When Carmelo Anthony(notes) decided he want to play in a major market, part of his reasoning involved having a larger media profile that would include appearances on popular television shows. New York is home to a series that Denver could only dream of -- the only local hits in that small market are Ken Burns-style documentaries on the history of Chipotle and a variety show hosted by Colorado Rockies mainstay Todd Helton. You can understand why Melo would be wary of spending his entire career in such a media landscape.

Over the weekend, Anthony lived out at least one of his dreams by performing on "Saturday Night Live." As you can see above, one of these sketches was a "Digital Short" featuring the recurring Laser Cats, this time in a musical featuring Elton John as the evil Droz. Carmelo isn't in it very long, but he displays a decent sense of bizarre comedic timing and a willingness to look goofy, which is notable given that his contemporaries like LeBron James(notes) and Dwyane

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At this point, seemingly half the NBA is on Twitter. It's a wild world of training updates, questions as to which movies they should go see, and explanations of their Call of Duty prowess. Every so often, though, you also get a picture into the more interesting aspects of NBA life. This feature is your window into that world.

Paul Pierce: Gotta love the Tyra banks show

Greg Monroe: Jus got Dennis Rodman's blessing!

Chris Webber: Kenny smith took Rick foxx to a Al B Sure concert for his college visit! Wow. THAT should be a violation..... Haaaaaaaa

Chris Douglas-Roberts: Teen Wolf had some square teammates though. When you got somebody that nice on ya team, you gotta let em shoot everytime. Especially in HS. ... Teen Wolf's teammates are wrong. They're the selfish ones. They went from losing every game to winning. Smh. "Iso for Teen Wolf!" ... It's not like they were going to get basketball scholarships. They were suppose to just set screens, rebound & outlet pass to Teen Wolf.

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NBA players lead difficult social lives from the fall to spring. Unlike most working adults, they're consistently on the road for the majority of the year, which makes it difficult to building lasting relationships with significant others. If you're wondering why a legitimate groupie culture exists in the league, it's because players get lonely very easily. Oh, and because they make lots of money.

Anyway, some players can feel unfulfilled even while achieving their professional dreams. Take it from Raptors vet Sonny Weems, who is looking for love wherever he can find it. From Dave Feschuk for the Toronto Star (via Eye on Basketball):

Still, it's not a stretch to suggest that when pro athletes, both male and female, seek romantic partnership, choice comes in quantity. Quality, Weems will tell you, is another matter.

"A lot of females come to you, and they tell you a story. 'I want to be your girl. I'm different from other females.' Or whatever. It happens all the time," Weems said. "Athletes really have it hard, trying to find that person. Who can you trust?" [...]

"It's hard for us to trust (women), and it's probably hard for them to trust us, too," acknowledged Reggie Evans, the veteran Raptors forward who is married with children.

Why, then, would Weems, at age 24, bother seeking a relationship via Twitter? Evans wondered aloud if Weems has grown tired of being a soloist while one of his closest friends on the team, 21-year-old DeMar DeRozan, spends quality time with a steady girlfriend.

"DeMar's been having a girlfriend for a while — it's probably taking a toll on Sonny," Evans said, a mischievous smile ever in place. "He probably thinks he needs someone."

As noted by Feschuk in the article's lede, Weems sent out a Twitter missive that it might be time for a girlfriend and promptly received around 50 responses showing interest. I'm not sure that's the best way to find a nice woman, but plenty of wonderful relationships start online, at least according to those commercials I see on TV.

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ESPN analyst and former NBA player Jalen Rose has been in the news quite a bit lately, mostly for his controversial statements about Duke's recruiting practices in the excellent Fab Five documentary Rose produced for ESPN. The story surrounding his "Uncle Tom" remarks has mostly focused on the accuracy of the term, but the context of the statement -- that, ultimately, Rose clearly held that opinion in the past and explained that it was the product of ignorance and bitterness -- has proven that Rose is a thoughtful commentator with a too rare amount of self-awareness.

Sadly, that quality makes the latest Rose news all the more disappointing. As reported earlier this week by WDIV in Detroit, Rose was cited for a DUI in early March and neglected to tell anyone at ESPN about the incident. The Poynter Review Project Blog, the network's ombudsman, rightfully noted Thursday that the situation has compromised ESPN. And now, as reported by Michael McCarthy at USA Today, Rose has been pulled off the air:

ESPN is pulling Jalen Rose off the air after a report found the NBA basketball analyst waited almost three weeks to tell his employers about his arrest in Michigan on suspicion of drunk driving.

"Jalen has accepted full responsibility for his actions. Both parties are taking this very seriously, and as a result, we've agreed that he will not be on our air while he addresses this situation," said ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz in an email to Game On!

To clarify, Rose has not been fired or officially suspended -- he's just off the air for the time being as ESPN sorts out what should be done. However, it wouldn't be shocking if they parted ways, which would be a sad turn of events given that Rose's profile as a commentator has only become larger since the Fab Five documentary aired last month.

Thursday's nationally televised matchup between the Lakers and Mavericks in Los Angeles was supposed to be a key battle in the race for the No. 2 spot in the West playoff race. Instead, it turned ugly late, and not just in terms of the final score.

The Lakers won the game 110-82 to effectively ensure that the Mavs will end up with no better than the No. 3 seed in the West. But the really notable story from this game was the brawl that took place early in the fourth quarter.

As you can see above, it all started when Dallas guard Jason Terry shoved Lakers guard Steve Blake to the ground for an unnecessarily hard foul. Blake responded by getting in Terry's face, which started a full-scale shoving match between several people, including the Mavs' Brendan Haywood and the Lakers' Matt Barnes, a player known for occasionally acting like a hothead.

But it didn't stop there. As the players started to separate, Mavs assistant coach Terry Stotts tried to restrain Barnes, who didn't take too kindly to the attempt at making peace. He pushed Stotts to the floor, which, whether intentionally or not, is a serious no-no.

The refs responded to the entire altercation by ejecting Blake, Terry, Barnes and Haywood, and all four players can expect to miss at least one more game due to suspension. (Another player was ejected later as stated below, making five.) With the importance of playoff seeding, any missed time for these players could hurt both teams.

If this were all that had happened, it still would have registered as one of the biggest fights of the NBA season. However, as you can see after the jump, a fan made things a little more interesting a few minutes later.

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At this point, seemingly half the NBA is on Twitter. It's a wild world of training updates, questions as to which movies they should go see, and explanations of their Call of Duty prowess. Every so often, though, you also get a picture into the more interesting aspects of NBA life. This feature is your window into that world.

Patrick Patterson: Houston I think we got a problem. My nose botherin me, hurts and swollen. Might b broke. #thisaintgood

Dwight Howard: Another look. Fear the beard lol http://moby.to/z0b1yv

Danny Granger: Just tried to sneak my bulldog into the mall under my jacket lol #nochance

Jared Dudley: Who's goin to MLB OPENING day in ur city? I can't wait for the future when i have a son and able to take him out of school so we can go lol

Andrew Bogut: My headphones broke on the first day of the road trip! So pissed. Is there a Bose store in Indianapolis?

You can also follow Eric Freeman on Twitter at @freemaneric.

In the annals of NBA creativity, few plays stand out as much as when a player passes to himself off the backboard for a better shot. It's one of Kobe Bryant's(notes) best moves, and Tracy McGrady(notes) made enough self-oops for dunks that they have their own YouTube highlight video.

Drew Gooden's(notes) name is hardly synonymous with the forefront of NBA creativity. However, Wednesday night in Milwaukee's 104-98 win in Toronto, Gooden reached new levels of artistry with an exceedingly rare double-self-alley-oop, a play that scientists have theorized for decades but never actually seen in the wild. It worked, too, with Gooden finishing a lay-up in a sea of several players, some of whom were his own teammates.

Sadly, Gooden was not credited with an assist on this play -- his only dime of the night came on a pass to Earl Boykins(notes) near the start of the second quarter. In our hearts, though, we know that Gooden was the most creative player in the game.

(Via TBJ)

Clippers owner Donald Sterling doesn't usually come out a winner when basketball is even tangentially involved. While his franchise typically makes money, it has also been the butt of jokes for decades and has generally become synonymous with athletic and organizational incompetence. Even when the team ends up in the black financially, Sterling makes the Clippers into losers.

However, Sterling now has good reason to hold his head high, because a jury unanimously ruled in favor of him in Elgin Baylor's employment discrimination case against Sterling and the Clippers. Lance Pugmire has the details for the Los Angeles Times (via SB Nation):

A Los Angeles County jury Wednesday declined to award damages to NBA great Elgin Baylor, rejecting his lawsuit against the Clippers for unlawful termination based on age discrimination.

By a 12-0 vote, the seven-man, five-woman jury informed Judge Kenneth R. Freeman that neither the team nor owner Donald T. Sterling or president Andy Roeser presided