In the aftermath of the elbow by Metta World Peace of the Los Angeles Lakers, James Harden’s health has somewhat taken a backseat to the anticipation of the pending suspension for the man formerly known as Ron Artest. With everyone waiting for the severe penalty to be handed down by the NBA, Harden has been trying to get back on the floor for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Continue Reading…

#1 San Antonio Spurs (47-16)

With the shortened NBA regular season coming to a close, the San Antonio Spurs has emerged as potentially the best team in the Western Conference. The Oklahoma City Thunder be the popular and ultimately right choice to represent the West in the NBA Finals, but never counted out the resilient Spurs who’ve proven they haven’t missed a beat despite being much older than the competition. Continue Reading…

The race for the third seed in the Western Conference is really starting to heat with only a few games remaining in the NBA regular season. It was the consensus of many NBA analysts that the Los Angeles Lakers had that seed in the bag a few weeks ago as it seemed that no team could catch them from four to eight, but now the crosscourt rival Los Angeles Clippers are in the mix with just a half a game between the two teams after Wednesday night’s wins. Continue Reading…

About a month and a half ago, the trade rumors in the NBA were starting to run rampant with plenty of big-name players being thrown around in potential trades. One team that seemed to be on the verge of breaking up the core of their squad was the Boston Celtics. Rumors of Boston’s Big 3 being dealt by the NBA trade deadline on March 15 started to heat up with Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce possibly on their way out of Beantown.

There was no question that Celtics GM Danny Ainge was seriously considering making considerable moves at the deadline in an attempt to begin an extensive rebuilding process in Boston. Even All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo was reportedly on the trading block and was almost dealt to the arch rival Los Angeles Lakers for two-time NBA champion forward Pau Gasol.

Obviously, no big deals were made before the deadline with the Boston Celtics standing pat with their current roster. Apparently, Ainge came extremely close to trading both Pierce and Allen at the deadline.

The deal for Ray Allen would’ve sent the NBA’s all-time leading in three-point field goals to the Memphis Grizzlies. In return, the Celtics would’ve received a draft pick and shooting guard O.J. Mayo. This was a move that would have made Boston considerably younger and given them another pick in the draft.

As for Paul Pierce, the deal the Celtics were working on was sending the one-time NBA champion to the New Jersey Nets in exchange for veteran forward Mehmet Okur and a lottery pick. Even though Okur isn’t what he used to be, the Celtics wanted that pick to get some young talent in the 2012 NBA draft.

Despite this deals almost going through, the Celtics decided to hold off the rebuilding process for a little while longer. So far, it appears that Ainge may have made the right move with Boston getting back on track and having a legitimate shot to make something happen in the upcoming NBA playoffs.

#1 Chicago Bulls (46-14)

Despite the constant injury problems and reigning NBA MVP Derrick Rose still trying to shake off the rust, the Chicago Bulls remain the best team in the league. With 46 wins and perhaps 50 before the playoffs, the Bulls will be as tough to beat as any team in the postseason. Continue Reading…

After missing three straight games with a shin injury on his left leg, Kobe Bryant will also miss a fourth as he will not be active for Friday night’s game against the Denver Nuggets at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Continue Reading…

After suffering a shin injury on his left leg recently, the Lakers’ coaching staff decided that it would be better for Kobe Bryant to rest in order to get healthy for the upcoming playoffs. As arguably one of the toughest basketball players in the history of the league, Kobe isn’t one from sitting on the sidelines and simply watching the Lakers play. Continue Reading…

After arguably his worst year as a pro, two-time NBA champion Lamar Odom has agreed to part ways with the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks. The short stint with the Mavs was followed by many with Odom having a camera in his face on the court and off. This constant coverage with no privacy due to the reality show with wife Khole Kardashian may have been the reason for the reigning Sixth Man of the Year’s problems this season.

With career-lows in almost every category, Lamar Odom has been a shell of his former self this season and nowhere near the player he once was in the two title runs with the Los Angeles Lakers. Even though Odom requested a trade after the failed blockbuster to bring perennial All-Star point guard Chris Paul to the Lakers, the versatile forward never really left Los Angeles with his heart and mind staying in L.A. while he tried to turn over a new leaf in Dallas.

The highly controversial trade that sent Lamar Odom to the Dallas Mavericks left a lot of Lakers fans scratching their heads with Los Angeles only getting draft picks and an $8.9 million trade exception in return. The trade was widely considered a huge step in the right direction for the Dallas Mavericks in their title defense as they vastly improved their bench and helped soften the blow of losing both Caron Butler (Los Angeles Clippers) and Tyson Chandler (New York Knicks) to free agency. Continue Reading…

As the one team that has been constantly surrounded in trade speculation this season heading up to the NBA trade deadline on March 15, the Orlando Magic have been talked about more than any team in the league. With the consensus that Dwight Howard wanted out and would almost certainly be traded before the deadline, the Magic seemed to be doomed with no way to get equal value in return and a possibility for an extensive rebuilding process after the trade went through.

Fortunately, the blockbuster deal to send Howard to the New Jersey Nets or the Los Angeles Lakers never happened with the three-time Defensive Player of the Year agreeing to waive his opt-out clause and stay in Orlando for at least one more season. Even though the same kind of fiasco could occur next season before the trade deadline, the fact remains that Howard will be in a Magic uniform for at least a little bit longer.

Now that Dwight Howard has shown a bit of ego and a LeBron James-like persona with all this trade talk and speculation, the hits keep coming in Orlando with the superstar center apparently asking the team to fire head coach Stan Van Gundy. With the two never really seeing eye-to-eye, it seems that a keep component to keep Howard in Orlando after next season is to get rid of Van Gundy.

The outspoken head coach made it known recently that Dwight Howard asked the Magic front office to fire him. Howard immediately denied these reports, but Van Gundy is not one to make up stories. This leads many to believe that Howard did in fact ask for the firing of the head coach and as a result things have gotten that much more interesting in Orlando moving forward.

One of the most hated figures in professional sports over the past year or so has been none other than NBA Commissioner David Stern. Despite a very successful run as the league’s commissioner thus far, Stern dropped the ball so to speak dealing with the NBA lockout this summer. With Stern being the face of evil in many NBA fans’ minds, the commissioner really got hit with a lot of criticism for not getting having the NBA season start on time. Continue Reading…