Regarding This NBA Lockout

I have lived through an NBA lockout, but the the stakes did not seem nearly as high then as they appear to be right now. The consequences of this current mess truly have the potential to change the meaning of the NBA for years to come. During the first lockout, the prospect of superstars gracing the courts of Turkey or China were impossible. The legitimacy of those leagues was so far behind the NBA that for someone like Allen Iverson in 1998 to even mention balling abroad was not just laughable, it was non-existent.

Things are different in the post-modern world of 2011. We live in a global society, a global market and a global sports universe. You want proof?

Power Trio

Big-ups to Andrew Abides for finding this picture for me (from Rondo's Twitter feed). The two best players on my favorite soccer team in the world standing next to my favorite point guard in the world. My mind just exploded along with some other parts of my body that may or may not have exploded.

As Andrew and I sat there last night drinking black n' cans (Saranac Black and Tans, in cans), his streaking Nets took it to my first place Celtics with dead-eye three point shooting and passionate defense, which stifled Paulie Walnuts and Rondo.

We bet $5,000 on the game. Neither of us have close to that. I owe him 5k and I don't have it. Celts are now tied with Chicago for first place in the East due to this loss.

None of that matters because of this glorious picture this game produced.

Thank you, Twitter. It's moments like this when you prove why you're the best invention ever.

If You See Something, Say Something

IYSSSS is our semi-regular Internet intelligence report, a liberal arts approach to following the NBA on the Web. E-mail us at jewsforjesusshuttlesworth@gmail.com if you've got any suggestions.

Andy Gray Twitter: If you're not following @si_vault on Twitter, you're missing out on photos like the one above showing brazen New York Red Bull Thierry Henry. That empty seat Longoria is clearly holding belongs to her husband, San Antonio Spur Tony Parker. We know because we saw them on The Kiss Cam. Henry, you've got to calm it down buddy.

AdonalFoyle.com [via TrueHoop]: The veteran center calls it a career, and does so by stomping his mind grapes into a decedent goodbye poem. New best quote by an NBA player ever: "Don't be fooled by the magicians' nibble fingers." Truth.

NBA Fanhouse: Bethlehem Shoals and Tom Ziller have been writing The Works, their daily views of the NBA's biggest stories, for a week now. I said they are the new Red and Meth, Ziller prefers Raekwon and RZA. Today's talks Bosh as villain, the Melo "report," and James Dolan's communication problems.