Sports Blog

It’s official:  Mark Cuban and Kenyon Martin are two enormous babies who are starting to look more like cast members of The Hills than members of the NBA.

Their childish behavior made me think for a second I was dealing with a couple of kids in high school.  Certainly this couldn’t be the behavior of two well to do adults.  Sadly, it is.  Right down to the reports of back and forth banter, insincere apologies and no actual face to face communication.

What should have ended with a simple apology has turned into a gigantic pissing contest and appears to have no end in sight.  In case you haven’t heard, after game three of the Denver/Dallas series, Cuban made some disparaging comments to Martin’s mother while exiting his seat in the arena.  He later apologized via his blog, which led Martin to call Cuban a coward, according to HoopsHype.com.

The entire ordeal is ridiculous and is only getting worse with each passing day.  With that in mind, here are five reasons why Cuban and Martin need to quit their bickering.

1] I hate to sound like a NBA spokesperson, but their online feud is distracting people from a really good NBA playoffs.  The Eastern and Western Conference finals should be electric and the more time they fight the less attention there will be on the actual games.

2] Cuban made a mistake and needs to own up to it appropriately.  It shouldn’t need to be said, but for Cuban apparently it does — when you heckle someones mom an apology in a blog isn’t enough.  People shouldn’t be yelling at mothers in the first place, but if you do say sorry in person and squash it.

3] Martin is only making the situation worse.  There was a lot of sympathy for him at first, but each word he utters takes some of that away.  Calling Cuban a coward is only adding fuel to the fire.  It is natural to stick up for your mom, yet the best course of action for Martin is to just shut up.

4] If there is one thing I know about the NBA it’s this — you don’t want David Stern to get involved.  Stern has been patient in letting the situation resolve itself but at some point he is going to start dishing out fines.  If Cuban and Martin don’t want to get hit in their pockets they need to end this.

5] Listening to the two of them is funny.  Cuban, who acts awfully tough, isn’t exactly an imposing figure.  And while I wouldn’t say it to his face, it is impossible to take anyone with a pair of lips tattooed on their neck seriously.

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Some people are a little down on this years NBA playoffs and I can’t for the life of me figure out why.

I realize people are busy with school, work and American Idol, but this years playoff race has been absolutely amazing and the very definition of must see TV.  With so many different things competing for our precious attention, though, I have compiled a list of the top ten reasons why you should be catching the rest of the NBA playoffs:

1] If you grew up watching basketball in the ’80s and ’90s there is a good chance you have found yourself reminiscing while watching recent games.  The amount of hard fouls and seemingly genuine distaste between players has brought old school basketball back.  If only the NBA would stop fining/suspending the hell out everyone!

2] Jumping on the NBA bandwagon is the perfect excuse to go drinking with friends after work on a Tuesday night without feeling like an alcoholic.  Down a few Jäger bombs on an ordinary weeknight and you apparently have drinking problems.  Doing the same in conjunction with your team winning and you’re just celebrating like any good fan would.

3] There are a few bona fide superstars still alive in the playoffs and one of them is Kobe Bryant.  A staple of excellent play for the last decade, the still elite Bryant can’t last forever so you better get your fill while you can.  Plus, for you casual fans, there is always a lot of drama and intrigue surrounding the Lakers, so making the transition from day-time soap watcher to Lakers aficionado is a breeze.

4] Long time NBA watchers have had a lot to enjoy in this years playoffs.  For instance, anyone who watched Boston hoist up another banner last year has had two questions on their mind since the playoffs started this year: can the Celtics repeat and will Kevin Garnett go all Willis Reed on us if Boston goes deep into the playoffs?

5] While there has certainly been a number of blowouts thus far, there have also been some legendary overtime thrillers.  The Boston/Chicago series featured many nail-biting games and will be talked about amongst hoop-heads for years to come.  With a little luck both the Eastern and Western Conference Finals will do the same.

6] Remember back in 2005 when the San Antonio Spurs beat the Detroit Pistons?  Not many people do because both teams were excellent on defense and struggled to score a lot of points.  This year is much more casual fan friendly because there have been a lot of fast paced, high scoring games.  Three teams still in the playoffs average at least 100 points per game, and all teams that have a chance to go to the conference finals average at least 94.

7] People who love to hear some solid trash talking are basking in the playoffs back and forth banter. Technical fouls have been dished out by the bushel as players try to get in each others heads. When an owner (Mark Cuban) gets into it with a player’s (Kenyon Martin) mom, you know the trash talking is top notch.

8] If the last decade belonged in part to Kobe Bryant, the next one will have its lion’s share held by Lebron James.  Voted this years regular season MVP, James somehow continues to get better despite already being one of the best players in the league.  In other words, he is reason enough to watch this years playoffs.

9] Most TV series are coming to an end, and while we will all miss our favorite shows (go Scrubs!), the playoffs can certainly help fill the void. There is plenty of action, drama, suspense and comedy (both intentional and unintentional) to help hold you over until fall.

10] The last reason is by far the most obvious: basketball is awesome.  Seeing some of the best athletes in the world go at it in one of the best sports to watch on TV is a real treat.  I defy you to not get excited when James throws down a monster dunk or when Dwight Howard swats a ball into the third row.

Take it from someone who watches a lot of basketball — it’s not possible.

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Find at Smarter.com:  Shop for the NBA apparel and memorabilia you need to support your favorite team.

The first round of the NBA playoffs are barely wrapping up yet rumors are already starting to fly about what players might be switching jerseys this off-season.  With the economy continuing to struggle and the salary cap going down for the first time since its inception, many teams will be looking to get creative when it comes to their roster.

One player possibly heading to a new city is the self proclaimed Most Dominant Ever, aka Shaquille O’Neal.  A lot of people think that his monster contract and diminishing skill set are untradeable, but his resurgent play this year has landed him on a few GM’s radars.  Shaq, through the use of his Twitter account, has made it known he is quite fond of Dallas and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

NBA sources say, however, the most likely destination for the Big Tweep is New Orleans.  Shaq has a large fan base in the south stemming from his days at LSU and the Hornets let it be known they wanted out of Tyson Chandler’s contract when they traded him earlier this year (only to have it fall through due to health reasons).

The trade could work in both teams favors should it happen.  The Hornets would only carry O’Neal on their books for one season and he would bring proven playoff experience to a team that really needs it.  He would also sell a lot of tickets, which makes the deal interesting from a business perspective.  The Phoenix Suns would get younger and more athletic in their front court, and if healthy, Chandler paired with forward Amare Stoudemire would be one of the most tenacious big-duos in the NBA.

What do you think? Is the Big Aristotle worth the big bucks? Or is the big man a big waste of money at this point in his career?

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What is going on with the Twitter craze and the NBA!?!?

First Charlie Villanueva did it, then Shaq, then Mark Cuban got FINED for doing it, and now Paul Pierce.

The Boston Celtics star apparently wrote on his Twitter account to tell fans show up in front of the arena and the first five people to do so, with the secret password, received tickets for the night. And, in unimaginative fashion, the password was “Truth.”

I don’t get what’s so crazy about Twitter. It just lets you know what that person is doing for that very second. Nothing exciting.

Be right back. I have to “Tweet” about writing about Twitter. Life is exciting!

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