but instead is going to have to settle for the La Toya Jackson of the draft. (Full lottery results)

2. Spurs dominate again

Like in Game 1, the Jazz put together a late run but they couldn’t escape from San Antonio with a victory as the Spurs grabbed a 2-0 lead in the West finals behind a 105-96 Game 2 win. Tim Duncan continued his run of playoff domination as he finished with 26 points and 14 rebounds while Tony Parker dished out a career playoff-high 14 assists to go with his 17 points. Utah had better hope that their home crowd gives them some added umph because the Spurs are starting to make this look way too easy. Sure, Carlos Boozer (33 pts, 15 reb) and Deron Williams (26 pts, 10 ast) are getting it done on the blue team but at this point it is a two man show against a cohesive unit. Sorry, but without some help from the role players, this is going to be a quick and easy series for the West crown.

3. Another Denver delinquent
Ron Artest might have found a new home after pretty much wearing out his welcome in Sacramento by being involved in several incidents with the law since arriving. So, what whacked out coach would possibly be willing to take a ride in the Artest demolition derby? Why, George Karl of course. Yup, the Denver Nuggets are looking to add rapper extraordinaire “Tru Warier” Artest to their bad boy lineup of Kenyon “Microfracture” Martin, Allen “Practice” Iverson and Carmelo “Sucker Punch” Anthony. We’re guessing that Artest would fit right in with this crew and we’re also guessing that in typical Karl fashion he wouldn’t be able to handle his malcontent cast and end up blaming the Nuggets management for his poor compilation.

Tuesday’s Player of the Day: Tim Duncan vs. Utah 38 min, 26 pts (FG: 10-15, FT: 6-8), 14 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 5 blk

Buzzer Beater: Well it sure didn’t take the Rockets very long to find a replacement for Jeff Van Gundy after the front office decided to give him the boot on Friday, because Rick Adelman is expected to be introduced as the new coach on Wednesday. It should be a good fit; Houston definitely needs a veteran coach who can properly utilize his tools and Adelman has proven that he can win. Hey, this guy got some great mileage out of Vlade Divac for cryin’ out loud; surely he can turn Yao Ming into a beast. And if you don’t think Adelman desperately wants to win a ring then just remember that he has the highest winning percentage (.610) of any coach who doesn’t have a championship.

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: Let the celebration begin!


1. The Warriors came out to play (and win)
Well, we’ve been talking about the “biggest upset in playoff history” for what feels like an eternity, but now it’s time to start discussing exactly where this bad boy ranks on the all-time upsets in the history of sports. Golden State used a 36-15 spanking throughout the third quarter to hammer the final nail into the Mavericks’ coffin, 111-86. Yup, that’s no typo; 111-86. Dallas now has to be considered one of the biggest chokers in recent postseason memory after blowing last year’s Finals to the Heat and now this inexcusable defeat to the Warriors. It’s surprising that Mark Cuban didn’t spontaneously combust during the game. Dirk Nowitzki didn’t even bother to show up in the biggest game of the year, but why should he? After all, he already said that the series would be over if they lost Game 4, which they did. Way to go Dirk, you just gift wrapped the MVP for Steve Nash with your pathetic postseason performance. Then again, that’s what friends are for.

2. Home cookin’ makes all the difference

This is what all fans of basketball look forward to every year, and now we finally have our first Game 7 of the 2007 postseason. So far the series between Utah and Houston has gone exactly according to form with each team winning the games on their home floor and Game 6 was no different as Utah used a late surge to force the ultimate win or go home scenario and won 94-82 in Salt Lake City. The Jazz big men led the way with 41 points and 18 rebounds and cry baby Andrei Kirilenko even wiped away his tears long enough to chip in a nice defensive effort of three steals and five blocks to go along with 14 points. The Rockets got decent offensive games from their stars but nobody else bothered to step up in the close out situation. Well, we can’t really say nobody; after all, this is a team that had only four players score in a game not too long ago.

3. Boy, Luol, you’re swell
Well, David Robinson, Grant Hill, AC Green and Joe Dumars will have to set the prim and proper table with one more setting for the newest member of the good guy club as Luol Deng snatched up the NBA’s sportsmanship award on Thursday. Receiving the award is a pretty lofty accomplishment but what’s even more impressive is that Deng beat out Mr. Manners Shane Battier. However, it wasn’t by much: 22 total votes to be exact. But we’re in the playoffs man, who really cares about sportsmanship? It’s good to know that there actually are players who give the league a positive image but now’s the time when we wanna see Deng start throwing some elbows when crashing the boards and putting a little extra umph into those picks. Chicago has Detroit in the next round and Deng has been a good boy long enough, it’s time for him to channel his inner Bad Boy.

Thursday’s Player of the Day: Stephen Jackson vs. Dallas 44 min, 33 pts (FG: 10-19, 3FG: 7-8, FT: 6-8), 5 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl

Buzzer Beater: Ron Artest finally got sentenced for smacking his wife back in March and now he gets to spend a nice sized chunk of his summer picking up trash alongside the highway. A judge sentenced Ron Ron to 100 hours of community service and a 10-day work project to go along with a whole butt load of counseling. Despite what some reports said, Artest lucked out and avoided jail time; there goes his hardcore rap image. You can’t really get street cred by doing hard time in a 10-day work project. Something tells us that Tupac is looking at Artest from somewhere out there and just laughing his ass off.

Categories
Sacramento Kings

Ron Artest wants a fresh start

It’s been a rocky road for Ron Artest since he entered the league in 1999, but the troubles could be coming to an end soon.  Well, at least for the Kings.  

While Artest won’t publicly say it, Corliss Williamson told the Sacramento Bee that Artest sent him a text that said he would be retiring at the end of the season in order to spend more time with his family.  There’s no word yet on if his family wants to spend more time with him, but Artest still seems serious about his desire to call it quits.  He also told the editors of HipHopGame.com, the site that publishes his personal diary, that he wants to retire.  

But this doesn’t mean that Artest is done starting on-court riots.  In fact, he could be taking his show overseas, where riots are much more common, in order to escape some of the negative attention that has hounded him in America.  But how is hot-head Artest going to handle getting beaned with a battery considering he went ballistic after getting hit by a plastic cup in Detroit?

Still, Artest seems to think that with a little separation he can repair his image and go from villain to hero in the eyes of the American public just like his hip-hop heroes Flavor Flav and Ice Cube did.  But Sacramento president Geoff Petrie doesn’t seem to have much faith in Artest’s decision just yet.

He’s under a lot of scrutiny and at a point, really, in his own career where he needs to be a better keeper of his own soul in some ways,” Petrie said. “We’ll assess in the context of the whole season where we go (with Artest from here). But again, it’s sort of Ron being Ron.

Petrie went on and hinted that the team might be better off without the continuous distractions that Artest brings.

You’ve got to change something — change for the betterment of himself and for the betterment of the team he’s playing for,” Petrie said of Artest.  “There’s no team that needs continuous distractions, no matter how substantive they may actually be.

So, don’t worry Ron, it looks like you might get to work on that Flavor Flav impression after the post season concludes whether you want to or not.  

Links:
[SacBee.com]: Is Artest calling it quits?

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: The Human Torch


1. He did it again!
Only three players in the history of the NBA have scored 50 points or more in three consecutive games; make that four players. Last night Kobe Bryant joined Michael Jordan, Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain in annals of the league after he scored 60 points against Memphis last night to give him a three game total of 175 points (65 versus Portland; 50 versus Minnesota). Nobody has scored more points in a trio of games in the last 40 years and that was his second 60 point game in his last three outings, giving him four for his career which ties Michael Jordan for the second most ever. Only Wilt the Stilt has more with 32 games of at least 60. Bryant was on fire as he drained 20-of-37 from the field and 17-of-18 from the line as he scored 24 points by the half and 43 after three quarters. It’s a disgrace that Bryant probably won’t sniff the MVP because he’s not on the best team in the league.

2. One day closer to the slammer

Some predictable news was handed down to Ron Artest on Thursday as a Placer County Superior Court judge ordered Artest to stay at least 100 yards away from his wife and children until further notice is given. That should be more than enough space to keep his old lady out of slapping range. One of the only things that Artest said during yesterday’s official proceedings was “no” to the question of if he owns any firearms. You do know what being “under oath” means, right Ron? And talk about a bad day, after getting out of court Artest had planned to meet up with his team in Phoenix for a game against the Suns but his plane was diverted because of thunderstorms. Then after some more delays, Artest was told to just go home by Kings GM Geoff Petrie. The team found out shortly before tip off that they would be without Artest and then promptly got blown out by 18 points.

3. Looking for a top pick or just crappy?
Milwaukee needs some victories; they just don’t want to get any until next year. In a late season lottery push, the Bucks have sidelined two of their most important pieces for the remainder of the season. Andrew Bogut has been told his season is over because of a sprained left foot while Charlie Villanueva will have to have surgery on a nagging right shoulder injury. There’s not a lot you can do about needing surgery, but automatically benching a player for the remainder of the season based on a sprain is a bit odd. Currently only Boston and Memphis are more pathetic than Milwaukee, but not by much. In fact, the loss of two starters could be just the thing the Bucks need to slide all the way to the bottom of the list.

Thursday’s Player of the Day: Amare Stoudemire vs. Sacramento 37 min, 33 pts (FG: 12-17, FT: 9-16), 21 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 3 blk

Friday’s Game to Watch: Detroit (43-24) @ San Antonio (47-20) This is the third time that the Pistons will be playing a Texas team in their last four games with losses to both Dallas and Houston. But Detroit is still playing some great ball and they have won six of their last eight games as they enter into the rematch of the 2005 Finals. But the Bad Boys are going to have their hands full against the Spurs who are 23-9 at home this year. After winning a season-high 13 straight games, SA has been on a bit of a slide losing two of three since. But Tim Duncan is in playoff form as he is back to his old ways with great post play and defense.

Buzzer Beater: If Phil Jackson is turning down the services of his old superstar as the team enters the end of the season, then it’s probably time for Scottie Pippen to give up his dream of ever playing professionally again. Seems like Jackson would know better than anybody whether Pip was in game shape, after all he did win six rings with guy. Somebody out there still might give Pippen a shot, but the decision by Jackson will probably be a big factor to look at for all the other interested franchises.

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: Artest gets arraigned


1. What did the five fingers say to the face?
It’s all fun and games for Ron Artest while he’s slapping his wife but now Ron Ron is facing the potential punishment for his lack of anger management. Artest will be arraigned today on charges of battery and corporal injury to a spouse, false imprisonment and dissuading a witness from reporting a crime. That sucks for Artest because each charge carries a maximum sentence of one year in the slammer. Artest should shoot a text over to Stephen Jackson and get some tips on how he’s managed to avoid jail time after his strip club incident. But the NBA’s bad boy has had plenty of time to prepare for this day considering that sheriff’s have made the trip to Artest’s home five times since last August, and two of those responses involved some type of domestic disturbance. In fact, the Tru Warier has been involved with the law so frequently that he will be eligible for a limited edition Pacman Jones bobble-head with just three more arrests!

2. Kids in men’s clothing

Last night was another great battle between two of the league’s most promising big men in Chris Bosh and Dwight Howard but Toronto got more help when it counted and the Raptors ended up on top, 92-85. But back to the individual battle; while Howard had a respectable night with 17 points, 12 rebounds, three blocks and three assists it just wasn’t enough to outdo his fellow Eastern Conference All-Star who racked up 34 points, 16 rebounds and a pair of swats. And TJ Ford didn’t help Orlando out any as he put up 16 points and 12 assists. This Toronto/Orlando rivalry is becoming must watch TV thanks to the new breed superstars. The last time these teams hooked up on Feb. 7, Bosh had a career-high 41 points while Howard had a career-high night of his own with 32 points on 13-for-14 shooting.

3. Three down, 13 to go
With an easy victory over the slumping Pacers last night, the Spurs became the third team to lock up a playoff spot. The 90-72 win couldn’t have come at a better time for San Antonio who went on a two-game losing skid after winning a season-high 13 consecutive games prior to that. Tim Duncan beginning to look very spry with the post season approaching as he torched Indiana for 27 points on 11-of-16 shooting. He even hit five of his eight free throws and for Timmy, that’s pretty darn good. The Spurs have now joined Phoenix and Dallas in the post season with Utah and Houston set to guarantee their slot any day now. It’s really only a matter of which teams grab the final three spots and secure their series with one of the major players in the West.

Wednesday’s Player of the Day: Gilbert Arenas @ Seattle 38 min, 42 pts (FG: 13-24, 3FG: 6-12, FT: 10-12), 4 reb, 7 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk

Thursday’s Game to Watch: Los Angeles Lakers (35-32) @ Memphis (17-51) It’s really hard not to put Detroit at Houston as the game of the day but with the way Kobe Bryant has been stroking it lately you have got to tune in to see what he does next. And c’mon, it’s the Grizz; Bryant could be looking at a “double nickel” by the end of the third quarter if he’s feeling good. Should Kobe top 50 points he would become the first Laker to accomplish that feat since Elgin Baylor did it in December of 1962. That would be pretty freakin’ amazing considering that Kareem, Magic and Shaq have all worn the purple and gold. The Mamba has a two-game total of 115 points which is good for the third highest in the last 40 seasons. Only Michael Jordan and, well, Kobe Bryant have a higher total in two games after each managed to rack up 118 points. In other words, he’s hot.

Buzzer Beater: As pathetic as it sounds, the United States basketball team will have to qualify for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. If the red, white and blue is going to be involved in the Olympic experience they will have to start off by beating Venezuela in the Americas Tournament which will be held in Las Vegas from August 22 to September 2. Also in the same group as the US are Brazil, Canada and the US Virgin Islands. At least Greece isn’t in this tourney, because it was the Greeks that knocked Team USA out of contention for the championship round at the 2006 World Championship. And it was that loss that is now forcing the States to qualify before they can even get invited to the Olympics. As Charles Barkley would say, “Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson must be rollin’ over in their graves.”

Categories
General Sports

Hey Carmelo, this is how you throw a punch

Ho ho ho this!

We don’t usually report on the world of rugby, but this incident had us reminiscing back to the Malice in the Palace when Ron Artest went, well Ron Artest on a fan in the stands. David Stern should keep this in mind should another mentally imbalanced NBAer decide to partake in a similar showdown between player and spectator.

Trevor Brennan is a forward for the Toulouse rugby club who got fed up with being taunted by a fan of the opposing team back in late January and decided to take action into his own hands and go, well Ron Artest on his ass. After having beer poured on him (hmm, Artest didn’t seem to like that either) and having his mother insulted, Brennan hopped into the stands and knocked the Christmas cap right off the head of an Ulster fan who was obviously still full of the holiday spirit.

Brennan had been suspended from the league since the episode occurred and eventually announced his retirement, but that didn’t stop the European Rugby Cup from dishing out some punishment of their own. The ERC has banned Brennan for life and fined him $33,250; in addition to $6,650 he has been ordered to pay to guy he punched.

It was the view of the committee that Mr. Brennan’s behavior was completely unjustified and that he caused serious harm to an innocent spectator and significant damage to the image of rugby union,” the three-man disciplinary panel said. “The committee could not envisage more serious misconduct in relation to spectators and believed that the maximum permissible suspension was appropriate.

A 73 game suspension suddenly doesn’t sound very harsh.

Links:

[IHT.com]: IRELAND’S TREVOR BRENNAN BANNED FROM RUGBY FOR LIFE FOR PUNCHING FAN
[IrishExaminer.com]: BRENNAN SLAPPED WITH LIFE-TIME BAN

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: The Beautiful People And The Unsightly

1. Hollywood’s House of Horrors
To borrow a phrase from Tom Jackson; Kobe Bryant, Phil Jackson and all of the other Lakers got JACKED UP!! Dallas showed no mercy on Los Angeles as they defeated them by 36 points, 108-72, as Jack Nicholson, Tobey Maguire, Penny Marshall and Dyan Cannon all watched on. Kobe and crew had their worst offensive output of the season in the worst home loss in franchise history. The nastiest pounding the Lakers organization had ever received in Lalaland before last night was a 35 point spanking, 144-109, by the San Francisco Warriors on November 19, 1966.

But the Lakers shouldn’t let the loss get them too distraught since they can still claim a victory over the Mavs this season. That’s more than most teams can say. And they can also lay claim to the longest span of regular season home games without being defeated by 30 points or more. Sunday’s loss marked the end of that 1,521 game period that dated back to November 1969.

2. Late Bloomers
Everyone knows that the NBA’s hottest team is Dallas with 17 consecutive victories. And most know that San Antonio is also riding a double-digit win streak that has reached 12 straight. But a lot of people aren’t aware that two of the teams nipping on the heels of the league’s longest active win streak were on the verge of being in the Greg Oden/Kevin Durant sweepstakes just a few weeks ago. The Allen Iversonless 76ers are just four games away from grabbing the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference after ripping off seven straight wins that included victories over the Suns, Lakers and Pacers. Right behind Philly is Miami who has won six in a row as an invigorated Shaquille O’Neal has carried the Heat since they lost Dwyane Wade to a dislocated shoulder in late February. Thanks to a 106-104 victory over the Wizards on Sunday Miami is only one game behind Washington for the Southeast Division lead which would guarantee them one of the top four spots in the East.

3. Run For The Border
It’s not too often that a coach gets pissed off when an opposing player misses a 3-pointer, but that’s exactly what happened at the end of yesterday’s game between Indiana and Cleveland. With the game firmly in the Cavs hands, 99-84, and the final buzzer buzzing, Sideshow Bob’s biggest fan, Anderson Varejao, launched a 26-foot trey that failed to fall but succeeded in drawing the evil eye from Pacer coach Rick Carlisle. But what sour puss Carlisle didn’t consider was that the last second heave was meant to bring happiness to thousands; not mount more humiliation on a few. See, the three would have put Cleveland over 100 points which would have given everyone in attendance a free chalupa from Taco Bell. Now, don’t you feel silly coach?

Sunday’s Player of the Day: T.J. Ford vs. Seattle 37 min, 25 pts (FG: 11-15, FT: 3-4), 4 reb, 13 ast, 3 stl

Monday’s Game to Watch: Houston (39-24) @ Phoenix (48-14) The All-Star power is off the charts in this contest as five of the league’s elite will make the start between the two clubs. The Suns come into this game with the second best record in the league and, like usual, are riding a nice winning streak; four in a row and nine of their last ten. But Houston is on a three game win streak of their own as Yao Ming is bouncing back into shape way ahead of schedule. Yesterday against the Magic, Yao looked like the dominant player he was before breaking his leg in November as he went off for 37 points, seven rebounds and four blocks in a 103-92 victory. Tracy McGrady didn’t disappoint as he put up 19 points and 10 assists in the game. Nevertheless, no team wants to make the trip to Phoenix for the backside of a back-to-back.

Buzzer Beater: After a weepy Ron Artest apologized to the world on Saturday for his latest random act of stupidity, he came out and played decent ball in his first game since being reinstated. But don’t let the sniffles and tears fool you, it’s only a matter of time before Artest’s name is back in the headlines for some dumb off court decision. Eric Musselman is just hoping to get through the remainder of the regular season and any playoff run that Sacramento might see before Ron-Ron loses his marbles again. It’s like Terrell Owens in Big D; you know he’s gonna screw the franchise eventually, so all you can hope to do is milk him for 150 yards and a pair of TD’s per game until he does.

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: Ron Arrest


1. The NBA’s Equivalent of Iron Mike
Apparently it’s thug life or no life for Ron Artest. No matter how many chances this guy gets, he will always blow it. Artest’s latest episode got him thrown in the slammer for suspicion of domestic violence and suspicion of using force or violence to prevent the incident from being reported after he allegedly shoved a woman to the floor of his suburban Sacramento home. The Kings president of basketball operations, Geoff Petrie, also said that Artest has been excused from the team indefinitely. If it’s not animal abuse, it’s spousal abuse and if it’s not spousal abuse it’s auditory abuse. The question is what’s worse? Ron-Ron throwing his old lady to the floor, leaving his dog’s in the city pound for 77 days or subjecting an audience to a live performance of “Workin the Pole.” They’re all despicable offenses worthy of imprisonment in my book.

2. Hey, Yao, Break a… Nevermind
After missing 32 games, Yao Ming made his much anticipated return to the Rockets lineup last night but by the end of the game it was LeBron James who was basking in the spotlight. Yao was struggling to find his timing from the very beginning of the game and ended with just 16 points on five of 15 shooting, but he did manage to grab 11 rebounds. But there’s no reason to rush Yao back for his defensive effort when the 40-something year old Dikembe Mutombo is gobbling up rebounds like his vocal clone Cookie Monster devours a pack of Double Stuf Oreos. Nevertheless, no player, man or Muppet, was going to stop LBJ last night as he put together a near triple-double effort in the Cavs 91-85 victory. Cleveland is now only three games behind Detroit for the best record in the Eastern Conference.

3. Oh No-ah!
Boy, one year and one boneheaded Dick Vitale conversation sure can make a big difference in a kid’s life. Just ask Joakim Noah. After leading Florida to the national championship last year, Noah could have decided to go pro and possibly be selected first in the draft. Chicago has admitted to being enamored with the 6-11 forward/center before last years draft and would have selected him with the second pick, should he have fallen to them. But that was when Noah was hot, now he’s not. In fact, some scouts are saying that he isn’t even worth being picked in the top ten. Even Noah has admitted that he hasn’t been fully contributing to his team of late. Throw in the fact that two of the biggest prospects in recent history are probably coming out this year and Noah’s decision that school is cool will probably end up costing him some serious cash.

Monday’s Player of the Day: LeBron James vs. Houston 42 min, 32 pts (FG: 12-24, 3FG: 3-6, FT: 5-9), 12 reb, 8 ast

Tuesday’s Game to Watch: New Jersey (28-32) @ Dallas (50-9) If the Mavericks aren’t must watch basketball then what is? Every single night it seems that Cuban’s kids are breaking records and extending streaks. At this point, every victory is setting a new franchise-high for consecutive wins, currently at 15, as they are now the sixth fastest team in NBA history to reach 50 wins. New Jersey is beginning the dreaded Texas road trip that includes stops at all three of the gyms in just five days. While the task is daunting, the duo of Vince Carter and Jason Kidd have been combining for some serious efforts of late. Jersey is fighting for their playoff lives as they are currently sitting just outside of the top eight in the conference. Presently, the last spot is up for grabs between Orlando, New York and New Jersey so every game is critical for the Nets.

Buzzer Beater: As if there aren’t enough reality shows on the tube already, now Shaquille O’Neal is getting into the act after agreeing to a six-episode series which has yet to be titled or scheduled for release. However, unlike reality gurus such as Flavor Flav, Johnny Knoxville and Dog the Bounty Hunter, Shaq’s show will be beneficial to society. That’s because the Diesel is going to be tackling a topic that he is quite familiar with, childhood obesity. Listed at 325 pounds (uh-huh, right), O’Neal will follow the lives of select kids as they participate in the ABC program and also lobby politicians on health related causes including school nutrition. You have to appreciate Shaq for using his fame to promote a worthy cause, but is the Big (fill in the blank) the right guy to show our nation’s future how to properly eat? Were Charles Barkley, Oliver Miller and Shawn Kemp busy or something?

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: Midseason Movements


1. Trade Hate
If you’re getting sick of all the constant trade rumors about Pau Gasol, Corey Maggette, Vince Carter and others, then there is finally some relief in sight. That’s because the NBA’s trade deadline is just a mere two weeks away. At last, we should begin to see some serious movement with some of the bigger names in the league. If the GM’s decide to pull the trigger on some of these deals then we could end the season with a vastly different league than originally existed. In addition to aforementioned players, guys like Ray Allen, Andrei Kirilenko, Ben Gordon and Kevin Garnett are some of the other names being tossed around.

2. Buyers Remorse

In a heartwarming tale of a boy and his dog; Ron Artest has been accused of animal cruelty. Neighbors in his Loomis California gated community complained about a malnourished Great Dane that Artest had locked up within a fenced area. Artest was issued “pre-seizure” notice stating that the dog would be taken if the care did not improve. On Monday, an underfed “Socks” was removed from the property and Artest now has 10 days to schedule a trial. Apparently, the dog was being feed off the profits from Ron’s rap career.

3. Special Treat
Who would have guessed that Dennis Rodman’s foolish antics would be imitated by player’s years after his retirement from the league? On occasion, Rodman would remove his jersey after a game and throw it into the crowd. Nowadays, Gilbert Arenas carries on the tradition by tossing his top into the crowd after every home game. But we know that NBA ballers love top one another, so J.R. Smith took Arenas’ idea and improved by 100 percent. Not only does Smith toss away his home white jersey after games, but he also remains generous and gives the opposing team’s fans a souvenir after every game as well. Let’s just hope that nobody ever attempts to carry out the Worm’s unaccomplished desire to run off the court naked after the last game of his career.

Wednesday’s Player of the Day: Dirk Nowitzki vs. Memphis 37 min, 38 pts (FG: 14-20, 3FG: 2-2, FT: 8-9), 10 reb, 6 ast, 3 stl, 4 blk

Thursday’s Game to Watch: Los Angeles Lakers (30-19) @ Detroit (29-18) The Lakers have been one of the most surprising teams in the league over the past two seasons. Despite losing Shaq to the Heat, Kobe has done an impressive job of not only carrying the Lakers, but carrying the Lakers to unexpected victories. But L.A. has struggled on the road, which could lead to trouble in Detroit where the Pistons are 14-9. Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton have led the Pistons offensively as they have ripped off a streak of eight wins in their last 10 games.

Buzzer Beater: Kevin Garnett might not be called “The Kid” anymore, but he showed why he’s stilled referred to as “The Big Ticket” last night. Garnett put up the 17th triple-double of his career last night with 17 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists against Golden State. K.G. is one of the freakiest athletes to ever enter the NBA and it’s so unfortunate that he might never get the chance to realistically compete for a championship. At least Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, John Stockton and Patrick Ewing got to play in a Finals series.