There may be no NBA season in 2011/12, but that doesn't mean that there are no sneaker releases. In this video, Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder) talks to Nike shoe designer, Leo Chang, about his new Nike KD IV shoe. The adaptive fit seems to be a useful feature, amongst all of the design aesthetic details.

Currently I'm reading the brilliant Jerry West autobiography, West By West, My Charmed Tormented Life. Amongst many illuminating sequences in the book, is this thought from West regarding the treatment of sports stars as idols:

"I have been around sports long enough by now to partly understand why this hero worship exists, why the fans -- a whole community, really -- need to have something or someone to look up to and be proud of, to live through vicariously and perhaps fill a void they feel in themselves, but I know the negative side of that as well, the side in which the hero turns out ot have clay feet. The whole glorifying of athletes is, in the end, not healthy, not healthy at all, and dangerous, often leading to terrible disillusionment. One minute fans can love and be for you, and be ugly toward you the next."

He then goes on to cite the Tiger Woods scenario of 2009 as a key example of how fans could turn on a star in disappointment, upon the revelation that the star is not as perfect as they had first imagined -- having used their on-field performance as an imagined indicator of their entire life-scape.

I do wonder however, whether he also had a star closer to him in mind, in Kobe Bryant. Having been acquired by the Los Angeles Lakers under West's watch as General Manager, Bryant was embroiled in a sex scandal involving a hotel employee in Eagle, Colorado. The matter, which was ultimately settled out of court, unavoidably changed the opinions that many of Bryant's fans had of him as an unshakably perfect character (and solidified the hatred perpetuated by those that saw him as an enemy).

In a perhaps even more pronounced way, the hero worship of thousands, if not millions, of Cleveland Cavaliers fans was shattered and flipped 180 degrees with the departure of LeBron James to South Beach. Having idolised this phenom on the basketball court for years, regarding him as a saviour to the franchise, if not their own lives, suddenly Cavs fans were dealt with the blow that King James did not share the same benevolence for his subjects as he was afforded.

These are but a sprinkling of the numerous situations where sports stars have turned worship into disgust, anger and hatred. They have been met with inate disdain, on the back of other-worldly worship. This in turn begs the question: why do these stars evoke that passion from us in the first place?

Do we take sports worship too far? Is it worrying that the actions of someone we possibly will never meet in our lifetimes can affect our collective psyche so greatly?

Surely the answers to the latter questions are "yes" and "yes".

The question as to why we are so drawn in by sports stars and sport in general is much more complex. We are impassioned by sports fandom for a great number of reasons, many of them noble. The idolisation of the players in that same sport is something which we should be able to separate and distinguish from the sport itself.

It is easy to forget that sportsmen and sportswomen are indeed people. They have real world personalities, problems and idiosyncrasies off the court (and sometimes on it). Of course, ultimately we already know this, but choose to ignore it, elevating some sports stars to demi-god status -- capable of eluding the same problems that trouble us mere mortals.

And then we arrive at the NBA Lockout.

Suddenly the 'Average Joe' is analysing a labour dispute which does not affect him economically with the fervour which should be reserved for greater world issues.  People are proclaiming on a daily basis how their lives feel empty without the NBA season, which normally would be in ful swing by now.

As basketball fans, we've all done it.

However, I would implore you to step back for a second. Perhaps it is time to seize this opportunity to enrich your life with new interests, or allow more time for the ones you already have.

We are all greater than one single definition. Many of us like to define ourselves as "ballers" or "rock chicks" or "artists", but in reality we are much deeper people than any 140 character profile can describe. 

With the lack of NBA basketball of late, I have used the opportunity (no, not challenge, but opportunity) to endulge in my other passions -- the things that I had neglected. Those passions may be people close to us, they may be other sports, they may be politics, music, the arts or even our careers and education.

The reality is, West's words carry a lot of truth. We can assign too much weight to the actions of 400-odd athletic men on a 94 x 50 foot court. And who better to question the rationale of NBA-worship than the man whose very image is imortalised on the NBA logo?

As Charles Barkley has been quoted as saying, "I'm not a role model... Just because I dunk a basketball doesn't mean I should raise your kids."

No doubt the economic realities for the two key parties involved (the owners and the players) mean that the lockout will not endure for too much longer. However, for the remaining duration, try (as I will) to enjoy the other aspects of life. 

In one of those stories that we can only snigger at due to it all concluding happily, 7'6" former-NBA beanpole Shawn Bradley has had his custom-made, huge bicycle stolen, but thankfully subsequently recovered.

The Associated Press has the story:

At 7-foot-6, former NBA center Shawn Bradley needs just about everything custom-made, from clothes and chairs to countertops and doorways.

It’s why he was bummed when his custom-build Trek road bicycle, complete with an 80 centimeter carbon fiber-aluminum frame, was stolen last Friday.

“There’s no way they could have ridden it away,” Bradley said Thursday morning. “It’s kind of baffling. I think it will turn up.”

He was right.

A random search of a residence by state probation and parole officials turned up the bike Thursday afternoon in the town of Murray, where Bradley has a home, police said. Joshua Carter, 34, was arrested on suspicion of possession of stolen property and felony theft, Murray police Sgt. Brian Wright said.

Bradley, who has been riding the bicycle since packing on the pounds after his retirement following 13 NBA seasons, was thrilled at the news.

Now, can you imagine an average-sized person trying to escape on that thing? I imagine it would be something akin to a man trying to escape on a three-year old girl's bicycle: farcical.

The photo above, which shows Bradley, with family, on his massive motorbike, is clearly not of the bike in question. But it had to be shown. These photos (which come via the shop that made it) are:

Further to the article:

They certainly weren’t going to ride it — as it is about 50 percent larger than what a normal-sized person would ride. Trek never even included a serial number when it built the bike in 2005 because it is so unique.

“I’m guessing he just walked it away,” Wright said of the suspect, who stands just 6-foot.

Thankfully, Bradley indeed did get the bike back ultimately. A fortunate ending to the story, as men of his size can't simply go to their nearest bicycle shop and purchase a new one.

In other Bradley-related news, the former shotblocker (and recipient of numerous famous dunkings-on) will appear as a downloadable character in NBA 2K12. The one-time mormon missionary to Australia, despite retiring from the NBA in 2005, has not disappeared from the headlines just yet.

Those crazy guys at Next Media Animation have come up with another short cartoon detailing an aspect of the NBA. This time it's the current NBA labour negotiations.

We have had some amazing and imaginative entries for our NBA 2K12 giveaway contest. 

As a reminder, the contest asked you to describe, in 25 words or less, your favourite NBA roster of all time. NBA 2K12 allows you to take charge of some of the most legendary NBA rosters and superstars and re-write history.

In fact, there were so many amazing entries that we had to pull out the best ones, put them in a hat and draw them out randomly, because some of them were simply too hard to split.

Without further ado, here are the two winning entries:

M. Allen: 94/95 Houston Rockets - Olajuwon + Drexler Phi Slama Jamma all over again. Great team, entertaining basketball, great champions.

(Editor's Note: A team close to my heart, being the huge Clyde the Glide fan that I am)

M. Stevens: 1995-96 Bulls - Jordan, Pippen, Rodman- The main men, a 6’6 defensive point in Harper, Longley-Blue collar mid-range money, Kukoc off the bench!! 72-10 GOAT

(Editor's Note: There were a stack of 95-96 Bulls entries -- by far the most recognised team as greatest of all time)

I will contact the two winners via email to get their prizes sent out to them by the lovely people at 2K Sports. Stay tuned, because if for some reason they fail to respond, I'll have to draw another winner!

Soon we'll have our review of 2K12 here with the exciting news that 45 additional legends have been added to the game, as downloadable content, including the likes of All-Star Weekend favourites Kevin Johnson, Dan Majerle, Dee Brown, Kenny "Sky" Walker and the human-rag-doll Shawn Bradley (presumably so that the other players can dunk on him)!

Thanks for all of the great entries to the contest. There are some big NBA fans out there. Keep on reading for further giveaways at A Stern Warning.

Nike always manages to come up with attractive looking television commercials.

This one features the likes of LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Coach K pushing the message that even during an NBA Lockout, basketball never stops.

NBA stars have made their share of apperances in Nestle Crunch television commercials over the years -- some of them quite amusing. If nothing else, you'll get a kick out of the retro feel of how TV advertisements used to be back in the day!

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Whilst many of you will have read the news via various sources in the last couple of days, I'm still getting a lot of questions via facebook and twitter as to what is happening with tickets for the NBA World All-Star Classic tour. So it's best to update you here on what the situation appears to be panning out as.

Unfortunately, the news is not good right now for Australian fans waiting to see NBA stars such as Kobe Bryant, Amar'e Stoudemire and Dwyane Wade in Melbourne. The latest news on the tour is that the first leg, through Puerto Rico, has been cancelled, with all later legs (including London, Macau and Melbourne) being postponed until at least late November. 

Originally the Melbourne games were scheduled for 8 and 9 November.

This comes from ESPN:

The six-game, four-continent World All-Star Classic exhibition tour featuring two squads of All-Star NBA players is on hold, with Sunday's scheduled game in San Juan, Puerto Rico, postponed indefinitely.

The other five games on the tour, scheduled for London, Macau and Australia, already had been pushed back until late November. There was hope the game in San Juan could be salvaged and serve as proof to the other venues and investors that Atlanta businessman Cal Darden and his son, Cal Jr., were capable of pulling off the event.

Cal Darden Sr. could not be reached for comment. A spokeswoman told The Associated Press a new date for the San Juan game will be announced by Nov. 3.

...

It remained to be seen if the game in Puerto Rico and the rest of the tour would be resurrected in light of NBA commissioner David Stern canceling regular-season games through Nov. 30 after labor talks broke off Friday without a deal.

Tickets already had been selling briskly in Puerto Rico, sources close to the organizers said, but there were no provisions made for refunds if the event was canceled or postponed.

So we wait until tomorrow to see if a new date for the Puerto Rico game is announced, at which point the other cards in the deck should fall into place. The fact that NBA labour negotiations are running so poorly may well be an impetus towards the tour eventually being resurrected and the players filling their idle time with some basketball around the world. 

Stay tuned for more details on dates and tickets as they emerge.

Channing Frye is one of the coolest people in the history of the world. I think that is something we can all agree on. 

You disagree? Okay, watch this video and see if it changes your mind...

Frye put this video together with Danger Ehren, Aaron Ross and Brian Baldwin for his "Dead Or Alive" themed Halloween party. The party was held to benefit the Frye Family Foundation's initiative, Frye Pads. (Now how cool a name is that?) The program aims to provide communication tools for patients and their families during extended stays at hospitals across the United States (starting in the Portland area).

The Smashing Pumpkins tie-in in the video really did it for me.

So, do you agree that he's pretty dope? He's certainly one of the coolest NBA players out there.

Given that we don't have any real NBA games in progress right now, I thought I'd post a video of a surreal NBA moment. 

Check this 2006 footage out as Kwame Brown (Los Angeles Lakers) not only catches the basketball on the break, but also manages to slam it down successfully, all over Andres Nocioni (Chicago Bulls). In addition to these unusual facts, the following is notable:

1. Kobe passed the ball to a teammate -- he didn't do much of that in 2006.
2. Is there really reason for a charge call here, or is this a matter of the NBA officials trying to give an advantage to the exciting play? Yes, Nocioni was standing in the "no charge" semi-circle, but he did not move, consequently, I'd call this a no-call more than anything else.

Watching Kwame in action also led me to ask the question: Is Kwame Brown the least talented #1 Draft Pick in NBA history? Take note, I'm not asking if he is the most disappointing (before you jump in and blurt Greg Oden's name), but just whether he is the least talented. I think it's fair to say that Michael Olowokandi is in with a chance in this race, though his best season (2002/03 Clippers: 12.3ppg, 9.1rpg, 2.2bpg) was far better than anything that Kwame has produced.  no comments