Saquon Barkley recently signed with Roc Nation Sports agency, the company that was started by world famous rapper, Shawn ‘Jay Z’ Carter. It was a huge acquisition for the organization with Barkley widely considered to be the number one running back prospect ahead of this year’s NFL Draft. If Barkley is selected as top choice, it will be the third time in just four years that the agency has represented the first pick running back in the league. With Jay Z having already conquered the music world, it seems as though he now has his sights set firmly on professional sports, and rising stars from everywhere are lining up to be a part of the Roc Nation team. Let’s take a look at five of the company’s biggest signings to date.
Category Archives: kevin durant
2014-15 NBA Team Preview: Oklahoma City Thunder
The Thunder are the perennial preseason favorite to win the Western Conference. They deserve all the hyped they receive. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are two the best ten players in the league. Unfortunately, this preseason is much different for one of their stars.
Kevin Durant is expected to miss at least 6-8 weeks with a Jones fracture in his right foot. OKC didn’t really have a contingency plan for this. They are thin at small forward and will need to be creative to fill his spot.
We will be posting a team preview for every team up until the start of the regular season.
Here is the 2014-15 NBA season preview for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Please, Stop Giving Kevin Durant Horrible Nicknames!
NBA fans, and those who make a living covering the NBA, have been trying to make a nickname stick on Kevin Durant since his rookie season. Attempts have ran the gamut from just his initials ‘K.D.’ to the horrible ‘Durantula’ moniker.
This is Durant’s seventh season in the NBA. I cannot remember a time when an athlete in any major sport got a nickname to stick this late into their professional career. A nickname is usually something a player receives at a young age and sticks throughout the rest of his career. If the nickname doesn’t stick, it’s not a good nickname.
Well, basketball fans (especially ESPN‘s Bill Simmons), are still obsessed with a Durant nickname. On The B.S. Report podcast, Simmons even asked Durant what he wanted to be called. His answer was worse than expected…
2014 NBA All-Star Weekend: Betting Odds
The first-half of the NBA season is nearly complete and NBA All-Star Weekend starts this Friday.
The most anticipated events are the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest and Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout on Saturday and the actual All-Star game on Sunday.
The betting odds for these three events are very interesting. There are a few favorites in each event, but some underdogs interest me. You could get a bit lucky and win a nice chunk of change.
Will Lebron James and Kevin Durant battle for the All-Star game MVP? Is the second time’s the charm for Paul George in the Slam Dunk Contest? Can Stephen Curry hold off defending champion Kyrie Irving in the Three-Point Contest?
Here are the odds for All-Star Game MVP, Slam Dunk Champion and 3-Point Shootout winner.
2013 NBA Player Prop Bets & Picks
The 2013 NBA season tips off next week and we couldn’t be more excited. We love football, but I grew up in Indiana, so I was born with a basketball in my arms.
The preseason NBA player prop bets give you great value for your money, if you can wait 8-9 months for your payoff.
The favorites are no surprise. Lebron James has the best odds of winning the MVP award and the same with Kevin Durant and the scoring title. The is little to no value in picking either Lebron or Durant even though they are expected to have great seasons.
We go through all the NBA player prop bets and pick the ‘smart bet’ and the ‘long shot bet’ for each category.
Will Derrick Rose bounce back and win another MVP award? Will Steve Nash become an assist machine without Kobe Bryant on the court?
2012 Olympics: Basketball Odds + Prop Bets
Our friends over at Bovada.lv hooked us up with the betting odds and prop bets for the basketball event during the 2012 Olympics.
I’m a big fan of straight odds, but there are some interesting prop bets on the board that should interest many gamblers.
I enjoy the historical prop bets that have Michael Jordan’s stats from 1992 face Lebron James’ 2012 stats. Charles Barkley/Kevin Durant and Magic Johnson/Chris Paul have similar prop bets.
Are you going to put some money on the Olympics? Team USA is heavily favored to win the gold in London, so betting on them would be super patriotic, right? (At least that’s what I tell myself)
Men’s Basketball Props
Basketball – Men’s – Odds to win the Gold Medal
USA 1/8
Spain 13/2
France 28/1
Argentina 28/1
Lithuania 33/1
Russia 33/1
Brazil 40/1
Australia 100/1
Great Britain 250/1
China 400/1
Nigeria 500/1
Tunisia 1000/1
Basketball Men’s – Odds to win Silver
Spain 4/9
France 7/1
Argentina 7/1
Basketball Men’s – Will USA and Spain meet in the finals?
Yes 4/5
What will be the average margin of victory for the USA Men’s Basketball Team at the 2012 Olympics?
Over/Under 25.5
What will be the largest margin of victory for the USA Men’s Basketball Team?
Over/Under 45.5
What will be the smallest margin of victory for the USA Men’s Basketball Team?
Over/Under 12.5
Will the USA win both the Men’s and Women’s Basketball Gold Medals?
Yes -600 (1/6)
No +400 (4/1)
Lebron James – PPG for the tournament?
Over/Under 17
Lebron James – APG for the tournament?
Over/Under 4.5
Lebron James – RPG for the tournament?
Over/Under 6.5
Kobe Bryant – PPG for the tournament?
Over/Under 13.5
Kevin Durant – PPG for the tournament?
Over/Under 17
Carmelo Anthony – PPG for the tournament?
Over/Under 13.5
Historical Matchups – Who will Average More Points Per Game
(Whole Tournament)
Lebron James -2
Michael Jordan (1992) +2
(Note: Jordan averaged 14.9 pts per game)
Kevin Durant +1
Charles Barkley (1992) -1
(Note: Barkley averaged 18 pts per game)
Kobe Bryant -.5
Karl Malone (1992) +.5
(Note: Malone averaged 13 pts per game)
Historical Matchups – Who will Average More Assists Per Game
(Whole Tournament)
Chris Paul Pick
Magic Johnson (1992) Pick
(Note: Magic averaged 5.5 assists per game)
Game 1 Lines
USA -24.5 -8000 167.5
France +24.5 +1400
Total Points – Team USA
96
Total Points – Team France
71.5
Margin Of Victory
USA by 1-5 18/1
USA by 6-10 10/1
USA by 11-15 6/1
USA by 16-20 9/2
USA by 21-25 4/1
USA by 26 or more 1/1
France by 1-5 50/1
France by 6-10 200/1
France by 11-15 250/1
France by 16-20 300/1
France by 21-25 350/1
France by 26 or more 400/1
A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.
NBA Players Who Are Now Pressured To Win Their First Ring
The Miami Heat defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder tonight to win the 2012 NBA Championship. The pressure is now off Lebron James and Chris Bosh. The NBA is filled with young stars who have played past the age in which people expected them to already have a ring. It is hard to win a championship when you have Kobe Bryant, Boston’s “Big Three, and now Miami hogging up all the titles.
Lebron got the monkey off his back and he has given it to a few other NBA players. I’ve scoured through rosters and made a list of players who are now pressured to win an NBA Championship.
The 2011 Dallas Mavericks had many players who had to wait 10+ years to win their first title (Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, etc). There is hope for these players and odds are a few will win a ring in the next few seasons.
Kevin Durant (age 23) – I guess that I should start off with a couple players who just lost in the NBA Finals. Kevin Durant has a couple scoring titles under his belt and had a great postseason. He will have many other opportunities to get his ring and maybe he needed this loss to help push him to the next level. Durant is locked up with the Oklahoma City Thunder long term. They have some nice pieces around him and they will get even better.
Russell Westbrook (age 23) – Westbrook and Durant play really well together, but they came up just a bit short in the 2012 NBA Finals. James Harden and Serge Ibaka didn’t have a strong series, but they have both of them signed through next season. If OKC can sign them for three or four year deals, this team will be even scarier. Russell Westbrook is a turnover waiting to happen, but fixed that problem in the postseason. OKC will have Eric Maynor back next season and could give Westbrook some time at two-guard.
Dwight Howard (age 26) – The Orlando Magic center (for now) has already made a NBA Finals appearance and lost. His current contract situation has made the news over the last 18 months and painted him in a very negative light. If Dwight Howard were to be traded, he would have a lot of pressure on him to bring a championship. The rumor is the Los Angeles Lakers want him and Howard wants to play for them, but Lakers would have to trade Andrew Bynum and their salary cap situation is messy. I don’t see him going to the Lakers unless they decide to go above the luxury tax threshold.
Steve Nash (age 38) – He is the one player in the NBA that basketball fans would love to see win a ring the most. Steve Nash had many chances to jump ship and basically pick a team to be traded to, but he was loyal to the Phoenix Suns. He is an unrestricted free agent this off-season and wants badly to win a ring. I could see him signing for near the minimum amount to join a contender for one last run. New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, Oklahoma City, and Miami are great fits for Nash in 2012-13.
Chris Paul (age 27) – He is currently in the situation that Lebron was in previous to this year. He is in a new place with some nice talent around him. Can Chris Paul recruit enough talent to join the lowly Los Angeles Clippers? It remains to be seen if the Clippers can keep any talent past their first contract. They need more than Griffin and could use some perimeter shooters. Donald Sterling will need to tone down the crazy and open up his wallet if he wants to finally get a banner at the Staples Center.
Deron Williams (age 27) – Williams is a guy that basketball purists would always point to when people would claim that Chris Paul was the best young point guard in the NBA. Well, both players find themselves in different places and Williams was stuck in New Jersey for the last 18 months. He is a free agent this off-season and is rumored to be headed to Dallas. This would put him in a great situation with an owner who wants to be a contender every season…plus he gets to play next to Nowitzki.
Carmelo Anthony (age 28) – Anthony forced his way out of Denver to play in a bigger market. He took a lot of heat from the media for being a diva. The New York Knicks haven’t won a championship in my lifetime and the pressure to do so is immense. Anthony is a scorer and needs a few players around him to force teams to play man-to-man. Amar’e Stoudemire is a nice piece, but he also needs to score to get the most out of his game. A full season of Jeremy Lin will be a test to see if Anthony’s game will ever translate to winning an NBA title.
Derrick Rose (age 23) – The Bulls have been trying to add pieces to surround Derrick Rose with NBA championship caliber players. They attempted to swing for the fences by signing Carlos Boozer, but struck out swinging. Rose was hurt for most of the 2011-12 season and injured his knee in the first round of the playoffs. It is unknown how much time Rose will miss next season and Chicago may force him to ease back slowly. Rose will win a title because he’s too good of a player, but it could be with a different roster in the future.
Other notable players who have yet to win an NBA title: Zach Randolph, Josh Smith, Danny Granger, Kevin Love, Elton Brand, and John Wall.
A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.
Weekly Crush: 10 Videos of Kate Upton + Photo Gallery
It’s Father’s Day weekend and it seems appropriate to give our dad readers a treat. After you open your gifts (probably ties and golf balls), relax and watch some Kate Upton videos.
The Sports Illustrated cover model has appeared in movies “Tower Heist” and “The Three Stooges” and even made a small cameo in an episode of “Saturday Night Live” last season. I assume that she will soon host an episode herself.
Upton is the current ‘it’ girl in modeling. She has been connected to New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez and Detroit Tigers Justin Verlander, and she will probably be connected to a few more before she settles down.
Here are 10 of the best YouTube videos of Kate Upton… Continue reading
Multiple People Shot After Thunder Win Series
The Seattle Supersonics were moved to Oklahoma City a few years ago. This was the first time that their team reached the Western Conference Finals…but none of that is important anymore. After the Thunder beat the Lakers, shots were fired and some rioting occurred. So far, many are injured from gunshot wounds, but no fatalities have been announced.
Rioting after WINNING a sporting event is the most moronic thing a fanbase/city could do.
I will keep updating this blog post as more information spills in about this horrible tragedy in OKC.
As many as eight people were wounded by gunfire shortly after the Oklahoma City Thunder game Monday night. NewsOK.com reported that the victims are still being located and turning up at hospitals. Two people are in police custody in connection with the shooting, police said. As of 3:200am EST, no one has been announced as a shooter.
As of this moment, police said that multiple people were shot downtown shortly after the Thunder game let out. Before midnight, another round of shorts were fired near Mickey Mantle Drive. The shooting could have started less than five minutes after the game ended.
The injuries that have been announced have yet to claim a life. One person was shot in the back, another in the upper arm and a third in the hand. There are also reports that a pregnant lady was kicked during the melee. Victims are still turning up to hospitals.
Oklahoma City police Capt. Lisa Camacho said that two suspected shooters are in custody at the Bricktown Harkins Theater.
NewsOK.com have interviewed some eye witnesses and they claim that this was not the first time this has happened. After Game 2, a witness said that traffic was backlogged because of fights breaking out.
I will never understand why cities riot after winning a sporting event. Vancouver’s riot after last year’s Stanley Cup loss was bad, but it would have been worse if they actually won. Let’s end the stupidity and celebrate responsibly and watch out for one another.
This is amateur video of the scene after the Thunder game.
Tyler Maxwell, one of NewsOK.coms’s eyewitnesses, summed everything up perfectly. He said, “The playoffs are (good) for our city but they’re starting to bring violence…I can’t imagine what would happen if this was the NBA Finals.” Let’s hope that the city has extra police force on duty when the Thunder hosts the San Antonio Spurs in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals.
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A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.
(Fake) NBA Player "Walk-Up" Songs
I was watching the L.A. Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets playoff game last night. At the end of the game, just like any other basketball game, there were a lot of free throws. After a player is fouled, there is a minute lull in-between the foul and the free throw attempt. What if each individual NBA player had their own personal “walk-up song,” like in baseball? I tweeted this out and many agreed that this needs to happen. I instantly started to think of either humorous or fitting walk-up songs for random NBA players. You have to follow basketball pretty close to get all of the references. Most of the walk-up song references are very easy to get, but a few of them are a bit obscure.
If you have any questions, please leave a comment or email me. Enjoy!
*I included a YouTube link that will open in a new window*
Kris Humphries – Ben Folds Five – “Song For The Dumped”
Serge Ibaka – Matt & Kim – “Block After Block”
Kevin Love – Bon Iver – “Skinny Love”
Lebron James – Motion City Soundtrack – “Can’t Finish What You Started”
Delonte West – Cypress Hill – “Insane In The Membrane”
Gordon Hayward – “Olive Garden Jingle”
Kevin Durant – Childish Gambino – “Backpackers”
Chris Bosh – Mandy Moore – “Cry”
Lamar Odom – Sam Cooke – “That’s It, I Quit, I’m Movin’ On”
Josh McRoberts – Haystak – “Whiteboy”
Blake Griffin – Van Halen – “Jump”
Steve Nash – Tenacious D – “Rize of the Fenix”
Michael Beasley – Kid Cudi – “Marijuana”
Drew Gooden – “Ducktales Theme Song”
J.J. Redick – Collective Soul – “Gel”
Metta World Peace – Pretty Boy – “Throw Bows”
Glen Davis – Justin Bieber – “Baby”
Amare Stoudemire – Orgy – “Stitches”
Gilbert Arenas – M.I.A. – “Paper Planes”
Brian Scalabrine – Average White Band – “Pick Up The Pieces”
DeMarus Cousins – Gnarls Barkley “Crazy”
Dwight Howard – Say Anything – “I Want To Know Your Plans”
John Wall – Troop 41 – “Do The John Wall”
Ricky Rubio – El Chombo – “Chacarron Mocaron”
Patty Mills – Men at Work – “Land Down Under”
Anthony Davis – Rise Against – “Savior”
Kyrie Irving – Nelly – “Number One”
Joe Johnson – Fitz & The Tantrums – “Moneygrabber”
Derrick Rose – Blink-182 – “Miss You”
Greg Oden – Social Distortion – “Bad Luck”
Tyson Chandler – Silverstein – “Defend You”
Tony Parker – Joey + Rory – “Cheater, Cheater”
Tyler Hansbrough – Snoop Dogg – “Tha Shiznit”
Dirk Nowitzki – Rammstein – “Der Meister”
Matt Bonner – Perv One – “Counting Money”
Josh Howard – “Star Spangled Banner”
Boris Diaw – Kanye West – “New Workout Plan”
Shaun Livingston – Sleigh Bells – “Comeback Kid”
Kenyon Martin – Trina – “Single Again”
Chris Anderson – Nelly Furtado “I’m Like A Bird”
Earl Boykins – Skee-Lo – “I Wish”
Brad Miller – Nsync – “Bye Bye Bye”
Eddy Curry – Weird Al Yankovic – “Fat”
Jeremy Lin – No Use For A Name – “Fairytale of New York”
Also, check out Projectshanks.com for some of my other work.
A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.
Re-Do – 2007 NBA Draft
You can’t really judge any professional sports draft until after three years. I have done “NBA Draft Re-Do” posts since the 2005 Draft and they are always eye-opening. When you start to weed out the busts and players that never achieve their potential due to injury, sometimes you’re left with mixed bag. This year was not different, luckily I didn’t have to add Josh McRoberts as a potential NBA Lottery pick, that would have been ugly. Does Greg Oden even make the cut? Here is my 2007 NBA Draft Lottery, if the draft were held today.
After taking out guys like Brendan Wright, Acie Law, Spencer Hawes, and Yi Jianlian from the draft, after pick #6, it starts to get ugly, you have been warned. Continue reading