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Dwyane Wade Surprises Fan, Shows Up At Her Prom

May 18, 2013  ·  7:29PM

ALL BALL NERVE CENTER — Nicole Muxo, a senior at Miami’s Archbishop Coleman Carroll High School and a rabid fan of the Miami Heat, decided to swing for the fences when it came time for prom: About a month ago, she extended a video invite to Miami Heat G Dwyane Wade.
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Credit to Muxo for having the moxie to go public with her invite. (Also, probably a shrewd move to use Wade’s fellow Chicago-native Kanye West as the video’s soundtrack.)

The video racked up tens of thousands of views, and eventually made its way to Wade. As it turned out, Wade and the Heat were busy the last few weeks, dispatching the Milwaukee Bucks and Chicago Bulls on their way to the Eastern Conference Finals. But after defeating the Bulls in five games, the Heat suddenly had the weekend off. And as Wade explained to WSVN in Miami, Muxo left nothing to chance:

“She actually DM’d me on Twitter and said, ‘This is the address, this is where I’m gonna be just in case,’ and when I got that I said, I won’t be doing nothing tomorrow night and I can go and make this a memorable moment for her.”

Seems like Wade was on the mark with his wish:

I had a blast at Prom w @nicole_muxo... Never be 2 scared to ask.. They might just say yes...#dreamsdocometrue

Ol what a night... More pics from @nicole_muxo prom...oh yea I was there 2... Her date and her best friends.

Wade actually brought along a video crew to document the evening…
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Oh, according to the Miami Herald, Muxo’s date, Laurent Chaumin, took it all in stride: “At least we both know how to dress.”

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Memphis Grizzlies Get A New Theme Song

May 17, 2013  ·  1:10PM


ALL BALL NERVE CENTER — The Memphis Grizzlies have taken the NBA postseason by storm, winning eight of their last nine games and grit-and-grinding their way right into the Western Conference finals. And, of course, no good postseason run by a sports team is complete without a theme song to go along with it.

The Grizz’s new song comes courtesy of a couple of Memphis-born hip-hop luminaries: Rapper/producer Drumma Boy, teaming up with Three 6 Mafia co-founder DJ Paul. The song is titled “We Don’t Bluff,” which has a dual meaning: It’s a nod to the city of Memphis’s longtime nickname, “The Bluff City” — Memphis was settled on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. But it also references Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph, who after an altercation with Oklahoma City’s Kendrick Perkins back in November, said, “There’s a lot of bluffin’ going on the court, that’s all, you know. And I don’t bluff.”

And as we’ve seen this postseason, neither do the Grizz.
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NBA Style: Conan O’Brien Edition

May 17, 2013  ·  11:45AM


ALL BALL NERVE CENTER — Conan O’Brien has the height to make it in the NBA — he’s 6-4 — but from an early age O’Brien focused on comedy and entertaining, making any sporting dreams irrelevant. This has not stopped him from having dozens of NBA players on his shows through the years, from Charles Barkley to Kobe Bryant to Carmelo Anthony.

(There was also an NBA/Conan appearance that I have been actively trying to find video of now for over a decade. Back when he was a member of the Atlanta Hawks, Dikembe Mutombo visited Conan’s NBC show, sucked helium from a balloon and attempted to speak. It was just as amazing as it sounds. And yet there is no visual record that this happened. I know it happened because I watched it live on TV. I’ve spoken with Hawks staffers who were there at the show with Mutombo. I have made official and unofficial pleas to NBC to find this tape. Yet this video is not on YouTube or Hulu or anything else. Mutombo’s second appearance is online, but not the helium-fueled first visit. So I throw it out there into the public domain occasionally in the hope that someone, somewhere, can dig this video up and make the world a better place by uploading this seminal moment in NBA comedy history.)

Anyway, we’ve talked a lot about NBA Style here on the All-Ball blog, and now Conan O’Brien gives us his own take on press conference style. You can check out a slideshow of ridiculous press conference garb here, or just check the videos below…
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This Guy Has More NBA Jerseys Than You

May 16, 2013  ·  1:00PM


ALL BALL NERVE CENTER — I’ve owned quite a few NBA jerseys through the year. My first purchase was a Dominique Wilkins Hawks replica jersey, purchased with accumulated allowance money when I was a kid in the ATL. My most recent was probably a throwback jersey in the early ’00s, before I got married and had a kid, back when I had some disposable income. At one point I enough of them lining my closet that I needed to clear some room, so started changing out jerseys for button-ups.

Not that there’s anything wrong with NBA jerseys. The jersey you wear not only marks you as an NBA fan, it shows your allegiance to a specific player or even an era. I’ve owned jerseys just because I thought they looked cool, and I’ve owned jerseys because I felt I needed one to properly support my team.

You might own a bunch of NBA jerseys, but I’m guessing Reddit user Macgarnickle has pretty much everyone beat. He posted a photo of his epic collection last night, and if you look closely, there are some real classics in there, from the Damon Stoudamire Raptors jersey to the Larry Johnson Hornets to the Dikembe Mutombo Nuggets. Impressive stuff. Does your collection beat his? Let me know!

eZ4Z5Rw

(via r/NBA)

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Craig Sager Photobombs Will And Jaden Smith

May 16, 2013  ·  11:45AM


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ALL BALL NERVE CENTER — Midway through the third quarter of Game Five of the Heat/Bulls series last night, the Bulls had built a 9-point lead and seemed poised to push the series back to Chicago for a Game 6. As the TNT broadcast returned from a commercial break, the cameras focused in on superstars Will Smith and his son Jaden, who were sitting courtside. As Marv Albert introduced them, immediately behind them was visible a blazer that seemed to be made from a bag of tropical Skittles.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, this coat of many colors belonged to our favorite intrepid sideline reporter, Craig Sager. Noticing the camera was on him, and encouraged by Marv and Steve Kerr, Sager broke into a full-on photobomb.

Gotta figure Will Smith hasn’t been photobombed very often. And never by a jacket like that.
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sagerbomb

(gif via @CJZero)

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Thanksgiving in May

May 16, 2013  ·  8:55AM

#thanksgivinginmay

thanksgivinginmayALL BALL NERVE CENTER — Every year when my family would sit down for our Thanksgiving meal, my mother would make us go around the table and say something we were thankful for before we were allowed to dig into the food. It was a small gesture, but one that I learned to appreciate — how often do we take a second and actually speak into the world what it is that we are thankful for?

You may not realize this, but today, May 16, is the halfway point between last Thanksgiving and next Thanksgiving. And we’d like you to take a moment today to be thankful. Or maybe get up, get out and do something to give someone else a reason to be thankful. Whatever you do, be thankful, as part of what we’re calling “Thanksgiving in May.”

Check out Ernie Johnson explaining it the other night on Inside the NBA…

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So take some time today and let us know what you’re thankful for. Tweet it, speak it, Instagram it, whatever. Just make sure you use the hashtag #thanksgivinginmay.

And by the way? Thanks.

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Wilt Chamberlain on Wilt Chamberlain

May 14, 2013  ·  12:18PM


ALL BALL NERVE CENTER – Wilt Chamberlain retired from the NBA in 1973, before I was even born, so I never had the chance to see the Big Dipper play. But a few years ago when I was working at SLAM, as we were putting together our list of the 500 greatest players of all-time, I started digging into Wilt’s statistics, and the numbers were just astonishing. (No, not that number.)

I know there is context that needs to be factored in — pace of play, the relative size of the League at the time — but still, the digits Wilt compiled were nothing short of staggering. He never averaged less than 18 rebounds a game for his career. One season he averaged over 48 minutes per game. That same season, he averaged 50 points per game. His first decade in the NBA he averaged at least 20 points and rebounds per game. We heard a story passed down from the Philly playgrounds where Wilt grew up about a dunk he could do: He would hold the ball in one arm up against his elbow, clinched between his forearm and bicep, then jump up way above the rim and using his other arm, punch the ball down through the rim.

The argument against Wilt’s greatness was always that he was just Goliath, that it was his height that made him dominant. Which is why I found the video below so fascinating: Here’s four minutes of very self-aware conversation with Wilt, animated by PBS Digital’s Blank on Blank project. And right away, Wilt addresses the notion that he was only great because of his size.

Fascinating stuff:
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(via @TeamZiller)

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Help Design New Dallas Mavericks Uniforms

May 14, 2013  ·  11:30AM

ALL BALL NERVE CENTER –Have you ever looked a team’s uniform and thought, “I could come up with something better than that?” Well, has Mark Cuban got a proposition for you: You can design new uniforms for the Dallas Mavericks.

In the wide universe of sports uniforms, everything old is new again. Or at least it seems that way, as franchises introducing new uniforms increasingly look to throwback logos and color schemes, trading on nostalgia to find looks that simultaneously feel new and familiar. The Mavs have had the same basic look since 2001, with a few notable exceptions: Who could forget the drab gray alternates in 2003-04…

Steve Nash moves ball

…or the P-Diddy-designed green alternates?

Houston Rockets v Dallas Mavericks

Now it’s time for something new (well, for the 2015-16 season). Mavs owner Mark Cuban is crowd-sourcing this project on his blog, asking fans who have an idea or a plan to offer up their designs in his comments section. If you win, you could see the Dallas Mavericks rocking your uniform on the court. Pretty simple.

If there’s a catch here, it’s that Cuban says you will not be paid for your work — he suggests maybe some free tickets could be in the offing — but he’s up-front about the deal and suggests that if this offends you, don’t get involved. (I can’t help but wonder if this isn’t some elaborate Willy Wonka-type situation where Cuban is just looking for someone who is willing to do the work for free, and then he will reward you by giving you the Texas Legends D-League team or something like that. With Jerry Jones as Slugworth? OK, sure, probably not.)

Anyway, do you think can do better that what you’ve seen here? Swing by Cuban’s blog and show the world.

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Roy Hibbert Almost Wore A Monocle To Postgame Press Conference

May 13, 2013  ·  10:45AM


ALL BALL NERVE CENTER – If you didn’t know that Pacers center Roy Hibbert has a fantastic sense of humor, you must have missed his appearance last summer on the Hang Time Podcast, where big Roy joined me, NBA.com’s Sekou Smith, and his BFF, writer/comedian Chelsea Peretti, who is one of the greats. We discussed many things, including, if I’m not mistaken, Chelsea’s suggestion that Roy should at some point wear a monocle to a postgame press conference. Perhaps I am just projecting, but it feels like something we mentioned very briefly.

For certain, however, Peretti and Hibbert had a public talk about monocles last year, when Roy called in on episode 9 of Chelsea’s podcast. A discussion about Power Rangers evolved (or devolved) into a conversation about NBA Style.

“All these guys wearing, like, skinny jeans,” Hibbert said, “and glasses with no frames in it, stuff like that, that’s a thing of the past. I’m going to start something new here.”

After Chelsea urged Hibbert to start an NBA ponytail trend, Hibbert agreed, although with a caveat:

“I say a ponytail, but you have to have some sort of eyewear. I’m going with a monocle. I’ll be the first one to rock a monocle like Mr. Peanut, or whoever. Like the Monopoly guy.”

Roy apparently came close over the weekend…until he chickened out…

Brilliant stuff from Hibbert. And upon hearing the news, I immediately alerted Peretti, who responded with her typical measured excitement…

Last night, I reached out to Chelsea to see if she wished Roy had worn it.

“Very much so,” she responded.

Don’t we all. :(

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Kobe Bryant’s Social Media Mastery

May 10, 2013  ·  3:37PM


ALL BALL NERVE CENTER – If there’s anything we’ve learned about Kobe Bryant over the past 17 seasons, it’s that nobody will outwork him and nobody will out-prepare him. So just because Kobe is now on the chilling list for the foreseeable future with a ruptured Achilles tendon, that doesn’t mean the Mamba will be sold short. It just means that instead of dominating on the court, the venue has changed: Instead of the Staples Center, these days Kobe is doin’ work on social media, specifically via his Instagram account.

Before Kobe’s injury, his main social media outlets had been Facebook, and then, this season, Twitter. Even though he was a late adopter to these platforms, he showed a real knack for using each, utilizing Twitter for quick thoughts and to interact with Lakers fans, and then using Facebook to post one of the most memorable statements of his career just hours after he tore his Achilles. Kobe is an athlete who has long protected his privacy, and as such, it has been fascinating for Kobe to suddenly be accessible, and even, occasionally, interactive with his fans…

Kobe started populating his Instagram account on April 13, exactly one day after tearing his Achilles, and since then he’s allowed us to follow him through the entire process of surgery and recovery. It is an almost completely antithetical approach to the traditional way teams and athletes have addressed injuries, which is to say radio silence. The reason we normally are not granted access is because teams and athletes want some regulatory role over any news. Yet by Instagramming his recovery, Kobe is simultaneously controlling the narrative while delivering access and news.

From the initial MRI…

MRI time!

To prepping for the surgery…

Surgery prep time. Lookin like Mrs Doubtfire with a jerri curl cap lol Anesthesia next #highasakite #mambaout

To expressing the frustration of recovery…

Cast and elevation for next 2 weeks. I have trouble sitting still for 5 min! @ladyvb24 is taking great care of her papi :-) #sexynurse #queenmamba

To getting visits from teammates…

Con mi hermano! #lakers #countonpau #mambaedits ha

to providing updates…

Cast off today. I have zero swelling and virtually no pain. Boot now for a few months. I start therapy this week #StartwhereUstand #takethechallenge #pray4bear

to getting his stitches out…

Stitches out! #progress

to taking his first post-injury steps…

Foot on the ground! #pray4bear #standup #mambaarmy

Kobe is taking all of us with him on this journey, with an ending that is yet to be written. Will he come back stronger than ever? Or will this mark the beginning of the end of his career?

No matter which way it turns out, it’s been a virtuouso performance. But then, from Kobe, we’ve come to expect nothing less.

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