Hooped Up

The NBA is celebrating the decade that was, and you should too. It wasn’t that long ago that everything was Y2K mania and planes were supposed to drop out of the sky and the rise of the machines would actually happen.

Anyway, the NBA is kicking of the celebration by letting you pick who had the Best Individual Playoff Performance of the decade. Allen Iverson, Kevin Garnett, Shaq, Tim Duncan, Dwyane Wade or LeBron James?

With out a doubt, my vote goes to Allen Iverson with his 48 point performance against the Lakers in Game 1 of the 2001 NBA Finals. Watching him step over Tyron Lue after nailing a trey bomb like Lue was an arthritic old guard dog napping was a classic moment.

Rainn Wilson driving a cab with Gilbert Arenas as the passenger, trying to not laugh when Wilson jumps out of the cab to throw garbage at people while the meter is still running.

It is indeed a solid 30 seconds of comedy.

The last time the Orlando Magic made it to the NBA finals the Houston Rockets owned them, like this guy owns the police. Sweeping the series in four straight games, becoming the first team in NBA history to win the championship as a sixth seed, and the first to beat four 50-win teams in a single postseason en route to the championship.

In game one of the NBA Finals, with the Magic up by three late in the game. Nick Anderson, typically a 70% free throw shooter, missed four consecutive free throws that could have sealed the victory for Orlando. Kenny Smith then hit a three-pointer for Houston, tying the game and sending it to overtime. The Rockets went on to win the game in overtime and eventually swept the Magic, winning their second consecutive NBA Championship. As a result some Orlando fans began to call Nick Anderson  ”Nick the Brick” and “Brick Anderson”.

14 years later, Kenny Smith though he would remind Nick Anderson of that  nightmare by reenacts his 3-point performance against the Magic in the 1995 finals. Why? Because it’s funny and Kenny “Jet” Smith still has a silky smooth jumper. 

The original moment after the jump, with dramatic music and Nick Anderson and Kenny Smith talking about that night.

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Ron Artest does not want any Christmas cards from anybody on the TNT staff. This time Charles Barkley, Mark Jackson and even Jeff Van Gundy get it from Ron-Ron. Plus, he drops some kwowledge about Kobe and the Lakers.

All I know is if Ron Artest has regular video blog post this summer, it’ll be a good summer indeed.