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The unofficial host of the NBA's All-Star weekend in Houston isn't Mayor Annise Parker, league Commissioner David Stern, or even that zany Rockets mascot and Care Bear look-a-like named Clutch.
It's the 23-year-old from Los Angeles with a lumberjack beard and a nasty Euro-step who has been in town for four months — Rockets All-Star shooting guard James Harden. And what a four months it has been.
In the city where Yao Ming's retirement in the summer of 2011 seemed to put basketball on the back burner again, Harden — who was traded from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Rockets on Oct. 28 and three days later signed a five-year, $80 million maximum contract offer — has revived hope since the day he arrived. He'll be one of seven first-time All-Stars in...
So Mark Jackson was going to prove a point. It was a sad point, the kind of thing you cling to when everything else is already lost, like a farmer refusing to take a subsidy even after all the soybeans have died.The Golden State... more »
Royce White is a lot like you. Or at least someone you know. He likes music and movies. He recently saw The Soloist and Silver Linings Playbook, two films, not coincidentally, which deal with mental health. He likes his... more »
With every 3-pointer bringing the Rockets closer to the NBA record, the Toyota Center crowd grew hungrier for more. “One more 3. One more 3.” Chandler Parsons had made his corner 3s and had long since taken a seat. James... more »
The first stipulation: The NBA Slam Dunk Contest does not, cannot and should not matter -- it's not important, it says nothing much about anything in particular and is finally and quite satisfyingly just a bunch of tall dudes... more »
The NBA is all about stars, creating them, grooming them and keeping them from fading, as we'll be reminded constantly between now and Sunday. No other professional league relies so heavily on individuals in what's supposed to... more »
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