FanHouse Mark Madsen

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

The news isn't good on the NBA officials' front. The league has locked the refs out and it appears they're ready to go the route of replacement refs. We think that's a bad idea, but if it's going to happen, here's offering some help to the new guys.

Keep your eyes out for these players, the top-five foulers in the NBA:

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

Kevin Love is a one-of-a-kind NBA star who has great basketball skills and a personality like no other.

In this video, he talks to us about being a Twitter sensation (@kevin_love), Ricky Rubio, his buddy Mark Madsen's love life and what we can find in Minnesota.

Check out the video after the jump.

The Clippers waived Mark Madsen Friday, paying him his $2.8 million salary to take his hustle somewhere else. The interesting note pointed out by Steve Perrin of Clips Nation is that the team chose to waive Mad Dog over Ricky Davis, who makes $2.4 million in 2009-10, the final year of his contract. Given the reputation of each in the locker room, this move either says something about Ricky's physical condition, or Madsen's lack of basketball usefulness.

And that itself leads me to wonder whether Mad Dog's NBA career is finished. It's a tight market, as you've heard ad nauseum. Last year, Madsen only managed to get 116 minutes on a bad Wolves team. The year prior: 151 minutes. The year prior: 473 minutes. The year prior: 676 minutes. The year prior: 601 minutes. Kevin Love played more minutes in his rookie season than Madsen has in the past five seasons combined. And the Wolves weren't exactly full of talent during most of that run.

The bizarre connection of Clippers forward Mark Madsen to the nation's first-ever arrest for domain name theft initially left more questions than answers. First of all, what in the lord's name is Madsen doing purchasing domain names on eBay for $111,000? Is this something Madsen does often?

Yes, actually. Madsen seems to be quite an Internet mogul.

Madsen, who has not responded to a request for comment on the case, allegedly purchased the domain name P2P.com from Daniel Goncalves for $111,000 on eBay in 2006.

Just when you think you have figured out the NBA, a Clipper gets tangled in a stolen domain name scandal. Based on an Associated Press report, 25-year-old Daniel Goncalves of New Jersey allegedly hacked into a web account belonging to the owner of the domain P2P.com. (P2P stands for peer-to-peer, the common terminology for direct file sharing and content streaming on the web.)

Goncalves changed the ownership of the domain, and put it up for sale on eBay (apparently in 2006). It sold for $111,000. The reported buyer: Mark Madsen. The AP reports this is the Mark Madsen, long-time Laker and Timberwolf. Goncalves was arrested at home in New Jersey last week.

Quentin Richardson, who played for three teams in his first nine years in the league, will join his third team of the summer once the Clippers and Timberwolves and finalize a four-player trade.

Richardson finished the 2008-09 season with the Knicks but was sent to the Grizzlies last month in a draft-day deal for Darko Milicic. Before he could unpack, he was soon re-routed to the Clippers in a trade for Zach Randolph that was finally consummated last week.

And finally today, word broke that Richardson will be sent to Minnesota in exchange for Craig Smith, Sebastian Telfair and Mark Madsen.

NBA Essentials provides the must-see links, quotes and videos of the day.

-- "I'll make a deal with you MsClarkJones... COME TO THE NEXT HOME GAME, IF WE DON'T DELIVER A WIN, I'LL GIVE YOU YOUR MONEY BACK" -- Charlie Villanueva on his official Twitter feed

-- "The NBA will establish an office in India and establish grassroots programs to showcase the sport. This investment is also a boon to the NBA partners such as adidas, Electronic Arts and Spalding, all of whom will be getting involved with products on the ground customized for the unique Indian audience. " -- Biz of Basketball

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

Valentine's Day is a special day for people in love. Some people propose, some just go out, but there are do's and don'ts. We wanted to know what those things were, so in this video we talk to Shaquille O'Neal, about his tips on love, as well as the best way to propose. His answer will surprise you. We also talk to Kevin Love, who tells us which NBA player is nicknamed the "Plucker," while his teammate Mark Madsen continues looking for his future bride. Plus, we get tips from Maurice Evans and more.

Check out the video after the jump.

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


Video link.

When I read Shoals' piece the other day about players as mascots, the first name that came to mind was Mark Madsen. He seems like a nice enough guy, but he's a fan favorite for no reason that relates at all to his contributions on the basketball court. After all, he's best known in L.A. for a goofy speech and even goofier dancing at the Lakers' championship parade back in 2001. Please click that "goofy speech" link, I promise you won't be disappointed.

Something you may not have known about Mad Dog -- besides his fluency in Spanish -- is the fact that he's a full blown technology geek. So much so, that he was among the masses in Minnesota who waited in long lines to buy the latest and greatest gadget: the iPhone.

Look, when I heard the iPhone was coming out, I was ready to hire someone off of Craigslist to wait in line for me. I asked the AT&T people if this was OK, and initially they told me no. So I waited in line for the iPhone myself in Eden Prairie, Minn., where I think I was about number 21 in line. Luckily, I got one!

I don't know what's funnier, the sight of Madsen sitting in a lawn chair outside an AT&T store in Minnesota for hours and hours to buy a cell phone, or the prospect of him calling up people from Craigslist and trying to hire them to do it.

Either way, if the guy was really into his technology, he'd have known that waiting in line was completely unnecessary. Apple never releases new products in short supply, and I got my iPhone the day after it was released, no line at all, just walked into a mall in L.A. and picked one up. I guess in that respect, I'm actually geekier than Mark Madsen ... which, after seeing him at that parade, is something that I would have thought to be completely impossible.