Jason Terry is one of the more personable guys in the whole league, and always an excellent interview. As long as he’ll be around the game, he’ll be a magnet for media. But what about his peers? Do they love him as much as we do? Apparently so. The JET is hosting a “Championship Birthday” celebration for himself next week when he turns 34. There will be entertainers and ballplayers there, mingling about for $40 ($30 if you’re a groupie). But somehow Lil’ Kim will be there, Jadakiss will be there and so will Gorilla Zoe. We thought this was a championship party? Only champs right? Where are Nas or Eminem or Jigga? We guess Kim gets the invite based off her five-mic album, which was sort of like winning a title (even though it was the worst five-mic album like, ever) … Despite 24 from Luis Scola, Argentina lost its first game of the Olympic qualifier, 73-71 to Brazil. Greivis Vasquez (24 points) was huge in Venezuela’s 110-74 blowout of Panama … The Chinese Basketball Association is set to make J.R. Smith it’s savior. Something’s not right here. We’ll be honest. We’re not sure how we feel about Smith balling out in China. They’ll either let him hoist 10 30-footers a game or bench him for every wild shot he takes. On the business side of things, it’s all murky. Will he be able to sneak out of the contract should the lockout end? How much money will he give up with the NBA? One thing for certain is that he’ll come back with some of the craziest ink anyone has ever seen. He’ll put the Birdman to shame … Who would you take in a one-on-one deathmatch of the Scotts: McKnight or the Wolf? And everyone’s favorite Jesus – Shuttlesworth – kicked off his run in the Dime Ultimate Movie Baller tournament against darkhorse Travis Porter. Forget the matchup for a second, y’all need to see Passing Glory if you haven’t. Good movie. Solid plot. And the basketball action is up there with any basketball movie … Do you agree with our list: the REAL top 10 alley-oops ever? … So David Stern and the NBA don’t care about the preseason huh? That’s what it sounds like. The NFL may need it for playbooks, getting into shape to avoid injuries and because they make a freaking lot of money from it. But for the NBA, saving the games that don’t count is a secondary thought. Not enough money involved. Too much headache. Well damn, if that’s the case, let’s just have a lockout every summer … We spent some more time with NBA 2K12 and just a day after complaining about the rookie situation, we’re back to singing praises again. My Player mode hopefully took major steps forward because as fun as the game could be at times, it got old quick and seemed to take forever. We’re all for making things realistic and hard to accomplish, but playing to the point where you finally reap the benefits took awhile. This year, they’re bringing back the player-to-coach/owner/GM interaction. Back in the day, we remember they used to have this in the Association mode, where a player would come in and you’d have to deal with them face-to-face. Now it’s the other way around and it’s fly … And if you need an uplifting story, check out this video of a 12-year-old boy who shot baskets all weekend long to support our Navy SEALS who died in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan. He’s made over 20,000 jumpers, approximately a few thousand more than Anthony Mason made his whole life … We’re out like Peyton.
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