The league starts and finishes another day of the dreaded lockout today, which saw a glimmer of hope as the NFL rebooted up to normal. However, just like last week, our foreign friends are continuing to try to lure superstars onto courts far away from home. Amar’e Stoudemire is the newest big-time attraction on the overseas market. The Knickerbocker big man’s phone is attracting calls from all sorts of places, including Israel, Turkey, China and Spain. As y’all probably remember, Amar’e stated he was sticking in his New York state of mind as little as two weeks ago then abruptly switched ideas then took it to the fans to let them decide than brought it back and now he’s kinda interested. Make up your mind fam. STAT is acting more bipolar with this issue than Gilbert Arenas does on Twitter, who by the way had made one of the most insanely stupid, yet hilarious, tweets yesterday. Just go check out his Twitter avi. You will be amused one way or the other. It’s Chamberlain-esque. Anyways, back to Stoudemire, who said, “The chances would be high” of playing elsewhere in a lockout. “They’d definitely be high. I just want to make sure I’m healthy and totally 100 percent before I make that type of commitment. As of right now, we’re not entertaining offers.” Can you imagine Besiktas, the Turkish power, rolling out Deron Williams, The Black Mamba and Amar’e onto the court for their season opener? Don’t worry NYC. We think Amar’e’s number one concentration is still bringing a title to the city … Do you know the real reason why teams win NBA championships? We do, and it’s not what you think … While many big-name ballers are looking to cross the Atlantic in the near future, Minnesota’s star forward Kevin Love has different plans for the approaching future. The Oregon native says he plans to participate in the $200,000 Manhattan Beach Open on the pro volleyball tour which is set to take place Aug. 26-28. We don’t think this is quite the Ochocinco media splash, but actually a competitive venture – and a chance at a paycheck for the first time All-Star. He practiced yesterday for the first time with the pros, in the middle of Times Square. “I thought it was a great idea, a way for me to be out in the sun, be active and have fun during the lockout,” Love told ESPN. “It’s a sport, it’s active, it’s a way to stay in shape, so I just thought it was a home run.” Hopefully the NBA won’t experience beach sport letdowns like some other professional athletes have (see NFL, Steve Smith) … If you’re in the Seattle area on Friday night, the Mariners are holding a Sonics celebration night where a bunch of legendary Emerald City ballplayers will be there, including Shawn Kemp, Hersey Hawkins, Spencer Haywood, Freddie Brown, Jack Sikma and Gary Payton (among others) for the largest gathering of Sonics stars ever. With Kevin Calabro announcing, they might as well suit up. Throw Payton in the dugout to argue calls, Downtown Freddie Brown somewhere in the outfield and then put Kemp in center field to make it interesting … The city of Memphis will hold a vigil for late ex-forward Lorenzen Wright, who was found dead exactly one year ago Thursday … What do Karl Malone and Brian Grant do during the summer? They catch massive fish in the ultimate “gone fishing” picture … And did you know during the pre-draft process, the Lakers asked Ater Majok who would be the one person in the world he would want to ask a question to? No wonder so many of these teams whiff on draft day … We’re out like Carson Palmer.
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