The Lakers opened the preseason on Wednesday, and while the story lines going in were mainly about Ron Artest and Andrew Bynum (who both looked fabulous), when it was over, all anyone was talking about was Shannon Brown.
Since most teams in the league haven't even played two preseason games yet, I don't think it's an exaggeration to call Brown's insane dunk over the seven-foot tall Mikki Moore the highlight of this very, very young season. And judging by the reaction on the internets, this play might stay at the top of the list for quite some time.
OAKLAND -- You already know that Mikki Moore is a little bit different, what with the hair and the snake collection and the playing of the drums and the restoring of vintage cars and all that.
But he proved it again on Wednesday when he was in the Bay Area to sign his one-year contract with the Warriors. During an interview he was asked about that other Northern California NBA team he played for: the Sacramento Kings.
Real quick, some background ... Moore was touched by the basketball gods last season when he was waived by the Kings on Feb. 19, then signed by the Boston Celtics less than a week later. That means he went from the worst team in the league to the defending NBA champs.
At the start of the offseason, Warriors general manager Larry Riley said one of the team's pressing needs was to "add some beef."
We're not sure acquiring Mikki Moore qualifies as "beef," but Moore will give the Warriors more size on the interior. In fact, you could argue that the addition of Moore will mean the Warriors have one of most slender frontcourts in the NBA this season.
ESPN is reporting the Warriors and Moore have agreed to a one-year contract worth the league minimum of $1.3 million. Moore's agent, Mark Bartelstein, has confirmed this.
Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the "lig." Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.
The disappointments have appeared nearly across the board in Toronto. An undersold problem, though, has been the inability of one Jose Calderon to fully grasp his role as the full-time starter at point guard. Calderon has been good offensively ... but not as consistent as he had been sharing duties.
Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.
There's a lot going on with the Celtics these days. First, they acquire Mikki Moore to help solidify the middle. And then there are all the rumors about Boston acquiring Stephon Marbury. So what's the mood in the locker room? In this video, we talk to Paul Pierce about Marbury. Pierce admits Marbury is a "high risk, high reward" player whose reputation has been as a guy "who kills locker rooms." So does this worry Pierce? And how psyched is Moore to have gone from Sacramento to Boston?
As expected, the Celtics signed seven-footer Mikki Moore for the rest of the season on Tuesday. Depth has been an area of concern for the Celtics from the moment they turned over half of their roster to acquire Kevin Garnett two summers ago. And with Garnett sidelined for at least another couple of weeks, the Celtics are especially shallow up front -- Moore and Kendrick Perkins are the only available big men on the roster taller than 6-foot-9.
Of course, as Tom Ziller pointed out earlier this week, Moore doesn't exactly make the most of his height -- he's one of the worst rebounding big men in the league and hasn't averaged even a single block per 36 minutes the past five years. But that's a mere formality: he takes up space and he's a veteran, which was apparently the only criteria the C's had in mind.
The 3 PM ET trade deadline in the NBA has come and gone, and while there were plenty of big names rumored to be on the move, few teams actually had the guts to pull the trigger. There were plenty of deals made, however, including one that might have one Eastern Conference team feeling like it's back in the title conversation. A wrap-up of today's events after the jump.
NBA Essentials provides the must-see links, quotes and videos of the day.
* Kevin McHale: "I think some of the best lessons learned in life are earned. I know I had to work when I got a bike. I knew where that bike was every minute of the day. My kids, I gave them bikes. 'Where's your bike?' 'I don't know. It could be at my friend's house.' I was like, 'You're kidding me.' " -- Pioneer Press, via Ballerblogger
* "I like to call Rondo's rise to greatness A Series of Very Fortunate Events, and after poring through this tale, you will to." -- RealHoops Blog
* Former Celtics announcer Johnny Most calling a game in Detroit: "OH, THE YELLOW, GUTLESS WAY THEY DO THINGS HERE!" -- Basketbawful
* "San Antonio has a losing record against Milwaukee during the Tim Duncan era." 48 Minutes of Hell, via TrueHoop
* "There's how many people in the world, 10 billion?" [Mikki Moore] said. "And there's only 300 people in the NBA. Wouldn't you have enough pride to go out there and compete? (I'm) not even saying (how) you're getting paid to do it, that it's your job, that's your 9 to 5, (that) you get a check for this. You could be on the corner slinging dope or at KFC working a drive-thru or the post office. (I'm) not even saying that. Wouldn't you have enough pride to say, 'Well, I'm one of the 300 people who's in the NBA,' and go out there and compete for your recognition? That's how I feel about it." -- Sacramento Bee
After tearing up the first few games of the season, including dropping an unstoppable 49 points on the Indiana Pacers, Amare Stoudemire has struggled a bit as of late. In his last two outings, he's had performances that were definitely sub-par: 11 points and nine boards against Houston, and just 12 points and five rebounds in last night's overtime win in Sacramento.
The reason for Amare's slowdown might just be more mental than physical. After the game against the Rockets, some of Stoudemire's comments would lead you to believe that he's less than impressed with some of the players that end up checking him on defense.
"You got Luis Scola, Chuck Hayes, Carl Landry ... I mean, Scola, it's his second year in the league," Stoudemire said. "Chuck Hayes and Carl Landry, you know ... they're okay players, but I definitely can dominate those guys early. Anytime. Nothing against them, they played well tonight."
Those were some long pauses between those statements from Amare, and you could tell that he was trying not to say anything too disrespectful when discussing his opponents. But it's clear he feels that there's no way those guys should be able to stop him, even though the players he mentioned are more than capable NBA defenders.
Martin also won a $1,000 bet with teammate Mikki Moore on who would be the first to dunk on Oden. "I had to go get my money," Martin said.
Asked if he knew Oden and Aldridge would be there when he crossed over Fernandez, Martin laughed. "Them guys have 7-(foot)-5 wingspans, so even if you don't think they are going to be there, they are going to be there," Martin said. "I'm glad they were there. I got a little richer today."
Is it me, or should more players put a bounty on posterizing the opposition? That's the kind of subplot that will keep fans watching even the most vanilla matchups in the middle of January.
Grizzlies versus Clippers? Yawn. O.J. Mayo and Rudy Gay putting five grand on the line to see who can get the most dunks on Chris Kaman? Now we're talking! I'll give this idea for free, Mr. Stern, but the next one will cost you.
OAKLAND -- You already know that 
At the start of the offseason, Warriors general manager
Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the "lig." 
There's a lot going on with the Celtics these days. First, they acquire 
As expected, the Celtics signed seven-footer 
NBA Essentials provides the must-see links, quotes and videos of the day.
After tearing up the first few games of the season, including dropping an unstoppable 49 points on the Indiana Pacers, 
