What a shocker (please). The NBA season won’t start on time after talks stalled once more. Sad. Just sad. We feel for everyone who wants to see real basketball. We feel for all the employees who make their living off the NBA. We feel for Nick Young‘s hair. We feel for the integrity of the game. We even feel for the two sides who can’t seem to figure this trash out. But now it’s official: the first two weeks are gone because David Stern says there is a substantial gap between the two sides. Yesterday, there were reports that the sides were making progress, but at this point, it’s all a game of shadows and mirrors. Some people want to believe it’ll get done. Others say it’s going to take a long time … SBNation reports the first two weeks are already axed without much hope for a quick resolution. Derek Fisher and CP3 got the kids tweeting LET US PLAY! #StandUnited but their cause could easily become a battle of attrition. Does anyone think the NBA players will have to concede the BRI split sooner or later? NBA owners are, across the board, high multi-million, or even billionaires, with multiple revenue streams. It’s simply mathematics really. Billy Hunter and co. will be backed against a wall once the checks stop coming in November with players stateside unable to get jobs overseas and rookies still unsigned. We wouldn’t be surprised if, when push comes to shove, the players come to terms with a compromise much closer to 50/50 in the new CBA … Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today took this picture of Gregg Popovich, who just so happened to be in NYC and just so happened to run by the hotel where lockout meetings were taking place. Pop swears he had no idea … Kobe Bryant would love to play with Carmelo Anthony. I think we all knew that. They’re boys. Bryant believes an inside presence is the key to winning, and that Anthony would fulfill that. He’s probably still thinking about the 2009 Western Conference Finals. Bryant also said this about his relationship with Michael Jordan: “He hates when I say it, but I’ll say it anyway: I call him and he calls me right back every time.” Kobe said the two have such a strong relationship, and that he has so much respect for Jordan that he’s not directly trying to pass his numbers (cue up the stupid “Kobe copies MJ!” rhetoric as if that’s supposed to be a bad thing). Bryant says he just wants to win as many rings as possible because at the end of the day, who’s to say who the best player of all time is? You can’t. It could be MJ or Magic or Russell or… All a player can do is win as many rings as possible … Our fam over at Panini America had a huge meet up with Bryant over the weekend. If you’re a big card collector, you probably want to check out these sick Bryant autographs … Roger Mason Jr. will get in on the action with a charity game at U.Va. featuring former ACC standouts against stars like Kevin Durant, Rudy Gay and John Wall … Deron Williams is struggling in Turkey. Nevertheless, we’re grateful he opened up his journey from the NBA to the Turkish Basketball League in a diary series on ESPN.com’s Nets Report. Deron’s first entry chronicled his family’s whirlwind voyage and shed light on the limited practice and preparation he got with his teammates before the season started. We didn’t expect him to rip out the gate but to see him have such growing pains is interesting. At any rate, he’s taking the adjustments in stride … Do you want to run with Derrick Rose? This Saturday in Chicago, you’ll be able to. Some of the Dime family was hooked up yesterday with the new D-Rose kicks, and we can say they’re pretty nice (you’ll have to wait for a basketball performance review). And those new sneakers are the reason for this big event, which you can follow by liking adidas basketball’s Facebook page. Rose is putting on a pickup game somewhere in Chicago, and all week adidas will be dropping clues as to where it is. The first fans to arrive at the special location with the password will earn access to watch the games, possibly play and some will get the chance to lace up a pair of adiZero Rose 2. If you aren’t in the Windy City, watch the game on their Facebook page … Kenyon Martin was treading in some hot water yesterday with some of the comments about AIDS made on his Twitter page. But he tweeted last night that it wasn’t him. We figured that all along. The stuff he was saying was just way overboard … Udonis Haslem is on Twitter, looking 10 years too old … And is Myck Kabongo the next Rajon Rondo? Someone thinks so … We’re out like the first two weeks.
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