Former NBA all-star Antoine Walker has agreed to pay more than $900,000 to settle bad check charges with three Las Vegas casinos and avoid trial on felony criminal charges, a defense lawyer and prosecutor said Monday. 

Walker wasn’t in court when his attorney, Jonathan Powell, described a plan for his client to pay a minimum of almost $13,000 a month over five years to settle a complaint stemming from casino debts at Caesars Palace, Planet Hollywood and the Red Rock Resort. 

Powell on Monday described his 33-year-old, 6-foot-9 client as unemployed, but said he hopes to sign with a team in the U.S. or Europe. If he does, Walker promises to increase payments to almost $21,400 per month and finish the repayment plan within three years. 

Las Vegas Backstage Access has written other articles on this case.

Toine, mira al pajarito

Hay diferentes maneras de ganar pasta cuando el balón ceja de rodar. Hay quienes se intentan colar en algún banquillo o se meten al mercadeo de los representantes. Otros directamente se meten en los despachos o se ponen al otro lado de las cámaras. Los hay que directamente se limitan a vivir como monjes en sus lujosas casas o en sus alejadas granjas administrando lo ganado en sus exitosas carreras. Y también exsten aquellos que terminan firmando autógrafos en la cárcel. Hace nada hablamos de los líos judiciales por asesinato a los que se enfrentaba Jayson Williams. Hoy el que va caminode enfrentarse a los tribunales es otro All Star, Antoine Walker, que ha sido denunciado por el mal estado de los inmuebles que posee en Chicago bajo la propiedad de dos de sus empresas, Walker Ventures LLC and AW Realty LLC. El exCeltic se ha disculpado en el Chicago Tribune del estado de varios de estos edificios habitados. Uno de ellos está cerca del estado de ruina, al tener profundas deficiencias en el suministro de agua por la rotura de las tuberías y estar inutilizados los sótanos, además de haber riesgo de caida de alguna de los ladrillos de la fachada. Una docena de acusaciones se ciernen sobre la figura de Walker por impagos de varias deudas y el mal mantenimiento de los edificios de su propiedad. No es la única razón por la que la exestrella de la NBA va a dar trabajo a sus abogados. Toine está inmerso en una causa criminal por tener deudas producto de apuestas en tres casinos de Las Vegas. Una forma rápida de malgastar una fortuna.

“A fool and his money are soon parted.”

We have all no doubt heard the above expression, and most, if not all can be a witness in our own way of its truth. Recently, I saw a video clip of Lil Wayne in which he held up $100,000 (cash), which he stated he was just carrying around, as if it was OK. 

The news reports that Antoine Walker, the 33-year-old professional basketball player, who after nearly 14 years in the NBA, and earnings topping the $100 million mark, is said to now be broke and in debt.  We recall the case of Adam “Pac Man” Jones, who supposedly threw $80,000 at strippers, while “making it rain.” Former NBA player Latrell Sprewell’s financial troubles also have been well documented.

One NBA player reportedly owned 20 Bentleys. While this is not intended to call anyone of these young men fools, some of our behavior as it relates to money is  absolutely foolish, and the problem appears to be having too much too soon.

One of the definitions of the word fool is “to trick or deceive.”  Sadly it seems that too many of the young athletes and entertainers are tricked into believing they can simply live for today, for themselves and their entourage, followers, groupies etc. They are deceived by the seasonal adulation, physical gifts, and well paid handlers who only say what they believe will keep them in the good graces of their benefactors, all the while acknowledging, however quietly, the understanding that this will soon end. Many of the handlers, use the opportunity to create their own realities, pledging not to make the same mistakes.  While some just enjoy the short ride up and the longer ride down.

A fool is also considered “one who is deficient in judgment, sense or understanding.”  The ability to make good judgments is tied to one’s age, background and family structure.  How much do these young men and women really know at 18 or 19 years old, when they are handed million dollar contracts? How much wisdom is present around them?  And sadly, when those who would guide them aright (i.e. Minister Farrakhan) are present many handlers and managers encourage them away from such guidance.

What about their sense of self and community? Some arrive with an understanding that they are a part of a community, and while they should never be expected to solve all the problems, quite a few do their best. Others appear to have no sense of the problems that surround them, and are more interested in strip clubs than strip malls and more self-absorbed than self-aware. Whenever a part of the culture allows young men to believe that they can in fact make it rain, when that function is reserved for the creator, these self-deluded young men are soon to be brought back down to earth, as the rain itself.

There is a biblical instruction that says, “With all thy getting, get understanding.” There is an obvious lack of understanding on the part of those talented few, who have not yet developed the ability to discern, who, what, when, where and most importantly why.  The who is “the who is this person” and what do they really want, unfortunately many have been taken advantage of, and caused others to look with suspicion on those who mean well.  The when is the understanding of the season of your life; enjoy some of the good things in life, have your version of fun, but prepare for the winter of your life.  The where is to consider the decision one is about to make, where will this take me. Such was the case of Steve McNair, the former NFL quarterback, who was shot to death by his girlfriend. The why is that which will keep us working to purify our motives.

Finally, an acknowledgment that these are oftimes young men who come from poor families, and neighborhoods, who in getting a taste of the good life are determined to enjoy it to the fullest, as Kanye West said on the song the good life “this [is] the life that everybody ask for.”  My encouragement to these and the ones to come, is simply this study those who went before you and prepare for those to come.

Your Brother, Richard

If he keeps this up, I may have to change my blogging alias to Religious Views: John Wall

Wall, in his first official collegiate game, finished with 19 points, 5 assists, and 3 steals to go along with a game winner at the buzzer to cap a 72-70 UK victory.  He played a little out-of-control at times (he had 5 turnovers, not to mention at least two plays that I can think of where he was totally bailed out by the officials), but some of that, I think, is a product of his otherworldly athleticism: He’s come to believe that  he can do just about anything out there, just about anytime he wants– so why not try?

I’m suddenly realizing just how tough it is to formulate an argument for someone’s athleticism without some sort of quantifiable attribute to back it up (a 40-time or a vertical leap, for instance).  But John Wall is an exception; anyone that watches him play can see that.  This will seem strange, but the guy Wall most reminds me of: Michael Vick.

Watching Wall now reminds of those first few times I watched Michael Vick play football at Virginia Tech.  Vick was faster than everyone, and his arm was stronger than most, but that alone didn’t even come close to doing his game justice:  Athletically, he was just on a different level than everyone else.  And that’s how Wall is.  He looks like a high-schooler playing with middle-schoolers out there, or a boy competing in a girls game.  The way he changes direction, accelerates, elevates, stops on a dime…it’s all done with a fluidity and grace that makes it seem so easy it almost borders on unimpressive.  Sort of like the way Vick did it at VA Tech.  But moving on…

DeMarcus Cousins reminds me of a bigger Antoine Walker.  Some of the comparisons are fairly obvious:  Post player who not-so-secretly wants to be a wing, rebounds well even when he’s out of position, looks like he could put on a lot of weight if he’s not careful, etc.  But something about his fluidity around the rim and ability to turn terrible looking turnarounds and put-backs into effective ones reek of ‘Toine.

Finally, the way this team is able to put the ball in the basket brings back memories of the ‘96 Cats (Hyperbole Alert!).  Almost every player on the team (Harris, Stevenson, and, if he ever plays, Liggins being the exceptions) is a legitimate threat to score when they’re out there.  When was the last time Kentucky could say that?  I think that was our biggest problem last year:  It doesn’t matter how well you move the ball or run your offense, when there’s only two guys on the court (Patterson and Meeks) who are any real threat to make a shot, it makes life pretty easy for the defense.  That’s not something we have to worry about this year.

In the news . . .

High school students and ACLU sue Indiana school district after officials suspend students for Myspace photos.

Tracking devices on new cars continuing to raise privacy concerns.

Study: Those who download the most music illegally also buy the most.

Court awards Facebook $711 million in damages from spammer, criminal case continues.

More celebrity tax trouble–former NBA all-star owes $4 million. Meanwhile, ex-wife and ex-girlfriend of NFL coach claim physical abuse.

Woman posts sexy Craigslist ad with identity of daughter’s nine-year-old classmate.

ICANN rules to allow non-Latin letters as top-level domain names.

Arizona Supreme Court holds that metadata in state documents is public record.

Apple continues to limit Palm Pre enjoyment, this time by blocking ability to sync to the company’s latest version of iTunes (9.0.2).

Possible hoax? Bluebeat.com claims to be offering the entire Beatles catalog at a discounted price, plus unlimited streaming.

Antoine Walker, a former NBA Boston Celtics star, is in deep debt and has been under pursuit of multiple financial institutions recently- and now, even Sin City has caught up with the wayward dribbler. 

Reportedly, in 12 years, 33-year-old Walker made more than $110 million by playing professional basketball just so-so. Taking away taxes, throwing in some aid as endorsement money and a “NBA Live 99″ cover, he should be left with around $60 million. 

But all that loot has apparently vanished.  During the last several months, the once multi-millionaire athlete has been pursued by multiple financial institutions for unpaid debts. 

Now, Walker owes more than $4 million dollars to his creditors and is facing felony check fraud charges for allegedly writing $1 million in bad checks in Las Vegas.  Talk about a major foul out!

Does he need counseling from the reformed and outspoken NBA player Charles Barkley? 

How could that amount of money dissipate?   Well, Walker lived large- really large.  He always rolled with an outsized entourage. His mother estimates that, during his playing days, he was supporting 70 friends and family members in one way or another. 

And speaking of his good ol’ mom:  he built her a mansion in the Chicago suburbs, complete with an indoor pool, 10 bathrooms, and a full-size basketball court– hopefully, it allows her wheelchair access and includes a trainer.

This should be required reading for all the young and dumb out there who suddenly become rich:

In 12 years, Antoine Walker made roughly 55 million NBA dollars (after taxes, but not counting endorsement deals.) Yet, he has over $4 million in unpaid debts and faces felony check fraud charges. How the hell did that happen?

Well, since he bounced about $1 million worth of checks in Las Vegas you can chalk a healthy portion of that up to gambling losses. But that doesn’t explain it all way. Walker was a generous friend and teammate. A little too generous. A Boston Globe investigation into the former Celtic’s lavish lifstyle includes free spending, not just on himself—in 2002, he had a new suit made for every day of the playoffs so he wouldn’t have to wear the same one twice—but on those in his very large orbit. Teammates say he routinely picked up giant dinner tabs on the road or would hire limos to take everyone out on the town. According to his mother, at one point Walker was financially supporting seventy of his friends and relatives.

However, Diane Walker doesn’t see what’s wrong with that:

Walker’s mother, Diane, said her son does not have a gambling problem. She added that “he doesn’t party any more than the next person” and “what you do with your life is your business.”

“Antoine doesn’t owe anybody any explanation,” said Diane Walker. “He’s not out here hurting anybody. He’s trying to live his life peacefully. That’s all he’s doing . . . My son is young. Why can’t he just enjoy life, go where he wants to go?”

Because, believe it or not, $110 million does not last a entire lifetime. (At least not when you’re spending $10 million a year on watches.) Apparently, Walker gave very little thought to where that money might come from once his basketball career was over. When he did invest, he invested poorly or simply gave it away to charities. Sadly, playing $15,000-a-hand blackjack with Michael Jordan is not a sound retirement strategy.

In 1999, when he signed a six-year, $71 million deal with the Celtics, then-president and coach Rick Pitino said Walker “will never have to worry about money again in his life.” So add that to the list of everything else Pitino got wrong in Boston.

Former Celtics star Antoine Walker pursued by creditors as wealth vanishes

The other irony here is that Antoine Walker wasn’t even a great NBA player, sure he had a handful of all-star seasons, but it’s not like he’ll ever have to worry about preparing a Hall-of-Fame speech. Of course that’s the least of his worries now and his mom’s attitude about this situation won’t be of any help.

That’s an investment I can’t argue with…

It’s pretty hard to find the most ridiculous part of this terribly sad story about Antoine Walker and how he squandered $110 million of earnings in 12 years, but I’ll give you some candidates.

Walker signed a six-year, $71 million guaranteed contract in 1999. 10 years later, he’s in the hole about $4 million to creditors.

I’m guessing this didn’t help:

In 12 years, Antoine Walker made more than $110 million playing professional basketball moderately well. Take away taxes, throw in some adidas endorsement money and a “NBA Live 99″ cover, and he’s left with….read full story

Yes MSG is going internatonal tomorrow (ok, only Canada) to catch U2, so got to cover a lot today as no guarantee I post again before Saturday.  Scroll to the bottom if you just want the Kardashians and the sordid EScaPades(N).

So let’s start with the BCS.

Florida, Alabama and Iowa all should have lost, and, it is hoped, they will.  Seems just in a year like this one.  Texas will not lose as they don’t play anyone. Oklahoma State does not have Dez Bryant, because he, like PacMan Jones and Michael Crabtree, sought out advice from Deion Sanders, and that does not end well for anyone, except, perhaps, Deion.  So Dez gets to sit out the year, and despite another year of eligibility, will turn pro.  In fact, Yes MSG predicts that Dez has already attended his last class at OSU.

And exactly how is USC 5 when it lost to a mediocre Washington team?  Anything to stop it from being TCU and Cincinnati I guess. But perhaps Oregon will take out the Trojans and then we get to see how rigged the system is.  Would a one-loss Oregon pass undefeated TCU, Cincy and Boise? 

Here is hoping for a complete mess!

And what about those NFL QBs?

Favre had a fumble returned for a TD and threw a pick six, so at least he finally lost.

the Niners decided that Shaun Hill was not going to lead them to the Super Bowl.  Really?  Look, I appreciate that he is a gamer, but unless you are Trent Dilfer backed up by a sick defense, you are not winning the Super Bowl with Shaun Hill.  Now whether you win with Alex Smith….who knows. 

You remember Alex Smith?  First pick in the draft when the Niners should have taken Aaron Rodgers.  At least he was not as bad a draft pick as JaMarcus, Tim Couch, Akili Smith, Vince Young, Brady Quinn (who cannot beat out Derek Anderson – seee below), Matt Leinart, etc.

(OK, not a QB but instead of rehashing how stupid it was to give Matt Cassel, of the 72 QB rating, $63M, let’s talk about the troubled Larry Johnson.  I will not comment here, but this is a great article by Joe Posnanski)

Quick Soccer Interlude.

I know everyone says Europe is so much more sophisticated and mature than the USA.  In many walks of life it may be but definitely not in sport.  I was catching a bit of the Champions’ League and the advertising around the stadium basically says “Say No to Racism.”  Really?  We have to s-p-e-l-l that out for people?  Apparently we do.  Seems that Euro soccer fans like to chant racist things against opposing players, especially when African or of African descent.

I am not saying that racism is dead here in the USA, but having attended sporting events for almost 40 years, I have never heard anything that would require this kind of advertisment.  Unless it was, of course, “Say No to Racism (sponsored by Budweiser).”

Tough call for the next topic, but let’s go with Basketball and save the Sexual Escapades at ESPN for later.

So the NBA started this evening, which will fortunately allow me to avoid all the Yankee worship* that starts tomorrow. 

*Sorry, but the Yanks spent $420M on Sabathia, Tex and Burnett (toss in Jeter and Arod’s contracts and you are already at salaries of $900M (no, that is not a misprint)), so I just enjoy it more when the Yanks spend $100+M on the Giambi’s and Kevin Brown’s of the world.  I hope the Phils take ‘em, but nevertheless, the salary discrepancy numbers are ridonculous.  In fact, if you want a good baseball story, check out Dodgers owners, the McCourts, divorce proceedings.  Here is a little sampling:

Jamie McCourt’s filing states she is seeking reinstatement as the team’s CEO as well as access to perks including travel by private jet, stays at five-star resorts and use of the Dodgers owners’ suite. She wants $321,000 a month in spousal support if reinstated to her former position. If not, she believes she should be paid nearly $488,000 per month.

First off, Cleveland lost at home, with Shaq and LeBron, to the Celtics.  So now the Cleveland sports fan has realized:

• The Shaq-uisition (get it?) was a disaster.  The Celts are better than the Cavs. LeBron will sign elsewhere next offseason.  Add to this….
• The Browns are absolutely atrocious, and their QB, Derek Anderson, has a QB rating of 40.6, and their coach is an a-hole.  Was better when Modell moved the Ravens (nee Browns) to Baltimore
• The Indians were one win from the World Series in 2007, with, ironically, CC Sabathia going, and still lost three straight to Boston.  Now they have to watch two ex-pitchers, CC and Cliff Lee, go against each other in game 1 of the World Series.  Excuse them if World Series ratings are rather low in Cleveland
• They live in Cleveland

In other BBall news:

- Blake Griffin is hurt and not playing; but of course, he is a Clipper

- Baron Davis is banged up after a single game.  Of course he is, he is Baron Davis, AND he is a Clipper

- Lamar Odom married Khloe Kardashian.  He would have done better choosing Door Number 2 or 3 or 4 on Let’s Make a Deal.

Khloe Kourtney  Kim  Bruce

Finally, before we move on the Steve Philips Lewisnky-type scandal, check out this article on how Antoine Walker may have blown $100M in career earnings, and how his mom may not be the best Forensic Accountant out there.  The fact that Antoine had a “VC” (Walker Ventures LLC) and a Real Estate company (AW Realty LLC) might have been two warning signs.  I mean, with $100M in earnings, and say $40M net after taxes, agents, splurging, etc.  I would rather invest in real estate than just take my $4M a year in interest. 

Finally Mr. Phillips of ESPN.

ESPN seems to have a sordid history of sexual misconduct — Phililps, Harold Reynolds, Mike Tirico (he survived as he is the equivalent of the star Running Back), Stu Scott — but some of this story takes the proverbial cake.  The New York Post has the most comprehensive coverage, and the letter his mistress wrote his wife is Fatal Attraction.  It is disturbing and absolutely compelling in itself.  And in true Lewinsky style, his choice in mistresses seems to be as good as his selection of players while GM of the Mets.  Judge for yourself, but I think he just traded in his job and marriage for a .220 hitting shortstop who is never making it to AAA, much less the Big Leagues.  Not to mix sports metaphors, but this is the Infidelity equivalent of Ryan Leaf.

You are an Ex_GM, a good looking 46 year old, you made millions, and this is your choice?  His wife is probably pi$$ed AND embarra$$ed!  More the latter I expect.

1. If you’re going to get rid of $55 million the logical place to start is a Denny’s Grand Slam for $5.99. He would’ve needed to eat there every day for 25,156 years to blow $55 million so you know Walker was a solid tipper if he spent it all on breakfast.

2. If Walker didn’t like wasting money on breakfast he at least needed to brush his teeth at Walgreen’s. Crest Extra White with Scope is $5.99, but don’t forget a toothbrush at $2.79 he could’ve made this purchase at least 6.25 million times

3. Who knows how Walker’s dental hygiene is, so with $55 million to burn he probably picked up a new shirt and the folks at Eton have the world’s most expensive dress shirt at $45,000. Walker could’ve bought 1,222 of them. http://most-expensive.net/dress-shirt-me

4. Now maybe Walker just likes to rock his own jersey all the time, but if he wanted to be trendy and get an iPhone or 183,333 iPhones he could’ve.

5. If he didn’t have any friends or people to talk to then he had to have picked up a 52” Sony  flat screen for $2500 to watch SportsCenter , or he could’ve just bought two HD video boards like this: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3580/3844162329_c23e21d750_b.jpg.

6. Walker wouldn’t want a house made of TV’s , that’d be cold so he probably went to the local Cadillac dealership and pick up 875 of Cadillac’s new CTS V-series, unless he was more of a fan of the Lamborghini Gallardo then he could’ve picked up 250 of these: http://www.lamborghini.com/2006/lamboSitenormal.asp?lang=eng

7. The thing is Walker was an NBA player and he was probably more of a high roller than that and nothing says high roller like a Pershing 88’ Yacht, http://aerotoystoreyachts.com/88%20Pershing.htm which would be nice, but you know what’d be nicer? Just a 147’ Sterling yacht, http://aerotoystoreyachts.com/147%20Sterling.htm and at $15.9 million he could’ve picked up three my friend.

8. But really who wants to be out on the water all the time Walker seems more like a flyer and a 2009 Gulfstream G550 at around $48 million seems up his alley. Walker could only get one but if you’re going blow your money what a way to do it look at this http://www.aerotoystore.com/giv-1153.shtml

9. Walker is no fool though why would he blow all his money on one jet ? He’d probably pick up an AW139 Executive helicopter at $16,900,000 or five of them, whatever, he’s got $55 million to burn go big get a small fleet of these:  http://www.aerotoystore.com/aw139-41016.shtml

10. You know what though, Walker isn’t one to waste his money. He seems like a savvy guy who’d want to be involved in real estate and what says smart investment like an 11,000 square foot Oceanfront Mexican Villa, and at $6 million he could buy 9. But look at the pictures here: http://www.viviun.com/AD-134754/ it’s worth it for sure.

If you have any ideas that you think we might like, leave us a comment below.

So let’s play who is a bigger dumbass…

Contestant #1: Antoine Walker, former NBA player
I guess I am a little late on his recent arrest, but I don’t care. Employee #8, as he went by with the Celtics, made over $100 mil. yes, $100 freaking million dollars. But a month or so ago, he was arrested in a Vegas casino for writing over 10 bad checks totaling $1 million. He also owes over $4 mil in debts. How the hell do you spend that kind of jack??
- Mansion with 10 bathrooms for Momma and entourage of 70
- A new suit for every playoff game
- 10+ cars (Bentleys, Hummers, Mercedes, etc.)
My favorite? Taxes.

Contestant #2: Steve Phillips
So yeah, Steve was a terrible GM for the NY Mets. But he got an unreal gig at ESPN. He got paid mega cash to talk Baseball 24-7 and run the prime time Sunday night game with Joe Morgan. How do you possibly screw that up? Steve decided to have an affair with 22-yr old production assistant. Who is absolutely hideous. Maybe ESPN would have kept him on if he was doinking the hot intern. But Steve got axed yesterday…not impressive.

Contestant #3: Sam Bradford
Alot of people want to win the lottery. Sam Bradford won the lottery last year, and tore up his ticket. He literally threw away $40 million so he could win a National Championship at OU. Reason #1 why this was a bad idea…Colt McCoy and Will Muschamp. Reason #2: $40 freaking million dollars. Reason #3: $40 freaking mil. I honestly almost feel sorry for the guy – he is now going to be a mid-first round pick and have mental issues which will result in an awful NFL career.

ANTOINE WALKER

The Boston Globe reported Sunday that former NBA star Antoine Walker may be broke. Worse, Walker is so broke-ass that he may end up going to jail. The Globe reports Walker owes over $4 million and “has been pursued by multiple financial institutions” and Las Vegas casinos for the money.

The problem for Walker is that, in Nevada, owing money to a casino can lead to major criminal charges. Walker, in fact, was nailed with serious check-kiting charges earlier this summer. The same thing happened to Charle Barkley, who simply paid off his markers to the casinos.

That may not be an option for Walker. Despite earning $110 million during his NBA career, Walker apparently has no money to pay the gambling debts. Plus, he may not be getting any legal help any time soon since he stiffed his agent and lawyers recently.

LOOK! IT’S ANTOINE WALKER IN A VEGAS CASINO. WHAT ARE THE ODDS?

Gambling has long been a favorite form of entertainment for (Antoine) Walker. After a 2001 exhibition game at Mohegan Sun, Walker once reportedly played $15,000 hands with Michael Jordan during an all-night gambling session where estimates of money lost and won totaled several hundred thousand dollars. Prior to the 2003-04 season, when Celtics general manager Danny Ainge called Walker to tell him he had been traded, Walker was engrossed in a high-stakes blackjack game at Mohegan Sun.  (Boston Globe)

Speak no evil.

If you care and have the time, there’s a fascinating article in the Sunday Boston Globe about former Celtics star Antoine Walker gambling away his millions. 

Walker seems like the type who wouldn’t hurt a fly.

But he also seems like the type who could have used a Jim Calhoun in his life instead of a Rick Pitino.

The Denver Nuggets were my guilty pleasure last year. My fling. Even in the game which cost Sam Mitchell his job as coach of the Raptors, I couldn’t be mad at them. Why? Well, there are a few reasons.

1: They call him Melo

Back in the old days, you know, 2003, there was a draft in the NBA that was kind of a big deal. I dunno if any of you remember it but it was quite good. Anyway, I was the idiot who said that if the Raptors got the first pick, we should take Carmelo. Okay, so I overrated him juuust a bit. But honestly, if it had shaken out that way, it wouldn’t have been too bad. I mean, he’s averaged 24.2 points per game so far in his career. What’s that, you’re saying it’s because he was jacking shots, taking bad looks, being selfish? Au contraire mon ami. This isn’t an Antoine Walker story. Just look at his advanced stats: from 2006-2008, he had a TS% above 55% (yes, he slipped a bit last year, to 53%, but I’m sure he’ll rebound). He is capable of getting to the foul line, too, and he is an extremely underrated clutch performer. Essentially, when he’s on the court, your offense is way better. You put the ball in his hands, he’ll score. That’s his role, that’s what he does. And he’s VERY good at it. He can shoot from the perimeter, he can take his man one-on-one, he can post up – this man is a threat from everywhere on the court. Yes, LeBron James Is obviously better, as he is a unique beast that we have never seen before. Carmelo isn’t asked to facilitate his team’s offense, though – he’s a traditional scoring 3, the likes of which we’ve seen before from guys like Jamal Mashburn (who was never as efficient a scorer as Carmelo). If you ask me, there’s nothing wrong with being fantastic in a traditional way. In addition, Melo brings a good attitude; generally he’s a hard worker, he doesn’t complain (even when on some seriously dysfunctional teams), and he wants to win. That’s an underrated aspect of any star’s makeup. Some players would like to win and hope they do, but are more concerned with being able to continue to make max money and be able to get big endorsements. Winning is seen as a nice bonus. Carmelo wants to win. I see in Carmelo that same drive, that will to win that’s helped make Kobe great.

2: Mr Big Shot?

I love Chauncey Billups. There, I said it. I drafted him in the 3rd round of my Fantasy Draft last year and was obviously thrilled with his trade to the Nuggets. From a basketball standpoint, I was excited to see him play with some REALLY good ballers on a team that could be one of the best in the West. From a selfish standpoint, I was excited because I thought his fantasy value had doubled or tripled. That didn’t really happen, but I was happy with having another excuse to watch the Nuggets as often as I could. As much as I love Chauncey, though, I’m not a big fan of the name ‘Mr. Big Shot’. He isn’t Robert Horry and that’s not what he brings to the table or what makes him great. What Billups brings is leadership. He brings court vision and a sixth sense for ball-distribution. He is a true field general, a leader amongst men. Rather than spout poetic about him, I’ll simply direct you to an outstanding Outside The Lines piece on the man. Read that, then tell me you don’t want to watch him play with Carmelo Anthony and the rest of the team. Speaking of which….

3: The rest of the team

This is one of the most dangerous rosters in the NBA. Now, for the sake of this article, I’m going to take all my Man Crushes and put them in the next paragraph, so if I left someone out here, that’s why. In related news, if you don’t want to read why I love Joey Graham you may want to skip number 4. But I’m getting ahead of myself, one section at a time. Let me give you some names: Kenyon Martin. Nene. J.R. Smith. Ty Lawson. Renaldo Balkman. In fact, let’s do some math here. Add those names with Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups. Multiply by the x (REALLY pushing the Lakers last year, adding to their already ever-present swagger). The result? Well, we don’t know that yet. But there aren’t a lot of If Statements for these Nuggets. Basically, the If Statement is Nene’s knee. If it holds up, the sky is the limit for these guys. They don’t have the same depth after losing Kleiza (a huge spark off the bench), but replacing Dahntay Jones with Arron Afflalo (and his much more reasonable contract) is one of the most underrated moves of the summer. Jones could defend, yes, but Afflalo isn’t bad on that end either and he is a superior offensive player. They got a steal in the draft, too, with Ty Lawson falling into their laps at #18. Other than that, this is basically the same team that came quite close to the NBA finals last year. Nothing to sneeze at. Now it’s time to put out the warning for graphic content.

4: The Man Crushes

(warning: may contain images not suitable for minors. If blatant man crushes bother you, please skip to the conclusion)

Outside of Melo and Billups? Where do I even start with this club? Well, there’s the Birdman. James and I told anyone who would listen that Bryan Colangelo needed to sign Chris Andersen when he came back from his drug suspension. Sure, Denver overpaid for him, but let’s look at this glass half-full: he took a few years off basketball mid-career, so he doesn’t have the same wear and tear on his body that most players his age do (although I guess most NBA players don’t have a few years of hard drug use under their belts). Anyway, since he has a new lease on life, my hunch is he won’t take much for granted in the future. It’s within the realm of possibility that he keeps his act up for the next few years. Anyway, fine, MAYBE he won’t be worth his contract for the last couple of years of it, but that’s beside the point. Like I mentioned in my Golden State article (link), you can like a player but not the contract. In this case, I don’t just LIKE the player – I LOVE the Birdman. This guy is an athletic freak, his work ethic is beyond reproach, and he loves doing the dirty work. He is a shot-blocking version of “Junk Yard Dog” Jerome Williams (to this day, the only Raptors jersey I wear). I just can’t say enough about this guy. If I could be any NBA player for a day (assuming LeBron and Dwight were on vacation), I’d be him. In fact, he’s so inspiring to me that I snorted an 8-ball while writing this.

Joey Graham: Most Raptors fans had a love/hate relationship with Joey. Not me. I will argue to the death that Sam Mitchell’s incessant hook did more damage to Joey’s career than any of us will ever know. It’s not easy to develop confidence when your boss threatens to fire you after every mistake. Once he was shown some faith, he played well. I challenge any Joey detractor to watch the game against the Lakers in February. The Raptors didn’t have Jose Calderon. Bosh left hurt midway through the game. Pau Gasol had a MONSTER game, and the Raptors almost won. How? Joey. He scored, rebounded, ran the floor, and did an UNREAL job defending Kobe. Sure, Kobe ended up with 36 points, but he needed 38 minutes to get it and he shot 13 of 28 in the process. He’s Kobe, he can do that against great defense. There’s a good reason the last minute of the game the entire Air Canada Centre was on its feet, chanting, “Joey, Joey, Joey”. The effort he gave guarding Kobe one-on-one was something to marvel at. And to have the energy to carry the load offensively was something Raptors fans haven’t seen often. You can claim that I’m cherry-picking Joey’s best game, which is true, but my gut opinion on Joey is that we would have seen many more of these games if the coaching staff had shown confidence in him earlier. Trust me when I tell you this: if Denver shows some faith in him, they will be VERY pleasantly surprised.

Arron Afflalo. I don’t have nearly as much to say about Afflalo. This one is simple: I watched him in college and was smitten. His vision, his shooting stroke, his motor, it’s all good. He was lost in the shuffle in Detroit, especially when they were trying to work out the Iverson/Hamilton thing, but he’s got the skills to play a much bigger role in the NBA. Nuggets fans will see what I mean this year if they didn’t get a chance to watch him at UCLA. As I said earlier, he is a more than capable replacement for Dahntay Jones – in fact, he is better. Massive coup for Denver, getting such a capable two-guard for basically nothing. Daryl Morey-esque.

Then there’s JR Smith. Just watch this.

/dick-sucking and man-whoring, back to basketball.

Is Denver the best team in the western conference? No. Until proven otherwise, the Lakers are the best. But this year I do think they took a step back (Ariza for Artest, plus a psychological thing involving Gasol and Bynum that I’ll get into another time, plus the extra year of age on Kobe and the potential mellowing after achieving his goals), meanwhile Denver has at worst stayed the same as they were last year. In fact, top to bottom I don’t see too many top-tier clubs from the West having improved, Portland notwithstanding. Am I saying they’ll win the Western Conference? Not yet, but it IS possible, and I’ll be cheering for it. My hunch is another loss to the Lakers in the Conference Finals. What I am saying, though, is that this is one of the most enjoyable teams to watch I’ve ever seen, with some of my favourite players on it as a bonus. They’re in a city that’s hard to be down on, plus they’re the underdog. Somehow, they’re underrated as hell, which is remarkable considering they finished 2nd in the West last year in both the regular and post-season. If you’re looking for a 2nd team to support after your own, consider this my pitch for the Nuggets. Portland’s got lots of talent, and I love Roy and Aldridge (both part of my fantasy team so suck on THAT, James), but they just don’t play the same brand of entertaining ball (fun fact: Portland was the slowest team in the L last season). In my G-State column I spoke about charisma – this Nuggets team has charisma. They also have a leader, confidence and more than just raw talent, they have REAL ballers. Don’t sleep on these guys. I will personally guarantee you’ll be satisfied. That’s right, the Nuggets perform or your money back! With that kind of offer, how can you NOT at least give them a chance?

Is Nate Robinson stupid? Okay, just because you guys freaking resigned David Lee, it doesn’t mean you guys are going to make the playoffs. Okay, am I in the ballpark here? Good. Okay, DD readers, here’s what Krypto-Nate said:

“We’re going to shock everybody this year,. I think we can. The only thing about our team is we just have to play defense. We can score points. That’s easy. There are nights we might be off, but we can still score. It’s just stopping the other team from scoring. … We have everything else. We just have to pick up our defense and everything will be OK.”

Listen, I like you guys, but trust me, you aren’t going to make the playoffs. I mostly like you guys because I have a possible chance of interviewing Mr. Wilson Chandler, after sending an email to his agent.

But still, why would you want to listen to this guy:

With Daily Diop’s extreme vision, here’s what Nate really looks like:So next time you see Nate Robinson…

Don’t be surprised if he goes broke.

Chicago Bears RB Matt Forte and former NBA player Antoine Walker were among the many athletes and celebrities to support Kanye West’s charity concert to promote education and provide inspiration to young students:

Man I love that picture!

Hey guys, welcome to another edition of The Daily Diop. Let’s go ahead and go to what we are doing, besides looking at Mini Bullets. So let’s get this party started!

A fellow Pacers fan, Jared Wade, has a second-favorite team. His second favorite team, he says, is the New Orleans Hornets. Many others have showed their favorite team to the world, so let’s go ahead and see what others have to say about their favorite team who have websites part of TrueHoop nework. Also, in other news, Shaq and LeBron star in a new soap opera for this year’s NBA season, the 2009-10 season I mean.

When it comes to rookies, there is something very important…a photo shoot. That’s right, you read it, I typed it, that is what it is. But damn man, if you think that’s crazy, why don’t you take a look at Krypto-Nate and his scuffle with the police. Let’s try something crazier, testing postive for cocaine…from a freaking kiss! But here is the craziest, NBA ballers trying to rap. Eh, they are pretty good for their first try. Girls say Mo Williams look sexy in that video. Speaking of NBA ballers and rapping, Jason Richardson is trying to be a DJ while Desmond Mason does not re-sign with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Let’s head over to Layup Drill and see what they have to offer, pretty much nothing for right now. But there is a nice, interesting post about the NBA rookie, but no, there is no photo shoot crap involved, I’m sorry. Yes, I know, I am shocked too, just like there is a lot of other NBA websites out there like Jared Wade said at Eight Points, Nine Seconds. Speaking of Jared Wade, I gave him an A+ on his NBA nicknames project for Baller class at Dunk School.

Wade also found that Michael Beasley has some tight tattoos. I got to say, those are pretty tight. But you don’t want to click on that hyperlink, becuase I know, I know really know, that you are very lazy and you are just not going to click on that hyperlink to see some awesome, tight tattoos. So with me puttign a lot of commas in that sentence, and probably on this one, too, let’s just stop this and look at his tats right here, exactly right here, at The Daily Diop at FootBasket. So here is the pic:

Damn, nice!

Damn, nice tats Beas! But if you go to that hyperlink, and please do, you’ll see other pictures of guys with tight tattoos, with guys like 50 Cent, LeBron James, and Anderson Varejao being the p***y he is. And guess what another big thing is…David Stern is cool. But if you think that’s crazy, let’s go and see Michael Jordan ballin’ at freaking age 46, the same age as my father!

Yeah, I know, all of this is  all cool but I think it’s time we should close this article up and wrap it up as well. It’s time for me to hit the old dusty trail. So…yeah. This is The Daily Diop. And also, I discovered a new thing, I know why Antoine Walker shoots so many threes, thanks to the question the 1970s Larry Bird asked. To see why he shoots so many, click here.

Well this is The Daily Diop. Thank you for reading! More Diop crap coming soon!

Ninja Turtles are definitely alive and well in the NBA, despite the recent legal troubles of one Antoine Walker (I may be a pathetic blogger, but YOU have a gambling problem). Al Harrington, Tony Delk’s Turkish Ghost, Charlie Villanueva and Mike James are trying to hold it down in his absence (Shredder-esque Ryan Bowen is looking for work, if the Cavs ever needed a white Funderburke, this is the guy!) So, what’s the secret of the ooze? That Ike Diogu should shave his head, and play up to his potential in New Orleans; he could be useful with a decent point guard. He got waaay too much hype coming out of AZ State, but managed to get that much-coveted second contract, setting him up for life, even if it meant a life of wondering along his West Coast (Oscillating in and around the Bay Area, Portland and, umm, uhh Indianapolis [2 out of 3, I'm trying my best to sound witty here people, bear with me])

So, here’s one random ass motherfucker hoping to see someone besides James Harden rep The Sun Devil’s and their disproportionate number of attractive co-eds relative to other schools (if you swing both ways, you probably get some kind of bonus points; maybe Diogu has been habitually let down by the quality of the women on the road, or the men, before y’all blow the whistle on the speculation of who the next John Amaechi is, just remember that Kobe said he wouldn’t have played with a guy like that, and remember that he is a tyrant! All rest for NBA lunacy (luna, like moon) is for Eric Gordon and Baron Davis to look incredibly out of shape, but drop ridiculous buckets; a mid-season trade for James Harden seals the deal for the Clips as they give Oklahoma it’s golden child back and Blake Griffin can stop his blood-clot crying. There, it’s time to stop thinking about the NBA this off-season.