Here are 5 uncool things about the Brooklyn Nets (Ball Don’t Lie)

 Washington  No Responses »
Dec 042012
 

As part of the “Punch List” year-end culture roundup in its December 2012 issue, GQ magazine asked hip-hop icon Jay-Z to identify the five coolest things about the Brooklyn Nets, the NBA franchise of which he owns a small part and which he helped revamp and reboot, leaving far behind its sub-chic New Jersey past in search of blacker, whiter and (at the gates and concessions) greener pastures. As you might expect, Jay — who turns 43 years old on Tuesday, so happy birthday, Hov — identified the jerseys and logos he helped design, the team’s unique herringbone-patterned home court , the rust-roofed but beautiful Barclays Center in which the Nets play, the swaggering borough in which it’s located and, naturally, himself (“Me? Ha, I am Brooklyn”).
While it doesn’t include the fact that the team itself is pretty cool right now — their 11-5 record gives them the East’s third-best mark, they rank ninth in the league in points scored per 100 possessions and 12th in the league in points-allowed-per-100 (last year’s swan-song version of the New Jersey Nets finished 23rd and 29th, respectively), they’re winning despite neither member of the much-ballyhooed Deron Williams/Joe Johnson backcourt looking consistently sharp, and they’ve already beaten the crosstown rival New York Knicks in their inaugural intra-city meeting — it is a pretty good list. If you really wanted to, though, you could also pick a handful of things about the Nets that, deep down, in the places you don’t talk about at parties (probably because you are not invited to very many parties), you all know aren’t very cool.
Well, I really wanted to. Here’s mine; feel free to weigh in with yours in the comments.

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Lin wanted to finish career as a Knick

 New York  No Responses »
Oct 162012
 

In an upcoming story in GQ, Jeremy Lin said he wanted to be a New York Knick for life.

“You can’t ask for a city or a fan base to embrace somebody more than they embraced me,” he said in the magazine’s November issue, as the cover subject. “I know it’s kind of silly to talk about it with only two years under my belt in the league, but going in before free agency, I was like, ‘I want to play in front of these fans for the rest of my career.’ I really did.

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Chris Paul tells GQ why he doesn’t talk trash, still doesn’t want you touching his head (Ball Don’t Lie)

 LA Clippers  No Responses »
Sep 192012
 

Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul is one of three famous faces gracing the cover of the October issue of GQ magazine , joining actors Denzel Washington and Javier Bardem . GQ’s Steve Marsh profiled Paul in CP3′s hometown of Winston-Salem, N.C., giving readers a fly-on-the-wall view of a party celebrating Paul’s parents’ 30th wedding anniversary, a glimpse into the comedic back-and-forth he’s established with his wife and longtime partner Jada (who “will punctuate Paul’s cutting one-liners with her textbook eye roll, equal parts coy and dismissive” throughout the anniversary party, according to Marsh) and a general sense that even after seven NBA seasons (which have included five All-Star appearances and four All-NBA nods) and last season’s move to L.A., the 27-year-old triggerman is still just a family man at heart.
The profile also offers a bit of on-court insight, though, gleaned when Marsh watches Paul playing during a workout at the practice facility of Wake Forest University, where CP3 starred for two seasons:
CP3 plays pickup like he’s Peyton Manning anticipating a blitz: The gesticulation is ceaseless. He was talking to everybody in the gym: the guys on his team, the guys on the other team, even the guys waiting for next. The only person CP3 never talked to was the guy guarding him, because CP3 says he doesn’t believe in talking junk. “I feel like I’ve worked so hard to get good,” he would tell me later, “I’m expected to score on you.”
That’s a pretty amazing and succinct encapsulation of the kind of confidence possessed by the truly elite — those in whom incredible God-given talent meets constantly diligent preparation. It’s also sort of a different take once famously offered by enigmatic Italian soccer player Mario Balotelli, a gifted striker for Manchester City in the English Premier League.
When asked why he doesn’t celebrate (or even smile ) after scoring goals, Balotelli said, “When I score, I don’t celebrate because I’m only doing my job. When a postman delivers letters, does he celebrate?” Paul’s premise is a bit of a variation on that theme — it’s not that there’s no joy in scoring, but rather that there’s simply no need to bark upon overcoming, because what’s happened is less some amazing feat of conquering than the inevitable sum of a years-long equation. It’s not a big deal that I scored; I’m supposed to, because do you even see how good I am?
(Which, in and of itself, sounds like pretty good trash talk to me.)

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Andrew Bynum Is a Sixer, and It’s Philly’s Job to Make Sure It Stays That Way

 Philadelphia  No Responses »
Aug 102012
 

According to several sources, including the Chicago Sun Times the 4-team blockbuster trade that sent Dwight Howard to the Lakers and Andrew Bynum to the Sixers is complete.

The details break down as follows; The Lakers get Dwight Howard, Chris Duhon and Earl Clark. The Nuggets get Andre Iguodala and The Sixers get Andrew Bynum and Jason Richardson. The Magic get Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Nikola Vucevic, Moe Harkless Josh McRoberts, Christian Eyenga and three protected first round picks, one from each team involved in the trade.

Although it seems like a no-brainer to give up Iguodala and a handful of unproven players for two all-stars, this will go down as a very bad trade very quickly for Philly if they can’t convince Bynum to sign an extension with the team.

While it is possible for Bynum to sign an extension during the season, ESPN.com reports that Bynum’s stance on his contract is he would only sign an extension with the Lakers. It would only make sense for Bynum to want to test free agency after the year, but the Sixers could offer him the most money and he could be a home town hero (he grew up an hour away in Plainsboro, N.J.) This is where you, the 76er fan comes into play.

Philadelphia fans generally get a bad rap from national media. Just last year GQ voted Philadelphia Eagles and Phillies fans as 1-2 in the Worst Fans In America poll. But athletes who get a chance to understand the city fall in love with Philly. Whether it is Julius Erving or John Kruk, Allen Iverson or Bobby Clarke, if players take a moment to understand the passion the city has for its teams, they love the Philadelphia fan.

Andrew Bynum already has an understanding of how the Philadelphia fan operates and knows, just because you get booed for a bad performance doesn’t mean we don’t root for you for the rest of the season.

However, it has been 7 years since Andrew Bynum has been around this city, and we may need to remind him how much we support our home town teams. Make sure to go to the games, make Andrew feel welcomed when you see him around the city.

I know Philly is capable of selling itself on how wonderful of a place Philadelphia is to play in….they did it with Cliff Lee and have given Michael Vick amazing support. Now it’s time to do the same thing for Andrew Bynum.

If Bynum resigns with the Sixers, we can see our own big three within the next couple years…..and if we don’t, we can be looking at not having a shot at a NBA championship for a long, long time.

Read more Philadelphia 76ers news on BleacherReport.com

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NY Knicks’ Landry Fields Reportedly Dating Model Elaine Alden

 Rumors  No Responses »
Jun 202012
 

The Knicks season was dominated by Jeremy Lin and taken over by a resurgent Carmelo Anthony, but the summer belongs to Landry Fields. 

Hot Clicks’ Jimmy Traina directs us to some grand news in the realm of athletes dating models. The latest is the Knicks guard being seen canoodling with model Elaine Alden recently. 

Traina considered her to be worthy of new WAG status, and the model tweeted back in kind.

I guess I’ma WAG ha! proud to be a NBA wag especially since @landryfields is my ole ball & chain..haha #jokes #happylady #peas&carrots

— Elaine Alden (@elainealden) June 20, 2012

 

I guess that pretty much settles it. 

The blog Beyond the Buzzer has some photos of the two carousing around Las Vegas recently as they were allegedly enjoying the Electric Daisy Carnival. 

No word yet from Fields, who is no doubt just sitting back and enjoying what the summer has to offer. 

If you can’t get enough of Alden, and I am assuming you can’t, you can take a look at her website, which includes shoots for Maxim and GQ. 

Fields, like the rest of the Knicks, enjoyed an up-and-down year that culminated in 8.8 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. 

The sound you hear is the slow and building applause from every last Knicks fan in the nation. 

 

Follow me on Twitter for more sexy news. 

Follow @gabezal

Read more NBA news on BleacherReport.com

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I don’t think we’re in Iowa anymore

 Rumors  No Responses »
Jun 182012
 

On his GQ blog, Nick Collison recently divulged that one of his favorite things about being in the NBA is getting to know people from all over the world.

For instance, even though he is from Iowa Falls (population: approximately one New York city block) one of his best friends is now Thunder guard Royal Ivey, who is from a very different place: Hollis, Queens.

Ivey and Collison have hatched a plan that could forever change Iowa Falls: The RV tour to Queens.

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NBA superfan Jimmy Goldstein brings GQ into his basketball world (Ball Don’t Lie)

 LA Lakers  No Responses »
May 182012
 

On Thursday, we noted that Los Angeles Lakers coach Mike Brown called on fashionable NBA superfan Jimmy Goldstein to ask a question during his Game 3 postgame press conference. Goldstein declined, of course, because it’s not his job. It was notable, though, because a man who we don’t usually hear from was given a chance to speak. He didn’t, but the opportunity made many of us wonder what he might have asked.
However, it turns out that we were about to learn a whole lot about Goldstein even without a press conference appearance. On GQ.com, Myles Brown spoke with Goldstein about his fandom, his connections around the league, and just how he ends up attending so many big games. Here are a few highlights :

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