This weekend the NBA subjected us to some very un-All-Star performances. First was Paul Pierce, a career 36.9% free-throw shooter, winning the 3-Point Contest. Then Nate Robinson, a 5’9″ non-All-Star, won his 3rd straight Dunk Contest. At least the All-Star Game was decent last night but I wasn’t aware that Usher was still popular? Is that the best they could do?

Anyway, I felt bad for myself, and ultimately bad for our SportsBore followers, so I decided to scour the world in search of the real slam dunk champion. And here is who we came up with:

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1. Taurian J. Fontenette aka “The Air Up There” aka “Mr.  720.”

2. Deuce Bello, a high school player who pulled off an under-the-legs dunk during a game.

3. Chand aka “Area 51″ who is only 5’7″ and pulled off an under-the-legs dunk. Area 51 got his nickname because he has a 50″+ vertical leap, which is only 3 inches shorter than mine on a trampoline… a big trampoline.

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Mr. 720 in Action

Deuce Bello During Game Action

Area 51 Gets Uuuuuuup

With the biggest free agent year in NBA history looming, and LeBron on the brink of an NBA Championship, the Cavs are reportedly trading Z and Hickson for Amar’e Stoudemire.

The Cavs need to do anything they can to keep LeBron happy and keep him in Cleveland. Acquiring another young star is a good start. Now if they can win a Championship together it will increase the Cavs chances of keeping LeBron. Let’s face it, if the Cavs lose LeBron to free agency, they should just bulldoze Cleveland into Lake Erie.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas is a great player, but he’s on the back-nine of his career. Hickson could be a force some day, but he’s young and a bit undersized. Stoudemire is a beast in the making. He’s a guy who can counter Dwight Howard in the East and the Lakers Bigs in the West. Essentially, with Soudemire, the Cavs could be an unstoppable force for years to come.

Let’s just hope they ink the deal because the NBA needs to shake things up, All-Star Weekend hasn’t exactly been exciting.

PS – I’m taking a crap right now (“Alternatives to NBA All-Star Game”)

Jalen Rose may not be the most eloquent NBA analyst in TV Land, but what he lacks in enunciation, he makes up for with substance. Every once in a while he’s guilty of dropping “boff” or “strengf” during a highlight, but his one-liners make up for it. Don’t believe me? Here are some of Jalen’s gems…

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“I remember draft night, I shook David Stern’s hand while rocking a red suit with white pinstripes and red gators … I’ve always been a trendsetter.”

“Like I told the guys earlier, once he turns 21 and is able to drink, it’s over.” (comment after LeBron James scored 56 points against the Toronto Raptors)

“It must have been two in the morning when we got to Detroit, ’cause nothing was open but hospitals, jails, and legs.”

“I’ve got to stop this. My entourages are getting entourages.”

“I’m a GM in fantasy basketball and I’m a GM on PlayStation, so on PlayStation I probably would have got a little more, but this is real life, so I don’t know.” (commenting on Vince Carter’s trade to Orlando)

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Last Saturday, Kentucky played Vanderbilt in Lexington, which usually isn’t news worthy. But on this particular day the Wildcats had a special guest fan sitting courtside… LeBron Raymore James.

So what exactly is the connection between James and Kentucky Basketball? Here’s the scoop…

LeBron’s good buddy and advisor, William Wesley, aka World Wide Wes, was with James at Rupp Arena on Saturday. Apparently World Wide Wes is also a good friend and advisor to John Calipari. WWW advises Calipari on the top high school talent in the country through his connections and associations with various summer camps and AAU teams. Basically, WWW is an unofficial scout for Kentucky Basketball now that Calipari is their head coach.

Some would call that cheating, but I believe Calipari is just a great networker with a better Rolodex than most college basketball coaches (remember, Calipari got a call from the President last week at well).

WWW is also tight with several other current and former NBA stars including Derrick Rose, Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson. WWW is not a household name, but in the basketball world, he’s the node that connects high school to college to NBA basketball (remember, Derrick Rose was a standout freshman at Memphis when Calipari was the coach there).

WWW is also an advisor and mentor for Kentucky’s superstar point guard, John Wall, who we’ve highlighted several times in the past. As a matter of fact we did a post about LeBron’s assessment of Wall as a player titled, “Lebron on Wall.” It’s worth noting that Wall had committed verbally to Memphis until Calipari left for Kentucky, which shows how influential WWW has been on Wall’s basketball career.

Back to LeBron.

I believe the reason the James gang was in Lexington was to evaluate Wall in person. I believe LeBron is interested in playing with Wall in the NBA and wanted to scout him in person. I won’t fuel the fire like I did with my post last November titled, “LeBron Staying in Cleveland? Ha!” but it seems odd that LeBron would be scouting a college player who the Cavs have no chance of acquiring. However, and yes I’m going there, the Net are projected to have the 1st pick in the draft and could easily snatch up LeBron and a few other highly-touted, unrestricted free agents, which would make them an instant contender. Also consider the fact that LeBron’s best friend, Jay-Z, is part owner of the Nets along with Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov. I would also be remissed not to mention that Z and Prokhorov have plans to move the Nets to Brooklyn soon. Just saying.

In addition to the WWW, Calipari and John Wall connections, LeBron has created a specially designed shoe just for the Wildcats. Kentucky and Akron (LeBron’s hometown) are the only two schools to get specially designed shoes (check out the shoes in the pictures below).

And finally, to close the loop, Calipari just hired Brandon Weems, who played with LeBron at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio. Weems became a graduate student manager for UK this year and remains extremely close to James.

So there you have it. LeBron’s connection to Kentucky basketball is vast and deep. He’s closer to UK than most of their biggest boosters. Like it or not, it’s gotta be good to be a Kentucky fan these days.

It was a go-to shot in everyone’s driveway growing up playing a game of H-O-R-S-E with your pals. The good ol’ behind the backboard shot. It takes a precise angle and perfect loft to perform successfully, and almost always counts for a letter when you sink it.  In the NBA it’s still only worth 2-points, but damn it’s pleasing to watch.

Monta Ellis is one of the most creative scorers in the league right now and he proved it again Wednesday night against Dallas with a redunkulous behind the backboard shot… and one.  Monta’s not the only slick ball handler to make the shot this season though, after the jump see the two best players in the league right now sink similar buckets, as well as a crazy shot from Ellis during warm-ups.

Kobe’s version is pretty slick, but you know anything the Black Mamba can do the King will do better…

Not hard to see what elevates these guys above the rest of the league. Check out the last vid to see one of the coolest shots that’ll never score a point in a game.

If LeBron James is playing, I’ll watch. If LeBron isn’t playing, then I’m not watching the NBA. The only other player in the NBA who’s truly worth watching is Kobe Bryant, but I don’t like Kobe, so I don’t care to watch him play. The NBA has been trying to sell me other stars, but I’m not buying.

Guys like Dwight Howard, Dwayne Wade and Carmello Anthony are great players, but they’re not true “superstars.” Other players like TracyMcGrady, Allen Iverson and Kevin Garnett used to be superstars, but they’re not any more. Which brings me to the question at hand, why are aging stars like Tracy McGrady and Allen Iverson still getting picked for the NBA All-Star Game?

So far this season, Tracy McGrady has played in only 6 games and is averaging 3.2 points. Earlier this season Allen Iverson was dealt by the Memphis Grizzlies and the Sixers picked him up in a pity-trade. In 17 total games this season, Iverson has averaged only 14.9 points and 4.4 assists. Can somebody please tell me what has been “All-Star” about either one of these guys this year?

Celtics guard, Ray Allen, doesn’t think McGrady and Iverson should be All-Stars either. The fans control 100% of the All-Star voting and Allen thinks that should be changed to include players, coaches and the media as well.

Allen commented, “Tracy, if he played, I’m sure he’d play well enough to be an All-Star player because he’s done that his career. But again, that’s taking away from another player in the Western Conference that’s having a great year, that’s been playing, that deserves to be in there.”

Ray is right, and the NBA needs a change, but NBA spokesman, Brian McIntyre, responded to Allen’s comments saying, “We look at it as a great way to engage the fans. We think it’s a good system.”

What is Brian McIntyre smoking? Does he really believe Tracy McGrady and Allen Iverson should be in the All-Star game? If the NBA actually took the All-Star game seriously it could be interesting. Like I said, I won’t watch NBA games unless LeBron is playing, but that’s because I don’t know many of the younger stars in the NBA. They simply don’t get the exposure with exception of a few highlights on SporsCenter now and again.

The All-Star game should showcase of the best players that season, not the most popular. I want to see the guy who’s averaging 28 and 10 every night, not a 34 year-old, washed up star. Basing the All-Star voting on performance would allow fans to see young, fresh, small-market players, which would breathe some life into a stale, two-man league.

Commissioner David Stern needs to stop letting belligerent, NBA fans vote for their old hero’s and start picking the best players for the All-Star game based on performance. Who knows, there might actually be some players out there other than LeBron and Kobe who could catch my attention? Hell, I might even start following other teams and watching teams other than the Cavs and Lakers. But until the NBA starts promoting it’s best players, as opposed to it’s fallen hero’s, I’ll settle for NCAA basketball.

Tracy McGrady and Allen Iverson as All-Stars? Give me a fucking break.

It wasn’t all fun and games yesterday for Gilbert Arenas, who was charged with felony gun charges. Arenas plead guilty to carrying a pistol without a license in the District of Columbia, a felony conviction that can mean up to 5 years in prison. Arenas will be sentenced on March 26th and it’s expected he will receive little to no time in jail. Arenas has a prior gun violation, which means Judge Robert E. Morin could sentence Arenas to anything from probation to a maximum of five years in jail. Hopefully for Arenas’ sake, Judge Morin gets laid the night before his sentencing.

The fact that Arenas will be sentenced on March 26th doesn’t bode well for his 2009-2010 season. If he receives any time behind bars he would serve after his March 26th sentencing, which means he’d likely miss the remainder of the 2009-2010 season if he does serve time. Now that Arenas has been dropped by the Wizards he faces the possibility of not being picked up this season. However it’s likely Arenas will get picked up by some team who needs 20 points and 10 assists a night.

We’ll all just have to wait and see what happens on March 26th.