Dancers from the famous Rick's Cabaret gentlemen's club in midtown Manhattan formed their own
basketball squad several months ago and the team watched last night's NBA Miami Heat vs Oklahoma
City Thunder contest with rapt attention.
The basketball game was shown on the club's numerous TVs and screens, and there was a private
VIP viewing party on the Rick's Roof Deck Cigar Lounge which was attended by several top Wall
Street bankers, celebrities, and other notables.
LeBron James is having one of the greatest seasons in NBA history. However, there is one thing
that can slow down any player in any sport: injuries. Against the Indiana Pacers on Monday night,
LeBron James suffered a finger injury. Although he was able to stay in the game, there are some
rumors that later tests suggest LeBron James has a dislocated ring finger on his left hand.
State Farm has teamed up with the NBA to launch a new website, Score with a Song. This cool site
features an interactive instant win game, exclusive video interviews with LeBron James, Blake
Griffin, Chris Paul, Dwight Howard and other All-Star players, and a sweepstakes where entrants
will get the chance to win a VIP trip to Las Vegas to meet NBA greats.
When was the last time FIBA had anything to do with NBA matters? Practically never.
The NBA does everything it wants with no input from FIBA publicly until now, apparently. FIBA, the
International Basketball Federation has determined that Kenyon Martin is a free agent, owing
nothing to any team from China.
By Thera Reyes, getting her first taste of Beckham and MLS in Manila
Two years ago, it would have been unheard of to have an international football team come to
Manila. Heck, football fans even recently travelled to Malaysia to watch Arsenal, Chelsea and
Liverpool for their Asian tours.
If only there was a "Timber Clough"PORTLAND (14th) VS. TORONTO
(17th) 　 JELD-WEN FIELD - SATURDAY 11PM ET TV: GOLTV -----RADIO: FAN 590
　 THE KICKABOUT:
- Can road-weary TFC break their duck against a Timbers squad who has lost 4 out of their last 5 in
MLS?
On Thursday, NBA players will be back playing in NBA arenas and practice facilities just like
the good ol' days. Although the new CBA hasn't been agreed to yet and there is still voting that
needs to take place, the NBA decided to lift that ban and allow teams and players to begin working
together.
Finally. The NBA lockout, which never really made that much sense, is over. The NBA owners
softened there stances are a number of key issues and a deal was reached early Saturday morning.
While both sides have to vote to make this deal official, that is all just a matter of time.
Among the issues the owners softened on were rules regarding the mid-level exception,
sign-and-trades and even the overall BRI split.
The ball was in the NBA players' court coming into Monday morning. The players could have
accepted the NBA owners' latest offer and a 72-game season would have begun on Dec. 15. Instead,
the players decided to disband their union and sue the NBA.
After the news became public, NBA commissioner David Stern said that the NBA is now in a nuclear
winter.
One of the ploys David Stern has liked to use during the NBA lockout is blaming the agents.
Stern knows that nobody likes agent. If the NBA commissioner blames the agents, the public won't
have any problem with that. It's a smart idea.
"By some combination of mendacity and greed," explains Stern, "the agents who are looking out
for themselves rather than their clients are trying to scuttle the deal.
It's looking less and less likely that we'll have an NBA season this year. The latest chapter of
this sad saga has David Stern giving the NBA players a deadline to accept the owners' latest offer.
However, the players have already all but officially turned down the offer.
The deadline, which is the close of business on Wednesday, will surely come and go without a
deal in place.
While everyone now agrees that the 2011-12 NBA season won't feature 82 games, the New York Post
is reporting that a 78-game regular season is still possible. Of course, that is assuming that an
agreement can be reached before next weekend.
Since all NBA games are canceled until Nov. 30, to squeeze in the needed games, David Stern
would have to push back the start of the playoffs and limit the number of off days during the
season.
Well, the good news didn't last for long. Just a day after things were looking up in terms of
the NBA lockout, things took a turn for the worse. The NBA owners and NBA players couldn't agree on
a BRI split and also disagreed on system issues. The result? No more talks scheduled and
commissioner David Stern canceling more games.
Yesterday, the NBA owners and NBA players made progress toward ending the lockout by negotiating
system details. However, the two sides avoided the main sticking point: the basketball related
income (BRI) split. Today, that is exactly what will be discussed.
The players, who received 57% of the BRI in the last CBA, want at least 52% this time.
Everyone in the basketball world was hopeful over the last three days due to the many, many
hours the players and owners were negotiating. The NBA lockout has to be coming to an end,
right?
Not so fast.
After talking for more than 30 hours, the two sides say that hardly any progress has been
made.
The NBA lockout is still going strong. It has been a one step forward, two steps back sort of
situation. Whenever there is progress, it seems to be washed away in a matter of days. NBA
commissioner David Stern has already canceled the first preseason games and has delayed the start
of training camps.
NBA players will soon start missing paychecks due to the lockout. How will players who are
living paycheck to paycheck make ends meet? Enter Kobe Bryant. According to Billy Hunter, the
players association president, Kobe Bryant is willing to loan money to needy players.
"I know Kobe is intimately involved in interfacing with colleagues and sharing in a pool of
revenue to help the others get through this," said Hunter.
The government-run Chinese media doesn't always have the most accurate information. That was
again proven on Thursday when a Chinese media outlet claimed that Kobe Bryant signed with Shanxi of
the Chinese Basketball Association. That report ended up being untrue.
Although Kobe Bryant is negotiating with Chinese teams, he hasn't agreed to a deal.
Do you still not believe this is going to be a long, long NBA lockout? The latest proof came on
Tuesday when the NBA owners sued NBA players. In fact, NBA owners filed a pair of claims claiming
everything from NBA players being uncooperative and that the players were making harmful
threats.
Legal experts see this as a ploy by the owners to beat the players to the punch.
Street ballers are pretty good. But there's a reason they are on the street and NBA players are
in the NBA. Kevin Durant at Rucker Park proved that again yesterday. Kevin Durant scored 66 points
at Rucker Park and was especially unstoppable in the fourth quarter.
Look below to watch the Kevin Durant at Rucker Park video.
The latest NBA player to find work overseas is Nicolas Batum of the Portland Trail Blazers. Due
to the NBA lockout, next season isn't guaranteed. In fact, some league pundits think it's unlikely.
That's why players like Nicolas Batum are making backup plans.
If there is an extended lockout, Nicolas Batum will play for a French team SLUC Nancy.
The NBA players got a small victory recently when FIBA ruled that they will be able to play
overseas during the NBA lockout. The owners surely would have loved for FIBA to rule against the
players but the international body will allow the exodus.
However, there is a catch. If an NBA player gets hurt overseas, he could jeopardize his NBA
contract.
A handful of NBA players have already signed contracts to play overseas during the NBA lockout,
including Deron Williams and Sasha Vujacic. And that may just be the beginning. Many NBA players
are thinking about playing overseas during the lockout. Making money and staying in shape? Makes
sense to me.
With NBA players locked out, many have decided not to waste any time and have hopped the pond to
sign in Europe. Personally, I think it's a good idea. These players can make money while also
putting pressure on NBA owners to come to the table and make a deal to end the NBA lockout.
Here are the NBA players who have signed in Europe:
Deron Williams
The All-Star point guard for the New Jersey Nets was the first big name to go overseas.
With the NBA season getting the green light thanks to the end of the lockout, a quick offseason
free agent signing period is set to begin on Dec. 9. Who are the best NBA players in free agency?
Here's our top ten NBA free agents:
1. Tyson Chandler
When healthy, Tyson Chandler is a championship caliber defensive force.
The Georgetown Hoyas basketball team was on a tour through China playing hoops against local
teams. Unfortunately, it turned violent as Georgetown brawled with a Chinese team on Thursday. You
can see the Georgetown brawl video in China below.
According to reports, the game was very rough and tumble with the Chinese team getting most of
the calls.
Stephon Marbury is the biggest NBA star to play in China.The obvious big difference between the NBA
and the NFL when it comes to options for where to play is that there are few other tackle football
leagues around the world, but dozens of successful basketball leagues. The NFL players have very
little chance of making a living playing tackle football outside of the U.
Did the Olympics indicate that U.S. spectator sports fans are suffering burnout from college
football, college basketball, the NFL, NBA and MLB?
The television ratings for the Olympics were the best ever, but this fact doesn't necessarily
represent any correlation with the 'Big 3' U.S. spectator sports.
JR Smith posted a Twitter picture of Tahiry Jose and the NBA didn't approve. In fact, the NBA
has fined JR Smith $25,000 for posting the picture of the nearly naked model. Scroll down to get a
look at the Tahiry Jose picture JR Smith posted on Twitter that got him in trouble.
When fining JR Smith, the NBA said the picture was "inappropriate".
Athletes usually fare pretty well on "Dancing with the Stars" but Ron Artest one of the most
popular NBA players – failed to impress during Monday's night's season 13 premiere. Artest, aka
Metta World Peace, only scored 14 out of 30 points after completing his cha cha with partner Peta
Murgatroyd.
