Basketball isn't stopping

So for those that have been living under a rock for the last little bit, there was some damn good basketball going down on Sunday, October 23rd. KD hosted a charity game to benefit the Single Parent Support Network in Oklahoma City, and the stars showed out for real. KD was joined on the White Team by the likes of LeBron James and Russell Westbrook. The Blue Team featured heads including Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, and James Harden. Aside from the $100,000 donation check that was presented to the Network at halftime, the 12,874 fans who were in attendance got to see a heck of a ballgame. Even though Blake Griffin wasn’t able to show up (as he had an injury to his foot) there were loads of other cats who did work that night. KD of course had to put on a show, and the triple double next to his name in the box score is a testament to his hard work. 42, 26, and 11? Yeah…KD was in the house! And even though Harden was on the Blue Team, playing against KD and Russell Westbrook and the home White Team, it was all love in the Cox Convention Center. CP3 threw Harden a terrific one handed high skip pass that resulted in one of the more spectacular plays of the night, an alley-oop dunk proving once again that the league should “fear the beard.” But truly, everyone there had a bunch of highlights…but don’t take my word for it, check out the video link that shows some of the crazy plays of the night. Ballislife Top 10 Highlights

After the game, KD and Jamal Crawford (@JCrossover) were talking on Twitter about perhaps a game in Seattle going down as well. It would be good to see men’s pro hoops again in the Emerald City. There was also the official unveiling of the new KD4 joints in the limited “Nerf” edition. And no matter how ugly some of you might think they be, we all love KD so go out and support him by buying those shoes.

Throw in the fact that now even Allen Iverson is looking to set up a 2 day basketball tournament in Las Vegas in November and this international tour of superstars that’s going to start in Puerto Rico soon (although minus a few of the key names like LBJ, Melo, and Chris Paul) and maybe, just maybe…basketball doesn’t stop. Once more, the stars of the NBA are going to be taking their talents on the road to show the world what it's missing during this lockout. Nothing like having the best basketball athletes on the planet roaming the free countries of Europe dunking, making no-look passes, and in general putting on a show like the Harlem Globetrotters of old to make us wish this damn lockout would hurry up and be over.

No news is...no news.

So here we are more than 100 days since the NBA lockout began...and really, we aren't any closer to hearing that this issue has been solved than we were at the beginning, are we? The NBAPA and the NBA league offices have negotiated, postured, made announcements in the media, and really not much has changed. Depending on who you believe (the players or the owners) some concessions have been made (by both sides) but its always the OTHER side that isn't negotiating in good faith, won't back down from their hardline position, or won't budge on the one thing that the OTHER side must have in order to move forward. Strange isn't it? And now we've got a federal mediator involved in this process...we'll see how that turns out. Several sports pundits have pointed out that if the NFL had cancelled games...pretty much the entire United States would have burned to the ground. But the longer this lockout goes, more and more casual NBA fans will view it as a petty squabble between millionaires and billionaires and just give up and walk away. The hardcore NBA fans (like you and me) will still love the sport and follow it to the death of us...but the NBA isn't really just for the hardcore. It makes the bulk of its money off of the casual fans who go to games, buy merch, and spend cash on Season Ticket. Once those fans walk away...there won't be any recovery. Or if there is, its gonna be a long, long time. Yes, as much as we don't want to admit it, there is a scenario where the NBA folds up shop and goes away. Ask the owners of teams in the CBA if you think it can't happen. And every day that passes...we lose a little more hope.

Reach an agreement fellas. There's lots of money to go around. Divvy it up right, and let's get this thing going again. Before its too late for the folks who make the NBA what it is...the fans. In the meantime, for those of you who are feeling it, check out episode 3 of Kevin Durant's "The 35th Hour" web series. Some runs in Venice, CA and a commercial that KD is pretty "fly" in. Peep it, and give me your thoughts on the lockout or KD when you get a chance. Holla!

Episode 3, the 35th Hour