Shaquille O’Neal was – to most knowledgeable eyes – the most dominating basketball player since the Wilt Chamberlain/Bill Russell era. Nevertheless, he won only one MVP award. And, despite his four championship rings and his hall-of-fame career, Shaq never could shake the perception that he might have been an even greater player, had he approached the game with a ninja-killer-zeal like Michael Jordon.
Fortunately for the rest of us, the haters can now suck on this:
You know in your heart that Magic is right.
Looks like Kobe in Italy is almost a totally done deal.
Players have acknowledged this very real labor battle by seeking employment in other professional leagues in other countries. Even All-Star players, like Deron Williams. Kobe Bryant has indicated he is interested in playing in Turkey.
But not our man King James. No, no. Likely from the part of his brain that OK’d The Decision, and the part of his brain that predicted he would win seven world championships with the Miami Heat, LeBron James is preparing for a status quo NBA season. He is perhaps the only human on the planet doing this.
The King and reality have always had a complex relationship.
If Kevin Durant isn’t already one of your favorite ballers, he should be. While other NBA megastars debate the merits of cashing in paychecks from Turkish and Chinese clubs during the lockout, Durant took his talents to the streets.
Of Harlem.
For free.
And lit that sucka up (he dropped 66).
Former NBA player Samaki Walker was arrested Thursday for illegal possession of marijuana and steroids. The best part? Samaki tried to eat the pot before he was searched by the police.
Police say Walker tried to eat eight grams of pot. He was eventually busted for possession 10 grams of the sticky-icky-icky, and liquid steroids, which sound very space age.
Eating pot will mess you up. Eating eight grams? That’s beyond.
Yahoo! Sports is reporting Yao Ming has informed the NBA of his retirement.
From Adrian Wojnarowski’s report:
Yao played just five games last season, and hasn’t been able to fully recover after having surgery in January to repair a stress fracture in his left foot. The veteran center informed the Rockets, the league office in New York and NBA China of his decision to leave the game within the past 48 hours, sources said.
DeShan Stevenson was arrested for public intoxication in Irving, Texas last night. Irving is basicaly in Dallas, where the Cowboys old, much groovier home Texas Stadium used to sit. Dallas is where DeShawn will be participating in an NBA Championship parade today. We can perhaps step out on a limb and surmise that ol’ DeShawn was doing a little pre-gaming for the parade. And God bless. Who wouldn’t get a little loose after becoming a world champ?
The best part about this story is that police picked up DeShawn for wandering the streets, apparently unaware of where he was. At 10.30 pm. Think of the championship drinking effort required to be that obliterated before the late local news.
Reggie Theus is former college star at UNLV. He played 17 seasons in the NBA. Reggie has been a head coach the league, and currently works as an assistant on Kurt Rambis’ staff with Minnesota. Reggie joined Robert in Hour 1. Among the topics discussed was the late Drazen Petrovic. Click through for a podcast of the conversation.
