NBA Atlantic

LeBron James Is Your Non-Unanimous 2012-13 MVP, And I'm Fine With That

I am mesmerized by LeBron James. I'll admit, he's converted me. I am a fan. This is coming from someone who wrote four straight posts around the time of "The Decision" in July 2010 about what an asshole LeBron was. This is coming from someone who openly rooted against him every time he was on my ... More >>

Boston Red Sox' David Ortiz: "This Is Our Fucking City"

When real tragedy like the bombings at the Boston Marathon last Monday occurs, one of the phrases that gets uttered seemingly every time is that "sports helps the healing process." Now, most of the time we hear this, it's uttered by someone who makes their living in sports, so the statement may b ... More >>

The Rockets Are Back In The NBA Playoffs! Their Complete Rebuilding Anthology

With four games to go in the 2011-2012 season, the Rockets were coming off a 117-110 loss to Dallas, a loss in which Dirk Nowitzki provided a stark reminder to last season's Rockets team that they were devoid of a superstar caliber player by dropping 21 points on them in the fourth quarter. To call ... More >>

Cabo 2013: Your Johnny Football Spring Break Update!

On Monday, I compared the Houston Texans in free agency to the Wheel of Fortune shopper that scooped a meager, one-letter-remaining puzzle for a few hundred bucks. That description would imply that the Texans are at least doing some shopping. In reality, thus far, they've been more like the dude wh ... More >>

Seven ZERO Time NBA All-Stars Who Made More in Career Earnings Than Michael Jordan

I once had a boss who told me "The only thing worse than being underpaid is being overpaid." Looking back, perhaps he was trying to send a message to me personally, but the general message was this -- making too much money makes one utterly expendable. That's a fine notion, and in most walks of li ... More >>

From Five Straight Wins to Four Straight Losses, the Young Rockets Continue to Confound

I've mentioned in this space on numerous occasions that you have to take the good and bad with youth. It's exciting and fast-paced and fun, but it's also exceedingly frustrating. On a weekend that saw the Texans go out more with a whimper than a bang, it would have been nice for the other halfway de ... More >>

NBA Season Jump Starts with Spate of Christmas Day Games Including the Rockets

In 2011, Christmas Day was the literal start to the NBA season thanks to a lockout that kept the season from starting for nearly two full months. Most every other year, the season starts in October, but for the casual fan, it doesn't really get going until Christmas Day. With the NFL taking the day ... More >>

Rockets Rout Knicks in Lin's Return to Madison Square Garden

The center of the Linsanity and basketball universe saw the prodigal son return and Jeremy Lin and the Rockets faced the Knicks for the second and final time Monday night, routing New York 109-96 in a game that blew open after a 27-11 second quarter from the Rockets. Lin stepped back on the floor wh ... More >>

Rocket Roller Coaster Continues with Wins, Losses and a Trip Back to NYC for Lin

Check out pictures form the

Rockets Beat Raptors, Head to Minnesota for Funeral Then OKC for Reunion

The Rockets won one for their coach Tuesday night with a 117-101 victory at home over the Toronto Raptors, but they also climbed back to .500 and continued to demonstrate a cohesiveness born over the past couple weeks, particularly since Coach Kevin McHale left to tend to his ill daughter, Sasha, wh ... More >>

Twin Towers: A Fascinating Tale of the '80s Rockets and What Never Was

On June 5, 1986, I was barely 17 years old and on my way home from a music lesson. While cutting through a nearby neighborhood, my car, an amazingly awful pumpkin orange Datsun B-210 I bought from a friend for 500 bucks, broke down...again. Fortunately, I was only about two blocks from a schoolmate' ... More >>

CongraduLINtions, Houston: It's a Point Guard!

Over the last few weeks -- and, frankly, for quite sometime before that -- the name Jeremy Lin has been twisted to fit any number of ridiculous puns (check out HPBasketball's Twitter feed on Tuesday for some hilarious examples), Linsanity chief among them as the young phenom brought crowds at storie ... More >>

The Knicks Play Hide-and-Seek in Order to Keep the Rockets from Signing Jeremy Lin

For every weird little occurrence in life, there seems to be an episode of Seinfeld to which you can circle back for an analogous situation. Even for something as innocuous as the Rockets' pursuit of Knicks restricted free agent guard Jeremy Lin. So here goes: Remember that episode of Seinfeld whe ... More >>

It's CompLINcated: The Continuing Saga of the Rockets Pursuit of Jeremy Lin

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the Garden (or GAH-den if you are a New Yorker), it appears the New York Knicks, who appeared to have finally re-captured the imagination of basketball fans, are close to letting point guard Jeremy Lin go and join the Houston Rockets. I'm not going to ... More >>

Rockets Invent a New Type of Draft Pick Lottery Protection, So That's Something, Right?

The Rockets finished the 2011-12 NBA season with perhaps the top point guard combination in the entire league. Kyle Lowry was a borderline All-Star at midseason and one of the top all-around players at the position, not to mention a massive bargain at $5.75 million per year. When Lowry went down w ... More >>

Why the Rockets Have to Suck Before They Can Improve

For quite some time, I have resisted the sentiment that to improve in the NBA, you must first have a substantial downturn. I don't like the idea of losing on purpose. Calling it "tanking" only makes it worse. The entire concept feels like the exact opposite of what players, coaches and fans are taug ... More >>

Ask A Rapper: D-Risha Discusses Sports' Worst "Decisions"

The hip-hop world is a less than sensible place -- lots of times, you're even required to clarify when bad means bad and when bad means good -- so once a week we're going to get with a rapper and ask them to explain things. Something you always wanted to ask a rapper? E-mail sheaserrano@gmail.com. ... More >>

Santigold Goes Hard

Dance-pop provocateurSantigold is the polar opposite of the starlets she once co-wrote songs with.

NBA Playoffs: "Good Job, Good Effort" Kid Has Been Located

Well, that didn't take long. On the heels of the Boston Celtics' 94-90 win over the Miami Heat on Tuesday night, there were two stars usurping the spotlight after the game. One was Boston forward Kevin Garnett, whose 26 points and 11 rebounds led the Celtics to the huge upset. The other wasn't a pl ... More >>

Jerry "The King" Lawler Piledrives Clipper Fan: Old School WWE Wrestlers for Each NBA Playoff Series (w/ VIDEO)

People laugh dismissively when I say it, but the more they can incorporate WWE performers and the general WWE "way" of entertainment, the more enjoyable other genres of sports will become. No, I'm not talking about the predetermined outcomes of matches (The NBA has already incorporated that aspect o ... More >>

Rockets Mascot Gets in the Ring

The man behind Clutch takes up the fight game on the side.

Houston Rockets 2009 Draft Lottery Posse -- Final Scorecard

I've mentioned this in previous posts, but one of the most amazing and envy-inducing pictures I've ever seen is a picture on Rockets general manager Daryl Morey's Mobile Uploads page on his Facebook account. It's a shot of a blackjack hand, split three times (for four hands total), with a blackjack ... More >>

Comparing the Rockets Starting Lineup to the Best in the West

The Rockets are mired in a five-game losing streak and slumping their way towards the NBA trade deadline next week. They lost two overtime heartbreakers to the Clippers and the Celtics and dropped an uninspired road loss the the abysmal Toronto Raptors. The Rockets aren't exactly free-falling, but t ... More >>

Linsanity: Little-Known Jeremy Lin Helping Knicks Hurt the Rockets

Daryl Morey's incessant shuffling of second-rate players over the past few seasons, constantly tweaking and tinkering looking for "assets," came to an almost comical head last week when a player the Rockets cut in the offseason to make room for Jonny Flynn, who they acquired from Minnesota, came to ... More >>

Looking Ahead: Rockets Hold Off on Re-Upping Lee, 2009 Rookies

The Houston Rockets announced this week that they would not exercise their option to extend the contracts of guard Courtney Lee and the four rookies from the 2009 draft, center Hasheem Thabeet, forward Jordan Hill, guard Johnny Flynn and guard Terrence Williams. The Rockets had the option available ... More >>

Kris Kardashian Humphries Re-signs with the Nets

So happy together.​It's Wednesday, December 21, and from a daylight standpoint, it's the shortest day of the calendar year and equally short on newsworthy events around the sports world (unless you count former Philadelphia newspaper columnist and part-time Jabba the Hutt stand-in Bill Conlin ... More >>

Women's World Cup: Five Other Seeming "Game-Winning" Scores That Weren't

The USA's run in the Women's World Cup seemed to be finishing in grand style when Abby Wambach put in an extra-time header to give the team a 2-1 lead. It didn't last, and Japan won in overtime. Wambach's late goal joins a storied list of scores that seemingly iced a game or a series, only to be o ... More >>

The NBA Lockout X-Factor: Turkey (The Country, Not The Meat)

I mean listen, we're sitting here talking about Turkey​On the surface, the NFL and NBA lockouts are the same thing -- owners are closing the doors on their own leagues so they can negotiate a more beneficial collective bargaining agreement with the respective players unions. However, as most ... More >>

2011 NBA Draft -- 4 Winners, 4 Losers

Tough night for Dick Vitale​My fingers are still recovering from the lengthy (eight printed pages!) live blog I did last night here on Hair Balls, but the day after the draft necessitates some post-draft analysis. I've now had a day to sleep on it, and without further ado, a few post-draft tho ... More >>

NBA Draft Rewind -- 1986, The Worst Draft Ever

Plus the shorts sucked​As much as those who construct teams in sports would like to think that they have a formula and a blueprint that they can go execute with any team in any market and be successful, the fact of the matter is that even for the best personnel men in the best-run organization ... More >>

2011 NBA Draft -- The Live Blog

Keep coming back for the latest​The overwhelming consensus on the 2011 NBA Draft is that it's, by and large, a pretty underwhelming group of players, and it may quite possibly be completely devoid of future All-Stars. So why am I so excited about tonight's festivities? Because of all the thin ... More >>

ESPN's Doris Burke's Difficult Week (w/ VIDEO)

Doris Burke and a moment of Zen​Of all of the on-air personalities who put their fingerprints on a sporting event -- studio host, play by play, color analyst, sideline reporter -- I've always thought that the sideline reporter has the hardest job out of all of them. It starts with the inhe ... More >>

The Chris Bosh 2010-2011 Experience (in Quotes -- PLAYOFF Addendum)

Chris Bosh is no Never-Nervous Pervis.​"Was I effective today? It's common sense. I think it's evident. I just have to get it where I'm effective. I have to get it where big guys get it. Then, I feel I can start helping out this team more. I'm effective down in the low-post area. That's where ... More >>

NBA Playoffs Schedule Maker, a Mother's Day FAIL

Could have been the best Mother's Day match-up of all time.​It's not easy for a sport's postseason that lasts practically as long as the entire college football regular season to be compelling from beginning to end, but so far this NBA postseason is doing as good a job of just that as it's eve ... More >>

Is Ashley Judd Really Sorry For What She Said About Rap?

The hip-hop world is a less than sensible place - lots of times, you're even required to clarify when bad means bad and when bad means good - so once a week we're going to get with a rapper and ask them to explain things. Something you always wanted to ask a rapper? Email introducingliston@gmail.com ... More >>

The NBA's Top-Selling Jerseys List (And Seven Things It Tells Us)

NBA jerseys: We CAN just all get along!!​I'll admit, I don't own any sports jerseys. I'm not a jersey-wearing guy, partially because the fit and feel of an authentic professional sports shirt are not optimal, but mostly because I'm over the age of 14. Full disclosure, I don't buy many jersey ... More >>

NFL, College Football, Twitter, Pancake Bites and Bestiality -- Weekend's Best Bets

A regular Paul the Octopus​So last season I did these Best Bets posts on Fridays and made every attempt to conduct myself like an actual handicapper, coming up with reams of statistics and subjective observations to lead to a conclusion that I hoped made reasonable sense. End result? A predic ... More >>

Game Time: Trevor Ariza Trade -- Instant Analysis

Good trade for the Rockets​I was not writing for HoustonPress.com when the Trevor Ariza signing went down last year so you'll have to take my word for it -- I was very skeptical and surprised by the signing at the time. (Note: There are megabytes and megabytes of sound from me on the internal arc ... More >>

Game Time: Bryan Colangelo Calls Chris Bosh A Pussy

Chris Bosh, hit from all sides​Right now, the Miami Heat are 0-0 in the 2010-2011 season. We've learned nothing about them from a basketball standpoint. At this point, all we know is how this new marriage made in hell has been processed emotionally -- by jilted fans, jilted teammates, and jilted ... More >>

Game Time: LeBron James -- Seven Scenarios For Thursday Night

@dramaqueen​"Hello World, the Real King James is in the Building 'Finally'. My Brother @oneandonlycp3 gas'd me up to jump on board so I'm here. Haaaa" -- LeBron James (oh sorry...@KingJames on Twitter, and what is sadly his most interesting tweet thus far)I've always thought that when Twitte ... More >>

Patrick Patterson & The NBA Draft: Pass The (Trade) Chips, Mr. Morey

Photo by Daniel KramerThe dealing has begun, as Van Morrison almost sang​The Rockets had what most analysts considered a strong draft on Thursday, but its true genius may take another week or two to see.No, former Kentucky forward Patrick Patterson isn't likely to go to Toronto in any long-awaited ... More >>

GAME TIME: NBA Draft: 8 Winners and 8 Losers

As in most things in life, Calipari is both a winner and loser​"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 2010 NBA Draft..." -- David SternI'm not going to lie, those words give me a tingly feeling every year that I hear them. It never gets old -- like reruns of The Sopanos or seeing that Bree Ol ... More >>

Game Time: NBA DRAFT -- Worst Lottery Picks Of The Last 15 Years

cutline​As "must see" events on the sporting calendar go, the annual NBA Draft is highly underrated. If you ask the average sports fan his or her five most watchable sports nights of the year you'll probably get canned answers like the Super Bowl, a Game 7 in the MLB or NBA playoffs, and any inte ... More >>

Game Time: Celtics, Feel Better -- Five Officiating Decisions That Were WAY Worse Than Kendrick Perkins' Second Technical

Sorry about that fifth down.....​It's funny, because I'm from New England, people automatically assume that I am a fan of all the Boston teams. To wit, last night as the Celtics were imploding in Orlando, my iPhone was blowing up with text messages asking if I was starting to get worried about th ... More >>

For Opening Day: The Worst Pregame Renditions Of The National Anthem Ever

What so proudly we hailed... Can you pass the earplugs, please?​ You can be forgiven for not realizing Opening Day for baseball season was here already (yesterday, in fact). Maybe you've been too busy cursing the guy in your NCAA tournament pool that filled out his brackets using the coin-flip met ... More >>

The Houston Rockets vs. the L.A. Lakers

It’s the new and improved Rockets (we hope!)

Bring On '07!