Jordan to Grace Cover of NBA 2K11

How many of you out there grew up playing NBA Jam and wished they had a Michael Jordan character so you could control a player with the G.O.A.T.’s skills? I always just wanted to see what his levels would have been in the game’s player selection area. He would have had to have been full power on all skills right? Maybe, slightly less than full power on three’s I guess…

Well if you always wanted to ‘be like Mike’ in a game simulation, you may just get your wish after all. According to an ESPN source, the producers of NBA 2K11 have signed ‘his airness’ to be the cover boy. What makes this especially interesting, is the contract would stipulate the need for a Jordan playing character in the game. It is also worthy of note that Jordan still topped Lebron James, Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans among others for the cover spot, even though he’s no longer even an active player. This would be a first, and also as the new owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, it would be the first time an NBA franchise owner has graced the cover of an NBA videogame.

While rumors pegged LeBron James, Derrick Rose and even Tyreke Evans as favorites to appear on the cover of “NBA 2K11,” multiple sources have told ESPN that the company has gone in a completely different direction, signing basketball legend Michael Jordan as its new spokesman.

This will be the first time that a former player will appear on the front of the box for 2K, and with Jordan taking over majority ownership of the Charlotte Bobcats, it will also be the first time that a team owner will endorse the popular franchise. {via ESPN}

Zach Randolph Implicated as ‘Supplier’ in Indianapolis Drug Case

Controversy and troubles with the law just seem to follow Zach Randolph regardless of where he goes. After the whole jail blazers reputation Portland had in year’s past, shipping out Randolph was sort of like the final goodbye to that old rep and opening the door to the new guard led by Brandon Roy. So Zach and his baggage is someone else’s problem now. In this case the Memphis Grizzlies.

Reports are starting to break that according to an affidavit, Memphis Grizzlies power forward Zach Randolph is being implicated as one of the prime suspects in an Indianopolis narcotic distribution operation:

According to a probable cause affidavit, a trusted police informant identified Memphis Grizzlies player Zach Randolph as a major marijuana supplier in Indianapolis, 6News’ Jack Rinehart reported.

Narcotics officers were staking out a suspected drug house on Indianapolis’ north side two weeks ago when they pulled over Arthur Boyd, 32, soon after he left the residence, near 75th Street and Binford Avenue, police said.
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According to the affidavit, the Cadillac Escalade that Boyd was driving was registered to Randolph, and police found marijuana and ammunition stowed inside.

“One of his vehicles had what we call hidden compartments that contained suspected narcotics, that being marijuana,” said Lt. Jeff Duhamell.

Based on information found in the Escalade, police later raided a northeast side storage facility, where they said Randolph rents four lockers. {Via}

It’s one thing for Zach to be able to argue his way out of having his name on a lease or ownership papers for the vehicle, as it is quite commonplace among NBA players to buy or lease vehicles for their friends and family, and never have anything to do with the vehicle, much less deal drugs from it.

But the other little bit of information in the affidavit may be a bit more difficult for Randolph to deflect blame, that being Randolph apparently was listed as the tenant on four storage lockers believed to contain narcotics and more vehicles with hidden drug compartments:

Based on information found in the Escalade, police later raided a northeast side storage facility, where they said Randolph rents four lockers.

According to the affidavit, a police K-9 alerted to controlled substances in two of the four units, and police found more cars with secret compartments inside.

So the question then becomes, why in the world would an extremely wealthy NBA player such as Randolph want to take the risk of being associated in any which, way, shape, or form with a narcotic distribution operation in Indianapolis? Talk about self-destructive behaviour and association, regardless of how the investigation plays out in the coming weeks to months…

Steve Nash and Space Ghost: Vitaminwater

Remember the Steve Nash vitaminwater spot where he plays the host of an infomercial, a-la ‘slap chop’ guy? That was hilarious, then again it seems all the Nash vitaminwater commercials are funny. So what better time to release a new Captain Canada/Vitaminwater video, than during a heated NBA Western Conference Finals match up with the Lakers.

In this latest ad, Nash is the guest on a very relatively unknown famous show hosted by Space Ghost. I guess Space Ghost is the only fan on the planet that doesn’t respect Steve Nash:

Does St. John’s Recruit Dwayne Polee Jump Higher Than Lebron James?

It didn’t take new St. John’s head coach Steve Lavin long to make a splash on the recruiting front as he landed his first top tier recruit in Dwayne Polee, who is universally known as “Class of 2010′s Best Dunker.” Lavin, only 6 weeks removed from his sweet gig as an ESPN college basketball analyst and former UCLA head man, will undoubtedly help bring some excitement back to a once proud program that once was an NCAA Tournament stalwart and produced a slew of great NBA players like Chris Mullin and Ron Artest.

As for Polee(love the name), he can absolutely jump out of the gym, even though his offensive game is viewed as a work in progress. Although he is on the fringe of making it on ESPN and Rivals Top 150 recruit lists for 2010, he is as athletic as any player in the class. He averaged 20 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game, in helping Westchester HS to a 32-3 record and both Los Angeles City and California state titles. He also earned the title as Los Angeles’ City Player of the Year. At 6’8 and 190 lbs, he is viewed as a project with tremendous upside. If his game progresses and he adds some weight, Polee could become an elite level NBA prospect after a few years of seasoning in the college ranks.

One truly interesting story that has resurfaced recently with Polee’s commitment to St. John’s, is the fact that a number of coaches, scouts, and teammates have speculated that Polee may have a higher vertical leap than NBA superstar Lebron James. Check out some footage of Polee last Summer showing off his unbelievable hops as his entire head clears the rim, and you be the judge.

Allen Moll is an avid NBA and College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen is a regular columnist for thehoopdoctors.com, Bleacherreport.com, UpperDeckblog.com, and his own site, Hoops Haven.

SLAM’s Pics of Kobe Bryant in High School

Don’t you just love when Slam Magazine pulls something out of their issue archives and shocks you with it. Today that something was pictures of Kobe Bryant in High School. That’s right, 1996, Lower Merion High School, Philadelphia. A star was born. But if you lost your ish from 1996, and want to get your hands on prints, never fear because Slam is publishing these pics in their issue of Kobe and Lebron on newstands now. Go get your copy Lake Show!

Most Annoying Basketball Fan Ever?

Someone please peg this annoying guy off with a basketball. You’ve got to love his bravado though, right?

(H/T to Jimmy Traina at Sports Illustrated for the Video)

The Hoop Doctors Podcast: Episode 013

This week in THD podcast, Kevin Burke breaks down the NBA playoff Conference Finals and the NBA Draft Lottery….

If you often find yourself too busy to watch The Hoop Doctors Podcasts, get them on the go for your iPhone or iPod! Subscribe to our Podcasts in the iTunes Directory, free of charge. Also, if you have any questions you’d like answered by Kevin or any other member of The Hoop Doctors team, feel free to email them to admin@thehoopdoctors.com and we will be sure to select the best of the best to have answered by Kevin On-Air next week or in a future episode.

Bosh Narrows his Future to Five Teams

It certainly seems like All-star Chris Bosh has his bags packed to leave Toronto, but where’s he going?

Recently, Bosh narrowed his list of teams he’s willing to play for next season to:  Chicago, Lakers, Miami, the Knicks, and Toronto (ESPN.com).

Although we can assume that many factors may change between now and the free agent signing deadline, for the moment, let’s take this at face value.

Also, for the purpose of this discussion, we will assume that Bosh signs as a free agent, rather than in a sign-and-trade.

Two important notes about Bosh’s list:  (1) Chicago, Miami, and New York are all rumored to be interested in acquiring 2-time MVP LeBron James; and (2) those above teams can also offer the most money (aside from the unmentioned New Jersey Nets).  Because of the first note, we’re going to consider how these teams would look if they could somehow land both Chris Bosh and LeBron James.

Now, let’s dissect Bosh’s comments to find out where he might end up.

Toronto

While I would not rule out him re-signing in Toronto, I do not see this as a likely destination for Bosh.  If Toronto can make some clear improvements in their roster and if Toronto offers him the best deal, then sure there’s always a chance.  Let’s be real, though.  When a free agent superstar, who has already made it clear that he’s overwhelmingly happy, includes his current team in that kind of statement, he is trying not to alienate his fan base, or poison the well, so to speak, in case he does remain with the team.  Essentially, Toronto is a throw-in that we can cross off his list of preferences.

The Knicks

2010 Record:  29-53

Playoffs:  12 losses away from the playoffs

2011 Projection:  Without significant changes, the Knicks of 2011 will sadly resemble those of 2010.  No playoffs in sight.

This is the team with the most salary to spend in 2010.  It’s just too bad they cannot seem to field a winning team.  They do, however, have a good coach in Mike D’Antoni and management in Donnie Walsh.

If they have to relinquish David Lee, to acquire the two All-stars, they might have a lineup like:

C Chris Bosh, PF Al Harrington, SF LeBron James, SG Wilson Chandler, PG Chris Duhon

Bench:

Danilo Gallinari, Tracy McGrady, Sergio Rodriguez, Eddie House

This is a decent lineup with an adequate bench.  But, here’s the rub:  do you think LeBron can be convinced he’d have a better chance of winning with:  Bosh, Harrington and Chandler or with Shaq, Jamison, and Mo Williams?

Chicago Bulls

2010 Record:  41-41

Playoffs:  They barely made the playoffs over Bosh’s Toronto Raptors.  They were then defeated 4-1 by James’ Cavaliers.

2011 Projection:  Without some moves, this team will improve only slightly.  With an aging Brad Miller and young Gibson and Noah, this team lacks the size to compete in the playoffs.

Although the Cavs-Bulls series seemed like a tough one, the Cavs’ wins, not including Game 5, were all by ten points or more.  Ask yourself this:  would LeBron James leave the Cavs for the team his Cavs just beat in round 1 of the playoffs?

Moreover, since we’re really talking about Bosh, would Bosh leave the team that barely squeaked into the playoffs in front of his Raptors?

If they could add the King and Bosh, they might have a lineup of:

C Joakim Noah, PF Chris Bosh, SF LeBron James, SG Luol Deng, PG Derrick Rose

Bench:

Kirk Hinrich, Brad Miller, Ronald Murray, Hakim Warrick

This lineup is already stronger than that Knicks’ lineup.  Bosh, James, Rose—one obvious thing seems to be missing, though:  a bench.  Good teams need a strong bench to survive in the playoffs.  If they had a better bench, this would be an interesting team.

The Miami Heat

2010 Record:  47-35

Playoffs:  They made a first round exit, 4-1, at the hands of the Boston Celtics

2011 Projection:  Similar to the Knicks, the projection looks about the same as this year unless they make some changes.

Even with Dwayne Wade pulling this team virtually by himself, the Heat only had a worse record (in the East) than the Cavs, Magic, Hawks, and Celtics.  Considering this team has a weak coach, virtually no bench, and a weak starting lineup (other than Wade); 5^th place behind those teams is not bad.  The Heat finished 14 games behind the 1^st place Cavs.

Since their playoffs ended, Heat President Pat Riley has indicated that he would not rule out a return to the bench, so that should give fans hope that at least they are thinking about building another contender around Wade.

If the Heat could make these great additions, they might boast a lineup of:

C Jermaine O’Neal, PF Chris Bosh. SF LeBron James, SG Dwayne Wade. PG Mario Chalmers

Bench:

Michael Beasley (actually, I’d expect him to be traded if such moves are made), Udonis Haslem, Quentin Richardso, Rafer Alston, Carlos Arroyo, Daequan Cook, James Jones

This is probably the best starting lineup of any team so far.  However, similar to the Bulls, the bench just would not be strong enough (although it is decent).  The team would need to make some extra moves to bolster the bench.

The Los Angeles Lakers

2010 Record:  57-25

Playoffs:  The #1 seed Lakers beat the Thunder in 6 and silenced the Jazz in 4.  Currently, they are locked in battle with the Suns in the Western Conference Finals.

2011 Projection:  It should be more of the same for these Western Conference Finalists as long as they are healthy.  Moves or no moves, look for them to make another run to the Western Conference Finals, if not the NBA Finals.

Lots of people realize it now as a lost opportunity, but I was calling for the Lakers to pull the trigger on the Bynum-Bosh deal as soon as the rumor was out.  With Andrew Bynum injured, again (who’s surprised by this?  Anyone?), the Lakers have lost their considerable size and length advantage.  Their bench, too, gets weaker because Lamar Odom is then moved into the starting lineup.

If they added Bosh, this team would be almost unbeatable:

C Chris Bosh, PF Pau Gasol, SF Ron Artest, SG Kobe Bryant, PG Derek Fisher

Bench:

Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum, Shannon Brown

Wow, what a lineup!  But, it really brings to the front two issues for the Lakers:  their lack of depth and their weakness at the point guard position (with a 36 year old Fisher).

To be accurate, this is a dream scenario for the Lakers.  Even if they had to swap the two players, this would put Bosh on an amazing team.  Salary-wise this deal will not happen, unless Bosh decides that he does not care what he makes and just cares about winning some rings.

There is a lot on Bosh’s plate here.  Does he want to win (Lakers)?  Does he want to get paid (Raptors or Knicks)?  Does he want to roll the dice and hope the Bulls will be that much better than his Raptors?  Or, does he want to give Miami a shot.  Miami is the team in the middle, which is very intriguing.  They are a decent squad that can offer him decent money.  The question is:  will that be enough?

R.S. De France is a College and University instructor of English Composition. He has a B.A. in English and an M.A. in Rhetoric, Composition, and Writing. One of his life-long pursuits has been writing and covering anything related to sports, specifically the NBA. Recently, De France, his wife, and another colleague started an internationally read magazine at Shwibly.com.

Sixers Introduce “Dougie Puddin-Pie” Collins As New Head Coach

Nearly one year ago to the day, the Philadelphia 76ers introduced former Wizards coach Eddie Jordan as the franchise’s 22nd head coach. He brought a promise of a pledge of dedication to defense and a totally new offensive system(Princeton Offense) to a team which had won 41 games and had made the playoffs in consecutive seasons. Unfortunately that well devised plan went up in flames from day 1 and after posting only 27 wins on te seaspn, Jordan wasn’t shown much love or affection on the way out of town, in a place known as the “City of Brotherly Love.”

Fast forward to May of 2010, and we once again were invited to a press conference, but this time, oft criticized GM Ed Stefanski made the right decision to go with the tried and proven Doug Collins, who has more than 300 career victories. Collins has coached and has had a hand in the development of some of the best guards and small forwards in the modern era like Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Joe Dumars, and most recently Gilbert Arenas. To most basketball purists, he is credited with the building of the original Chicago Bulls dynasty which went on to win 6 titles in 8 seasons, even though Collins’ assistant Phil Jackson took over in ’89-’90, and received all the credit.

Collins return to Philly has a lot of parallels to his playing career nearly 30 years ago. After starring at Illinois State during the early 70’s, and starring in the most infamous game basketball game in Olympic history, the Sixers chose Collins as the 1st overall pick in the 1973 NBA Draft. He was the Sixers reward for posting what is still the worst record in NBA history, Philly’s horrific 9-73 disaster of a ’72-’73 season. After 9 very productive seasons with overall career averages of 17.9 ppg, 3 rebs, and 3 assists, Collins was forced to retire early after the ’81 season because of injuries.

As a point of interest, Doug is a man of many nicknames. Early in his career he was known as the “Benton Brawler” as a reference to his roughhouse style of play and his high school, Benton HS, in Illinois. Then with Philadelphia, fans gave him a name to go along with his boyish looks like “Dougie Dougie Puddin Pie” and “Lights Out’llins” because of his ability to drain jumpers, and “Action Jackson(?).” But the tone of his nicknames as a coach were a tad less complimentary like “Early Onset Dementia” and “Play-A-Day Collins” for his penchant for micro-managing games and calling out plays on virtually every possession during games.

As a coach, Collins is known as a builder. Although he has never won an NBA title, he has most times left a team in better shape than when he arrived, with the exception of the Pistons. Could the same scenario occur in Philadelphia? With a number of young and talented players, as well as the #2 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft, Collins has at least half a chance to finally bring the Sixers back to respectability that the franchise hasn’t seen since the Allen Iverson/Larry Brown era of the early 2000’s.

You can check out some of Collins career highlights as a Sixer here.

Doug Collins Press Conference:

Allen Moll is an avid NBA and College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen is a regular columnist for thehoopdoctors.com, Bleacherreport.com, UpperDeckblog.com, and his own site, Hoops Haven.

Jason Kidd’s Ex-Girlfriend Graces Cover Of Playboy In 3-D

Remember current Dallas Maverick point guard Jason Kidd’s former girlfriend, pin-up model Hope Dworaczyk? Back in 2008, she was rumored to be pregnant with Mr. Kidd’s child. It ultimately turned out to be a hoax since Kidd later fathered a child with another model, Porschla Coleman. Hope and Jason even made it onto our Top 15 Hottest Wives/Girlfriends List. Thankfully for us, Jason didn’t ruin her since she will be gracing the cover of the June issue of Playboy magazine, albeit in 3-D, as the 2010 Playmate of the Year.

What a life this Jason Kidd is living as an elder statesman on the Mavericks, to be able to move on from a Playmate of the Year……to another model. That’s why we shouldn’t feel too bad for Kidd and his Mavs teammates who are looking at an uncertain future after a 1st round flame-out at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs this post-season.

Although he is arguably one of the best point guards of his generation, could Kidd be looking over his shoulder at age 37 with the impressive Roddy Beaubois coming on strong near the tail end of the season? Will Dirk Nowitzki choose to opt out of his contract and become a free agent this Summer?  If Dirk leaves, will Mark Cuban be able to jump into the Lebron James sweepstakes?

While Kidd’s current team may be full of more questions than answers at this point, one thing is for certain that Kidd has nothing to hang his head at since he ranks 3rd all-time in triple-doubles and is rapidly moving up the all-time assist and steal lists, while playing in double digit All Star Games. He also earned a 1st Team selection on our 2000’s All Decade Teams.  His only hang-up may be that he has never won an NBA Title.

And just think, he is in such a good place in his personal life to turn down this:

Check out the whole pictorial here.

Allen Moll is an avid NBA and College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen is a regular columnist for thehoopdoctors.com, Bleacherreport.com, UpperDeckblog.com, and his own site, Hoops Haven.

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