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Bobcats veterans to practice in Las Vegas

Several Bobcats veterans are being pro-active in absorbing what their new coach wants. Raymond Felton, Gerald Wallace and Jason Richardson all plan to be in Las Vegas next week, participating in some or all of the practices leading up to...

July 01, 2008, 9:00 PM ET from Bobcats: Inside the NBA by Rick Bonnell

Kobe has a response for Shaq

This isn’t your Grandfather’s Kobe Bryant, or even last summer’s Kobe Bryant (Remember his rant about the Lakers that was captured on YouTube?) Last week, Shaq hammered the reigning MVP with a vulgar rap song. In New York at an appearance of the USA Olympic team, Kobe had the…

July 01, 2008, 8:15 PM ET from Lakers: Locker Talk by Kevin Ding

Who’s da man?

It looks like a list from an upcoming GQ magazine cover shoot. Kobe Bryant, Tiger Woods, Tom Brady and Alex Rodriguez. Only one of them will walk away with the ESPY (and one might walk away with Madonna … Alex?) Who deserves to win the ESPY for Male Athlete of the…

July 01, 2008, 4:30 PM ET from Lakers: Locker Talk by Kevin Ding

Does Shaq deserve to have his number retired by the Lakers?

He’s still playing for the Phoenix Suns, but he may also be playing out his welcome in Los Angeles. Shaquille O’Neal’s musical tirade aimed at Kobe Bryant is just his most-recent anti-Laker transgression. When he retires, should Shaq's No. 34 be retired by the…

July 01, 2008, 4:00 PM ET from Lakers: Locker Talk by Kevin Ding

Honeybees at the Draft Party

If you didn't make it to the Hornets draft party last Thursday and you think you didn't miss much, well, you kinda did...(Click each image for a larger version.)(From left to right: Shannon, Martine, Jessica and Krista.)Okay, enough of that. In actual basketball news, free agency begins at…

July 01, 2008, 3:45 PM ET from Hornets247.com Blog

Lakers make the first move

The Lakers took the first step in the second phase of the postseason by extending qualifying offers to restricted free agents Sasha Vujacic and Ronny Turiaf, the team annnounced Monday. The players, both restricted free agents, can entertain offers from other teams and even sign an offer sheet, but…

July 01, 2008, 3:45 PM ET from Lakers: Locker Talk by Kevin Ding

Hornets Off-Season: Draft Update

Alright - I've listened to the interview Jeff Bower gave the collective reporters about the trade of the 27th pick to Portland for Cash, and I've got to say I'm a bit irritated.Irritated with the source that broke the news, and more irritated with the Times-Picayune continued coverage…

July 01, 2008, 3:30 PM ET from Hornets247.com Blog

Lakers burden may be lighter

Two of the Lakers’ toughest nemesis might not be as troublesome as they have been in the past. The Clippers’ two stars, Elton Brand and Corey Maggette, both exercised the escape clause Monday in their respective contracts. Brand missed all but eight games of the 2007-2008 season, while…

July 01, 2008, 3:30 PM ET from Lakers: Locker Talk by Kevin Ding

Hornets Off-Season: Financial Addendum

I've seen some confusion in various places about what selling the 27th pick means for the Hornets financially. For those of you who want to know these things, this is the financials for the Hornets:The Hornets have $58.8 Million in Salaries currently on the books for Peja, Chandler, West,…

July 01, 2008, 3:15 PM ET from Hornets247.com Blog

Exit interview: Ira Newble

Hello, Ira. Please sit down. First of all, I’m sure you are even more disappointed in the aftermath of the NBA Finals than your teammates. After all, that’s two straight years that you have been on teams that have come up short. Last year it was the Cleveland Cavaliers and I know that…

July 01, 2008, 3:15 PM ET from Lakers: Locker Talk by Kevin Ding

Tiger will beat Kobe for ESPY award

Kobe Bryant is one of four athletes nominated for the ESPY’s Male Athlete of the Year. But he won’t get it. Tiger Woods will get the ESPY. Why? Because the world’s best golfer winning the U.S. Open on one bum knee in a dramatic sudden-death playoff will resonate with the voters much more than…

July 01, 2008, 3:15 PM ET from Lakers: Locker Talk by Kevin Ding

Hornets Draft Prospects: The highlight reel

Nobody knows who the Hornets will actually end up picking with the 27th pick in Thursday's NBA Draft -- and Ryan suspects they may not be picking at all -- but for the sake of passing the time, here's the best YouTube has to offer on four of the most likely prospects...[EDIT: This post was…

July 01, 2008, 3:00 PM ET from Hornets247.com Blog

Hornets Off-Season: Ain't no Draftin' in these Parts

My prediction was right. There will be no 1st round pick for the Hornets this year. No second round pick either, apparently. Funny, isn't it? I spent so much time posting about how unlikely(71% chance of a bust) it is to get a viable player from a pick so late in the…

July 01, 2008, 2:45 PM ET from Hornets247.com Blog

Hornets Off-Season: The Numbers are Out

This is one of my favorite times of year in the NBA calendar. I'm a major draft nut, and every day I visit nbadraft.net, DraftExpress, ESPN, and a half-dozen other sites that carry even peripheral information about the draft. Something about the rampant optimism that leads up to the…

July 01, 2008, 2:30 PM ET from Hornets247.com Blog

New Wallpaper: Shannon the Honeybee

Following up on last week's interview and photo shoot with Shannon from the Honeybees, today we've got a sweet wallpaper featuring that very same lady. As usual, Dariusz Ejkiewicz came through with an excellent design in a short space of time.Download links: 1024x768 | 1280x960Don't…

July 01, 2008, 2:15 PM ET from Hornets247.com Blog

Hornets Off-Season: A Growing Suspicion

Unless something major changes over the next few days with the workouts for the Hornets, I'm feeling pretty certain about one thing:The Hornets won't be drafting in the first round.The Hornets have only brought in three players who are generally accepted as possible 1st round…

July 01, 2008, 2:00 PM ET from Hornets247.com Blog

Post-Finals Thoughts

So there you have it. The Boston Celtics: your 2008 NBA Champions. From rock bottom a year ago to the top of the mountain today. Here's a few thoughts knocking around my brain as I wonder how I'll survive three-plus months without NBA basketball... 1) First and foremost, congrats to…

July 01, 2008, 1:45 PM ET from Hornets247.com Blog

James Posey opts out of contract — Lakers next?

Did you see this Mitch? The Boston Globe is reporting that James Posey is not going to exercise a $3.2 million option and will officially become an unrestricted free agent, according to Mark Bartelstien, Posey’s agent. Posey is expected to get a lot of interest from a lot of teams, the Lakers…

July 01, 2008, 1:45 PM ET from Lakers: Locker Talk by Kevin Ding

Hornets Pursuing Posey and Maggette?

No new breaking news yet about who the Hornets are pursuing on this, the first day of Free Agency. There have been rumors here and there that the Hornets will Pursue James Posey of the Celtics or Corey Maggette of the Clippers, but nothing concrete has cropped up.Either of those two players…

July 01, 2008, 1:30 PM ET from Hornets247.com Blog

Maggette’s a monster

The Orlando Magic are one of the teams that reportedly would vie for Corey Maggette’s services, should the Clippers’ swingman indeed exercise the escape clause in his contract today, as he stated as far back as last summer that he would do. That would send Maggette to the Eastern…

July 01, 2008, 1:30 PM ET from Lakers: Locker Talk by Kevin Ding

Lakers free agency search continues

The Lakers need to keep searching the free agency landscape for muscle in their lineup now that Ron Artest announced he is not opting out of his contract and will fulfill his final year with the Sacramento Kings. Artest told ESPN.com in an email that the Kings had been there for him, “so the…

July 01, 2008, 1:15 PM ET from Lakers: Locker Talk by Kevin Ding

OPEN THREAD: Trade Exception Expires Today

The Trade Exception expired today. It's been a year since the Warriors traded JRich for BWright and 9.9million. It's been a year that we've all learned what and how to use the exception. It's been a year of reading about proposed trades, some worthy of blog space, many not. Hopefully we can now…

July 01, 2008, 05:45 AM ET from Golden State Of Mind

Grading the Warriors' Draft

Went digging around a little to see what people thought of the Warriors' draft picking up Anthony Randolph and Richard Hendrix. ESPN Draft Grades Grade: A Analysis: Randolph has as much upside as anyone in the draft not named Beasley or Rose. But as with the huge upside guy they took last…

July 01, 2008, 05:30 AM ET from Golden State Of Mind

NBA DRAFT 2008: Warriors take Anthony Randolph at #14

GSOM welcomes ANTHONY RANDOLPH to the Golden State Warriors! Randolph has a penchant for teabaggin' big men who think they can stop him! The Warriors loaded up with an extremely offensively skilled big man who many sports writers thought was going to be a mid-lottery pick. I, dj…

July 01, 2008, 05:30 AM ET from Golden State Of Mind

GSOM MOCK DRAFT!

We're hours away from the real draft and outside of the top two picks, anything seems to be happening in everyone's mock drafts. Brook Lopez dropping to 10 or as high as 3? Russel Westbrook going as low as 12 but as high as 3? DJ Augustin available at 13 but also going at…

July 01, 2008, 05:15 AM ET from Golden State Of Mind

OPEN THREAD: 2008 NBA Finals Game 4

With all the referee scandals going on and the alleged fixed games from the 2002 and 2005 playoffs, it makes you wonder even more how 'home court advantage' plays into this whole thing and the corporate NBA in shaping the outcomes of games and series. 38-10 free throw advantage for Boston…

July 01, 2008, 05:15 AM ET from Golden State Of Mind

OPEN THREAD: 2008 NBA Finals Game 3

Goin' back to Cali. It's hard to imagine how the Lakers lose this one. Staples will be goin as crazy and be as loud as Laker fans can get - which is about half of what the Warrior fans at the Oracle were like last year. Nevertheless, the home team will be pumped and full of adrenaline. The…

July 01, 2008, 05:15 AM ET from Golden State Of Mind

OPEN THREAD: Day 38 of the 2k8 NBA Playoffs

I’ll give this Celtics and Pistons series one thing. After all of the games we’ve seen this postseason, these two are at least managing to put together an unpredictable series. With each of the teams now sitting on one home win and one road win, they’ve shown all of us that…