World Basketball Festival Brings The Roc

Yes you heard correctly, it was announced today that Thursday's World Basketball Festival Opening Ceremony at Radio City Music Hall in New York City will be headlined by none other than Jay-Z.

For those of you who hide in caves, let me back up a bit. We admit we've neglected our obligation to keep you informed of the mania that is New York this week. We often assume that everyone lives in a tiny Brooklyn apartment and reads twenty basketball blogs a day.

So to all normal people, this weekend New York City will host the World Basketball Festival.

Sneakalicious: The Ugliest Shoes in the World

For this next installment of Sneakalicious, I could talk about the new Nike Festival Collection, Air Jordan Team USA, the Melo M-6, or the Air Jordan/Skull Candy "For the Love of the Game" colab, all in honor of the World Basketball Festival being held right here in New York in a few days.  But instead I'm going to talk about this:

Because these imitation Nike stilettos (found by Sneaker Freaker, sold by MadeinChina.com) are beyond offensive.

Guest Post: An Open Letter to James Dolan

This off-season has made everyone more passionate than normal. Casual fans started listening more intently, and die-hard fans started speaking up even more than usual. A long-time friend of No Regard, asking to be known here simply as Mugsy2Manute, is a member of the latter group. He's also been a Knicks fan since birth and sent us this piece not because we asked for it, but because he couldn't keep quiet under these circumstances. Besides, he's a smart NBA fan and who sent us a picture of James Dolan next to an Ewok; how could we say no?

Dear Mr. Dolan,

If your marriage was in shambles, and you needed outside help, would you hire Tiger Woods as your counselor? No? Didn't think so. What if you were Barack Obama, tasked with responding to the oil spill catastrophe in the Gulf. Would you send the disgraced, former head of FEMA Mike Brown to Louisiana to help get things under control? Doubtful. So, pray tell, what in God's good name are you thinking rehiring Isiah Thomas as a "consultant" after firing him two years ago for driving an already descending Knicks team deeper into the abyss? I mean, are you for real?

Steve Nash's Balls Violated By Hanes

Newish Hanes/Michael Jordan commercial that I just saw for the first time:



Look familiar? Yeah, Steve Nash probably thinks so too...

Official Summer OMG

We could just link you over to SLAM so you could watch this hot as shit video of Kevin Durant sonning the entire world down at DC's Goodman League. But we really want this video on our website. Because Kevin Durant is The Best, and we hope that Prop 8 stays repealed so we can marry his game on a beach in Santa Cruz, just like we've always dreamed (blogs marrying basketball skill sets is gay, right?).

Lazy Sunday

Four-Four with Rose and Noah. Talkin' straight Chi-City no doubt.
Photo Courtesy of the Associated Press.

Yesterday Barack Obama did something pretty cool. In an event honoring wounded soldiers, the President played hoops with a makeshift dream team. The roster, selected according to the big guy's famous biases, included LeBron, Wade, Melo, Bill Russell, Magic Johnson, and of course those two guys from Chicago.* Of course, being able to witness this game in all of it's good-natured glory would be any basketball fan's dream. If it had been part of the Nike World Basketball Festival tickets would have sold out a week ago. If LeBron had organized it, it would have garnered twenty million television viewers. Instead, Big Barry shut the press out of the gym, emphasizing that this event was to be seen only by those it was organized for, the troops. 

Still, we hope some photos surface, even if they're something Malia took with her camera phone.

* It was a hell of a weekend for Joakim Noah. After getting to hoop with the Prez his agent announced that he's working on a hefty deal to extend Noah's contract with the Bulls.

At the Zoo with Shaquille O'Neal

Shaquille O'Neal got on Twitter yesterday to let us all know that he has figured out how to shrink a Giraffe. This makes him the second man to master this trick in a month...

Is that guy supposed to be Prokhorov?

Just some food for thought.  Hope everyone's having a lovely weekend.

NBA Happy Hour: Lep in the Hood

TGIF basketball fans! It's the end of the week, so that means NBA Happy Hour! Grab a beer, follow the rules and start the weekend with a Don Nelson-level buzz.

Shaquille O'Neal is a Celtic. Reactions to this news are mixed at best, but one thing is certainly worth celebrating: we will have another season of Shaq in the NBA. Sure, he will likely do next to nothing on the court, but his entertainment value is irreplaceable. Last night's Sportscenter aired a montage of some of his best moments. 

Drink Anytime...