David Stern says he doesn’t think the entire season will be lost, explaining there’s too much at stake, too much to lose. We want to believe him, but we’ve heard the song before. While many outsiders are assuming a mass flood of players going to Europe and China would put enormous pressure on Stern and the NBA, the commish isn’t worried. He told Bill Simmons: “All that stuff is better to read about than to actually do.” Ouch … While it was reported that Ron Artest will try his hand at both UK basketball and UK soap operas, yesterday he confirmed it, saying he is definitely going to be playing for the Cheshire Jets. Now that we know where he’s going to play and for what team, what soap opera would be a good one for him? And would you rather see Artest in a soap opera or Dennis Rodman at the Hall of Fame? We can’t wait to see the faces of some within that community. Rodman will have a minimum of three WTF moments. In a speech yesterday, he already started thanking people like Howard Stern and the Motley Crue. Who knows what’ll happen the rest of the weekend. Last night though, Rodman was incredibly emotional, obviously holding back tears, saying a lot of deep stuff about his mother and about Phil Jackson and what they meant to him. Awesome stuff. And everyone was officially enshrined last night. It always feels epic no matter who it is. For example, Tex Winter was that dude, but now that he was enshrined, his swag goes up another few levels … Whenever this time of year comes, there are always arguments in the office about who should be in the Hall of Fame, who shouldn’t, or who won’t be. There are A LOT of current players who could stake their claims, people like Vince Carter and Pau Gasol and Tracy McGrady and Jermaine O’Neal. Right now, if you pull that card with most basketball fans, they’ll turn their head in disgust. But everyone becomes better and everyone’s resume looks fuller once they retire and are gone. Who are some players on the bubble, like perhaps some of the names above, that you think should/could/shouldn’t get in eventually? … Which McDonald’s All-American from the last few years do you think was the biggest bust? … So Shawn Kemp did a live chat yesterday, and it was one of the greatest things in Seattle history, right behind Jack Sikma‘s white afro. Among the stuff Kemp said was that Detlef Schrempf was his most underrated teammate and Drazen Petrovic was the most underrated player he ever played against. He also said his favorite player to watch is Kevin Love and that the best team didn’t win in ’96. Huh? So 72-10 wasn’t good enough to declare “best team?” Everyone loves to talk about how Jordan struggled after the Glove switched over to guard him. The fact remains that if you fall behind in ANY series 3-0, we have a hard time believing you have the better team. That just defies everything … Corey Maggette is in serious discussions with Greece’s PAOK. This is something we actually believe, considering Maggette’s agent was reportedly offering his player all this week to several overseas teams. Maggette’s interest has to be extremely high, and as long as that’s there, he’ll probably find himself on some team in the future. We could be seeing Bad Porn in Europe. Let’s leave that one alone … Would you play in a league like this? Apparently, there are A TON of people who would. We can’t blame them. It looks crazy … Besiktas might’ve failed to land Kobe Bryant (talks are off for now), but now they’re saying Kevin Garnett has expressed interest in them. Someone give us the reason why so many have the hots for this team? Or maybe someone is fibbing. Is Besiktas trying to form their own version of the Miami Heat? It feels like it. Someone should sign a contract over there, and have a European Decision with dozens of young children behind them … Lastly, some of the Dime crew were in D.C. preparing for today’s Red Bull King of the Rock qualifier at Barry Farms. So what better way to spend a Friday night than taking in some Goodman League action? After running into Michael Beasley in the elevator at our hotel, B-Easy took his talents to the Farms and did work playing alongside former Georgetown point guard Chris Wright and the Goodman League’s leading scorer, Jamar Board. After watching Board play, you understand why they call him “The Silent Assassin.” He’ll play his senior season for the University of Pikeville in Pikeville, Ky. this year … We’re out like the Besiktas “Heat”.
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