Wednesday, Dorell Wright stepped outside of the line and hit a three-pointer setting the franchise record for single season daggers. He walked off of the court as a time out was called and was congratulated by his coach and teammates for achieving such an incredible feat. Wright is one amongst many on the Golden State Warriors team that are more so criticized than praised for their effort and potential.

Just last Sunday, during the IAMNBA.com blog talk radio show, Boe and I were discussing how irrelevant Golden State has become in the Western Conference. We would love to spotlight their successes, but before lately those praises have come few and far in between. [..]

Many people do not understand how well deserved all the attention Diggins is receiving actually is. Not just because she has a pretty face, but if you watched last night’s game against Texas A&M, she can ball with the best of them. At the end of it all, Danielle Adams and Tyra White proved to have too much power for the Irish, who struggled early on, offensively. But, the leadership role that Diggins took responsibility for was made very apparent. [..]

The last player to heavily influence the Clippers’ franchise was Elton Brand. Alongside Quinton Ross, Brand helped instrument an arrival to the Western Conference Semifinals against the Phoenix Suns. The Clippers ultimately lost the series in the seventh game, but there was a spark lit under each fan that was not present before. LAC hasn’t always had futile years, but lately we expect them to be mediocre at best. At least we did until Blake Griffin got healthy and arrived with every basketball playing bone in his body. [..]

Tex Winter, Herb MaGee and Artis Gilmore were just a few of the names added to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame this year. There is no doubt in who was the most controversial of them all. Dennis Rodman. Even in the years after his defensive prowess plagued courts all over the nation he still manages to stir a few souls with his induction into the Hall of Fame. Did he deserve it?

The question should be, why wouldn’t he be elected to the hall of fame and why hadn’t they done it earlier. Well, you would have to take a look at his life off of the court to get your answer. Rodman was never one to put his hands over his mouth when a distasteful comment may have been prepared to spout out or keep his hair one color for that matter. [..]

If you were a superb college athlete with astronomical potential in the professional basketball league, and people kept telling you so, wouldn’t the ideal situation be to play in the NBA? No more midterms or juggling class work and practice. You can make money playing the sport that you love and have people put you high on a pedestal for it.

The only problem with that cloud nine scenario is that the lockout looming for the National Basketball Association causes a snag in when you would actually be able to step onto a court.

This would be the fourth lockout of the NBA. The last and only work stoppage that took place in the league was during the lockout of [..]

A little while ago I was pretty sure that the Lakers and the Celtics would be meeting in the last and most important game of the season.  However, that was before I noticed how insane the Perkins trade was and how monstrous of an impact that would have on the Celtics’ all around defensive game.

The Lakers have been looking adequately prepped for a comeback, but Boston is riding on the edge of age and floppy defense. I never thought I would be saying this, but I’m not sure that they still have one up on the rest of the elite teams in the Eastern Conference to be a shoo-in for the Finals. Los Angeles has a little bit to deal with before we prematurely toss them in the pot as well. [..]

Who could have guessed that we were going to witness two upsets last night in the women’s final four? Texas A&M and Notre Dame were sure hoping for it, but no one really expected it to happen. The Aggies brought forth immaculate defense and the Irish were incredible perimeter threats, pressuring Maya Moore to take those difficult shots. The credit must be given to Skylar Diggins who did what most of us in the crowd felt was out of the question.

Of course, she was going to get her points. She is Maya Moore. One of the greatest players to ever grace the women’s college basketball stage. Maybe, she was not able to press pass Notre Dame to make it to another championship game, but her legacy will not be defined by the way it began or ended. [..]

The NCAA Championship game has finally come to fruition and no one’s bracket was prepared for the upsets that rolled along this year. Coupled with the shocker that VCU made it into the Final Four in the first place, no one expected UConn to pull off the infallible run they have and Butler arrive back in this position for the second year in a row.

Both teams have so much to prove and so much to lose at this point that the game will be nothing short of breathtaking.

However, there is a huge event happening the game of basketball that has yet to be properly acknowledged. The NBA draft is vastly approaching and [..]

It seems like the NBA is becoming a more catty place. Maybe it is just me, but it just feels like players are talking too much in the media, radio shows and twitter included. The latest installment of Smack Talk 101 stems from the Dallas Mavericks vs Los Angeles Lakers game where the Lakers handed the Mavericks one of their worst losses of the season.

The outline seems regular seeing as how the purple and gold are having the best post All Star Break performance of the league. What makes this a story is that Steve Blake, Matt Barnes, Shannon Brown, Jason Terry and Brendan Haywood were thrown out. Blake, Barnes, Terry and Haywood were ejected for a hard foul drawn by Blake on Terry. Simple enough, right? No way. Blake hops back up shortly after regaining his composure and gets in Jason Terry’s face.

[..]

Let us look at the playoff picture if the season were to end today, specifically in the Western Conference. San Antonio would battle the Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Lakers would take on the Trailblazers, Dallas would go head to head with New Orleans and the new look Nuggets would go half on a series with Oklahoma City. [..]