A Day in the Life of Starbury

Ok, I swear I have other stuff to talk about besides the two craziest players in the NBA. This has been pretty heavily covered all over the NBA blogosphere, but I'd feel like I was doing the world a great injustice if I were to make no attempt to spread the insanity of Stephon Marbury. If you haven't heard, Starbury took video of himself for an entire 24 hours last Saturday and Friday and streamed it on uStream.com, which now has an archive of videos from the marathon. I've yet to watch any of the video besides about a minute of the live stream in which he was just stretching and listening to some song featuring Lil Wayne (wait, isn't that every single song ever). Judging by the quotes on NBA Musings, there's gotta be some classic moments. I think most of them are in response to questions people were sending into him on uStream. I haven't even read through half of them and I already have a list of classics to entice you.

"My head is so big, my dreams are in Imax? That’s good! Let’s hear your jokes!"

"Chris Paul is the best point guard in the NBA right now. He moves silky like a snake. Chris Paul, he got power and he slither, he slither… he move real silky like a snake."

"I’m going to set up a foundation for the world. I’m gonna take the money and start building cities all over the world. I’m a comet. My man told me I’m a comet. I said 'I’m a comet?"

"Would you have sex with Oprah? What’s wrong with you? Jimmeny Christmas! Jeez Louise. Challenge yourself Daddy."

"Do I believe in aliens? I ain’t never seen one. I believe in Jesus though."

"No, I never sucked no wee-wee before. Next question."

"I love Akon. He takes care of his people."

Clearly a genius.

What Really Went Down at the Palace

Ron Artest is in Hong Kong working on some tracks with Filipino-Chinese singer, actress and model, Shin Shin. I guess the two of them decided to go hang out at an amusement park and Shin Shin was dying to know about the infamous 2004 brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Wearing a sweet jelly fish shirt, Ron Ron was more than happy to share his side of the story, which was frequently interrupted by fans trying to get a picture with him. Damn, let the man finish telling Shin Shin his story! Artest posted the video as one of his Tru Warier Vlog entries.

Missing: Ron Ron's Passport

Ian Thomsen of Sports Illustrated: "Artest had planned a monthlong family vacation in the Bahamas after the season, but he had to cancel it because he couldn't find his passport. Instead he flew to L.A., checked into the trendy new SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills and spent late May and June telling the bellhops and desk clerks that he hoped to join the Lakers."

There's definitely some more pure gold moments of Artest being a maniac in the article, but that one stood out to me. Still not as good as this one, even if it is somewhat true.

"Bottomz a Gang" by Ghetto Souljahz

This track is from the Ghetto Souljahz album Graveyard Shift from 1996. The group includes Kazz, Lil' C, Mynd Ryte, and Syco, who handles the production. The album also features Havoc & Podeje (wonder if they'd heard of Mobb Deep) from the South Central Cartel. Hailing from Nashville, TN, the Ghetto Souljahz have ruthless and brutally violent rhymes. "Bottomz a Gang" is probably one of the most subdued songs on the album, and it's still mostly about murdering people and not giving a fuck about it. Many of their beats are G-Funk influenced, which is especially apparent on "Bottomz a Gang" with the sample of Ice Cube saying, "This is a gang, and I'm in it" from N.W.A.'s "Gangsta Gangsta." With that said, the beat still has a very Southern feel to it, reminiscient of Goodie Mob. Also worth noting is the inclusion of the synth line from the beginning of Roy Ayer's oft-sampled "Everybody Loves the Sunshine."

Nike's Cooking Up Something Amazing

Some photos have surfaced on the web from a Nike commercial being filmed featuring Andre Iguodala (above), Mo Williams, Rashard Lewis and Kevin Durant. Judging by the 80s Hip Hop-inspired outfits, this is gonna be good.

Top 12 Plays of the 2009 NBA Playoffs

Over on The Painted Area, they've put together a countdown of the Top 12 Plays of the 2009 NBA Playoffs, which turns out to be more like 21 plays. It's a fine collection of what was a very memorable Playoffs. Unfortunately, at #11 I have to relive the agony that was watching Josh Smith absolutely decimate the Heat. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd be saying this, but my favorite play was Joakim Noah's fastbreak dunk on Paul Pierce in the 3 OT of the classic Bulls-Celtics game 6. No other play had me jump out of my seat quite like that one.

Top 12 Plays of the 2009 NBA Playoffs

Still Dreamin' about a Odom/Heat Reunion

Just came across this entry today on the excellent NBA blog, Hardwood Paroxysm. It's a really interesting take on how Odom's inevitable resigning with the Lakers would see him continuing the role of third fiddle to Kobe and Pau, but if he were to sign with Miami he would be a respected vet coming second only to D-Wade.

I must admit, my interest in the NBA hadn't been revived yet during the '03-04 season, so I missed out on the Miami Heat squad featuring Dwyane Wade in his rookie year, Eddie Jones, Lamar Odom, Brian Grant and Caron Butler, prior to his break-out in Washington. It wasn't until the '06 playoffs that I decided that the NBA was cool again, and it seemed like pretty good timing considering that my favorite team would go on to beat the Dallas Mavericks in quite possibly the greatest comeback and the greatest performance by a single player in NBA Finals history. I got to see my childhood hero Alonzo Mourning get his much deserved first ring, even if it was a little unsettling to me that he was coming off the bench for Shaq, with whom I have a love/hate relationship. They won the championship and that was all that seemed to matter at the moment. But now that the smoke has cleared, I can't help but wonder if that ring was worth breaking up the promising core of Wade, Odom and Butler, especially considering the travesty that would occur two seasons after the 'ship.

The thought of having kept that young squad together has grown all the more intriguing over the past few years, as Odom has become one of my favorite players in the league. Fashion sense aside, the guy can play basketball unlike many others. He's one of the select few "point-forwards" in the league along with Hedo Turkoglu, and he's one of those players that epitomizes the "he does more on the court than the stat sheet shows" cliché. It was around the time that I saw this play against the Nuggets in the first round of the 2008 Playoffs that I realized Odom was one of my favorites playing the game.



In the coming weeks, I will continue to type "Lamar Odom" into Google News Search, hoping that one day I'll see a headline that reads, "Odom Signs with Heat, Prompting Wade to Sign Contract Extension." Then I hope to see a headline along the lines of "Boozer to Heat Trade Talks Dead." Not that I'm totally against Boozer joining the Heat, but if it means less playing time for Beasley, it's hard for me to get behind it. And if it means sending Beasley out in the trade, then it's really hard for me to get behind it. I want to see that kid play... in a Heat uniform alongside Odom, ideally.

In case you missed the link above to Hardwood Paroxysm:
Dreaming Oddly Odom: Why Odom Returning To Miami Would Be Too Awesome

About Goddamn Time: Video Surfaces of Xavier's Jordan Crawford Dunking on LeBron James

This is the version that ebaumnation.com put out today. It's waaaaaay better than the TMZ version. Just over thirty seconds into the video, you can see Crawford come around a pick with the ball and then drive to the rim for the viscious dunk on LBJ.