Guard Von Wafer has agreed to play in China, signing a one-year, $2 million contract with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers. Wafer has played for seven teams over the course of six NBA seasons. He most recently played with the Orlando Magic before being waived at the end of the 2012 season. Via NiuBBall.com: “Wafer’s professional playing career started after his sophomore year at Florida State University when he declared for the 2005 NBA Draft. He was selected by the Lakers in the second round, but wasn’t able to stick and proceeded to bounce around the league. A solid season for Houston in 2008-09 wasn’t good enough to land him a long-term deal, however, and he ended up the next season in Greece playing for Olympiakos. After struggling in Europe, he was bought out of his deal in December and was quickly snapped back up by Houston. But, Wafer never ended up playing for Houston after he failed his mandatory physical. Since then, he’s played in Italy and back in the NBA with Boston and Orlando. Now, ‘The Dutch Cookie’ will be taking his NBA career highs of 39% 3 point shooting and 9.7 points per game, all set with the Rockets in 2009, along with his daring drives and uncanny touch, to the Xinjiang plateau. The pressure cooker that is Xinjiang will stop at nothing short of a championship, and as we’ve seen in the past, the team is not averse to cutting even its most well-known imports or coaches. Will Wafer rise up to the altitude of Xinjiang, or will he be another high-profile NBA player leaving in disappointment?”

When former Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy “resigned” to spend more time with his family following the Heat’s slow start to the 2005-06 season, he took the high road after being replaced by Heat President Pat Riley, stepping aside silently in the wake of Shaquille O’Neal’s displeasure with SVG’s exacting ways while remaining on the Miami payroll. Stan was fired by the Magic in late May, and even though he’ll remain on the team’s payroll, and he’s not exactly taking the high and silent road this time around.

Lucky for us, his aim on the low road is absolutely spot on. In an interview with Orlando Sentinel scribe Mike Bianchi on Bianchi’s radio show, Van Gundy blasted newly ensconced Magic CEO Alex Martins for the embarrassing turn the team has made since Martins took over the position from the retiring Bob Vander Weide last winter.

“It’s a typical lack of understanding from someone who has no sports knowledge, who has never coached or played, who has never been in a locker room….it’s a naiveté,” Van Gundy said of Martins Monday morning on Mike Bianchi’s show on AM 740.

“….I’ll stand on the relationships with players based on the results we got.

“I think Alex’s comments are based on the fact that Dwight and maybe others didn’t like me…and thinking somehow that’s important.”

Yikes. Stan is basically taking a “count tha ringzz!”-approach in defending the fallout in his final year with the Magic, pointing to a 2009 Finals appearance and his team’s consistent solid play despite Howard’s halfhearted 2011-12 effort. It’s a dangerous thing to do, if we’re honest (especially because there are no rings to count, here). We’re also reminded of former Atlanta Hawks coach Hubie Brown defending his foul mouth pointed at former Hawks guard John Drew in an interview with Spike Lee, quietly reminding Lee that “the only time Drew was an All-Star was when he was with me.”

(Which actually wasn’t true, Drew made the team the year before Brown took over in Atlanta, but it’s Hubie Brown so shut up.)

Van Gundy is correct when he points out that, at times, it really isn’t “important” if stars dig their coaches. Magic Johnson famously got Paul Westhead fired, but he clashed for years with Pat Riley. Michael Jordan broke plays and had Phil Jackson’s Chicago Bulls coaching staff spitting mad all the time, Larry Bird always preferred Bill Fitch over K.C. Jones, and the next coach Shaquille O’Neal gets along with will be his first. Too bad he’s retired.

This can’t be a blanket statement, though, in either direction. Sometimes things don’t work out, and great coaches have to go. Van Gundy clearly didn’t think he had to go, he didn’t appreciate Martins firing him phone after five years on the job, and he surely didn’t appreciate the 13-day waiting period between Orlando’s first round ouster and the team’s dismissal of the coach that seemed to be a dead man walking all the way back in April.

Throughout the interview, Stan says he is willing to take some blame for the way things went down, but he also harbors a very serious sense of nostalgia for the Vander Weide and former GM Otis Smith pairing that lorded over a series of disastrous deals (including hiring Florida’s Billy Donovan to coach the Magic before he dropped out and made way for Van Gundy) that made Howard so unhappy with his limited supporting cast.

From the chat:

“The Dwight thing was so big….in an effort, I guess, to make Dwight happy and everything else, we compromised a lot of the culture and values we had before that. It’s always a mistake when you compromise those things…everything goes South. It was no longer a team-first thing,” he said. “It was inevitable things would not go as well.

[…]

“When Bob left, it really became Alex over everything,” Van Gundy told AM 740.

Which makes sense. Though Smith was given the go-ahead to try and find a midseason suitor in a deal for Howard, he was clearly on the eventual outs as the season started. Orlando should have immediately let go of Smith following Howard’s opting-in to his 2012-13 contract in late March and attempted to find a GM as soon as it could. Instead, the team dragged things out and hired Rob Hennigan just days before the draft in late June, killing any sort of potential for a new GM to explore a deal for Howard with the added influence and possible bargaining position that an NBA draft provides.

There’s nothing on record that suggests that Martins was behind the much-criticized deal for Howard, and Hennigan has been thoughtful and clearly knowledgeable as he’s discussed Orlando’s take for the center. And as someone who wasn’t around when Orlando dumped Van Gundy, Hennigan is under absolutely no obligation to utter the name “Stan Van Gundy” or defend his dismissal. On top of all this, even if we agree with Stan, he’s also someone who was just fired from a job that he liked regardless of all the storm and stress.

From a gossiper’s standpoint, though? To see a former COO come in and dominate Magic press conferences (like Howard’s opting-in, last March, or the hiring of Hennigan in June and coach Jacque Vaughn in July) in ways that Vander Weide (no stranger to publicity, with his courtside seat and late night dalliances) rarely did? To see a highly regarded young basketball mind make a confusing deal involving Howard at a very strange time of the year? You’re just fine to think that there could be fire behind this smoke, even if it’s a fired ex-coach fanning the flames.

And, unlike 2005, it’s nice to see Stan sticking around. Apparently he’s set to take to our TV sets as an NBA analyst this fall, which should be a good thing.

Although, Stan’s not a TV guy. And non-TV guys tend to take to these sorts of gigs with a healthy sense of naiveté. Could Stan Van Gundy be the Alex Martins of the basic cable world?

Nah.

It seems Panathinaikos B.C. is looking for an NBA big man. After reports surfaced Monday that the club had interest in 16-year NBA veteran Ben Wallace, today it’s also been confirmed the European powerhouse is pursuing free agent forward Anthony Tolliver. Via HoopsHype.com: “‘Panathinaikos has definitely expressed strong interest and their coaching staff loves Anthony (Tolliver),’ agent Larry Fox said. ‘While Anthony is flattered by their interest and the potential economics behind it, we are currently in discussions with several NBA teams. While we won’t rule out Greece, the interest level from the NBA remains strong and we are continuing to pursue those options.’ Tolliver averaged 4.1 ppg and 3.4 rpg with the Timberwolves in 2011-12. Panathinaikos, a six-time Euroleague champion, is looking to strengthen its team after losing the Finals of the Greek League last season following a nine-year winning streak in the local tournament.”

As of now, there are two primary legal ways to get a ticket to an NBA game: buying directly from the team box office and purchasing on a secondary-market site such as StubHub. (Other options exist, like dealing with scalpers or pestering a friend until he gives you a spare, but let’s forget those for now.) While the second option is not as official as the first, it can also result in some bargains and act as a saving grace for sold-out shows. It’s an effective system, in part because it doesn’t always have to play by league-mandated rules.

It’s been so successful in fact, that the NBA has its own plans to start an online ticket marketplace. As Darren Rovell reports at ESPN.com, the league has partnered with Ticketmaster to create a new website (via PBT):

The NBA announced an aggressive move in the ticket landscape Monday, joining forces with Ticketmaster to create the sports world’s first website that will list tickets for games sold by both teams and fans. [...]

The new yet unnamed one-stop-shop ticketing site is scheduled to debut in October.

The website not only seeks to take business back from secondary StubHub — which became the leader in the marketplace thanks in part to fans going to the eBay-owned site by default — but also seeks to make NBA teams smarter about their initial pricing.

“This is 'Moneyball' for the fans in terms of ticketing,” Ticketmaster CEO Nathan Hubbard said. “Teams have used sophisticated data to evaluate players. Now it's time for teams to use sophisticated data to evaluate fans instead of just going with the gut. It's time for teams to get data and do what Procter & Gamble and GE does with that data: find the best product for the consumer at the right price in the best distribution channel possible.”

The idea here is to help the consumer, and in many ways this new site will do that. However, it's also a very good way for teams (or businesses, really, as the comparisons to P&G and GE indicate) streamline their operations, nab a lost share of the ticket market, and boost their profits. Plus, official NBA involvement — along with the lack of fraud that guarantees — should help build some business.

Of course, something in a business’s interests can also be in the interests of their customers, and this could be one of those situations. StubHub is popular, but it can sometimes be difficult to compare its available tickets to others on the market. If the new NBA/Ticketmaster site is able to pool various types of available tickets and even changes direct-sale ticket prices based on secondary market availability, then we could see a truly dynamic kind of ticket pricing for sports. Fans will know that they’re seeing an accurate representation of available tickets, and teams will be able to set those prices in a way that reflects demand. Everyone involved gets something they want.

However, that scenario is an ideal, and it’s very likely that the first version of this website will be lacking in many ways. The key will be for everyone involved to take the ethos of dynamic pricing to its logical extension — to improve over time, no matter if developments are unexpected or all too predictable.

“My man read the scouting report: Let John Wall shoot.” — a young participant who is clearly aware that the Washington Wizards point guard shot 32.1 percent or worse from every area of the floor further away than “at the rim” last year, including a 7.1 percent (not a typo) mark from 3-point range.

The advance-scouting joke came at the Reebok Breakout Challenge in Philadelphia back in July after Wall (ahem) “shut up” Tyrek Coger, a 6-foot-8-inch, 240-pound member of the high school class of 2013 in a one-on-one game at the showcase camp. If you didn’t think there was a ton of “shutting up” there, remember: those sneakers that Wall refused to tie probably contributed to a couple of those janky jumpers.

Now, if you’d really like to see Wall putting on a show at the challenge, you can hit Bullets Forever. Me, I think I’ll wait to see if Wall can’t put on a show in Philly against non-17-year-olds Andrew Bynum, Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner in a couple of months, thanks.

(The lefty dunk at the end was kind of cool, though.)

Video via NOC.

Last night, the Do Something Awards were held in Santa Monica, CA., and Chris Bosh was in attendance with his wife Adrienne. In addition to making an appearance, Bosh presented an award.

According to their website, Do Something, “Encourages young people to create their own vision for making a difference in their community and provides them with the resources and support needed.”

Bosh himself is the founder of Team Tomorrow Inc., “a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting community-based organizations that promote the upliftment of children, families and the community.” The goal for Bosh’s organization is to “raise awareness and support children and families in need.” The organization frequently “sponsors projects and community-based events while partnering with sponsors, donors, business leaders, outreach programs, celebrities, athletes and nonprofit organizations.”

Retired NBA star Yao Ming is using his international renown and domestic status as one of China’s most recognizable public citizens to try to convince his fellow Chinese citizens to stop seeking products made from elephant ivory and rhino horn, hoping to curb the demand that fuels poaching in Africa and is helping bring Kenyan elephants and rhinos perilously close to extinction.

The former Houston Rockets center arrived in Kenya on Friday, Aug. 10, 2012 — his first-ever visit to the African nation — to meet with local scientists and conservationists, to begin filming and to see the animals first-hand. From Jason Straziuso of The Associated Press:

Poaching deaths of elephants and rhinos are increasing, animal experts say, because of increased demand in Asia for rhino horns and elephant ivory.

Yao, the former NBA star from China, said Thursday he thinks increased public awareness about where ivory comes from is needed.

Julius K. Kipng’etich, the director of the Kenya Wildlife Service, gave Yao a tour of one of the organization’s rooms filled with ivory from poached elephants. Kip, as the director is known, said Thursday that he hopes Yao takes back the message to China to say that when Chinese people buy ivory, they are helping lead elephants to extinction.

Bringing the message to China — and having one of that nation’s greatest sporting heroes serve as the messenger — is especially critical for activists because “China is the world’s most prominent destination for rhino horn and ivory, with projections suggesting there will be an added 250 million middle class consumers over the next 10 [to] 15 years,” according to Laura Walubengo of Kenyan radio station/lifestyle site CapitalFM:

The massive consumption in China of the illegal wildlife parts and products meanwhile has been blamed on a combination of “old customs and traditions with new money,” among other things.

Increasing populations of rhino and elephant between 1989 and 2007 have started dwindling dramatically due to an escalation of poaching activities.

Hit the jump for more photos from Yao’s visit to Kenya, plus video of a press conference he gave in Nairobi after his 10-day stay.

There are only seven northern white rhinos left in the world; four of them are housed at Kenya’s Ol Pejeta Conservancy, which is working with London-based nonprofit Save the Elephants and wildlife charity organization WildAid on the documentary project, tentatively titled “The End of the Wild.” Yao became involved in the film through his work as one of several celebrity ambassadors for WildAid; he has already filmed a public service announcement for the organization in which he blocks a bullet headed for an elephant as if it were a layup.

That image might appear somewhat goofy, but Yao’s commitment to speaking out against practices harmful to animals is serious; this isn’t the first time he’s done it. Last September, he joined billionaire Virgin Group chairman Richard Branson in entreating consumers, especially those in his homeland of China, to stop buying and eating shark fin soup, an in-demand delicacy that requires shark fins for its production, leading to fishermen catching sharks, cutting off their fins and ostensibly leaving them to die, wreaking havoc on underseas ecosystems.

Yao has been writing about his trip to Africa on a just-started blog, detailing his introduction to the extent of the elephant and rhino poaching problem, his flight to Kenya on Virgin Atlantic — “my first time with Virgin (there’s probably a joke in there somewhere)” — and his visit to the conservancy. He described his first physical encounter with a pair of rhinos named Najin and Suni in terms hoops fans might appreciate:

These are immense and powerful creatures. As one of them pushes me, I’m reminded of the immense pressure I used to feel when I had to guard Shaquille O’Neal. You knew that pressure while guarding Shaq, and you know it when a rhino leans on you.

But this power is meaningless in the face of a poacher’s bullet or wire snare. [...]

It’s tragic to know these impressive animals are among the last of their kind, just because some people believe their horn, which is just keratin like our fingernails, has healing properties.

The documentary is slated for release in 2013.

The Golden State Warriors are clearly wavering on whether or not to give Stephen Curry a multi-year contract extension—do you think they should do it, or is the guard’s injury past too much of a red flag? Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

This is a big year for Brandon Jennings, and the Milwaukee Bucks point guard knows it.

After making the playoffs (and a quick first-round exit) during his 2009-10 rookie season, Jennings’ Bucks have turned in two straight sub-.500 campaigns, as the combination of injuries and lackluster offensive production have kept coach Scott Skiles’ team on the outskirts of Eastern Conference postseason contention. With the Bucks in a late-season fight for a playoff berth last year, general manager John Hammond made a somewhat controversial move, shipping oft-injured franchise centerpiece Andrew Bogut and shot-happy swingman Stephen Jackson to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for scoring off-guard Monta Ellis, sophomore big man Ekpe Udoh and the immortal Kwame Brown.

The move was intended to give Skiles some added firepower as the Bucks looked to vault past the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers into the seventh or eighth spot in the East, but while Milwaukee went 12-9 in 21 games after importing Ellis, the Bucks again found themselves on the outside looking in come playoff time. Now, less than two months before players report to training camp for the 2012-13 season, the Bucks find themselves again faced with the question raised by many at the time of the trade: Can Jennings and Ellis, two explosive but small guards who both need the ball to succeed, fit together well enough to push Milwaukee back into the postseason?

Jennings, for his part, seems eager to prove the doubters wrong. From Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

“I really want it to work just personally, because everybody is doubting it,” Jennings said in an interview at his youth basketball camp at Homestead High School on Sunday.

“With everybody doubting it, I think it’s important that me and him, we just work together to show everybody it can work.

“Everybody knows we both can score like crazy. But I think everybody thinks we can’t win together. That’s going to be one of our biggest challenges. I’m up for it and I know he is.”

It’s cool that Jennings and Ellis are up for a challenge, because a look at the statistical profile the two put together after Ellis came to Wisconsin suggest that it’s definitely going to be one.

Not so much on the offensive end — as Jennings noted, the Bucks featured a more charged-up offensive unit during the 601 minutes that he and Ellis played together, scoring 106.2 points per 48 minutes of playing time compared with 98.9-per-48 on the season as a whole, according to NBA.com’s statistical analysis tool.

Part of that’s due to Milwaukee playing at a significantly faster pace with the Jennings-Ellis unit sharing the floor — when the duo played at the same time, the Bucks averaged 100.6 possessions per 48 minutes, more than four-per-48 faster than their season average — but they also scored more effectively in that uptempo game, doing much more damage on fast breaks and in the paint and producing an average of 105.3 points per 100 possessions. That’s a big improvement over the Bucks’ 102.4-per-100 season mark — over the course of a full season, it’s the difference between having a top-five offense on par with the Chris Paul-led Los Angeles Clippers and having a middle-of-the-league group like the Orlando Magic or Atlanta Hawks.

The problem, of course, is that you also have to play defense in the NBA. Few people who’ve watched Jennings and Ellis over the course of their careers would mistake them for quality defenders at the guard spots — they’re fast and active and they try hard, but they’re not, strictly speaking, good at it. As a result, and as you might expect, the stats say that while the Bucks were running and gunning with that duo in the backcourt, Milwaukee’s opponents saw a pretty big offensive uptick, too.

With Jennings and Ellis darting into passing lanes and breaking down opponents off the dribble, the Bucks scored 2.5 more fast-break points and 6.6 more points in the paint per 48 minutes with them on the floor together than on the season as a whole. But with the tandem turning the ball over and failing to provide much resistance on the perimeter, they gave up even more (2.7 more per-48 on the break, 7.9 more per-48 in the paint) to turn in net-negative stats in those categories over their 601 shared minutes. Opponents made more field goals per 48 minutes, posted a higher effective field-goal percentage, and grabbed a higher share of available offensive and defensive rebounds to key second-chance opportunities and transition offense.

In sum, teams playing the Bucks feasted when Jennings and Ellis shared the court, scoring an average of 107.7 points per 100 possessions of floor time, more than five points-per-100 below Milwaukee’s season defensive mark, according to NBA.com’s metrics. To put things in perspective, only one team put up defensive numbers that inept over the course of the full 2011-12 season — when Jennings and Ellis shared the backcourt, the Bucks ceased being a slightly-worse-than-average defensive team and became the Charlotte Bobcats (107.8-per-100 allowed). So you’d understand if it, when Jennings says he and Ellis are ready for the challenge, Bucks fans choose not to begin holding their breath just yet.

While a look at the lineup data from those 601 shared Jennings-Ellis minutes offers relatively little in terms of statistically tangible takeaways — only two five-man units featuring the duo played more than 50 minutes together — there is one potentially interesting note. According to NBA.com’s stat tool, the most common Jennings-Ellis lineup paired them with the frontcourt trio of Drew Gooden, Ersan Ilyasova and Carlos Delfino; in keeping with the general tenor of what we’ve seen above, that five-man unit scored like crazy (107.9 points per 100 possessions) but also routinely got roasted, giving up 115.7-per-100 in 158 minutes spread over 11 games. The second-most frequently used Jennings-Ellis lineup, though, swapped out Delfino for defensive stalwart Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, and the results — albeit, again, in a very small 83-minute sample size — were sensational.

The Jennings-Ellis-Mbah a Moute-Ilyasova-Gooden lineup produced more effectively, scoring 112.7-per-100; defended much better, allowing just 96.8-per-100; did a stellar job on the offensive glass, snaring 36.5 percent of available misses; and posted better eFG and TS% than the Delfino group while still playing at a track-meet pace (99.7 possessions per 48 minutes). Another configuration that kept Jennings, Ellis, Ilyasova and Mbah a Moute together, but replaced Gooden with defensive-minded big man Udoh, likewise performed well, scoring an average of 120 points per 100 possessions while allowing 101.3-per-100 in 26 total minutes.

Again, caveats abound here — you can’t accurately predict future performance based on such small sample sizes; the lion’s share of the minutes played by the Jennings-Ellis-Mbah a Moute-Ilyasova-Gooden group came in late-season games against teams prominently featuring the likes of Jordan Williams, Sundiata Gaines, Jeremy Pargo and Anthony Parker (thanks, BasketballValue.com); and so on. But the statistical output does seem to have a basis in reason — replace a subpar defender in Delfino with a gifted player capable of checking multiple positions (and helping cover up teammates’ defensive errors) in Mbah a Moute, and then add a rim protector/rebounder in Udoh in place of non-shot-blocker Gooden while allowing the offensive core of the guards and Ilyasova (who showed last year he can help spread the floor, hitting 49.2 percent of his field goals and 45.5 percent of his 3-point attempts) to continue to do their work, and all of a sudden you’ve got a much better balanced lineup on both ends of the court. The offseason acquisition of center Samuel Dalembert, long one of the NBA’s stronger rebounders and shot-blockers, would also figure to help there; if recently signed backup Joel Przybilla can stay healthy for the first time in three years and rookie big John Henson can contribute early, they could, as well.

It might not statistically significant, but especially with Delfino’s move south to the Houston Rockets opening more minutes at the three and more opportunities to play the re-signed Ilyasova and Mbah a Moute together, it sure seems like that group and others like it might be worth a long look for Skiles. If nothing else, Jennings seemed to like it — in the four games when that unit saw most of its floor time (on March 30, 2012 against the Cleveland Cavaliers, March 31 against the Memphis Grizzlies, April 2 against the Washington Wizards and April 21 against the then-New Jersey Nets), Jennings averaged 25.3 points per game on 50.7/36.4/87.5 percent field-goal/3-point/free-throw shooting splits, grabbed 4.5 rebounds and 2.8 steals per contest and posted a nearly 2.5-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Then again, Ellis didn’t see quite so much of the ball — he took just 53 field-goal attempts in those four games, compared to 71 for Jennings — and wasn’t especially productive when he did, averaging just 12.5 points on 34 percent shooting and coughing it up 10 times against 19 assists. If Jennings is commanding the ball when the two play together and the lineups on the floor are performing well, finding out whether Monta will be satisfied with fewer touches and less productivity could become a whole new “challenge” for the duo to face.

by DeMarco Williams / @demarcowill

When Atlanta Hawks forward Josh Smith reflects on his home court, Philips Arena, his feelings are understandably mixed. The A-Town native loves it when a packed house goes bonkers after he throws down one of his monster jams; he just hates it when that same packed house of fickle fans erupts just as loudly for Blake Griffin or Dwyane Wade.

“This year we were rated the worst sports town in all the United States,” Smith says. “I feel like we do deserve a little gratification from the fans. We’ve been good for five, six years now. I know it’s probably hard because of the recession to be able to get good seats, but you know, people inspire me in the nosebleeds. I just want to see you in the stands.”

Philips is pretty quiet again today, but it’s late June and the Hawks’ season is long over, so it makes sense. Adidas is in the building though, taping a commercial for the adizero Ghost 2, a shoe Smith will proudly be the face of this coming season. Inside the arena is a film crew, some extras in the seats and a couple of Indiana Pacers imposters on the floor. Nobody really to cheer for a block or jeer at a questionable 18-footer.

Thankfully, Josh’s relationship with adidas is rosier than his one with Atlanta. No love-kinda hate squabbles there. Just a good ol’ fashioned family. “Everybody’s cool, easy to get along with [at adidas],” Smith, who’s been with Three Stripes since ’04, insists. “Whenever I need any kind of product, it’s not a hassle. If I need anything for my family, they do the same. I’m just blessed to be in a situation where I’m comfortable, because I’m the type of person who works on trust.”

The bond blossomed in ’09-10, when JSmoove began endorsing his own shoe, the adizero Infiltrate. The brand re-connected with Josh for the adizero Ghost campaign last season. Its sleek, simple, spoken-word commercial is still one of last year’s most underrated. But if you think that promo was memorable, just wait until you see what the creative minds have in store for the Ghost 2 ads.

As for the shoe itself, it’s a closed-mesh, Sprintweb-enhanced sequel to the popular Ghost, one of the lightest shoes in the NBA. But in keeping with the airy feel, designers didn’t compromise things like traction or durability. That’s great news for Smith because, if he’s to keep Philips rockin’ this coming season, he’s going to need a shoe that’s as versatile as his game.

“I [look for] light, comfort and definitely style,” says Smoove. “You don’t want to go out there with something that’s not stylish. Style is so important these days, especially to the young population. They’re influenced by how a shoe looks because you know people will start wearing shoes with their jeans. [The Ghost 2] definitely has the style that it needs in order to grab the eye of a consumer.”

There Josh goes, considering his Atlanta fans’ feelings again. Now, if only Philips Arena would start consistently returning the love.

To prepare for his new role with the Boston Celtics, swingman Jason Terry has been studying tape of ex-Celtic Ray Allen. Terry and Allen’s respective games are similar, and Terry, just like Allen, will presumably be called on for a perimeter touch and clutch shooting in crunch time. Via ESPN.com: “‘I have been watching film and watching Ray Allen, the way he maneuvers and works off screens. I believe in [Celtics head coach] Doc [Rivers]‘ system. He’ll have me do some of those things, so curling the three, that’s a tough shot, it’s off balance. And that’s just one that I will add.’ The comparisons probably won’t end there, if Terry ends up delivering in the fourth quarter the way both he and Allen are accustomed to doing. Before the question of late-game heroics could even be completed, Terry was already saying, ‘My time, my time.’ He eventually elaborated on how he’s been able to thrive in the clutch moments in seasons past. ‘That’s my time of the game. Obviously your team is counting on you, your fans are counting on you to bring home that victory, whether it’s an assist to win it, whether it’s a shot to seal the game, or a free throw to win the game, it’s what I do,’ Terry explained. ‘That’s my time. And the reason why I’m confident in those situations is because of the work I put in. It’s like repetition for me. It’s second nature.’”

Originally published in KICKS 15

by Khalid Salaam / @MrKhalidS

Athleticism generally falls into several categories: Below average, people with high body mass indexes and no desire to change; average, where you can run for about eight seconds before getting totally tired; slightly above average, where you have a gym membership and are just trying to get by, look good with a minimal amount of clothes on and not catch a hernia when you’re moving furniture up a five-story walkup. The latter category probably includes the largest percentage of the human pie. The last category, though, previously unmentioned, is that of the true elite who play for pay and exhibit feats on the regular that often defy the laws of physics or at least seem improbable to those of us under the heavy boot of gravity. There’s a big difference between regular athletic and that level of professional athletic. Truth is, that same difference—the one between the average Joe and average Pro—was equal to what happened in the ’99 season when Vince Carter came into the League. Strictly from an athletic vantage point, he made other professional athletes appear, well, unprofessional.

His first shoe was actually from Puma that was unofficially called The Vinsanity. Before long, Carter and the brand—more typically thought of as a source for lifestyle or running shoes—were disputing their contract, and VC played the ’99-00 season in a variety of kicks. One of those pairs—some beautiful two-toned AND 1s called Tai Chis—would be linked with him forever.

Some background: During the ’99-00 NBA campaign, the League was still recovering from the previous season’s lockout and looking for new faces to promote the game. VC, due to the otherworldly elegance of his in-game dunks and unmatchable-even-by-a-kangaroo hops, became one of these faces. The night the League really returned, though, and the night Carter really put his face—and a shoe—on the map, was February 13, 2000. As everyone now knows—and if you don’t, run to YouTube asap—that night’s Dunk Contest served as VC’s official coming out party. What everyone might not recall—though sneakerheads surely do—is Vince wearing a pair of red/white AND 1 Tai Chis during that dunking display. Vince’s performance—re-aired early and often on TV, and captured on camera by many—brought international recognition, and proof of the brand’s credibility as a performance outfitter, to AND 1.

Shortly after helping put Tai Chis on kids’ feet, VC signed with Nike and starting wearing the Shox (or more specifically, the Shox BB4). Though the line would have been popular regardless, Vince had yet another moment that propelled yet another shoe to stardom. This time it came on the international stage, at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, where Carter jumped over—not around, but over, word to Doug Collins—Frédéric Weis, the French team’s 7-2 center.

VC helped popularize the Shox line—in addition to basketball there was also a cross-training and running shoe line—and it became one of Nike’s signature technologies during the first few years of the new century. Based on the science of kinetic energy, Shox Technology ensures, basically, that the energy that its wearer puts out won’t dissipate. In fact, rather, Shox returns that energy right back to the shoe and the wearer, thus providing somewhat of a natural spring-y feel.The components used to create the actual springs were at the height of cutting-edge engineering and also—and this is of almost equal importance—gave the shoes a futuristic design profile.

After the BB4 came Vince Carter’s signature shoes. The first one, which still utilized Shox, was simply called the “VC I” and each subsequent offering continued on the numerical scale, with each shoe a little different from the previous edition. What the shoes did well was utilize an innovative, new support system that provided light (at the time) footwear that still gave a sort of bounce effect. Who better to push a bounce-based shoe than Half-Man, Half-Amazing?

Much like Carter himself, the Tai Chi and the Shox lines aren’t quite the attention-getters they once were. But we think all three deserve recognition for pushing the culture forward and serving as a demarcation line between the 20th and 21st centuries.

The idea of an estate sale is creepy enough as it is. Usually they’re put together in an attempt to sell off the last remaining vestiges and assets of someone who has recently passed on, or a person run afoul of either the law or their own checking account. Phoenix Suns forward Michael Beasley appears to be in no such trouble, and even though he didn’t exactly break the bank with his second pro contract, its average-sized makeup falls right in line with the rookie deal he started working under in 2008 that paid him just over $20 million over four years.

This doesn’t explain why the former Minnesota Timberwolves forward, as he moves on to his third NBA city in five seasons, needs to set up an estate sale for his abandoned Minnesota home, rather than just hiring a crew to toss everything into a truck and move his clutter down to Phoenix. This also doesn’t explain why Beasley, even while we’re aware of his goofball reputation, has so much goofball stuff in his house. FOX Sports’ Joan Niesen, who has quickly become one of our favorite NBA beat writers, attempted to find out as much during a public sale that made no mention of whose estate was up for grabs:

So there was no yelling about Beasley, but there were whispers. Neighbors gossiped to workers about the time a sports car ended up wrapped around a tree last winter outside the house, and anyone who did know the identity of who had previously lived there couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow in nearly every room they entered. The entire thing posed so many questions: Why does Michael Beasley need a copy of the Physicians’ Desk Reference? Or a book of Ingmar Bergman screenplays? Or giant glass grapes? What use does Beasley have for a floral headboard? Why does he love tasseled pillows so much? Whose handbags are those?

Though it is well-penned, to read her recap is to be left confused; all because Beasley is such a confusing dude.

Tchotchkes and oddities seemed to dot the house; and it wasn’t just that hoops-related memorabilia wasn’t available for sale, apparently there wasn’t any in the house to begin with. What was available were the sort of dusty book-filled shelves and animal-themed salt and pepper shakers that you’d tend to pick up at an estate sale set up for someone four times Beasley’s age that had shuffled off this Minneapolis coil.

Look at Niesen’s photo gallery (or Jake Nyberg’s Twitter-based run). It’s not so much that Beasley took his modern-as-tomorrow entertainment systems and ‘Scarface’ posters down to Phoenix and left the estate sale to deal with his flotsam and jetsam, it’s that he had all this Your Aunt-styled clutter to begin with. And, again, instead of dumping it all in a truck or piling it in the back of a U-Haul dragged by his PT Cruiser (we’re guessing, after looking at the remnants of this sale), Beasley decided to add to his bank account 15 bucks at a time by selling off every last throw pillow.

It’s all so wonderfully Super Cool Beas, even if it’s the furthest thing from ‘Super Cool’ that we could imagine. Toasters and stuffed animals and more coffee table books and all sorts of stuff that even you or I would leave behind, regardless of whether or not we were just given a three-year, $18 million contract to go play in a state with lax income tax laws.

Heads-up, Phoenix. You’re getting a goofball for the ages. Hopefully one that, after three-straight seasons of declining production, is using his ‘Everything Must Go’-sale as a way to completely leave his past behind, and start over from scratch.

Or maybe Michael just wanted an excuse to shop for some new pillows with tassels hanging from them.

Warriors point guard Stephen Curry, who missed 40 games last season due to a series of right ankle injuries, is making steady progress during rehab and plans to be fully healthy for the start of training camp. But even with those positive reports, general manager Bob Myers and the front office have until October 31 to decide on a contract extension for Curry. And as of now, the organization is very much undecided on the risky call. Via NBA.com: “’I've talked to Bob,’ Curry said after the Wednesday burn that lasted about 90 minutes, in addition to his therapy. ‘He’s expressed that they want me as a part of the future. Obviously it’s a business decision, an investment, and they have to protect themselves as well. I don’t know what that’ll mean and exactly what they’ll offer. But hopefully they see how hard I’ve been working in the summer to get back and that I have a different optimism than I’ve had going into each year. I’m ready to go. They’ve seen me work out a little bit now. Knowing that we went into the ankle in April and saw there was no structural damage, no red flags that say, ‘Hey, he’s not going to be the same player ever again’ — all those things kind of add up to me being a good investment piece for the future.’ The Warriors will talk contract ahead of Oct. 31. But what is not clear is whether they will be courtesy conversations, designed to let Curry know he is wanted yet minus the serious money to close the deal.”

photos by Trevor Paulhus

For the cover of KICKS 15, we paired Cavs point guard Kyrie Irving with photographer Trevor Paulhus at Cleveland Clinic Courts, the result being the gallery of images you see above. Check ‘em all out and be sure to cop our new ish, which is on newsstands now!

There’s a big feature about the Nets moving to Brooklyn and the whole mess that’s accompanying them up on NYmag.com this morning, but here’s a solid nugget: Nets owner/Russian multi-billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov refers to Knicks owner/American multimillionaire as “that little man,” which is some quality owner-to-owner trash talk. Here’s some more info on the total rebrand of the Nets organization: “The Nets are trying to make you forget they ever were in New Jersey. Everything about the team now screams premium. The centerpiece is Jay-Z, who has been intimately involved in glitzing up the operation, from polishing the logo to redesigning the uniforms to choosing which forks are used in the private suites. The Nets are rebranding with Jay-Z class. They are more about the ambience than the food. (Though—and Ratner wants to make sure you know this—they are bringing in all sorts of Brooklyn cuisine to the concessions.) In addition to the Vault, there’s also the Legends Lounge on the Main Concourse and the signature Barclays Center feature, the ‘Loft Suites.’ These are private boxes like any other private box at an arena, but with fewer seats (ten), thus making it (theoretically) more affordable for smaller businesses. (By ‘theoretically,’ I mean ‘$275,000 for the season.’) The loft-suite licenses also provide ‘use of the suite on nonevent dates.’ The team says over 80 percent of its corporate boxes have been sold already. The one corporate box that’s off-limits? The ‘Prokhorov Suite,’ sitting at the center bowl of the arena, larger than any other private box and reserved for the mercurial Russian owner. (Prokhorov told me back in December that he plans on attending a quarter of the regular-season games and ‘all the playoff ones.’ He also made sure that I heard him call Dolan ‘that little man.’) The Nets frequently note that a minimum of 2,000 seats a game will cost $15 or less, at least for the first season. Still, it’s clear that the Nets did not move to Brooklyn to be Pepsi to Jim Dolan’s Coke: They want to be Veuve Clicquot.”

Free agent center Ben Wallace, who is still undecided on his NBA future, is reportedly being pursued by Greek team Panathinaikos. Wallace, who turns 38 in less than a month, has played nine of his 16 NBA seasons with the Detroit Pistons. The prospect of Big Ben going overseas is highly unlikely, but still, stranger things have happened. Via MLive.com: “According to a story on the website gazzetta.gr, Panathinaikos Basketball Club has shown interest in Wallace, an unrestricted free agent who has yet to announce his intentions for next season. It seems unlikely Wallace would be interested in continuing his career overseas since he turns 38 in less than a month and might be unwilling to either relocate his family or leave them behind in the United States at this point in his life.”

Free agent center Ben Wallace, who is still undecided on his NBA future, is reportedly being pursued by Greek team Panathinaikos. Wallace, who turns 38 in less than a month, has played nine of his 16 NBA seasons with the Detroit Pistons. The prospect of Big Ben going overseas is highly unlikely, but still, stranger things have happened. Via MLive.com: “According to a story on the website gazzetta.gr, Panathinaikos Basketball Club has shown interest in Wallace, an unrestricted free agent who has yet to announce his intentions for next season. It seems unlikely Wallace would be interested in continuing his career overseas since he turns 38 in less than a month and might be unwilling to either relocate his family or leave them behind in the United States at this point in his life.”