Game 6: Spurs @ Heat Tues. June 18, 2013 9 p.m. ET

The defending NBA champion Miami Heat will have their backs up against the wall once again during the NBA Finals with the San Antonio Spurs bouncing back from a Game 4 loss to LeBron James and company with an impressive win in Game 5. Continue Reading…

Over the past few days, the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Clippers have been working tirelessly on getting a deal done to pull off the first blockbuster trade of the soon-to-be NBA off-season. The Clippers have been adamant about acquiring head coach Doc Rivers and future Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett in a deal that would ultimately send DeAndre Jordan, Eric Bledsoe and draft picks to the Celtics. Continue Reading…

In one of the last games of the NBA regular season for the Los Angeles Lakers, five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant suffered a torn Achilles tendon on a move that he’d done thousands of times during his Hall-of-Fame-caliber career in the league. Kobe went down, knew the severity of the injury and hit two free throws to seal the deal for the Lakers against the Golden State Warriors. Continue Reading…

The San Antonio Spurs struck a potentially fatal blow on Tuesday night in the NBA Finals crushing the defending NBA champion Miami Heat by 36 points in Game 3. San Antonio set a NBA Finals record hitting 16 three-pointers and basically putting the nail in the coffin much earlier than anticipated. Continue Reading…

The storied Boston Celtics NBA history is potentially on the verge of undergoing an extensive rebuilding process. Boston is coming off a disappointing season in which All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo went down with a torn ACL and Hall of Famers Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett took steps closer to retirement. Continue Reading…

The plot thickens in the head-coaching hunt for the Brooklyn Nets. Although plenty of legitimate and high profile candidates are currently available on the open market, the team is reportedly leaning toward giving the recently retired Jason Kidd his first job as an NBA head coach.

Recently, Kidd decided to call it a career after 19 seasons in the league and only one with the New York Knicks. Despite expressing an interest to stay with the Knicks for at least one more season before walking away from the game as a player, Kidd ultimately decided now was the time to retire.

Along with Kidd calling it a career, a lot of prominent head coaches around the league were let go or told they won’t be getting another contract after this past season.

The list of current head coaches on the open market is George Karl, Vinny Del Negro, Avery Johnson and Lionel Hollins. All four of the names mentioned played a hand in the success for the Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers, Nets and Memphis Grizzlies, but were told they wouldn’t be retained regardless of their recent success.

Even with all the big names available, Kidd coaching the promising young Nets roster next season and for the foreseeable future is intriguing the franchise moving forward.

Another candidate the Nets seem to be considering along with Kidd is Indiana Pacers assistant and five-time NBA champion (player and coach), Brian Shaw. The Clippers appear to be the most interested team in Shaw’s services. Shaw is familiar with Los Angeles spending time with the Lakers as both a player and a coach under legend Phil Jackson.

At this point in time, the Nets job seems to be Kidd’s to turn down. Despite that being the case, Brooklyn may ultimately look in the direction of Shaw to fill the void.

After winning the NBA Coach of the Year award for the first time in his career, George Karl has been fired by the Denver Nuggets. Karl led the Nuggets to one of the best seasons in franchise history with the team locking up the top seed with 57 wins during the regular season. Continue Reading…

During the NBA off-season last summer, the Los Angeles Lakers were determined to acquire superstar center Dwight Howard in a blockbuster trade. Howard let it be known that he wasn’t all that fond of being traded to the Lakers in a potential blockbuster, but wasn’t going to be dealt by the Orlando Magic one way or another. Continue Reading…

Game 1: San Antonio Spurs @ Miami Heat Thurs. June 6, 2013 9 p.m. ET

The first game of the 2013 NBA Finals will get underway on Thursday night with the defending NBA champion Miami Heat playing host to the veteran savvy San Antonio Spurs in South Beach. Although the Heat are expected to come out on top in this series and win a second consecutive NBA title, the Spurs pose all kinds of threats to the Heat’s repeat hopes.

One of the biggest threats for the Spurs against the Heat is perennial All-Star point guard Tony Parker. With Parker coming into his own during the NBA playoffs once again, the Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors and Memphis Grizzlies all struggled to contain the French import. Parker has been virtually unstoppable and arguably the main reason for the Spurs reaching the NBA Finals for the fifth time during Greg Popovich’s stint as the team’s head coach.

Along with the Spurs having a perfect 4-0 record in the Finals and sweeping LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers back in 2007, it could be argued that San Antonio is simply the better all-around team heading into this series. There’s no question the talent level of the Heat is much higher and LeBron is in the prime of his career as the best player in the league, but the Spurs will be their toughest challenge yet.

Future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan has also played a major role in the team’s sustained success this season. Duncan has seemingly turned back the clock and helped this team reach the top in the Western Conference once again while having a chance to end his career with a fifth NBA title.

As of right now, the Heat are favored to come out on top in Game 1 with a -5 point spread. Although Miami will be looking to take the early lead while holding onto home-court advantage, I believe the Spurs shake off the rust and pull off the upset.

Prediction: San Antonio Spurs -5

The immediate future of the storied Los Angeles Lakers franchise is uncertain to say the least with a lot of uncertainty heading into the free agency period starting on July 1. Continue Reading…