"Dallas" was an American prime-time television soap opera that originally ran from 1978 to 1991. It revolved around the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries, and Mavericks guards Rolando Blackman and Fat Lever. It won four Emmys and very few professional basketball games.

Why am I telling you this? Because I'm headed to Dallas for NBA All-Star Weekend.

That's right; just like last year, The Basketball Jones' cameras and Twitter machines will attempt to bring you the most unique and ridiculously irrelevant ASW coverage there is to offer. We'll have videos of the city, events and hopefully more player interviews up on the site later this week. And if warm weather permits, this.

As always, the man, the myth, the guitar hero, Kelly Dwyer will hold down the BDL word fort.

See you soon, Cuban.

Atlanta at Memphis

Ball Don't Lie celebrated its two-year anniversary last week, and I regret to inform you that we've yet to feature Ken "the Snake" Norman prominently in a post. This is on us, fully, and on behalf of each of Ball Don't Lie's contributors, I apologize.

The Hawks are in Memphis tonight, fresh off an unscheduled three-day rest that follows the cancellation of the team's Saturday night contest in Washington D.C. Atlanta has been nervous on the road of late, but a chance to get into the "teeth" of Memphis' rather iffy defense could have Mike Woodson's crew licking its chops.

The Grizzlies? They're floundering, with three losses in a row and a bonafide second round team about to attack its home arena. Of course, with this much talent, Memphis is due for a revival, and because the Hawks play such silly ball away from Philips Arena, we could have ourselves a game.

We've got 11 games tonight, actually, as the NBA tries to cram it all in before the All-Star break hits on Friday. Document it all, and share your favorite bird vs. bear stories in the comment section.

Atlanta Hawks: 32-17, 90.9 possessions per game (26th), 111.4 points scored per 100 possessions (fourth), 106.2 points allowed per 100 possessions (11th).

Memphis Grizzlies: 26-24, 93.3 possessions per game (10th), 109.1 points scored per 100 possessions (10th), 109.9 points allowed per 100 possessions (24th).

All statistics courtesy basketball-reference.com.

Trey Kerby of The Blowtorch searches high and low across the Internet for NBA-related goods you never knew you needed. You know, phenomenal swag. Email Ball Don't Lie any relevant products you find here.

Wednesday is the 25th anniversary of Feb. 10, 1985, which just so happens to be the date of Michael Jeffrey Jordan's first All-Star Game. For the first time since the day he was frozen-out, a reissue of that jersey will be ... reissued. This is great news for everyone, even people who don't like Michael Jordan.

Why is that, Trey? For a lot of reasons, Internet.

First and foremost, this is a historic jersey, no duh. It marks the first huge success of Jordan's illustrious career, and also one of the earliest slights that Jordan imagined and used to make himself the greatest player in the history of basketball. Pretty big deal.

Also, these jerseys are the best that the All-Star Game has ever seen. They're so good, in fact, that they could even serve as a reissue for Jordan's last All-Star Game, as an updated version with way bigger shorts was used for the 2003 contest. Certainly better than his 2002 effort, where Jordan missed a wide-open dunk wearing a Wizards jersey. These are the dark times that we don't talk about.

And for the haters, if you're really anti-Mike, you should love this jersey because it symbolizes a time when even the best basketball players in the world were hating on Michael Jordan. It's like a schadenfreude shirt, or maybe a shirt-enfreude.

But really, the best reason to buy this is because it's my birthday in 10 days and you weren't sure what to get me. Come on, it's only $250. I wear an XL.

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Spelling Jameer Nelson on Sunday, Jason Williams tallied six points in 12 minutes, making both his shots and both of his free throw attempts, adding two dimes while declining to turn the ball over.

A couple of weeks ago, I championed the idea of Zach Randolph making the All-Star team. He eventually did make the All-Star team, a move that most of you, I'm sure, are cool with.

Also, at some point this month, Tyrus Thomas will likely be traded from the Chicago Bulls.

Chicago had long ago decided not to re-sign the fourth-year forward, and they'll be looking to dump his expiring contract on another team for other expiring deals, looking fully forward to the free agent class of 2010.

These three players are the same guy, you know. The guy's a bit of a lout, a knucklehead; someone who will never get it. Until they do get it, of course.

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A look around the league and the web that covers it. It's also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren't always listed in order of importance. That's for you, dear reader, to figure out.

C: ESPNDallas. When it comes to trade talk, Cuban says Beaubois is "pretty much untouchable."
PF: The Journal Times. The Bucks are shopping Luke Ridnour(notes), Hakim Warrick(notes) and Joe Alexander(notes).
SF: The Baseline. No matter the situation, the Knicks' plan for the season is all about enticing FAs.
SG: SLAM Online. Hilarious column from Lang Whitaker on the best and worst of All-Stars past.
PG: CelticsHub. Does Marquis Daniels(notes) solve the Celtics' turnover crisis?
6th: NBA FanHouse. Spurs guard Roger Mason(notes) Jr. stars in "The Buzzer Beater."
7th: SRI. Blake Griffin(notes) says he hasn't been allowed to shoot the ball during his rehab.
8th: NetsDaily. Is the "hard cap" aimed at rich owners like Mikhail Prokhorov?
9th: Get Banged On. Shannon Brown(notes) makes this alley-oop look way easier than it really is.
10th: But The Game Is On. New Orleans basketball has a chance to be special, too.

Got a link or tip for Ball Don't Lie? Hit me up at jeskeets (at) yahoo.ca, or follow me on Twitter.

Craig Kwasniewski of The Association is one of the biggest Lakers fan around. He's a loyal season ticket holder, probably owns a Magic Johnson jersey or eight, and is a proud card-carrying member of "Celtics Hater."

Which is why it was surprising to see Kwasniewski list a few reasons why the Boston Celtics should keep Ray Allen and give "The Big Three" one last shot at a title.

Here's an excerpt:

The long regular season. Relax Boston ... I know it's cold and miserable back east and the long winter is getting to you but you really need to be reminded how The Association works. The NBA regular season is a very long 82-games over six months. Mix in preseason and hopefully a long postseason and you're looking at an eight or nine month season. Veteran teams always seem to hit a lull somewhere between Christmas and Easter. It's impossible to bring playoff efforts when your key players are in their 30's ... it's just not possible (and the ones that did, like the Pat Riley Heat teams in the late 90's collapsed in a heap by playoff time). Just ride out this rough patch, usually teams find their second wind around March Madness.

And:

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Mavericks owner Mark Cuban disagrees with a call in a game against the Warriors on Monday — so much so that he put Dirk right to sleep. Best caption wins a German pillow. Good luck, mates.

After the jump, Jarrett Jack entertains Tas Melas and friends.

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Monta Ellis'(notes) reputation as a trick shot magician continues to grow. The Warriors guard swished another crazy shot, this one from well beyond half-court, while the CSNBayArea cameras were rolling on Monday.

To paraphrase myself from an earlier post, take the above backward bomb, sprinkle in last week's over-the-backboard and-one circus shot, and mix in this ridiculousness and, well, you've got yourself a scrumptious recipe for the NBA's next H-O-R-S-E champion, ladies and gentlemen.

Oh! What's that? Stern and Co. didn't ask Ellis to participate in H-O-R-S-E? Ah, right, that makes sense.

/bangs head against wall

via SLAM Online

Monday to Friday, The Basketball Jones look at the big games and storylines from the night before with a mix of in-depth analysis and irreverent humor. As always, questions and comments are appreciated.

On today's show, Skeets and Tas furrow through Monday's TNT doubleheader in their final show before heading to All-Star Weekend in Dallas. Do 48 points prove Vince Carter(notes) is back? Has Kobe Bryant's(notes) body finally given him the hint? Why is Darren Collison(notes) this good, this fast? All that, plus the determining factor in LeBron's Ohio future, Richard Jefferson's(notes) facial hair, shady weather and data plans.

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Two weeks ago, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban warned that All-Star Weekend in Dallas could be the biggest party in the country's history.

"The Super Bowl, from a television perspective, is the biggest event of the year," Cuban told to the Dallas Morning News while possibly wearing a monocle and petting an evil black cat sitting on his lap. "But for attendance and partying, All-Star Weekend will make the Super Bowl look like a bar mitzvah."

He wasn't kidding, Omri.

Mavericks president Terdema Ussery said Monday that ticket sales for Sunday's NBA All-Star Game have officially passed 90,000. They're also zeroing in on 92,000, and may not be done climbing yet.

Ussery said the Mavericks, the NBA and the Cowboys are still talking to Arlington public safety officials about what Cowboys Stadium's capacity should be on Sunday. [...]

"At this point, it's a lot of art and a little bit of science," Ussery said. "I would say low to mid 90s is where we have a comfort level right now. ... But literally, at the end of each day we have a conversation of where we are and how people are feeling — because we want to do this right."

In case you were curious, advance ticket sales guarantee the game will shatter the basketball attendance record of 78,129, set on Dec. 13, 2003, by a Kentucky-Michigan State matchup at Detroit's Ford Field.

And yes, that back-row view was just as awesome as it'll be in Dallas.