The NBA has finally made a decision on the fate of Los Angeles Lakers forward Metta World Peace after elbowing James Harden of the Oklahoma City Thunder this past Sunday. After taking a few days to mull over the options, the league has decided to hit World Peace with a seven game suspension. This suspension will keep him out of the regular season finale against the division rival Sacramento Kings and the first round of the playoffs unless it goes the full seven games. Continue Reading…

After a lot of uncertainty in the Western Conference about which team would clinch the 8^th and final playoff spot, the Utah Jazz went out and beat Steve Nash’s Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night to lockup the West’s final playoff spot and setup a matchup with the number one seeded San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the NBA playoffs. 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…

After the Metta World Peace fallout with James Harden being sent to the locker room and a suspension likely to follow, the Los Angeles Lakers began to fall apart with the Oklahoma City Thunder motivated and ready to prove who the best team in the Western Conference is. Shortly after the ejection of World Peace, the Thunder got out to a commanding 18-point lead and seemingly had the game in hand, but that turned out not to be the case. Continue Reading…

As arguably the most talked about player in the NBA this season, Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic has been in the spotlight ever since last summer with trade speculation surrounding the three-time Defensive Player of the Year. With Howard making it known that he intended on being traded before the NBA trade deadline on March 15, it seemed like just a matter of time before he would be dealt elsewhere. 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…

After two amazing journeys from mediocrity, New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin and New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow make Time Magazine’s list for “Top 100 Most Influential People in the World.” Continue Reading…

The end of the NBA regular season is drawing near with just a handful of games left for the majority of the teams in the league. With that being said, the NBA playoffs are starting to shape up in both the Western and Eastern Conferences with potential matchups becoming clearer and clearer. 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.

Coming into this shortened NBA season, the Los Angeles Clippers had been thrust into the spotlight after making a blockbuster trade to acquire superstar point guard Chris Paul from the New Orleans Hornets. After landing one of the best if not the best floor general in the league, the Clippers instantly became a force to be reckoned with in the Western Conference. The combination of Paul and Blake Griffin got a lot of people excited as they were the newest dynamic duo in the NBA.

Along with Paul and Griffin, the struggling NBA franchise also went out to sign other talented veterans like Chauncey Billups and Caron Butler. As if that wasn’t enough, Lob City added shooting guard Nick Young into the mix via trade after Billups went down with a season-ending Achilles injury.

Needless to say, the stage has been set this season for the Clippers to finally turn it around and become a legitimate NBA title contender for the first time in franchise history. Despite some bumps in the road along the way with slumping players and head coach Vinny Del Negro temporarily on the hot seat.

After getting over the slump and Del Negro regaining the confidence of his players, the Clippers have been on a roll and as a result have officially clinched a playoff spot in the West win an impressive win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. This is a milestone for the franchise once dubbed one of the worst in professional sports, but now the real challenge begins with the up-and-coming squad facing some tough competition in the playoffs.

If the playoffs were to start today, the Clippers would face the Memphis Grizzlies. Even though Lob City is as talented as any team in the West right now, the Grizzlies are also on the rise and will be incredibly tough to beat in a seven-game series. This will be the true test for Paul and company as it will be determined whether or not they can compete with the best of the best in the conference.