// When the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Dwight Howard, I didn’t stutter when I declared that they would win 70 games this season. Well, it took nearly all of the preseason, but we finally got a look at Howard back on the court in a Lakers uniform. And I saw nothing to change my mind.
When we wrote last month that the Western Conference playoff picture would be filled in by the Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves, it was assumed that both teams would have their alpha dogs at power forward. Now that Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin Love are both out until at least December, that picture could be changing. Nowitzki and Love both are top-10 players whose presence instantly legitimizes their teams as playoff-worthy, regardless of the other 14 players sharing a locker room and airplane with them.
Who are the needles in the haystacks? With NBA training camps opening, nothing excites me more than talking about little-known players and their chances to make their perspective teams. The time to put all other events aside for the next 9 months is about to begin, and I couldn’t be more excited. I have the bug so bad this time of year, I go to local college inter-squad scrimmages. As it relates to the NBA, this is a tremendous time of year
After sifting through all kinds of the media speculation regarding the Los Angeles Lakers quest to rebuild in 2014, inspirational quotes and daily routine tweets from NBA players, this came across the screen:
Even for hoops addicts, watching NBA preseason games presents a challenge. The baseball playoffs are under way, the college football and NFL seasons are in full swing, and there is this small matter of a presidential election. There is no subscription package for the preseason. League Pass takes a pass until the regular season starts later this month. So the only way you can watch games right now is on NBA TV, which isn’t part of the basic package of a number
Commissioner David Stern is overseas, helping sell the NBA brand with its annual round of exhibition games in Europe and Asia. On Sunday, he was in Milan, Italy, watching the Boston Celtics – one of the few NBA teams that are a brand unto themselves – take apart Italian club EA7 Emporio Armani Milano. EA7 Emporio Armani is an apparel and accessory company and the primary sponsor of Milano of Lega A in Italy. The company logo is plastered across the front
We all realize at this point that the Los Angeles Lakers have assembled a team to do some special things this season. There is an incredible amount of talent on the team from Steve Nash’s play-making abilities, Dwight Howard’s defensive presence, Kobe Bryant’s scoring prowess to Metta World Peace’s renewed focus. Then there is Pau Gasol, whose ability to be an all-around player for the team could be the x-factor to help carry the Lakers over the top. See why
Bo McCalebb (shown here playing for Macedonia) scored 21 points as Fenerbahce of Turkey defeated the Boston Celtics on Friday in Istanbul. Attention Celtics Nation. Your guys just lost to a Turkish team — albeit a good one. Bo McCalebb, the former University of New Orleans standout whose life outside of the U.S. as a dual Macedonian citizen has been well-chronicled on this site, dominated throughout the game and scored 21 points in Fenerbahce Ulker’s 97-91 victory. NBA washout Romain Sato
