Lady Lakers to fill in for missing NBA All-Stars

It has been reported from several super trust worthy news sources that the Lady Lakers of, uh, Michigan will replace the NBA players who will sit out this Sunday night for the NBA All-Star Game in Dallas at 7 PM EST on TNT. Commissioner David Stern attempted to find NBA players to replace the All-Stars who will miss Sunday's game, but apparently every player he contacted had already planned a vacation and/or told him to "get the fuck out [they] face with that All-Star Weekend bullshit." Stern had hoped to have the following players to replace these All-Stars:

Denver's Chauncey Billups for New Orleans' Chris Paul (injured knee)

The Clippers' Chris Kaman for Portland's Brandon Roy (injured hamstring)

New York's David Lee for Philadelphia's Allen Iverson (attending to sick daughter)

Dallas Maverick/New Beginnings Retirement Home resident Jason Kidd for the Lakers' Kobe Bryant (injured ankle, broken finger, back spasms, obsessive work ethic, delusions of grandeur, unhealthy Michael Jordan fetish, etc.)

The Lady Lakers seem poised to take the court at Cowboys Stadium in front of the largest crowd assembled in basketball history with more than 90,000 expected. When reporters asked if they were ready to perform against the NBA's elite in front of a record breaking crowd, they responded in unison with a resounding "Duh!"

Chris Paul sidelined 6-8 weeks for knee surgery

It's been a disappointing couple of seasons for the New Orleans Hornets after they had seemingly turned a corner in the 2008 playoffs. Unfortunately, things are probably about to get even more disappointing. The only consistent force on the team, Chris Paul, is likely to be out 6-8 weeks to undergo knee surgery (welcome to the Western Conference All-Stars, Chauncey Billups). Paul had twisted his left knee in a game against the Warriors and then reaggravated it after having to save an awful inbounds pass by David West in the waning moments of regulation in the Bulls game Friday night. Paul collided with a camera man after saving the ball, which led to a basket by the Bulls to tie the game and send it to OT. A hobbled CP3 attempted to play in OT before eventually sitting, and the Hornets would go on to lose the game, literally adding insult to injury. Paul was visually frustrated with his team's uneven play.

This injury has folks on the internet imploring that the NBA finally move cameramen back to create some more space behind the basket. This has always been a contentious debate, and maybe an injury to a true elite player will finally give them a reason to create more room to play the game. Fast breaks would be more exciting as players would be inclined to run the court with reckless abandon and there would be a lot more entertaining dives for loose balls headed out of bounds on the baseline.

I know Dennis Rodman would have appreciated it:

Rick Rubio Report

I found this scouting report on Ricky Rubio today-- http://thepaintedarea.blogspot.com/2010/01/checking-in-on-ricky-rubio.html --thanks to the Painted Area. I am really excited to see Ricky play in the NBA. There is a lot of skepticism about his NBA prospects, perhaps somewhat deserved. I think Ricky will be a great NBA player though. He matched up all right with Chris Paul, Jason Kidd, and Deron Williams in the Olympics, which is what he'll have to do night after night in the NBA. By the way, it's worth noting that Ricky is playing with a UC alum on Regal FC Barcelona, none other than Pete Mickael. I always thought Pete could have made it in the NBA. He scores off some nice Rubio feeds in the video clip on Painted Area.