What's the most bizarre thing you have ever seen during an NBA game?

A great example of a bizarre NBA moment is when Manu Ginobili swatted a live bat in the middle of a Halloween game between the Spurs and Kings and then had to get a rabies shot after the game.

A great recent moment happened earlier this year when controversial ref Eric Lewis missed a late call causing LeBron James to jump around the court before collapsing to the ground while Patrick Beverley walked up to the ref with a camera to show him the missed call.

One of our favorite bizarre moments happened in 2010, when LeBron's banana boat buddy Carmelo Anthony collapsed to the ground after bumping into 215-pound Kevin Durant and laid there for over two minutes while J.R. Smith and his other Denver teammates continued to play. Melo eventually got up, went to the locker room and was asked by one of the team trainers to say the months backwards. Melo responded: "I can't do that regularly."

This moment deserved a deep dive so Zach Harper aka TalkHoops of CINEPHOBE, SIRIUS XM and a bunch of other podcast stopped by the FIRST BALLOT: THE HALL OF FAME PODCAST with host Neil Punsalan to break down everything that happened and why it's so damn funny.

Charles Barkley's reaction

Showtime Codes: 
(06:07) The best part of the entertainment business: laughter
(13:45) The beginning of Neil and Zach Harper's formal friendship
(15:50) How Jerry Seinfeld made Neil want to get into meditation
(19:58) The vocabulary of this moment: splayed!
(26:40) How J.R. Smith took advantage of the moment 
(28:02) Special segment: The Name Game! 
(54:11) Another Game: This or That! 
(01:01:51) More Important: Quick Hitters
(01:04:11) The one player that extraterrestrials should see 

MOST BIZARRE NBA MOMENTS EVER

MORE HILARIOUS CARMELO VIDEOS

The post Carmelo Anthony's Collapse & The Most Bizarre Moments in NBA History appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Two weeks before Kobe Bryant's final NBA game, Shaquille O'Neal told his 37-year-old former teammate, "I need 50 that night. Can you do it? Your last game, your last home game at the Staples, can you give us 50?"

"Uh, no," Bryant said, laughing. "No. Absolutely not."

We all laughed too because we all knew there was no chance Kobe, who was averaging just 16 points on 36% shooting over his previous 30 games, had any chance of scoring his first 50-point game since 2009. And NBA legends rarely ever even score 20+ in their final NBA game.

• Admiral: 7
• AI: 13
• Barkley: 2
• Bird: 12
• Dirk: 20
• Dr J: 24
• Duncan: 19
• Ewing: 12
• Hakeem: 8
• Iceman: 0
• Kareem: 7
• KG: 2
• K. Malone: 2
• Kobe: 60
• Magic: 6
• Melo: 10
• MJ: 15
• Nique: 2
• Pippen: 2
• Pistol: 10
• Shaq: 2
• Skywalker: 4
• T-Mac: 2
• Truth: 0
• Wade: 25
• West: 5
• Wilt: 23

On April 13th of 2016, The Black Mamba not only got Shaq his unreasonable 50 but he added 10 MORE POINTS to finish with the most points ever by a NBA player in their final NBA game. If that wasn't impressive enough, he did it in a comeback victory against the Utah Jazz by outscoring the entire Jazz team 23-21 in the 4th quarter. Yes, he took an insane 50 shots in this game and did miss 15 of his 21 three-point attempts but taking the most shots ever in a final game is the most Kobe-est Kobe thing he could do.

"Mother Effin amazed!!!!!!" Tweeted Kyrie Irving. "Left the game on his terms and his way! Legend engraved in history forever!"

On the latest episode of FIRST BALLOT: THE HALL OF FAME PODCAST, the always entertaining and though-provoking Oscar winner Van Lathan Jr. joins host Neil Punsalan to discuss why Kobe is their favorite NBA player and take a deep dive into Kobe's curtain-closing act that he once compared to the ending of Quentin Tarantino's KILL BILL 2 and most of us will agree was the greatest final game by an NBA player.

Showtime Codes:

(12:20) What Van Lathan Jr. wanted to be when he grew up

(14:00) How the movie Do The Right Thing changed Van Lathan Jr.

(16:10) The movie that made Neil want to be a professional armwrestler

(18:40) Van's weight loss journey

(25:30) How Neil's mother inspires his inquiries into his own health and wellness journey

(32:10): Van describes his playing style

(33:13) Van Lathan Jr.'s player comp: Paul Pierce

(35:50) "I don't think that anybody has ever had a final game that is more emblematic"

(43:10) How Kobe makes people question their own mortality

(46:50) The autographs that Van has

(52:30) What Neil will remember from the game

(55:15) A moment that changed Van Lathan Jr.'s career

(58:15) The question Van has for the Warrior players

(01:00:48) "The trance of greatness"

(01:04:20) Van Lathan still watches the recording

(01:06:10) The game that made Neil cry

(01:07:15) Devil's advocate: Mamba Out

(01:09:48) Best sports nickname

(01:14:00) The part of the game that made Neil tear up

(01:17:28) The beverage Neil doesn't like (and it's not water)

(01:17:53) Neil shocked at Van's favorite movie

(01:19:20) Van's favorite dunk

(01:20:15) The criteria for a hall of fame

BONUS VIDEOS

The post Was Kobe's Final Game The Greatest Final Game An NBA Player Ever Had? appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Over the past month, we have seen Kyrie Irving put up a triple-double in his Drew League debut and win MVP at the More Than A Run event. But it was ten years ago today when we saw our favorite Pro-Am performance from Kyrie.?

On August 16th of 2013, Uncle Drew, Uncle Jeff Green and Tony Wroten visited a packed house at Seattle Pacific University to play in Jamal Crawford's Seattle Pro-Am, now known as the Crawsover Pro-Am. A week before this weekend, Kevin Durant?dropped 63 points in his first return to Seattle since the Sonics left the city, so the Cavs All-Star had a tough act to follow in his debut. As expected, he put on a mixtape worthy performance: 32 points (13-30 FG), 11 assists, and even threw down a surprising dunk in a 127-118 victory. But the highlight of the night was this Shammgod.

Former Sonic Jeff Green scored 20 and Tony Wroten had a monster night with 44 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists.

WATCH THE FULL GAME

BONUS VIDEOS OF KYRIE IRVING

TRIPLE-DOUBLE IN HIS DREW LEAGUE DEBUT

42 POINTS AND MVP AWARD AT MORE THAN A RUN CLASSIC

39 POINTS IN ATLANTA PRO-AM CHAMPIONSHIP

RICO HINES PRIVATE RUN

11 MINUTES OF KYRIE HIGHLIGHTS

The post When Kyrie Irving Showed Up In Seattle To Break Some Ankles appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Ask a Boston Celtics fan that watched Kevin Garnett scream "Anything is possible!" after the Celtics beat the Lakers in Game 6 of the 2008 NBA Finals and they will probably tell you it's one of their favorite sports memories.

Ask a Los Angeles Lakers fan about the scream and they will probably tell you it's one of their worst sports memories. In the case of our Podcast host, Neil Punsalan, who is a die-hard Laker fanatic, it's a memory he didn't experience live because he turned the game off before he could witness Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett celebrate their first title on the Boston floor as a defeated Kobe Bryant walked off of it.

Ask a Adidas executive from that time and they will probably say, "Did KG know our slogan is 'Impossible Is Nothing' and 'Anything Is Possible' is Li-Ning's slogan?"

On the latest episode of First Ballot: the Hall Of Fame Podcast, Neil is joined by comedian/writer/Celtics Fanatic Josh Gondelman (Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Desus & Mero) to discuss the greatness and intensity of Kevin Garnett and if his "Anything is Possible" speech is the greatest championship speech ever (videos of a few nominees are below the following Podcast timecodes).

(08:17) Neil Making Enemies

(11:34) KG is a CELTIC

(14:03) Breaking a sweat with KG

(16:17) KG's favorite movie

(19:27) Neil's 2008 Finals experience

(23:46) The Paul Pierce Wheelchair Incident

(34:08) Josh's favorite thing about the 2008 Celtics

(44:27) The Energy on the Floor

(47:18) So good, it has to be scripted?!

(53:48) Josh's Twitter Pep Talks

(58:22) The biggest moment in Josh's career

(01:05:33) "Going out to eat"

(01:07:10) Josh's best KG tweets

(01:09:18) Josh's Dream Team of NBA Friends

(01:13:36) Josh's Favorite Cereal

(01:18:10) The best late-night bit

GREATEST CHAMPIONSHIP SPEECHES EVER

KEVIN GARNETT APPRECIATION POSTS

The post Was KG's "Anything Is Possible" The Greatest Championship Speech Ever? appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

One of the many, many reasons why INSIDE THE NBA is one of the greatest sports shows of all-time is because of hilarious, unexpected and chaotic moments captured in the video above. And the subject of that timeless video is when the President of the Player's Union, Chris Paul, led Trevor Ariza, Gerald Green and an injured James Harden through a "secret tunnel" into the Clippers locker room to confront Blake Griffin, Trevor Ariza and an injured Austin Rivers...on "Equality Night" for MLK day. If that wasn't crazy enough, LAPD WAS CALLED!

NBA Twitter Legend and host of the Trill Withers Show, Trill Withers himself, joins the FIRST BALLET PODCAST to discuss this iconic NBA moment that easily ranks as one of the greatest nights in NBA Twitter history.  

Showtime Codes:
(11:44) Covering the One Championship
(12:59) Fast Food Bracket
(17:00) Neil's Shake Shack Offer
(22:04) A Round of Baseball Names!
(26:46) The Snarky Nature of Chris Paul
(28:52) Pat Beverly's loud silence
(33:36) Blake Griffin: a civil war survivor
(36:02) Who wrote that..?
(40:59) Inside the NBA
(42:07) Shaq's elite skill
(46:48) The SNL of the NBA
(49:42) Playing for your Dad
(53:00) The Best NBA Twitter Moments
(01:03:01) Trill's Favorite Fast Food Chain

Every way to listen to the pod: linktr.ee/firstballothof

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

GAME OF ZONES: THE RAID ON STABLES CASTLE

The post The hilarious night when CP3 led the Rockets through a secret tunnel to confront the Clippers appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Do you know the full story behind Dennis Rodman’s main event against Karl Malone in the 1998 WCW Bash at the Beach Main Event?!?

Listen to the full episode now and hear the most compelling evidence that this match bled into the NBA Finals! Is this moment good enough for the First Ballot Hall of Fame?!?

Plus, wrestling experts, hosts and comedians Peter Rosenberg from Hot97, ESPN, YES and the WWE, and former WWE writer Andrew Goldstein break down the match, and Peter discusses winning the 24/7 Championship from R-Truth.

(11:51) Andrew's short stint at WWE

(14:25) Peter's dream job

(19:02) How Peter made Hot 97 a destination for WWE

(20:15) Peter's fashion trend

(24:26) How to do the nut shot

(20:08) Andrew breaks down the genius of pro wrestling

(34:39) Rodman skipping practice

(36:40) Shaq's Greatest Hit

(39:02) DDP and Karl Malone's matching purple pants

(

(55:22) Bad Bunny's reputation in wrestling

BONUS VIDEOS FROM THE POD

The post First Ballot Hall Of Fame: When Rodman & Hulk Hogan Fought Karl Malone In 1998 appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

34-year-old LeBron James is entering his 17th NBA season with an NBA2K overall rating of 97! That rating puts him right at the top, alongside 28-year-old NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard and a point above 24-year-old NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo!

Here's the rest of the top 20 in NBA2K20 so you can really see how crazy it is that the L.A King with 56,284 minutes (10,049 in the playoffs) on his resume is still King of 2K.

?1) LeBron James - 97
2) Kawhi Leonard - 97
3) Giannis Antetokounmpo - 96
4) Kevin Durant - 96
5) James Harden - 96
6) Steph Curry - 95
7) Anthony Davis - 94
8 ) Paul George - 93
9) Damian Lillard - 92
10) Joel Embiid - 91
11) Kyrie Irving - 91
12) Nikola Jokic - 90
13) Russell Westbrook - 90
14) Klay Thompson - 89
15) Karl-Anthony Towns - 89
16) Jimmy Butler - 88
17) Kemba Walker - 88
18) Donovan Mitchell - 88
19) Rudy Gobert - 88
20) Blake Griffin - 88

THROUGH THE YEARS

I still remember his video game debut way back in 2004, when the game was known as ESPN NBA Basketball (Allen Iverson was on the cover) and he was just a 78. If you think 78 was too low for the straight outta high school No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft, he was a 69 in NBA Live (Vince Carter on the cover)!

To celebrate his progression in his video games and the evolution of video game graphics, here's an amusing video showcasing LeBron from 2K4 to 2K18 followed by a video showing him in the NBA (Still a)Live franchise.

And I can't forget NBA Jam in 2010!

NBA2K20 RATINGS REACTIONS

The post The Evolution of LeBron James In Video Games (2004-2019) appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

"I got Wheaties! I got Wheaties box! Where's my Wheaties box? I got Wheaties!"

Ron Artest (now known as Metta World Peace) was really excited to see a box of the breakfast of champions on the press table after putting up 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 steals in Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals between the Lakers and Celtics. Three of those clutch 20 points came with 1:01 remaining on a three-pointer over the hands of Paul Pierce and off an assist from Kobe Bryant, who missed 18 of his 24 shots in the game.

“He never passes me the ball, and he passed me the ball!” Said a joking Artest. “Kobe passed me the ball, and I shot a 3! And Phil didn't want me to shoot the 3. I heard him because he's the Zen Master and he can speak to you. He doesn't need a microphone, you can hear him in your head. 'Don't shoot. Don't shoot.' I said whatever."

It was one of many great moments from the classic press conference by the family guy who ended up on the Lakers because of a pitch he made to Kobe in the showers after the Lakers 39-point lost to the Celtics in Game 6 of the 2008 Finals.

"I want to come help you," Artest said to the naked, fuming and confused Bryant. "If I can, I'm going to find a way to come to LA and give you the help you need to win a title."

He then handed Kobe the soap (I can not prove this). The Lakers handed Artest a contract a month later. And for the next two years, they took champagne showers together at the end of each season. The first one came after beating Dwight Howard's Orlando Magic. The second was after a cold dish of revenge against KG, Pierce and the Boston Celtics.

METTA & KOBE

The post Metta World Peace's Hilarious 2010 NBA Championship Press Conference appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

It's NBA Draft Lottery day, which means I get to do my annual rant about how the NBA has rigged multiple drafts in the past. And this time, I have some support in the form of this Mike Korzeemba video: Is This Video Proof That The NBA Draft Is Rigged.

The following is what I said back in 2013 after the Cavs won the No. 1 pick for the second time in three years.

Maybe it's the Oliver Stone fan in me that loves a good conspiracy. And when it comes to the NBA Draft Lottery, there's a long history of them. Last night was no different as another chapter was written when the Cleveland Cavs won the No. 1 pick (15.6% odds) and blew it on Anthony Bennett. AB was an epic bust but it didn't really matter because they got the No. 1 pick the following year despite having just a 1.7% of winning it. With that pick, they drafted Andrew Wiggins and flipped him for Kevin Love as a welcome home gift to LeBron James, who grew up in Akron, Ohio and ended up as the Cavs No. 1 pick in 2003 (22.5%).

The Orlando Magic won the second pick, Wizards got the third and the Charlotte Bobcats/Hornets ended up at the fourth spot despite only winning one more game than the league-worst Orlando.

Speaking of Orlando and NBA draft conspiracy theories, let's go back to the early '90s, when the Magic selected the most dominant college player ever in Shaquille O'Neal (15%) and then won the No. 1 pick the very next year despite having the worst odds (1.52%) at doing so with only a single ball in a drum of 66. The Magic selected Chris Webber, then traded him for Shaq's Blue Chips co-star Penny Hardaway and the NBA now had the most exciting and marketable young duo in the league for years. The coincidence was just screaming conspiracy as people called David Stern the best GM in the world. Coincidence is quite common in what seems like almost every other draft. Like in 2011, when LeBron took his talents to South Beach and the Cavs ended up with the No. 1 pick (2.8% chance) the following year, which was used to draft future Point God Kyrie Irving.

Speaking of Point Gods and franchises in need of a new superstar, in 2008, the Bulls ended up with local phenom Derrick Rose despite a 1.7% chance at winning the lottery. Another No. 1 pick point guard that will be battling Irving and Rose for years to come is the Wizard's John Wall (10.3%). The conspiracy behind the Wall pick surrounds the death of owner Abe Pollin months before the draft. The franchise needed a fresh start with the loss of Pollin and drama surrounding Gilbert Arenas, so David Stern gave Washington a present.

Stern also had some fun with the 2012 lottery, when other NBA GMs were crying foul as the New Orleans Hornets (partially owned by the NBA) ended up with Anthony Davis despite only having a 13.7% chance of landing the rare big man, who just happened to be wearing a Hornets hat "a couple of weeks" before the lottery.

This is nothing new to Stern. The marketing genius has been accused of rigging the draft since the very first one in 1985 when Patrick Ewing ended up with the Knicks (14.29%). Conspiracy theories include creased (watch him throw one envelope to the side) and frozen envelopes so Stern would know which one to grab.

If you think I'm wrong for pointing the finger too much at Stern then let me know who I'm supposed to blame. Chance? I could admit everything was just chance but ridiculous conspiracies are more fun to talk about.

BONUS VIDEOS

And here's Nick Smith with his take on the best draft conspiracies of all-time.

The post The Biggest NBA Draft Conspiracies Of All-Time appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

"There absolutely, positively, will never ever be another John Stockton – ever" - Karl Malone,

The only thing more SMH-worthy than John Stockton's shorts is the fact that he played all 82 games in 17 of his 19 seasons. The only thing more SMH-worthy than that stat and his assist and steals records (which will never, ever, ever, be broken) is the gap between him and other NBA legends.

He has 3,715 more assists than No. 2 Jason Kidd and 5,471 more than No. 3 Steve Nash. In the steals department, Stockton has 581 more steals than No.2 Kidd and 1,263 more steals than active leader Chris Paul. At an average of 100 steals per season, CP3 will have to play about 12 more years to break Stockton's record.

I would have loved to have played fantasy basketball in the 80s (if fantasy basketball existed in the 80s) and had him on my team. He averaged a double-double for 10 seasons and averaged 14 & 14+ for half of those seasons. His 1989 season featured some of the best fantasy stats I’ve ever seen: He had 20 PTS & 20 ASTS in 3 out of 4 games; 15 points and 19 assists in the non 20+ assist game. He also had two more back-to-back 20 assists games that season, including an 18-point, 27-assist performance!

In the past 40 years, his nine (11 if you count playoffs) 20/20 games rank only behind Magic Johnson's 13. Nine is also the equivalent to the total 20/20 games of Jason Kidd, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Steve Nash, Allen Iverson, and Stephon Marbury.

The only thing more SMH-worthy than those stats is the fact that the greatest pure point guard ever doesn't have an NBA Championship ring.

One last SMH-worthy bit of information: the man Gary Payton calls the "hardest player he ever had to guard" was booed on draft night.

“I haven’t changed a thing. I haven’t even changed the length of my shorts,” Stockton at his retirement ceremony

The post John Stockton's NBA Records Will Never Ever Be Broken appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Each year, one day after my birthday, I get to say Happy Birthday to my favorite NBA player of all-time: Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal aka The Big Aristotle aka The Big Cactus aka Shaq Diesel aka The M.D.E aka Wilt Chamberneazy aka Manny Shaqiaou aka The Real Superman aka L.C.L (last center left) aka Shaq Daddy aka (my favorite) Shaq Fu!

The big (fill in the blank) turns 47 today and to celebrate, here are some of my favorite videos and past posts about the center Dwight Howard will always be in the shadow of.

• Remembering Shaq's NBA Debut & 1st week in the league
• Shaq & Kobe Full Players Only Interview
• Shaq's body transformation & weight timeline
• Remembering the most disrespectful dunk ever: Shaq on Dudley
• How many times has Shaq been dunked on 
• Shaq celebrates his bday with 61pts 23rebs against Clippers
• Remembering The 1994 Shaq Shutdown at All-Star weekend
• 1996: Best Lakers Summer Ever
• Looking back at Shaq's film "Kazaam"
• 17-year-old Shaq's triple-double vs Hank Gathers (48)
• Ultimate tribute to the Shaq Reebok Shaqnosis Sneakers
• Shaq says Steve Nash was Sympathy MVP and he was the real MVP
• Remember when Shaq destroyed the admiral & was robbed of an All-Star MVP in 96
• 28 Years Later & the O'Neal family is still breaking AZ Wildcats' hearts

Shaq: Larger Than Life (Full Movie)

Shaq Like No Other  (Full Movie)

Shaq In Your Face (Full Movie)

The Legacy of Shaq (1 hour video)

SHAQ & CHUCK ON INSIDE THE NBA

My two favorite Charles Barkley on 'Inside The NBA' moments.

1: San Antonio women/Churros
2: Phoenix Suns Arena rant pic.twitter.com/ljHCIhc9xP

— David Astramskas (@redapples) October 19, 2018

SOME RANDOM GREAT PICS

The post Happy Birthday Shaq - Best Dunks, Games & Moments from Shaq-Fu appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Eastern Conference Rookie Of The Month Trae Young's impressive week started off with a career-high 36 points against the league's scoring leader and his Houston Rockets. As an encore, he tied his career-high and dished out 10 assists in a win against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Two night later, he put up a ridiculous 49 points, 16 assists and 8 boards during a 161-168 loss to the Chicago Bulls in quadruple overtime!

On Sunday, Young had a shot at revenge against the Bulls. After 18 minutes, he was on pace for another 30-point double-double with 18 points (6 of 9 shooting) and 5 assists. Then the refs decided everyone was having too much fun and hit Young with a technical for staring at the back of Kris Dunn's head after making a three. The tech was Young's second, which meant his first career ejection in the NBA.

"I didn't say anything." Said Young after the Hawks win. "It was just a look. I didn't say anything...I got to live with it. They made a call. I looked at someone and that's about it.

“You play with energy, passion, emotion. For me, I was just having fun. That wasn’t the first time I looked at someone after I hit a shot. But he made the call.”

As expected, the reactions on social media weren't kind to the enforcers of the soft league that has people like me and Reggie Miller shaking our heads and reminiscing about his trash-talking days in the NBA.

"What’s happened to my beloved NBA game?" Tweeted Miller. "So damn SOFT and SENSITIVE now, nooooo way Trae Young should be given a technical for this. I would have been broke and out of the league in 2 years. Let Ballers Ball."

Nick Young, who has been calling Trae Young the Rookie Of The Year throughout the week, also tweeted about the ejection.

Haten my man was on his way to another 30 ball and they kick him out let that man be ROY

— Nick Young (@NickSwagyPYoung) March 4, 2019

That’s weak as hell. Give @TheTraeYoung his money back https://t.co/QJnxcwjPbg

— Allonzo Trier (@ISO_ZO) March 3, 2019

?PREACCCCHHHHH!!!!! https://t.co/02kRSYO7o4

— Baze (@24Bazemore) March 4, 2019

Anyways, let's revisit the highlights from Young's other games this week, including his historic 49, which made him the first rookie since The BIG O in 1961 with 40 points and 15 assists in a game. The performance was also Trae's 4th game with 30 points and 10 assists; Only rookies with more are Oscar (24), Michael Jordan (5) and Steph Curry (5).

49 PTS vs BULLS

36 PTS vs WOLVES

36 PTS vs ROCKETS

The post Trae Young's Ridiculous Week Ends With A Ridiculous Ejection appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Video or it didn't happen, right?

Conspiracy theorist will tell you the late great Wilt Chamberlain never scored 100 points on the night of March 2nd of 1962. Why? Because there's no video proof. Those same people probably believe the moon landing was fake and the footage we saw was just the work of Stanley Kubrick. Those same people also probably believe Tupac and Elvis were around for the 9/11 conspiracies. Personally, I believe any and everything about Wilt with the exception of his claim to have slept with over 20,000 women. And I definitely believe 57 years ago today, he scored an NBA record 100 points in a 169-147 win over the New York Knicks.

Why? Because we have this old boxscore as proof?

A boxscore that says Wilt made 36-of-63 field goals and 28-of-32 free throws, while only committing two fouls (Wilt has never fouled out of a game)!

Why? Because the keeper of all things Wilt -- YouTube channel Wilt Chamberlain Archives -- ?posted the audio from the 4th quarter of this game?

Why? Because there's a 48-minute documentary about the game and many of the other players in the game talked about the performance on record?

Yes! Yes! Yes! And Yes!

And what I think is really crazy about Wilt's ridiculous game from his even more ridiculous 1962 season, is people never talk about what he did during that week. The 76ers played four games in five nights and Wilt scored 67, 65, 61 and 100 during those games. He then followed up the 100 with 58.?He also had 78 and 73 earlier in the season. Does 100 really sound that impossible?

So, sorry conspiracy theorist who would like to believe Wilt never scored 100 and Kyrie Irving is correct about the earth being flat. It happened, even though we don't have video proof. And it will never happen again...well, there is one person who believes it will and if you go to the 1:20 mark of the following video, you won't be surprised to find out who.

BONUS VIDEOS

?

Wilt has also scored 70+ six times in his career!

100 PTS, 25 REB
78 PTS, 43 REB
73 PTS, 36 REB
73 PTS, 14 REB
72 PTS, 18 REB
70 PTS, 18 REB pic.twitter.com/JmmMJYdVxe

— www.ebooksnet.com (@Ballislife) March 2, 2019

The post Proof Wilt Chamberlain Scored 100: Documentary + Radio Broadcast appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

The "man" who is on every player's Mt. Rushmore of NBA greats, Michael Jordan, turns 56 today. So in honor of The GOAT of the game James Naismith created in 1861, we present some of our favorite videos and Ballislife articles about "his Airiness" and the top 56+ plays from the career every NBA great after him will have to compete with to measure their greatness.

Enjoy!

TOP 55 PLAYS BY MICHAEL JORDAN

#51:  MJ breaks a backboard in 1985 during a Nike exhibition game in Italy.

#52: Jordan dunks on Shaq, who will only admit to MJ & DC as guys who have dunked on him

#53: Jordan hits his head on the backboard while blocking a shot

#54: Take your pick from this insane ball fake compilation.

#55: Take your pick from this compilation of him shooting free throws with his eyes closed!

#56: Take your pick from this compilation of him talking trash, crossing, or spinning on a defender.

If those 56+ plays, 6 rings, 6 Finals MVP awards, 5 MVP awards, 14 All-Star game appearances, 10 All-NBA 1st Team spots and 10 Scoring titles aren't enough to convince you he's the greatest of all-time then here's a few links and a lot more videos for you.

• The Origin of Nike’s Jumpman Logo aka The $5.2 Billion Michael Jordan Image: Read Story
• Jordan's experiment at point guard? http://goo.gl/lnCUL
• Storytime: This is what happens when you go off on Michael Jordan - The LaBradford Smith Story: Read Story
• The Greatest 4 Hours Of MJ’s Greatest Moments! http://goo.gl/g9udS
• TMac's “l(fā)ove letter” to MJ: http://goo.gl/Ia9FX
• How MJ, Drexler & Hakeem almost became teammates: http://goo.gl/GGpwD
• Storytime: The night Mike Tyson almost beat Michael Jordan's A$$ over Robin Givins: Read Story
• The History of Odd Jersey #s for MJ: http://goo.gl/kLzCC
• Michael Jordan scores 64 against Orlando: http://goo.gl/dAJwnI
• Kobe Bryant vs Michael Jordan Duel at MSG | 98 All-Star game: http://bit.ly/1TOCeDI 

ALL AIR JORDAN COMMERCIALS

COME FLY WITH ME

MJ'S PLAYGROUND

ESPN SPORTSCENTURY

AIR TIME MOVIE

4 HOURS OF MJ HIGHLIGHTS

The post The Ultimate Collection of Michael Jordan's Greatest Videos appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Happy #ValentinesDay with The Greek Freak! pic.twitter.com/sj80HwknPn

— www.ebooksnet.com (@Ballislife) February 14, 2019

To celebrate the Feast of Saint Valentine aka as Valentine's Day or the day you scramble to find and overpay for flowers and boxed chocolates for someone you will probably end up dumping, getting dumped by or divorcing in the near future, here's a hilarious video of The Greek Freak, a few of my favorite NBA themed Valentines Day cards, and an entertaining throwback video with NBA players talking about their "Valentines Day Beauty Routines." Kobe had the best one with: Wake up, brush teeth, wash my ass, get dressed and go!

90'S SHAQ VALENTINE'S DAY CARDS

FUNNY CARDS FROM TAUNTR.COM

2012 GRIZZLIES VALENTINE'S DAY CARDS

OKLAHOMA CITY HORNETS CHRIS PAUL

2013 SACRAMENTO KINGS

90'S MICHAEL JORDAN CARDS & CEREAL

AND THIS!

The post Best NBA Valentine's Day Cards Ever appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

We all need to thank Kenny Smith! Not because he was the perfect compliment to Vince Carter's epic dunks from the 2000 Dunk Contest, saying things like, "Let's go home," "Can I take a time-out" and "It's over," but because he pressured Vince to say "Yes" to the dunk contest during an interview for TNT.

What?

During the recording of a TNT interview in 1998, Vince told Smith he already told the NBA he wasn't going to do it. A shocked Jet put the peer pressure on Vince and convinced him to agree to the resurrected dunk contest, which was dropped from All-Star weekend in 98 and didn't happen in 99 because of the NBA lockout.

After agreeing to do the event, Vince then convinced his cousin, Tracy McGrady, to also do the dunk contest. Those two, along with Steve Francis and the voice of Kenny Smith, made the 2000 NBA Slam Dunk Contest the greatest dunk contest of all-time!

ESPN recently did a great piece on the GOAT event called The Oral History of the 2000 Dunk Contest. Here are a few great excerpts from it.

VINCE: I changed my routine in the layup line of the dunk contest.

VINCE: If you watch it on the second dribble (of his 1st dunk) I smacked the ball real hard and that's when I felt like I powered up, you know, like Mario Bros. And I just felt like I gained two, three inches [when I jumped]. When I took off and turned around, the rim was right here [at eye level].

ISIAH THOMAS (JUDGE): I don't know what made me jump up like that. It's like -- I'm a fan. There's an old saying in my neighborhood where I grew up. They used to say when you get shot, it was like, "It shot bolts through my heart, baby." And that dunk shot bolts through my heart.

VINCE: They didn't quite tell us about the partner thing, so we didn't practice that at all. I didn't know. So I was like, "What the heck could I do?" I had saw in a magazine -- this is about the time the Strength Shoe was out -- and there was a picture of this guy in the air and he had his hands between his legs, jumping up in the air. So I said, "OK, I'm gonna try it." So I said to Tracy: "Just stand here and bounce it and get the hell out the way." He said, "What are you gonna do?" I said, "Just bounce it and back up. About this high."

VINCE: So I walk it off, and if you notice right before I get to the rim, I say, "Dear God, please don't let me fall off this rim." And then I rubbed my arm 'cause I'm like, "OK, this is gonna hurt."

ELTON BRAND: It was just like a pause, like, "OK, is that good?" And then, "Whoa, wait! His whole arm is in the rim? Woooooaaaahhhhhhhhh!"

DIRK: On a good day I could have probably put my wrist in. On a good day.

VINCE: When I woke up that next morning, my whole right arm was black and blue.

IVERSON: Michael Jackson is my favorite artist of all time, and it was like the closest thing to a Michael Jackson concert to me on a basketball level. I don't think a dunk contest will ever be duplicated in that fashion ever again.

FULL DUNK CONTEST

VINCE LOOKS BACK AT THE CONTEST

DEEP REWIND OF THE CONTEST

THE ORIGINAL DUNK CONTEST BETWEEN VINCE & TMAC

The post Vince Carter Looks Back At The 2000 Slam Dunk Contest (Thank You Kenny Smith!) appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

It's the game many basketball fans consider one of the greatest All-Star games ever. It's the game many basketball fans like to bring up when complaining about many of the non-competitive and disappointing games over the past decade. It's the game the league is hoping to have again by raising the money pot and incorporating ideas like the All-Star draft. It's the game that saw Allen Iverson (who reportedly partied for 72 hours straight without any sleep) win MVP after scoring 15 of his 25 points in the 4th quarter of the 111-110 victory for the East.

"Everybody was saying we couldn't win because of our size. It's not about size. It's about the size of your heart," Iverson said after the game. "Coming into the fourth quarter, we were all sitting on the sidelines saying 'Why not us? Why can't we be the ones to come back from a 19-point deficit in an All-Star Game?"

A lot of credit also goes to fellow 1996 pick Stephon Marbury, who knocked down a pair of clutch threes.

"To win the game at the end of the game the way we did after being down by 21 showed a lot of heart," Marbury said. "To be able to hit some big shots at the end of the game and help us win it was a great chapter. It was beyond my dreams."

If you don't want to watch the full game, you can watch the final two minutes of the final quarter, which saw the East outscore the West 41-21.

Leading vote-getter Vince Carter scored 16 for the East and Kobe Bryant led the West with 19 points. His Laker teammate and leading vote-getter on the West, Shaquille O'Neal, did not play due to an injury.

All-Star Game rosters

Eastern Conference

Allen Iverson (Philadelphia 76ers)
Tracy McGrady (Orlando Magic)
Antonio Davis (Toronto Raptors) **
Vince Carter (Toronto Raptors)
Anthony Mason (Miami Heat)
Dikembe Mutombo (Atlanta Hawks) **
Ray Allen (Milwaukee Bucks)
Glenn Robinson (Milwaukee Bucks)
Stephon Marbury (New Jersey Nets)
Latrell Sprewell (New York Knicks) **
Jerry Stackhouse (Detroit Pistons)
Allan Houston (New York Knicks)
Grant Hill (Orlando Magic) *
Alonzo Mourning (Miami Heat) *
Theo Ratliff (Philadelphia 76ers) *

Western Conference

Jason Kidd (Phoenix Suns)
Kobe Bryant (L.A. Lakers)
Chris Webber (Sacramento Kings)
Tim Duncan (San Antonio Spurs)
Kevin Garnett (Minnesota Timberwolves)
Rasheed Wallace (Portland Trail Blazers)
Gary Payton (Seattle Sonics)
Michael Finley (Dallas Mavericks)
Antonio McDyess (Denver Nuggets
Karl Malone (Utah Jazz)
David Robinson (San Antonio Spurs)
Vlade Divac (Sacramento Kings) **
Shaquille O'Neal (L.A. Lakers) *

The post Full 2001 NBA All-Star Game (Best All-Star Game Ever?) appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

There have been 17 players in NBA history to rack up a triple-double before they were legally allowed to buy a drink. The latest to make the list is future Rookie of the Year Luka Doncic, who became the second youngest when he lost his triple-double virginity by putting up 18 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds on the 327th day of his 19th year on earth.

Despite the accomplishment, Luka wasn't in the mood for celebrating since the day also ended with the Mavs fourth straight loss.

"I didn't play good at all," Doncic said after the game. "I missed some shots that I shouldn't miss."

Speaking of missed shots, Markelle Fultz is the youngest player to ever record a triple-double; he was 10 days younger than Luka when he put up 13 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists on a joyous 2018 night that saw the 76ers win their 16th consecutive game.

The youngest before him was fellow 2017 lottery pick Lonzo Ball (20 years, 15 days) who had 19/13/12 just three months earlier.

Before Zo, the record was held by LeBron James (20 years, 20 days) in 2005, when Luka was five years old. LeBron's 27/11/10 performance would be the first of five triple-doubles before he turned 21. Among those five was a 40-point performance against the Bucks. The 40 was also the most points ever scored in a triple-double by a player under 21.

Also worth mentioning about the King, he had a 32-point triple-double in his first playoff game (2006) and he also became the first player to average a triple-double in the NBA Finals (2017).

The record for most triple-doubles by a player under 21 belongs to triple-double king Magic Johnson. LeBron's current "boss" had seven during the rookie season that ended with him playing center for injured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in Game 6 of the 1980 NBA Finals and racking up 42 points, 15 rebounds and 7 assists in the championship-clinching game.

One big difference between the time Magic was filling up the boxscores and now is NOBODY cared about triple-doubles back then. They didn't even know what it was because the term "triple-double" didn't even exist. But since Magic was getting so many of them, basketball statistician Harvey Pollack "created it" and Lakers public relations director Bruce Jolesch started promoting it.

A triple-double is so common now, it's actually surprising when a night goes by and we aren't' talking about at least one. I'm not going to upset anyone and say getting one now is harder than it was 20 years ago but I will say I wasn't as excited when Dennis Smith and De'Aaron Fox got a triple-double last year as I was when players like Lamar Odom (2000) and Antoine Walker (1997) were getting triple-doubles at age 20.

Here's a complete list of NBA players with a triple-double before age 21.

• Lonzo Ball (2)
• Luka Doncic
• De'Aaron Fox
• Markelle Fultz
• Jrue Holiday
• LeBron James (5)
• Magic Johnson (7)
• Lamar Odom (3)
• Chris Paul (2)
• Shareef Abdur-Rahim
• Dennis Smith
• Antoine Walker (2)
• John Wall
• Chris Webber
• Russell Westbrook
• Tony Wroten

LONZO BALL (19/13/12)

DENNIS SMITH (21/10/10)

DE'AARON FOX (31/15/10)

JOHN WALL (19/13/10)

RUSSELL WESTBROOK (17/10/10)

TYREKE EVANS (19/10/10)

JRUE HOLIDAY (11/10/10)

TONY WROTEN (18/11/10)

The post From LeBron to Lonzo to Luka: The Youngest Players With A Triple-Double appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

"Not even in my dreams," Bryant said after scoring a career-high 81 (66% of his team's total points) against the Toronto Raptors. "That was something that just happened. It's tough to explain. It's just one of those things. It really hasn't, like, set in for me. It's about the `W,' that's why I turned it on. It turned into something special. To sit here and say I grasp what happened, that would be lying."

Speaking as a Laker fan and someone who had Kobe Bryant on their fantasy team that night, it was hard for me to even grasp what Kobe did. I still have a hard time grasping what Kobe did and I watched Kobe beat Lester Earl in a high school dunk contest; I watched a young Kobe go from cameos on the TV show Hang Time to winning an Oscar (thanks to John Williams and Glen Keane); I watched Kobe drop 50 on All-Stars while wearing Adidas moon boots; I watched Kobe go from Robin to Batman to Superman and outscore an opposing team over three quarters; I watched Kobe escape a sexual assault case that I was sure was going to end his career (he's lucky social media wasn't around); I watched a 37-year-old Kobe score 60 points in his final game (I even got to fly to the game in his helicopter).

By 2006, I thought I saw everything there was to see out of Kobe. And then he put up more points in one night than my next top three scorers on my fantasy team scored that night...and my other players weren't scrubs. When I say "scrubs," I mean the rest of the starters on Kobe's team that night. Kobe would agree.

In 2014, Kobe caused a little controversy with this quote about that season's team of "scrubs," which included Smush Parker, who Kobe once called his worst teammate ever.

“'I almost won an MVP with Smush Parker and Kwame Brown on my team. I was shooting 45 times a game. What was I supposed to do? Pass it to Chris Mihm or Kwame Brown."

He actually took 46 (of the teams 88) on this night and as mentioned, had no plans of passing the ball (for good reason) and that's why he ended up with two assists. The one other starter not mentioned in Kobe's statement was a pre-Kardashian Lamar Odom, who finished with only eight points or you could say a 10th of Kobe's scoring output that night.

"That was something to behold," Coach Phil Jackson said. "It was another level. I've seen some remarkable games, but I've never seen one like that before."

And the only thing better than rewatching highlights of this game is watching the late, great Stuart Scott recap it.

HOW MANY POINTS WERE SCORED ON JALEN

No one hates the anniversary of this game more than Jalen Rose. The narrative is Kobe scored all 81 against him when it was actually "only" 18, which was just one more than Mo Peterson.

I actually think Kobe was looking for some payback against Mo Pete, who "held" Kobe to just 11 points on 5-of-12 shooting a month earlier.

And this whole time, we thought @kobebryant scored all 81 points on @JalenRose. pic.twitter.com/caYtCuqa7G

— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) January 22, 2019

The post When Kobe Bryant Scored 81 Points (On His 666th Game) appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

During the era I’m raving about, Hakeem would have been the #1 roto fantasy player every season with his ability to put up 10 of any and everything in the boxscore or go for 20 and 20 on any given night. Hakeem is one of only four players to ever record a quadruple-double and he actually had another quadruple-double in the same month. In March of 1990, the league accused the Rockets of stat padding and took away an assist, leaving him with ONLY 29 points, 18 rebounds, 11 blocks and 9 assists in a game. Later that month, he gave the league a middle finger by putting up 18 points, 16 rebounds, 11 blocks and 10 assists against the Bucks.

If those two games weren't amazing enough, Hakeem also put together the closest thing to a quintuple-double in 1987, when he had 38 points, 17 rebounds, 12 blocks, 7 steals and 6 assist in a single game.

In 1989, he was one rebound shy of pulling off a 40/25 game and in that same season, he also had a rare 30/20/10 with 32 points, 25 rebounds and 10 blocks -- the only 25/25 game and triple double!  For all the fantasy freaks out there, I know you are probably trying to calculate how many points these games would be worth in your league.

What also made Hakeem’s triple-doubles so impressive is they weren’t "squeakers" achieved in the final seconds -- remember Anthony Bowie in Orlando -- or attempted in desperation at the end like Andray Blatche or Ricky Davis. These are hearty triple-doubles like the ones mentioned above and the following.

What hasn't been mentioned outside of his quadruple game is where Hakeem stands in the steals department. How about 8th all-time? That’s ahead of Alvin Robertson, Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, Isiah Thomas and Magic Johnson! There used to be a conspiracy that Hakeem was getting credited for a block and a steal on the same play by blocking a shot and then grabbing possession of the ball. I’m sure it’s happened a few times, but unlikely 2,162 times, which is also approximately the number of players Hakeem has embarrassed during his GOAT worthy career.

ME AND HAKEEM

Hanging w/ 3 legends: Should be in the HOF @RKHorry, the most skilled center ever & "the best 1-on-1 player ever" pic.twitter.com/f8IzKpaHMc

— David Astramskas (@redapples) April 1, 2016

Here are my favorite moments from this night in 2016.

• Watching a 53-year-old Hakeem casually drain 10 threes in a row while chatting with fans.
• Hearing him tell Robert Horry the 7 x NBA Champion belongs in the Hall of Fame. Shaq and Kobe also agree with me and Hakeem.
• Hakeem denying the NBA draft rumor that would have created the BIG 3 of Hakeem, Michael Jordan and Clyde Drexler in Houston. What made this so amusing is I was directly quoting from his "autobiography."
• Giving Hakeem a hard time for backing out of the 1-on-1 PPV event against Shaq that was going to take place at the Trump Taj Mahal in 1995. I asked why he backed out and Robert Horry yelled, "He wanted more money."

The post Hakeem Olajuwon – the Triple/Quadruple/Quintuple Double Threat appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

There's been a lot of memorable fights at MSG -- starting with Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano in 1951 -- and on December 16th of 2006, the most memorable one happened and it happened during an NBA game between the New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets.

It all started with an unnecessary Mardy Collins foul on JR Smith with a little more than a minute left in the Nuggets victory. The two had some words and then a trailing Nate Robinson and Carmelo Anthony came into the equation, which caused all hell to break loose.

As a result of the brawl, the current NBA scoring leader, Carmelo Anthony, was suspended 15 games, JR Smith and Nate Robinson were suspended 10 each, Collins 6, Jared Jeffries 4 and 2 players were suspended a single game for leaving the bench. Both organizations were also fined half a million dollars.

An interesting storyline from the night was Nuggets Coach George Karl blaming Knicks Coach Isiah Thomas for the mayhem.

Via ESPN

Though there was no separate penalty for Knicks coach Isiah Thomas, who warned Anthony not to go into the lane before the mayhem started, Nuggets coach George Karl singled him out for the sharpest criticism, calling his actions "despicable."

"There's no question in my mind it was premeditated," Karl said. "He made a bad situation worse. He's a jerk for what he's trying to do."

Earlier Monday, while the Knicks held their morning shootaround, Thomas didn't back away from assertions that Karl left his starters in the game too long.

"I can't speak for him, but he put his players in a tough position," Thomas said. "I think he put his players in a very bad position."

In Denver, Karl was blunt with his criticism of Thomas.

"I think his actions after the game were despicable. He made a bad situation worse. I'll swear on my children's life that I never thought about running up the score. I wanted to get a big win on
the road.

"My team has had trouble holding leads at the end of games," he added. "I didn't want the score to get under 10 points because if it would've gotten under 10 points it would've had a negative
feeling on my team."

THOMAS & KARL INTERVIEWS

FULL GAME HIGHLIGHTS

The post (2006) The Knicks & Nuggets Brawl, NBA Scoring Leader Carmelo Anthony Suspended 15 Games appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

I've seen a lot of players -- from Michael Jordan to Blake Griffin -- hit their heads on a rim or backboard while dunking or going for a block. I can't recall ever seeing a player hit their chin on the rim!

Not only did 6-1 Xavier commit KyKy Tandy bust his chin on the rim during a game on Tuesday night, he did it while posterizing a 7-2 center.

The opposing team responded with 10 straight points after seeing their center, Jamarion Sharp, get dunked on and kept UHA from scoring another bucket for six minutes. Thanks to a game-high 33 points from the taped-up Tandy, they rallied back and pulled off a 62-56 win to remain undefeated.

Here is a great photo of the dunk followed by some viral-worthy videos.

KyKy Tandy just dunked over Jamarion Sharp. pic.twitter.com/OU6SxNVc01

— Tyler Dixon (@tdixonKNE) December 12, 2018

When you bust your chin on the rim I’d say it’s @espn top 10...when it’s on a 7’2 defender it’s got be #1 @TandyDekeyvan @CoachLo270 @BleacherReport @tdixonKNE @coachadler @SportsCenter pic.twitter.com/1NuDpfeDp9

— Dedra Kay Adler (@DedraAdler) December 12, 2018

What happened to all that energy @HHS_Heathens All bark. No bite. pic.twitter.com/LipPakl7Ad

— Shouse House (@UHeightsNation) December 12, 2018

Just got this from @TandyDekeyvan. I think it’ll take more than stitches to slow him down. @BleacherReport @SLAMonline @espn @SportsCenter @XavierMBB @CoachSteeleXU pic.twitter.com/3hQcDJFUUz

— Tyler Dixon (@tdixonKNE) December 12, 2018

Source: YourSportsEdge

BONUS VIDEO: TYQUAN SCOTT CHIN OVER THE RIM DUNK

The post KyKy Tandy Hits Chin On The Rim While Dunking On A 7'2" Center! appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Thanks to Reddit and Darren Rovell, the most sought-after card from the Hoops set is now a Mark Jackson one that shows Lyle and Erik Menedez sitting courtside behind the former Knicks' Rookie of the Year. That card is now selling for around $30, which is about 300 times more than what it would have cost you last week and about six times more than the price of an unopened box with 24 packs.

If you aren't familiar with the Menendez brothers, they were convicted of murdering their wealthy parents with a shotgun on August 20th of 1989 and were arrested the following year after investigators noticed their spending habits, which included courtside seats at MSG to watch Mark Jackson throw behind the back passes to Patrick Ewing.

After hearing about this discovery, I rushed to my collection of unopened boxes to see if I still had a 1990 Hoops one, which is now going for over a hundred dollars. I didn't find one. But, I did find a single unopened pack that contained three of Jackson's teammates (Johnny Newman, Trent Tucker, Gerald Wilkins), Steph Curry's dad and the two best jheri curls of the 90s (Michael Cage and AC Green). The AC Green All-Star card is my favorite of the pack because of the story behind it: Green was voted in and Karl Malone was so pissed he told the NBA he wasn't going to show up to All-Star weekend. He did...with a mysterious injury that kept him out of the game, Green went scoreless in.

Considering I bought at least a hundred of these packs back in 1990, I was sure I had a few copies of the Jackson card buried next to commons and names like Roy Tarpley, Vernon Maxwell, Mookie Blaylock, Chuck Person, and Alvin Robertson. The thought of going through the stacks and pulling out rookie cards of Crossover King Tim Hardaway, the late Drazen Petrovic and a skinny Shawn Kemp sounded like fun, so I spent an hour going through a few dusty boxes. The shocking result was just two copies of Jackson, about 10 copies of current coaches like Scotty Brooks and Steve Kerr, 1 dead roach and 2 dead spiders.

RANDOM STUFF

Speaking of the Menendez brothers and gems from the 90s that were initially disappointments like the Hoops set, this gives me an opportunity to rave about Ben Stiller's 1995 dark comedy The Cable Guy. The box office bomb that now has a strong cult following featured a hilarious spoof on the Menendez brothers and one of the many awful basketball scenes from the decade. In that scene, Jim Carrey, playing "prison rules," jumps off of Jack Black's back and shatters the backboard with a two-hand dunk.

The scene was almost as unrealistic as Ed Norton's skinhead character in American History X (1998) throwing down a game-winning, reverse dunk in a scene that made Spike Lee's "eyes bleed."

Speaking of Mark Jackson and prisoners, did you know the TV analyst and former Warriors coach used to take annual trips to San Quentin for a friendly pick-up game with the inmates? He even brought Lakers coach Luke Walton with him once and that experience helped him coach Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. I'm obviously kidding about the KCP thing but the Klutch Sports client did split time between jail and playing in NBA games last season and is currently "robbing" the team.

Speaking of a robbery and the Sam Vincent card with the man me and Allen Iverson will always call THE GOAT, I have some great memories about that day too. It was Valentine's day and I was living an hour away from the scene of the crime.

Hours before the game between the Chicago Bulls and Orlando Magic, someone actually had the balls to steal MJ's jersey. The heist had Jordan seeing red and the arena security in a panic. They even sealed off the building and searched departing employees. Security was so desperate to find the jersey, they even took one from a kid in the crowd and checked with Jordan to see if it was his. No surprise, it wasn’t.

Since the NBA wasn’t willing to delay the game until the jersey was found, he had to wear a replacement. They gave him a nameless Bulls jersey with the number 12 on it. After scoring 49 in a loss, he reportedly said he would not sign autographs in Orlando again. The threat didn't mean anything to collectors because he was well known as an asshole to autograph seekers or anyone who wanted to use his likeness -- just ask the creators of NBA Jam.

UPDATE

I just found a Patrick Ewing and Charles Oakley card that I tore out of an uncut New York Knicks teams set. These uncut sheets were pretty rare even back then so I'm pretty sure if someone had one still intact, with the Mark Jackson card, they could probably get a few hundred dollars for it.

The post Theft, Murder & 1990 Hoops Cards appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

How do you want it: spin move, turn around jumper, jump hook, dunk, left hand or right-hand layup?

Larry Bird's offensive game was as beautiful as he was ugly. You know he's a great shooter but his name is rarely mentioned anymore as one of the best shooters of all-time because the 3 x NBA Three-Point Contest winner wasn't in love with taking threes in games. But, if it came down to taking a game-winning three, I would gladly take him over Jesus (Shuttlesworth) or any Golden State Warrior to make that heartbreaker. And despite having less athleticism in his prime than a past-his-prime Wizard named Michael Jordan, I would gladly bet my kid's college education on Bird, over his Airness, on creating and making a final shot. I'm not saying Bird is better or more "clutch" than Jordan, I just loved seeing how much more defeated a defender looked after having a slow "hick from French Lick" with a bad back hit a game-winner over them, especially if the defender was told by the legendary trash-talker exactly how it was going to happen.

You are probably thinking I'm overrating him right now. And the next thing I'm going to say is he's a better small forward than LeBron. Don't worry, I'm not going to say it (out loud).

Besides being everything mentioned above, Bird was also a great rebounder and an underrated playmaker, who could handle the ball and play D better than YouTube videos will show you. Another aspect of his game lost among countless YouTube videos of him hitting jumpers to non-hip-hop music is his post-up game was better than 99% of the current league. Thankfully, BasketballJones48021 complied a 13-minute montage (above) of Bird showing he was just as deadly with his back to the basket as he was facing it.

And here's some post up tips from Bird and the great Kevin McHale, who Charles Barkley said was the toughest player he ever had to guard.

THE LEFTY GAME

As if I needed another video or story to try to convince you Bird was God in green short shorts, he once told the media he was going to play a game against the Blazers just shooting with his left because he was "saving his right hand for the Lakers" in two days. He did use his right hand but still scored 20 of his 47 points with his off-hand! He also had 14 boards, 11 assists, the shot to force OT and the game-winner in OT.

As for that game with the Lakers, he had 22 points and 18 rebounds in another win against his nemesis.

THE ULTIMATE LARRY BIRD MIXTAPE

The post 13 Minutes of Larry Bird Abusing Defenders With Post Moves appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

In 2013, the Milwaukee Bucks used their 15th pick in the NBA Draft on Giannis Antetokounmpo, a raw 6'9" kid with a 7'3" wingspan, weighing just 190 pounds with his NBA draft suit on and a pocket full of change.

After four months, the 18-year-old with the nickname "The Greek Freak" grew over an inch and was projected to end up as a 7 footer.

He didn't put up big numbers during his mediocre rookie season but he was putting on the pounds and still growing. During a 2014 interview with The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Bucks GM John Hammond said Giannis was now 6'11" and 217 pounds!

By the time he did the NBA dunk contest in early 2015, he was filling out and becoming a nightly highlight on Sportscenter with his long arms and legs which allowed him to cover the length of the court in three dribbles.

(The day after this contest was a fun one for me. I got to help Giannis prepare his brother, Thanasis, for the D-League dunk contest)

In the summer of 2015, the NBA posted this pic of a noticeably bigger and freakier looking Giannis. Besides weights, he started incorporating boxing into his workout routine.

In 2016, weighing at 222, he put up career-high numbers in a breakout season, which included his first 30-point game and triple-double -- making him the youngest (21) in franchise history with one.

In 2017, he made his first All-Star and All-NBA team, won the NBA's Most Improved Player award and was given a challenge by Kobe Bryant: Win the MVP award.

Giannis responded by repeating All-NBA honors, becoming the first Buck to be named a starter in two straight All-Star games and finished 6th in MVP voting...while weighing around 230!

As evident in this 2018 summer workout photo with brothers Alex, Thanasis and Kostas (also in the NBA now), Giannis wasn't done getting bigger and freakier and I feel sorry for any man who pisses off his mom.

In the gym with the #Antetokounbros pic.twitter.com/vaqsjsrmd6

— www.ebooksnet.com (@Ballislife) July 28, 2018

And this is how a 242 POUND Giannis looked (1:40 mark in the following video) when he showed up for Bucks Marketing Day 2018!

Yes, you read that correctly. The Bucks' official training camp roster has Giannis' weight at 242, which is 52 pounds more than he was when they drafted him.

And after two months into his sixth season, he's putting up career-best numbers in points (27), rebounds (13), assists and is the favorite to win MVP.

View this post on Instagram

Find a way and have no regrets - Kobe Bean Bryant. Thank you for allowing me to workout with you @kobebryant I learned a lot.

A post shared by Giannis Antetokounmpo (@giannis_an34) on Aug 30, 2018 at 5:36pm PDT

View this post on Instagram

Year 3... To Year 4... To Year 5... You don’t want to see year 6.. What an unbelievable journey! Keep working hard everyday, because if you don’t work you don’t eat. Simple!!

A post shared by Giannis Antetokounmpo (@giannis_an34) on Sep 6, 2018 at 5:29pm PDT

View this post on Instagram

Just wanted to try something a little different...first boxing lesson ? #StayFreaky

A post shared by Giannis Antetokounmpo (@giannis_an34) on Aug 2, 2018 at 8:13am PDT

GIANNIS NBA2K EVOLUTION

I can't think of a player who has improved a 2K rating as much as Giannis.

He made his debut in NBA2K14 with a rating of 60!

Jumped to 74 in 2K15

Broke the 80 mark in 2K16.

90 in 2K17.

Went into the 2019 season with a 91 overall...and appeared on the cover!

As of December 6th, 2018, the birthday boy is at 95.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BoCpVx3lmug/?taken-by=giannis_an34

GIANNIS MOTIVATION WORKOUT VIDEO

The post The Greek Freak Keeps Getting Freakier: The Growth of Giannis Antetokounmpo! appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Congratulations to Mario Hezonja on joining an elite club full of NBA Hall of Famers like Allen Iverson, LeBron James and Scottie Pippen.

On Saturday, the former 5th pick of the 2015 NBA Draft scored two points in the Knicks victory over the Bucks. TWO POINTS! Obviously, it wasn't the two points that made him a trending topic on Twitter, it was him treating the Greek Freak like Ty Lue by stepping over him after a dunk that gave Super Mario his only bucket of the game. As expected, Giannis didn't appreciate the AI impersonation that moved Mario to the top of Giannis' shit list.

"I'm going to punch him in the nuts next time." Said Giannis with a dead-serious expression after the game.

"I'm going to punch him next time."
I love that Giannis said this with a dead serious look on his face and then said "yeah" when the reporter replied, "really?"

(Via @Apooch) pic.twitter.com/o0cKV9V55b

— David Astramskas (@redapples) December 2, 2018

Here's what Mario had to say about the best highlight of his NBA career (the last highlight I can think of is him knocking down a game-winning three during a 2015 Summer League game).

"Honestly, if you’re afraid, this is not for you. I don’t want to be disrespectful, but if you feel fear this is not the place for you, New York is not a place for you and this team is not a place for you."

I agree! And New Yorkers should definitely remember the first great disrespectful step over in NBA history.

(1994) PIPPEN OVER EWING

What makes Pippen's steps over Patrick Ewing in Game 6 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Semifinals so memorable is because the dunk is arguably one of the top three posters of all-time -- even though Pippen said it was one of his "easiest."

“That was probably the easiest dunk I ever did,” Pippen jokingly said during an amusing conversation about the historic moment. “I think I must have crossed Derek Harper over at half court, because when I see the picture of it, he’s back wondering what happened.  All I remember is catching the ball and I don’t know how Patrick even got down there. It was such a weird play.”

What I remember in the 90s is how hard it was to find this dunk on video and how happy I was when I opened a pack of 1994/95 Upper Deck SE cards and pulled a Pippen card that used a great photo of Derek Harper sitting on the ground and watching his teammate get dunked on, sent to the ground and then walked over. I also pulled a gold Chris Webber rookie card worth a couple hundred dollars then and a Redbox rental now.

Unlike Giannis, Ewing didn't wait for a "next time" to give Pippen a shove to the nuts...BUT, there was a next time!

Two years after the first incident, Pippen stepped over the head of Ewing during a loose ball scramble. You might initially think it wasn't intentional but once you see the smile on Pippen's face as he walked back to the bench you will know it was 100% intentional.

If Pippen stepping over Ewing twice wasn't great enough, his son, Scotty Pippen Jr, stepped over a defender two decades later.

Scotty Pippen Jr hit em with the step-over ??? @spippenjr pic.twitter.com/dJBTz0Dmob

— www.ebooksnet.com (@Ballislife) December 4, 2018

(2001) IVERSON OVER LUE

This is and will probably always be the most famous step over of all time. Iverson's step over the legs of Ty Lue from Game 1 of the 2001 NBA Finals is so iconic, you can even catch NFL players like Tyler Lockett reenacting it after a touchdown.

Lue has always been a good sport about the play and likes to remind fans on the anniversary of it he won a championship ring (the first of two as a player) a few days later. He's such a good sport about it, he was even willing to take a photo with a fan wearing a shirt of the play. Considering most young players in the NBA are so paranoid about ending up in a viral clip and/or a meme, it's unlikely you would be able to convince one of them to take a selfie with you if you were wearing a short showing their most embarrassing moment. I guess I shouldn't single out the young players because I'm pretty sure Kevin Durant would curse me out if I asked for a photo while wearing a shirt of him getting yelled at by Draymond.

??? This kid asked Allen Iverson to step over him like he did Ty Lue!

(via @ChristianCrosby)

pic.twitter.com/xPM3gPlZ2W

— www.ebooksnet.com (@Ballislife) April 8, 2018

(2016) LEBRON OVER DRAYMOND

Speaking of Draymond, Warriors fans will never forget the time he got pissed at LeBron James for stepping over him during Game 4 of the 2016 NBA Finals and responded with a shot to the nuts and some words that offended the King.

“Some of the words that came out of his mouth was a little overboard,” James said after the game. “Being a guy with pride, a guy with three kids, things of that nature, some things just go overboard. That’s where he took it.”

The nut shot by Draymond earned him his fourth flagrant foul points of the season which meant a one-game suspension. The Cavs went on to win Game 5 to cut the Warriors lead to 3-2 and you know the rest of the story.

Here's Steph Curry talking about the incident and referencing Iverson's "cool moment" with Lue.

(2018) HONORABLE MENTION: RAWLE ALKINS

This dunk and step over didn't happen in the NBA so it's getting honorable mention. The dunker is former Ballislife All-American and current NBA rookie King Rawle Alkins. The posterized is USC guard Elijah Stewart and the quote of the night belongs to NBA No. 1 Draft Pick Deandre Ayton.

“He should go to jail for that.” Said Ayton about his teammate's dunk. “There’s no way somebody should get away with that…I’ve never seen a dunk like that. That was some 2K animation type stuff."

Here's a better look at the step over...hop over.

No caption needed on this one from @Iam_RawleAlkins. #APlayersProgram pic.twitter.com/wp94lz5wCG

— Arizona Basketball (@APlayersProgram) March 11, 2018

Source: Anthony Puccio/NetsDaily, StevePopper/NewsDaySports

The post The Most Disrespectful & Memorable Step Overs In NBA History appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Believe it or not, Patrick Beverley's ejection on Sunday night was the first of his career. And it didn't happen when he knocked a tooth out of the mouth of Dennis Smith Jr during a loose ball scramble in the third quarter, it happened early in the fourth when he threw the ball at Dallas Mavs superfan Don Knobler.

According to , the flamboyant-looking season-ticket holder said he called Beverley "dirty" and replied, "Your mother," during an exchange with the player many have called dirty in the past.

Via ESPN

"I told the referee, I told the security," Beverley told reporters. "I mean, I've never gotten ejected out of a game since I've been in the NBA. You know, I play hard, I play within the lines, of course. I play within the rules, of course. I've never been ejected in my career in the NBA, but I'm a grown man. I have morals. Of course, God is first, family is second for me, and I stand firmly behind that.

"I just, I can accept the 'Fuck you, Beverley,' the 'Fuck you, Pat,' but out of the lines of my mother, anybody who knows me, man, knows I'm a family-first guy, and there's some things that are unacceptable. After I told the refs, I told security, the Dallas security, told both of them and again, he said it again. So if no one going to control fans, what are we supposed to do as players?"

Déjà vu?

OKC fans might remember Beverley having a similar postgame speech after his exchange with a heckling fan (the son of one of the Thunder's minority owners) back in the 2017 NBA Playoffs.

“My thoughts about the fine is exactly this,” Beverley said prior to Game 4 against the Thunder. “If the NBA won’t help protect players in situations with fans, I’m OK with the hazing, I’m OK with the boos, I’m OK with the other fans rooting for their team.  But I’m not OK with them doing disrespect while I’m on the ground after a foul and a fan yelling out to me: ‘Fuck you, Patrick Beverley! Fuck you, Patrick Beverley!  Fuck you, Patrick Beverley!’ and waving a clapper in my face.

“I’m not comfortable with that. So if the NBA won’t protect the players in that manner, I feel the need as a man, as a grown man who has children, who has morals, to stand up for the right thing. I have to protect myself.

That exchange led to him getting hit with a $25,000 fine by the league. Considering his history with Russell Westbrook, the people of OKC were probably pretty happy on Sunday to see Beverley finally get kicked out of a game.

Back to Dennis Smith Jr, the high-flying sophomore came up big in the final seconds with a pair free throws after a clutch block on Tobias Harris that led to the birth of a new Luka Doncic meme.

While Beverley was complaining about how ugly fans can act during games, Smith was talking about looking "pretty as a girl" for his fans.

"Whenever there’s cameras, then it’s going to social media. Whenever it’s social media, then there’s ladies lookin’. When there’s ladies lookin’, I gotta be lookin’ nice.

"I’m still pretty as a girl. I’m still pretty, so I’m good."

And how was his tooth back in place during the postgame interview?

"It’s magic, it’s magic. You know, my dad used to hang with Dr. Strange. He do magic and all that."

Well, Smith was born with an extra ligament in his knee and has the ability to fly so maybe he's telling the truth about his father.

Dennis Smith Jr. found a temporary fix for his broken tooth to talk to the media after the Mavs’ win. "Whenever there’s cameras, then it’s going to social media. Whenever it’s social media, then there’s ladies lookin’. When there’s ladies lookin’, I gotta be lookin’ nice." pic.twitter.com/FJqkGWttgx

— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) December 3, 2018

"I'm still pretty as a girl." - Dennis Smith Jr after getting a tooth knocked out by Patrick Beverley. pic.twitter.com/10DFjGaVxl

— David Astramskas (@redapples) December 3, 2018

The post Patrick Beverley Knocks Out Dennis Smith's Tooth, Gets Ejected For Throwing Ball At Mavs Super Fan appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

On this day in history, November 19th of 2004, the infamous Malice at the Palace brawl between the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons happened on live TV. A brawl that led to five players being charged with assault, nine players receiving a suspension and five fans getting hit with criminal charges and a lifetime ban from attending Pistons home games.

Metta World Peace, back when he was Ron Artest, received the biggest punishment (73 regular-season games and 13 playoff ones), which resulted in almost $5 million in lost salary. Teammate Stephen Jackson had the second biggest suspension (30 games) for going into the crowd and punching a fan.

THE PUNISHMENTS

Raw & rarely seen footage of "The Malice At The Palace" brawl that happened on November 19th, 2004. https://t.co/Y6XM4qPsw9 pic.twitter.com/jG9TjSk6c1

— www.ebooksnet.com (@Ballislife) November 20, 2018

REMEMBERING THE BRAWL

Back in 2013, Stephen Jackson talked to ESPN's Dan Le Batard about the incident and told a pretty funny story about Artest not understanding how serious the brawl was.

“I don’t think [Artest] was thinking at the time,” Jackson said. “Me and Jamaal Tinsley every time I see him we laugh at this. Right after the brawl, we’re in the locker room. And this is why I said [Artest] never said ‘thanks.’ So we’re in the locker room, legs all scratched up from hopping over the bleachers, our adrenaline pumping, we laid a couple people out, like we did something, know what I mean? We all sit back, and Ron Artest aka Metta World Peace, leans back and looks at Jamaal Tinsley and asks us, ‘do you think we’re going to get in trouble?’ I said ‘Ron, in trouble?! We’re lucky if we still have a job!’ That was the funniest thing ever. Trouble? We’re lucky we have a job Ron.”

Ron didn't have a job with the Pacers for much longer. After only playing 16 games the following season, he demanded a trade and was sent to Sacramento a month later.

Here are a few videos of Ron and Jackson talking about the brawl on other shows.

IMAGES

The post Remembering "The Malice At the Palace" Brawl Between the Pacers & Pistons appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

#OTD 9 years ago today, Dwyane Wade threw down one of the most memorable dunks in league history. ?? pic.twitter.com/HmI2amzTdq

— NBA TV (@NBATV) November 12, 2018

Today is the nine-year anniversary of Dwyane Wade posterizing Anderson Varejao during a 2009 game between the Miami Heat and LeBron's Cavs. Most of the videos you will see today of a young Flash knocking down the NBA version of Sideshow Bob with Reggie Miller yelling, "Welcome to your Kodak moment" will be the like the one above: Wade dribbling past half court, dunk and then replays.

To fully appreciate this dunk and historic moment, you have to watch the following video, which starts with Wade's former teammate, Shaquille O'Neal, sitting on the bench and watching Wade's future teammate, LeBron James, miss a dunk attempt on Jermaine O'Neal. After the miss, Wade grabbed the ball, dribbled down the court, ignored a clapping Michael Beasley and then dunked on Varejao, who was probably hoping the trailing LeBron was going to either pick Wade's pocket or go for a chase-down block. LeBron made the decision to just watch.

If it wasn't embarrassing enough to get dunked on and have Wade do his best impersonation of Iverson stepping over Ty Lue on you during a live TNT broadcast (keep in mind this is before people were sharing videos on Twitter and the creator of House Of Highlights was just a 14-year old Heat fan), the GOAT, Michael Jordan (Yes, Michael Jordan!), was in attendance to witness the moment. Also worth noting is MJ was sitting next to Pat Riley, coach of the 90s Knicks and Heat that would always end up getting beaten by MJ in the playoffs.

Upset over the dunk, Varejao exchanged some words with Wade a few moments later and each was given a technical.

Wade ended the night with a game-high 36 points and the top play on Sportscenter but the Player Of The Game would go to LeBron, who scored 34 and the Cavs' final eight points in the 111-104 victory.

Here's what he had to say about Wade after the win.

"It's like being out back with your big brother or little brother," James said. "You don't want him to get the upper edge. You don't want them bragging and talking about it all week. Me and D-Wade are always competing. We're friends and everything, but when we're out on the court we're fierce rivals."

As for the dunk?

"It was great, probably top 10 all-time," James said. "That was an unbelievable play by a great player."

You also probably didn't notice the sports ticker at the 42-second mark of the video that said: LeBron James says he will not speak about his possible free agency until after this season.

What happened after the season was his decision to take his talents to South Beach and join his "fierce rival" who murdered one of his centers on November 12th of 2009.

BONUS VIDEOS

The post Things You Don't Know or Remember About Dwyane Wade's Famous Dunk On Anderson Varejao appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

The Lonely God of Shanghai, Jimmer Fredette, put up a career-high 75 points in a 136-137 loss to Pierre Jackson and the Beijing Fly Dragons on Sunday. The 75 is two more than the 73 he scored in a double-OT game last year. The career-high is also 7 less than the CBA record held by CJ McCollum's brother, Errick.

Jackson, who I used to call "The Kevin Durant of the D-League," had 63 points and the game-winning jumper at the buzzer.

• Pierre Jackson: 63 PTS (20-35 FGs, 13-22 3PT, 10-11 FTs), 5 rebounds, 8 assists in 44 minutes
• Jimmer Fredette: 75 PTS (24-34 FGs, 7-10 3PT, 20-21 FTs), 8 rebounds, 7 assists in 43 minutes.

https://twitter.com/PAPPYGAWD/status/1061623998277013504

More on Pierre Jackson. His first 10 games in China this season (p/a/r). Representing @BaylorMBB pretty well.

46/6/7
36/4/8
67/10/8
29/7/5
44/14/5
58/10/6
24/10/8
48/10/5
32/10/6
63/8/5

— Dmitry Planidin (@DmitryPlanidin) November 11, 2018

BONUS VIDEO: JIMMY SCORES 73 IN 2017

The post Pierre Jackson Scores 63, Hits Game-Winner Against Jimmer Fredette (75 PTS!) appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Kyrie threw the ball into the crowd after Jamal Murray's attempt to make 50-points as the game ended pic.twitter.com/Vbx3oNxmaf

— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) November 6, 2018

"The ball deserves to go into the crowd after a bullshit move like that, so I threw it in the crowd."

The bullshit move Kyrie Irving was referencing was a three-point attempt by Jamal Murray in the final seconds of the Nuggets 115-107 victory over the Celtics. The three would have given Murray 22 fourth-quarter points and 51 for the game. He missed it and had to settle for a career-high 48 (19-30 FG, 5-11 3PT) and an impressive 9-1 record (6-0 at home) for his team.

"We good." Said Murray after the victory. "He knows I was trying to get 50. I didn't mean no harm. I shouldn't have done it."

Is it really that big of a deal?

Plays like this are often frowned upon and viewed as unsportsmanlike but understandable. His previous career-high was 38 and he's only scored 30+ eight times in his first two seasons. He was feeling it on this night against a good team with a superstar like Kyrie Irving and had the opportunity to join the 50-point club. Most young guys (and many older vets) probably would have done the same, knowing it might piss off the losing team.

"What kind of competitor wouldn't it bother?" Said Irving, who finished with a team-high 31 points on 13-of-17 shooting. "Obviously, I was pissed at the game, but it's time to decompress and move on. Congratulations to him having 48 points. He did it in a great fashion against us. Our defense has to be better, especially against a player like that in the pick-and-roll. He was the primary concern tonight and he made us pay in certain instances of making some tough shots and some tough layups."

All of those tough shots and layups also put Murray in some elite company. Here's a list of Denver Nuggets with 48+ points.

• David "Skywalker" Thompson (73)
• Michael Adams (54)
• Alex English (54 & 51)
• Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (51)
• Allen Iverson (51)
• Kiki Vandeweghe (51, 50, 49)
• Carmelo Anthony (50, 50, 49)
• Jamal Murray (48)

PUNK MOVE

Lakers fans hearing about this "BS move" might have last season flashbacks of Lonzo Ball saying, "It's a punk move" after Murray dribbled around him in the final seconds of a Nuggets victory. Ball didn't react to Murray during the game but teammate Julius Randle and Coach Luke Walton did.

Believe it or not, there's actually another story about Murray and the final seconds of a game against the Lakers. This one happened a few months after the Lonzo incident and involved Murray's current teammate Isaiah Thomas. Up nine in the final seconds, instead of dribbling out the clock, IT chucked the ball at Murray with two seconds left in the game.

"I can't control what the other team's gonna feel," Said Murray. "I'm just gonna go out there and hoop, and whoever takes it to heart and takes their losses salty, I can't do anything about that."

UNNECESSARY LAST SECOND SHOTS

Here's a montage of "unnecessary last-second shots," which includes one of my all-time favorite endings to a game: Caron Butler tricking and stealing the ball from Jonas Valanciunas when his team was down by 27.

The post Kyrie Irving Throws Ball Into The Crowd After Jamal Murray Tried To Go For 51 At The Buzzer appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Fans of Jusuf Nurkic know him as The Bosnian Beast. A beast that scored 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting in the Blazers win over the Wolves on Sunday. A beast that put up 20 points twice last week on 10 or fewer shots. A beast that deserves more attention around All-Star weekend.

General NBA fans know Nurkic as The Human Bullseye for dunkers. Over the past 12 months, he's received more facials than 2018 AVN Best Actress winner Sara Luvv. And one of those facials happened on Sunday when Wolves rookie Josh Okogie was awarded the Daily Dunk on Nurkic award.

This dunk also happened less than 24 hours after Brandon Ingram was the recipient of the award.

LeBron liked Slender Man's dunk on The Beast so much, he posted a photo of it on Instagram with the following caption: "Watch my Young King fly!! I’m telling you he has arrived! Watch yo head."

View this post on Instagram

Watch my Young ?? fly!! I’m telling you he has arrived! ? Watch yo head

A post shared by LeBron James (@kingjames) on Nov 3, 2018 at 10:44pm PDT

LeBron is also the poster maker with the most memorable facial on Nurkic. His happened back on March 15th of 2018, a sad day many will remember as the day Toys R' Us announced they were dead and the day the internet thought Nurkic was dead because of all the "RIP Nurkic" tweets.

The dunk was so disturbing, Jordan Clarkson said, "There's a body bag in the hallway right now" during the postgame interview.

LeBron dunked on Nurkic so hard that a Blazer fan damn near threw up. pic.twitter.com/yFg69NhZQa

— realcavsfans.com (@realcavsfans) March 16, 2018

My personal favorite dunk on Nurkic happened during Game 3 of the Blazers & Pelicans Playoff series in April. Midway through the third quarter, Anthony Davis threw down a putback dunk on Nurkic. The dunk wasn't that great but the sight of AD's teammate, Jrue Holiday, pointing at Nurkic as he was trying to figure out what just hit him made it a classic.

I love this photo so much, I printed it out and plan on getting AD and Holiday to sign it. I'm assuming Nurkic won't sign it but if Kobe was willing to sign the cover of a Sports Illustrated issue about his rape case then maybe Nurkic will.

Also worth mentioning is Clint Capela's and-one dunk on Nurkic that happened just five days after Nurkic's near-death experience with The King.

One last thing, I'm sure a few Portland fans will take this post too seriously and say we should praise him for attempting to play this rarely seen thing called defense. All I can say is it must suck to be so oversensitive and I hope your team doesn't get swept in the playoffs for the third consecutive year.

(FYI: I've been a Blazers fan since the 80s when Clyde Drexler was putting every team's center on a poster)

The post Top 5 Best Dunks On Jusuf Nurkic...IN 2018! appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

? Russell Westbrook hit Cody Zeller with the Shammgod then showed the crowd a replay! pic.twitter.com/TLhasosPhb

— www.ebooksnet.com (@Ballislife) November 2, 2018

With 37 seconds left in the Hornets loss to the Thunder on Thursday, Cody Zeller became the latest victim of The Shammgod. On this night, the practitioner of the move named after the God who taught Kobe Bryant how to improve his crossover was Russell Westbrook, who enjoyed doing the move so much, he reenacted it for fans after putting the final nail in the Charlotte coffin.

Due to Russ' ability and tendency to just blow by and/or bulldoze over an opponent, his resume doesn't include as many ankle breakers as many other top guards in the league, like Kyrie Irving, Steph Curry, Chris Paul and Zeller's teammate Kemba Walker. But Westbrook's handles are nice and he can cross a defender quicker than he crossed KD off his Christmas and birthday lists.

Need proof?

Here are a few of my favorite clips of Westbrook pulling out the Shammgod, starting with an early Christmas present from 2016.

WHEN: 2016
WHO: Tyler Ulis
WHAT: Makes this so cool is how Westbrook does a Spider-Man pose in the air after passing the ball to Steven Adams. The assist was his 22nd of the game, which also included 26 points and 11 boards.

WHEN: 2018
WHO: Brook Lopez
WHAT: Makes this so cool is you probably forgot Brook Lopez played for the Lakers. This play also allows me to bring up Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was serving a 25-day jail sentence when this play happened. He was given a Get Out Of Jail Card for practices and games.

WHEN: 2017
WHO: Dwight Powell
WHAT: Makes this so cool is it ends with a nail-in-the-coffin three-pointer over Harrison Barnes.

WHEN: 2016
WHO: Jrue Holiday
WHAT: Makes this so cool is it's a revenge play. I know it's not a Shammgod but people often confuse In and Out dribbles as Shammgods and I love revenge plays.

Back in 2013, Jrue left Russ standing flat-footed with a behind-the-back dribble. I'm going cut Russ some slack because I think he was a little shell-shocked (no pun intended) after almost breaking the backboard with a three-point attempt.

BONUS: TOP 20 CROSSOVERS

The post 5 Times Russell Westbrook Unleashed The Shammgod appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

People remember the steal and the dunk. Some remember an 18-year-old LeBron James had an impressive 25 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds and 4 steals in his NBA debut. Some might even remember the game being delayed because the New York Knicks and Orlando Magic game went into OT and ESPN wanted to make sure TV audiences didn't miss a second of James' debut. Only a few NBA fans -- mainly Sacramento Kings ones -- remember when the final buzzer went off, right after an airball from LeBron, the Kings were the winners of the game by 14 points. That's because nobody cares now and nobody cared back then. The only thing out of the mouth of a Kings player we cared about was what they thought of the Kings' debut.

“It was the first I’ve seen of him, and I was real impressed. He’s the real deal.” – Divac

“He’s a talent. Look at how he plays. The best thing about him is how he distributes the ball. He does it extremely well.” ?– Bobby Jackson

“He obviously was good tonight. He’s got a lot of talent. He gets to the basket, he sees the floor. For the first game, you had to be impressed.” – Coach Adelman

LeBron’s 25-point total was not only the most ever in a debut by a prep-to-pro up to that point, but it was also 15 points more than Jonathan Bender and Amare Stoudemire and 25 more than Kobe and T-Mac.

PREP TO PRO DEBUTS

• Amare Stoudemire: 10
• Jonathan Bender: 10
• Kevin Garnett: 8
• Darius Miles: 8
• Deshawn Stevenson: 5
• Rashard Lewis: 4
• Eddy Curry: 2
• Jermaine O'Neal: 2
• Kwame Brown: 2
• Kobe Bryant: 0
• Tracy McGrady: 0

NIKE COMMERCIAL

This ad with a headband-less LeBron playing the Kings made its debut during his NBA debut vs the Kings.

FULL HIGHLIGHTS

ESPN RECAP

Source: ESPN

The post Remembering LeBron James' Impressive NBA Debut in 2003 appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

After coming out of a fake retirement this summer, Blake Griffin is back in a Pistons uniform and looking like an MVP candidate and a fantasy basketball steal.

He started the season with 26/8/6 in a win against the Nets and then put up 33/12/5 with 5 threes in a win against the Bulls. On Monday, he scored a career-high 50 points with 14 boards, 6 assists and 5 more threes in a win against Joel Embiid and the 76ers. 28 of those 50 came in the first half, which was highlighted by a dunk on the trash-talking and flopping Embiid.

Blake's previous career-high was 47, which happened back in January of his 2011 "Rookie" season. This might surprise some, but many of Blake's biggest stat nights came during his Rookie Of The Year campaign.

• 47 PTS (19-24 FG), 14 REB
• 44 PTS, 15 REB, 7 AST
• 35 PTS, 14 REB, 7 AST
• 33 PTS (14-19 FG), 17 REB, 10 AST
• 31 PTS, 10 REB, 10 AST
• 30 PTS, 18 REB, 8 AST

More surprising than Blake's 50 being the most he's scored in seven years is this was just the seventh 50-point game in Detroit Pistons' history. And the last guy to hit 50 was Rip Hamilton way back in 2006! The other guys on the short list are George Yardley (51 and 52 in 1958), Dave Bing (54 in 1971), Kelly Tripucka (56 in 1983) and Jerry Stackhouse (57 in 2001). You might be thinking, "Where is Isiah Thomas, Grant Hill and Adrian Dantley?" Thomas' career-high was 47 (also had 17 assists in the game), Hill had 46 and Dantley once put up 45 on the Bulls, which is the team Bing, Tripucka and Stackhouse scored 50 against.

JERRY STACKHOUSE (57)

“Ron Artest told me at the beginning of the game that [Bulls] Coach [Tim] Floyd said he didn’t respect my game and he wasn’t going to double-team me,” Stackhouse said after scoring a franchise-high 57 (21-36 FG, 11-13 FT). “Maybe next time.”

The 57 was also a United Center record.

RICHARD HAMILTON (51)

Hamilton's 51 was extra special because it happened at the Garden. Wearing a protective mask on his face, Rip knocked down 19-of-37 shots and all 12 of his free throws against the dynamic backcourt of Stephon Marbury (41) and Jamal Crawford (29).

KELLY TRIPUCKA (56)

When I say "flu game," you probably think of Michael Jordan. If I say "flu game" to a Pistons fan from the early 80s, they will think of Kelly Tripucka, who put up 56 against the Bulls on 18-of-26 shooting while recovering from the flu.

PISTONS GREATS

Back to Blake Griffin, here he is talking with Pistons greats Isiah Thomas and Grant Hill after his historic night.

The post Blake Griffin & The Best 50-Point Games In Pistons' History appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Game respect game. @LSUBasketball teammates @BenSimmons25 x @blakeney96! #ThisIsWhyWePlay #KiaTipOff18 pic.twitter.com/XxZFBFmWMk

— NBA (@NBA) October 19, 2018

My favorite moment from the Bulls and 76ers game wasn't one of the assists Ben Simmons had on his way to his first triple-double of the season. My favorite moment was when he and the Bulls' Antonio Blakeney exchanged jerseys after the game.

The history between the two goes back to their high school AAU days when they were known as the "Killer B's" on a team called Each 1 Teach 1. The dynamic duo ended their prep careers by leading the East team to victory in the 2015 McDonalds All-American Game.

“It was cool, with me running the point." Simmons said after the game. "I like to find Antonio and he likes to shoot, so it works well.”

They enjoyed playing together so much, they decided to reunite in Louisiana. Simmons' time with the LSU Tigers was short and controversial but enough to make him the no-brainer No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft. Blakeney hung around the swamps for another year and became the team's No. 1 scorer.

Blakeney declared for the NBA Draft after his All-SEC season and surprisingly (to me) went undrafted. The Bulls picked him up on a two-way contract and had him spend some time in the G-League, where he won the 2018 Rookie Of The Year award. He's been instant offense for the Bulls in the preseason and looked decent (15 PTS, 5 REB in 30 MINS) in Thursday's regular season game against the 76ers and his former teammate.

Here are a few throwback videos of the Killer B's, starting with a 42-minute documentary about the duo preparing for the Nike EYBL Championship at Peach Jam.

HIGH SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS

LSU HIGHLIGHTS

The post Remember The Killer B's: Ben Simmons & Antonio Blakeney appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Knicks coach David Fizdale has so many point guards on the roster he's playing musical chairs with them.

On Wednesday, in the Knicks first game of the season, he started 2013 lottery pick (9) Trey Burke at point and 2017 lottery pick (7) Frank Ntilikina over 2018 lottery pick (8) Kevin Knox at the small forward position. I was personally hoping to see Knox and/or undrafted rookie Allonzo Trier in the line-up but since they were playing the Atlanta Hawks, I knew they would get minutes.

Trier ended up playing 26 minutes, which was enough time to put up 15 PTS (matching Trey Burke) on 5-of-9 shooting, 4 boards, 2 blocks and the highlight of the game: a nasty dunk between three Hawks after blowing by 2018 NBA lottery pick (3) Trae Young.

If you watched the Knicks preseason games, you know ISO Zo had the highlight of the game in almost every game and averaged 15.8 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists on 54.1 percent shooting and 37.5 percent on threes. I'm not saying Zo should be named a starter in his next game because of his preseason and impressive NBA debut, but I am saying Burke, Ntilikina, Emmanuel Mudiay and Ron Baker are going to have to play well if they don't want to lose any minutes to him.

??️ Smile, @ISO_ZO ?️? pic.twitter.com/okz7QFxmyp

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) October 18, 2018

Undrafted. pic.twitter.com/uUHF6wIQq5

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) October 18, 2018

#SoleWatch: Knicks OG @nate_robinson in Off-White x Air Jordan 1s & rookie @ISO_ZO in the “East LA” Nike Kobe 6.
?: @hungerfoto pic.twitter.com/YNN4puebgS

— SoleCollector.com (@SoleCollector) October 18, 2018

BEST OF THE PRESEASON

OFFICIAL BALLISLIFE MIXTAPE

The post Undrafted Knicks Rookie Allonzo Trier Shines In NBA Debut appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

On this day in history, October 17th of 2005, David Stern made the NBA the first major sports league to have a dress code. A dress code that required baggie pants and jersey wearers like Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony to "wear business casual attire" to games and a sports coat with dress shoes on the bench. A dress code that meant jewelry lovers like Paul Pierce had to tuck their bling inside of their collard or turtleneck shirts. A dress code that said a big N-O to the following things:

• Sleeveless shirts
• Shorts
• T-shirts, jerseys, or sports apparel (unless appropriate for the event (e.g., a basketball clinic), team-identified, and approved by the team)
• Headgear of any kind while a player is sitting on the bench or in the stands at a game, during media interviews, or during a team or league event or appearance (unless appropriate for the event or appearance, team-identified, and approved by the team)
• Chains, pendants, or medallions worn over the player's clothes
• Sunglasses while indoors
• Headphones (other than on the team bus or plane, or in the team locker room)

A dress code that some players, like Jason Richardson, thought was targeting just black players.

"One thing to me that was kind of racist was you can't wear chains outside your clothing." Said Richardson before a 2005 preseason game. "I don't understand what that has to do with being business approachable. ... You wear a suit, you still could be a crook. You see all what happened with Enron and Martha Stewart. Just because you dress a certain way doesn't mean you're that way. Hey, a guy could come in with baggy jeans, a 'durag and have a Ph.D. and a person who comes in with a suit could be a three-time felon."

Other players like Stephen Jackson, who was involved in the infamous Malice at the Palace a season earlier, accused the league of being afraid of its players becoming "too hip-hop" and said some the above bullets were "definitely a racial statement."

After the Monday memo went out to all of the teams, a frustrated Paul Pierce still wore his chains to a preseason game and gave his two cents on the new policy.

"They don't want your chains to be out, all gaudy and shiny. But that's the point of them," Said Pierce. "I love wearing my jewelry. But I love my job. I love playing basketball more than I love getting fined and getting suspended."

Marcus Camby jokingly said he did not have an issue with the league rules as long as the league gave players a clothing allowance.

Commissioner Stern's response to feedback from players like Pierce, Jackson and Allen Iverson, who said he was willing to fight to wear comfortable clothes, was a stern one.

"If they are really going to have a problem, they will have to make a decision about how they want to spend their adult life in terms of playing in the NBA or not," Stern said.

So how did this clothing thing become an issue?

As evident from over 20 players between 2000 and 2005 (including Shaq, Kobe, and Allen Iverson) getting hit with a $10,000 fine for wearing baggy shorts, the Commish wasn't fond of wearing XXL when you are 5'11" and less than 180 pounds. As evident from David Stern calling Allen Iverson's rap song "40 Bars" an "offensive and anti-social" one and saying he has "the power to disqualify players who engage in offensive conduct -- including inappropriate speech," he wasn't too fond of Biggie and Pac and had no issue punishing players who wanted to be like them. But neither of those things was the straw that broke the Commissioner's back. According to the Washington Post, the catalyst was a Team USA dinner in 2004.

While the Serbian national team wore matching sports jackets, many of the NBA players arrived in an assortment of sweat suits, oversize jeans, diamond earrings, and platinum chains.

Larry Brown, the coach, was said to have been so embarrassed he considered sending some of the worst dressed players back to their hotel.

Brown wasn't the only coach embarrassed by the way players were dressing. Bulls coach Phil Jackson told ESPN, "The players have been dressing in prison garb the last five or six years. All the stuff that goes on, it's like gangster, thuggery stuff. It's time. It's been time to do that. "

Not all of the coaches felt it was a big deal. Stan Van Gundy thought it was silly and said the NBA's dress code was "stricter than the dress code in a lot of office buildings."

Nuggets GM Kiki Vandeweghe also criticized the code and pointed out there wasn't one for GMs.

But some of the players, including Grant Hill, were on board. And others, like LeBron James, had no issue with it.

"No, it's not a big deal, not to me." Said James to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "Sometimes you feel lazy and you don't feel like putting some clothes on, but this is a job. We are going to have fun, but this is a job and we should look like we're going to work, that's the way they feel."

The problem is a lot of guys can't do their job unless they feel like themselves. We all know the NBA stands for Nothing But Actors but a good director has to make sure the actors are comfortable and have total trust and faith in the director and the director's vision. That wasn't the case with the players and David Stern when it came to the dress code.

"You're expressing yourself, expressing your identity. It's taking away our self-expression. I like to dress and change it up," Said Jason Richardson. "Some of them have religious meanings behind their chains, others have personal messages behind their chains. Some guys just like to wear them. I think that was indirectly racial."

And to end this trip down memory lane here is the biggest thug in NBA history with the best quote about the code.

"I think it's a load of crap. I understand what they're trying to do with hats and 'durags and jerseys and stuff. That's fine. But I don't understand why they would take it to this level. I think it's basically retarded...I don't like the direction they're going, but who am I?"

The answer is the greatest power forward of all-time...and one of the worst dressers too.

Source: ESPN, Washington Post, The Guardian

My favorite photo of a NBA player during the baggy era: Allen Iverson! pic.twitter.com/fGTuy3DUpK

— David Astramskas (@redapples) October 16, 2018

Yeah! Here's another pic of Iverson (with Melo).
It's from a 2008 basketball game for kids of servicemen deployed in Iraq.

Photos: Garret Ellwood pic.twitter.com/d2spzIxEwO

— David Astramskas (@redapples) October 17, 2018

How did TJ Ford do any moves with shorts this big? pic.twitter.com/zdlXAohrs2

— Taco Trey Kerby (@treykerby) March 30, 2017

BONUS VIDEOS

And now we have this...

The post The NBA Dress Code of 2005: Why It Was Created & How Players Reacted To It appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

On Sunday, LaMelo Ball had 44 points, 12 assists, 11 rebound, 5 steals, 1 block and 1 highlight Sergie Balashov doesn't want to be reminded of during the JBA's 121-114 win over BC Zenit.

I'm pretty sure the first thing you said to yourself when you read Melo had 44 points was, "How many shots did he miss?" The answer is 17 out of 32 attempts. Not bad. That's 47%, which is pretty good by BBB/JBA standards and pretty great compared to the shooting percentage of all of the young kids pulling up from near half court in high school games because they think they are Melo or a Trae Young.

Anyways, the real reason why I made this post was it gave me an excuse to bring up Penny Hardaway. Melo's spin move was reminiscent of the one Penny used on so many victims in his early Orlando days. And I wasn't the only person who had flashbacks after watching the clip. Jaleel White (Urkel from the show Family Matters) posted this comment on our IG video: "92 P. Hardaway move rt thurr."

Jaleel White commenting about Penny Hardaway! How is that for a 90's throwback?

Back to "The Ankle Bully," here's another angle of his spin and you can see the live angle at the 16:44 mark in the full highlights from the game.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bo7Bo47hi4w

The post LaMelo Ball Puts Up A 44-Point Triple-Double, Drops Defender With A Penny Hardaway Spin appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Do you think this move by Harden is a travel? pic.twitter.com/g1yZ7ooUEk

— www.ebooksnet.com (@Ballislife) October 10, 2018

For his ninth three of the night against "The Lonely Master" and his Shanghai Sharks, James Harden pulled off a viral-worthy, behind-the-back move that had the internet arguing if it was a travel and Golden State Warriors fans saying, "Steph did it first!"

Back in 2016, Steph Curry pulled it off during a practice and Mike Prada of SB Nation discussed the origin and purpose of the move with Steph's trainer, Brandon Payne. During their 20-minute conversation, Payne explained why it's not a travel if executed correctly.

How is it not a travel? Isn’t he picking up both pivot feet?

[Laughs]. So I only watched him once or twice last night, though it’s something I’ve seen a thousand times before.

If it was a right-to-left crossover, he’d sidestep off his left foot into the shot. If you watch closely when he’s crossing the ball over, as the ball hits the ground, his left foot is hitting the ground into his side step. That’s a dribble into the side step, so he leaves off one foot and lands on two. That’s like any other sidestep or any other Eurostep.

This is just off one leg and landing on two into his shot. He’s not going to travel because when he sidesteps, he’s sidestepping off a dribble.

When did you first think he could try this move?

We’re always looking for new ways to transfer the basketball from the floor into the shooting motion, and we’re always looking for ways to protect the basketball. That was something that was born out of moves he makes going to the basket, and we just expanded and build onto it on the perimeter as well.

It’s something that can be used when a man is guarding him really, really tightly, where he can switch from the left side of his body to the right side of his body in tight situation and still get a very good, clean shot off.

Steph at work ???? pic.twitter.com/UbGQ1oEqKF

— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) September 27, 2016

So the genesis is more as he’s driving and changing direction, and not necessarily him stepping back for a three?

Sure. It certainly can be used in that way. But honestly, we’ve worked on this for a really long time. It’s taken him a little while to get really comfortable with it, and right now during training camp and during practices, it’s time for him to really test these things out and see how comfortable he is with it. Then, we have to make the decision whether or not he’s feeling comfortable enough to use it in a game.

But it’s just a part of the things we do in terms of ball-handling. It’s part of our shooting series. It’s part of our driving series. Again, it’s just a way to transfer the ball from one side of the body to the other side, get him off the floor, get him into his shot position as quickly as possible in terms of ball security. He makes it look easier than it really is.

Back to the behind-the-back move. How do you drill the footwork to make it work?

It’s something that we’ve done over the years, honestly. We do a lot of overloading his body. We overload the moves with a little bit of light resistance at different points on his body, and that helps his body learn new footwork and new spacing techniques a little bit quicker. Anytime you add resistance to anything, it really aids in muscle memory. So over the years, we’ve added resistance in different ways for different moves.

His body — once it’s in there, it’s locked in. He never forgets. He has impeccable footwork. He’s incredibly, incredibly efficient with the ball and with his feet. In the past, it was more “Hey, we’re going to teach this.” Now, it’s more about drilling him because it’s all recall for him. When your footwork is as good as his, you can get a little more creative and a little more aggressive with how you’re moving the basketball from side to side and getting from the floor to the shoot.

So a lot of that is just the result of a lot of hard work over all the offseason. Now, he’s able to get a little more aggressive and a little more creative.

You can read the full interview with Payne at SB Nation.

And here's the NBA explaining why it's NOT a travel.

This is a legal play. Although James puts the ball behind his back, he only takes two steps after the gather of the ball and therefore it is NOT a travel. https://t.co/i1hU3b4zuQ

— NBA Official (@NBAOfficial) October 10, 2018

If you say so.

Here are a few clips of other people doing the move before Harden.

He did it first pic.twitter.com/AvWpjfcQ3G

— Michigan Playmakers (@PlaymakerHoops) October 10, 2018

Hmmm 6 YEARS AGO @RP3natural taught me a move....6 YEARS LATER Harden breaks the internet with this same move ????????????????. pic.twitter.com/YpNFJQKsKS

— Ty Perfect (@MrPerfect_Ty) October 10, 2018

The post Steph Curry's Trainer Explains Why The James Harden Behind-The-Back Move Isn't A Travel appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.