The Goat Pen

Not my team, but I love seeing Memphis compete for some reason

We were all talking about how OKC would be a tough out, but damn, Memphis plays tough.

I wonder if BG is sad Randolph isn't a BLazer anymore. i think it would be hard to see a good player leave your team and do great elsewhere.

what's really irritating, I should think, is that player being exponentially better after leaving your team

Gasol and Z Bo is what Isiah wanted out of Curry and Z Bo for the Knicks. Good thought, just didn't execute it well.

===============

Since Game 1, Round 1 I've been saying the Grizz are legit.

it's been 20 years since we have had an NBA Finals that did NOT include Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Shaquille O'Neal or Hakeem Olajuwon.

(you could add isiah bird and magic and take it back to 79)

Also the 1st time since 1977 that none of the conference finalists were there the year before.

Or Phil Jackson.

The one man dynasty.

I was rooting for Memphis, but the better team won for sure.

Good to see a jock-oriented PSA discouraging the use of term "gay" to signify lame, stupid, odd or whatever.

Yeah. Thank Kobe.

[youtube]yhS8vPVQ76w[/youtube]

I agree with skip, Scottie is jealous & resentful

It's unbelieveable to me that not only do most of these go broke after leaving the L, but also how stingy they are during the money making years, pay back your damn loans

As Maclean’s reported last year, Weems quietly took advantage of a lucrative but little-known enterprise: companies that loan wads of cash to elite college athletes, on the condition that the money be repaid (with interest) as soon as the client inks a pro contract. In his case, the lender was Felix Wright, a one-time Hamilton Tiger-Cat who went on to play nine seasons in the NFL before dabbling in the financial services industry. Back in 2008, after a standout senior season at the University of Arkansas, Weems and Wright signed a contract of their own: a cash loan worth US$23,500 (at eight per cent interest) plus the use of a Ford Taurus—“all of which,” according to court documents, “was to be repaid and returned respectively when the said defendant was selected as a draft pick on a National Basketball Association team.”

That didn’t happen. After draft day, Weems reneged, forcing Felix Wright to file lawsuits on both sides of the border to recoup his dough. Only now, three full seasons into his NBA career, has Weems settled the account. “He made $900,000 last year,” says Morton Adelson, Wright’s Toronto lawyer. “Why he didn’t deal with this sooner, I don’t know.”

Weems spent his rookie campaign with the Denver Nuggets, and his stats (1.6 points per game, 0.3 rebounds) were as unimpressive as his debt repayment plan. He did return the Taurus—dented and scratched—but not the loan. In 2009, when Wright asked a Colorado judge to intervene, Weems didn’t even bother sending a lawyer to court.

Wright won a default judgment, including an order that compelled the Nuggets to garnishee Weems’s wages. But by the time the paperwork was filed, he had been traded again—first to Milwaukee, then to Toronto. Wright, who lives in Ohio, had no choice but to hire a Canadian lawyer and file a fresh lawsuit, this one demanding nearly US$35,000 in damages ($29,745 for the loan, plus interest; $2,250 for the car repairs; and $2,500 in legal fees). Again, Weems didn’t bother mounting a defence—and again, a default judgment was registered against him (the court settled on a figure close to US$26,000).

Shaq Memories...

There was the time in Portland during his final season in Miami when he left his jock strap on the scorer's table and whispered to reporters, "I don't have any panties on," in his Eartha Kitt voice from "Boomerang."

It's all fake! You've got to believe me before it's to late and you start believing Mark Cuban.

Fake I tell you - Fake!!!!!!

[youtube]eOtZ7eXwT7o[/youtube]

LMAO

funny

http://www.tmz.com/2011/06/14/shaquille ... oss-crips/

Shaquille O'Neal is embroiled in a criminal case in which 7 gang members allegedly kidnapped, beat up and robbed a man who claimed to have a tape showing Shaq having sex with other women while he was married to Shaunie.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Ladell Rowles -- a member of the Main Street Mafia Crip Gang in L.A. who is friends with Shaq -- along with 6 other members went on a search and destroy mission in L.A. on February 11, 2008. They believed a man named Robert Ross had the sex tape and they tried getting it back with the help of a gun or two.

According to the police report, the 7 gang members met up with Ross at a convenience store -- Pink Dot -- on the Sunset Strip. The men allegedly surrounded Ross' Rolls Royce Phantom with guns drawn, jumped into Ross' car and ordered him to drive to Rowles' house in South Central L.A.

Once there, Rowles allegedly pistol whipped Ross and demanded that he turn over the sex tape. Ross said he would get the tape and bring it back to them. The 7 men then allegedly took Ross' Rolex, diamond chain and earrings, along with $15,000 in cash -- then let Ross go.

The 7 men have been arrested and charged with robbery, kidnapping and other crimes. They are currently in the middle of a preliminary hearing and being held in jail.

We've learned LAPD detectives interviewed Shaq to determine what, if any, involvement he had in the alleged crimes. When the case file went to the D.A. Shaq was not listed as a suspect.

Now here's the interesting backstory.

Ross has a history with Shaq. Shaq and his business manager, Mark Stevens, have a record label and allegedly told Ross they would give him a 50% cut in any artists he brought to them. Ross claims he delivered Ray J to Shaq but got cut out of the deal.

As for the tape, Ross claims Shaq brought women to Ross' home and had sex with them while he was married to Shaunie. Ross told Shaq a "security camera" captured the action and it was all on tape. But Ross told cops the security camera recycles periodically and the video no longer exists.

And there's another twist. Around the time Shaq and Ross had their falling out, Shaunie separated from Shaq and Ross claims he began having an affair with her. Ross claims Shaq hired a private investigator to tail Shaunie and the P.I. caught the two together.

We put a call in to Shaq's rep ... so far, no response.

Worth noting -- Shaunie was out in L.A. recently, and had a few sage words of advice for her recently retired ex-husband