1. Have you seen the lineup for the slam dunk contest this year? It may finally be time to take this horse out behind the barn and shoot it. When the biggest name in the contest is Nate Robinson – a guy who can’t even get consistent playing time for a terrible team – you know you have problems. He’s joined by a few more players no one will care about any more than him – Gerald Wallace, Shannon Brown, and the winner of a Friday contest between Eric Gordon and DeMar DeRozan. Painful. Really, really painful.
2. I’ve read the same rumor a few times over the last couple of days – that the Thunder have an interest in Chris Bosh. They have salary cap room, two first round picks to deal with, and some young talent to throw in, so they could probably get a deal done if Toronto was interested. The thought of Bosh and Durant patrolling the floor together for the next few yearsalong with the rest of the infrastructure that the team has is awe-inspiring. I think that the Thunder are only going to get better anyway, but with Bosh on board they would be serious title contenders.
3. Stephon Marbury has signed to play in the Chinese pro league. Is it too much to hope that he’ll stay there? Starbury has apparently signed with Shanxi, the 15th place team in the 17 team league. It’s the same team that Bonzi Wells played for for a couple of months last year. He scored as many as 50 points a game, but then he went on a vacation and never bothered to return to the team.Marbury is reportedly going to China to play – besides the obvious reason that no one in the NBA wants anything to do with him – because it will help him expand the reach of his shoe line. Good luck and good riddance.
4. It’s been confirmed that the Jets’ Shaun Ellis did break his hand. He’s still going to try to play against the Colts, but it remains to be seen how well that goes. If you watched the Jets beat the Chargers you’ll know that Ellis returned later in the game with a big club on his hand, and it certainly had a negative impact on his play. This will be one to watch.
