The NBA Finals is a simpler time in the Dime office. With just one series going, one game every few days, after each one we can break it down 800 ways before the next tip-off. Following the Game 1 blowout, we looked at Rajon Rondo’s personal hell, the key differences between the ‘08 and ‘10 Finals, how Andrew Bynum and Tony Allen will swing this series as X-factors, the biggest problems Boston needs to fix in Game 2, and any other subplot you might have missed. But they say you can never be over-prepared, so at least we’re ready for Sunday’s Game 2 … Even when LeBron isn’t trying, he can overshadow the Finals. Larry King’s 1-on-1 interview with LBJ aired yesterday. Read More »

Four months shy of his 100th birthday, basketball legend John Wooden passed away Friday.

Wooden was an All-American player at Purdue, but truly rose to fame as head coach at UCLA, where he won 10 national titles, fielded four teams that went undefeated, and built a record-setting 88-game winning streak. He sent Hall of Famers like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Walton to the NBA, and even for decades following his retirement in 1975 was still a big presence at UCLA and around the basketball world, writing books, giving motivational speeches and mentoring coaches. Read More »

Because he’s turning 50 this year, my Dad is pulling for the Celtics to win the NBA championship. “They’re the old-school team,” he said earlier in the playoffs. In other words, he can look at Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Rasheed Wallace and not feel like he’s watching a bunch of kids.

But my Dad isn’t a full-time Celtics fan or even a full-fledged NBA fan. He has a hard time remembering who played in the Finals from year-to-year, so he has to keep asking me “Who’s that guy?” questions when it comes to Boston role players like Kendrick Perkins, Marquis Daniels and Big Baby Davis. Read More »

Although Danny Ferry resigned as the Cavaliers GM today, there was little chance that owner Dan Gilbert was going to offer Ferry a new deal. According to the press release, Ferry “led the team through the most successful period in franchise history.” Really? It seems more like LeBron led them through this successful period if you ask me. Read More »

It was a strange season in New Orleans. Early on the Hornets looked like one of the worst teams in the League, then later looked like a playoff contender, all while superstar Chris Paul missed nearly half the schedule with injuries and two overachieving rookie guards became breakout stars-in-the-making. Alternating between promising and disappointing seemingly week-to-week, N.O. ultimately finished last-place in the Southwest Division.

Going into next season, the Hornets have a solid core in CP3, David West, Emeka Okafor, Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton, plus the 11th pick in the NBA Draft. And it looks like Blazers assistant Monty Williams will be the team’s next head coach. So what has to happen this summer to ensure Williams inherits a team ready for a return to the playoffs? Read More »

Coming into the Game 1 last night, Rajon Rondo was supposed to be the Boston Celtics’ greatest strength. His playoff numbers were off the charts through the first three rounds, 16.7 points and 10.0 assists a game. People were throwing him into the mix with Chris Paul and Deron Williams as the best point guard in the League. On broadcasts, Jeff Van Gundy was repeatedly saying no single player in the playoffs was having a greater overall impact than the Celtics’ point man. Yet, continuing an unusual trend since the 2008 NBA Finals, Rondo was extremely timid once stepping into the Staples Center. Read More »

Way back when, on a night that must seem impossible to remember for Celtic fans after last night’s Game 1 loss, utter domination on the glass clinched the team its 17th NBA Championship. They outrebounded the Los Angeles Lakers 48-29 that night, finishing with an absurd 14-2 advantage on the offensive boards. If last night’s game is any indication, the Lakers remembered that atrocity, and remembered it well. Read More »

The Celtics are a great defensive team, there’s no doubt about that. But the problem is their team is built to challenge the Eastern Conference and not deal with Kobe. They have players that can check Dwyane Wade (Ray Allen and Tony Allen), and they have players that can beat up Dwight Howard (Kendrick Perkins and Kevin Garnett). Hell, they even have someone that can contain LeBron James (i.e. Paul Pierce). But unlike 2008, where Boston had a primary defensive stopper in James Posey, they are now scrambling to try and find any kind of answer for the Black Mamba. Read More »

It’d been 716 days or 17,184 hours or 1,031,040 minutes since Game 6 of the 2008 NBA Finals. All of that time was enough to watch the Lakers win a title, America to vote in a black President and Tiger to shoot himself in the foot. Yet, everything appears to be the same in Sternland. Boston and Los Angeles met again for the title last night, and the NBA loves it and so does most of America. Except this time, there are a few major differences. Here’s how those changes break down. Read More »

If you are one of the nearly 2.5 million people that “Like” the NBA on Facebook, then you have probably seen a version of NBAStore.com living on the Facebook site. I can only imagine how well this has done so far. On Facebook, the NBA encourages daily fan participation by creating polls on Fan Appz and posting pictures and videos nearly every day. There are usually over 1,000 comments per post and this is why the NBA is the most “Liked” sports league that uses social media.

For the Finals, though, the NBA has taken it one step further. Read More »