I wrote in September that perhaps there would be no worthy center to start for the West in the All-Star Game.
But this isn't the way I want to see that solved. Do it on the court, not with the ballot.
When the All-Star ballot came out Tuesday, Phoenix power forward Amar'e Stoudemire strangely was listed as a center. Yes, Stoudemire has played center before, but he's started all eight games for Suns this season at power forward, with Channing Frye being the starting center.
It is true the ballot, which was selected by six media members from around the country, had to be decided upon before the season began in order to provide time for printing. But it has been apparent since at least September that Frye would Phoenix's starting center, with Stoudemire at power forward.
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Anyone who has watched the L.A. Clippers so far this season pretty much has the same question: what's up with Chris Kaman?
The guy's been playing some ball and doesn't seem to resemble the player of past years. But according to coach Mike Dunleavy, nothing at all is up.
"The only difference with him is he's shooting the ball," Dunleavy said before the Clippers dismantled the Warriors, 118-90, on Friday night. "And I mean literally shooting the ball. He's always been able to shoot the ball but always had this kind of mentality of 'I can't take too many shots,' or 'I need to get closer to the basket.' "
LOS ANGELES -- Rebounding is all that Suns' head coach Alvin Gentry has been talking about during the preseason, and with his team being an undersized bunch who would rather try to run you off the floor than stand toe-to-toe and slug it out, that's completely understandable.
But the emphasis on taking care of the boards had its consequences in the team's season opener on Wednesday, as Phoenix -- yes, the extended remix of the Seven Seconds or Less Suns -- managed just two fast break points in their game against the Clippers.
The ultimate result, however, was a positive one. The Suns' focus on rebounding enabled them to hang with a big and talented Clippers' front line, and pull out a hard-fought, last-second 109-107 road victory in Los Angeles.
If you've seen one NBA mixtape on YouTube, you've seen them all, right? Most of them are just flashy dunk highlights put to a profanity-laced rap beat. But Chris Kaman is a different kind of cat, both on the court and off, and in hindsight, it shouldn't have been a surprise to see that his YouTube channel doesn't feature any basketball at all.
What does it feature? Try a .50 caliber rifle and municipal-grade fireworks -- all being used in his backyard. No, really -- video evidence is after the jump, as well as his interview with Elie Seckbach in which he discusses his explosion-filled and bullet-riddled summer vacation.
Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.
For the most part, NBA preseason games don't carry much weight, but on Oct. 20, the Los Angeles Clippers will take the Staples Center court to face one of the best teams in Europe when they meet Maccabi Tel-Aviv.
It will be the game of the year for thousands of children as the Clippers are donating all the money generated from that night to the world's largest orphanage, Migdal Ohr. Based in Northern Israel, Migdal Ohr takes care of more than 7,000 orphans. But the Clippers are not the only ones doing amazing things for the orphanage. Two days prior to the Clippers' game, the New York Knicks will host a similar event to benefit Migdal Ohr.
A season ago, the Clippers began the year with a renewed sense of optimism. After losing team staples Elton Brand and Corey Maggette to free agency, the club didn't stand pat -- they went out and got some pieces they hoped would make them better.
Well, things didn't exactly work put as planed. Injuries derailed things fairly quickly, and instead of Baron Davis being the one to revive the franchise, he was merely a bystander who watched the team post its worst won-loss record in nine years.
There was a bright side to last year's debacle, however, as it landed the Clippers the number one overall pick in the draft, which they used to select Blake Griffin. With a healthy group to start the season, and some smart tweaks to the roster, L.A. once again has reason to be cautiously optimistic.
Moments after learning that his team had won the 2009 NBA Draft lottery, Clippers president Andy Roeser had a look of euphoria. Within an hour later, he was already back to work taking questions from reporters in a post-lottery conference call.
Roeser didn't come right out and say the Clippers were going to draft Blake Griffin, but he certainly didn't hold back any compliments when talking about him, either.
For a full transcript of his comments, from his thoughts on Mike Dunleavy's job security ("We have every intention of opening camp with Coach Dunleavy this year -- although I think that we have every intention of approaching some things differently, too.") to his not-so-vague comments about which veterans need to improve ("Baron Davis did not have a particularly good season. He knows that; we know that."), keep reading.
As teams get eliminated from the 2009 NBA playoff picture, Fork 'Em figures out what went wrong.
No team has been as disappointing in 2008-09 as the L.A. Clippers. At least one or two teams have been worse in quality, but the phenomenal ability to fail with this much talent seems unprecedented. An All-Star level point guard, a D.P.O.Y. level center, two strong big men, a R.O.Y. candidate, an experienced coach ... what happened to the playoff hopes? What happened to 2008-09?
You could listen to me toss out some jokes, or you could read a completely sober(ing) dispatch from a guy who has watched it all, ClipperSteve of Clips Nation. I think you'd prefer the latter. ClipperSteve's words, after the jump.
NBA Essentials provides the must-see links, quotes and videos of the day.
* "Time is not running backwards per se - rather the passage of time is simply displaying a heretofore unknown behavior as regards Chris Kaman'sfoot. It is not yet known whether other portions of Kaman's anatomy exhibit the same phenomenon." -- ClipsNation.
* "Fans and bloggers flock to the site in search of enlightenment. It is bookmarked on every beat reporter's laptop. In the modern N.B.A., [Larry] Coon is cited more frequently than Naismith." -- New York Times, via BDL.
* "It's always been surprising to me that Tim Duncan wears number 21. 21 is sort of a flashy number, for guys like Kevin Garnett, Darius Miles and Zaid Abdul-Aziz. Duncan seems like he'd wear something in the 40s. This has been bothering me for at least three weeks." -- The Blowtorch.
* "If another 'diss' scenario boils over this postseason, LeBron can just have Buckethead nail one of the Wizards over the head with his guitar, then stuff a KFC hat on them for good measure." -- FirstCuts.
I wrote in September that perhaps there would be no worthy center to start for the West in the All-Star Game.
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Anyone who has watched the L.A. 
LOS ANGELES -- Rebounding is all that 
If you've seen one 
For the most part, NBA preseason games don't carry much weight, but on Oct. 20, the 
FanHouse 
Moments after learning that his team had won the 2009 NBA Draft lottery, Clippers president Andy Roeser had a look of euphoria. Within an hour later, he was already back to work taking questions from reporters in a post-lottery conference call. 
As teams get eliminated from the 2009 NBA playoff picture, 
