Honestly, how did it take this long to set something like this up? We may not have the NBA on time, but Las Vegas finally has a team, and their “team” should be loaded. A long-rumored league is finally taking shape in the city of Sin, and should tip off at the start of next week. One of the most well-known trainers in the world, Joe Abunassar, is the brains behind the operation (which is being called “Impact Training Competitive Basketball Series”), saying summer leagues are cool, but there’s nothing like playing five on five with all pros (you might know Joe as the guy who’s helped turn Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love into all-world players). At least 40 players have already committed to play and everyone is serious enough about it that we’ll have six to eight teams, a playoffs and a championship. The championship game is scheduled for Sept. 23. No word yet on whether they will be charging $100 for courtside seats (that was sarcasm by the way) … Can we all agree that He Got Game is the best basketball movie ever (not counting Hoop Dreams because it’s a documentary)? Anyone wanna argue? We doubt it. But as much as we love Jesus Shuttlesworth, we can argue he’s not the greatest basketball-playing movie character ever. Jesus has a say, but so does Neon Bodeaux from Blue Chips, Kyle Lee Watson from Above the Rim, Jimmy Chitwood from Hoosiers and all the rest. That’s why we’re starting the first ever 1 on 1 tournament of movie characters: Dime’s Ultimate Movie Baller. You’ll probably remember the tournament we did earlier this year…you know the one where everyone was drinking the Dirk Kool-Aid, and the big German walked away as the best one-on-one player in the NBA? Basically the same rules apply here, except you’ll be voting for guys from the movies. Should be interesting … This post from yesterday on Michael Jackson and Air Jordans had us bumping the Dangerous album all day in the office. How does that joint constantly get overlooked when we talk about MJ’s legacy? “Why You Wanna Trip On Me”, “In The Closet”, “Black or White” and “Can’t Let Her Get Away” are so good. That’s like the 1990s pop equivalent of Life After Death in a way: it still sounds fresh even today … Carlos Arroyo went wild again, dropping 26 points as Puerto Rico beat Canada by five to reach the semis of the Olympic qualifying tournament for the Americas. Manu Ginobili (26 points) and Al Horford (23 points, 14 rebounds) also led their respective countries (Argentina, Dominican Republic) to semifinal berths … Damn, we’ve heard of brand loyalty, but Brandon Jennings is teetering on the edge. First, he calls out Kobe Bryant twice. Now, he’s gone at LeBron James on Twitter because of an Under Armour slight. LeBron said “Ewwwwww!” on Twitter about Maryland’s new uniforms (We can’t fault him… a more accurate term would’ve been f—– disgusting.). Jennings came back and said “just like your Hairline…Keep that HeadBand On!” Ah, Twitter beef. LeBron – even though some would have you believe he’s like King Joff from “Game of Thrones” and won’t allow anyone to speak an ill word about him – has actually joked a few times about his sliding hairline. The two of them probably shared a laugh. We doubt there’s anything serious about it … The owners and players will meet again today in New York City and if everything goes according to plan, they might get back into the meeting rooms again tomorrow and Friday. But we wouldn’t be surprised if David Stern comes rushing out like Ari Gold in the last episode of Entourage, yelling “I need every one of you to find me a way to get this deal done! This is bigger than business. It’s family… oh wait, I just got a text… I guess I did your job for you. F— you all. You’re all fired!” … After seeing Steve Nash onstage with Nas doing all sorts of weird dances moves straight from the 1970s, we figured that was the ultimate “Steve Nash” offseason story. But it wasn’t. In fact, he topped that immediately. Apparently, Nash boarded onto a ferry after the show along with the regular folk. All of a sudden, it was “OMG, Steve Nash is on this ferry with us.” Everyone starting chanting his name before he noticed one lucky fan wearing a Suns jersey. Finding out that it was a customized jersey with the fan’s name on the back, Nash got everyone to start chanting the fan’s name. And then this from Charged.fm: “At one point while a large group of people were still waiting to board the ferry, Nash drunkingly encouraged everyone to just ‘bum rush the boat.’ He sounded a lot like Will Ferrell encouraging people to come streaking in ‘Old School’.” … And Stephon Marbury loves posting weird photos on Twitter … We’re out like Maryland’s uniforms.
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