Nate Jones Posts

Ron Artest caused a bit of a flurry Wednesday night when he went on his Twitter account and announced he was signing a new deal. Of course it was all a joke/publicity stunt. However, the activity on his twitter account -- particularly the farewell to Houston tweet -- made Artest's agent David Bauman come out and claim that the Twitter account is a fake.

As athletes have been burned by fake accounts before, we have become pretty good at identifying fake Twitter accounts, and it seems Bauman is wrong about the account in question being a fake.

Rumors have run wild that Orlando Magic free agent Hedo Turkoglu is the main target of the Portland Trail Blazers this free-agent season. The Blazers are in need of veteran leadership and help at the small forward position, but I'm not sure that Turkoglu is the answer.

Turkoglu was extremely effective with the Magic this postseason, but that doesn't mean he's the right piece for the Blazers. If I were the Blazers, I would target Lakers free-agent small forward Trevor Ariza.

There have been many debates over the MVP award over the last few years -- from Kobe v. LeBron to the merits of Steve Nash's back-to-back awards. You can debate all you want about who should have won each year's MVP, but it is clear that a particular season's MVP is no longer likely to have playoff success.

With LeBron James' elimination at the hands of the Orlando Magic, this season marks the eighth time this decade that the MVP hasn't won the championship, and the sixth time that the MVP hasn't even made it to the NBA Finals. Compare those numbers to the 1990s, when the winner of the MVP award made the NBA Finals seven times and the won the championship five times.

Around this season's trade deadline, there was a lot of chatter surrounding Shaquille O'Neal. Everyone assumed that Shaq or his teammate Amare Stoudemire wouldn't be in a Suns uniform past the trade deadline. Of course the deadline passed and both Shaq and Amare remained on Planet Orange.

One of the teams reported to be involved in the pursuit of O'Neal was none other than the Cleveland Cavaliers. According to reports, the deal fell through because the Cavaliers wanted the Suns to take back Ben Wallace in return for Shaq, while the Suns wanted Wally Szczerbiak. The disagreements were purely financial, as Szczerbiak's deal expires at the end of this season, while Wallace has an additional year.

Hindsight is always 20/20, but did the Cavs make a mistake in not trading for Shaq?

After a spectacular performance by Kobe Bryant in Game 3, the Lakers find themselves up 2-1 in their series against the Nuggets.

Although "The Birdman", Chris Anderson was in flight, the Lakers were able to contain Nuggets catalyst Carmelo Anthony. Will Carmelo be able to bounce back to his Game 1 and 2 form? Will Kobe be able to guide the Lakers one step closer to the Finals?

Join us tonight for a live blog at 9 PM EST to find out.

The NBA's spectacular Conference Finals series continues tonight with game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Orlando Magic. The Magic were able to stun the Cavs in game 1, but had their hearts ripped out by a spectacular LeBron James buzzer beater three in game 2.

Can the Cavs ride the momentum of King James' spectacular game winner? Can the Magic bounce back and re-establish Dwight Howard's game 1 dominance? Join us for a live blog tonight at 8:30 PM ET to find out.

Here we are, Game 3 of the Western Conference finals between the Nuggets and Lakers. So far, the series has lived up to it's billing, with the Lakers and Nuggets each capturing one game of the two tightly contested battles.

Saturday night is a very big game for both teams. If the Lakers win, it puts the home court advantage back in their hands. If the Nuggets win Game 4 will be a must win for the Lakers, as teams hardly are able to come back from 3-1 deficits. So you can pretty much expect the same intense battle we saw in the first two games in L.A..

Join us now, after the jump.

Throughout the series against the Boston Celtics, Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard was ridiculed for his struggles on the offensive side of the ball. His scoring average of 16.4 points per game for the series was well below his team leading 20.6 points per game during the regular season, and his 24 point per game average against the Philadelphia Sixers in the first round.

Many people pointed to Dwight's lack of an offensive game as the reasons for the his team's struggles against the Boston Celtics. But is Dwight really that bad of an offensive player?

If you're a fan of NBA basketball, Game 1 of the Nuggets and Lakers Western Conference Finals series gave you all you could ask for. The two teams traded buckets down the stretch with no one willing to give an inch. As well, the battle between Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony was better than any one-on-one match up we've seen the entire playoffs.

Now comes Game 2. Will the Nuggets be able to steal the home-court advantage away from the Lakers? Can Chauncey Billups shake lose of the defense of Kobe Bryant and Trevor Ariza? Will the Lakers be able to get their interior attack going? These are all questions that will likely be answered tonight.

Join us for the a live blog of the game at 9 PM ET for details on all the action.

Two of the league's brightest young superstars will match up tonight when the Cavs and Magic play game 1 of their Eastern Conference Finals series.

Dwight Howard is probably the league's best defensive player, while LeBron James is the league's best all around offensive player. Something has to give.

Is Dwight's interior defensive domination enough to make LeBron think twice about going to the basket, or will LeBron make Dwight his next poster victim? Join us tonight at 8:30 PM EST to find out.