"Vinny" of Jersey Shore Rubs It In New Jersey's Face

Looks like it's just the name of a show huh, well to Vinny of "Jersey Shore" it is. He was spotted decked out in Knicks attire while they went head up against the New Jersey Nets.

Maybe Vinny has the mindset of Nets ownership in that the Nets will belong to Brooklyn in a few years and wanted to reinforce his passion for Knicks basketball.

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Jordan Finally Gets Into HOF...In North Carolina

Yes Jordan is in the North Carolina Hall of Fame. Took long enough huh, I mean really why so long. Well he was elected in '93 but in Carolina you must personally accept the accept the invitation, so Jordan will do that this month. Either way it's deserving.

Jordan played his high school ball in Wilmington for Laney and then his college ball under Dean Smith at North Carolina where his jumper lead the Tar Heels to the NCAA National Championship in 1982.

Michael said in a statement..."When I think about all the great athletes from North Carolina that inspired me to become the best I could be, it's humbling to know that now I stand with them as members of a very special fraternity," Jordan said.

Source

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Wesley Matthews With The Rhymes...

Wesley Matthews is a prophet...well not quite but to see how he flowed these lyrics prior to suiting up in the NBA is pretty cool.

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Tonight is the night: LeBron returns to Cleveland for the first time...video, security, investigations and Mo Williams

So...here's the latest in the saga.


Rob Mahoney from Hardwood Paroxysm created this great video montage of LeBron's move to Miami. The song used in the video is a cover of Wilco’s “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” by JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound.



Cool right?

Also, did you know...

LeBron has had security all season? And the HEAT, for the first time this season have not released their travel plans to Cleveland.

The Heat and the NBA have taken additional security measures to ensure the safety of James and the team this season. Those efforts are expected to increase when the team travels to Cleveland immediately after Wednesday night’s home game against Detroit.
The Heat typically release the team’s travel schedule, hotel location and pregame workout plans as a courtesy to select media outlets that cover the team for home and away games

James, Wade, Bosh

The decision to keep details of the trip private raises speculation that the Heat might elect not to stay in a downtown Cleveland hotel, as the team normally does when facing the Cavaliers.

and... What does this have to do with Mo Williams?Well, Here's what he had to say...

James, Williams in better times.

“This game is not just for us,” Williams said following practice Wednesday. “It’s the 20,000 fans and the millions watching who will be pulling for us. We’ve got people who aren’t even Cavs fans who will be pulling for us. We’ve got a lot behind us.”
“It’s definitely more than a game, I can tell you that,” Williams said. “This game has been circled. There’s a lot of playoff feeling going on.”
“The whole world is watching,” Williams said. “It’s something that will go in the history books. I’ll be a part of it. I’m proud of that.”
“That’s in the past,” he said. “It’s over and done with. We can go on and on with it. We talked about it. This summer, I voiced my opinions. I put it behind me. It’s not personal. It’s not personal at all.”

Oh, wait...there's more...

Dan Gilbert himself.

A source reports that the Cavs hired a firm to probe Heat's pursuit of LeBron this summer.
Yahoo! Sports reported on Wednesday that Gilbert has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to a Midwestern law firm to investigate suspicions that the Heat broke NBA tampering rules while pursuing James, who left the Cavs after seven seasons to join fellow stars Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade in Miami.
Source 






Game on! We've got our DVR set, because there's bound to be replayable moments.

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Video: Dwight Howard's Impression of Derek Anderson

Did you see the rant by NFL Cardinals QB Derek Anderson last weekend?  Check it out here.

Well our very own funny guy Dwight Howard has his own impressions.
 

Dwight Howard is funny.

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NBA-FP TV: Weekly 12/2/2010

Click to Play

This week we talk about keeping LeBron out of the All Star game, Shaq's shopping and Kobe and Jamison's 50point game history. TRT:3:01

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Life in the Fast Lane

Andrew Bynum's knee surely has taken its toll on his speed of play (or lack there of) on the court, but it doesn't seem like anything has gotten in his way off the court in his 2010 Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano.

Law enforcement reports that Bynum was clocked doing 110mph in a 55mph zone. Luckily for him, he was only given a speeding ticket and not thrown in jail for reckless driving. Even though he isn't experiencing a "speedy" recovery, there is no excuse for driving twice the legal limit.

Gotta love that celebrity justice too... There's nothing like a good slap on the back of the hand to ensure the practice of safety in the future. Tisk tisk Andrew.

Marty O'Connor

NBA-FrontPage Los Angeles

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Video: Hibbert's MMA Work Paying Off

The Pacers have got some pretty big wins of late with increased minutes and production from center Roy Hibbert. Hibbert is averaging 30.3mpg through 16 games, up from his career average of 21.1.

Big Roy tells Sam Amick at Fanhouse what he found out and did to increase his minutes:

After last season, Hibbert had his lungs tested in an eight-hour process at an Indianapolis-area hospital in which he breathed into a machine to get a reading on his windbags. When it was deemed what Hibbert called "athlete-induced asthma," the prescription for an inhaler quickly followed and Hibbert was on his way to an unexpected rebirth.

Suddenly, the breaths came easier, the frame felt lighter, and Hibbert went to work shedding weight so as to take full advantage of his new physical circumstance. He accepted an invitation from a team trainer and joined the world of Mixed Martial Arts fighting in the pursuit of peak condition.

The new-and-(most) improved Hibbert has gone from 278 pounds to 255 while seeing his body fat decrease from 14 percent to eight percent.

"Those (MMA) guys, I feel like, are the best conditioned athletes, so three days a week, I did punching, knees, everything you see those guys do on (the Ultimate Fighting Championships), I was doing that," Hibbert said. "It got me in tip-top shape. I'd go to Fortville, Ind., drive like 40 minutes after my (basketball) workouts (in the summer) and trained there."

MMA made it's way onto the NFL scene and now Roy Hibbert's experience may garner it more attention from others around the association. Not only are Hibbert's minutes up but his numbers are up across the board.

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Video: It's True...Magic will own a NFL team

He sold his assets to "come together to bring the NFL back to L.A."

See his announcement on Jimmy Kimmel:

Magic Johnson wants to do magic in L.A.

If he pulls this off he'll be the greatest ever, ever, ever!

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It's all in the shoes. List of shoes worn by NBA players.

Or maybe our friends at HoopsHype do. They have updated their database of the sneakers worn by every NBA player. It's pretty cool.

Starbury's

FYI...Chinese brands are gaining on those that are just made in China.

Link is here: HoopsHype

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Video: Joakim Noah went in the steam room with John Elway

This guy always give good stuff.

Joakim Noah's luscious lock.

Check out what he reveals. (Hint at 1 minute mark.)

He says "It was kinda awkward."

 

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Rashad McCants will donate his D-Leage salary

Rashad McCants

Once thought of as the NBA's next great shooting guard, Rashad McCants has been the opposite of that. Disappointing to say the least. McCants stumbled in Minnesota for the better part of four seasons and did little in Sacramento after a trade. For the last two years, he's been seeking jobs in training camps, hoping to find a steady paycheck in the NBA.

But despite this lack of success, McCants still has a great deal of talent, enough to make him worth a shot for a team in desperate need of scoring. This disconnect between McCants's talent and inability to attract NBA teams even made him the subject of an article in ESPN The Magazine this summer.

McCants now has a steady job with the Texas Legends of the NBA D-League, which at least puts him on track to rejoin the NBA ranks at some point in time. But as noted by ESPN's Marc Stein in his piece on the signing, McCants might have had some more reasons for staying in America:

The maximum salary in the D-League is $25,500 -- well shy of the $2.6 million McCants earned in his last season in the NBA with Minnesota and Sacramento in 2008-09 -- but the source said McCants intends to donate his Legends checks to the Urban Born youth and teen charity foundation (http://www.urbanborn.org/).

That's a small sum by NBA standards -- roughly similar to a moderate fine -- but it's still an impressive gesture. As McCants told FanHouse's Scott Schroeder, he has been working with Urban Born for some time now:

"I think that playing in the D-League is the quickest option to return to the NBA," McCants told FanHouse. "My decision to stay in the states and enter the D-League was solely based upon my family needs and working with the underprivileged youth and misunderstood kids."
McCants has been very active in helping underprivileged youth this past season while preparing to return to the NBA.
"It is in my passion to help the next generation through Urban Born and Generation 1 Foundation to get to the next level of life, McCants continued. "Regardless if I return to the NBA or not, my pursuit to enhancing the next generation will not stop."

Rashad McCants

According to Stein, McCants had also weighed more lucrative offers from foreign teams before settling on the Legends. That information -- and copious quotations from McCants' advisers in Schroeder's piece -- suggest that the key reason for staying in the United States was to get a better shot at returning to the NBA, not to help these organizations.

Still, this is excellent work from McCants. A cynic would claim that he is only using these charities to rehabilitate his image, but based on typical NBA spending habits, that D-League salary is likely a large portion of his current net worth. That's a very generous gift for the charities and a sign from McCants that he means business.

Source

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Hall of Fame: Reggie Miller leads the Candidates For 2011 HOF Class

Well lookie here.

Former Pacers guard Reggie Miller heads the list of candidates for the Hall of Fame's 2011 class.

Reggie looks cool

Reggie being Reggie.

Nominations closed Tuesday with Miller, in his first time on the ballot, the best bet for induction among players or coaches with NBA ties for the Hall that celebrates every level of basketball.

Other candidates include Mark Jackson, Bernard King, Chris Mullin, Don Nelson and Dennis Rodman.
Nominees must receive approval on at least seven of nine ballots in the North American group, and five of seven in the others, to become a finalist, cuts that will be announced at All-Star weekend.

Finalists will need to receive at least 18 of 24 votes from a different panel -- the names of voters are never released -- to be announced at the Final Four as an inductee.

Source

 

Go Bruins!

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NBA encourages fans to unite in fight on World AIDS Day

We always like to take pause for important causes.
While you've probably seen celebrities die digitally , the NBA want fans today to take part.

NBA Cares

As part of the NBA Cares Season of Giving, the NBA family will debut a new television and radio public service campaign to raise HIV/AIDS awareness in support of World AIDS Day on Dec. 1. Through a variety of collaborative efforts, highlighted by a partnership with the Greater Than AIDS campaign, the league and its teams and players will help increase awareness about HIV/AIDS and reduce the stigma surrounding the disease.

A new series of NBA Cares/Greater Than AIDS public service announcements -- featuring NBA stars Pau Gasol (Los Angeles Lakers), Al Horford (Atlanta Hawks), Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder), and WNBA star Candice Wiggins (Minnesota Lynx) -- will debut on World AIDS Day and continue airing throughout the season. The PSAs will encourage fans to visit a dedicated information portal at www.greaterthanaids.org/nba.

Magic Johnson announced he had HIV

"As an 11-year-old boy living in Barcelona, the news that Magic Johnson was HIV positive deeply impacted me," said Pau Gasol. "Today, as a professional basketball player, I am grateful to raise awareness and funding for HIV/AIDS in the hopes that we will soon find a cure for this devastating disease."

Paul Gasol in Spain

In addition, players, teams and coaches will help to raise awareness by wearing special red-and-white apparel oncourt during games played on Dec. 1. Players will wear special adidas shooting shirts featuring the AIDS ribbon and headbands and wristbands provided by For Bare Feet. Coaches will wear red ties courtesy of Joseph Abboud. Teams will also host community events and special in-arena nights throughout the month.

"In the early days of the epidemic, the NBA was among the first organizations to speak out about AIDS," said Drew Altman, Ph.D., president and CEO of the Kaiser Family Foundation, which provides direction to Greater Than AIDS. "By joining with Greater Than AIDS, the NBA is showing great leadership in using the power of its brand, teams, and players to ensure that attention does not wane and, even more importantly, to confront the stigma that persists."

Source

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Uh Oh...the HEAT are coming to Cleveland...here's what to expect

Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert expects Cleveland fans to be boisterous but behave when LeBron James returns this week.

This will be James' first visit as a member of the Miami Heat. The Cavs will have extra security in Quicken Loans Arena to ensure that James is protected.

"You don't want to see anything stupid happen," Gilbert said at halftime of Cleveland's game Tuesday night against Boston. "I don't want to see anybody do something they shouldn't do, whether it was Thursday night or any night. I'm sure a lot of them will make their feelings known, but as long as everybody plays by the rules and doesn't go over the top, everything will be fine.

I really believe that Cleveland people will do the right thing."

Well O.K. but this Chant that was handed out to the fans won't help.

Betrayal

 “Chant” sheet here.

Here is the jist of it.

Throughout the game:
Whenever LeBron is introduced, laugh as loud as you can
Introductions;
Wade – Boo
Bosh- Boo
Arroyo – Boo
Z – (We’d encourage Cheering)
LeBron – Laugh as loud as you can

Check out how Big Z is spared. But here's the best part:

Start of Third Quarter
To the tune of “My Country Tis of Thee”
Our King he betrayed Thee
Couldn’t play any ‘D’
He has no RING!
Playoffs He Barely Tried
Embarrassed Akrons Pride
No Doubt he really lied
He HAS NO RING!
(Repeat as Necessary)

Hahaha at the "repeat if necessary".




In the meantime, here's what others think:

Reggie Miller says LeBron should embrace upcoming boos.

Former Cleveland teammate Shaquille O'Neal is anticipating the return. He said he's definitely watching. Here's his tweet:

“ I’m anxious to see if he’s going to do the powder thing…. I’m anxious to see him do the powder s—. We have bets he won’t do it."

Oh, there's powder everywhere!

Good question Shaq! Will he do the powder? 









And LeBron...he hopes that the Cleveland fans will forgive him and retire his jersey someday.

"Wow. Of course," James said. "If that's something that organization and franchise would do, I'm all respectful of that. I just tried to be the best player I could be every night, whether I was in that Cavalier uniform, that USA uniform. If that results in me having my jersey retired that would be great."
James added that he'll be ready for whatever response he receives when the Heat battle the Cavaliers in Cleveland later this week.
"I'm ready for whatever response I'm going to get," James said. "It's going to be very emotional. I give a lot of thanks to that city, a lot of thanks to those fans for giving me the opportunity to not only showcase my talent, but to grow from a young boy to a man during my seven years. So it's going to be very emotionally draining. I can tell already."

 

 James also expects it to be emotional for him too.

"I think it's going to be very emotional for myself," James said. "I've got a lot of great memories in that city. So many times, from ups and downs, and a lot of things that I've done in my life, I give a lot of thanks to that city, lot of thanks to those fans for giving me the opportunity to not only showcase my talent but grow from a young boy to a man."

The HEAT visit the Q (a.k.a. Quicken Loans Arena) Thursday. You can watch all the hub-bub on TNT.

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