On Friday afternoon, I got an email from the NBA Store shamelessly plugging a Jeremy Lin jersey. Jeremy Lin certainly has made the most of his opportunity, and you can’t blame the NBA for trying to make the most of Jeremy Lin. But the cynic in me viewed the shameless monetization of a week-long fad as some sort of hex that surely would knock the Knicks neophyte off his cloud and bring him hurtling back to reality. Wrong again. Lin had his best
Last June, the Dallas Mavericks were on top of the basketball world, while the Minnesota Timberwolves were at rock bottom. Less than eight months later, the teams are separated by two games in the standings, and it’s hard to tell which club is better. The Mavericks (15-11) and Wolves (13-13) meet for the third time this season in Friday’s best NBA game. Minnesota has won the first two, easily handling the defending champions. If the Wolves win again, they will be one
The rivalry between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics doesn’t need any added incentive. But it may have some in Thursday night’s best NBA game. The first of two meetings between the greatest franchises in league history will be televised nationally at 8 p.m. ET by TNT, which has a one-hour pregame show that will reveal the reserves for the All-Star Game later this month. Both proud teams have former All-Stars who have taken a step back this season and may
The Atlanta Hawks, in desperate need of a big man to defend the paint, signed veteran Erick Dampier to a 10-day contract. The team announced the deal Thursday, hours after the Hawks ended a three-game losing streak – all at home – with a win over Indiana. All-Star Al Horford may miss the rest of the regular season with a torn pectoral muscle. Initially, Atlanta seemed OK without him, winning nine of its first 11 games without its starting center. But then Jason
First off, we are doing away with the Roman numerals, which only are used in copyright dates and Super Bowls. They can have ’em. Now back to business. Last week’s Bernucca List was first correctly answered by reader Matthew, who said the list was players who were parts of trades involving Shaquille O’Neal. He narrowly edged Sam Millner, preventing him from winning a second straight week. This week’s list is below. Whether you are a reader or a tweeter, send an answer.
I’m in the minority on Will Ferrell. I don’t think he’s nearly as funny as everyone makes him out to be. I believe that with some exceptions, many of the more recent “Saturday Night Live” alumni have made an extraordinary practice of taking one skit or character that is worth 6-10 minutes worth of minor laughter and bleeding it dry by expanding it to a movie that repeatedly tells the same joke for 90 minutes. However, Ferrell did do the movie
Wanna see Ricky Rubio throw lobs to Blake Griffin? How about John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins teaming up again, as they did at Kentucky? It could happen in the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge, which revealed its player pool Wednesday. As we reported Tuesday, the Rookie-Sophomore Challenge is no more. NBA assistant coaches picked the pool of nine rookies and nine sophomores listed below, but TNT analysts Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal will serve as GMs and draft teams Feb. 16 on the
Next year’s All-Star Weekend will be in Houston. The NBA announced Wednesday that the Rockets and the city of Houston will host the 62nd All-Star Game on Feb. 17, 2013. It marks the third time Houston has hosted the game. It first hosted in 1989 and again in 2006. Beginning with 2006, the NBA has made a commitment to placing All-Star Weekend in supposed warm-weather sites such as Phoenix, Dallas, Los Angeles, etc. However, All-Star Weekend 2006 in Houston was marked by consistently overcast