Sportscasm » orlando magic

Respect for LeBron James Recedes, Dwight Howard Clowns Him

Joshua Holmes — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 17:05:18 +0000

The NBA Finals seemed to take the untouchability off of LeBron James as he faltered and became the joke of sportswriters and sports fans across the globe.

James display of mortality seemed to open up the inner comedian in everyone.

Now even fellow players, fellow NBA All-Stars, don’t hold back in taking cracks at the aptly mis-titled ‘King.’

Orlando Magic star center Dwight Howard joked on Twitter yesterday about LeBron’s receding hairline.

Howard tweeted a series of ‘planking’ photos, including one of him planking while his barber trimmed his hair.

Howard’s barber, Kevin Tyler, then tweeted an @reply to Howard that stated, “You better stop before your shape up looks like Lebrons.”

Dwight then immediately replied via twitter to Tyler, “lol he took his talents to south beach and left his hairline in Cleveland lol.”

Funny line by Howard but not something many, if any NBA players, would have publicly stated a year ago when James was held in such high reverence.

LeBron will likely get the last laugh though. Howard, with his lack of rings and premature exit from the 2011 NBA Playoffs, should be careful joking about royalty, even as misguided as the crown might be.

Sportscasm’s 2011 NBA Awards

Joshua Holmes — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 15:01:13 +0000

It’s time for the 2011 Sportscasm NBA Awards. With any awards list, you will either agree or disagree. This is simply our choices of who we thought the best of the best were in the 2010/11 season.

Most Valuable Player (MVP) – Derrick Rose – Rose led the Memphis Tigers to the National Championship game just back in 2008. Now, three years later he is the MVP of the NBA. His athleticism and decision making have led the Bulls to 62 wins and the best record in the NBA. And all of this has come just one year after replacing their head coach. Rose is blazing fast and uses his dribble-drive penetration to create wide open shots for teammates or a scoring opportunity for himself…usually of the high-flying, throw it down hard variety. With Rose’s laid back, humble approach to the game you can expect for him to dominate in the NBA Playoffs, as no stage has yet to be too big for Mr. SAT.

Runner Up: Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic)

Rookie of the Year (ROY) – Blake Griffin – His rookie year was delayed due to a knee injury last season, but Blake more than made up for it once he found the court back in October. Griffin was the most talked about in-game dunker since Shawn Kemp reigned in Seattle in his rookie campaign. Blake used his high engine to energize Clipper Nation with 22.5 PPG and 12.1 RPG. He doesn’t have much of an outside shot yet and his free throws need a lot of work (64.2%) but both of those should improve as Griffin matures and gets in more reps in the gym.

Runner Up: John Wall (Washington Wizards)

Defensive Player of the Year – Dwight Howard - Poor Dwight! If Howard could only shoot free throws, avoid technicals, and deliver more often in the clutch he likely would have been the MVP this year. Howard is a game changer on defense though. No other NBA player comes close to making the impact he does in the paint, blocking and altering shot after shot. Howard’s defensive presence will be essential to the Magic if they have any chance of advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Runner Up: Tony Allen (Memphis Grizzlies)

Best 6th Man – Lamar Odom – He is selfless and sacrifices his game and a starting spot nightly for the benefit of the Lakers. He would be the star player on some teams in the league. For the talented Lakers, he comes off the bench to lead the second unit to minimize any dropoff when Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and the starters are getting a breather. Lamar will be even more key if Andrew Bynum gets hurt again.

Runner Up: J.R. Smith (Denver Nuggets)

Coach of the Year – Tom Thiboudeau – He is a defensive guru and the key behind the Boston Celtics success the past few seasons with the ‘Big Three.’ He took over the Bulls after Vinny Del Negro was fired and instilled a toughness on the defensive end whereby everyone would play hard ‘D’ or they wouldn’t play. All of the Bulls seemed to buy in immediately as they had one of the best seasons in franchise history. The Bulls won 62 games this year, for the best record in the NBA, after winning just 41 games last season. Naturally, Thiboudeau inherited a talented roster that added Carlos Boozer in the offseason to sensational point guard Derrick Rose, who is our 2011 MVP.

Runner Up: Lionel Hollins (Memphis Grizzlies)

GM of the Year – Chris Wallace – Some would argue that Wallace overpaid to extend Rudy Gay (5-year, $82 million) and Mike Conley (5-year, $45 million), but when you can steal Tony Allen, the grit-grind, heart and soul of the Grizzlies for 3-years, $9 million then you are going to look smart. Allen gave the Grizzlies a lift through Gay’s injury, O.J. Mayo’s suspension, and numerous lineup changes from coach Lionel Hollins to lead the Grizz to an extremely strong second half of the season and the Playoffs. Something that doesn’t happen to often down in the Bluff City.

Runner Up: Gar Forman (Chicago Bulls)

NBA First Team

Derrick Rose
Dwyane Wade
LeBron James
Dirk Nowitzki
Dwight Howard

NBA Second Team

Chris Paul
Kobe Bryant
Kevin Durant
Zach Randolph
LaMarcus Aldridge

NBA Third Team

Russell Westbrook
Carmelo Anthony
Pau Gasol
Kevin Love
Amar’e Stoudemire

Dominique Wilkins Attacked By Fan At Atlanta Hawks Game

Joshua Holmes — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 03:10:44 +0000

Atlanta Hawks legend basketball player Dominique Wilkins was attacked by a crazed fan following the Hawks game against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday in Atlanta according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution .

“The fan was promptly arrested and was taken into custody by the Atlanta Police Department,” Hawks spokesman Arthur Triche said in a statement to the AJC. “At this time theHawks have no additional information or comment regarding this situation.”

Wilkins, in the Basketball Hall of Fame, appeared uninjured.

The police have not released the name of the suspect or his motive for attacking Wilkins at this time.

Dominique’s defense must have really improved from his playing days or else the police were quickly on top of the situation.

UPDATE: Sekou Smith is now tweeting that Nique landed three solid blows. His attack failed to connect. The worse part? This was the most exciting moment for the Hawks in the past month.

The man who attacked Wilkins has been identified as Rashan S. Michel, a former referee. Michel has claimed that Wilkins owes him money.

The NBA’s Top Ten Plays of the Day – Jan. 28th (VIDEO)

Hrothgar Santana — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 21:29:49 +0000

Not able to watch every NBA game? Need to get your fix of fast breaks and slam dunks? Check out this video of the top ten plays of the day from NBA tv. There’s even a little defense mixed in. Huh, you say? Defense…in the NBA? Who da thunk that?

Nasty One-Handed Dwight Howard Tomahawk Slam (Video)

Joshua Holmes — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 13:28:01 +0000

Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic with a powerful one-handed tomahawk slam against the New Orleans Hornets on February 26, 2010.

The Hornets ended up winning the game 100-93 after the Magic squandered a large lead.

Superman is usually highly successful on this type of shot!

Sportscasm’s 2009-10 NBA Predictions

Joshua Holmes — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:22:30 +0000

Sportscasm writers and contributers take a stab at predicting the award winners and champions for the 2009-2010 NBA season.

Award	Joshua Holmes	Kevin Vailes	Josh Watson	Matt Williams
Most Valuable Player	Carmelo Anthony	LeBron James	Kevin Durant	LeBron James
Rookie of the Year	Tyreke Evans	Jonny Flynn	DeJuan Blair	James Harden
Defensive POY	Dwight Howard	Dwight Howard	Dwight Howard	Ron Artest
Comeback POY	Gilbert Arenas	Vince Carter	Manu Ginobili	Gilbert Arenas
Fallback POY	Hedo Turkuglu	Kevin Garnett	Antawn Jamison	Andre Miller
Coach of the Year	Lionel Hollins	Greg Popovich	Flip Saunders	Flip Saunders
Eastern Conference Champ	Cleveland Cavs	Boston Celtics	Orlando Magic	Cleveland Cavs
Western Conference Champ	Los Angeles Lakers	San Antonio Spurs	San Antonio Spurs	San Antonio Spurs
NBA Finals Champ	Los Angeles Lakers	San Antonio Spurs	San Antonio Spurs	San Antonio Spurs

Now feel free to dissect and rip apart these picks, while submitting your own in the comments below!

Dwight Howard Dunking at Venice Beach

Joshua Holmes — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:50:40 +0000

NBA all-star Dwight Howard throwing down a two-handed slam during a pickup game at beautiful Venice Beach in California.

Howard posted the photo on his Twitter (@dwighthoward) to his more than 1 million followers.