NBA ROUNDUP: 10/16

Kevin Durant has yet to prove himself as a bonified superstar but will take Henry Abbott’s comments as fuel to help improve his team record. Michael Jordan was once considered a selfish player, but winning championships helped to remove that stigma. Bottom line is that Durant needs to win or he will never escape criticism. Read more

NBA ROUNDUP: 7/25 - 7/31

The best news for the Los Angeles Lakers this week is that Lamar Odom will be back to help defend the championship. It was a long drawn out contract negotiation but now that things are finalized he will be a huge boon for the team. The Lakers are still the best team in the league and looks like they have a superb opportunity to repeat.
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NBA ROUNDUP: 7/18 - 7/24

So LeBron James smokes marijuana. It’s a mistake he made back as a kid and he’s admitting to it. It’s not a big deal so let’s all move on and let him be King James again. Read more

NBA ROUNDUP: 7/11-7/17

It’s a sad state of affairs when a defending champion cannot re-sign a crucial part of their team. The Los Angeles Lakers and Lamar Odom are at a standstill in their negotiation process. Odom needs to just take the $9 million and play for the team. Read more

NBA ROUNDUP: 7/4 - 7/10

The Dallas Mavericks are making multiple roster moves to put themselves among the elite NBA teams by re-signing Jason Kidd and making a trade for Shawn Marion. The Mavs showed some toughness and resolve this year when they won 50 games and made it to the second round of the playoffs before falling to a scrappy Denver Nuggets squad. Owner Mark Cuban is not sitting on his laurels and is making bold moves to put his team back in contention. Read more

NBA ROUNDUP: 6/27 - 7/3

The biggest news this week is Ron Artest going to the Los Angeles Lakers. Artest has the talent and the toughness to be a contributor to the Lakers, but the biggest question will be his attitude. If Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant can keep Artest in check, they will be even more dominant. But that is a big if. However, similar questions arose when Dennis Rodman joined the Chicago Bulls with Jackson and Michael Jordan. That experiment worked out well, so the same may occur in this situation with the Lakers. Read more

NBA ROUNDUP: 6/20 - 6/26

It’s been a whirlwind week with multiple teams making drastic moves to catch up to the Los Angeles Lakers. The dream match-up in the Finals with Kobe Bryant playing against LeBron James and former teammate Shaquille O’Neal may become a reality come next season. It’s been a busy draft day and it seems the teams that benefited the most so far has been the Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs and Orlando Magic. Expect more drastic moves this summer. Read more

NBA ROUNDUP: 6/13 - 6/20

The NBA season may be over with the Los Angeles Lakers crowned as the 2009 NBA champions, but teams are working hard to build a team to dethrone the champs come next year. It will be an interesting offseason to see where key players like Hedo Turkoglo and Allen Iverson end up. Read more

NBA ROUNDUP: 6/6 - 6/12

The Los Angeles Lakers like to win; they just don’t like to take the easy road. After letting a chance slip away to go up 3-0, the Lakers have redeemed themselves and find themselves in a position to close the series in Orlando on Sunday. Don’t expect to see that happen, since Kobe wants to win his first title without Shaq at home. Read more

NBA ROUNDUP: 5/30 - 6/5

Can Kobe Bryant capture ring No. 4 or will Dwight Howard lead the Magic to the promised land for the first time in franchise history? It’s a compelling story that will be in the headlines for the next two weeks. However, the key to Victory for both teams will be in the role players. Can Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom step up in the spotlight? Will Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu continue to hit the big shots? It will be an exciting match-up to watch and see what the answers will be. Read more

NBA ROUNDUP: 5/23 - 5/29

Kobe Bryant vs LeBron James is still a possible Finals match-up as the Cavs score a Game 5 victory to keep the team alive. Expect the Cavs series to go the distance in seven games and the Los Angeles Lakers to close out the Nuggets in Denver in Game 6. Nike is still hoping for a Finals matchup as they continue to promote their Most Valuable Puppet commercials with Kobe and LeBron.

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NBA ROUNDUP: 5/16 - 5/22

So the Cleveland Cavaliers aren’t invincible after all. They definitely lost some of their luster in losing to the Orlando Magic 107-106 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. LeBron James tapped his entire arsenal, scoring 49 points on 20-30 shooting from the field but could not come up during the clutch to win the game. On the other hand, Kobe Bryant is still the best closer in the game scoring 18 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Lakers over the Nuggets 105-103 in Game 1. Game 2 was a different story. Read more

NBA ROUNDUP: 5/9 - 5/15

Why don’t more teams play full court for 48 minutes? Malcolm Gladwell and Bill Simmons make convincing arguments that teams should utilize this more. The underdogs especially should take advantage of this fact and compensate hunger for talent. More teams could see success if they play full-court consistently. Read more

NBA ROUNDUP: 5/2 - 5/8

The Houston Rockets proved to the Los Angeles Lakers that they should not be taken lightly after winning the first game of the series with hard-nosed defense and significant contributions from Yao Ming and Ron Artest. On the flip side, the Cleveland Cavaliers look to have an easy road to the Finals as they blew out the Atlanta Hawks in Game 1 and 2 in convincing fashion. Read more

NBA ROUNDUP: 4/25 - 5/1

The Cleveland Cavaliers showed why they had the best record in the NBA by easily sweeping the Detroit Pistons in the first round. The presumptive favorites, the Los Angeles Lakers, failed to look anything like a championship contender by blowing huge leads to the Utah Jazz before finishing them off. The San Antonio Spurs were shocked by the Dallas Mavericks and it’s Tim Duncan’s first ever playoff exit in the first round. Look for an exciting series to go seven between the Mavs and Denver Nuggets. Read more

NBA ROUNDUP: 4/18 -4/24

The NBA playoffs have started with the top two teams in the league - the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers - easily taking the first two games. Look for easy wins by these powerhouses as they continue their journey to the Finals. Things have not been easy for the defending champions Boston Celtics with Leon Powe out for the playoffs with a knee injury. Look for the Chicago Bulls to stun the Celtics in seven games. Another series to watch out for is the Dallas-San Antonio series, with tempers likely to rise as Eric Dampier looks to protect the basket with rough play on Tony Parker. The Mavericks will also stun the Spurs in six games. Read more

NBA ROUNDUP: 4/11 - 4/17

The NBA Playoffs are here and all the match-ups have been solidified. The biggest news is that Kevin Garnett will be out for playoffs. Teams in the East must be licking their lips smelling blood in the water. The Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James must feel that this year is their time to win a championship with the biggest threat in their conference out of the picture. Read more

TOP NBA GAMES: 4/13 - 4/19

The NBA regular season is coming to a close, but not to worry. The two-month postseason known as the NBA Playoffs is about to begin. As far as I’m concerned, any Finals series worth watching would have to include the Los Angeles Lakers. Lakers vs. Celtics, Kobe vs. LeBron, even Dwight Howard vs. Andrew Bynum. Los Angeles - the only place where amazing will happen. Read more

NBA ROUNDUP: 4/4 - 4/10

Shaquille O’Neal has played pretty well for a 37-year-old. He showed nimbleness this season, as well as in the NBA All-Star game where he won Co-MVP with Kobe Bryant. Now through Twitter he’s been hinting that he wants to be traded to the Dallas Mavericks. Shaq still have one to two years left in his career but will only be effective on a championship-contending team who needs a role player like the Los Angeles Lakers or Cleveland Cavaliers. He won’t be much use to a rebuilding Dallas Mavericks. Read more

TOP NBA GAMES: 4/6 - 4/12