Basketball Fiend

Posts Tagged ‘Beyonce’

Photo courtesy of SITV.com.

1. While everyone else is busy previewing the 2009-10 season to death, The Baseline previews something different: the 2010 OFFSEASON. I was skeptical about the idea, but Shoals pulls it off beautifully. Warning: don’t read this if you’re a fan of the Raptors, Pistons or Warriors. It doesn’t bode well for you.

2. For better or worse, Carmelo Anthony has his own Tag body spray. What does it smell like? Weed and tattoo ink, I think. I’m kidding, Melo. I’m kidding. It actually smells like LaLa Vasquez’s anger.

3. Contrary to what I said yesterday, Andrew Bynum is the undisputed starting center for the Lakers this season. Source: Twitter report from Mike Trudell, quoting Phil Jackson.

4. Don’t expect any endorsements from Hasheem Thabeet for NBA 2K10. The popular video game gave Thabeet a rating of only 57. An unnecessary snub or a glimpse into Thabeet’s future? I’m going with the latter.

5. Darren Collison has no business singing anything, but I like the confidence he brings to this Beyonce impression. Any time you incorporate crowd participation it’s bound to be a good moment in rookie hazing.

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Think you’ve had enough classic Ron Artest moments this summer? Think again.

Ron-Ron released the video for his song ‘Workout’ yesterday on YouTube, ensuring a season full of Adriaaaanan!!!! chants and articles about how Artest has beef with Beyonce.

If you don’t put this on your workout mix immediately, I don’t know if we can be friends.

H/T to mj_green for the video. You should follow him on Twitter.

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Kobe Bryant, who is about to embark on his second consecutive NBA Finals bid, was recently determined to be the world’s 10th-biggest celebrity, according to Forbes magazine, which produces its Forbes Celebrity 100 list each June.

Bryant was the highest-ranked basketball player on the list - beating out Michael Jordan (18), LeBron James (19), and Kevin Garnett (62) - and the second-highest-ranked athlete, bested only by Tiger Woods, who finished 5th.

Forbes bases its Celebrity 100 on four categories: earnings, web rank, press rank, and TV rank. According to Forbes, Bryant made $45 million in salary and endorsements this year and ranked 10th in press, finishing five spots above James. Bryant also scored well in TV rank (15th) and web rank (53rd), showing once again the benefits of playing in a large, media-friendly market like Los Angeles.

Above Bryant in the Top 10 were Angelina Jolie, Oprah Winfrey, Madonna, Beyonce Knowles, Woods, Bruce Springsteen, Steven Speilberg, Jennifer Aniston, and Brad Pitt. According to Reuters, it was the first time in the history of the Celebrity 100 that four women locked down the top four spots on the list.

Another Celebrity 100 first was the appearance of President Barack Obama. Obama became the first acting president to make the list, clocking in at #49. Former president Bill Clinton has made the list in the past, but not during his years in office.

Just in case you’re wondering, Bryant’s opponent in the NBA Finals, Dwight Howard, did not make the Top 100; providing yet another slight for Howard to use as motivation.

We’re less than two weeks away from the beginning of the 2009 NBA Playoffs and I can’t wait. I’ve been waiting six months for the playoffs to come. No joke. It’s one of the best times of the year for me. Right up there with Christmas, my birthday and the first day of March Madness. The playoffs feature the best teams, the best players, and the best coaches, all on the biggest stage, competing for the ultimate prize: an NBA championship ring. It’s a beautiful thing. Like Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry’s.

Thanks to the birth of the Basketball Fiend blog, I’ve been more involved with the NBA than ever before. Which is why I feel justified in writing this list: The 10 Reasons I’m Looking Forward to the NBA Playoffs. With a quick nod to my own Sacramento Kings, who will not even sniff the playoffs this season, here are the reasons I will be watching as many postseason games as I can in the coming weeks.

1. LeBron James

Someday, we, as basketball fans, will look back on this year as the official jumping off point for one of the best players in NBA history. When we’re older and have nothing better to do than tell younger generations about our heyday, we can talk excitedly LeBron’s first MVP season. About how we were there and how we watched as he lit up team after team on his way to the Finals. About how he delivered the crippling blow, in a vicious seven game series, to the Los Angeles Lakers. About how we saw him lift his first championship trophy high above his head and how played it classy (unlike, say, Kevin Garnett), smiling like a maniac the whole time.

How cool is that?

This is the season that LeBron has officially cemented himself as the best player in the world, the King of the NBA - a league with no shortage of challengers for the crown. He’s an unparalleled athlete, an accomplished entertainer, and, best of all, an incredible leader.

He’s so amazing, in fact, that there is a website devoted to how really, really, really good he is.

To date, King James has led the Cavs to a franchise-record 64 wins, making them the best team by record in the NBA; an accomplishment that will hopefully land him the MVP trophy.

So, what can we expect from LeBron in the playoffs? Well, he is the king of the league. So, I’m expecting at least two or three 40-point games, at least one monster 50-point game, a triple-double or two, at least one edge-of-your-seat-he delivers! game-winner, and an undefeated home record leading into the Eastern Conference Finals.

That’s not too much to ask, right?

To top it all off, I think he’s going to deliver an NBA championship to the city of Cleveland. After all, he is LeBron F. James. (Don’t forget the F, baby.) We have all witnessed what he is capable of on his own - the miracle run to the Finals in 2007 being the primary example - and now that he has teammates who can play at his level - namely, Mo Williams - I feel strongly that this is Cleveland’s year to win it all.

So bring it home, LeBron. Bring it home so we can tell our grandkids, or the neighborhood kids or whoever that we saw you claim your first MVP and your first championship all in the same year. 2009. It’s gonna be great.

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Dwight Howard, at his goofball best, trying to replicate Beyonce’s ‘Single Ladies’ dance.

If you ever find yourself watching a basketball game on TV and thinking, “how does that dude Howard get so many endorsements?”, here’s your answer. Videos like this. The guy just knows how to have a good time. He’s goofy, charismatic, and completely comfortable in his own skin. (In other words: the anti-ARod.) He’s a marketer’s dream.

By the way, if you’re one of those people who poo-poos the NBA and says that it’s full of players who are spoiled, paycheck-grabbing louses, what’s your excuse for Dwight Howard?

Here’s a player who loves the game, loves being in the league, and loves to have fun. He’s a shoe-in for Defensive Player of the Year, he broke the league record for All-Star votes, and he’s soon to be an NBA All-First Team selection.

What’s not to like about this guy? He’s the best of both worlds. Someone who plays hard - for the love of the game - but also plays at game’s highest level, accompanied by a huge paycheck.

With players like Howard, LeBron James, Chris Paul, and Kevin Durant entering the league, it’s getting harder and harder for college basketball die-hards to claim that their version of the sport is better. Suddenly, you look around and there are fewer spoiled brats in the league and more relatable stars. Which, to me, proves once again that NBA basketball is the best basketball in the world.

If you disagree, feel free to make your argument below.