Amare to Shaq: You're Lucky

HHR's Kevin Owens spent some time in the Big Apple with New York Knicks' big man Amare Stoudemire. Stoudemire surprised Walt Arnett from Lexington, KY, the winner of Excedrin’s “What’s Your Headache” contest, which rewarded Arnett by helping to get his basketball charity, Greater Than You, off the ground. You can see Kevin's write-up at 30Nothings.com and hear Stoudemire talk hoops in another clip, but below Kevin sets him up for a little smack talk at the expense of his former teammate, the Big Shaqtus.

Follow us on Twitter@HHReynolds or Click Here to get HHR in your inbox.

Mescallade Goes One-on-One with "OG" Larry Johnson

New York Knicks legend Larry Johnson teamed up with Captain Morgan to host a house party this Memorial Day Weekend in New York. LJ is helping to promote the Captain's Long Island Iced Tea pre-made beverage. One man that has created so many memories, and a beverage that erases them...fitting.

We caught up with LJ in advance of the big party to talk NBA Playoffs, the 4pt play, how often he throws up the LJ sign, and any potential changes to the slam dunk contest.

Q: LJ tell me about this party you’re hosting for Captain Morgan

A: Captain Morgan Long Island Iced Tea, doing it here in New York. I got Daryl Dawkins in Philly, we got my little dude Voshon Lenard in Miami. Kicking off the summer right, having some toast, definitely drinking in moderation. We enjoying the summer.

Q. How about the Long Island Ice Tea, is it legit?

A: They legit, the best thing about it, you don’t have to mix up four or five different spirits, you just pour it over ice and you’re good to go.

Q: NBA Playoffs have been great this year, let’s talk first about the Mavericks advancing to the NBA Finals, what do you think about them?

A: You know I’m born and raised in Dallas, Texas, and it’s always been a big football city, and Texas a football state, we got our Cowboys. It’s awesome to see those Mavs. It’s turned into a straight basketball city, it’s not a big football city. Jerry Jones don’t like that. It’s not a big football city no more. Dirk and Mark Cuban are turning it into a basketball city.

Q: How about Dirk getting a chance to get back to the NBA Finals?

A: Let me give you a little game. One of the reasons they doing what they are doing is a coach by the name of Tim Grgurich. He coached me at UNLV. He was the Assistant Coach, but he was really the Head Coach. Coach Gurg - we called him that. We’d be in the gym two hours with Coach Gurg for two hours before Coach Tark come to the gym. Gurg is the assistant over there with the Dallas Mavericks. He is more defensive minded, even Dirk who is a great scorer, he’s really getting after it on the defensive end. He let them know if you want to win, it has to start on the defensive end. Dirk Nowitzki can score the basketball but you gotta get key stops

Q: How about the Heat and the Bulls, the Heat have the advantage do you see them advancing?

A: Heat got home court advantage, I got the Heat beating Chicago and I got the Heat beating Dallas.

Q: Is it weird to pick the Heat considering the great Knicks-Heat rivalry from years back?

A: I remember them days, I used to have some ill feelings, I’m too old now, I just want them young fellas, don’t matter which team, which organization, just to do well. I don’t like when we do bad. I look at myself, they call me OG, I saw Lebron and those guys, they give me a pound what up OG, I’m like ok I like that. I don’t mind the Heat winning.



Q: The Grizzlies were an 8 seed that upset a 1 which reminded me of the Knicks run in 99, did that remind you on the Knicks run?

A: It did. When I was watching that series, they kept saying our name the last 8 seed to beat a 1, it was the Knicks. You know what happened those guys, just like us, they gelled at the right time, the season is so long, 82 games. Look at San Antonio, those guys was old, they just destroyed guys up until the All-Star break. They were looking so good. They got veterans like that, by the time playoffs came nobody had legs on San Antonio.

Q: You started with the Hornets but finished your career with the Knicks, who do you associate yourself with more?

A: It ain’t even a question, definitely a Knick, it’s not a question, it’s definitely the Knicks and I feel bad about it. The Hornets, that North Carolina, that’s basketball heaven, you got Tobacco Road, Duke, UNC, five, ten miles away. They love basketball, they love it in NY, but to be in that small country environment in Charlotte and it’s all about basketball. Them Panthers in town, but they secondary to what we would do.

(It’s the Knicks because) it was the last team I played for. (Also) I do not care for the ex owner of the Charlotte Hornets which was that Shinn guy who lost the team. He would come in the locker room when we won and talk about us and then wouldn’t come in the locker room when we lost. I even said something to him about that. ‘Yo it’s your team, you pay us to play for you, you don’t pay us to listen to you kills us. You don’t know nothing about basketball.’ This is what I told him to his face, ‘you don’t know nothing about basketball you’re a car salesman, you got a GM, a head coach, let them do basketball. He’s like well this is my team and I just walked away from the guy.’


Q: You are perhaps most known for the four point play, I watch it now over 10 years later and still get goosebumps, how do you feel when that play comes up?

A: I get goosebumps. I had all my sons there when that happened, that was the highlight of my career, winning the national championship in college and that four point play. I wish we would have won a title but that’s water under the bridge.

Q: What did you think of the moves the Knicks made this year getting Carmelo and Chauncey Billups?

A: I love it, we’d do much better against Boston if Chauncey would have been more healthy, we need more point guards, Chauncey is not getting younger. We need one of those Chris Paul, or that (Deron) Williams dude and we’ll be on our way. I think we’ll be more competitive with Miami and Boston.

Q: You mentioned the ’99 team gelling, how much will gelling be a key for this team in the offseason and next year?

A: It will and then the start of the year, you’ve got to have some camaraderie, Landry Fields took a big hit when Melo came, he has to find his way, he was playing so well before Melo got here. Stoudemire was the man, everybody knew their role, knew what to expect. Once you get another superstar, like we got Melo, roles change. 3-4 guys leave, 3-4 new guys in, I think Landry Fields took the biggest hit, I think it was hard for him to find his role once Melo came. He’s gotta get some veteran experience in him and then he’ll know what he needs to do and that’ll help the whole team.

Q: You were famous for throwing up the LJ sign with your arms, how often do you still break that out?

A: I don’t, I don’t, when I’m in the Garden, they put me up on the tron and everyone want the big L.


Q: You were in the slam dunk contest back early in your career. Looking at it now they have players jumping over cars. Do you like the way it is, do you have any thoughts on improving it or making it better?

A: I think you can make anything better, those guys, jumping over a car, they pulled a car on the court! The dunk contest I was in (with) Cedric Ceballos, Dan Majerle put a blind fold on Cedric Ceballos, which he could see, and he ran from the one end to the other and dunked the basketball. That’s what we were doing putting on blind folks. Then right after us came those Vince Carters, JR Riders, jumping, taking the ball between their legs. When I saw that I went out and was like whoa! I was in my sixth year in the NBA and I was trying that. Let me see can I do that, put the ball between your legs. It’s just evolving, it’s great, Blake Griffin no telling what he’s gonna do.

-Posted by Cadillac Mescallade

Follow us on Twitter@HHReynolds or Click Here to get HHR in your inbox.

Kenny "The Jet" Smith Talks Draft, Free Agency and Worldwide Wes with Cadillac Mescallade

With the NBA Draft tipping off tonight in New York City, TNT NBA analyst and former NBA guard Kenny "the Jet" Smith was kind of enough to spend a few minutes with HHR. Kenny is in the news for a tongue-in-cheek petition to reinstate the two dollar bill to coincide with Taco Bell's $2 Meal Deals.

We all know what Charles Barkley has done for the "box that rocks" with Taco Bell. Kenny jokingly assured us he isn't following in Charles' footsteps, because if that were the case there might not be any $2 meals left.

We touched on a wide variety of NBA topics, and here's what Jet had to say.

On the chemistry of he and Charles Barkley Inside the NBA...
It just kind of naturally happens, it's like when you have friend, you have chemistry with him or you don't. It's nothing that we plan or plot, I think we are so enthusiastic about the game of basketball which leads to good conversation. Once you lead to good conversation it leads to good television.

On John Wall's best attribute or skillset...
I think he has alot of skill sets and I don't know if he has one that is best. His infectious way of playing, I think that is going to carry him a long way in the point guard position

Free agency, how much movement?
There's gonna be movement for sure, there are too many great players available and when you have that many loaded up with free agency I don't think your gonna have a consistent 7-8 guys staying at home and staying with the teams they play on, I think there will be 7-8 guys that might move over to somewhere, there will be about 7-8 players that will move.

As a New York guy, where is Lebron headed, possible to the Knicks?
(Laughs) I think Lebron James has been playing it close to the vest for the last two months and we are all waiting in the wings to figure it out. I don't think anyone has the upper hand or any team has a clear advantage.

If not Lebron, who is good for NY?
When you don't make the playoffs there is no one guy or two guys that you don't need. They're in a position of having a need in all areas.

His career in free agency, how did it compare to these days...
Well I think its a different era in terms of that. By the time I was a free agent I was in my fifth year, my decision was based solely on what players they had there, period. It had nothing to do with as much financially, everything was going to be about the same financially so it was all about the players that were there and would we have a chance to win an NBA championship and could I be a part of that puzzle.

Evolution of NBA Draft, any changes since his time (Smith was the 6th overall pick in 1987)?
The draft hasn't changed, it's still exciting stuff for players and family are involved, its an opportunity that people get to be a part of and its always exciting

Worldwide Wes, is he that well connected as articles and news pieces report?
Some of it's fact, some it's fiction. It's like the fish...how big is the fish you caught? There are a lot of guys in basketball, Wes included, that have been an integral part in helping guys guide their carers. He's no different form the rest. Lately the players he's been involved with have been better players. There are guys that are involved with 7th and 8th man on the team they just haven't been the best players. It's just a great cycle for him in terms of the guys he's involved with are very good players and now he's parlayed that into representing coaches.

William Wesley with LeBron James. (Paul Sancya/Associated Press)

Knicks back in playoffs?
It all depends on this summer, until we see what they have after July, then we'll know when they can make the playoffs or not.

Follow us on Twitter@HHReynolds or Click Here to get HHR in your inbox.

David Lee Would Like You to Enjoy a Cool, Refreshing T&T

Last night, New York Knick David Lee attended a party to celebrate Charles Tanqueray’s 200th Anniversary. Jeff from Project Spurs caught up with the pending free agent for a quick Q&A.

Follow us on Twitter@HHReynolds or Click Here to get HHR in your inbox.

Happy St. Patrick Chewing Day

Follow us on Twitter@HHReynolds or Click Here to get HHR in your inbox.

Knicks Hear Boos. And For Once It’s Not from the Home Crowd.

Last night, the New York Knicks were thumped by the Oklahoma City Thunder, 106-88. What was to blame for the Knicks’ poor performance? That they shot just 38% from the floor? That they couldn’t stop Kevin Durant from going for his customary 30? No, the Knicks say they lost because their hotel was haunted.

"The place is haunted. It's scary," said Jared Jeffries of the Skirvin Hilton, a recently renovated historic hotel in downtown Oklahoma City. Eddy Curry said he couldn’t sleep out of fear of the ghosts roaming the hallway.

Although the ghost of Isiah Thomas is omnipresent in the Knicks’ salary cap and draft strategies, this is the first time supernatural powers have been blamed for the Knicks’ on-court suckage.

The Knicks can probably get Winston for league minimum, but they’ll have to clear some cap room to sign Venkman.

Follow us on Twitter@HHReynolds or Click Here to get HHR in your inbox.

Former Blazer (and Net and Sun and Knick and Cav) Chris Dudley Running for Governor of Oregon

Jon Runyan isn't the only jock throwing his name into Republican politics.

Connecticut native and former journeyman NBA center Chris Dudley (whose grandfather was U.S. ambassador to Denmark under the Nixon and Ford administrations) has done everything short of announcing his bid for the Republican nomination for governor in Oregon.

To pave the way for his announcement, Dudley is using YouTube to introduce himself to voters. Oregonians can only hope he's a better politicians than he was a free throw shooter.

Follow us on Twitter@HHReynolds or Click Here to get HHR in your inbox.

Audio: Bird and Magic on LeBron James' Pending Free Agency

As part of promotion for their recently release book, When the Game Was Ours, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird took questions from journalists and bloggers.

Here, Magic talks about the change in atmosphere in NY (or NJ) that LeBron would bring should he come to the Knicks or Nets, whereas Bird extols the virtues of Cleveland's fans and expresses hope that the King stays put in the state that he's from and on the team that drafted him - for the betterment of the game and League as a whole.

Magic adds that staying in Cleveland also gives him the best chance at winning, noting the salary purge that the Knicks would have to make in order to free up money to get James.

Follow us on Twitter@HHReynolds or Click Here to get HHR in your inbox.

Audio: Magic Johnson Addresses Book Statements About Isiah

As part of promotion for their recently release book, When the Game Was Ours, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird took questions from journalists and bloggers. Upon the book's release, among the most talked about passages regarded Magic's admission that he was part of the opposition that likely prevented Isiah Thomas from joining the famed 1992 Olympic Dream Team. While seemingly content on letting bygones be bygones, Magic is still unapologetic about his revelations and apparently still disappointed by how his relationship with Thomas deteriorated. Magic also addresses the question as to whether Zeke's personality shortcomings had to do with his tumultuous tenure and subsequent divorce from the Knicks - a gig in which Johnson admits in the book he vouched for Thomas.

Magic on Isiah's Reaction and Looking to Move on



Magic on what made him reveal the nature of the incidents that led to their parting ways



Did Isiah’s personality attribute to his problems with the Knicks?



CLICK HERE to hear Magic and Bird talk about Free Agent-to-be LeBron James.

Follow us on Twitter@HHReynolds or Click Here to get HHR in your inbox.

Knicks Pick Up Another NBA Lottery Bust

As if taking on Darko Milicic--the classic trivia answer to who was the worst player ever to be mentioned in the same sentence as Lebron James and Carmelo Anthony--wasn't enough, the New York Knicks have put one of the ultimate busts on their NBA Summer League roster.

Take a good look at the Knicks roster that will be suiting up for five games in Las Vegas starting today. That's right, at the bottom it's Nikoloz Tskitishvili, the fifth overall pick from the 2002 NBA Draft. NT for short, has been with four NBA teams and a host of international clubs since his draft and has been dubbed by many as one of the worst lottery picks ever. If not for his ridiculously hard name to pronounce he may have fallen from all memory. Alas, seven footers will always be a commodity in the NBA and so NT has a home at least for the summer.


As for the rest of the roster it includes the two new draft picks in Jordan Hill and Toney Douglas, but the rest is a mishmash of guys that technically played in college but that we haven't heard from in a while. David Noel from UNC could be fun to watch and Morris Almond from Rice was fun to watch in college. However, with seemingly every other team in the league boasting exciting young players and draft picks to trot out, the Knicks hang their hopes on Hill and Douglas. I know the games don't mean much, but after Jason Kidd and Grant Hill used the Knicks just to get better contracts from their own teams, it's tough to find positives for the 'Bockers these days.

One can only hope Danilo Gallinari isn't too far off from returning after back issues sidelined most of his true rookie season. If you're curious, it looks most of the games will air at some point on MSG. The Knicks start today with Memphis before meeting Detroit, Sacramento, Chicago and Washington.

Follow us on Twitter@HHReynolds or Click Here to get HHR in your inbox.

Get Dunked On By Patrick Chewing

This has made the rounds on some other sites, but this commercial is just great for Snickers. Starring my favorite NBA Player ever, Patrick Ewing, it is a quick spot for Snickers where Ewing just shatters a backboard with a dunk. He then just walks away and says "oops." The best part is that Ewing has restored his classic hi-top fade.



-Posted by Cadillac Mascallade

Follow us on Twitter @HHReynolds or Click Here to get HHR in your inbox.

Petition to Stop LeBron James Petitioners

Just stop.

Please.

LeBron James is perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime talent, a franchise and league megastar destined to take the Association to new heights.

Fans know this. Players know this. Most of all, teams and NBA executives know this.

Therefore, you must know, NBA fans, that signing your name on a paper or online form will have little effect on your respective teams' desire, willingness and/or ability to sign LBJ.

Yet, you find the unhealthy need to be an activist. We are talking to you, specifically New Yorkers. And you too, Clevelanders (Clevelandites?). And you countless other NBA cities out there.

For who? For what?

That said, we implore you, HHR Nation and disgusted fans everywhere to join your collective voices in calling for an end to such infantile and pointless petitioning by clicking the link and signing the petition below.

It's your patriotic duty.

Petition to Stop LeBron James Petitioners

To: NBA Fans Nationwide

Whereas, LeBron James is being heralded as not only the most attractive free agent in sports history once he hits the market following the 2010 season, but also as the savior of the free world, re-builder of dreams for hoops fans across the country, eradicator of global hunger and poverty, and cure-all for every disease known to man; and

Whereas, the prospect of having James come to respective fans' franchise of choice has caused moistened panties in NBA cities throughout the land; and

Whereas, Cleveland fans have pinned their future existance on the hopes of LBJ resigning with the Cavs; and

Whereas, New Yorkers have made it their life's purpose to woo the guard to the Big Apple; and

Whereas, petitions to lobby NBA executives to sign LBJ to their teams have sprung up from New York to Cleveland to Kalamazoo,

We therefore call upon fans to join voices in petitioning petitioners to grow up, stop wasting their time, get a life and stop creating petitions regarding the signing of LeBron James.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

Q-Tip to Leitch: Yo, What the Scenario

In a pop music review published last month by New York Magazine, Blog Crusader Will Leitch profiled Midnight Marauder Q-Tip in a piece The Ballad of Q-Tip "In which an iconic, pioneering rapper attempts a return to glory, in the shadow of his offspring."

Of the former Tribe Called Quest Frontman's new release The Renaissance, the former Deadspin editor writes:

Q-Tip’s flow on his new disc remains mellow, freewheeling, and vaguely inspirational. But it doesn’t feel relevant (e.g., the perfectly serviceable but random duet with Norah Jones). He talks about playing parties with fellow old-timer D.J. Scratch and being taken aback by how “the kids” sing along with Ice Cube and the Pharcyde. “There’s a thirst for information,” he says. But mostly, they want Kanye West.

Still, it’s West who’s winning Grammys and endorsing soft drinks, while Q-Tip is trying to warm up a hostile Knicks crowd. And now Kanye has his own album coming out, 808s & Heartbreak, that’s sure to dwarf The Renaissance.

Well, Q-Tip didn't take to kindly to Will's words and let him know so in the comments section...

"damn mr. leitch!! why are u shitting on me and dick riding kanye. seems like its an assignment you didnt want to do so why do it? you should have done a DL4 assignment or better yet a 'whatever happened to fallout shelters in a Mc Carthy era new york?' piece!!! i'm good... you??? JADED!! yes this is qtip."

Later: "oh i forgot... ASSHOLE."

What a Difference a Year Makes

Photo: Boston.com

This year's annual Turnkey Team Brand Index proves what we knew all along, Bostonians are loyal bandwagoneers.

It should come as no surprise that both the Red Sox and Pats both landed in the top 5. After all, both teams have seen much recent success.

However, dig a little deeper. The survey, which surveys sports fans in markets on "their perception of their hometown teams, asking questions about ticket value, team leadership and 19 other categories," ranked the Celtics, once the gold standard of the Association, at #9 a year after winning their championship.

While a decade or two ago, this would have been a no-brainer, last year the C's were at #109.

What does this really say about Boston sports fans?

Probably the same thing it says about New York ones. Notably omitted from the top 20 are any of the many struggling NY-NJ franchises.

The most shocking revalation in the study (to me at least) was the New York Knicks landing 2nd to last at #121, only slightly ahead of the then-Seattle SuperSonics. One wonders what difference LBJ might make among the Garden "faithful."

Your Chance to School Mars Blackmon

Among the naked cowboys, overwhelmed Midwestern tourists and panhandlers, New Yorkers may have noticed people parading around the Big Apple looking for a pick-up game. Then again, maybe they just blended into the city's backdrop.


Tomorrow, to tip-off the NBA season, Kia Motors (in partnership with the NBA) will be building a full-size basketball court on an elevated platform, a 3-story DJ tower, and a 8X10' video wall and a live broadcast ESPN 1050 Radio with Michael Kay at NYC's Union Square from 7am to 7pm.

The event is free and will feature current Knicks players, Knicks and other NBA legends and the Knicks City Dancers, along with several other celebrities (like Spike Lee) signing autographs and participating in basketball challenges on the court.

Obama/Bradley '08?

Photo: hoopedia.nba.com

Someone alerted us to a blurb in Politifax, "A Weekly Electronic Newsletter on Politics in New Jersey," that former Princeton Tiger/NY Knick/US Senator/Democratic Presidential hopeful Bill Bradley is a name high on Sen. Obama's potential Veep list.

Says Politifax in its "Who's Hot" section:

Bill Bradley

"Yes, our own Dollar Bill. We have good authority -- from a former Democratic Governor from another state -- that former Hall of Fame basketball player, the former Senator, the former presidential candidate, and the current post-politics intellectual is not only very high on Barack Obama's short list but also the prefered choice of master strategist David Axelrod."

Obama's being the presumptive nominee may have finally dispelled The Curse of Bill Bradley.

Sports Figures Headline NJ HoF Innaugural Class

Green Bay Packers Coach Vince Lombardi, Yankee Yogi Berra and Former Knick/US Senator Bill Bradley were among 15 first-ever inductees into the New Jersey Hall of Fame this past Sunday.

Joining them were Frank Sinatra, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, American Red Cross founder Clara Barton, publisher Malcolm Forbes, and Gen. Robert Wood Johnson II, "familiar to many through the philanthropic foundation that bears his name, was represented by his grandson, New York Jets owner Woody Johnson."

The final inductee was a former amateur pitcher with very unorthodox form. Bruce Springsteen was honored despite his inability to put away Craig Nettles. His friend, a big baseball player back in high school, failed to make the cut, and is said to be very bitter. The two are no longer on speaking terms despite recently seeing one another at a local bar, sitting down and having a few drinks.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - GLORY DAYS
by pierrot77

Even til the Very Bitter End, Zeke is Still Dillusional

From our NBA goto guy Adrian Wojnarowski, "Thomas tried to con Knicks more than coach them":

"As Denzel (Washington) told me," Isiah said, "'You're going to get the Bronx cheer.' If this is the bottom, with a sold-out house tonight, in the last game, then New York is a great town.

"And in a strange kind of way I'm honored to get the Bronx cheer. Because everybody gets it. If this is the worst, this ain't bad."

Yep. Still crazy after all these years.

Fake coach scams restaurants with 'team' orders

Photo courtesy of redsarmy.com

Times must be getting rough for old Zeke. He knows he is on his way out. He could go down as the worst coach and GM in NBA history. His office hijinx caused the franchise a boatload of dough. And now he could be passing off bad checks...

Police are looking for a man who pretends to be a basketball coach and scams McDonald's restaurants out of food and money using bad checks.

Police say the man drives up in a school-type bus and enters the restaurants ordering about $50 of food for his "team." The man then pays with a $150 check that appears to be from a school district and takes his food and his change, in cash.

That's just like Zeke. Pretending to be a coach. Paying three times the amount of money that something is worth.

And after all Zeke and Mickey D's have been through....

There's Hope, NY Fans

Giant, Yankee & Knick fans finally catch a glimmer of hope as the Sunday Times Online reports today:

Hopes of custom-built organs as scientists create beating heart

This is great news, sports fans. Word is that the Giants brass is trying like the dickens to get this heart transplanted prior to today's 4:30 kickoff into their notoriously aloof field general.

Yankees can finally see the upside of their investment in Bobby Abreu.

Knicks fans now feel that if its possible to custom build organs, and they are inevitably stuck with Zeke Thomas, how long before Dolan gives in and orders a functioning brain for his head coach?

While he's at it, the Knicks owner can look into some custom made cajones he's long been missing.