Barnes - Landry Battle Lands On Laker Girl - Video

 Matt Barnes served notice that he's increasing the physical play of the Lakers in last night's preseason game in Las Vegas. Barnes strong armed 6'9", 248 pound Carl Landry and slung the Sacramento Kings forward out of bounds and onto a Laker Girl. With that one act, Barnes paid homage to Laker history.
 By bringing the pain to the Kings during the preseason, Barnes brought back memories of the classic preseason fight between Rick Fox & Doug Christie in 2002.

 I'm not sure if Christie's wife Jackie was trying to hit Rick Fox with the bag or maybe she was down there to make sure Vanessa Williams didn't start a threesome with the two brawling bawlers.
 And then there's the Kobe Bryant gem from that same 2002 season. Check out Kobe busting Mike Bibby's mouth with an exclamation point in a game 6 win for the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.
 
 To recap, the Lakers are 2-0-1 in fights against the Kings. Barnes' TKO over Landry. Kobe's KO over Bibby. Fox/Christie was a draw.
 Props to Ashley, that tough ass Laker girl, for taking one for the team.
    

Obama Roots Bulls First, Then The Heat

 President Barack Obama appeared at a private event in Alonzo Mourning's back yard Monday night. It's always good to hear about a U.S. president who not only knows the game of basketball, but actually has game and looks for chances to hang out with the world's best ballers. 

 Current Miami Heat stars Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade were among Alonzo's guests and the two enjoyed spending time with Obama. 

 "We went to Alonzo's house," Bosh said. "He just had a couple people over. It was really nice just chilling, just the guys. It was a cool experience just to get to meet the president because I've never met the president before." 

 But the good news kinda stops there. According to people at the party, Obama said he'd be rooting for the Heat except for when they played the Bulls. That's not as bad as when presidential candidate and lifelong Yankee fan Rudy Giuliani said he'd root for the Red Sox while campaigning in Massachusetts, but it's pretty close.

 Obama should be rooting against the Heat every single time they step onto the court. 

 As a Chicago Bulls fan, Obama should know that his team will benefit just about every time the Heat lose. The Bulls could well be in the top 4 teams in the Eastern Conference, maybe even a 1 seed. If they lose out on home court to the Heat, how happy will Obama be then?

 Additionally, both LeBron James and Dwyane Wade spurned the Bulls' invitation to bring their talents to Chicago. Are other real Bulls or even Knicks or Cavs fans going to be rooting for the Heat? Doubtful and Obama shouldn't either. 

 I could see if Obama wanted to make his second favorite team the Lakers. They're the only NBA team to earn their way to the White House since Obama was elected. So far, the Kobe era of Laker championships runs the same span as Obama's presidency. Is Obama going to root for the Heat when they face his old pals Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher? How could he?

 Or what about rooting for a young guy with his head screwed on straight who happens to play in a red state? Kevin Durant. He's from Washington D.C., went to college at Texas (red state) and plays in Oklahoma (red state). Instead of rooting for the evil empire of the Miami Heat, Obama would be rooting for a young Luke Skywalker and possibly gaining votes at the same time. 

 If the Bulls take care of business and earn the number one seed, none of this should matter as the president could be rooting for Joakim Noah to dominate Andrew Jesus Bynum on the way to the Bulls' first post-Jordan championship. 

     

Gilbert Arenas Fined For Fake Injury

 Gilbert Arenas has been fined an undisclosed amount for faking a knee injury and lying to Wizards coach Flip Saunders about it. Saunders called Arenas actions "unjustified" and the Washington Post reports that Arenas apologized to the team after practice today. 

 Arenas claimed that he faked the injury so that teammate Nick Young would get more playing time during the Wizards' preseason home opener against the Atlanta Hawks. 

 Here's video of his post game comments where mentions that he "sacrificed playing tonight so (Young) could get some time."

 

 Arenas has probably learned the lessons of not waving guns as a joke and not tweeting quips about police investivations into his felonious activities. He probably doesn't even own any guns any more.

 But Arenas hasn't found a way to close his mouth when it counts most. Why tell the media that he lied to his coach? In what scenario would that ever be a good idea? 

 When he was charged with wielding a gun in the Wizards' locker room last season, he didn't seem to understand that the law and the league were taking his jokes seriously until he was on his way to incarceration. 

 The Wizards were likely looking forward to last night's home opener as a way to show their fans that last year was buried in the past and that this new squad led by rookie John Wall would be more focused on the game of basketball and more serious about winning. 

 Arenas crushed those intentions by again choosing to follow his own misguided ideas instead of falling in line with the plans of Coach Saunders as well as G.M. Ernie Grunfeld. 

 To his credit, Nick Young took advantage of his increased minutes with 24 points on 10-14 shooting and the Wizards won 107-92. 

 Maybe Arenas' sacrifice is about trying to show the Wizards that they don't really need him and will be even more inspired to trade him. But what team wants to pay $70 million to a guy who disregards his coach on a whim? If Isiah Thomas was still with the Knicks, maybe. But beyond that, not even the Clippers will go that route. 

 Arenas came to this year's training camp with a new number, new beard and claims of a new serious attitude. Yet ain't nothing changed. The guy who publicly laughed at his coach, Eddie Jordan, for pleading for more defense is still blowing off his coaches. The guy who played online poker during halftime still isn't focused on winning championships. And the guy who embarrassed the Wizards last year is embarrassing them again and the season hasn't even started yet.

     

Durant Skips LeBron's Party, LBJ Laughs Last

 Kevin Durant skipped LeBron James' "preparty" in Kansas City on Thursday night. "I don't go out to parties the day before a game," Durant said. "I really don't go out too much during the season."

 LeBron took the snub in stride when the two faced off for preseason action on Friday night. He oustcored, outrebounded & outpassed Durant just days after NBA GMs predicted the Thunder star would be the league's MVP this season.

 James had 22 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds in just 29 minutes of action. Durant had 21 points, 4 boards and 1 assist in 31 minutes. The Heat won 103-96.

 The first regular season battle between the Thunder and Heat will be on January 30 at noon in Miami on ABC. David Stern wisely placed the game during the NFL's off week before the Super Bowl. 

 Durant doesn't sound like a guy who will be seduced by South Beach the night before a noon game. Will that help him more than it did tonight? Will he outplay the two-time reigning MVP or will LeBron show that he can handle his liquor and get the win too?

    

Jason Terry Monster Jam On Keith Bogans

 Start your weekend off right with this Jason Terry monster jam. The Dallas Mavericks' guard gets a steal & drives right down the lane for the year's first posterization on Keith Bogans of the Chicago Bulls.

    

Andrew Bynum Standing There Like Jesus - NBA Elite 11

   I can't remember the last time I laughed this hard. Hard8times sees Jesus in Andrew Bynum.

 :sent by Roxanne

    

Nate Robinson Does Suicides In Shaq's Shoes

 Nate Robinson teamed with Glen Davis aka Big Baby aka Shrek aka "Kid KOed" to give us funny memories off the Celtics bench in the playoffs last year. 

 Now Nate has Shaq aka the Big Chowder aka the Big Leprachaun aka Spawn of  Green Monstah to make jokes with in Boston.

 The Celtics might be the funniest team in the NBA this year.

 RIP Rasheed!

    

5 NBA Stars On The Rebound In 2010-11

 Andrew Bogut shows us that his right arm is doing fine as he heads back into action in training camp with the Milwaukee Bucks. After his horrific injury, it'll be great to see him on the court again. He reports only occasional pain in his elbow and is set for a full training camp and season. Hopefully he'll pick up where he left off as one of the best centers in the NBA.

 Blake Griffin's knees must be feeling good since he was jumping around for photos on media day. He's recovered from a broken left knee cap and is ready to taste his first regular season NBA action. May the basketball gods ease up on the Clipper curse so Griffin can elevate to his potential.

 Gilbert Arenas is back and Agent Zero is dead. I'm not sure if David Stern killed Agent Zero or if Gilbert did it himself. Either way, Arenas is wearing number 9, sporting a beard and smiling for no one. Agent 9 averaged 22.6 ppg with 7.2 apg and was having his best season in three years when he was suspended last year. He hadn't missed any of 32 games after only playing fifteen total games in the two previous years. If Ron Artest could bounce back to a championship, maybe Agent Zero can find similar success.

 George Karl returns to lead the Denver Nuggets after a bout with neck and throat cancer cut his season short last year. He's in good health and expects to be able to fully resume all coaching duties. "I told the team that I probably can't yell at them for more than three or four minutes at a time," he said. "So they're probably excited about it." Karl is now challenged with trying to keep Carmelo Anthony focused on his immediate future in Denver. It's good to see Coach Karl back even if his team may finish this upcoming season in rebuild mode.

 Mo Williams begged the Cavs not to trade him on June 23 when he tweeted "Pls don't trade me, I'm not ready to go. I'm begging. My work ain't done yet. I'm on both knees....pls. I'm serious." 

 Two weeks later, LeBron decided that his own work with the Cavs was done & left Williams as empty as the rest of Cleveland. 

 "This summer was very, very stressful for me," Williams said. "I really lost a lot of love for the game this summer." 

 Instead of embracing his new role as the main cog in the Cavs' offense, Williams feared playing on a team that won't win as much. 

 "We were winning basketball games," he said. I was coming home every night a winner. Who can't love that? That is what playing a role on a team is all about." 

 Now that LeBron has taken over the Mo role for the Heat, Williams can take over where James left off in Cleveland. His future has never been brighter and if he opens his eyes, he'll see it.

    

Shaq vs. Big Ben

One question: Who will have more rebounds this season, Shaquille O'Neal or Ben Wallace?