Every king needs a crown and LeBron James was given his when Yao Ming dunked on him Thursday night in Houston. It’s not all bad for LeBron. He gets credit for not giving up on the play, and he’s on another poster.

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David Stern is on a mission to make the NBA a global league, and he gave us a glimpse of his European expansion plans earlier this year. In 2007 the league appointed Timothy Chen, the former head of Microsoft’s China division, to oversee NBA China. Although the Chinese market represents the fastest growing group of NBA fans, the broadcast of playoff games have been suspended. Read the full story

As if playing ball for millions of dollars isn’t the business, the rich get richer by signing endorsement deals. Sometimes the deals aren’t so great, but mo money is mo money.MSNBC compiled a list of the most marketable players in the NBA with a brief explanation for each selection. Here’s their list, minus the explanations:

1. LeBron James
2. Dwayne Wade
3. Kevin Garnett
4. Shaquille O’Neal
5. Kobe Bryant
6. Yao Ming
7. Tony Parker
8. Kevin Durant
9. Yi Jianlian
10. Eduardo Najera

Steve Nash and Gilbert Arenas are the most glaring omissions, and I’ll listen to arguments for AI, Dwight Howard, and Dirk Nowitzki.. Too bad the only time that Tim Duncan talks is when he’s arguing with Joey Crawford, or else he’d be raking in the endorsement money too.

And of course.. If there’s a “Most” list, there can be a “Least” list. Here are my 5 least marketable NBA players:

5. Oleksiy Pecherov, C, Washington Wizards
4. Darius Miles, F, Portland Trailblazers
3. The Knicks, Team, New York Knicks
2. Stephen Jackson, G, Golden St. Warriors
1. Ron Artest, F, Sacramento Kings

Can LeBron surpass Michael on Madison Ave.? Courtesy of MSNBC

Tags: NBA, Most Marketable, Endorsements, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant

According to information provided by the Oregonian’s Jason Quick and my assumptive deduction, 2 players from the Garnett, Iverson, and Kobe trio were recently offered to Portland in exchange for the #1 pick. You can listen to Jason drop the hint here or just check out this quick excerpt:

“I know that two Western Conference teams have offered their superstars in return for the number one pick… And they are Hall of Famers and the Blazers have turned them down on both.”

There you have it. So how did I end up with Kobe, KG, and AI representing the players on the block? Walk with me.

NO CONSIDERATION: Portland and Seattle obviously. New Orleans, Memphis, Utah, Golden State, and Sacramento all have zero Hall of Famers on their rosters at this moment.

NOT YET: Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, and the L.A. Clippers all have players that are close or should play their way into the Hall of Fame. Dirk Nowitzki should be in one day, Tracy McGrady needs a few more solid years and he has to do some damage in the playoffs, Yao Ming could get in one day if he continues to improve, and Elton Brand has a legitimate chance if he continues on his current pace. I don’t have Steve Nash from Phoenix in the Hall of Fame yet. I know Steve has the two MVPs but his career numbers 14pts, 7.6ast, and 2.9rbds, are still lower than Stephon Marbury’s 19.9pts, 7.9ast, and 3.0rbds, even with Nash’s incredible 3 season stretch.

NOW WE’RE TALKING: San Antonio, Denver, Minnesota, and the L.A.L are the only teams in the Western Conference that have Hall of Fame locks on their rosters right now. Let’s go ahead and assume that the Spurs aren’t dealing Duncan. That’s a safe bet right? Well, that leaves Allen Iverson, Kevin Garnett, and Kobe Bryant as the only players that could have been offered to Portland.

So who were the two players? I could see Minnesota making that offer. They would set Garnett free and start over with a major chip in their pocket. The T-Wolves would have been looking at a young nucleus of Oden/Durant, Randy Foye, and Rashad McCants (depending on what you think of McCants’ game). The Nuggets would presumably move Iverson out, bring in Durant/Oden and piece either one of them together with Melo, Camby, J.R. Smith, and hold on to Steve Blake. What about the Lakers offering Kobe? I can’t see Portland turning down a trade offer that includes Kobe Bean Bryant unless they are so turned off by his off the court problems, and so wary of his emotions that they wouldn’t want the best player in the league on their roster. Plus, the Lakers would become a non-factor for a couple of years while their young roster developed. I can’t see the La-La land management doing that.

That means (to me) that Minnesota tried to trade K.G. and the Nuggets tried to trade Allen Iverson for Portland’s number one. I guess the Blazers figured why trade for aging superstars with a ton of mileage when they have the chance to draft a player that they could have for the next 15 years. Portland was right on with this decision. They’re not an A.I. or Garnett away from the championship so there’s no need to bite at the lure of a big name.

I originally peeped this story over at Henry Abbott’s True Hoop. It’s the ninth link down. Courtesy of ESPN and True Hoop

You can read the paraphrased version of Casey Holdahl’s interview with Jason Quick here, or you can listen to the entire interview here.

This is the snippet of Jason Quick on the two Western Conference teams offering Hall of Famers for the #1 pick.

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I’m not even a real Rockets fan and my stomach is in knots. Houston had the perfect opportunity to shutdown this series and they let it slip right through their hands.. Literally.. Turnover after turnover.. Bad shot after bad shot. It was like they said “hey we could win now, but let’s wait till we get home and share this with the fans”. At least that’s what I’m hoping they were thinking.

I tried to be as positive as possible about game 6 and I thought it was working… 75-74, Utah in the lead, Houston has the ball with 8:15 left in the game.. Things were looking really good. Then Kirilenko decided to wake up. Andrei blocked a Juwan Howard gimme layup, forced a T-Mac turnover, and blocked a McGrady drive to the basket. Even with all of that, the Rockets were still in good position down 77-76, 4:45 left in the game… Little did I know, Utah would go on a 17-6 run to close the game. So close. So frustrating.

Game 7. I don’t care what Tracy says, this is the biggest game of his career. This is his latest attempt to move on to the 2nd round so this has to be the most important game for him. Before this series started McGrady said it’s all on him. I’m gonna stick with that. Tracy, do this for you. Do it for Houston… And positively do it for my blog. A game 7 at home with the chance to shake off your playoff demons is all the motivation you need.

Rockets and Jazz game 6 play by play. Thank you ESPN.com

The Law of Attraction and the Houston Rockets. Thank me

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvOhLiIktI8]

THE HOUSTON ROCKETS WILL DOMINATE THEIR COMPETITION

Let’s Go Rockets!! Tonight’s the night Tracy and Yao will finally advance to the second round of the playoffs. I know the game’s in Utah and the Rockets have struggled there, but it’s going down tonight. At this point I can’t tell if I’m being positive or delusional. I just watched San Antonio and Phoenix close out their series (at home but so what), and now it’s time for Houston to do the same. Utah, thanks for the memories.. We’ll see you next year. The Houston Rockets are moving on to the second round.

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