Excerpted from "The Art of the Beautiful Game: The Thinking Fan's Tour of the NBA", by Chris Ballard. Copyright © 2009 by Chris Ballard. Published by Simon & Schuster/SI Books.
The NBA's best rivalry needed this. The home team had won the last 16 meetings before the visiting Celtics broke that spell Tuesday with an opening night 95-89 win over the Cavaliers (RECAP | BOX SCORE). After two years spent bear-hugging each other like wrestlers, a new dynamic has momentarily separated them.
This article appears in the October 26, 2009, issue of Sports Illustrated
Now that Shaquille O'Neal, LeBron James and the rest of the Cavaliers have officially begun preparing for the season, the question must be asked: By what logic do we expect the Big Diesel to provide a 2009-10 performance that is healthy and productive enough to take Cleveland to the next level in its quest for an NBA championship?
The most ominous glimpse of what is to come this season took place in a blink -- a pass to LeBron James that he instantly volleyballed to the far side of the basket while Shaquille O'Neal spun out of the post and behind his defender to bank in the alley-oop layup. "That was just two basketball players making a read,'' said James after he made his debut with his large and elder sidekick. "For the first game I thought we played pretty well as a team, and me and Shaq definitely played pretty well together. It shouldn't be hard for the both of us -- we both know how to play and we both know how to win.''
It starts as a crack. It develops into a chink, grows into a hole, and pretty soon, it's a crater. Basketball season is fast approaching, but so is another of winter's traditions: pothole season.
In the annals of abject disgrace, apparently LeBron James now stands atop this dubious mountain. TMZ, which seems to have its fingers in every titillating, salacious and controversial pie these days, has posted a video that Nike attempted to squelch. In it, the King is -- gasp! -- dunked on by Xavier sophomore Jordan Crawford in a pickup game at the LeBron James Skills Academy in Akron.
SI.com's NBA writers size up the first two weeks of free agency.
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio (AP) -- Laughing and loose, Shaq looked right at home.
Amid complaints about the dearth of talent in last week's NBA draft, No. 1 pick Blake Griffin has earned resounding approval from Shaquille O'Neal.
Excerpted from "The Art of the Beautiful Game: The Thinking Fan's Tour of the NBA", by Chris Ballard. Copyright © 2009 by Chris Ballard. Published by Simon & Schuster/SI Books.
The NBA's best rivalry needed this. The home team had won the last 16 meetings before the visiting Celtics broke that spell Tuesday with an opening night 95-89 win over the Cavaliers (RECAP | BOX SCORE). After two years spent bear-hugging each other like wrestlers, a new dynamic has momentarily separated them.
This article appears in the October 26, 2009, issue of Sports Illustrated
Now that Shaquille O'Neal, LeBron James and the rest of the Cavaliers have officially begun preparing for the season, the question must be asked: By what logic do we expect the Big Diesel to provide a 2009-10 performance that is healthy and productive enough to take Cleveland to the next level in its quest for an NBA championship?
The most ominous glimpse of what is to come this season took place in a blink -- a pass to LeBron James that he instantly volleyballed to the far side of the basket while Shaquille O'Neal spun out of the post and behind his defender to bank in the alley-oop layup. "That was just two basketball players making a read,'' said James after he made his debut with his large and elder sidekick. "For the first game I thought we played pretty well as a team, and me and Shaq definitely played pretty well together. It shouldn't be hard for the both of us -- we both know how to play and we both know how to win.''
It starts as a crack. It develops into a chink, grows into a hole, and pretty soon, it's a crater. Basketball season is fast approaching, but so is another of winter's traditions: pothole season.
In the annals of abject disgrace, apparently LeBron James now stands atop this dubious mountain. TMZ, which seems to have its fingers in every titillating, salacious and controversial pie these days, has posted a video that Nike attempted to squelch. In it, the King is -- gasp! -- dunked on by Xavier sophomore Jordan Crawford in a pickup game at the LeBron James Skills Academy in Akron.
SI.com's NBA writers size up the first two weeks of free agency.
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio (AP) -- Laughing and loose, Shaq looked right at home.
Amid complaints about the dearth of talent in last week's NBA draft, No. 1 pick Blake Griffin has earned resounding approval from Shaquille O'Neal.
Amid a wealth of midseason rumors that he was headed to Cleveland in February at the trading deadline, Shaquille O'Neal says another team also was trying to land him -- the Portland Trail Blazers.
If you were circling the political wagons in South Carolina, an aide to humiliated governor Mark Sanford hoping to achieve some small measure of damage control, would you bring in Eliot Spitzer and Rod Blagojevich for counsel?
The Cavaliers have agreed in principle to acquire Shaquille O'Neal from the Suns for Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic, an NBA source confirmed late Wednesday night.
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Forgive me, Kobe, but these NBA Finals are all about Shaq. Can Los Angeles ever win a championship without Shaq? That's what the Lakers are trying to prove. Will Orlando ever overcome the departure of Shaq? That's what the Magic are trying to prove.
It's long been an article of faith that the most treasured commodity on any basketball team is a big man. This goes back to basketball antiquity, right on up to Shaquille O'Neal. The big man had to be doubled-teamed. He would get you the rebounds. He was victory on the hoof. Most colorfully, per usual, Al McGuire called them "aircraft carriers."
SI.com NBA writers analyze the latest news and address hot topics from around the league each week. (All stats and records are through Monday.)
SI.com NBA writers analyze the latest news and address hot topics from around the league each week.
SI.com NBA writers analyze the latest news and address hot topics from around the league each week.
PHOENIX -- "If I hear one more guy start a sentence with, 'In this economy ...'" complained a team executive as we drank beer in a dive bar Friday before a fight broke out among the locals.
The four-player trade between the Heat and Raptors has the potential to give both teams exactly what they need.
Volunteering with local law enforcement, Shaquille O'Neal has learned from his peers that domestic violence calls are among the most dangerous for police officers.
This excerpt from Madmen's Ball: The Continuing Saga of Kobe, Phil, and the Los Angeles Lakers is printed with the permission of Triumph Books.
SI.com NBA writers will analyze the latest news and address hot topics from around the league each week. Have a question you'd like answered? E-mail us here.
What made the Phoenix Suns so much fun, such an ideal to the basketball purists and a delight to the casual fans, was that for three and a half NBA seasons (and three postseasons), they were without compromise. They came, they saw, they scored. Seven seconds or less. Energy meets basketball, or vice versa.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Shaquille O'Neal paid me a strange and remarkable honor the other night. He allowed me to pick Amaré Stoudemire's new nickname.
With the Suns having won at least 54 games in each of the last four seasons, the decision to put the brakes on an offense designed to shoot in seven seconds or less has struck more than a few observers as unnecessary tinkering.
Long goodbyes work best for Raymond Chandler, Mick & Keith, second-term presidents, Evander Holyfield and, every few years or so, Cher.
ORLANDO, Fla. -- When Dwayne Polee Jr. smiled Friday, he revealed a mouthful of braces, each adorned with a USC-gold rubber band. Two years ago, when the now 6-foot-6 wing forward from Los Angeles committed to the Trojans before he started ninth grade, plenty of people told him he'd be sporting another school's colors by now. But with a little more than 16 months to go before he can officially sign with USC, Polee doesn't expect a change of heart.
Just when you figured it was time to focus on a kinder, gentler NBA -- from a draft full of young guys who haven't yet misled or disappointed a soul (other than the college coaches and programs they're leaving prematurely) to a league spared at least for a few weeks from conspiracy theories and referee allegations -- someone had to go and hand Shaquille O'Neal a live microphone.
Also in this column: • NBA scouts weigh in on MVP race • Strategy to resuscitate the Knicks
Having made what many proclaimed the worst trade in NBA history, and what one pundit described to me as "the worst trade ever in any sport, worse than Lou-Brock-for-Ernie-Broglio" (in 1964, the Cardinals got the base-stealing leadoff legend, while the Cubs got a sore-armed, over-the-hill pitcher who won only seven more games before retiring in 1966), what do we say now about the deal that brought Shaquille O'Neal to the Suns?
As you might expect, there have been some changes on the Phoenix Suns since the hulking figure of Shaquille O'Neal first darkened the doorway of US Airways Center in early February, the key acquisition in a trade with the Miami Heat that many NBA observers still find nothing short of mind-boggling.
Shawn Kemp once described dunking as "better than sex," and as the father of numerous children by numerous women, he should know. In general, though, I found that dunkers tend to downplay the act. After all, for them it's both easy and natural. What's there to talk about? Ask them enough questions, however, and they start talking. Here are dunkers on dunking:
The phrases you've been hearing from the Suns after their trade for Shaquille O'Neal are protecting the basket, strengthening the half-court offense and providing more second-chance points. But before those theoretical enhancements can become realities in Phoenix, something much more, well, corporeal must show improvement.
In time, we will know everything about Shaquille O'Neal's trade to the Phoenix Suns and its impact on all involved. What it means to the Suns, to the Miami Heat and to the rest of the NBA. What it means to Shawn Marion, the unsettled four-time All-Star swapped for the big man Wednesday, as well as to Steve Nash, Amaré Stoudemire and Dwyane Wade. And what it means to Mike D'Antoni's system, Pat Riley's future and Steve Kerr's job security.
Also in this column: • Visiting with a top European coach • Should Mavs stand pat at deadline? • Revised predictions for West race
Does that make me crazy? Does that make me crazy? Does that make me crazy? -- Gnarls Barkley
It was Mardi Gras in Miami when Shaquille O'Neal arrived via trade from the Lakers in July 2004. Surrounded by 17 news trucks, about 215 media members and more than 3,000 fans, O'Neal pulled up to AmericanAirlines Arena in the cab of an 18-wheeler that had a huge picture of his face on the side of the trailer with the words "Shaq in Black."
In a recent phone call to Steve Nash, Shaquille O'Neal assured the Phoenix Suns' All-Star point guard, "I won't let you down." If O'Neal passes his physical, which should take place sometime around 4 p.m. ET this afternoon, he will get the chance to prove that is true.
Imagine (OK, dream) for a moment that you're an NBA rookie.
Also in this column: • Top 10: Intriguing soap operas • Kaman's been money for Clippers • Scout's view of struggling Warriors
Taking a spin around the league ...
After nearly five years of marriage and four children together, Shaquille O'Neal filed for divorce from his wife Shaunie in Miami on Tuesday.
Laugh if you will, but every team in the Southeast can make a logical argument why it can win the division. While, in part, that speaks to how much the aging Heat have come back to the pack, it also hints at the improving talent in Orlando, Charlotte and, yes, Atlanta. This is going to be a tight race, as the kids try to focus on winning consistently and veterans such as Shaq just try to stay focused. If what happened over the summer is any indication, however, Shaq had better show up to start the season in shape for a change because this division is coming for him.
The goal is to wean Chris completely off the mayo.
CHICAGO -- A 2006 NBA championship ring, flanked by giant matching cuff links, was on display in the locker stall of Heat forward Antoine Walker before Game 1 of Miami's playoff meeting with the Bulls.
WASHINGTON -- He looked like his old self: Thin by his enormous standards, as happy as ever and surprisingly confident. One way or another, the game always circles back to Shaquille O'Neal, as if returning from orbit around its biggest center.
Shaquille O'Neal provided one of the memorable moments at last weekend's All-Star festivities when the 7-foot-1 behemoth boogied with Gilbert Arenas and Dwight Howard during practice, even hitting the floor to show off his break-dancing skills.
NBA All-Star Weekend isn't as much about the competition as it is about the entertainment. As this year's festivities commence in a city built to entertain, Las Vegas, SI.com though the time was right to countdown the most memorable moments the NBA's midseason extravaganza has produced -- at least until this year.
Injuries to big-name players come up every season, but this year has been especially brutal. Shaquille O'Neal. Yao Ming. Lamar Odom. Paul Pierce. Chris Paul. Michael Redd. Those are just a handful of the big names currently out of commission.
SHAQUILLE O'NEAL, entrepreneur
Stock market investors should be pulling for the Detroit Pistons in the National Basketball Association finals due to the Shaq curse, according to a published report Thursday.
This hasn't been the most stable year for those in the public eye. Cisco, once unassailable, has become unmentionable. The bickering, underachieving Lakers transformed themselves into the Second Co...
Discipline. Intense preparation. Experience. Mental toughness.
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