By Alfredo R. Berrios ESPNdeportes.com SAN JUAN -- Argentina's Luis Scola knows that the Houston Rockets will go through a transitional phase this upcoming season. Still, the 6-9 forward expects the team t
On YouTube you can watch an inspiring documentary, Salaam Dunk, about some American basketball players who have made their way to play in the Palestinian league, and to coach Palestinian youth. About 6:30 into
For various reasons, a lot of NBA people have been thinking about clinical depression lately, and it seemed appropriate to check in with Stephen Ilardi, Ph.D. who surely has to be the most qualified person anyw
A stunning mask, made entirely of Air Jordan sneakers. Also, a blanket made of Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant jerseys. Dave from BlazersEdge on young people who get in trouble: "When you're twenty it s
ESPN's Chris Sheridan reports on the latest twist in Minnesota's attempt to buy draftee Ricky Rubio out of his contract with DKV Joventut: Under the NBA collective bargaining agreement, Minnesota is al
Dan LeBatard of The Miami Herald: "The phone rings at 1 a.m. It is Tim James. The connection is tinny and echoing. How are you, Tim? 'It was 125 degrees yesterday,' he says. 'I've never fe
By Alfredo R. Berrios ESPNdeportes.com SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Puerto Rico (4-0) concluded the Qualifying Round of the FIBA Americas Championship as the leader of Group A, followed by Uruguay (3-1), Cana
By Alfredo R. Berríos ESPNdeportes.com SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Forward Charlie Villanueva twisted his ankle in the final minutes of the Dominican Republic's 78-73 victory over Venezuela in Day 4 of
By Alfredo R. Berrios ESPNDeportes.com SAN JUAN -- Frustration has reached unexpected heights within Argentina's team. An incident that took place in the Argentina's locker room after their 76-67 loss
Posted by Kevin Arnovitz Charlie Bell: Master Apprentice. Eric Snow, Kirk Hinrich, and Tim Duncan are some of the names on Kelly Dwyer's list of the top 10 defenders of the decade. Dwyer on Duncan: "
Posted by Kevin Arnovitz On Tuesday, Amare Stoudemire was all smiles as he worked a community service event at a Phoenix elementary school. The Arizona Repbulic's Paul Coro caught up with Stoudemire at the
Posted by Kevin Arnovitz One of the launching points for last Sunday's stellar episode of the AMC drama "Mad Men" -- titled "Love Among the Ruins" -- was the proposed demolition of the o
Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel: "Brandon Jennings wants to be in tip-top shape when training camp rolls around about one month from now on Sept. 29. And the Milwaukee Bucks' rookie admits
By Alfredo R. Berrios ESPNDeportes.com SAN JUAN -- Embarrassed. That's how Mexico's coach felt after a 95-40 loss against Canada on Thursday, Day 2 of the Qualifying Round of the FIBA Americas Champio
The story broke on Monday that Michael Beasley has checked into a drug rehabilitation program in Houston. Left unclear was when he entered rehab. Sources now say that Beasley had been in outpatient drug rehabi
Lots of reasons why having Ricky Rubio stay in Europe would not be so bad for the Timberwolves. One concern: Jonny Flynn is good and has strong leadership qualities. Assuming he bonds with his teammates
Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle: "No, the Rockets didn't take the Astros flawed blueprint and turn it upside down. GM Daryl Morey's goal was simple. He wanted every acquisition player to
By Alfredo R. Berrios ESPNdeportes.com SAN JUAN -- Forward Charlie Villanueva will enter next season with the Detroit Pistons with the sole intention of competing in the NBA Finals. "The expectations are
A few days ago I linked to a Deadspin story about a former NBA scorekeeper who had spoken frankly about how he had inflated some players' statistics. Deadspin's Tommy Craggs has dug much deeper into the
Just for fun, today I'm building these live, instead of publishing them all at once. Refresh now and again ... Allen Iverson tweets that he has an offer from Memphis. A transcript of tweets from Mich
For the last two days, I have done little but talk to basketball people trying to better understand the current state of Michael Beasley. It's a tricky job, and doing it properly could take ten times as lon
Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel: "A day after it was confirmed that Michael Beasley had entered a Houston rehab facility, a clearer picture regarding the status of the Miami Heat forward h
Dave Hyde of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: "We've seen similar kinds of stories to this in South Florida sports. Ricky Williams kept getting second chances -- and third and fourth -- for testing pos
Mac Lotze is a TrueHoop reader (and sometimes contributor) who lives in Shanghai where he has this to say about a recent TV appearance in China by Dwight Howard and Derrick Rose: First, Howard and Rose seem eit
Posted by Kevin Arnovitz As Michael Beasley checks into a facility for psychological and substance-abuse counseling, his friends, family, and those who care about him the most will be among the most important p
Miami Heat forward Michael Beasley was the star of a lot of internet chatter over the weekend, for putting himself in the middle of a story that to me was about stupidity in photography. Some young American ath
The curious case of J.J. Hickson. The young Cavalier has the tools to become the greatest big man LeBron James has ever played with, and being an athletic, dunking, weakside big man phenom alongside James coul
The Mavericks have a clock on their homepage, counting down the days until ... the season starts? No ... until All-Star Weekend is in Dallas. (It's 174 days away.) They also have a deal where if you buy a f
Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: "For the second time in less than a month, Heat forward Michael Beasley is out of the Twitter business, this time, perhaps, for good. Beasley's latest
The Wall Street Journal's Hannah Karp takes a meaningful look at the early evidence about how LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal will get along. The evidence is, of course, scant at this point. The two s
This three-year-old knows the Lakers better than you do. (Via OhMeOhMyJelloIsJigglin) Serious questions about building around Chris Bosh and Andrea Bargnani: Can a good team have its two best players at 4 and
NBA fandom usually begins with the love of a team. My love of the NBA, for instance, springs directly from a childhood spent listening to Blazer games on my walkman. But ... don't you have a backup team? A
Remember Adonal Foyle, talking on video in the hallway of the Magic locker room, just after the Lakers had beaten them to win the title? He was sad. There could have been a hundred reasons: He wouldn't be g
Charley Walters of the Pioneer Press: "Timberwolves President David Kahn has made a second trip to Spain to try to learn more about what it will take to get Ricky Rubio, the team's No. 1 draft pick, t
D-League player and TrueHoop contributor Coleman Collins unleashed his inner fashionista last weekend in Manhattan, and filed this photo diary. Collins is also the author of a new blog, The Royal We. Last Satu
Have you been watching any track and field? Have you noticed that Usain Bolt is bigger, stronger, faster and sillier than everyone else? That's Dwight Howard.
A report that Derrick Rose's SATs could be at the center of a disaster for college basketball in Memphis. Worth noting: NOBODY in the NBA cares about his SATs, right? So why's it such a big deal to the
Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer: "Larry Brown said he'd enjoy coaching Allen Iverson again. But there are issues in the way of the Charlotte Bobcats signing former All-Star guard Iverson and th
A series of Twitter posts from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, in response to J.A. Adande's story about who might succeed Phil Jackson one day as Laker coach: I just read the ESPN story on who will replace Phil &
If you go to a Nets game, the stands appear to be mostly empty -- there were even empty seats when New Jersey was the best team in the East. Since then the Nets have cut costs in a major way, and recently shipp
Thomas Beller is a tremendous writer (who has been on TrueHoop before). Sometimes he writes about basketball, and when he does, I love it every time. In a recent story, he talks about the difference between col
Can you imagine if they doled out stats freely to players they liked, and were miserly with players they didn't? Can you imagine if they had agendas to promote stars or home team players? A person claiming
Huge thanks to Kevin Arnovitz for some great blogging while I was away. And without further ado: UPDATE: Allen Iverson tweets that he's close to a deal with some team or another. (See last bullet.) The Ch
Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: "While in New York last week taping one of the movies, Dwight Howard was asked by a reporter from The Sporting News if more films are in his immediate future. His ans
Posted by Kevin Arnovitz Andre Miller's departure from Philadelphia left a vacuum at the point guard for the Sixers. The team selected UCLA point-leaning-combo guard Jrue Holiday with its first round draft
Posted by Kevin Arnovitz In Shoals' interview of Brook Lopez, we learn that the Nets' second-year center is the rare athlete that prefers long-form non-fiction to 140 character burps: "I'm bus
Posted by Kevin Arnovitz I'm always skittish about calling attention to an episode like Brendan Haywood's appearance on Hardcore Sports Radio, in which he implied, rather explicitly, that the spiraling
Scott Miller of The Washington Times: "David Falk has changed -- or at least his motives have. The man who built Michael Jordan, made record deals and represented some of the game's biggest stars isn&
Posted by Kevin Arnovitz The Los Angeles Clippers introduced Rasual Butler this afternoon to the local media at their training facility in Playa Vista. For those keeping a tally of what's become of Zach Ran
Posted by Kevin Arnovitz Ramona Shelburne of the Los Angeles Daily News catches up with Baron Davis. Money quote from Davis: "I sucked. I sucked last year. I admit it. What (else) should I say?" The
Posted by Kevin Arnovitz Henry has delved into the work of John Huizinga and Sandy Weil with great detail. To review, Huizinga and Weil explored whether there's any validity to the conceit that a shooter ca
Posted by Kevin Arnovitz NBA training camps are still a few weeks away, but rosters around the league are gradually taking shape. Once David Lee, Allen Iverson and Ramon Sessions have jobs, we'll be ready t
Janis Carr of The Orange County Register: "The Lakers staged a half-hearted tribute for Kurt Ramibs on Saturday in front of a few dozen fans who happened by the main court of the 3-on-3 tournament. I mean
Posted by Kevin Arnovitz Whatever Mark Cuban's personal leanings toward international basketball, the Dallas Mavericks owner has made his feelings on the subject known. He's said that the practice of le
Posted by Kevin Arnovitz Mark Cuban puts the kibosh on Dirk Nowitzki playing for the Germans in the European championship. Dave Berri is much more bullish on the Rockets in 2009-10 than most observers, and ap
Posted by Kevin Arnovitz On its surface, David Halberstam's "The Breaks of the Game" tells the story of how the Portland Trail Blazers, just two years removed from an NBA championship and with all
Posted by Kevin Arnovitz The trailer for Sonicsgate begins with a cheery montage to the tune of the Sonics' 1979 theme song: Sonics Basketball! From the opening tip up till the final call You can be
Posted by Kevin Arnovitz What's the secret to the Spurs' success -- apart from good lottery fortune? Timothy Varner of 48 Minutes of Hell says it's the appreciation of human limitations. Wit
Another quickie guest dispatch/postcard from Marc Stein, who unexpectedly caught up with Jerry Stackhouse on his travels: You heard this reaction often earlier in the week when the magic of YouTube
On my desk is the Minnesota Timberwolves' newest media guide. It's about ten months old, and still has that "freshly printed" smell. But I'm about to throw it away. The Timberwolves have
Posted by Kevin Arnovitz It's not unusual for struggling franchises to use elite visiting teams as vehicles to get bodies inside the building. Fans of the Clippers, Hawks, Sixers have all seen splashy ads i
Posted by Kevin Arnovitz Responding to Henry's post yesterday on Jamaal Wilkes, Kyle Slavin of The Second Coming tells this story about the time Wilkes stepped in as interim coach of his 11 and 12-year-old
Ramona Shelburne of the Los Angeles Daily News: "There is only so long a guy can be someone else's right-hand man. So many times he can receive pay raises or be mentioned as a possible successor. Sit
A lot of people, even NBA players with their millions, have complaints. It's understandable. We all do. And in hard economic times, we all have even more to winge about. Life is stressful. If anyone in the
Imagine your laptop was stolen. Bummer right? Has happened to a lot of people. Now, imagine there were embarrassing pictures on that laptop. And imagine you're famous like Baron Davis. Hmm ... what does th
Laker Executive Vice President Jeanie Buss (as well as Kurt Rambis) was on Mason and Ireland and she had all kinds of intersting things to say. For instance: What it's like to hang out with her boyfriend
Laker Executive Vice President Jeannie Buss (as well as Kurt Rambis) was on Mason and Ireland and she had all kinds of intersting things to say. For instance: What it's like to hang out with her boyfriend
Every now and again there's a player who comes along who seems impossible to rattle. Someone who may be smaller or weaker than other opponents, but unshakable. It's an incredibly valuable trait to have:
Mark Whicker of The Orange County Register: "They all wondered how Kurt Rambis, scion of the House of Laker, would cope with this plunge into NBA serfdom. 'I played in Charlotte after we won the '
Today Kurt Rambis was introduced as the coach in Minnesota. In meeting with reporters, he made an interesting point about the Lakers' title last season. Rambis used Gasol as an example of players sacrificin
Dan Steinberg of the D.C. Sports Bog tells of Gilbert Arenas' dad on the D.C.'s 106.7 the Fan. Guest host Brendan Haywood asked Arenas about those who criticize his son for getting injured to much:&nbs
Leon Powe's outsized heart moves to Cleveland. Kurt Rambis brings his pedigree and eyewear to the Twin Cities. And Mike Miller stretches the boundaries of social media. John Krolik of Cavs the Blog: "
Elliott Teaford of the Los Angeles Daily News: "Pau Gasol broke his left middle finger while practicing with the Spanish national team in Seville and underwent surgery Monday, Lakers spokesman John Black
To me, the best sports article ever written is John McPhee's essay on Wimbledon, called Centre Court. It was published in Playboy and as far as I can tell it's not online. But it's amazing. McPhee i
Dwight Jaynes, the beat writer I learned about the Trail Blazers from by reading the Oregonian every morning growing up, blogged about another time, when reporters and even some members of the public got to wat
Michael Jordan vs. Carmelo Anthony, video of a friendly shooting contest at Jordan's camp last week. What is your GM's mission? To carry off a long-term strategy that makes the team successful on the c
Kurt Rambis will reportedly replace Kevin McHale as the head coach of the Timberwolves. In Game 4 the 1984 NBA Finals, the Celtics needed the win of their season. They had given up home-court advantage and trai
Don Seeholzer of the Pioneer Press: "With an oral agreement but no signed contract, the Timberwolves didn't announce a coaching hire Sunday, but it won't be much longer. As owner Glen Taylor told
Posted by Timothy Varner of 48 Minutes of Hell. I'm always more sympathetic to players who test positive for PEDs when the phrase "over the counter" is part of the story. If a substance is
Ismail Senol is a Turkish play-by-play announcer for NTV SPOR and NBA TV Turkey, and he weighs in with a report on a young Turkish player whose name you ought to learn now. Enes Kanter is an impressive prospec
Posted by Timothy Varner of 48 Minutes of Hell. Woody Allen likes to tell a joke. A mother and the local priest go to see her son's boxing match. Through the opening rounds the mother is horrified to see he
Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: "Are you telling me that in today's high-tech world of chemical competition when Rashard Lewis could have easily purchased the Lamborghini of performance-enhancin
Orlando Magic forward Rashard Lewis has been suspended for violating the NBA's policy banning performance enhancing drugs. Three immediate reactions: Heinous Excuse For no good reason, I'm inclined to b
If you're going to think of the NBA as a business, there's something you have to understand: Before the NBA, there were other leagues with elite basketball players and passionate fans, but they all pre
The other day I linked to video of robots doing various somewhat basketball-related tasks, like dribbling a ping pong ball. The thing was, however, some of the robots in the video weren't doing anything rem
Brandon Roy Brandon Roy and the Blazers have agreed to a five-year contract extension that'll keep him in black and red through 2013-2014, and a year longer if he so chooses. It's a no-brainer: In three
Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: "After a busy summer, the Magic's payroll for the upcoming season has ballooned to nearly $80 million, well above the league's luxury-tax threshold. At the en
J.R. Smith had been accused of using pro-gang language on his Twitter account. Who knows if that's really what happened. Whatever had been happening won't be happening any more, as Smith has shut down h
I have heard teams hate aspects of being on national TV ... changing start times on ticketholders, messing with the local broadcast and various other demands take their toll. On the other hand, it's presti
The NBA pretty much goes year 'round. But maybe not right now. The giant NBA information machine is creeping along at subsistence levels. And it's no wonder: Many executives, insiders, agents, journalis
John Canzano of The Oregonian: "We've talked a lot this summer about the organization's failure to get things done. But on Tuesday, as you looked at the team's cozy schedule and realized that
In his book "Outliers" Malcolm Gladwell points out that being born early in the year is, in some countries, an important part of becoming an elite athlete. Why is that? Because in countries with end-o
ESPN's Chris Sheridan has a thorough rundown of some of the best NBA games on the 2009-2010 schedule. My favorite line: Oct 29: San Antonio at Chicago (TNT) Richard Jefferson is expected to attend, wearing
TrueHoop reader Ben notes that the Blazers and Brandon Roy are reportedly haggling over the 2014-2015 season. It's a long way, and not a lot of players have contracts that extend that far into the future. B
Real time doesn't do it justice. It's amazing to watch one of the NBA's great ball-handlers work in slow motion. In all seriousness, this is from Kottke and it's actual video of actual robots!
Some grumbling about the Team USA role earned by the Raptors head coach. Jay Triano works for Bryan Colangelo, whose dad is Jerry Colangelo, who runs ... Team USA. Neil Paine of Basketball-Reference digs deep
The Mavericks recently acquired two players, Shawn Marion and Tim Thomas, that Maverick fans once loathed. Of course, they will be heartily welcomed by fans in the big D, right? So what was that hatred about? U
David Aldridge of NBA.com: "This was the Summer of Dichotomy in the NBA. A lot of teams were active, and spent grandly. But individual players didn't get the huge paydays of years past. The relative h
ESPN's Marc Stein is off at his remote family hideaway, but that doesn't mean he's resting. He writes: The official contract numbers on Lamar Odom are in. Nothing drastically different from what we
Wizard DeShawn Stevenson, as quoted by the Washington Post's Michael Lee: "I've been on this team four years -- it depends on Gilbert Arenas. We can make as many trades as we want to. When he
The more I think about it, the more I'm all for the NBA selling sponsorships of NBA uniforms. My main thought: It's something that could bring in big dollars, while the cost -- a little visual distracti
Geoff Calkins of The Commercial Appeal: "The Grizzlies really should get rid of their ushers. The seat numbers are right there on the tickets, aren't they? Can't people find their own seats? Then
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