FanHouse Magic Johnson

Here we have yet another funny commercial for ESPN's NBA coverage, this time featuring Lamar Odom, James Worthy, and Magic Johnson riding in the RV. Odom is clutching the championship trophy and snacking on some tortilla chips, when Big Game James reveals to him the tasty secrets that lie inside.

Read on to see what Larry O'Brien has in store for those who have earned the right to carry his trophy, as well as the privilege to taste the spicy flavors of basketball immortality.

Tip-Off Timer counts down the days until the first game of the 2009-10 season. On Tuesday, there are seven days remaining.

OK, so Quinn Buckner doesn't excite too many. Other than that, this is one of the best basketball lists you'll ever find.

There are just seven men who have won an NBA title, an NCAA crown and an Olympic gold medal. Other than Buckner, they are Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Bill Russell, Jerry Lucas, K.C. Jones and Clyde Lovellette.

Other than Buckner, all are Hall of Famers. Jordan, Johnson and Russell are on just about everybody's list when it comes to an all-time NBA starting lineup.

Now, Denver forward Carmelo Anthony and Utah forward Carlos Boozer have a chance to join this super seven. Both have NCAA titles and Olympic golds, and need an NBA championship ring.

Tip-Off Timer counts down the days until the first game of the 2009-10 season. On Sunday, there are 30 days remaining.

Most of the NBA records, the most prestigious ones, are held -- and rightfully so -- by the greatest players in history. Names like Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, Karl Malone, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson are peppered throughout the record book.

It only makes sense.

It's why gritty Scott Skiles sticks out like a dark stain on a white carpet.

Who doesn't like a list, especially on a Monday morning when that's about all you can handle?

This one's for John Stockton, who is going into the Basketball Hall of Fame next weekend. But he'll likely be overshadowed by Michael Jordan, David Robinson and even his old coach, Jerry Sloan.

That's almost fitting because if there was ever a player who didn't seek out the limelight or look to bring attention upon himself it was Stockton. A truer point guard, the NBA has never seen.

Greg Grant was a short player who overcame long odds: standing just 5-foot-7 and playing college ball in Division III, he was drafted in the second round by the Phoenix Suns in 1989, lasting seven years in the NBA.

Earlier today, FanHouse featured the first chapter of Greg's autobiography, 94 Feet and Rising, written with the help of Martin Sumners and released in July. In the following excerpts, Greg recalls what it was like to play against Magic Johnson and share a locker room with Charles Barkley, two of the brightest stars the NBA has ever seen.

Every Tuesday this summer, two of our NBA experts will go at it with a Debate in the Paint. This week, the topic is Michael Jordan and his upcoming induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Is Michael Jordan the best player in all of basketball history?

Hey, I drew the short straw. So, I don't want to hear it. It's come down to me to argue that Michael Jordan isn't the greatest player in NBA history.

Don't get me wrong, I can do it. It's just that I don't go out of my way to pick a fight and this would seem to be doing just that. No, I don't think Jordan's the greatest. But I also know it's tough to win. Hence, the short straw. Nevertheless, here goes ...

---

---

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

Former NBA All-Star Gary Payton became "The Glove" when he starred for the Seattle Suppersonics alongside Shawn 'The Rainman' Kemp and many other great players. But this coming NBA season will be the second year in a row that Seattle won't have an NBA team, leaving many fans disappointed.

In this exclusive FanHouse video, Payton tells us what he's doing to bring back an NBA team to the city he loves so much. We also ask Gary about his intensity as a player, which is rarely seen in today's NBA.

Check out the video after the jump.

Tip-Off Timer counts down the days until the first game of the 2009-10 season. On Wednesday, there are 62 days remaining.

Oscar Robertson never knew how big a feat he accomplished until his playing days were long gone.

If a player today did what he did during that 1961-62 season -- averaged a triple-double -- he would be hailed as unquestionably the most versatile player in the history of the game.

Robertson didn't think too much about it back then. Yet in reality, that '62 season marked him as the player that all the great ones still are measured against. And everyone else has come up short compared to the all-around game that Robertson had.

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

For the past nine years the Harold Pump Foundation, created by David and Dana Pump (known as the gurus of high school and college basketball) has raised over $3.5 million dollars to fight cancer. The foundation's efforts have not gone unnoticed. Major stars such as Magic Johnson, Paul Pierce, Sugar Ray Leonard, Pete Sampras and Denzel Washington have all joined the Pump brothers. In this report we also hear from young NBA stars like Kevin Love, Brandon Jennings, and Blake Griffin.

Check out the video after the jump.

Tip-Off Timer counts down the days until the first game of the 2009-10 season. On Sunday, there are exactly 79 days remaining.

If you're a hoops fan, 1979 is an easy one: Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.

That was the year most of us were introduced to the future of the NBA, although we didn't know it at the time. The 1979 NCAA championship game between Indiana State and Michigan State was only the Bird-Magic appetizer.

Bird and Magic would play in the NBA Finals against each other three times as pros. Together, they rejuvenated pro basketball and help bring back credibility, class and competition to a league that desperately needed it.