Dallas Mavericks: Mavs Dancers

If you want to get to know the Mavericks Dancers a little better head on over to their official site for more photos, video, and wallpapers. But for now, just enjoy our gallery of the lovely ladies.

‘Sneak’-a-Peek: Converse Weapon ’86

An immediate- and colorful- on-court favorite, the Converse Weapon sneaker became universally favored by professional, college and high school teams throughout the 1980′s and ’90s. Over twenty years later, its legacy and place in sport and culture continues to challenge the competition as Converse introduces it all over again- exactly like they did the first time. Silhouette features leather upper and rubber outsole, with very cool colorways. The re-release includes Black/White, White/Grey, and Purple/Yellow.

I’m personally rockin’ the black and white colorways featured above, but I thought i’d include a pic below of the Lakers colorway available for you as well. The Weapons are retailing for $80 US. Converse spared no expense with an abundance of leather on these babies. They make for a fresh look with a pair of jeans, or ballin’ at your local run.

For a listing of shoe release information on the latest kicks check out our “KICKS” section.

Sacremento Kings SlamWow Part 3 – The Final Episode

So we all know by now what happened to Vince Offer a.k.a Vince Shlomi from ShamWow fame, and over the last couple of weeks we’ve shown you Part 1 and Part 2 of the new product infomercial to replace ShamWow. It’s called the Sacramento Kings SlamWow! Here is the 3rd and final part to the SlamWow infomercial for your laughter and enjoyment.

Part one was SlamWow the original, Part 2 of the infomercial for SlamWow industrial, and in Part 3 there is a focus on the absorbency properties of SlamWow. Of course it’s always ‘good for everything’! Don’t wait, get yours now:

(H/T to rprevatt for the video and emailing us)

MJ’s Son Marcus Jordan and John Wall ‘Light Up’ the 2009 Jordan Classic

Would your boy Doc J-Water leave you hanging? Well maybe, lol, but this time i’m not. After hyping all you regular readers of The Hoop Doctors about John Wall from Word of God Academy and his plans to play in the 2009 Jordan Classic last week, i’ve got some footage you may want to see.

Below you can find video highlights and interviews with Michael Jordan’s son Marcus Jordan, and also John Wall during the 2009 Jordan Classic High School game. Don’t say I never gave you anything:

John Wall a.k.a. “The Sickest High School Player in the Country”

Marcus Jordan a.k.a. “Son of God”

Sixth Grade Kid, Allonzo Trier, Shows ‘Melo How to Handle a Basketball

When I was in sixth grade I loved to play hoops. I had dreams like everyone else to one day play in the NBA. I even used to think about what it would be like to meet my favorite NBA players like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Michael Jordan.

Well for Allonzo Trier, the sixth grade basketball phenom, he’s not only living the dream of meeting his favorite NBA player Carmelo Anthony of the Denver Nuggets, he’s getting to teach Carmelo a few of his dribbling moves that even Carmelo is having a tough time mastering. This kids handles are no joke. He’s got some serious game. And to top it off he’s getting paid to live his dream by Powerade to film an ION4 spot. Daaaaamn, check the vid:

(H/T to Catalyst Public Relations for the behind the scenes footage)

D-Will and A.I. Design Signature Headphones

Pretty much every time I leave the YMCA after a good pick-up run, I see some of the guys I was ballin’ with waiting at the bus stop rockin’ some standard grey DJ Headphones. In fact I’d venture to guess that more than 80% of ballers own DJ Headsets and consider them to be an essential piece of swag in their wardrobe. Maybe i’m off on the numbers a bit but certainly there has been an increase in popularity, and like many other fashion trends with ballers it can be directly linked to a blurring of the lines between the basketball and hip hop cultures.

But one day last week I noticed a guy sporting a headset at that same bus stop that was a little out of the ordinary. The color scheme on this guy’s muffs weren’t the normal boring grey and/or black, but instead was what I assumed at the time to be North Carolina Tar Heels Baby Blue and White. Immediately after arriving home I started ‘googling’ search terms like “North Carolina Head Phones”, “Tar Heels DJ Headset”, “Music North Carolina”, etc. with absolutely no luck and nothing resembling what I saw this cat wearing at the bus stop. Then a couple days go by and I tried again but this time searching “DJ, Headphones, Sport”. What do you know, the first return on that search is the Skull Candy website. But aren’t the Skull Candy sets just for extreme sports, I wondered? It didn’t take long to figure out I was way off on the North Carolina angle. The headphones I saw were in fact Skull Candy, but were their new “Players Series” version of the Hesh Headphones designed specifically for NBA Player Deron Williams of the Utah Jazz. That’s where the combination of Navy Blue, Baby Blue, and White came from.

Okay, now I REALLY had to have them. If you love hoops as much as I do, and hip-hop music is a close second, then you don’t think twice about it, you spend that money. Whatever it takes. Fortunately for me in this case, the money wasn’t a huge barrier as they were only $50 + tax. Are you kidding me? $50 bucks! Of course at the point of purchase I had no idea of the sound quality, but the cosmetics alone were enough to have me jonesin’ to sport these on a sunny spring day in front of my boyz who likely hadn’t seen them yet.

Let me tell you about the swag of the swag real quick….the cups have a nice smooth rounded exterior piece with the D-Will logo emblazoned on it….the overhead strap is made of a combination of patent leather like you’d find on a pair of your favorite kicks, and a blue mesh with Deron’s number 8 embroidered into it. But the fun doesn’t stop there…..the sound quality once I did get these home was surprisingly deep and smooth. Another one of the ‘little details’ that Skull Candy hit the mark on was having the entire cable made out of a braided nylon with an extender piece option and volume control. Brilliant. Clearly this is a company that pays attention to the little things that make or break a product.

Interested yet? Thought so….here is some info on the D-Will Hesh Headset and the D-Will Smokin’ Buds I was able to glean off the Skull Candy website:

Fresh off winning the gold medal at the Olympics, D-Will returns to shredding NBA defenses this year for the Utah Jazz. Skull Candy has partnered with D-Will to bring the first “Player Series” headphone to the market. Deron himself directed the design of the headphones and helped with the creation of the sick logo designed by the Skull Candy design crew and seen on the side of the headphone. So scratch that Utah Jazz singing toothbrush off your Christmas list and rock to your iPod while expressing your fanhood with the Deron Williams Signature Headphones.

With 50mm high explosive power drivers the Skull Candy Hesh will pump sound into your skull with an intensity found in no other headphone. The Hesh features the biggest power driver you can get coupled with sound-boosting parabolic earcups to produce studio quality sound in an affordable package.

If for some strange reason you don’t like the D-Will Hesh headphones, or if you are a hardcore Philadelphia 76ers fan, you may want to spend a little more at $69.95 and get the Andre Iguodala Signature headphones styled on the Skull Candy “G.I.” platform. The main additions on the Andre Iguodala signature set that the D-Will’s don’t have are the swivel ear-cups, interchangeable ear pads, 6.3mm plug adaptor, full patent leather across the overhead strap, and a different color scheme. Obviously Iggy pushed for the Sixers colors on his headphones

My personal preference is to the D-Will’s i’m rocking now, and it certainly doesn’t hurt that they are $20 cheaper than the A.I.’s. But whether you are a West Coast guy lovin’ Utah or an East Coast guy reppin’ Philly you can’t beat the low price and sweet colorways of these signature series DJ Headphones. What I love about this movement to give NBA Players signature headphones or any other product associated with the basketball culture, is that it gives us fans something to critique and fawn over. I guess all of us “Sneaker Heads” that fawn over the latest signature kicks of our favorite players will soon be calling ourselves “Headphone Heads”?

Always love to hear your thoughts, so let me know what you think of these headphones, and also the concept of a signature series of headphones with NBA Players….

Video of the Day: Flying Hawk Delays Heat-Hawks Playoff Game!

In a very interesting playoff turn of events, the Miami Heat vs. Atlanta Hawks Game 2 was delayed for a couple minutes when a real live Hawk flying around the arena failed to come back to its trainer. The Hawk sat up on the top of the backboard curious as to what all the hoopla was about (no pun intended).

Miami tied the series 1-1, so the Hawks antics to distract and cool off the Heat players seemingly failed. The video is still classic and hilarious though. Fans seemed delighted by the event…

Tyler, 17, Becomes First Player to Leave H.S. for Pro Ball Overseas

After hearing the latest news that Jeremy Tyler, a 17-year old San Diego High School student, has decided to drop out of school in favor of heading overseas to play basketball professionally in Europe, I was almost sick to my stomach. Not that many months ago my colleague Doc J-Water considered the fact that the lure of the NBA was wearing off for international players. Then American professional players such as Josh Childress decided to seek greater monetary compensation by choosing pro Europe ball over the NBA. Shortly thereafter Doc Browntorious let you know his thoughts on Brandon Jennings last year being the first player on the NBA track as a High School grad to opt not to play College Basketball where players do not get paid, and instead deciding to play in Europe until he could be drafted to the NBA. Now this….now players like Jeremy Tyler are willing to jeopardize their future for a quick buck.

Sure, Tyler, like many other high profile High School basketball players in the US, has a chance to one day develop into an NBA caliber player. But to turn down your right to a proper education during that development process in my opinion is like playing Russian Roulette. Basketball is just too damn risky to think otherwise. On the drop of a dime you often see career ending knee, ankle, back, and neck injuries in this sport, the type that would negate any hope Jeremy Tyler has of ever becoming an NBA player. And then what? Will he go back to High School and start over again? Maybe….but unlikely. Here is what Tyler had to say about his decision:

“Nowadays people look to college for more off-the-court stuff versus being in the gym and getting better,” Tyler told the Times. “If you’re really focused on getting better, you go play pro somewhere. Pro guys will get you way better than playing against college guys.”

So, is Tyler going to start a new trend where the top high school players in the country drop out to play for money in Europe until they are old enough to be drafted to the NBA? David Stern, NBA Commissioner, thought he was doing ‘the right thing’ for the development of young ball players when he introduced a new rule a couple years ago forcing draftee’s to have played at least one year of college basketball or be at least 19 years of age to be eligible for the NBA Draft. But has that rule backfired? Are players now just finding innovative ways circumvent the intent of David Sterns new rule?

Personally, I hope other top high school prospects do not follow in Jeremy Tyler’s footsteps and drop out of high school. And as far as Tyler’s comments about “Pro guys will get you way better than playing against college guys”, that’s just hogwash. The development that Stern and other NBA officials were seeking for players by forcing them to play college ball was not just about the level of competition. It was about being able to develop and learn the fundamentals of the game, and principles of teamwork that you just don’t always get in a “business environment” like pro basketball, whether it be the NBA or Europe.

Seems like some young players, are missing the point, and now ultimately the experience.

Is Controversy Just Part of the NBA Playoffs? Erick Dampier Guarantee’s It

‘Dr. Casper’ a.k.a. Ben York from Phoenix’s Fanster.com fame, is also the founder of Ben’s Suns Blog.

“My first foul Thursday night is going to put him on his back. I guarantee it.”

That was the quote from Erick Dampier, doing his best impression of Men’s Wearhouse CEO George Zimmer, in reference to his wish to take out Tony Parker. As soon as I heard those comments, I had a few immediate thoughts rush through my mind:

1. What an idiot.
2. Erick Dampier said that?
3. As a Suns fan, I wish more of their players would think like that. (key
term: *think*, not say)
4. Finally – the 2009 playoff controversy

There is no doubt that if the Mavericks want to contain Tony Parker, Erick Dampier is going to have to step up his defense as almost half of Parker’s made shots were layups in their blowout loss to the Spurs on Monday. However, once again, instead of focusing on the actual game and what is proving to be a better series than we all thought it would be, we are now clearly smitten with Dampier’s “threat.” Please.

Clearly, this is not a unique situation. It seems that the NBA playoffs bring out this type of controversy; something like this happens every year that gives us bloggers and fans something to talk about. Sometimes it’s about an actual play (see Suns/Spurs 2007) and sometimes it has nothing to do with the game such as the seeding (see 2006 controversy).

Right or wrong, valid or not, we soak this stuff up. And much of the time, every side in these arguments has a solid case to support; there isn’t usually a undeniable correct response or solution. Typically, objectivity is used in every situation, such as the NBA deciding to review Dampier’s comments. While this stuff happens all the time in the regular season, and
we have strong feelings about it, the playoffs bring out much more gut-wrenching, personal reactions of everyone involved from the casual fan to the player himself; after all, this is for all the marbles!

This is why I love the playoffs. They bring out the best and worst in us.

We tend to think that each controversy correlates with the outcome, and if the outcome isn’t what we wanted…hey, at least we can blame it on something! That’s what I love and loathe about the NBA; there is always someone or something to place blame on. Instead of looking internally as fans or players, we blame refs, coaches, calls, time differences, etc. Excuses are all of a sudden much more a part of the game rather than moving on. Every call is scrutinized, every play is questioned, and every outcome has a hero/villain. It’s truly a fantastic time of the year. Even the most high-character people get caught up in their subsequent anger and grudges – some, rightfully so.

Now, I’m not someone who places blame on others very quickly, if at all. However, when playoff time rolls around…I tend to sing a different tune.

NBA Photo Fun: Andrew Bynum, Under My Umbrella

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