NBA...spelled with an asterisk

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Funny how the media-assimilated Jeff Van Gundy now has a drastically different opinion about NBA officiating in light of the League's biggest scandal.

David Stern's continued denial of any fixing or manipulation is insulting to fans, players and this now-'tainted' game. Sure, Tim Donaghy was wrong, but the NBA doesn't want to be right.

Time for fans to take off the blindfold and demand the truth.

Charles Barkley's no better than Ron Burgundy

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The world's best NBA magazine sponsors the world's best NBA television show...Coincidence? I think not!

Oh, and Charles Barkley had this coming for a long time.

The "untradeable" Body

I loved to watch Ben Wallace once.

Yet, now, I don’t think Big Ben could find one fan even in the Chicago area…heck, even in the front office of the team who owes him $28.5 million over the next two seasons.

The notion that Ben Wallace is untradeable doesn’t come from the unwillingness to get rid of him on the Bulls’ part. Actually, the Bulls would love to dump Wallace and everything in his locker on the United Center's cold entrance before the next home game (making for some potentially nice memorabilia for fans).

Wallace's "untradeability" comes from chiefly two factors: 1) His super HUGE contract, and 2) His basketball skills are no longer magical.

Yes, Ben Wallace has long fallen past “ordinary;” his game is now “upchuckable.”

Chicago Tribune’s Sam Smith opined about Joakim Noah already taking over for Wallace, something the Bulls front office didn’t expect until next season at the earliest.

Yet, with all the negatives about The Body, would it be possible for the Bulls to get rid of this stray cat? Or would they end up screwing themselves even further in doing so?

Smith’s got a plan...involving who? Oh, everybody’s favorite prognostication plaything: the Lakers!

Wallace makes sense for the Lakers with Andrew Bynum's injury, and they can give the Bulls enough to make sense of a deal.

You take Kwame Brown's expiring contact of $9 million and add Vladimir Radmanovic at $5.6 million and it's a deal. The Bulls wouldn't want to take on Radmanovic's deal, which goes through 2010-11, but it's much cheaper than Wallace and may be the best way to get out from under his deal.

As Chicago native, I like this scenario because it rids Chicago of Ben Wallace. You could give me sardines for The Body. Vlad’s deal is quite long, but every team can use another white-Euro-big-man-shooter-when-healthy.

I'm sure this deal "makes no sense" for the Lakers who only need a big for eight weeks until Bynum's return. However, if they're really looking for a chip this season, The Body could be that experienced vet you're going to need.

But most likely not.

Kobe still selfish

Has Kobe's heart thawed for Bynum? Hell no!

So the sage continues fo water in my apartment. I’ve found that I’m also the only one in the complex to have this problem because, yes, my apartment is connected to the same water supply as the washer machines.

And no one’s complained about their laundry yet. Hmmmm…

Anyway, it IS really freezing out there, so I guess the maintenance guys do have a little bit of an excuse on their end. Still, I’d like to be able to use the toilet, take a shower, and drink today.

So there’s the update, and, now, on to the really good stuff – basketball!

An article in the LA Times this morning says Kobe Bryant’s heart is not made of stone. It’s a good thing to know, especially for teammates wondering why he’s not hitting them off the triple team.

Apparently, Kobe wished injured center Andrew Bynum the best, adding: "We're a championship-caliber team with him in the lineup."

Time reporter Mark Heisler says Kobe talking about a championship post-O’Neal is like Tim Burton making a movie without Helena B. Carter.

Well, that is, at least until recently.

“For the first time since demanding a trade last spring and excoriating management, Bryant tipped off a change of his no longer cold, dead-beating, two-timing, double-dealing, mean mistreating, loving heart.

Always stubborn, almost always controlled, Bryant rarely gives hints, even with teammates or Phil Jackson, but there has been no missing his thaw.”

I personally like “mean mistreating” the most. I always thought of the cat as selfish, and his comment about a championship doesn’t really change it. As a matter of fact, it might’ve actually caused me to question his caring about others even more.

When a Lakers reporter admits Kobe’s selfishly self-agrandizing flaws, there’s no question that Kobe’s all about me me me.

When talking about Bynum getting healthy, is Kobe really concerned for his boy’s health or more about his chances for winning another chip.

Certainly Kobe has turned around his smack talk about demanding a trade now that he see Bynum’s potential to dominate the paint. Kobe thinks Bynum can get him another championship.

And he sure hopes Bynum can return to full health so they can get it done soon.