To become an alpha male, you really have to fight. Again and again. If we’re talking animals, it’s an everyday struggle. Only the strongest survive, and the only way you can survive is by beating everyone and doing it nonstop. The challenges never stop coming. The next in line never stops breathing down your neck. You can make a case it’s the same way in the NBA. We assumed LeBron had the title wrapped up for a while. But with the show Kevin Durant has been putting on this summer, who knows? Yes, it’s only summer leagues (where the defense makes the Warriors look like the Bad Boy Pistons). But KD is playing with some of the top talent and outshining everyone. That has to mean something. Right? … Durant’s team, considered to be repping the Goodman League, might’ve lost the game to a squad repping the ‘Melo League, 149-141, but the OKC star dropped an insane 59. LeBron ate some of that; The two went head-to-head pretty much all night long, including a run in the first half when it felt like they were the only two guys on the floor. LeBron didn’t score as much finishing with 38, but he put the game away for good in the fourth quarter for his star-studded lineup with 12 late points. He also had a few of his customary rim assaults. KD’s rolled with a starting lineup of Jeff Green, Jarrett Jack, Roger Mason Jr. and Austin Daye (23 points) among others. But when you’re going up against a trio of monsters like LeBron, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul, it’ll take more than Wheaties. ‘Melo dropped 36 and CP added 18 with some serious dishes, while Gary Neal (17 points) and Josh Selby (16 points) both played like they belonged … In a game like this, would you rather get the numbers and an L or is it still all about getting a win? We’ve heard arguments from both sides … Where are our NBA Jam fanatics at? Some big news hit the market yesterday … Some of the Dime crew was in Canton, Mass. yesterday at the Reebok headquarters for a dope event headlined by John Wall, Jason Terry, Jameer Nelson, Ramon Sessions and Isaiah Thomas. The five NBA guys trained for a day with five high school standouts from the national Reebok Challenge, playing with them, doing drills with them and even working out together. They actually went at it a few times five on five, NBA guys vs. the high schoolers, and the young fellas got a game or two (we’d be lying if we said the pros were going all out). One guy who was going all out was Wall. He was louder than everyone else in the gym combined, and doing everything on the court: rebounding, punching shots, going coast to coast. The play of the day came when Jason Terry threw a behind-the-back pass at midcourt to Nelson who then lobbed it off the glass to a trailing Wall. His one-handed dunk on that was crazy … With Rick Adelman seemingly in the driver’s seat to become the next coach of the Timberwolves, it was surprising to hear he left a Tuesday meeting with owner Glen Taylor without a contract offer. Up until this point, it was considered a formality (or at least strong indications) that Adelman would get the job. He’s the perfect fit, and is easily the favorite amongst the players and fans … On Monday, we wrote about how Ron Artest is gonna kill it on “Dancing With The Stars” in one way or another. Now we know he’s doing it and will be donating the money to cancer research. His daughter Diamond was diagnosed with wilms tumor four years ago, a kidney cancer, and Artest will turn over the $125,000 (plus whatever he gets for advancing) for research … If you’re like some of the Dime crew (a few of us finally got into keeper leagues. Some advice: if you play fantasy sports and aren’t doing keeper leagues, you need to. It makes it so much better), looking to fill out your fantasy lineups, here are the year’s top 50 keepers … And lastly, RIP @agentzeroshow. Gilbert Arenas is officially off Twitter. There goes half of our lockout entertainment. Meanwhile, checked out what he said about Javaris Crittenton about the aftermath of the guns in the locker room incident: “”You know, like some people turn over a new leaf when something bad like that changes their life. I heard Javaris went the other way — he became more ‘hood, more hardened in that way. I don’t know if that’s the case, but that’s what I heard” … We’re out like holding KD under 50.
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