Ball Don't Lie

As you know, the great BDL Photoshop Starbury Tattoo-Off of 2008 is closed. The flood of submissions has ceased, the virtual ink on Marbury's skull has dried, and the "you're an idiot, Skeets" comments have, for the most part, reached a steady calm.

But before we officially say goodbye, there's one more Starbury tat-job that really ought to be shown. From Mike in Michigan:

Once again, thanks to everyone that contributed — we received over 200 submissions — as well as hyped this effort into the "success" that it became. Especially you, Stephon. Especially you.

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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: The Sporting Blog. Question of the day: Are the new Nike ads homophobic or simply misunderstood?
PF: YouTube, via TrueHoop. Thanks to Fat Joe, Josh Childress looks to be adjusting to the Greek lifestyle nicely.
SF: Cuzoogle. Seven feature films that will be coming to an NBA arena near you soon.
SG: Supersonicsoul. Your first Supersonicsoul Hall-of-Fame inductee is ... Gary Payton.
PG: The Blowtorch. "So this one time I was wrestling an alligator ..." Life lessons with "Brad Miller."
6th: The Denver Post. Ornithologists beware. Chris "The Birdman" Andersen is back in the Mile High City.
7th: SportsHubLA.com. Complete audio of the Marcus Camby and Clippers introductory press conference.
8th: Hoops Addict. An excellent summary of moves done by Portland GM "mastermind" Kevin Pritchard.
9th: Hardwood Paroxysm. The Arbitrarian explores some of today's relevant basketball stats.
10th: SLC Dunk. A sad look back at some of the stiff white guys to whom the Jazz have provided refuge.

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Not sure how BDL missed this story yesterday — oh, that's right, we were busy setting the unofficial NBA marathon live chat record — but hey, better late than never.

Charles Barkley is giving his money away again. No, no, no, don't judge! This time, instead of feeding quarters into some slot machine or doubling-down on 14 at the blackjack table, Barkley's picked up the tuition for a busboy at a restaurant in Philly. From the Philadelphia Daily News:

"Sir Charles told [Christian] Abate he would like to help him with his tuition, and Abate wasn't sure how to respond. Barkley didn't give him much time, telling Abate that he had the length of Barkley's meal to decide. Abate wisely accepted.

"He's a nice kid," Barkley said of Abate on Friday. "He was working with kids, I loved that he wanted to be a teacher, and I wanted to help him," Barkley told us by phone between stops on a flight to Reno where he was making a speech.

While the little-more-than-15% tip may seem particularly special, it's not so unusual for Sir Charles. In fact, the lovable goof has given at least $3 million to schools and education in his home state of Alabama. He's a giver, not a golfer.

As SportsByBrooks so eloquently put it, Barkley is just like Robin Hood: "He tries to take from the rich, but since he’s not very good at it, he gives to the poor out of his own pocket." So noble. Thump Bump, Chuck.

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(Ed. Note: This is part two of Rod's week in Vegas at Summer League. Click here to read part one.)

I ended up having to sit out the first two games of the Summer League. I expected it so I guess I didn’t feel too weird about sitting on the sidelines while some members of The Movement sat behind me and cheered on the Raptors. I tried to warm up for the second game, but nine minutes of warm-up (all that they have time for) is not nearly enough for my knee to go from "not functional" to "completely mobile." I focused my attention on a scrimmage we were supposed to have on Tuesday of last week. I figured I'd have enough time to get loose and give it a go. Plus we had a day off the next day so it would be a perfect opportunity to gauge my injury.

I learned two things that Tuesday: that it was extremely painful and awkward to warm-up, and that it was even tougher to stay warm. My play ranged from decent, to mediocre, to just plain bad at times. I had no athleticism. Sure I could run, but not fast. I could jump, but not touch the rim. I felt like it was obvious to everyone there what was going on. 30 minutes of warm-up proved to be just enough for me to get to 70% effectiveness. A guy like me needs all 100 of his percentage points.

We now had a couple days before the next contest, so everyone was out in the lobby, bars, and clubs at the Palms. Palms is definitely the hotel of choice for young people. There were lovely ladies all around and many ballers trying to stake their claim. My boy JGant and I went up to the Ghostbar because it was low key and in the same tower as my hotel room. If I got tired, I could easily catch the elevator down to my room and go to bed.Read More >>

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Head coach Byron Scott jokes with new Hornets wingman James Posey at a press conference to announce his signing with N'awlins. Best caption/conversation wins respect and a WASP injector knife to take out large land and sea predators.

After the jump, Coach "K" teaches, corrects, and attends to Team USA defense.Read More >>

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It was only a matter of time until this happened: Rockets restricted free agent Carl Landry's agent says he may be the next player to turn away offers from NBA teams to cash in overseas. From the Houston Chronicle: "Carl would entertain all serious offers," Landry's agent, Buddy Baker, told Houston television station KRIV-TV on Wednesday. "There is serious interest in Carl by both other NBA teams and internationally." I can't wait to see Dr. Chris Quinn try and play the "Europe card."

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Opa! Ex-Hawks swingman Josh Childress has agreed to terms on a fat three-year contract with Olympiakos of Greece. Here's what they're saying out in the ether about the shocking news ...

JoshChildressCamp: "2008 Summer Camp has been cancelled. Check back later for 2009 details." (Ouch. Thanks, Peter.)

Hawks BasketBlog: "I know most people want to blame Hawks management and ownership for letting this happen, and if that is your opinion you are entitled. But at least consider this [...] Chills is not like most NBA players (afro aside). Every time I've chatted with him at the start of seasons past he's raved about his trips abroad over the summer, including trips to China and Africa as part of the NBA's Basketball Without Borders program. He realizes there is a much larger world out there, and he's experienced a good bit of it. Right off the bat, the idea of playing in a foreign land was going to be much more palatable to him than most."

Ziller, FanHouse: "Childress carries a cap hold of $14.5 million. Assuming the Hawks can manage to retain Josh Smith for about $10 million a year, Atlanta figures to be about $20 million under the salary cap next summer. (Mike Bibby and Zaza Pachulia are coming off the books.) That can buy a mighty fine free agent. But unless Atlanta renounces its rights to Childress — meaning Chills would no longer be a restricted free agent, he could sign with any NBA team and the Hawks wouldn't have matching rights — $14.5 million of that cap space will be locked up in that cap hold. That means Atlanta would have only roughly $5.5 million of space, and that's less than the mid-level exception. The Hawks would then have no cap space, and would be in the same boat as 85% of the NBA. If the Hawks had overpaid Childress with, say, an $8 million annual contract, they would be able to go get a $12 million player in free agency next year ... and they'd have Childress's production! Instead, nothing and nothing." Read More >>

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I have a large and poorly-organized collection of NBA games on DVD. As the summer moves along, we here at BDL thought it a good idea to perhaps go through a game or 12 as if it were a live blog, throwing out some insight while never passing on a chance to act a right smart aleck.

Today, we're going to look at a deciding Game 5 from the first round of the 2000 Playoffs, the Milwaukee Bucks are visiting the Indiana Pacers. The first half goes up now, the second gets posted later today.

It's important to note that this game should never have happened. The Indiana Pacers were a quarter away from beating the Bulls and getting to the Finals in 1998. They should have easily dispatched the Knicks in 1999 but never seemed to have it together. This team was due.

And for the bulk of 1999-00, it played with a purpose. Trading Antonio Davis before the season opened up more playing time for Dale Davis and Austin Croshere, both of whom responded with fine seasons.

Reggie Miller turned in, if not his most potent, then his most versatile offensive season; getting to the rim more often and taking advantage of the triple-threat, uh, threat that results when a lights-out shooter stares down a defender 18 feet from the hoop with a live dribble. This team was supposed to win.

The Bucks were also not supposed to take it to five games. The team, and I know this might seem a bit of a shock considering they were coached by George Karl, appeared to loaf through the regular season, only taking down a rebuilding (read: built to lose) Orlando Magic team for the final spot in the playoffs in the season's last week.

As it often is with underachievers, after 82 games, we kind of forgot just why we tagged them with the "underachiever" label to begin with. The Bucks had talent. Talent enough to take down the Pacers. In fact, they nearly shocked Indiana, in its own building. Let's dive in. Read More >>

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The WNBA game between the LA Sparks and Detroit Shock got a little heated in the final five seconds last night. Sparks' stars Candace Parker and Lisa Leslie were involved in the melee with Cheryl Ford and bad boy coaches Rick Mahorn and Bill Laimbeer of the Detroit Shock. Here's the wild video:

When all was said and done, three players were ejected from the game along with Mahorn. Ford was taken off the court in a wheelchair after sustaining a sprained knee in the female fracas.

The WNBA: Expect Great.

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