Latest Gear Live Videos
As a fan I love participating in the sports polls by ESPN and Sports Illustrated just to see what the rest of America thinks. I also like to compare and see if I’m on the same page with other fans across the country. The newest poll asked which player from the last two NBA drafts would you most want to build your team around?
The choices are Andrew Bogut, Dwight Howard, Emakor Okafor, and Chris Paul. The reason I found this particular poll interesting was that I couldn’t make my decision for about five minutes; normally these polls make me formulate an answer instantaneously. I could not choose from either Dwight Howard or Chris Paul. I finally went with my initial gut and went with Chris Paul, because finding a good floor general is just too hard to find. My debate with Howard was that, scouts and GM’s normally go for size when it comes down to two players. Howard will end up being a rebounding machine which might also make me regret my decision.
Well, America has spoken and with over 72,000 votes it was a close race. The winner was Dwight Howard with 36%, Chris Paul with 30%, Emeka Okafor with 23%, and Andrew Bogut coming last with 12%.
Advertisement
The newest amusing tidbit found from SI.com’s Truth and Rumors section:
With Michael Olowokandi’s $6 million coming off the books in July, it looks as if the Celtics are positioning themselves to now trade Paul Pierce for a foundation piece—like say Kevin Garnett.—Detroit News
Wait a minute right there sports fans. The Celtics next year may pair up Wally Szczerbiak and Kevin Garnett together again and the T-Wolves might bring back the duo of Paul Pierce and Ricky Davis? Why didn’t Danny Ainge and Kevin McHale just trade jobs instead of trading players and making those guys buy new homes and find new schools for their kids? I just found this rumor to be pretty hilarious, especially if this comes true. Garnett must be going berserk at the thought of being paired up with Wally World again. I can just imagine Garnett putting his acting skills to good work by imitating Al Pacino from Godfather part III subsequently suffering from a stroke: “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.” Good luck KG.
Read More 
| SI
This was the announcement I was waiting for, the participants for the slam dunk contest. Sadly no Lebron James or Kobe Bryant, but at least Lebron gave a legitimate reason instead of claiming to rest a phantom injury. He said that he is better at coming up with dunks on the fly during an actually ball game rather than thinking about it beforehand. Vince Carter made the slam dunk competition exciting again a couple years back, and last year’s champ Josh Smith, who did some eye-opening dunks, will return to defend his crown.
The other three contestants will be Hakim Warrick of the Memphis Grizzlies, he hasn’t been able to show it much this year in the pros, but Warrick used to throw down some exciting slam dunks during his days in Syracuse. Other participants are Philadelphia’s Andre Iguodala, and New York’s Nate Robinson. Robinson’s dunks should surprise the crowd because he stands at a mere 5’9”, but even that might be a stretch.
Wow, this was a surprising development to say the least. According to retail sales as late of November 2005, T-Mac is the number one NBA jersey sold in China, followed by Reebok spokesmen Allen Iverson and Yao Ming. Perhaps fans in China already own a few of Yao jerseys from his Shanghai Shark days, but one thing is we know for sure is Yao Ming is bringing NBA basketball to new heights in China. Even when Houston Rocket games are not on, fans in China are still logging on the NBA Chinese official website and requesting to see other games like the Cleveland Cavaliers to see Lebron James. To read about Yao’s economic impact around the globe, here is an interesting article.
Read More | Beijing Review
Boston Celtic fans rejoice, it has been 14 years but the wait is finally over. The Celtics are back in action with the white forward who can shoot the rock, the player they have been looking for since Larry Bird retired. Silly Celtic fans, and to think you guys thought you had to tank this season and wait until the 2006 draft to get Adam Morrison from Gonzaga. The architects of this deal are former members of the Celtic championship days, T-Wolves GM is Kevin McHale, and Celtics Executive Director of Basketball Operations is Danny Ainge.
The breakdown of the deal is the Celtics receiving Wally Szczerbiak, Michael Olowokandi, Dwayne Jones and future first round pick in exchange for Ricky Davis, Mark Blount, Marcus Banks, Justin Reed and two second round picks. The T-Wolves were able to unload Szczerbiak’s huge contract and free up some cap room, and also traded him at his highest market value; as he has been playing well so far this year.
The first thing that comes to mind in this deal is that Kevin Garnett is going to experiment with yet another sidekick. So far in Garnett’s career sidekicks included: Stephon Marbury, then had to downgrade to Terrell Brandon, Joe Smith, Szczerbiak, and finally success with Cassell and Sprewell. If only Marbury was more patient and was willing to share the spotlight with Garnett, the T-Wolves wouldn’t be having the same problem they’ve had for the last 10 years. Garnett/ Marbury would’ve been the Stockton/ Malone combination of their era.
Nike recently unveiled the new Vince Carter Nike Shox VC V basketball shoe commercial. The commercial features some awesome dunks that Carter has done in his career, like the huge flush he did with Alonzo Mourning contesting the shot, and the famous dunk over Frederic Weis in the 2000 Olympics. What is unique about this commercial from other basketball themed sneaker commercials is the music of the song Slam by rap group Onyx being played in the background. The song, which was originally released back in 1994, may now gain exposure to some of the younger basketball fans. Other Onyx songs ended up being synonymous with street basketball, such as their 1998 hit, Shut ‘Em Down. Want to be the envy of the other ballers on the court? Better get ready to shell out $109.
No matter what you say about him or what you think of him, you can’t take away his 81 points in one game. Whether you love him or hate him, it is still the second most amazing statistical performance in NBA history. It may not be a big deal now, but think about the previous generation that has no footage of Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 point extravaganza. All we have is the record books and a few thousand eye witnesses to remember the event. Thanks to technology, this is a thing of the past. You can own this piece of history for less than $4, courtesy of Google Video- a better investment than a Laker #81 jersey.
Read More | Google Video
This morning I woke up to Ron Artest finally being traded from the Indiana Pacers to the Sacramento Kings for Peja Stojakovic. This trade, which favored both teams in position needs, fell apart after Ron Artest refused to go to Sacramento, leaving the Kings no choice but to reject the tentative agreement. I hope that this does not go unpunished, and the Pacers never let this guy play another game as a Pacer - immediately suspending him without pay.
Huge offensive explosions around the NBA yesterday, Ray Allen hits a buzzer beater in 2 OT and racked up 42 points, Tracy McGrady scored 43, but those were nothing compared to Kobe Bryant.
Too bad this performance was on the same day as the NFC and AFC title games, and will go under the spotlight. This accomplishment was arguably tougher than Wilt Chamberlain scoring 100 points years ago, considering Chamberlain towered over his opponents in 1962. Bryant has been playing on the same scoring pace as we do when playing video game basketball - scoring 30-40 points in 20 minute games. Just unreal.
The Charlotte Bobcats are looking very thin at the power forward position these days with May joining last years Rookie of the Year Emeka Okafor on the disabled list. Not a good sign for the franchise when their two lottery choice big men may have their careers curtailed due to injuries. Okafor has been suffering from an ankle sprain and May is having knee problems. The Bobcats look to end a five game losing streak tonight versus Orlando.
Advertisement
© Gear Live Media, LLC. 2007 – User-posted content, unless source is quoted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Public Domain License. Gear Live graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, videos, articles, blogs, forums, scripts and other service names are the trademarks of Gear Live Inc.