The two championship rings on the hand of Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol has garnered him as a ‘winning player’ since L.A.’s banner-raising seasons of 2009 and 2010.

New York Knicks forward Amar’e Stoudemire, in stark contrast, is almost never pegged with such a label, and given the fact that he’s only made it as far as the wrong end of multiple Western Conference Finals outcomes during the course of his 11 year career, that isn’t some sort of outrageous injustice.

But upon hearing Gasol’s recent cries of reluctance to come off the bench for Mike D’Antoni’s free-falling Lakers (18-25), and comparing them with Stoudemire’s inelastic willingness to do just that for the Eastern Conference powerhouse that Mike Woodson has suddenly transformed the Knicks (26-14) into in 2012-2013, it’s about time we re-evaluate – and partially re-define – the term ‘winning player.’

Rewind back to the 2010-2011 regular season. The Knicks, for the first time in a long, long time, actually had realistic hopes of breaking their recent stretch of suffering and mediocrity, all thanks to the summer signing of Stoudemire to a five year, $99.7 million contract.

That year Stoudemire became the first Knick named to the Eastern Conference All Star team since franchise legend Patrick Ewing.

Yes, the same Patrick Ewing that led New York to the Finals all the way back in 1999, right before the pandemonium of Y2K. It had been a while, to say the least.

Stoudemire’s profound impact during the first half of that season provided the Knicks with an unfamiliar relevance, and he was thusly thrust into the top of the MVP conversation.

Then came the blockbuster trade that brought former Denver Nuggets All Star forward Carmelo Anthony to Madison Square Garden. From that moment on, Anthony has assumed the roles of New York’s number one scoring option. He became the overall leader and biggest credit to both the franchise’s return to the postseason over the last two seasons and its newfound perch directly below the defending champion Miami Heat as the East’s second seed just around the halfway mark of the season.

And here is Stoudemire, all but forgotten and even the subject of trade rumors as his return to the surging Knicks lineup following knee surgery became more and more imminent.

The proposal of an almost $100 million player coming off the bench initially seemed about as nonsensical and absurd as when his punching of a fire extinguisher box (following a first found Game 2 playoff loss in Miami the previous year) required several stitches and sidelined him for Game 3 back home.

Yet, when asked if he would accept that lesser role in advance of the emotional standing ovation he received from the Knicks’ faithful on his New Year’s Day comeback, Stoudemire didn’t echo the sentiments of a fading star with a boisterous ego.

Whatever the team needed of him, Stoudemire obliged. At 11.3 points and 6.6 rebounds per game in an average of just over a mere 21 minutes in his first 10 games back on the floor, he’s certainly had a beneficial impact.

That’s what winning players are all about. The team comes first and foremost, and their heads quietly shrink.

Gasol, meanwhile, is on the completely opposite end of the spectrum.

The acquisitions of All Stars Dwight Howard and Steve Nash by Los Angeles this past summer had most Lakers fans ready to ask off work almost a year in advance so they could attend the championship parade that seemed like more of a sure thing than the Harlem Globetrotters against the Washington Generals.

Needless to say, things haven’t exactly gone the way they, the Lakers themselves and the front office, planned. Despite the abundance of talent in the starting lineup with Nash and Howard joining forces with Kobe Bryant and Gasol – a duo that had won their second of back-to-back titles only two calendar years prior – the Lakers would kill for any kind of win, and sit on the outside of the postseason picture wondering how they could’ve possibly ended up just hoping to sneak in at this point.

As one of the proudest franchises in the history of sports, they’ve been as disgraceful this year as their always entertaining small forward Metta World Peace was last year when he inexplicably concussed then Oklahoma City Thunder forward James Harden with a crushing elbow to the side of the head.

D’Antoni’s had a handful of games where the players executed his run and gun system to a tee, but overall it’s clearly been an atrocious marriage. He’s made a number of lineup adjustments throughout the year, including bringing Gasol off the bench after coming across a stat that Los Angeles offensively ranks in the bottom five in the league when he and Howard share the floor, and that when they don’t, they sit in the top five.

However, the significance of this stat means about as much to Gasol as the celebrities that attend the games at Staples Center mean to him. He’s openly acknowledged that he’s never been a role player coming off the bench, and that he’s always been a starter.

That’s about as selfish as it gets.

On a team that continues to plummet, the shine of the diamonds of championship rings past doesn’t make Gasol a real winning player now. The way Stoudemire’s team-first mentality in pursuit of his first ring truly does.

Image Courtesy : Keith Allison

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Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks improved to 19-6 after defeating New York rivals the Brooklyn Nets 100-86 at Madison Square Garden.

‘Melo’ was extremely efficient, playing in his first game back since missing the last two games because of a sprained ankle. He scored 17 points in the first half, helping the Knicks take a 52-48 halftime lead.

Point guard Deron Williams helped spark a Nets’ comeback as he scored nine of Brooklyn’s first 10 points, to start the second half, giving the Nets a 61-57 lead.

New York was able to regain their composure and played solid lockdown defense to regain momentum. They then finished the third quarter with an eight-point lead, thanks to an 18-6 run late in the quarter.

Anthony finished the game scoring 31 points on 12 of 22 shooting from the field, and 4 of 8 from downtown. He also contributed with three rebounds, one assist, two steals and a block. In his three games against the Nets, Anthony is averaging 37 points per game.

Prolific sixth man and guard, J.R. Smith, scored 19 points, dished out three assists and secured five rebounds. Big man Tyson Chandler also contributed as he recorded his tenth double-double of the year, scoring 16 points and grabbing 12 boards.

The Nets were led by shooting guard Joe Johnson, who scored a team high 17 points.  Deron Williams and center Brook Lopez both finished the game with double-doubles, as Williams scored 16 points and dished out 10 assists, whilst Lopez also scored 16 points with 10 rebounds.

Brooklyn continues to be inconsistent as of late, and are currently on a three game losing streak, which contributes to a record of 2-8 in their last 10 games. The Nets will be hoping for a chance in fortunes when they welcome the Philadelphia 76ers to the Barclays Center December 23, for the first time this season.

Although being blown out at home against Houston earlier in the week, the Knicks have managed to win five of their last six games, and remain atop the Eastern Conference with a game and a half lead over the Miami Heat. The Knicks will entertain the Chicago Bulls at Madison Square Garden on December 21.

Image Courtesy : New York Knicks

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It is only two weeks into the NBA season, meaning that it’s definitely way too early to be discussing potential MVP candidates. Right?

Of course it isn’t. In fact, no one would blame you for pondering who has a chance at taking home the league’s most prestigious individual award in the upcoming season as soon as the winner of the current one is handed that unmatched piece of hardware.

That is just the nature of the ever – and sometimes overly – analytical fan; they have no problem moving onto the next one before the dust of what’s just occurred has even any resemblance of a chance to settle.

There are always the obvious choices, which include the likes of Kobe Bryant, who has one MVP to his name as he begins his 17th season; Kevin Durant, who is still seeking his first despite winning the last three regular season scoring titles; and LeBron James, who is the reigning MVP, has won three out of the last four, and even added a Finals MVP trophy to his collection in June when he silenced all his critics with one of the more dazzling championship performances ever witnessed.

Then there are also the likes of Chris Paul, and Carmelo Anthony - you get the point.

These are the types of players that everyone expects to be in that conversation towards the end of the season. They are the superstars that at times make the game look easier than opening a door.

But there is someone else out there who has a very solid chance of not only finding himself right in the middle of the discussion, but also of going home with the award if he does.

His name is James Harden.

Essentially a household name after last year, a year in which he won the Kia Sixth Man of the Year award, Harden was traded before the season opener to the Houston Rockets after three seasons complementing Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant in Oklahoma City as both an early backup and deadly threat late in games with the Thunder.

Harden, only 23, has shown gradual improvement with each passing season, and proved during 2011-2012 while averaging 16.8 points per game that he could be flat-out unstoppable whenever he desires to be.

He did have monumental struggles in The Finals against James’ Miami Heat, but it’s easy to remember that that was the same exact case with James himself in the previous Finals. And as we can easily remember once again, James was just fine the next time around.

While Harden may not be James, A.K.A. the best basketball player on the face of the Earth, that doesn’t mean that he does not possess the skill necessary to be the league’s Most Valuable Player. In Houston he is finally part of a team where his experience, combined with an abundance of youth around him ill allow him to be the go-to guy every time out, as opposed to being a third option if Durant or Westbrook are being hugged like boxers that are pummeling their opponents.

The Rockets also expressed this same superstar faith in Harden, immediately locking him up and making him the franchise player with the max five year, $80 million contract that he was eligible coming out of his original rookie deal.

He did not give anyone a chance to question whether or not he was worth those kinds of figures, dropping 37 points in his Rockets debut and setting a new career high with a 45 point encore two nights later. Obviously he won’t average those types of numbers throughout the season, but anywhere between the 25 and 28 point per game mark, along with leading a young Rockets squad to their first postseason appearance since the 2008-2009 campaign, could be enough for Harden to be awarded the honor of MVP.

Having a point guard with the vision and keen passing ability of the also newly acquired Jeremy Lin will add some more edge to Harden’s game as well. Westbrook, as was a huge topic of discussion throughout last year’s Finals, was not and is not the prototypical point guard whose first option is to set up his teammates. Lin has made it clear that he’s the night to Westbrook’s day in that regard.

Keep an eye on James Harden. The sun may only still be rising on the 2012-2013 season, but the MVP discussion is just too fun to wait around for.

Image Courtesy : James Harden

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Change the logo, name, colors and location of what was a historically underachieving franchise, and you always get the same thing in year one – a fantasy that all the pain of the past few years will be erased, and that invisible switch will be flipped the second that ground is broken for the new venue.

And then, most of the time, reality comes crashing down harder than Tim Duncan’s dunk over Serge Ibaka during the Spurs home opener on Thursday night. That’s usually why it’s called a fantasy.

But in the case of the new-look Brooklyn Nets, who have finally ended what was, for the most part, a miserable 35 year NBA residency period in New Jersey, people who have had high expectations for them going back to the moment they locked up one of the league’s elite point guards in Deron Williams this summer will not be asked if they also believed in Bigfoot at season’s end.

Once the Nets were able to retain Williams, Gerald Wallace, Kris Humphries and Brook Lopez, and also acquire Joe Johnson during the offseason, they established one of the more formidable starting lineups in the Eastern Conference. Second year man Marshon Brooks, whose name was thrown into essentially every trade rumor the team was involved in the past few months, has the potential to make up for the lack of bench depth similar to the way James Harden did for the Oklahoma City Thunder the past few seasons.

Only one thing matters in the Empire State, though. Will they be better than a Knicks team who has suddenly resurged the last two seasons by making back-to-back postseason appearances following a six year playoff absence?

Could a team that went 22-44 last year – not to mention a mind-blowing 12-70 two years prior – possibly take control of a town that saw its team finish with the seventh best record in the conference last season?

Yes. They can and they will in 2012-2013.

This wouldn’t have been the case had the Knicks actually made upgrades this offseason. While the Nets went out and got a star in Johnson and retained their more than solid core filled with both youth and veteran leadership, the Knicks for some reason decided to make additions that would literally make them the oldest team in NBA history. Stamina will not be their best friend, to say the least.

Given the terrible reputation the Knicks front office has earned over the last decade or so, it’s hard to imagine that their signings of 38-year-old Rasheed Wallace off the street, 39-year-old Jason Kidd, 38-year-old Marcus Camby, 35-year-old Argentinian Pablo Prigioni and 40-year-old Kurt Thomas will end up looking like genius moves throughout the year.

When it isn’t about bringing in a bunch of guys who most New Yorkers didn’t even know were still playing – or trying to get back into the league in the case of Wallace – there are three other glaring issues taking place at Madison Square Garden.

You may or may not have heard of this one player named Jeremy Lin last spring. He sort of took the league, and the world, for that matter, by storm. Linsanity had its run and ended well before the 2011-2012 season did, but losing Lin in restricted free agency to his previous team, the Houston Rockets still has Knicks fans wondering why their ownership group hates them.

Then there’s Amar’e Stoudemire, who is expected to miss at least six weeks to begin the season with yet another injury. Seems as though he’s spent almost half of his Knicks career on the bench with some sort of ailment – even self-inflicted ones like the infamous punching of the fire extinguisher door against Miami during last year’s playoffs. Stoudemire’s had more than his fair share of ups and downs on the court as well during his time in a Knicks uniform, but the team is certainly much better off with him than without him.

Finally, there is Carmelo Anthony. Despite being a flat-out superstar who can get his basically whenever he chooses to do so, he’s been a major source of stress since joining the Knicks a season and a half ago. Anthony tends to murder ball movement the moment he touches it, and even though he claimed on media day that he’s willing to sacrifice his scoring for the sake and benefit of the team, we have no other choice than to believe it when we see it.

The Knicks will still be a solid team in all likelihood, but their combination of unanswered questions along with multiple head-scratching signings will not allow them to be the alpha dog in New York when there’s a Nets team in Brooklyn that’s as hungry and as talented as they’ve been in a long time.

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Brooklyn Nets fans had it all played out in their heads, even months in advance. Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and the rest of the crew would step out onto the hardwood floor of the Barclays Center for their first ever regular season game in New York City’s latest breathtaking sporting venue, and no one would be able to detract from the dominating support of the home team.

Unless of course, the now cross-town rival New York Knicks were to make the short trip from Broadway to Brooklyn to crash the party. But the NBA would never allow that to happen. Never. Right?

Wrong.

The league released the upcoming regular season schedule yesterday, and one of – if not the most – surprising dates that was revealed was November 1^st, when Carmelo Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire and the remainder of New York’s original NBA franchise will assist the Nets in opening their brand new home and the 2012-2013 campaign in a battle to see who owns The Big Apple for at least this one night.

Needless to say, Nets fans are absolutely miffed. If you’re close to any and feel like having a hearty chuckle, just ask them what they think of this decision by the schedule-makers. You probably won’t be disappointed with their wild rant of a response. Just make sure to buy them a bottle of water afterwards.

This was supposed to be the next step for their organization. This was supposed to be the moment where they would completely pack the house donning their newly purchased black and white Brooklyn Nets apparel, cheering their heroes on so profusely that there’d be no possible way for them to lose this game. And the country would wonder how the borough of Brooklyn could have possibly been deprived of a major professional sports franchise for more than a half century following the Dodgers taking their act to sunny Los Angeles many moons ago.

Obviously this will not be the case with the Knicks in the building. Knicks fans will make their way from anywhere and everywhere in the city, Long Island, nearby upstate and – as ironic as this may sound – even the state the state of New Jersey in certain cases, which the Nets used to represent, in order to watch the team that was previously the only pro basketball team New Yorkers could feel either proud or ashamed of.

Throw in the fact that they’ve always appreciated an opportunity to witness history as well, and you know they’ll be there in full force. The moment Spike Lee is spotted sitting courtside in a Knicks jersey and hat, playfully harassing Nets players from a seat that would appear very similar to the one he’s always had at Madison Square Garden, you’ll know that this matchup is more than just one game. From now on every meeting will be about reserving bragging rights.

The fact that the Nets long-awaited Brooklyn debut is coming against the Knicks is a pity for both the team and their fans. There’s no question about it. But, for once, the NBA can actually get a pass.

It’s been stated a countless number of times – the NBA is a business. All professional sports leagues are just that, and the NBA is no different. In all likelihood ticket sales would not have been an issue in the Nets home opener in a brand new arena in New York City even if the Knicks weren’t the opponent. The Nets appear to have put together a very competitive core by re-signing Williams, Gerald Wallace, Kris Humphries, Brook Lopez, and trading for Johnson. Their fans have been dreaming of the day when they would look this good on paper. The Nets would have certainly sold out their first home game no matter what, as their fans would want to see if the team could indeed live up to their expectations once they got between the lines.

So the league realized that there would still be a way to make even more of a profit off of the first regular season game in the history of the Barclays Center. Television. They knew that if they could create a storyline that would attract even more nationwide viewers than they’d originally expected, this would be it. Knicks-Nets in an all New York showdown with massive star-power all over the floor? Yup, that’s the sound of a ratings explosion.

This right here is also a chance for the NBA to have their version of Major League Baseball’s Subway Series. When the New York Mets and New York Yankees meet for those six games every year the behavior of the crowd is something uniquely fascinating. Regardless of whether the game is in the Bronx or Queens, every time something important happens there’s a significantly loud reaction that is a mixture of both joy and frustration. The NBA finally has a shot to do the same now that it has two New York teams, so they figure there’s no point in waiting around. Not a terrible call on their part.

And let’s be honest, the Nets are not the type of franchise that deserves the best treatment when it comes to scheduling. Only the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics are in that class, and even they get the seriously short end of the stick sometimes.

The NBA schedule-makers may have gotten the question on this test wrong, but they should still receive partial credit for their reasoning.

Image Courtesy of   Brooklyn Nets

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The extremely competitive Western Conference has been busy this off-season, with players finding new homes, and other players resigning with their current teams.

The biggest move thus far in the West belongs to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers acquired veteran guard Steve Nash in exchange for two first-round picks, two-second round picks, and cash. The addition of Nash helps the Lakers continue to be dominant in the West. Kobe Bryant no longer needs constant control of the ball; Nash will help get whoever is on the court involved, especially young center Andrew Bynum. Bynum is coming off his best year of his career. The addition of Nash will help the powerful center improve even more. A healthy Lakers team could possibly make a run to the finals next season.

The Phoenix Suns took a significant step back with the loss of Nash. They did however rebounded with the signing of Goran Dragic.  Dragic signed a four-year $30 million deal that could increase to $34 million due to player option as well as bonus options. Dragic will have serious shoes to fill but will start for the Sun next season. The Yugoslavian-born point guard is coming off his best career season, averaging 11.7 points per game, and 5.3 assists per game while only starting 28 games for Houston. The Suns also picked up Luis Scola, which definitely improves their front court.

The Houston Rockets have welcomed back point guard Jeremy Lin to a three-year $25 million deal. Lin officially became a member of the Rockets after the Knicks did not match Houston’s offer. Lin will start in Houston and have a huge impact, especially after the departure of both Goran Dragic and Kyle Lowry

Los Angeles Clippers were able to re-sign guard Chauncey Billups. The five-time All-Star was off to a good start, until his season was cut short after tearing his left Achilles tendon. They also signed guard Jamal Crawford, who will have an impact, especially with the departure of Nick Young and Mo Williams. In a multi-team deal, the Clippers also landed Lamar Odom. Odom is coming from Dallas, off the worst season of his career.

Minnesota Timberwolves have made some moves that will help improve their young talented squad. They signed guard Brandon Roy to a two-year $10.4 million deal. Roy, who retired earlier in December due to knee problems, is attempting a comeback. Although Roy may not be explosive or effective right away, the youngster could potentially restore his career. In addition, the Wolves acquired Chase Budinger from Houston in exchange for the #18th pick of the draft.

The Sacramento Kings have added guard Aaron Brooks to a two year deal, approximately worth $6.6 million. Brooks will have to work for his playing time, especially after the great play of Isaiah Thomas. Also the addition of Brooks has guard Jimmer Fredette’s playing time up in the air. The kings have tons of options to choose from to run the court next season.

After being knocked out in the first round of the playoffs, the Dallas Mavericks have attempted to piece some players together, which  they hope will help in getting back atop the Western Conference. Dallas signed, center Chris Kaman to a one year $8 million deal. Kaman will start in Dallas and will likely improve being next to Dirk Nowitzki. Dallas also signed forward Elton Brand as a back-up for both Dirk and Kaman. Dallas was also able to replace Jason Kidd with Darren Collison,  who joined the Mavs via trade along with Dahntay Jones. The Mavs also picked up guard O.J. Mayo, who will be an important young asset after the departure of Jason Terry.

One of the more exciting young teams to watch next season in the West will be the New Orleans Hornets. The Hornets were able to re-sign young guard Eric Gordon. The Hornets matched the Suns’ four-year $58 million offer in order to retain the essential playmaker. The Hornets were also able to acquire forward Ryan Anderson from Orlando via trade, as well as center Brad Miller via trade from Minnesota. Although these signings may not make people say whoa, let’s not forget the Hornets drafted Anthony Davis, as well as Austin Rivers, and could be a team of the future.

As for the San Antonio Spurs, who finished with the first seed in the Western Conference, they were able to re-sign Boris Diaw, Tim Duncan, Danny Green, and Patrick Mills.

Although the Western Conference did not have as many moves as the East, essential changes have been made for several teams in their efforts to improve.

Click here,for more free agents deals and signings.

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There are two possible words to describe the NBA offseason thus far: player movement.

Since last season’s trade, deadline rumors of Dwight Howard leaving Orlando took NBA movement headlines. Although he has made it clear that he wants to join the Brooklyn Nets, the Orlando Magic have not found the right deal to send their superstar packing. It seems talks between the Magic and Nets are over for now after Brooklyn inked current center Brook Lopez to a four-year, $61 million deal. The longer the Magic continues to hold onto Howard, the less leverage they will have when it comes to deals. Orlando doesn’t want history to repeat itself when they lost Shaquille O’Neal for nothing.

The Brooklyn Nets did not let the “Dwight-mare” affect them when it came to making other deals. One of the biggest moves this offseason included the addition of ex-Atlanta Hawks guard, Joe Johnson, to Brooklyn. The Nets sent Jordan Farmar, Anthony Morrow, Johan Petro, DeShawn Stevenson, Jordan Williams, and two draft picks in exchange for the six-time all-star. The addition of Joe Johnson definitely helped Deron Williams make his decision to come back with the Nets, signing a five-year $98 million deal. The Nets also agreed to terms with veteran point guard, C.J. Watson.

The Nets possible starting line-up for next season could be: Brook Lopez, newly signed forward Mirza Teletovic, Gerald Wallace, Joe Johnson, and Deron Williams. Let’s not forget MarShon Brooks, who will make a great impact off the bench for the Nets. It seems the Nets have made a jump from possible lottery winners to playoff contenders in a few months.

With the Nets making all these moves and improving, their New York rival Knicks had to start doing something. In a sign-and-trade, the Knicks welcomed back Marcus Camby and sent Toney Douglas, Josh Harrellson, Jerome Jordan, and two future second-round picks to the Rockets. The 38 year old will help back up Tyson Chandler and Amare Stoudemire, as well as help the Knicks improve defensively.

Knicks brought in another veteran signing point guard, Jason Kidd. Kidd is coming off his worst career year, averaging only 6.2 points per game and 5.5 assists per game. Signing Kidd made Knick fans assume they would re-sign Jeremy Lin; however, that does not seem to be the case after the Knicks’ latest move. The Knicks are bringing back Raymond Felton and Kurt Thomas for Jared Jeffries and Dan Gadzuric.

Bringing back Felton likely closes the idea that the Knicks will match the Houston Rockets three-year $25 million deal for Lin. The Knicks have also re-signed Steve Novak and J.R Smith. Felton back in New York may be the only good move so far for the Knicks. Looking at everything else they seem to have just gotten older, not better.

However, the Knicks have parted ways with guard Landry Fields after not matching the Raptors three year $19 million deal. Toronto also added guard Kyle Lowry in exchange for Gary Forbes and a future first-round pick.

When everyone thought the Heat couldn’t get any better, the NBA champions did. The Heat added veteran sharp shooter, Ray Allen, in a three-year deal. Also, the Heat added veteran, Rashard Lewis, to a two-year deal.

After losing one veteran, the Celtics locked up Kevin Garnett to a 3-year $34 million deal. The 36-year old will definitely help improve Boston’s rookie big men Jared Sullinger and Fab Melo’s skills in order to be effective in the NBA. The Celtics also brought in another veteran guard, Jason Terry. Terry will likely start due to guard Avery Bradley undergoing shoulder surgery; however, once Bradley returns, Terry will take the duty as sixth man.

Philadelphia 76ers added guard Nick Young, who averaged 14.2 points per game last season. Young will be a good replacement for Lou Williams, who has reached an agreement with the Atlanta Hawks. In addition, Young may have the edge to earn the starting job over Evan Turner.

The Detroit Pistons traded away guard Ben Gordon and a first-round pick to the Charlotte Bobcats in exchange for Corey Maggette. The Bobcats also added free agents Ramon Sessions and Brendan Haywood.

Indiana Pacers re-signed guard George Hill as well as center Roy Hibbert. In addition, the Pacers added Gerald Green and D.J Augustin. However, the Pacers traded guard Darren Collison and Dahntay Jones for Ian Mahinmi.

The Milwaukee Bucks were able to re-sign probably one of the most underrated free agents this offseason, Ersan Ilyasova. Ilyasova signed a four-year, $45 million contract after having the best season of his career averaging 13 points per game and 8.8 rebounds per game.

Although the only news coming from Orlando is about Dwight Howard trade rumors, they were able to re-sign guard Jameer Nelson and add Gustavo Ayon via trade for three-point specialist Ryan Anderson.

There is still tons of time and room for more deals to be done in the East and it will be exciting to see what will happen next.

For More Eastern Conference Moves/Deals 

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Now that the Brooklyn Nets are reportedly bringing back center Brook Lopez with a max contract of four years and $60 million, Orlando Magic All Star center Dwight Howard has to be feeling like that painfully adorable puppy at the pet store that everyone instantly falls in love with, but unfortunately cannot afford.

Even when the Nets attempted to involve other teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Clippers in the trade discussions with Orlando, nothing seemed to completely satisfy the Magic’s desires.

It’s hard to fathom how things suddenly came to an abrupt halt for the Nets once they agreed to terms with Lopez. The consensus throughout the majority of this process was that they would eventually get the Howard deal done one way or another due to the combination of his vehement demand to be traded to Brooklyn before an upcoming contract season and his reported refusal to sign a long-term extension with any other team the Magic might trade him to.

If Howard really wasn’t going to give a verbal agreement to interested teams such as the Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets and Atlanta Hawks, there was no way the Nets transaction wasn’t going to go down at some point this offseason. However, now enters the collective bargaining agreement, which prohibits Brooklyn from trading Lopez after signing this deal until January 15^th.

If Howard isn’t headed to a different city before then, then the rumors will likely re-surface once again somewhere around the holiday season. And to think, that’s supposed to be the happiest time of year!

But what if Howard is shipped off somewhere else beforehand, thus ending any possibility of him opening up the brand new Barclays Center in Brooklyn?

Well, Nets fans need not lose sleep over such a scenario taking place, because it really wouldn’t be as heartbreaking as it would initially seem. As insane as it may sound, this team would instead be better off without trading for him.

Heat stars LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh aren’t the only ones to prove that great players like themselves are capable of winning a world championship if they decide to join forces the way they did in the Summer of 2010. Nope. We can’t forget that Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce – all future Hall of Famers – were the original “Big Three” back in 2007, and that they also won it all during their era.

That’s where the NBA is headed, whether you’re in favor of it or not; which is exactly why the star-studded Lakers added Steve Nash this offseason, why the New York Knicks brought in Carmelo Anthony to join Amar’e Stoudemire a little over a season ago, and why adding Dwight Howard to a starting lineup that has two of the league’s most skilled players in Deron Williams and Joe Johnson would have sounded like Heaven for the people of Brooklyn.

On paper, the idea of putting the only three-time Defensive Player of the Year award winner in league history, and arguably best center in the game today, in Howard, alongside Williams and Johnson, who have combined for eight All Star appearances, sounds like an absolutely unstoppable force. There’s nothing far-fetched about that belief whatsoever.

The issue, however, lies in Howard’s market value. Rumors had the Nets trading pieces such as Lopez, Marshon Brooks, Kris Humphries and several first round draft picks in exchange for Howard’s services.

These assets aren’t worth dealing when the foundation of the Nets is already built on stars such as Williams and Johnson. The organization can also use the truckload of money they were going to give Howard to sign quality veterans that will comprise the bench.

Last year’s injuries have turned Lopez into a forgotten man, and wrongfully so. Until the 2011-2012 season – where he was only able to compete in five games as a result of serious foot and ankle ailments – Lopez had not missed a single game during his first three years as a pro. Standing seven feet tall and only 24-years-old, he essentially has the skill-set of Pau Gasol, minus the superb vision and passing ability. He’s averaged a very healthy 17.4 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game for his career. Good health and Williams at the point could propel him into one of the top three centers in the league.

Kim Kardashian may be the reason that Humphries is globally famous, but his performance on the court should be turning NBA fans’ heads even more. Last year he was one of the few players in the league to average a double-double, with 13.8 points and 11 rebounds per game. He’s earned a reputation as a solid player who doesn’t hold anything back on either end. Currently a free agent, he expects a big payday in the near future, and the Nets almost certainly wouldn’t mind signing that check if they are financially capable.

In his rookie season last year, Brooks at times displayed an ability to score at will. He posted an average of 12.6 points and nearly a steal per game in about 29 minutes a night. Bringing in Johnson and Gerald Wallace will probably reduce him to a sixth man role, but having a growing scorer like him in that spot could turn out great for a team with a thin bench like Brooklyn.

Howard may be one cute puppy, but not worth giving up all your other cool pets for.

Image Courtesy of  Keith Allison

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It’s been 35 years since the Nets departed the media giant that is New York and bolted next door for little brother New Jersey. However, even after a three and a half decade-long absence from the Empire State, they still understand good and well upon their return that the people of Brooklyn won’t tolerate the losing that infamously defined the franchise for the majority of their time across the Hudson.

The ensuing result is what we’ve witnessed over the past week – an organization that gave Deron Williams, its perennial All Star point guard, virtually no other choice than to agree to re-sign long-term after first convincing Gerald Wallace to do exactly the same, and then used basically all of its young assets to acquire Atlanta Hawks shooting guard Joe Johnson.

In fact, Williams confirmed last Friday that the transaction that landed Johnson in Brooklyn was the final deciding factor that persuaded him to ultimately agree to a five year, $98 million deal with the Nets at the last minute, as opposed to signing with his hometown Dallas Mavericks, who were his only other option.

“I was really close to going to Dallas,” said Williams. “I actually thought that’s where I was going to go. I had the meetings and it kind of changed my mind because once I got out of the meeting with Dallas and saw the way they were going and the team they were putting out there and I saw that we just made a trade for Joe Johnson and I felt like that team for a longer time would be the better team.

“Joe got me over the hump. I’ve never played with anybody like him, a guy on the wing that can get his own shot and also get me involved and is a great defender. We could be one of the top backcourts in the NBA for sure.”

This is exactly what owner Mikhail Prokhorov envisioned when he bought majority stake in the Nets back in September of 2009 and provided nearly half of the funds for the Barclays Center project that would make Brooklyn their new home.

While many of their diehard fans initially refused to look at the purchase as anything more than another investment for a Russian billionaire who only aspired to become even wealthier in the long run, Prokhorov has continued to open his wallet in hopes of building a championship-contending team for years to come.

“For us, it’s very important they [Nets fans] trust in us,” he told reporters back in April at the Barclays Center construction site. “And I’ll do my best. I’m very committed.”

When asked later about the job statuses of both Nets general manager Billy King and head coach Avery Johnson, Prokhorov continued to express a great deal of support for them despite the team’s atrocious 46-102 overall record over the past two seasons since the two joined the organization back in 2010.

“I think Billy and Avery, they are doing great job,” Prokhorov said. “We have a common view, not only on the day-to-day routine but on our strategic goal. Just to have a championship team we need to be global view, strategic view and you need to have the common knowledge of how to reach this.”

“So from my point of view, we have a great team spirit and we need a little bit of luck, because the team is very professional, and I hope next season we’ll be much, much better than the previous two,” he added.

A severe lack of talent more than plagued King and Johnson during their time in Newark. Now that the franchise enters a new era in its history and will spend an exorbitant sum of money to bring in a trio that has combined for a total of nine All Star appearances in Williams, Johnson and Wallace, King and Johnson suddenly believe that if they’re able to add a few solid complementary pieces – or possibly even Dwight Howard – they can make their way back to the Finals.

With King as G.M., the 2000-2001 Philadelphia 76ers made it as far as the NBA Finals before falling to the Los Angeles Lakers and their all-time great duo of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. His tenure in Philly lasted almost nine seasons.

Meanwhile, the climax of Johnson’s nearly four-year run as Mavericks coach was the 2005-2006 season, when he led them to the Finals before losing four straight to the Miami Heat after winning the first two games of the series.

Johnson did win a title in 1999 during his playing days with the San Antonio Spurs, but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t just as hungry as Williams, Johnson and Wallace, who are still ring-less.

It appears as though when you mix a couple of years of patience by Prokhorov, King and Johnson, the formulation of what will inevitably be referred to as a ‘Big Three,’ and a relocation to the enormous market that is New York City, this is what you get: the Nets with a realistic ambition of reaching the Finals for the first time since their glory years of 2002 and 2003.

To the Nets fans and the borough of Brooklyn – which has been wrongfully deprived of a major sports franchise since the Dodgers flew 3,000 miles to Los Angeles 55 years ago – welcome back.

Image Courtesy of   Brooklyn Nets

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Ottawa, Canada — The most popular professional sports league in North America, the National Football League (NFL), has the most “socialist” economic system of the four major leagues inNorth America, based on an assessment by The Conference Board of Canada – the latest in its series on the pro sports market.

“It is somewhat ironic that America, land of capitalism and free enterprise, is so fond of a league that has made sharing the wealth fundamental to its business model,” said Glen Hodgson , Senior Vice-President and Chief Economist.

In the National Football League, more than 80 per cent of league and club revenues are shared among the franchises. The NFL also has a “hard” salary cap that puts a ceiling on the amount of money franchises can pay players, one that applies equally to all teams. The one market-driven aspect is the NFL’s treatment of player talent- both in terms of the high salaries paid to top stars and the ease with which players can be discarded.

Moving from the economic “left” to “right”, the National Hockey League (NHL) is similar to the NFL in having a hard player salary cap. As part of the current collective bargaining agreement with its players – negotiated in 2005 and now expiring – the NHL has a salary floor and a complex revenue-sharing system. The NHL is willing to provide subsidies to its weaker clubs to protect the value of the stronger franchises, since bankruptcy of any team is not a good signal to prospective investors.

“The NHL model is a mixed economy which does try to equalize opportunity for all its franchises to be successful on the ice and profitable in the books,” said Hodgson. “The challenge for the NHL and its players in collective bargaining this year is to tweak this system without undue disruption to the business. Hopefully, both management and the players have learned from their experience in 2004-05 and they will not risk losing another season in these negotiations.”

Both the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball operate much like a modern capitalist economy. In general, the financial playing field in these leagues is not level, and the largest, richest markets and teams tend to be the most successful. Top players command massive salaries, which leads them overwhelmingly to suit up for the wealthiest teams.

No league in North America, however, compares to European football (or soccer) for unconstrained capitalism. The presence of unbelievably wealthy owners, little sharing of revenue among teams and leagues, and eye-popping player salaries is reminiscent of the “robber baron” era of capitalism in the 19thcentury. Clubs are very much on their own. The current liquidation of the Scottish club Rangers FC – one of the most storied teams in Europe – shows there is little financial security or assistance to those that slip.

Image Courtesy of  Richard Paul Kane / Shutterstock.com

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On the brink of likely becoming an unrestricted free agent this Sunday, three-time All Star point guard Deron Williams’ uncertainty over what team he will join this summer hasn’t been commanding quite the amount of non-stop attention that Magic center Dwight Howard did this past season.

But Williams’ ability to maintain a relatively low profile throughout the year and up to this point doesn’t mean that his final decision won’t be felt throughout the league for years to come. Which is exactly why many are attempting to decode any potential significance behind him openly revealing through Instagram and Twitter that he was spending some quality time with Dallas Mavericks – not to mention former Nets – point guard Jason Kidd.

The two were out playing golf on Long Island that morning, and Williams thought it wouldn’t hurt to stir the pot just a little bit.

“Just finished playing East Hampton Golf Club w/ @RealJasonKidd let the speculation begin?????” tweeted Williams shortly after posting the picture.

Earlier in the week it was reported that Williams has narrowed his destination options down to two – either choosing to remain with the newly relocated Brooklyn Nets, or to make his way to Texas to become a part of his hometown Dallas Mavericks. If this holds true it would knock teams like the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks – who were rumored to have a great deal of interest – out of contention for acquiring his services.

It would be easy to assume that the golf outing was Kidd’s method of recruiting Williams to sign with Dallas, but considering the fact that over the past few weeks he has expressed open mindedness to the idea of backing up Williams on either of the two squads he’s contemplating, Williams might just be doing the same with Kidd and Brooklyn.

With a depleted roster that currently has only four players under contract – forward Jordan Williams, center Johan Petro and guards Anthony Morrow and Marshon Brooks – the Nets are more than desperate to hold onto their star point guard, as they hope that he can eventually get them to the same place Kidd got them back in 2002 and 2003: the Finals.

Throw in a brand new arena in New York City and an even greater need to compete with the vastly improved Knicks on top of that as well and the Nets are outright praying for Williams to sign a long-term deal with them.

Brooklyn hopes to have its prayers answered by sometime next week. Until then, let the fun continue.

Image Courtesy of  Deron Williams

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With no surprise and being on the clock since winning the draft lottery, the New Orleans Hornets drafted Kentucky’s Anthony Davis. Davis was last years AP Player of the Year, leading his Kentucky Wildcats to a National Championship victory. Davis will look to help the Hornets regain some confidence after a rough 21-45 season. Although Davis is defensively NBA ready, he will need to develop his offensive game to help make a bigger impact on both ends of the court.

The second pick of the draft belonged to the Charlotte Bobcats. The Bobcats finished the 2011-2012 season with the worst winning percentage in league history. With their pick, the Bobcats drafted another Kentucky star, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. This was the first time ever that the top two picks of the NBA draft were from the same school.

Washington was able to land Florida guard Bradley Beal with the third pick in the draft. The freshman guard has been compared to current NBA star and future Hall of Famer, Ray Allen.

Cleveland, who had their eyes on Beal, settled with Syracuse sophomore guard, Dion Waiters. This was a shock to some, considering Waiters did not start a single game for Syracuse last year, but should have an immediate impact for the Cavaliers.

Sacramento fans should be thrilled after drafting Kansas forward, Thomas Robinson. Through all the off court tragedy Robinson dealt with, he still led the nation with 27 double-doubles averaging 17.9 points per game and 11.8 rebounds.

Guard Damian Lillard from Webber State was drafted 6th by the Portland Trail Blazers. Lillard averaged 24.5 points per game, 2nd in the country. Lillard faces a tremendous amount of scrutiny based on the college competition he encountered. However, the 6’3 guard will look to make a quick impact for the Blazers.

Harrison Barnes, North Carolina forward, was drafted 7th by the Golden State Warriors. Barnes led the Tar Heels in scoring last season, averaging 17.4 points per game.

The second surprise of the draft was the Toronto Raptors’ 8th pick, Washington sophomore guard Terrence Ross. Ross, an excellent shooter, was not expected to be drafted so early; however, he can definitely make an impact on the Raptors 28th ranked offense.

Detroit decided to go big with their pick, drafting Connecticut center Andre Drummond. There is concern about Drummond’s youth, being only 18. Also, it was a bit of a surprise considering Detroit already has a young center, Greg Monroe.

The Hornets were back on the clock with the 10th  pick of the draft, and added Duke guard Austin Rivers. Rivers led Duke in scoring an average of 15.5 points per game. Rivers will likely play an important role off the bench behind current Hornet, Eric Gordon.

The Hornets can easily claim to be this year’s draft winners. Combining Anthony Davis and Austin Rivers with Eric Gordon gives the Hornets hope for a very bright future.

July 1st marks the 2nd day of excitement for organizations to make a push from being a good team to becoming an elite team with free agency.

Check out the rest of Round 1 and Round 2

Image Courtesy of  Anthony Davis

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Iona College’s stellar point guard, Scott Machado, is anxiously waiting for his name to be called Thursday at the 2012 NBA Draft. Machado is currently ranked as the 35th best player in the draft and the 5th best point guard of the draft, according to Chad Ford’s ESPN Player Evaluation

Machado received plenty of national recognition in his final season with the Gaels. He was one of the 16 finalists for the John R. Wooden Collegiate Player of the Year Award, and was one of the 11 finalists for the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award. In addition, his incredible court vision led him to finish the season as the nation’s assists leader, averaging 9.9 assists per game.

Machado’s 13.6 points per game, 5.0 rebounds per game, and 9.9 assists per game rightfully earned him the Pepsi Max Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the Year award, as well as membership of the All-MAAC First Team.

In his final season with the Gaels, he helped Iona become regular season MAAC champions, and also earned it an at large NCAA Tournament Bid. Iona’s regular season MAAC championship was the first since 2001, and this was the Gaels’ first NCAA tournament appearance since 2006.

It is clearly evident that Machado has been spending countless hours in the gym since joining the Iona Gaels, improving his shooting, passing, rebounding, and assisting throughout the years, posting career bests in each category as a senior.

He had some wonderful words of advice left behind to his teammates at Iona, “Work hard and seize opportunities given to them; to get better at every aspect of the game in any way possible and to sharpen up their everything.”

As for the tons of other mid-major players living the dream like Machado is, he stated, “At a mid major school, you have to be able to do a certain something very great and special because they think we can’t play. They feel as if our level of play isn’t very good because of the leagues we are in. You have to stand out and show that you are capable of playing at the next level in some sort of way.”

Once being drafted, it doesn’t end there for Machado. “After being drafted I want to become a somebody in the NBA, not just another player.” The Gaels, as well as the NCAA, are losing a talented player. However, the NBA is gaining an ambitious future star.

Image Courtesy of  Scott Machado

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Entering the 2012 NBA Finals, Heat forward LeBron James put it upon himself to make sure that the third time would in fact be a charm.

He would not leave anything to chance, shy away from the moment or give anyone another year’s worth of ammunition to continue calling him a crownless king. Averaging 28.6 points, 10.2 rebounds and 7.4 assists in five games against the ferociously athletic and ambitious Oklahoma City Thunder – led by the star-power of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden – the Finals MVP’s breakout performance was exactly what we had long been craving from the world’s best player on its biggest stage.

After last year’s colossal meltdown against the Dallas Mavericks in which he essentially disappeared in the games’ most critical moments – which undoubtedly played an enormous role in the Heat dropping the final three games after establishing a 2-1 series lead with a late win on the road in Game 3 – James refused to crush the fragile hearts of the Miami faithful for a second straight season.

But the seemingly infinite scrutiny that he would have endured might have been an even bigger motivating factor when all was said and done.

In this era of social media and endless reporting via internet, television and radio, many have made the case that James is not only the most criticized and hated professional athlete on the globe today, but that he in fact holds that title amongst all of those that came before him as well.

Reasons for that overload of negative attention differ depending on the skeptic. Reporters, analysts and writers comprehend that someone of his overwhelming size and talent level should surely still be able to shine when the lights are at their brightest, as opposed to crumble under the pressure as he did in his 2011 and 2007 Finals appearances. Although a number of fans share the same sentiment, many others instead enjoy watching him fail due to all of the factors that “The Decision” was composed of along with the understanding that he truly is the greatest player in the game.

A lot of fans appreciate having the opportunity to witness greatness and history as it is taking place, yet there are also those who can’t help but despise it when their beloved team isn’t the beneficiary of it.

With all that being said, it was additionally clear that James felt no desire in returning to that dark place he found himself in following last year’s Game 6 Finals defeat in Miami. He heard the chatter about how he didn’t have that killer instinct that it takes to win a championship. He heard the analysts chastise him for having an inadequate post-game despite being 6’9, 250 pounds – making him an incomplete player.

At that moment where it was essentially the world against James, he had two options. He could either uphold the villainous persona that he openly embraced after announcing his decision to take his “talents to South Beach,” or he could learn from his recent anguish and finally snatch that ring that he had been desperately pursuing for nearly the past decade of his life.

Thankfully for his sake, he chose the latter.

James spent the offseason working on developing an array of moves for the low-block with Hall of Famer and two-time champion, former Houston Rockets center Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon. He certainly put those moves to work this postseason, as they made him practically unstoppable for prolonged stretches.

They wouldn’t be enough, however. Something needed to click in James’s DNA in a way it had never done before. The only thing that virtually stood between him and the Larry O’Brien trophy was his inability to focus and play at his optimal level when his team absolutely needed him to.

He admittedly looked himself in the mirror and said “You need to be better.”

With the Heat staring elimination dead in the eye entering Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals in Boston, James appeared to have an epiphany about his true abilities. He put his teammates on his back and had a game for the ages, dropping 45 points and ripping down 15 rebounds in a rout of the Celtics.

A solid 31 points by James in Game 7 propelled Miami to its second consecutive NBA Finals appearance. This was apparently a new LeBron James.

Oklahoma City won Game 1, but a huge shot by James with a minute and a half remaining in Game 2 helped the Heat tie the series. He did not freeze up in any of the fourth quarters as we had grown accustomed to seeing. Before his leg cramps in Game 4 forced him to sit out the final few minutes, they did not prevent him from hitting big shots down the stretch.

When it came time to close the deal, James took Game 5 by the throat and recorded his first triple-double of the playoffs – 26 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists – en route to a blowout victory for the Heat and their second world championship since 2006.

After this excruciatingly long road, LeBron James is finally an NBA champion, and with all of the questions thoroughly answered, the best could be yet to come.

Image Courtesy of  Keith Allison

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News flash: LeBron James is undoubtedly the most vilified athlete on the face of the Earth. Alright, that isn’t exactly breaking news, but it still holds 100% true, regardless. And now that he and his Miami Heat are back in the NBA Finals for a second consecutive year, his army of haters will be in full force.

But what makes the NBA’s greatest player the most despicable sports superstar out there? Well, many people who loathe him in this manner will point at “The Decision” of Summer 2010 as the moment they decided to scrutinize essentially every single move that he makes.

To those fans, here’s the message: Re-evaluate it and realize that you need to let it go.

When James left the Cleveland Cavaliers and his home state of Ohio, he did it in what was perceived as such an egotistical and selfish fashion that it was simply unforgivable. He did not inform even a single soul within the Cavs organization of his final decision to leave and take his “talents to South Beach,” where he would form a super alliance with fellow All Stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh on the Miami Heat.

He did not owe the city of Cleveland and its fans that had suffered for so long before his arrival in 2003 anything more than the classy farewell they deserved. An hour-long special aired live on ESPN certainly didn’t qualify as classy to them or anyone else watching.

However, other than that, he didn’t owe them a new contract, a championship, or to finish what he started straight out of St. Vincent-St. Mary High School.

He gave them everything he had in those seven years and exercised his free agent right to pursue a new opportunity elsewhere. How is it any different from a person who isn’t an entertainer, who decides to leave the job they’ve worked for years for an even better one?

Don’t kid yourself, you know it isn’t. Plus, when regular people announce leaving their jobs that usually doesn’t bring in a boatload of money in donations to the the local Boys and Girls Clubs.

So if you think about that twice, declaring your intentions to start a new job in front of your entire family at Thanksgiving dinner might seem a little more self-centered than what James did.

Of course there are people out there who don’t really care about any of that stuff. Instead, there are those who will claim, ‘I hate him because he went and joined two other great players. One is also a top five superstar player in this league (Wade), and the other has been one of the more underrated All Stars pretty much his entire career. Jordan wouldn’t have done that.’

Alright, all of that is true. Jordan wouldn’t have left the Bulls to assemble some crazy squad alongside guys with the caliber of a Wade and Bosh. But that was then and this is now. If you live in the past and fail noticed that the league has been heading in this direction since the “Big Three” of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett joined forces in 2007, you probably should pay a little more attention to players and teams other than your own and James.

James needed the help and the Cavs were incapable of surrounding him with enough of it because they play in Cleveland! The majority of people, especially young professional basketball players, don’t want to live in Cleveland during a long season! Jordan had Scottie Pippen, Steve Kerr and the rest of the crew to help him finish off the job; James just knew he had to make a drastic move in order to get his help, because Cleveland itself was repelling free agents like a great college in the middle of nowhere.

And for those who argue that he could’ve gone to a place like New York or New Jersey – where he could have been ‘the man’ and eventually gotten the aid he needed because that’s what Jordan would have done – you need to come to terms with the fact that there’s only one player remaining that still has that kind of old school mentality, and his name is Kobe Bryant.

Bryant’s admitted that he always wanted to be Jordan. That is why he has only one less ring than him. James just wants to be himself. That’s something that should be admired, not detested.

In the end, if this isn’t enough, the fact that it’s been two years should be. Unless you are that immature, you really don’t have an excuse to hold a grudge for this long.

LeBron James has moved on with his life, it would be best if the haters followed suit.

Image Courtesy of  Keith Allison

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Mountain View, U.S.A. - Luminate, Inc., the worldwide leader in making images interactive, and FOXSports.com recently announced a unique image app that provides consumers with instant access to player-related statistics and information by simply mousing over an image. This custom app will be deployed across FOXSports.com including NBA, MLB and NFL galleries.

“We are thrilled to collaborate with FOXSports.com on the next generation of digital sports fan applications,” said Chas Edwards, Luminate CRO and Head of Publisher Development. “Consumers demand greater depth-of-experience from today’s imagesphere, and publishers like FOXSports.com are answering that demand. With more than 3 trillion images online and millions more uploaded each day, developing an image strategy is becoming a top priority for publishers who want to participate in an increasingly visual culture.”

FOXSports.com visitors gain immediate benefit from a scrolling player stats app at the bottom of an image that is directly related to the player within the image. Those who want more information simply mouse over the image to expand a player card of detailed stats and the player’s performance relative to others in the league. All of this takes place directly from an online image.

By adding interactive image apps to previously one-dimensional static images, FOXSports.com’s viewers engage with content that improves their user experience and increases time spent on their site. Additionally, Luminate’s image app brings new life to all of FOXSports.com’s photos regardless of when they were taken because relevant, up-to-date information is embedded in each picture.

“Merging stats with our wide array of sports photos gives fans a wealth of information at their fingertips without having to leave the page,” said Ed Bunnell, FOXSports.com SVP, Programming & Content. “Whether it’s stats from last night’s game or a current player’s historical career performance, photos now come to life and allow fans to interact in a way they’ve never been able to before.”

This new application was co-developed by Luminate and FOXSports.com through Luminate’s custom image app program. Luminate works closely with publishers to enhance their content offerings by developing creative image capabilities that appeal to the needs of specific audiences while also aligning with a publisher’s broader content strategy. The app will be added to the 15 plus other Luminate applications available from Luminate’s Image App store.

To learn more about how to create a custom image app, deploy existing images apps, or develop a comprehensive image strategy, please visit.

To view the Internet’s first image app for sports stats, please visit.

Image Courtesy of  Mat Hayward / Shutterstock.com

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With rumors surfacing over the last few weeks regarding a potential return to the Los Angeles Lakers for veteran forward Lamar Odom, there is one technicality that might end up making the reunion between the two sides nothing more than an unrealistic fantasy for Lakers fans.

That would be the NBA’s new rule that prohibits players from returning to their old teams as free agents less than a calendar year after that team has dealt them away in a trade.

As the postseason embarks upon its final stage, many have probably forgotten about the messy labor dispute that was not resolved until December, thus shortening the regular season campaign to a compacted 66 game schedule.

Once the new collective bargaining agreement was finally agreed upon, this new rule concerning the actual freedom of these free agents was implemented so that they would not simply be able to negotiate buyouts of their contracts with their new teams – as they so often did in salary cap-based trades – and rejoin their previous squad only a month later.

In a move that was heavily scrutinized at the time, the Lakers traded Odom to the Dallas Mavericks on December 11^th for a first round draft pick. Los Angeles would go on to send that pick to the Houston Rockets at the trade deadline in the deal that gave them long-time Laker guard Derek Fisher in exchange for forward Jordan Hill.

Odom, 32, immediately demanded that Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak trade him after Commissioner David Stern rescinded a blockbuster three-team deal between the Lakers, Rockets and the then-owned New Orleans Hornets that would have had him playing in the Big Easy.

Plagued by a rough offseason filled with personal issues that were non-basketball related, Odom did not appear to give the Mavs a whole-hearted effort this season. Averaging only 6.6 points per game, he had the worst scoring season of his career and was deactivated by Dallas with about a month remaining.

Having been a Laker since being acquired from the Miami Heat in the 2004 Shaquille O’Neal trade, many believe that Odom left his heart in Los Angeles, which may have also played a major role in his dreadful stint with the defending world champion Mavs.

The popular belief is that Dallas will buy out Odom sometime this month for $2.4 million, making him an unrestricted free agent. But despite the fact that he would be eligible to return to the Lakers on December 11^th – that is, if the chatter is true and both sides are willing to try things out again – sources close to Odom say he would not be willing to miss about six weeks of action leading up to then, which would shut the door on the discussion before it could ever even really open.

In seven seasons with the Lakers, Odom averaged 13.8 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game. He was named the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year in his final season with the team and was also a major contributor to their back-to-back NBA Finals victories over the Orlando Magic and Boston Celtics in 2009 and 2010, respectively.

Image Courtesy of  Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com

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David Stern would never openly admit it to us. Nope, no commissioner would ever even publicly hint at a sense of displeasure, anger or absolute frustration regarding which franchise just received the number one pick in the upcoming draft – especially when that pick is projected to be an absolute can’t-miss superstar the way Kentucky’s Anthony Davis is.

But let’s be real about this; the New Orleans Hornets winning the NBA Draft Lottery on Wednesday night was Stern’s worst nightmare come to life.

If you compound the never before seen sequence of events that took place involving the Hornets and their elite point guard Chris Paul just before this abbreviated 66 game season got underway with the all-time historically atrocious struggles of the Charlotte Bobcats during 2012, nothing could make Stern look shadier to the league’s ever so skeptical fan base, which is now crying out conspiracy.

It all began way back in early December when Stern – thinking not as the impartial commissioner, but rather as the Hornets owner due to the league having control over the franchise at the time – shockingly pulled the plug on a blockbuster three team deal between New Orleans, the L.A. Lakers, and the Houston Rockets for what he justified as “basketball reasons.”

The trade would have sent Chris Paul to the Lakers, seven foot forward Pau Gasol to the Rockets, and forward Lamar Odom, guards Goran Dragic and Kevin Martin, forward Luis Scola and the Rockets’ 2012 first round draft pick to the Hornets.

Stern expressed that the transaction was “not in the best interest of the Hornets,” but given that the pieces offered included an immediate first round pick and four players that have proven that they possess very solid NBA talent over the years, no one cared to buy that explanation.

The Lakers said they would work to sweeten the deal in order to completely appease New Orleans; however, Los Angeles’ other basketball team, the Clippers, began to show interest in acquiring Paul.

And from that very moment Stern’s level of trust amongst viewers has inevitably taken the mother of all nosedives.

At this point fans everywhere knew that if the Clippers – the most insignificant team in the Los Angeles sports scene since moving to the city only a handful of decades ago – went on to win this battle, it would be for a reason. What would it be exactly? To finally make them relevant and actually add some spice to a Lakers-Clippers ‘rivalry’ that has always been conquered by the Kobe Bryant-led purple and gold.

So when the Clippers did get Paul for guard Eric Gordon, center Chris Kaman, forward Al-Farouq Aminu and the Minnesota Timberwolves’ 2012 first round draft pick, that only added fuel to their argument. How does that trade sound any better than the one the Lakers and Rockets put together? Oh, that’s right, it doesn’t. Not to mention the fact that the Hornets had to ship off two future second round picks of their own in this deal.

All that did was give the appearance that Stern was attempting to rig the power balance in the West for years to come. The Clippers had their best season in franchise history, finishing fifth in the conference at 40-26. Meanwhile, the Hornets closed out the season with a record of 21-45 – tied for third-worst in the entire league.

Gordon did only participate in nine games all year long with a bone bruise in his knee, so it’s unsure how the team would have performed with him out there consistently. However, he can leave the team this offseason as a free agent, something that should have kept the Hornets from desiring him in the first place.

Farouq Aminu only averaged an inadequate six points and 22 minutes per game this season, and Kaman’s struggles got to a point where the team discussed sending him home or releasing him.

There’s a great likelihood that the team would not have had such turmoil had they just gone through with the initial Paul trade. Odom did have the worst season of his career in 2012, as a result of personal issues stemming from both being a trade piece and a rough offseason, but other than that, Martin, Dragic, and Scola averaged 17.1, 11.7 and 15.5 points per game, respectively.

The Rockets also missed the playoffs by a mere two games, as they posted a 34-32 record.

On top of all this, the team with the worst winning percentage of all-time, the Bobcats at .106, didn’t win the draft lottery? You’re kidding, right?

Too bad Stern can’t force the Hornets to give the pick to the Bobcats. He definitely wanted to after the process made him look like a complete sham.

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Brothers are always willing to fight for each other. ESPN broadcaster and former New York Knicks and Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy demonstrated on Friday that that sense of loyalty certainly does not have an age limit, as he publicly criticized Orlando Magic CEO Alex Martins for the manner in which he handled his brother’s firing.

Van Gundy’s brother, Stan, was dismissed as the team’s coach on Monday following five seasons with the organization, despite leading them to the postseason in each of those years. Following an obvious and much-prolonged rift between his all-star center Dwight Howard and him, management apparently felt pressure to choose between the two. Van Gundy stated earlier in the season that front office personnel had informed him of a request by Howard to have him fired. Howard vehemently denied that report and echoed that same sentiment following Van Gundy’s termination.

After Martins officially fired Van Gundy and complimented him on his brilliance and knowledge of the game, Jeff Van Gundy expressed fury to 98.7 ESPN Radio’s Stephen A. Smith about Martins’ dishonesty in the role Dwight Howard played in the decision.

“To hide behind the fact or to try to make everyone believe that Dwight Howard didn’t have a part in this is absurd,” said Van Gundy. “’Say, listen, we fired this guy because we know this is our best chance to keep Dwight Howard. Dwight Howard and I decided to fire him.’ To do anything else is playing a game of semantics. And this is the biggest one to me –  he said that my brother is the finest ‘x and o’ coach he has been around in his 25 years in the business.”

It didn’t end there. He had a powerful message to send to Martins about his overall basketball I.Q., as well.

“Okay, listen, all you (CEO Alex Martins) have done in your 25 years in the business is release press releases and run the business side,” continued Van Gundy. “You don’t know if a ball is blown up or stuffed. You don’t know if the pick and roll coverage on the side is right or wrong. Just say that I have no knowledge about basketball. He doesn’t know one thing about basketball, so please hold off your comments on my brother’s expertise since you know nothing about basketball.”

Van Gundy also called Martins “unprofessional” for breaking the news to his brother by phone shortly after he left the Magic’s facilities on Monday instead of telling him face-to-face.

In 2009, Stan Van Gundy’s Magic made it all the way to the NBA Finals, where they would put up a great fight against the Los Angeles Lakers, but only to fall short in five games. His final record with Orlando was 259-135.

Image Courtesy of   Keith Allison

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Look at that! The playoffs are suddenly upon us. Seems like just yesterday, we were basically praying for an NBA season just to be played. Before we start worrying about all that postseason drama, how about taking a few moments to recognize the accomplishments of an exceptional few and explain why they will/should be honored with this season’s individual awards?

Let’s start with an obvious one, and go from there. Kyrie Irving, a.k.a. the number one overall pick of the Cavs, is clearly going to win Rookie of the Year, and deservedly so. Sure, there were some nice rookies out there like Iman Shumpert of the Knicks, the Pistons’ Greg Monroe, and Golden State’s Klay Thompson, but Irving displayed star power year round.

With an average of 18.5 points and 5.4 assists per game, there is only a 2.4 difference when comparing both of these numbers to the rookie stats of one of the league’s top-point guards, Chris Paul. Do not forget about his eight three-pointers, thirty-four points, nine assists, and MVP Award during the Rising Stars Challenge, either.

Next on the list is Most Improved Player of the Year. As much as you think that Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin is going to be the unanimous winner, you are unfortunately and sadly mistaken. Lin’s story may have been inspirational beyond belief, beautiful, and Hollywood-like, but he did not participate in enough games to contend for this award. His absence from the rotation before being given an opportunity, combined with a serious knee injury, caused him to miss 31 of the team’s 66 games.

Instead, the honor will go to Magic forward Ryan Anderson. Anderson, who completed his fourth season in the league, was able to up his scoring average from 10.6 points per game last year to a career high 16.1 in 2011-2012. In one year, he also increased his minutes per game by 10, jumped up to 7.7 rebounds a night after previously averaging 5.5, and made 32 more three-pointers while still shooting a respectable 39 percent from deep.

Sixth Man of the Year will undoubtedly be won by Oklahoma City forward James Harden. At 16.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game, he is exactly the kind of beast you would want to have, so he can take care of things while the starters are getting a blow. In fact, he actually averaged starter-like minutes, at 31.4 per game, and scored a career high 40 points in an April 18 game at Phoenix. Having a guy like that to come off the bench sort of seems like cheating.

No one is more deserving of Defensive Player of the Year than New York’s Tyson Chandler. He did exactly what the Knicks hoped he would when they brought him in this season–make playing defense cool. New York went from the third worst defensive team in 2010-2011, giving up 105.7 points per game, to the eleventh best in 2011-2012, allowing just 94.7. It was a group effort, but Chandler, his average of 1.4 blocks, and seven-foot-one-inch frame definitely got the ball rolling.

Usually, Coach of the Year goes to the man who takes a bad team and turns them around. That should not be the case this time. Tom Thibodeau should be the recipient for leading his Bulls to the league’s best record at 50-16, despite not having last year’s MVP, Derrick Rose, for 27 games. He coached a suffocating, lock-down defense that surrendered a league best: 88.2 points a game.

Neil Olshey equals Executive of the Year. Who is Neil Olshey, you ask? He is the L.A. Clippers’ General Manager, the one that brought in superstar Chris Paul, solid Caron Butler, clutch Chauncey Billups, scrappy Kenyon Martin, smooth Nick Young, and high-energy Reggie Evans all in the same year, even with the lockout.

He is also the man that took last year’s 32-50 Clippers squad and turned it into a team worthy of a 40-26 record, giving them the fifth best record in the West as they clinched only their third playoff berth since 1997.

Finally, the moment for which you have all been waiting: the Most Valuable Player award. If it truly did go to the “most valuable” player, it would go to Chris Paul for what he means to the Clippers, but instead, it will go to LeBron James for the third time since it was actually claimed by the league’s most outstanding performer.

The Heat forward put up averages of 27.1 points, 6.2 assists, and 7.9 rebounds per game this season. Only Kevin Durant of the Thunder had relatively similar numbers, but his inability to play skin-tight defense like James will cost him the MVP in the end.

Now let’s wait and see!

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According to both his agent and team officials on Thursday night, Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard will miss the remainder of the regular season, the entire post-season, and also, the 2012 Summer Olympics because of surgery to repair a herniated disk in his lower back, scheduled for Friday. Back issues had been nagging Howard, dating back to early March, but the herniated disk was not discovered until last week by Los Angeles spinal surgeon Dr. Robert Watkins.

“Dwight went in for an MRI Thursday morning,” said Howard’s agent, Dan Fegan. “When the results of that MRI came back, it appeared from that MRI that the problem had worsened the tear. The doctors got on the phone. They consulted together, and they both reached the same conclusion: that he was no longer a candidate for rehab, that surgery was required.”

Howard had been absent from the Magic line-up for the past six consecutive games with the injury and a total of eight this season. Without his presence, the Magic has gone just 3-5, and opponents have taken advantage on the offensive end, shooting 50 percent from the floor in 6 of the 8 contests.

“It hurts (emotionally),” said Howard. “That’s the first thing — it hurts. And then with people saying and thinking I’m quitting on my team. This is a real issue. I tried to play through it and it just made my back worse.”

In a season where Howard made almost non-stop headlines for all of the wrong reasons and had his mental commitment to the organization vigorously questioned, he now finds himself missing in action and in the news for health issues – something that, ironically enough, is completely out of his control this time around.

Howard’s indecisiveness concerning his future with the Magic was one of the major storylines around the entire league until he decided to waive his early termination option on the day of the trade deadline. Although an extension was not signed, waiving the option meant that Howard would remain under contract with Orlando through next season. However, this would only bring a temporary end to the drama surrounding the Magic big man.

On April 5, only hours before a game with the New York Knicks, Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy told reporters that he had been informed by the team’s front office that Howard asked them to fire him. Moments later, Howard put his arm around Van Gundy and insisted that this was not their main concern. He has denied the reports ever since, and many believe that Van Gundy is nothing more than a dead man walking.

It was also reported just days ago by WKMG in Orlando that Howard personally called Magic owner Rich DeVos during an April 13game against the Atlanta Hawks and told him he would not play for Van Gundy anymore. Sources told WKMG that Howard’s reasoning behind this was that he was still upset about Van Gundy’s comments to the media concerning his desire for a coaching change. However, other sources claim that no such phone call was ever made.

Nonetheless, the Magic is left with two options – either lay down in the post-season because their star will not be out there to lead them, or fight through it, and make a run that no one will see coming. Howard has faith in the latter.

“If the guys come together, we still have a chance,” Howard said. “I know what we have in that locker room. I’ve seen it in spurts this season. I’ve told them, ‘We don’t have to be the biggest or the strongest; we just have to believe.’”

Image Courtesy of   Keith Allison

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After one of the more brutally honest and awkward interviews in recent sports history on Thursday afternoon, involving Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy and All Star Center Dwight Howard, the last thing their team needed that night was their fifth consecutive loss – let alone another beatdown courtesy of the New York Knicks.

Unfortunately for Orlando, that’s exactly what they got, 96-80; their second uninspired effort against New York in just a little over a week after getting absolutely schooled by them last Wednesday, 108-86.

When speaking with reporters just minutes past noon, Van Gundy openly admitted that he was well aware of Howard’s previous request for the coach’s dismissal to management.

Van Gundy also added immediately after that one of those front office members was the one who had actually informed him of the situation.

Upon hearing Van Gundy’s remarks about how his future with the team would be management’s decision and that he “ain’t worried about that,” Howard made his way next to him, put his arm around his shoulder and replied with a “Yeah, Stan, we’re not worried about that, right?”

Van Gundy agreed with his star big man, reiterated that their main focus at that moment was dealing with the Knicks that night and quickly a few seconds later.

Howard was then asked about the story, but vehemently denied its validity.

“My job security is not what is important right now,” repeated Van Gundy once again following the loss. “What Dwight wants is not what’s important right now. What’s important is we focus on getting better as a team. It’s not like we’ve played five awful games in a row.”

All of the hoopla that took place just hours earlier did not appear to distract the rest of the Magic roster early on in the game, like many feared, as they finished the first quarter down just two, 23-21. In fact, they led throughout most of the opening quarter until the closing minutes.

Howard was a different story, however. He clearly was not emotionally invested, as he went scoreless in the first half and scored just eight points on the night with makes on half of his eight field goal attempts. He posted eight rebounds, as well.

After the Magic tied the game at 23 to start the second quarter, an 8-0 Knicks run put them ahead 31-23 with 9:27 remaining in the half.

New York outscored Orlando 33-23 in the second, and entered the locker room with a comfortable 56-44 lead.

With 3.5 seconds left in the third quarter Howard contributed his first two points of the game with a dunk, but the Knicks were able to extend to a 15 point lead entering the fourth, 76-61.

At that point, everyone in the building knew the Magic weren’t going to make any sort of late comeback that would result in their first victory since March 26 in Toronto.

A J.R. Smith jumper gave the Knicks their biggest lead of the night at 21 with 6:34 left in the contest, 87-66. Smith and rookie Josh Harrelson were the Knicks’ second leading scorers with 15 each. Carmelo Anthony led not only the Knicks, but all scorers with 19 points of his own.

Jason Richardson was Orlando’s high scorer with 15.

The Knicks decided to use the Magic’s strength against them – the three pointer – and it worked out perfectly for them. New York shot 13/25 from beyond the arc, while Orlando, who leads the league in both makes and attempts, went just 9/24.

At an overall clip of 48.7%, the Knicks had a very efficient shooting night. The Magic, though, shot just 41.7% from the field in total.

Howard did not want to get back into what was or wasn’t said to front office officials when asked again after the game.

“I’m not gonna talk about that,” Howard insisted.

What is even more concerning for the Magic right now is the fact that they’ve fallen down to the number six seed in the East at 32-23, after having control of the third seed for the majority of the season.

Orlando will look to get back on track on Saturday night when they visit the Philadelphia 76ers.

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Missing their three best players on Tuesday night in the Motor City- center Dwight Howard, point guard Jameer Nelson and forward Ryan Anderson- the Orlando Magic was unable to snap its three-game losing streak, as the Detroit Pistons took care of business at home, 102-95.

Howard missed his second consecutive game with back spasms, while Nelson and Anderson were inactive due to a sore left calf and sprained right ankle suffered in Sunday night’s loss to the Denver Nuggets, respectively. Jason Richardson, Orlando’s starting shooting guard, who scored 10 points in this game, refused to use Howard’s absence as an excuse for allowing Detroit to shoot 57% from the field on the night.

“We’ve got to do a better job,” said Richardson. “We know we’re missing Dwight, who is our leader down there on that end of the floor. But there’s going to be times where he might be in foul trouble the rest of the season or the playoffs, and we’ve got to learn to play without him.”

Head coach Stan Van Gundy was a little more honest and critical of his team’s defensive effort.

“We don’t play any defense,” Van Gundy said afterward.

The Magic entered the game as the third seed in the Eastern Conference with a 32-21 record, but were knocked down to the fifth slot after a Pacers win over the Knicks combined with their own loss caused the two to trade spots in the standings. Meanwhile, idle Boston maintained its grasp on the number four seed.

With the score even at 74, following a missed lay-up on a difficult attempt by Magic guard J.J. Redick, this was anyone’s game entering the fourth quarter. But before the Magic could blink, Pistons guard Brandon Knight had just knocked down a long jumper near the right wing with 9:41 remaining in the fourth to complete a 7-0 Detroit run.

Detroit would start 8/10 in the final quarter, and a 17-4 run extended their lead to 91-78 with 5:58 left to go in the ball game. Orlando simply could not get stops when they needed them in the game’s most crucial moments. “We won’t contend for nothing if we don’t play defense,” said reserve forward Glen Davis.

Davis really picked up the scoring slack with the big guns missing from the lineup, as he recorded 31 points and 10 rebounds.

A 9-2 Magic run made it a two possession game, 93-87 Pistons with 2:44 on the clock, but it was too little, too late at that point. The Magic scored eight points over that final stretch, but gave up nine points of their own.

Six Detroit players contributed double figures in scoring. They may only have a 20-33 record, but they’ve now won four out of their last five. Pistons coach Lawrence Frank certainly didn’t have any sympathy for the depleted Magic roster.

“Obviously, Dwight is one of the elite paint protectors,” said Frank. “But you play with the guys you have.” The Pistons play their next game against the Wizards at home on Thursday night, while the Magic will host the New York Knicks that same night on a nationally televised stage.

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If the Orlando Magic (32-19) came to Wednesday night’s game with the mentality that the New York Knicks (26-25) wouldn’t come to play due to the absence of both forward Amare Stoudemire and point guard Jeremy Lin from their lineup, then their 108-86 defeat might have been well deserved.

Despite sporting the third best record in the Eastern Conference, and also fifth in the league, this was not the first or even second time this season that the Magic were the victims of an old-fashioned beatdown where they were simply just run out of the gym. New Orleans, Boston, and Chicago have also embarrassed Orlando this season, and they looked nothing like a team who had won three straight entering the contest.

“We got behind, they hit a lot of shots, they got us down,” said Magic coach Stan Van Gundy. “And then we just sort of died. We didn’t do anything we had talked about doing. We played with no energy. We were very individual at the offensive end. And not much effort.”

Lin and Stoudemire were both inactive for a second consecutive game with a sore left knee and bulging back disk, respectively. While Lin’s injury has been classified as minor, it was announced earlier in the day that Stoudemire would miss the next two to four weeks, with surgery unnecessary.

Carmelo Anthony knew he would have to step up for New York, even though he was dealing with a minor groin injury of his own. He had no problem doing so, scoring a game high 25 points on 9/15 shooting. Anthony had a solid all-around game, adding six rebounds and five assists as well.

With 25 of his own, rookie teammate Iman Shumpert equaled Anthony’s point outpoint and also recorded a new career high in doing so. “Right now, with the coaching change, we’ve been playing extremely well,” said Anthony. “Guys seem to be responding pretty well. We’ve been really locked in on our mission right now.”

A thrashing by the Knicks did not seem likely early on, as Magic point guard Jameer Nelson’s 11 first quarter points, which led both sides, helped his team attain a 29-25 lead going into the second.

Nelson went 7/14 overall and was the Magic’s top scorer with 17. Steve Novak’s jumper with 9:41 remaining in the second would conclude a 6-0 Knicks run to open the second, giving them their first lead of the night at 31-29. After Orlando tied the game with a bucket on the next possession, New York went on a 7-0 run, establishing a 47-38 lead thanks to a lay-in by Anthony at the 2:26 mark.

Two free throws from Magic center Dwight Howard ended the run at 12-0 with 38.5 seconds remaining in the half, but a Novak three at the buzzer – his third of the half – gave the Knicks a commanding 57-41 lead entering the locker room. Howard was essentially a non-factor in the ball game, scoring 12 points and bringing down just five boards.

Novak made four of eight three’s in almost 23 and a half minutes of play, putting up 16 points. They may lead the league in both three pointers attempted and made, but the Magic were shut down in this one, going 9/26 from behind the arc. After making eight three’s in Orlando’s last game, forward Ryan Anderson hit just one in this one, scoring a mere three points.

When everyone thought that the Knicks could not outdo a 32-12 second quarter, they did. It started with 8:45 shown on the third quarter clock. The Knicks went ahead 69-49 on a floater by backup point guard Baron Davis. Between that time and Shumpert’s jumper with 2:58 left they ripped off 21 unanswered.

Shell-shocked, the Magic found themselves trailing 90-59 before taking the floor for the final quarter. They were able to cut the deficit down to 15 with 2:10 left to play, but the Knicks held on easily, 108-86. Orlando shot just 44.8% from the field, and allowed New York to shoot 50.9%.

“It should be frustrating for everybody,” said Howard. “We just have to step up and play the right way, and when we don’t, we have games like this.”

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Orlando Magic forward Ryan Anderson was on absolute fire Monday night, making a career-high eight three-pointers and leading all scorers with 28 points as the Magic (32-18) made their way just north of the border and rolled over the Toronto Raptors (16-34), 117-101.

“I had a lot of open looks,” said Anderson, “I think everybody did a good job finding me.”

Anderson, who continues to have by far the best season of his brief four-year career, with averages of 16.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, certainly aided the powerful case that he’s been making for this year’s Most Improved Player Award, with his lights out shooting performance from beyond the arc.

At 29 consecutive games, with at least one made three pointer, Anderson has the longest streak in the league. Not to mention he leads all players in the long range department, with 143 made this season.

“I’m happy for him,” said Magic center Dwight Howard, who was the game’s second-highest scorer, after posting 23 points and 10 rebounds. “I just want him to continue all the things that he’s been doing. We all love the way he’s been playing. He just has to keep it up, and we’re going to need that same effort and energy from him every night. We know he can do it.”

The Magic came out of the gate in a dominant fashion, scoring the game’s first 10 points. One might have gotten the feeling that this game would be over before halftime, after an alley-oop slam by Howard made it a 24-8 Orlando lead with about five minutes remaining in the first.

However, a nice push by the Raptors bench, that concluded with a fastbreak dunk by Ed Davis with 2.4 seconds left in the quarter cut the Magic’s lead all the way down to two, entering the second, 28-26.

Toronto’s second unit completely outplayed Orlando’s, which was non-existent over the first 12 minutes, outscoring them 16-0 and keeping them in the game at least for the time being.

The Raptors evened the score at 28 on the opening possession of the second quarter, but that would end up being the closest they ever came to winning.

Orlando never surrendered the lead, and combatted the Raptors’ 23 point quarter with 33 of their own, giving them a 61-49 lead at the half.

Six threes accounted for each one of Anderson’s 18 first half points. The Magic as a team went 9/19 from distance during that half, and went 15/34 in the entire contest, 44.1%.

Their overall field goal shooting percentage of 54.3% was even more efficient.

Reserve forward for the Magic, Glen Davis, was forced to exit the game with 7:49 left to go in the half, after a hit taken across the forehead from a Raptor opened a cut that would require five stitches.

Davis was able to return to the action in the second half, and finished the game with 13 points and seven rebounds.

After the Raptors fell behind by 20 early in the third, 75-55, they trimmed the deficit down to 12, 80-68, with a Jose Calderon three about eight minutes left.

But by the time the buzzer signaled the expiration of the third quarter, the Magic had regained their 20 point advantage, 93-73.

Failing to reduce the lead to less than 15, the Raptors posed no threat in the final period, and the Magic eased their way to a blowout victory, 117-101.

Orlando point guard Jameer Nelson did a solid job of keeping his teammates involved with seven total assists, and also did his fair share of scoring with 18 points.

The Magic made a concerted effort to stop Toronto’s lethal center, Andrea Bargnani, and definitely succeeded in doing so. Bargnani shot just 3/11 from the floor, with eight points and three rebounds.

Orlando also took better care of the basketball than they had been doing in recent games, turning it over just nine times.

The next stop for the Magic will be in the Big Apple on Wednesday night, as they visit the resurgent and suddenly defensive-minded New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, who are 7-1 since Mike Woodson took over as coach.

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After back-to-back losses to the best two teams the East has to offer – the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls – the Orlando Magic got off the snide in a convincing fashion on Wednesday night with a 103-93 home victory over the Phoenix Suns.

A ten point margin of victory may not be much in today’s NBA, but in reality the final score did not tell the proper story of how lopsided the game truly was in the second half.

The Magic extended their lead to as many as 22 in the fourth quarter before the Suns were able to cut the lead in half with four and a half minutes remaining in the game. Orlando would not allow them to get any closer from that point on. The win improves the Magic’s record to30-18, putting them three and a half games in front of the Philadelphia 76ers for the number three seed in the conference.

“We just wanted to play our game, no matter what the situation was or what we scored,” said Jameer Nelson, the Magic’s starting point guard. “Whoever’s out there, just go out and play to our capabilities so we could be good collectively.”

Entering the game at an even 23-23, the Suns dropped back under .500 with the loss. However, the Magic were well aware that this team was not to be taken lightly because of their record. Despite losing a road game to Florida’s other team the previous night, the Heat, Phoenix stepped onto the Amway Center floor as one of the hottest teams in the league, having gone 9-3 since the All Star break and coming out victorious in 11 of their last 15 overall.

Magic forward Ryan Anderson, who had one of his best performances of the season and finished with a game high 29 points, had nine in the opening quarter on three-three pointers. The usual leading scorer for the Magic, center Dwight Howard, had yet another monster night with 28 points and 16 rebounds, giving him his 39th double-double of the season.

Thirteen first quarter points from Suns guard Jared Dudley kept Phoenix within striking distance after one, as the Magic held a slim 27-21 lead. Dudley only scored four additional points over the next three quarters, but still managed to be the Suns leading scorer with 17. The Magic began opening up the game in the second quarter, outscoring the Suns 30-23 and taking a 57-44 lead at the half.

In fact, it should have been a 59-44 lead, but backup point guard Chris Duhon inexplicably missed an open breakaway layup as the final buzzer of the first half sounded. Luckily for the Magic, that didn’t come back to haunt them.

Suns’ point guard Steve Nash was responsible for 12 of his team’s first half points, but was held scoreless in the second half. He also had just two assists on the night. Orlando kept its foot on the gas pedal in the third, and by quarter’s end they had acquired a 19 point lead, 81-62.

The game appeared to be in hand until Phoenix went on a late run to make it a 96-85 game, however Anderson’s career high-tying seventh three pointer following a Magic timeout killed the Suns’ momentum. The Magic would not surrender their double digit lead and made their way across the finish line with ease.

As a team, the Magic made 11 of their 23 three point attempts. Just as important, they limited the lethal shooters of the Suns to just 4/12 from beyond the arc. Fans kept their eye on Suns’ center Marcin Gortat, who was traded by the Magic last season and is currently having his best season by far, averaging 15.9 points and exactly 10 rebounds per game.

Gortat was Howard’s backup from 2007 until he was dealt in 2011. Although he was able to rip down nine boards, the Magic held him to just four points altogether. “Dwight played extremely well, and I thought we defended Marcin’s offense very, very well,” said Magic coach Stan Van Gundy.

Both teams play their next games on Friday night. The Magic will play host to the Cleveland Cavaliers, while the Suns will visit the Indiana Pacers.

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The trade deadline has come and gone and not a single meaningful shot was fired. In fact, the shot not heard meant the most to the league and to those who followed every word anticipating big changes in Orlando.

Dwight Howard, the big fish in the small pond chose to stay and opt-in the early termination clause of his contract. The process says more about the perennial all-star than the eventual outcome but what matters more is the impact his decision will have on free agency after the 12-13 season.

The team that Howard had been linked to for the last two years had been the New Jersey Nets, soon to be the Brooklyn Nets. A lot was expected from the Nets but things have not gone according to plan since the Russian billionaire took over — Mikhail Prokhorov came in and raised expectations for the franchise but it was clear things wouldn’t be as easy as he might have expected.

From Carmelo to Lebron, the Nets have swung and missed and now with Dwight choosing to stay because of his loyalty (as he puts it), the Nets are wandering through the NBA without a great amount of options.

Derron Williams will not follow Howard and sign his early termination clause, instead opting to test free agency in the off season and most likely leave to another franchise. The biggest competition at this early stage in the process is the Dallas Mavericks.

The Mavericks will be without Jason Kidd who at this point is keeping the seat warm for a younger more dynamic guard in the mold of Williams. They will be in a great position given their cap situation to acquire the 26-year-old guard leaving the Nets without a marque star in Brooklyn.

The Nets will have the financial advantage in that they will be in the position to offer Williams twenty eight million more than any other team can offer. However; something tells me money won’t be the determining factor in his decision. The Nets can add pieces via free agency and the draft but it remains to be seen if it will match a potential Dirk Nowitzki/Williams combo. Not to mention the many other teams who will throw their hats in the ring for his services.

There was much excitement early on but that feeling has been replaced by disappointment and maybe even panic. The stadium is already making its presence felt in downtown Brooklyn and the people of Brooklyn are excited about having a team again but things are not looking good in terms of star power in the big city.

With the Knicks struggling at times, the opportunity is there or at least was there for the Nets to make an impact and at least become part of the conversation. The names are drying up and all that money won’t mean nothing if no one wants to come and play.

At this point it doesn’t really matter what Howard does two years from now in free agency — if it even gets to that point, chances are Williams will be gone and coming to Brooklyn to play by himself for Howard wouldn’t make much sense. Sure other big names will become available but given the track record of the Nets under Prokhorov, fans of the team should prepare for a lot more swings with many more misses.

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The Orlando Magic (29-18) suffered one of their worst losses of the season on Monday night, as the league’s best team record-wise, the Chicago Bulls (38-10), handed them a disappointing 85-59 home loss despite the absence of reigning MVP Derrick Rose. Rose sat out his fourth straight contest with a groin injury that he suffered last week.

“Tonight, they sent a team out there that played without their star player and did what they needed to do to win the ballgame,” said Magic reserve Glen Davis. “And they beat us. They beat us with no problem. I wish they would have had Derrick Rose, in a sense.”

Oddly enough, the Magic defeated the Bulls in Chicago with Rose on the floor on March 8, 99-94. But playing their third game in four nights and a back-to-back after falling short in Miami last night may have had the Magic players overly fatigued coming into this matchup with Chicago 11 days later.

Carlos Boozer led the way for the Bulls with a 24 point, 13 rebound effort. Backup guard John Lucas 20 point game, which consisted of nine points in both the first and fourth quarters, was a solid compliment. Dwight Howard was the high scorer on the night for the Magic with 18 points. He also pulled down 12 rebounds.

Ryan Anderson’s 10 points made him the only other Magic player in double figures. Howard shot 8/12 from the field, but the Bulls – who are second in the league in points, allowed with just 89.3 per game – did an excellent job of ball denial on him with Boozer, Joakim Noah, and Omer Asik.

Orlando was also unable to score 20 points in any quarter last night, and has actually failed to do so over their last six quarters of action. The Bulls converted 19 Orlando turnovers into 25 points, and held the Magic to just 35.3% shooting.

“Our offense was pathetic,” said Magic coach Stan Van Gundy. “And that’s something that I’ve got to take a look at because we’ve got better players than that. I’ve got to take a look at what we’re doing because it’s really two games in a row now where we’ve been very, very bad offensively.”

With the score 22-14 in favor of Chicago at the completion of the opening quarter, it was still a single digit ball game. However, after the Bulls outscored the Magic 26-19 in the second, they had extended their halftime lead to a comfortable 15, 48-33. Both teams struggled mightily in the third quarter, as they combined for just 27 points. The Magic were able to outscore their opponent by three and cut the deficit to 60-48 entering the fourth quarter.

The Bulls were not by any means extraordinary scoring the ball in the final period. They put up 25, but the fact that they only gave up 11 is what allowed them to cruise toward their fifth win in six games.

The win was Chicago’s third during the current four game stretch without Rose. He’s missed 14 overall due to back issues that he fought earlier in the season, but that hasn’t prevented the Bulls and their smothering defense from going 10-4 during those games.

For the Magic, it was their third loss in their last four games. Van Gundy did not shy away from taking the blame for his team’s recent struggles.

“When you play the way we played tonight, this is a team-wide thing,” said Van Gundy. “I’ve got to take responsibility.”

The Bulls will make their way up to Toronto on Wednesday for a game against the Raptors, while the Magic will play host to the Phoenix Suns that same night.

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With just a 34 point output in the second half and a huge fourth quarter by Dwyane Wade, the Orlando Magic – who hold the third-best record in the Eastern Conference (29-17) – fell to the current second seed in the East, the Miami Heat (33-11), in south Florida on Sunday night, 91-81.

“We have to do a better job of not turning the ball over,” said Magic center Dwight Howard, who led the team with 18 points and 11 rebounds. “That’s what gave them a chance to get out early, get the lead and keep the lead. We’ve just got to do a better job. It’s the small things that are going to matter in a game like this.”

Orlando turned the ball over 20 times against a Heat team that has proven to be one of the best defensive units in the league over the past two seasons.

Along with being less than thrilled about the extraordinary amount of turnovers his team committed, Magic coach Stan Van Gundy also took the defensive intensity of his players at the outset of the game into question.

“Our effort defensively early in the game was not there,” said Van Gundy. “We did not come to play. That’s inexcusable particularly playing on the road against a team this good and then the 20 turnovers.”

Miami came out smoking in the first quarter with 31 points, and had totaled 50 before halftime. Forward Chris Bosh’s team high 18 points in the first half on 7/9 shooting was a key component in the Heat’s 53% first half shooting percentage.

Despite shooting only 41% over the first 24 minutes, Orlando found themselves only down by three entering the locker room after a difficult three point play down the right baseline by Wade untied the game with 48 seconds left in the second quarter.

Wade led all Miami scorers at the game’s conclusion with 31 points. He tallied six rebounds and four assists, as well.

Forward Quentin Richardson, guard Jason Richardson, and Nelson all finished in double-figured scoring for the Magic.

After playing from behind since losing an early 7-6 lead, Orlando finally found themselves in the driver’s seat, 57-54, with 8:26 remaining in the third when an interception of a ball Bosh saved from going out of bounds, turned into a fastbreak opportunity and a three point play on the other end for guard Jason Richardson.

Orlando scored just nine points on the break, but did a quality job of limiting Miami’s transition game, which they excel at with athletes like James and Wade. The Heat had only 13 points in the open court.

But Miami made sure to take away Orlando’s strength as well – the three pointer. The Magic, who attempt and make more three’s than any other team in basketball, shot just 9/25, 36% from behind the arc.

The teams were abysmal in the third quarter, shooting a combined 13/40 from the floor. A LeBron James bank shot, with .8 left in the period, gave the Heat a 67-63 lead entering the fourth.

With just 14 points overall, James had a relatively quiet night as far as scoring was concerned. However, he still had a major impact with 12 boards and seven assists.

The Heat went on an 11-2 run that ended around the four minute mark and outscored the Magic 24-18 in the final quarter to hold on rather comfortably for their 13th consecutive home win. Only the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 14 game home winning streak has bettered Miami’s current run this season.

Wade was unstoppable over the final minutes, dropping 12 in a row at one point, and 14 of his 31.

“I don’t think (Wade) ever had a bad game against us,” said Van Gundy. “Every game he’s played it’s been a great game. We never do a decent job on him.”

Miami and Orlando split the season series two games apiece.

The Heat will look to continue their winning ways at home when they host the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night.

The Magic are right back at it on Monday night, as the team with the best record in the league, the 37-10 Chicago Bulls, pay a visit.

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For most of the season it seemed like there was a fairly strong possibility that Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard would actually be wearing a red New Jersey Nets uniform, playing the role of villain when the teams met on March 16 at the Amway Center – one day after the trade deadline – as opposed to continuing on as the Magic’s star, leading them to a comfortable 86-70 victory.

Howard shocked the basketball world on Thursday with his decision to remain under contract with Orlando through next season, and proceeded to follow it up with an 18 point, 6 rebound effort against New Jersey, the team many believed to be the frontrunner in acquiring his services before the deadline.

“I don’t think anyone asked me any questions about trades, so that part is over with,” said Howard about the season-long situation after the win.

Forward Glen Davis and point guard Jameer Nelson each chipped in 13 points as Orlando’s second leading scorers behind Howard. Forward Ryan Anderson’s 12 point night made him the team’s next highest point man, followed by forward Hedo Turkoglu and shooting guard Jason Richardson, who both added 10.

Howard scored 10 of his 18 in the first quarter on a perfect 5/5 from the field. He would then only take two shots in the second quarter, missing both and going scoreless for the remainder of the half.

A 3/3 second half with two made free throws gave him his final 8 points on 8/10 shooting.

New Jersey was considerably banged up, as All Star point guard Deron Williams sat out for the fourth straight game with a sore right calf, along with backup guard Jordan Farmar, suffering from a strained right groin, and center Brook Lopez, who has been unavailable since March 4 with a sprained right ankle.

The Magic certainly took advantage of New Jersey’s health issues, never trailing the rest of the way after falling behind 2-0 in the early moments.

Orlando took an 11-4 lead with a 7-0 run that concluded with 7:41 remaining in the first quarter. They ended the quarter with a 22-18 lead. A 12-2 run extended the lead to double digits, 43-29, with 2:57 left in the half.

Jameer Nelson’s three pointer with 2.1 to go in the half ended a 7-0 Nets run, making it a 46-36 score in favor of Orlando at halftime.

Nets guard/forward Gerald Green, who is on his second 10-day contract with the team, went 6/9 from the floor and led them with 14 points total, half of which came on 3/3 shooting in the first quarter.

A 21-11 scoring stretch by the Magic in the third quarter stretched their lead all the way out to 20 at 67-47, their largest of the night.

The Nets were able to make the score manageable when a long alley-oop pass from forward Deshaun Stevenson accidentally banked into the basket for a three pointer during the final seconds of the third and cut the lead to 72-60 entering the fourth. It was easily one of the most bizarre three pointers ever witnessed.

But the Magic never allowed the Nets to creep any closer than 12 points in the final period, and they coasted toward an 86-70 win.

“I was happy,” said Magic coach Stan Van Gundy about his team’s overall performance. “I thought we did a good job on their starters. Their bench guys, Gerald Green got going, but I was fairly happy with our defense. The only thing I was unhappy with honestly was the 20 turnovers … again, just mindless.”

The Nets now sit at 15-30 following the loss, but just a reasonable five and a half games behind the Milwaukee Bucks for the eighth and final playoff seed in the East. They will host the New Orleans Hornets on Saturday night.

As for The Magic, they are now third in the East with a 29-16 record. They will make their way to Miami for a Sunday night matchup against the Heat, who they have beaten two out of three times this season, including this past Tuesday, 104-98, and trail by only four games in the standings.

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