NBA Action: Marbury Debuts for Celts

Stephon Marbury has finally returned to NBA action after a year or so riding the bench, and staying in the controversial news headlines of New York. On Friday, the newly signed guard made his debut in a game for the Boston Celtics as they hosted the Indiana Pacers. Ray Allen led all scorers with 30, while Marbury contributed 8 points in a close game which saw the Celtics win it by just 5. The Pacers were one of the first teams to defeat the Celtics back in their red hot start to the 2008-09 season and continue to pose a problem for the Eastern Conference leaders. Rajon Rondo put in 17 assists during the contest, and you'd have to believe he's going to have more nights like this with a handful of great scorers to dish to.

Also Friday night, big Shaq Diesel returned to form of his yesteryears when he scored an impressive 45 points and pulled down 11 rebonds, as Steve Nash watched from the bench. The Suns who beat Toronto 133-133, recently learned they would be without Amare Stoudamire for the remainder of the season due to a detached retina. Dirk Nowitzki scored 41 points in an Overtime win against Oklahoma City which saw the Thunder lose star player Kevin Durant to a sprained ankle. Lebron tallied up his 16th double double of the season with 30 points and 14 boards for Cleveland. The Cavs bounced back from their loss a night earlier to the Rockets with a convincing win against the Duncan-less Spurs. Chris Paul racked up 20 assists in a win against the Milwaukee Bucks, won by a Tyson Chandler last second tip in shot. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama dropped by a Wizards home game, but to watch his hometown favorites, the Chicago Bulls lose to one of the worst, if not worst team in the league. Despite that, it was all love for Obama as he shook hands with fans on his way out of the arena.

**In tragic news, the NBA very recently suffered the loss of two all-time greats in Johnny "Red" Kerr and Norm Van Lier, both former members of the Chicago Bulls. Kerr was known as a passing big man, the first coach of the Bulls when they were an expansion team, and also notable as the former Bulls broadcaster. Kerr received an honorary statue at the United Center earlier this month, at a ceremony which featured taped messages from Barack Obama, Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan. Norm Van Lier was a three time All-Star who began his career with Cincinnati back in 1969. He was given the name "Stormin' Norman" for his fiery play and was one of the most popular players in Bulls' history. Van Lier was scheduled to work as a TV analyst for Wednesday's Bulls game. His body was discovered at his home with no cause of death known at this point. Read more about Johnny Red Kerr & Norm Van Lier here.

NBA Bank Bailout Story

It seems the tough economic times are even affecting sports, which has always been a booming business driven by ticket sales, merchandise, pay-per-view packages and other related purchases. According to the Associated Press, $200 million dollars in total bank loans is being made available to interested NBA teams. Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal has reported that a maximum of $11.66 million will be available to each of the 15 NBA teams that expressed interest in the assistance. David Stern noted that this is not a bailout, but instead a show of the "credit worthiness of NBA teams". The money can be used for any purpose, hopefully within reason.

According to Sports Handicapping, the money was being secured from Bank of America and JP Morgan. One team, the Phoenix Suns, has reportedly dropped their line of credit from a local bank in favor of the new line of credit. The Suns have relied on the local bank funding in addition to the NBA's for the past fice years. According to Bizjournals.com, the money made available through the NBA will replace current debt rather than be used for incremental loans.

Read more about the funding and bailout possibilities here.

Twitter Brings Fans to Real Shaq

The social media tool known as Twitter recently helped two starstruck fans meet up with NBA legend, the big Aristotle, Shaquille O'Neal. Shaq uses the Twitter site under the name "The_Real_Shaq" and while many may have questioned if it was the real deal, it's now come to the attention of the masses that it is in fact the superstar center. He's tweeted such thing as "Kobe is the best, he told me to take the trophy hm for my sons, class act, thanks bro" and "Im wit steve nash, hes the best, a hip hop scott skiles". Right now, Shaq has over 137,000 followers on his Twitter account, and two of them decided to track his Tweets, eventually leading them precisely to Shaq's whereabouts in Phoenix, Arizona.

The scene was the "5 & Diner" in Phoenix which is where Shaq "tweeted" on Twitter that he'd be heading to for a bite to eat. The two fans, Jesse Bearden and pal Sean headed to the spot, saw Shaq's big black SUV with Superman logo parked outside, then surprisingly noticed the big fella was actually seated inside the diner by himself. The two took a seat and ordered, while nervously deciding whether to approach Shaq or not. Finally one of the guys' got the following "tweet" from Shaq on their iPhone:

I feel twitterers around me, r there any twitterers in 5 n diner wit me, say somethin

The duo continued to whisper about whether they should go talk to Shaq, and finally a voice boomed in "Yes you should." The rest is classic NBA fan history as the two were able to take pics with the superstar, who according to reports tipped $200 for his $20 meal with Sprite. They recounted the story on their blog which right about now is becoming about as big as the Real Shaq...

To top it all off, Shaq tweeted the following after the meeting:

To all twitterers , if u c me n public come say hi, we r not the same we r from twitteronia, we connect

Here's the full amazing story of how Twitter united two fans with Shaq.

And here's at least 3 confirmed real NBA stars on Twitter:

@ChrisBosh
@The_Real_Shaq
@The_Real_Nash

Follow Love and Basketball Blog at Twitter!

D-Wade: The Good..The Bad, & the Ugly?

In a recent ArmchairGM Op/Ed piece, an author examined the recent nasty allegations and rumors surrounding Miami Heat superstar, Dwyane Wade. The recent allegations may shock those who have come to know and cheer for the former NBA Finals MVP who has always been considered a class act and role model from the league.

According to the various allegations, Wade's wife (soon to be ex) Siohvaughn is claiming Wade infected her with an STD he contracted while having sex with another woman during their marriage. In addition, she claims that Wade goes for days and weeks without speaking a word to his children. Additionally, Richard Von Houtman, a former business associate of Wade's, has reportedly filed a contract suit against D-Wade because the superstar hasn't met promotion requirements for various D Wade's Sports Grills. Von Houtman also alleges that Wade rented an apartment in Miami for smoking pot and having wild sex parties.

This is definitely some surprising stuff to read about one of the "good guys" in the NBA. But as we all know allegations are just that, and NBA players have bounced back despite rumors and court cases. Let's hope that this is a plot by two suspect characters against D-Wade rather than the truth coming to light.

Read the full article here.

2009 Trade Deadline brings few moves

While the recent rumors of Shaq going to Cleveland have been squashed, there were a handful of deals made by teams looking to improve...

One of the bigger deals saw the Bulls and Kings swapping several players, with the Bulls clearly looking to chase down a playoff spot. Here's the ESPN Recap:

The Chicago Bulls and Sacramento Kings reached tentative agreement on Wednesday to trade Andres Nocioni, Drew Gooden, Michael Ruffin and Cedric Simmons to the Kings for Brad Miller and John Salmons.

The Kings then turned around and shipped Ruffin to the Portland Trail Blazers for forward Ike Diogu and cash considerations. The Kings waived guard Quincy Douby and veteran Sam Cassell, acquired on Tuesday from Boston, to make room for their new players.

- NBA Trades before 2009 Deadline -

RAEFER ALSTON TO MAGIC, KYLE LOWRY TO ROCKETS

LARRY HUGHES TO KNICKS, TIM THOMAS TO BULLS

CHRIS WILCOX TO KNICKS, MALIK ROSE TO OKC

WILLIAMS TO WOLVES
- Shelden Williams and Bobby Brown to the Timberwolves
- Kings will receive Rashad McCants and Calvin Booth

BRAD MILLER, JOHN SALMONS TO BULLS
*(see above ESPN recap for full deal)

CHRIS MIHM TO GRIZZLIES, LAKERS GET FUTURE PICK

KG Battles the JabbaWockeez

Kevin Garnett recently embarked on a holy quest, the quest for G. Over at the official Gatorade Mission G site you can follow along as KG leads his medieval troop on a crazy mission. In one particular episode, KG and his posse including Derek Jeter and Jimmie Johnson come to a bridge guarded by the JabbaWockeez, the hip hop dance group you saw Shaq bustin moves with prior to the 2009 NBA All-Star Game. Will our troop of G heroes be able to pass through the JabaWockeez? Watch here and find out!

How the West Won: 146-119 All-Star Game Blowout

(It's a man, it's a mime, it's Shaq-Fu!)

Welcome back, Shaq and Kobe...The dynamic duo teamed up for the first time since their LA Laker days of old glory to lead the West to a big blowout win in the 58th annual NBA All-Star Game Sunday Night. It was the West pounding the East by a final score of 146-119 as the stars came out to shine in Phoenix. Looking on from the crowd were the likes of Chris Tucker, Ludacris, Jay-Z & Beyone, Senator John McCain and his wife, and boxing legend, Muhammad Ali.

Prior to the actual game were the always colorful introductions. In the past we've seen Yao and his starting mates do breakdance moves. This year, Shaq decided to get introduced in grand fashion as he emerged onto the stage wearing his very own white mask (ala Michael Meyers), then proceeded to break it on down with the hip-hop dance group, Jabbawockeez. All that was missing were Shaq's fellow hip hop friends Fu-Schnickens for a surprise rap reunion on stage. Nonetheless, Kobe must have been smiling ear to ear, happy that Shaq wasn't delivering yet another freestyle rap in his direction, and that the two were on the floor together again as teammates. According to NBA.com's game recap there was little interaction between the two, but they claim they've patched things up.

Kobe seemed on a mission early on, as the commentators mentioned he took about 11 or so shot attempts in the first quarter. Then again, the West was coached by his good pal and current coach, Phil Jackson who had no problem leaving his star on the court. Bryant scored a game high 27 while Shaq added 17 to help the West dominate. The two former Lakers alum shared the MVP award honors after the game. Hometown star, Amare Stoudamire chipped in 19 for a West team that avenged its loss against the East last year in New Orleans. The East was lead by posterchild Lebron James' 20, followed by 18 a piece from Dwyane Wade and Paul Pierce. Several newcomers to the game saw action and their first stats in the game, including Devin Harris, Danny Granger and Mo Williams.

The glaring difference amongst the two teams which seems to have plagued the East in the past was the Eastern Conference's lack of size. Even though the East had lead vote-getter and Superman, Dwight Howard on its starting lineup alongside KG, that's where their size ended. The bench held no real help as Chris Bosh was injured, and all that remained were the likes of Danny Granger, Rashard Lewis and Paul Pierce, none of whom really size up with guys like Paul Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki or David West. Note to the NBA coaches and Commish Stern: Try to have some parity in the game before lineups are finalized. It was nice to see Ray Allen get the nod when Jameer Nelson was unable to play due to injury, but the West had several guys capable of playing the PF or C position. The West took control of the boards, outrebounding the East 51-38, once again proving, size matters. So let's make it mandatory that each team must have 2 centers and 2 power forwards on the bench, no matter what. The East has a few of those right?

See the Full game recap and the full boxscore for the All-Star game here.

2009 All-Star Saturday: Skills, 3's & Dunks

Saturday night the stars came out in Phoenix to watch several hot competitions which served as a precursor to the 2009 NBA All-Star Game.

The always anticipated Dunk contest featured a showdown between last year's winner, big man Dwight Howard, and the smaller winner from several years ago, Nate Robinson from the New York Knicks. The battle took on a whole new level as the two finalists donned costumes. Dwight Howard had a second basketball hoop brought in via forklift, then ran to a phone booth in the crowd where he donned his familiar Superman cape. Howard then proceeded to dunk on a hoop that had been raised a lofty 12 feet, displaying his true athletic ability. Howard outdid himself when he did another dunk from the sidelines after tossing the ball off the side of the hoop, catching it, cocking it back and jamming it on the side.

Nate Robinson decided to play arch-enemy to Superman, Lex Luthor, when he emerged from the locker room dressed in the special green Knicks uniform and kicks, resembling Kryptonite. From there, Robinson launched into several impressive dunks. First up was a double-handed reverse. But the dunk that was the icing on the "cape" so to speak, was Robinson calling in his opponent, D-Howard, to stand facing the hoop. Robinson then charged full speed ahead and launched himself up and over Superman. It was a comic book finish to a zany dunk contest, which gave way to Robinson winning his 2nd dunk contest title. Robinson was informed as were fans watching that Lebron James has thrown his name into the contestants for 2010...Just when you thought there's nothing left to do, King Lebron will be ready to innovate in 2010!

Let's not forget about the previous competitions of the night, even though they usually pale in comparison to the dunks. In the skills contest it was Chicago's rookie phenom, Derrick Rose, who took home the victory. Rose even capped off his layup with a sweet dunk of his own...so why no dunk contest Rose? The three point shootout saw a relatively unknown winner in Dacquan Cook of the Miami Heat. He beat out Rashard Lewis in the finals. Detroit's team built of a WNBA star, NBA legend and NBA star took home the title in the team shootout competition.

With the festivities wrapped up on Saturday Night in Phoenix, the stage is set for the 2009 All-Star Game where Lebron, Kobe and the rest of the best will suit up to dazzle and astound the crowd!

Jordan Headed to Hall of Fame

(It's time...)

Michael Jordan is a six time NBA Champion, five time NBA MVP, won two Olympic Gold Medals and an NCAA Championship at University of North Carolina. Add to that multiple scoring titles, many all-star game appearances, retirement-comeback stories, taking a swing at a baseball career, playing ball with Bugs Bunny, lucrative endorsement deals as well as his own status as a CEO and brand. Now Jordan's impressive basketball resume has lead to him being named one of 16 finalists for the 2009 Hall of Fame. Was there any doubt?

A few of Jordan's Dream Team buddies have also been nominated. Former San Antonio Spur, David Robinson, one of the league's best assist-men in John Stockton (Utah Jazz), and sharpshooter Chris Mullin (Golden State Warriors) all were included as Finalists. Former Celtics great Dennis Johnson was nominated as were NBA Coaches Don Nelson and Jerry Sloan, and women's coach C. Vivian Stringer. The 16 finalists made a cut from 164 total choices.

According to Google News Associated Press:

Other finalists include former Golden State coach Al Attles, who was nominated as a contributor; Bob Hurley Sr., who has more than 900 wins at St. Anthony's High School in New Jersey; Vladimir Kondrashin, who coached the Soviet Union to the 1972 Olympic gold medal, defeating the U.S. in a controversial final; Pereira "Ubiratan" Maciel, a player known as "The King" in his native Brazil; Richie Guerin, a six-time NBA All-Star with the New York Knicks and a former player-coach with the St. Louis and Atlanta Hawks; and Johnny "Red" Kerr, a longtime Chicago Bulls commentator who was named NBA Coach of the Year in 1967 after leading the expansion Bulls into the playoffs in their first season.

The announcement of who gets in this year will be made on April 6th at the NCAA Final Four in Detroit. The official enshrinement comes September at the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachussetts. While all 16 finalists can officially get elected are there any doubts over names like MJ, Stockton, Mullin, Bernard King and The Admiral making it?

Askmen Predicts NBA Finals Rematch

Popular online men's magazine, Askmen.com, has a recent article up entitled "Top 10: Reasons Why It Will Be a Lakers-Celtics Final". Included in their reasoning for this rematch are things such as the fact that the Houston Rockets are injury-prone and the Hornet's haven't improved since last season. Also a valid point made may be, that no other teams' offseason moves will make a big enough difference in terms of pushing a team into title contention. So far, it's seemed to be only a handful of teams mentioned in 2009 title talks, with the Celtics and Lakers always considered hot, and the Cavs and Magic capable of catching serious fire in the playoffs...

Here's Askmen.com's 10 reasons we'll see Lakers-Celtics this June:

No.10 - None of the off-season moves had noticeable impacts
No. 9 - The Denver Nuggets are a paper tiger
No.8 - The Houston Rockets are injury-prone
No.7 - The New Orleans Hornets haven't improved
No.6 - The Dallas Mavericks & the Phoenix Suns have regressed
No.5 - The Detroit Pistons have fallen off
No.4 - The San Antonio Spurs lack proven depth
No.3 - The Cleveland Cavaliers & the Orlando Magic are a step behind
No.2 - The Los Angeles Lakers' depth can't be matched
No.1 - The Boston Celtics are a year older

Number 1 reason makes plenty of sense, as the Big 3 are a year older and wiser with their first title under wraps. But as you can see from the above, several teams were basically dissed by the online men's mag, especially the Cavs and Magic who have been amongst the top 4 teams most of this season. Lebron James showed 2 years ago he's got the skill, poise and raw talent to lead a squad to the promised land (although not the title per se). Dwight Howard has taken on the role of the new-age Shaq, providing the Orlando Magic with the most dominant big man in the game today. Don't count either out just yet...

Several analysts have recently picked what could be a more realistic Finals matchup, with the Lakers in the West meeting the Cavaliers from the East. It would make for another NBA dream matchup, which would feature the two best players the NBA has to offer going head to head for the title. Kobe vs. Lebron, center stage...

Read full article - Top 10: Reasons Why It Will Be a Lakers-Celtics Final at Askmen.com