Today, we take a look at five selections over the years we’d love to have back and five we are proud of.

The high school industry has changed plenty over the years. In the 1970s and 1980s, getting your name in the local paper was the IT thing. In the 1980s, USA Today helped mainstream national team rankings and All-American teams, but the national daily newspaper cut its high school editorial department in Dec. 2019. In the 1990s and 2000s, national magazines were all the rage. Getting on a national cover was hot and something many athletes aspired for such as the cover story of Student Sports Magazine. LeBron James and De La Salle (Calif.) football helped high school sports become something worthy of regular national telecasts, but All-American teams have been constant throughout going back to the 1950s.

Most of the ones produced in recent decades have been recruiting-oriented and many we’ve seen even had players on them that barely played half of their team’s game that season. We’re proud of the fact we take some time to research the players and what they actually accomplished and take some local consensus into consideration. We’re not perfect by any means, and today we decided to take a look back at the five best choices we made with our All-American Elite teams we’ve produced over the years, starting in Student Sports Magazine for the 1994-95 season. Those teams have also been published under the title sponsor of EA SPORTS and under the umbrella of ESPN and Ballislife as well.

Here’s a look at 10 defining moments of choosing our annual All-American Elite Teams.

5 All-American Choices We’d Love To Take Back

1. Mike Bibby Over Kobe Bryant For ’96 Mr. Basketball USA
There is no doubt Mike Bibby is the best high school player from Arizona (in terms of his career) and is probably still the state’s only "rock star" player, but he wasn’t a better talent that Kobe Bryant. Mike Bibby was a Student Sports Magazine cover subject and we had a compelling story to go along with the selection. Still, Bryant had a monster senior season after a terrific summer in 1995, when a plan was hatched to send him straight to the NBA. Sometimes, you have to just pick the best player. It should be noted that the Mr. Basketball USA Tracker began for the 2007-08 season and the voting results may have been different had a 10-man panel voted on it, instead of a group of journalists choosing.

2. Kawhi Leonard On ’09 Third Five
Now we’re cheating a bit here because having Kawhi Leonard on any All-American team in 2009 was a good call. It’s a somewhat famous snub that he didn’t play in the 2009 McDonald’s All-American Game. However, taking a deeper look at that team, Leonard should have been somewhere on the second five. The fact he was behind sophomore Michael Gilchrist of St. Patrick (Elizabeth, N.J.) or seniors John Henson of Sickles (Tampa, Fla.) is not awful, but is certainly not great, either. The 2009 Cal-Hi Sports Mr. Basketball out of King (Riverside, Calif.) averaged 22.6 points, 13.1 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game and led King to its second consecutive CIF Div. I SoCal regional final.

3. Blake Griffin On '07 Third Five
The class of 2007 was star-studded and one of the best of all-time. It certainly wasn’t easy to make All-American that season, but looking back Griffin should have been on second five. He was excellent in the McDonald’s All-American practices and game and it was easy to see he was more explosive and a better player than a few guys with more national notoriety or higher in national player rankings. Was Griffin a better high school player than either second five pick Corey Stokes of St. Benedict's (Newark, N. J.) or Gani Lawal of Norcross (Ga.)? Probably so.

4. Kemba Walker On ’08 Second Five
Willie Warren of North Crowley (Fort Worth, Texas) was a clutch player and state champion in Texas, but it was a close call to put him on first five. Now, we wish we would have went with the two point guard offense on first five with Walker and player of the year Brandon Jennings. At the McDonald's All-American game, Walker didn't take a backseat to any guard, finishing with 13 points, six rebounds and three assists. He didn’t begin playing basketball until 12, but Walker developed into one of the many decorated floor generals to attend now defunct Rice (New York) and went on to an excellent college and NBA career.

5. Jalen Suggs On ’20 Second Five
He moved up from second team All-American (30 players) to the second of four fives (our first team has had a 20-player format since 2004-05). After a career that rivaled any Minnesota player ever, Suggs probably would have been the better first five choice than sophomore Emoni Bates, who had tons of hype that season and was even named Gatorade National Player of the Year. We didn’t think that highly of Bates, but he did have a terrific season, but Suggs was probably better and we should have employed a three guard offense with Mr. Basketball USA Cade Cunningham of Montverde Academy (Fla.) and Jalen Green of Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.). At the time, Suggs was the highest-rated recruit ever to commit to Gonzaga and was also the nation’s top Grid-Hoop Player who was named the 2019 Minnesota Mr. Football as a signal-caller on the gridiron.

5 All-American Choices We’re Most Proud Of

1. Onyeka Okongwu On Fourth Five As A Junior In ‘18
The Chino Hills (Calif.) big man was terrific as a junior and we’re glad to honor him as a two-time All-American. He really deserved it and it’s still incredible to think he was a major omission from the 2019 McDonald’s All-American Game. He showed how good he was in high school when one year later the two-time California Mr. Basketball was the No. 6 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.

2. Jalen Brunson On Second Five As A Senior In ’15
There is this narrative the Stevenson (Lincolnshire, Ill.) was overlooked in the NBA Draft or that he’s been “slept on” until joining the New York Knicks, but that narrative is from from the truth. This pick actually can fall in both categories, as we wish we placed him on first five. Brunson was that good for his high school team and on the grassroots circuit. Some just don’t know what they are looking at when evaluating if players don’t have the typical quickness or athleticism that stands out.

3. Draymond Green On Fourth Five As A Senior In ’08
This Saginaw (Mich.) big man wasn’t rated anywhere near the Top 20 on the 2008 class. In fact, he was rated No. 122 in the country by Rivals.com, but we could see he was a talented player and more importantly, a winner. Green led the Trojans to a second straight state Class A championship while posting a 27-1 record. He was named Michigan’s Mr. Basketball for his all-around play.

4. Anthony Davis On First Five As A Senior In ‘11
Well, it wasn’t a big evaluation coupe to have A.D. on first five. After all, he was probably the most talented player in the country after being a virtual unknown as a junior. He completely blew up on the travel ball circuit, but the problem was he didn’t have any momentum from previous seasons, Perspectives Charter (Chicago) was a small school playing against relatively meager competition and the team finished 6-18. The Mr. Basketball USA Tracker knew his talent was too much to ignore, as he appeared on eight of 10 ballots, including three second-place votes. His future Kentucky teammate Michael Gilchrist was the Mr. Basketball USA that season.

5. Jalen Duren On First Five As A Junior In ‘21
Montverde Academy (Fla.) lost four starters off its terrific 2020 team, but was still able to repeat as FAB 50 champs mainly behind the play of the nation’s most physically dominant interior player. He opened up the season as the eighth highest vote-getter in the preseason Mr. Basketball USA Tracker, but ended up third behind Chet Holmgren and Jabari Smith in the final analysis. After being named national junior of the year, he re-classed up a year and left to Memphis.

Ronnie Flores is the national Grassroots editor of www.ebooksnet.com. He can be reached at?[email protected]. Don't forget to follow him on Twitter:?@RonMFlores

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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

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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.

2018 has been a wild year for Blake Griffin. He was traded by the Clippers to the Pistons. He broke up with Kendall Jenner and watched her move on to Ben Simmons (another No. 1 NBA Draft pick awarded the Rookie Of The Year trophy two years after being drafted). He was rumored to have to pay $200,000 a month for child support when it was actually ONLY $32,000. He was in a movie called The Female Brain that grossed $20,000 at the Box office. And now he's announcing his retirement...to become a musician.

Obviously, the 29-year-old, five-time All-Star isn't really hanging up his Jordans but in his new four-part YouTube series on the Funny or Die network, he's retiring from the world of comedy to pursue a career in music. Why not? Donald Glover made the successful leap from comedian to a well-respected musician...and actor, director, etc, etc.

The cameo-heavy episodes feature everyone from Derek Jeter, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Love, Isaiah Thomas, Andre Drummond to Conan O’Brien, Jeff Ross, Craig Robinson, Keegan Michael Key and Neal Brennan, who worked with Blake on a few amusing Jordan brand videos back in 2015.

Here are the other three videos courtesy of Red Bull Media House.

COMEDY BY BLAKE COMPILATION

“Why did I have to be half white? Why couldn’t I just be guaranteed to be in the NBA?”

Is @BlakeGriffin23 the funniest person in the NBA? #ComedyByBlake pic.twitter.com/bKvxhi0FUF

— www.ebooksnet.com (@Ballislife) September 19, 2018

DAD JOKES

Here's a video of Blake trying not to laugh while telling Dad jokes, like,
"What do you call having sex on a camping trip?

BGCP3TV

Here's the previously mentioned collaboration with Neal Brennan, co-creator of the Chappelle's Show.

PLAYING BASKETBALL

And here's a reminder of how nasty Blake can be on the basketball court.

The post Blake Griffin Announces His Retirement On YouTube appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

We live in a time when NBA players are afraid to get dunked on because they don't want to end up getting roasted on social media -- that online place full of trolls and oversensitive keyboard warriors who can't recognize sarcasm or the difference between innocent roasting and bullying.

On Tuesday, Comedy Central aired a 'Roast Battle' between roast legend Jeff Ross aka "The LeBron of Roasting" and dunk legend Blake Griffin, who is responsible for a lot of NBA players ending up on memes and a baby mama ending up with some huge child support payments.

Here are a few highlights from the battle:

Jeff: Everybody talks about your busted knee. What about that busted face. You look like Morgan Freeman bleached.

Jeff: Good luck in Detroit. That's the whole joke. I think you are just white enough not to get shot by the police. But be careful, you are now the worst shooter in the most violent city in America. Blake Lives Matter!

Blake: Jeff Ross looks like Darth Vader after they took his helmet off.

Blake: You are such a bald piece of shit. It looks like we both got fucked by the Clippers.

Jeff: And just like the Clippers, Kendall eventually traded you for another basketball player.

As expected, the Roastmaster General came out victorious but Blake is a funnier guy than his roast material. His stand-up acts are decent, his nude appearance on 'Broad City' was great and he's also very funny in interviews like this classic one in 2009 when he said: “Why did I have to be half white. Why couldn’t I just be guaranteed to be in the NBA.”

If you prefer to watch Blake Griffin play basketball, here's some recent footage of Blake dominating at a Rico Hines run while wearing some short shorts.

THE LEBRON OF ROASTING

My first memory of Jeff Ross was in 2003 when he hilariously roasted Shaq during the Roast of Emmitt Smith.

"Shaq you look good. Your knuckles look scraped. Did you walk here?"

The post Full Roast Battle Between Blake Griffin & Jeff Ross aka The LeBron of Roasting appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

When we first talked about Blake Griffin throwing down these dunk contest worthy dunks at a USAB practice in 2012, we thought the real star of the video was the "he didn't even stretch doe" kid with the lines in his eyebrows. Looking back at the video today, we think the real star of the video is the 2015 No. 2 NBA draft pick D'Angelo Russell saying, "he didn't even stretch doe" near his former Lakers teammate Julius Randle, fellow rookie standout Devin Booker, slam dunk champ Zach LaVine and a few other current NBA players.

On July 26th of 2018, the NBA re-released the six-year-old video with spotlights on all of the players that ended up playing pro ball and it's pretty mind-blowing.

• Trey Lyles
• Cliff Alexander
• Zach LaVine
• Bobby Portis
• Isaiah Briscoe
• Noah Vonleh
• Wayne Selden
• Theo Pinson
• Tyler Ennis
• Josh Hart
• Chris McCullough
• Xavier Rathan-Mayes
• D'Angelo Russell
• Devin Booker
• Diamond Stone
• Jarell Martin
• Troy Williams
• Kennedy Meeks
• Sindarius Thornwell
• Julius Randle

Awesome right?

This is the equivalent of finding out Jean-Claude Van Damme was the awesome background dancer in the 80's classic Breakin.

Equally awesome is this video of Blake Griffin reacting to the "who's who" video and making fun of Devin Booker's haircut.

"I got to talk to @DevinBook about that haircut."

Blake Griffin reacts to the "Who's Who In The 'He Didn't Even Stretch Doe' Video."https://t.co/VTJiDZasQ7 pic.twitter.com/RfjLH1oft4

— www.ebooksnet.com (@Ballislife) August 1, 2018

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Two basketball drafts went down on Thursday night. On the Westside (Los Angeles), former No. 1 NBA draft pick Greg Oden failed to be selected in Ice Cube's Big3 draft; on the Eastside (New York), former No. 1 NBA draft pick Blake Griffin and the man who should have been the No. 1 pick instead of Greg Oden surprised a couple of the top picks in the WNBA draft.

After A'ja Wilson was selected by the Las Vegas Aces with the first pick in the 2018 WNBA draft, she was given a tablet with a congrats from her favorite player, Blake Griffin.

"Congratulations on being drafted. It's been very fun to watch your college career and to see you go to the next level. I can't wait to see what you do in the league. You're going to dominate for a long, long time. Again, congrats and I'll be watching."

6th pick Azura Stevens also received a message from her favorite player, Kevin Durant.

"What up. Congratulations, I'm so proud of you. Good luck in your WNBA career. Hopefully I get to check a game out soon. Much love."

The No. 9 pick, our friend Lexie Brown, also got a special message from a former NBA player, her father! Brown's dad is former NBA dunk champion Dee Brown, who also used to be a WNBA coach. Brown's selection makes this the first time a daughter of a WNBA coach has made it to the league.

Another father and daughter connection worth mentioning is No. 3 pick Diamond Deshields. She's headed to Chicago, the city where her father, Delino Deshields, played baseball for the Cubs.

The post Blake Griffin & Kevin Durant Surprise Top Picks In The WNBA Draft appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

I'm sure your social media timeline is filled with posts about the 2018 NBA Rookie Of The Year debate, pics of Donovan Mitchell's "Rookie" hoodie and quotes from Ben Simmons, who some -- like Richard Jefferson -- do not consider a "true rookie" because he had an "entire year to train and practice against NBA talent" while recovering from an injury.

By NBA rules, Simmons is a rookie since his first NBA regular season game was this season. My question is "What do you call a first-year NBA player during the summer league and/or preseason?" A rookie right? If that's the answer, then how does a rookie in 2016 win the Rookie Of The Year award in 2018? I said the same thing back in 2011 when the NBA awarded 2009 No. 1 draft pick Blake Griffin the Rookie Of The Year award over 2010 No. 1 draft pick John Wall.

In the final game of the 2009 preseason, Blake Griffin broke his kneecap (Clippers curse!). The injury prevented him from playing during the regular season and allowed Tyreke Evans to win the award over Steph Curry. Although Griffin never played a minute during the regular season, he did play in the summer league and multiple games in the preseason -- DJ Mbenga remembers this very well. If Blake was a "rookie" in 2010 and 2011, then what was he called while he was dunking on NBA players and attending the NBA rookie photo shoot in 2009?

Anyone interested in purchasing any of these Blake Griffin rookie cards? I got them back in 2009.

FULL VIDEOS

The post Was Blake Griffin A "Rookie" When He Won Rookie Of The Year? appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Donte DiVincenzo made redheads and "reddish heads" like Blake Griffin proud last night. In the NCAA championship game, the Villanova sophomore guard scored 31 points (10-15 FG) off the bench and was named Most Outstanding Player! The 31 was a national title record for most points off the bench.

The performance also earns him a spot in the Basketball Redhead Hall of Fame, along with legends like Bill Walton and Dennis Johnson (yes, he was a redhead).

The following are some of the best moments in basketball history by redheads and clips from young redheads that's ready to carry the torch from GOATS like The Red & White Mamba.

BILL WALTON

Bill Walton is by far the greatest ginger to ever touch a basketball and his performance in the 1973 NCAA championship game is arguably the greatest title game performance ever: 44 points on 21-of-22 shooting!

Walton also picked up two NBA championships and a NBA Finals MVP award before becoming one of the most polarizing sports commentators of all-time.

DENNIS JOHNSON

DJ went from getting kicked off a college team (twice) to 2nd round NBA draft pick to a 5 x All-Star, 3 x NBA champion and 1 x NBA Finals MVP. He's also one of the greatest defenders the league has ever seen. And at 6'4" he's unofficially the shortest player to ever want to get into a scuffle with Charles Oakley. Every time I see this clip, I wish the ball would have hit Oakley in the back.

BLAKE GRIFFIN

The future stand-up comedian is responsible for a lot of the best dunks over the past decade but only one of them spawned a phrase in basketball.

On November 20th of 2010, Griffin posterized Timofey Mozgov and the phrase "Mozgoved" was born.

DELONTE WEST

I thought about showing West giving Gordon Hayward a "Wet Willie" but the highlight of his troubled NBA career is easily this game-winner from 2008. Why? Because LeBron James made the assist (I'll let you provide the jokes).

MATT BONNER

Believe it or not, the Red Mamba does have a dunk contest title. It was in high school but Matt Bonner can say he won a dunk contest. He can also say he almost got into a fight with Kevin Garnett and once put Mark Madsen on skates. And he can say he once took the ball from Tony Parker and called an isolation play for himself.

BRIAN SCALABRINE

Buzzer beaters, dunks, fancy assists, win a championship, the White Mamba has done everything the Black Mamba has done...just not as many times.

DENNIS RODMAN

Yes, I'm counting The Worm. At one point or another during Dennis Rodman's Hall of Fame career, he sported every color in the rainbow on his head. And as a redhead, the 2 x NBA DPOY once held Shaq scoreless for a half.

Shaq wants you to know Rodman was BBQ chicken on most nights...

NICO MANNION

Besides Donte DiVincenzo, the young redhead I think will continue the legacy started by Bill Walton will be high-flying Nico Mannion.

Since Bonner has the nickname 'The Red Mamba,' here's some options for Nico:

• Agent Orange
• Code Red
• Ginger Fireball
• Gingerbread Man
• The Torch

HONORABLE MENTION: ROBERT SWIFT

The post The Greatest Redhead Moments In Basketball History appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

This might be my new favorite YouTube series.

In the first episode of Cold As Balls, LaVar Ball joined Kevin Hart in an ice bath to discuss everything from his favorite son to why there's no footage of him being the supreme athlete he says he was. In the second episode, Hart is joined by supreme athlete Blake Griffin to talk about everything from his parents having sex to NBA trades to favorite comedians to Hasheem Thabeet's "bum ass."

If you enjoyed this, I highly recommend this hilarious interview from Blake Griffin's rookie year. In it, Griffin jokingly tells Peter Mehlman, “Why did I have to be half white. Why couldn’t I just be guaranteed to be in the NBA.”

And of course I can't pass up an opportunity to show Blake's hilarious scene from the Comedy Central show Broad City. And if you ever get an opportunity to see Blake perform his comedy stand-up act live, I also highly recommend it.

The post Kevin Hart & Blake Griffin On Trades, Favorite Comedians & What Is Blake Griffin? appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

There's also a great scene in the episode with Blake giving WNBA players some high praise.

"I mean, they are so good. I literally steal moves from them all the time. Some of the moves they do, I can’t even think of in my head. It's just like the best version of basketball there is." Responds Blake after Liliana says she wishes there was a basketball league for women.

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Early in the first quarter of the USA Basketball Showcase, Blake Griffin missed an uncontested 1 hand dunk!

He didn't miss much after that as he made 7 of his other 11 attempts. A couple of those other makes were vicious dunks including an off the backboard oop from Michael Carter-Williams in the 3rd.  Of the 4 misses, 3 of them came from behind the 3 point line as Blake tried to show he could make them - he did make 1.  He also finished with 15 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists in 22 minutes.

But the best Blake moment wasn't his missed dunk in front of Kenneth Farired or his move & dunk over Faried but when he told Faried he's a "snitch" and wearing a mic "so don't say anything reckless."

The post Blake Griffin Dunks Over Faried, Catches An Off The Backboard Oop & Misses an Uncontested Dunk appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Back in June of 2012, during a Team USA practice in Vegas, Blake Griffin threw down a couple of just plain nasty dunks?that had a bunch of young ballers going crazy. ?There was one specific animated baller who got the most camera time because of his reactions and hilariously saying "he didn't even stretch dooooeeeee." That baller was a 16 year old D'Angelo Russell who will now be playing home games in the same arena as Blake Griffin.

If you look at the other kids in the background closely you might be able to spot another Laker (if you can't figure it out then just read the title of the post) as well as Devin Booker and Tyler Ennis.

The post Remember When Blake Griffin Had Lakers' D'Angelo Russell & Julius Randle Going Crazy At This 2012 Dunk Session appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

It was 2 years ago when Andre Iguodala had to read he "sucks gazelle ****" during Jimmy Kimmel Live's "NBA players read mean tweets" segment that comes on every year during the NBA Finals.

A year later Steph Curry had to read that his "facial hair is a little pubeyyyy" and his "teeth need some work" during the 2nd Mean Tweets segment.

Lucky for the two Warriors, they are both back on TV during the NBA Finals, but this time they are playing in the finals and not just reading mean but hilarious tweets about themselves.

The post NBA Players Read Mean Tweets on Jimmy Kimmel PT3 appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

There are a lot of sad "why" questions that millions of unfortunate people ask themselves. Where my daddy at??Mama, Why we live so poor??Why you crying? Heard you late night through my bedroom door...sorry I just go carried away with plagiarizing Tupac.?But for a child with dreams of fame and riches in the NBA, no "why" is scarier than the one Blake Griffin had to grow up with.

"Why did I have to be half white. Why couldn't I just be guaranteed to be in the NBA."

With the odds of only 3 out of 10,000 high school basketball players making it to the league where 76.3% of players in the league are?African-American and 81% being of color, the odds were against Blake. He did have a father, a black one, who played college ball, but he also had an older brother with basketball skills so the odds of the youngest being better than his big brother and father made the odds even tougher...and I also have to mention that Blake was home schooled?-- which means absolutely nothing.

But to make a long story short, Blake was able to capitalize off of the black in him and overcome "white privilege" to become the first pick in the 2009 NBA draft and then meet Peter Mehlman who drilled Blake with very serious questions such as "if Andrew Bynum calls and asked you to the Playboy mansion?"

I'm sure Blake?also asked why was he cursed with that horrible haircut throughout high school and college. Thankfully, those prayers were eventually answered when he made it to the NBA.

If you took anything in this post or this 6-year-old interview seriously, all I can say is lighten up and get a fucking life.

BONUS BLAKE

#ComedyByBlake pic.twitter.com/bKvxhhJ537

— www.ebooksnet.com (@Ballislife) October 1, 2018

The post Blake Griffin "Why did I have to be half white. Why can't I be guaranteed to be in the NBA" appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Blake Griffin had 26 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocks and 3 nasty posters on Aron Baynes during Sunday's GM1 victory over the Spurs.

"I just want to be aggressive," Griffin said. "I don't want to settle for anything, because now is not the time to have the mindset of self-preservation."

The first of 3 dunks came midway in the 3rd quarter when Blake went one-on-one with Baynes, gave him a fake and then threw down a 2 hand swing on the rim like Shawn Kemp dunk.

The next RIP worthy dunk came 2 minutes later with CP3 and Blake playing the pick and roll.

The 3rd and best dunk of the 3rd quarter came with a minute left when Blake made a spin move on Corey Joseph and found none other than Baynes under the rim. Blake then made a spectacular block and save which led to a CP3 layup on the other end and for owner Steve Ballmer to absolutely loose his mind from the excitement.

If that wasn't enough punishment in 5 minutes of action, Baynes also fell into the crowd as he and Matt Barnes fought over a loose ball.

The Clippers ended up winning Game 1 by 15 and if the Spurs continue to play the way they did for most of this game then they are going to end up just like Baynes: dead, a lot sooner than most expected.

BLAKE GRIFFIN FULL HIGHLIGHTS

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Earlier today Matt Barnes posted a video of Blake Griffin doing his best impersonation of teammate Austin Rivers. I hate to say it but it's pretty funny.

Between this and Blake's video bomb on Austin after Rivers went off for a career-high 28 earlier in the season, it seems like Austin is favorite target of his.

Maybe it's payback for the time Austin pulled Blake's shorts down in a game. Or maybe it's a way of getting back at Austin's Dad/Coach.

I know Austin is also a favorite among a lot of hoop critics but in his defense (no pun intended) Rivers has put up 3 20+ point games in the past 30 days which is more than he had in the past season and a half with New Orleans.

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Doc Rivers recently hung out with the Grantland crew and talked about the beating that Blake Griffin is getting and how he hopes Blake doesn't loose his cool and retaliate.  But it seems like it's only a matter of time until a brawl breaks out because nobody is giving Blake an easy buckets...well, except for the Lakers who let Blake dunk while they were still in a huddle.

During the first quarter of the Kings/Clips game last night, Ben McLemore committed a hard flagrant foul on Blake which Griffin took exception to.

I don't think it was a dirty play by Ben but maybe it was and maybe Ben just didn't like Blake's new mustache.

Griffin never got it going against the Kings either. He finished the game with just 17 points on 6 of 20 shooting.

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Blake Griffin had a lot of easy buckets on his way to 39 points but none was easier than this wide-open dunk.  The reason why he was so wide-open was because all of the Lakers on the court were in a huddle.

Before you start going off on the Lakers, it wasn't clear if the whistle was blown. Regardless of the whistle, you can expect Kobe and the Lakers to be on the next Shaqtin' a Fool.

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I'm not sure why people continue to act surprised when Blake Griffin shows that his handles - whoa, did he just palm that off the floor and go between his legs - are as impressive as his hops. I would think just being in the presence of CP3 and Jamal Crawford day after day you would naturally just become a good ball handler and considering Blake is as athletic as any player in the league - whoa, look how high he got up for that oop - plays like the one above from last night's loss against the Nuggets are spectacular but not surprising - I need to see that play again!

We are talking about a player who the NBA released a mix called "The Developing Point Guard" for last season.

BONUS VIDEO

IMAGES

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Blake had an eventful evening with the Jazz last night. We expected the crazy dunks like the one he threw down that Rudy Gobert wanted no part of but he also had time to assist the ball boys and mop the floor with teammate Spencer Hawes and get into a little tussle with Utah's Trevor Booker.

About that tussle, Booker did give Blake a hard foul but I think Blake overreacted a little. With that said, no player in the league probably gets hit hard and punked as much Griffin so I don't blame him for reacting the way he did. I also couldn't help but think about the hilarious "are we going to kiss" fight between Jonah Hill and that girl in 22 Jump Street when Blake put his hand behind Booker's head.

But no matter how many tussles and fights Blake gets into, you can't help but say he's a nice guy. Even after the tussle he gave a couple of kids a high five and in the 2nd quarter he even helped the ball boys mop the floor.

Do you think this guy would help a ball boy?

Don't overreact LeBron fanatics. It's just a joke!

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I've never read a novel by Nicolas Sparks but I saw the film adaptations to his books Message In a Bottle, A Walk To Remember, The Notebook and Dear John and I can honestly say I fell asleep during all 4 of them and I'm not looking forward to watching any more adaptations of his books including this weekend's "The Best of Me."  I don't care how much Blake Griffin, Matt Barnes, Chandler Parsons liked it or how much Iman Shumpert cried or how funny Jimmy Kimmel makes teasers for the film.

I am still looking forward to Blake Griffin's film debut. He's only done more commercials than the rest of the Clippers combined and has a natural feel for comedy.

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Blake Griffin had a monster stat line of 24 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals in just 26 minutes against the Warriors last night.  He even hit a 3 pointer in a corner but unfortunately Kent Bazemore wasn't on the bench to stare at afterwards.

BONUS VIDEOS

IMAGES

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Once again, the NBA released a Top 10 video that has fans shaking their heads with milk cartons. ?The video is for the top 10 dunks of the season and although all 10 are exceptional, not having the most exceptional dunker of the year, Gerald Green, represented atleast once just sounds like a crime.

Thanks to Sandr0nba, he made a top 50 facial dunks of the year video that should help you decide what the top 10 dunks should be. ?Enjoy!

50) Taj Gibson
49) Dwight Howard
48) Dion Waiters
47) Harrison Barnes
46) Tobias Harris
45) LeBron James
44) Anthony Davis
43) Jeff Green
42) Kevin Durant
41) Monta Ellis
40) DeMar DeRozan
39) Kevin Martin
38) Victor Oladipo
37) Gerald Green
36) Taj Gibson
35) Reggie Jackson
34) Ben McLemore
33) Ramon Sessions
32) J.J. Hickson
31) Greg Monroe
30) John Wall
29) Alonzo Gee
28) Klay Thompson
27) Brandon Knight
26) DeAndre Jordan
25) LeBron James
24) Quincy Acy
23) Victor Oladipo
22) Earl Clark
21) Gerald Green
20) Taj Gibson
19) Tony Woroten
18) Taj Gibson
17) C.J. Miles
16) Paul George
15) Anthony Davis
14) DeAndre Jordan
13) DeMar DeRozan
12) LeBron James
11) Patrick Baverly

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Doc Rivers isn't the only person that thinks "The endorser" is also the runner-up for MVP.  The problem is Doc doesn't have a ballot and neither do I.  Oh well, what I do have is a subscription (I hate digital magazines) to Rolling Stone Magazine - a mag known for great interviews with athletes and their recent interview with the insanely athletic Blake Griffin by Rob Tannenbaum (also without a ballot) is one of the best they have ever had.

Blake Griffin’s full ‘Rolling Stone’ interview.

I don’t ever see any NBA players with chest hair or back hair. Are guys going to the salon?
You know, that’s a good question. I’ve definitely seen some back hair. It’s always a little gross when you’re guarding someone and you can see, like, hair coming from underneath his jersey. One of the hairiest guys I’ve ever played with or against – and if I name him, because we joke about it all the time – is Chris Kaman. He owns it, though. I think he’s given up trying to groom.

On a scale of one to 10, where one is a newborn baby and 10 is a werewolf, where is Kaman?
If there’s no upkeep, no manscaping or anything like that, he’s maybe an eight-and-a-half. He’s not on the Clippers anymore, but I had to guard him in practice. And I had to change next to him in the locker room. Obviously, everybody’s walking around with their shirts off, so it was tough to concentrate at times. But I managed.

I’m going to count backwards from ten, and I want you to name some products that you don’t represent on TV. Ready? Go.
Oh, man. Gatorade, uhh, Nike, Adidas, Reebok, uhh, Under Armour, Right Guard…

Time’s up. In 10 seconds, you could name only six?
[Laughs] I think I got a late start, but whatever.

If you’re at home and one of your commercials comes on, do you watch it?
I normally change the channel, and if other people are in the room, I change it as fast as possible. If I can’t change it, I try to distract them. You know how when you hear yourself talk or leave a voice mail, it bothers you? That’s how it is for me. I’m not a fan of seeing myself on TV.

Your ads are hilariously deadpan. Where’d you get that style?
I’ve always had a very dry sense of humor, and I’ve pretty much grown up on Will Ferrell, first onSaturday Night Live, then Old School and Wedding Crashers.

Seems like maybe you modeled your basketball game on him, too.
The first step was getting my hair cut like Will. Once I got that down, I just slowly dissected his game and his look.

You had a small role in Sacha Baron Cohen’s movie The Dictator. How did that happen?
One day after practice about two years ago, I got a text and a voice mail from the same unknown number. The text said, “It’s Sacha, give me a call when you get a chance.” I don’t know anybody named Sacha. And then I listened to the voice mail, and it was him.

How did he explain your role in the movie?
He said, “I’m playing a dictator who comes over to America, and has been very privileged. He’s never even jerked off. So now, he’s finally learning to jerk off, and right before he climaxes” – and this is all in Sacha’s accent, which makes it 10,000 times better – “right before he climaxes, we show an eagle soaring overhead and then we want to show your dunk over the Kia.” I was dying with laughter, and said it was fine, but I guess Kia didn’t approve it, so they used a different dunk of mine. It’s flattering that he thought of me as he was writing the script of his character climaxing.

I thought you were a pretty cool guy, until I heard that your first concert was Creed. 
I’m gonna delegate the blame for that to my older brother. When he said, “I’m gonna go to the Creed concert,” I was like, “I want to go too.” No one told me, “Hey Blake, this isn’t cool,” so I was all in on Creed. Somewhere along the line, that changed. Not to just completely shit on Creed, that music’s just not my style anymore.

Why not completely shit on Creed?
[Laughs] That’s a question that’s been asked for a long time, by many people. Great question.

The NFL might let players use medical marijuana to treat pain. If you had a vote, would the NBA do the same? 
It doesn’t really affect me, but so many guys would probably benefit from it and not take as many painkillers, which have worse long-term effects. So I would vote yes. I just think it makes sense.

There was a Twitter rumor last month that you’d slapped Justin Bieber because he threatened a barista at Starbucks. We know it’s not true. But if you got the chance, would you slap Justin Bieber?
If he was tormenting a Starbucks barista, yeah, I’d have to. As a citizen, you do your part. Also, it’s a way of giving back to the baristas for never really leaving a tip.

Do you ever have stomach problems during a game?
There have been several games where I just had the worst gas. This game against the Knicks my rookie year, one of my teammates was shooting a free throw and I couldn’t help myself. A guy on the Knicks went, “Oh my gosh,” and covered his nose. The guy next to me said the same thing, so I had to act like it wasn’t me. Like, “Oh man, who was that?” I’m sorry, but I did what I had to do. The past is the past. Just like the Creed concert.

You had a spectacular dunk over the Knicks’ center, Timofey Mozgov in that game. Did you get some extra propulsion from the gas?
I’m not gonna say, ‘cause I don’t know if that would be considered cheating. But when I had that dunk, I definitely was, uh, a little lighter.

Farts are your performance enhancing drug? I hope that catches on with kids.
[Laughs] “Yo, Mom, did you not read the article? Why can’t I fart like Blake?” I might start a PSA campaign. Something for the people.

You were home-schooled until the seventh grade. Are you Team Creationism or Team Evolution?
I was raised in a Christian household and went to a Christian high school, so I believe in creationisim, for sure.

So you think the Earth is only 6,000 years old?
I don’t want to do the math, but somewhere around there.

Anything you want to tell me about Kate Upton?
No, I plead the fifth on all that. No comment. (Watch)

There’s some confusion about your hair color. Is it red?
My hair is brown, with a tinge of red. The lights in NBA arenas are extremely bright, and that makes my hair look red.

Does the carpet match the drapes?
[Laughs] It’s a different shade, but it’s close. This is great, I’ve never talked about this before. Sometimes the drapes are open, and the sun hits the carpet just right, so it’s a little worn. You wouldn’t say, “Wait, those are two completely different colors.” It’s more like, “OK, the carpet’s been there for a while. I get it.” Like there’s been some water damage, you know?

Who’s the greatest rapper of all time?
Can I give you a top three?

No. That’s a cop-out. 
You’re right. I’d have to go with Marky Mark.

So that’s from your mom’s side of the family?
[Laughs] Right, my mother’s side of the family. On my dad’s side, I want to say Biggie, but I’m gonna go with Jay-Z, because it’s more my era.

If NBA players had walk-up music, like baseball players do before at-bats, what would yours be?
It’d probably change a lot. Just take Creed’s greatest hits and put it on shuffle. You can’t go wrong, really.

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If Jamal Crawford and Blake Griffin were high students and making Dunk Cam vidoes.... I have a feeling this is how it would look.

Just in case you were wondering how sick Blake Griffin and Jamal Crawford high school highlights were. ?Enjoy.

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It's a complete joke to any basketball and most sports fans but to the general public that read tabloid mags with Kim Kardashian and ex-husband Kris Humphries?on the cover and see countless commercials starring Blake Griffin, the two polar opposite pro players are the same person.

Via Complex, Kris?Humphries talked about a time when he was having lunch in Malibu and he had someone walk up to him and call him Blake. As it turns out, the exact same thing happens to Griffin, too. They discussed it during a recent workout.

"I came in the gym and I was like, 'Blake, someone thought I was you,'" Humphries said. "And he's like, 'Yeah, yeah, the same thing happens to me all the time.' It's just funny because sometimes someone will come up to me and be like, 'Blah, blah, blah, blah.' And I'm like, 'I'm not him.' And they think I'm being a dick because of it. I feel bad. I'm like, 'I hope this person doesn't think it was actually Blake and I'm not trying to talk to him.' But I don't think we look alike at all. I mean, we're about the same size, the same build."

Last night, the two players appeared on the same court, proving they are not the same person. Blake took it a step further by flat out embarrassing Kim K's ex with a trademark facial that no sports fan will mistake Humphries of doing.

After the game, Blake and DJ were asked to rate each other dunks and where he would rank his dunk on his doppelganger and Blake did act kind of like a dick....but a pretty awesome one.

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The Clippers' "layup lines" haven't generated as much buzz as last year but then again neither has LeBron's pre game exhibitions. ?Maybe it was just the popular thing to do last season.

With that said, you can still catch some pretty sick dunks from the Lob City members before tip-offs and on Monday night before the Philly game where DeAndre Jordan had the city ripped off his jersey, he was showing out with some dunks including this 360. ?Blake casually missed a between the legs attempt and looked as if he could have used that jetpack from his new Gamefly commercial.

Shout out to my favorite blog That NBA Lottery Pick for the Vine vid.

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Check out the official re-cap of the 6th week of action at the Seattle Jamal Crawford Pro Am. Featuring Kyrie Irving, Blake Griffin, Jeff Green, Jamal Crawford, Isaiah Thomas, Tony Wroten, Shaqquan Aaron, Rashad Powell, Mike James, Abdul Gaddy and many more!

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Lob City was in full effect Saturday when Jamal Crawford brought out his LA Clipper teammate Blake Griffin to his Seattle Pro Am which resulted in a highlight heavy dribbling and dunk exhibition that had the crowd reminiscing about the days of watching Payton and Kemp connect on lobs.

“I didn’t know much about Seattle until I got to the league, but everybody that came here and played the Sonics told me nothing but good things,” said Griffin. “I definitely wanted to check it out, and it met all of my expectations.”

Jamal Crawford was once again unstoppable, scoring 51 points, with his shake and bake moves and deep 3 pointers.  Blake put up 49 (2 more than his NBA career high) and his team won 136-122.  The most unpopular player of the night was Aziz N'Diaye who tried to prevent Lob City from happening by delivering three consecutive fouls to Blake Griffin.

“It got physical out there, but that’s how Blake likes it,” Crawford said.

As much as we love seeing NBA players and great highlights back in Seattle, we can't wait for the upcoming season to see more of these two connecting on lobs for the Clippers.

Source: Seattle Times

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Jamal Crawford put on an awesome show once again at his pro am in front of a few thousand of Seattle's biggest basketball fans!

• Lob City in Seattle: Blake Griffin (49pts) & Jamal Crawford combine for 100 points

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Check out Blake Griffin making his appearance at the Jamal Crawford Pro Am and giving the crowd exactly what they expected!

• Lob City in Seattle: Blake Griffin (49pts) & Jamal Crawford combine for 100 points

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Brand Jordan just released the new just super fly 2 Blake Griffin shoes and did so with a dope glow in the dark show at Niketown Santa Monica. The dunk show featured the likes of Jonesy, Airdogg, Kenny Dobbs and winner Young Hollywood. Special thanks to Jordan Brand and Blake Griffin!

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Blake Griffin was at the Santa Monica Place Central Courtyard Saturday night to promote the new Super Fly 2 sneakers, Blake App and Lift Off campaign for Jordan Brand but it was 5'10" Haneef "Young Hollywood" Munir that stole the show when he made a between the legs dunk over the 6'10" Blake Griffin.

We have seen, in person, Young Hollywood put on some crazy performances such as winning the Sprite Showdown Finals at All-Star weekend in LA in front of LeBron James or when he jumped over a mascot and pulled off the same dunk without stretching or any warm up dunks during a Nuggets half-time show but jumping over the foot taller Blake might go down as the best contest dunk of the year.

Blake did get a preview of Young Hollywood late last year when he won the Red Bull Dunk Contest in front of Griffin.

?

(Look at that smiling idiot behind LeBron between the 3-7 second mark)

Pictured: AirDogg, Jonsey, Blake, Young Hollywood and Kenny Dobbs

Another angle of the dunk by Dunkademics.

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Here's a rare non dunk highlight from Blake Griffin.

The post Blake Griffin Shows Off Handles | Shakes N Bakes Jason Maxiell & Scores! appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Blake Griffin had a pretty nice one hand alley-oop in last night's game but DeAndre Jordan's insane poster dunk on Brandon Knight rocked the internet, and rightfully so.

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Showtime still lives in LA; it just has a different name on the jersey this time around.

The post Jamal Crawford BETWEEN The Legs Oop To Blake For The Windmill | Dunk of the Day appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Blake Griffin and the Clippers won their 10th straight game tonight in a Clippers' fashion.

Another version

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