Kobe Bryant is Lakers new All-Time Scorer

LA Lakers star Kobe Bryant further added to his legend on Monday night when he became the franchise's all-time leading scorer. Bryant surpassed legendary Lakers star Jerry West, albeit in a losing effort to the Memphis Grizzlies. Bryant finished the game with 44, but oddly wasn't the one taking the final shot for his team. Instead he kicked the ball out to Ron Artest for a missed three as time expired. Rudy Gay had 25 points including a 3-pointer with 29.5 seconds remaining. New All-Star, Zach Randolph, had 22 points and 17 rebounds to lead Memphis to the victory, 95-93 over Los Angeles.

Bryant set the new Lakers scoring record against the former Vancouver team now playing in Memphis. Ironically, Bryant's all-time scoring record in a game, 81 points, was set against another Canadian NBA franchise, the Toronto Raptors. Bryant's record-breaking basket was a light dunk late in the third quarter.

Kobe was gracious towards the former Lakers all-time scorer:

"It's a great honor to say the least," said Bryant, who broke the record of the man who later drafted him as the Lakers' general manager. "[West] taught me so much when I was 17 years old. He showed me a lot about the game, the jump shot and spin moves and all the others." - ESPN.com

Pau Gasol's younger brother, Marc had a kickout pass to Rudy Gay for the 3 that helped the Grizzlies under 30 seconds. The Grizz continue the hunt for a possible playoff spot this season, while the Lakers look to bounce back from the loss. And despite a Lakers loss, a few important points were made. Kobe's now got 25,193 for his career.

Brandon Jennings' 55 - Bucks Record

Brandon Jennings hosted an NBA game last night between Milwaukee and Golden State...

So this kid from Lottomatica can play. Last night, Brandon Jennings put his name into the history books by notching an incredible 55 points. That makes for the most by a rookie since Earl Monroe 31 years ago, and the most by a Bucks rookie in a game ever. It beats the record of another guy you've definitely heard of: Lew Alcindor aka Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Jennings is the third guy in Bucks' history to have a 50+ point game, joining Michael Redd and Jabbar.

In last night's game, Jennings started off slow, with nothing in the first, then 10 in the second, followed by a huge 29 point third quarter and 16 to close out the Brandon Jennings scoring show. His 55 lead Milwaukee past Golden State in a close game. The rookie was the #10 pick by Milwaukee in this past year's draft and seems to be its best kept secret. He skipped a commitment to play college ball at Arizona then headed overseas to play in Europe for a year, which is why he's from Lottomatica. He soon may carry the nickname "Automatica" if he keeps scoring like this. Also playing in the game is another guy who may put in some big scoring performances in his career, Stephen Curry who is the song of retired NBA sharpshooter Del Curry.

So apparently Jennings was reported as unable to shoot by NBA scouts. Point taken, and thrown completely out the window. Jennings has arrived and will keep arriving in the 2009-10 season.

When It Comes To Brandon Jennings, The Hype Meter Just Got Cranked Up To 11

Lebron - No More #23 NBA Uniforms

NBA All-Star Lebron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers is making a gesture for the goodwill of all basketball-kind. At the end of the 2009-10 season, King James will no longer wear the #23 on his Cavs uniforms, but will instead change to the number 6, his Olympics jersey number. Lebron says he is making this move in an ultimate show of love for NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan, who is the most famous #23 in basketball history. Jordan entered the hall this year and gave an emotional and inspired speech on his journey to the hardwood as well as all those who made him who he was.

According to NBA.com:

James first made his comments during an on-air interview on TNT following the Cavaliers' victory over the Heat. Jordan was at the game in Miami -- where Heat president Pat Riley retired the number in 2003 even though he never played for the franchise. No Miami player has worn No. 23 since Cedric Ceballos in 2001.

In a rather humble yet bold move, Lebron is urging other players to do the same and stop wearing #23. They would have to make the decision and notify the league by March 2010. While this isn't a league rule or anything, there are 12 other guys active on rosters wearing the famous number. Included in those twelve are several rookies and no real superstars beyond James. Rookie Byron Mullens of Oklahoma City took the number due to the fact his preferred #32 was retired by the Seattle Supersonics organization. Knicks rookie Tony Douglas wasn't sure he wanted to change over from the #23 due to the fact he's idolized MJ growing up and has worn the number on his person since age 3.

One such player who said he will follow suit by dropping the jersey number is Jazz rookie Wesley Matthews. According to Salt Lake Tribune, Matthews said:

"I'm on board," Matthews told The Salt Lake Tribune . "I mean, Jordan has influenced everybody that plays this game and he was my idol growing up. I'm ready. Whenever that time comes, I'm on board with that."

This has been done before. In the MLB, they retired Jackie Robinson's #42, and in the NHL it was the Great One, Wayne Gretzky's #99. It's yet to be done in the NFL or NBA. On its face this seems like a great tribute, but is Michael Jordan really concerned when a player wears #23 and claims he's doing so because Jordan is his idol? Does Jordan feel disrespected by seeing a guy who isn't an all-star on the court bearing his famous numbers?

Knicks fans are upset after shelling out big bucks for Lebron hype gear in the form of #23 silk screened Knicks clothes. However, as mentioned before they already have rookie Tony Douglas displaying the famous numbers on his New York jersey.

It's unknown whether any of the soon to be extinct Lebron jerseys bearing #23 will be a collector's item. There's also no word yet on how many guys wear the #45 on their uniform and do well playing basketball.

List of Current NBA Teams 2009-10

Entering the 2009-10 season (the league's 64th), here's a look at the current list of all 30 NBA Teams, as well as a bit of a history lesson. The oldest franchises listed which have kept their original names are the Boston Celtics and New York Knickerbockers (shortened to Knicks), while the Oklahoma City Thunder is technically the newest squad, since the team used to be the Seattle Supersonics until a few years ago. Technically, Toronto Raptors or the Memphis Grizzlies are the newest expansion teams, while the Charlotte Bobcats and New Orleans Hornets merely moved around a bit.

The original NBA Team list when the league was founded back in 1946 consisted of just 11 squads:

Boston Celtics
Chicago Stags
Cleveland Rebels
Detroit Falcons
New York Knickerbockers
Philadelphia Warriors
Pittsburgh Ironmen
Providence Steamrollers
St. Louis Bombers
Toronto Huskies
Washington Capitols

As you can see several of the cities above have survived into 2009-10, yet with different names for their teams. Chicago, Detroit, Philly, Toronto and Washington all exist today but with different names. In 1948-49 several of the ABL franchises were added into the mix including the Minneapolis Lakers and Denver Nuggets.

NBA Teams list 2009-10

Atlanta Hawks
Boston Celtics
Charlotte Bobcats
Chicago Bulls
Cleveland Cavaliers
Dallas Mavericks
Denver Nuggets
Detroit Pistons
Golden State Warriors
Houston Rockets
Indiana Pacers
Los Angeles Clippers
Los Angeles Lakers
Memphis Grizzlies
Miami Heat
Milwaukee Bucks
Minnesota Timberwolves
New Jersey Nets
New Orleans Hornets
New York Knicks
Oklahoma City Thunder
Orlando Magic
Philadelphia 76ers
Phoenix Suns
Portland Trail Blazers
Sacramento Kings
San Antonio Spurs
Toronto Raptors
Utah Jazz
Washington Wizards

70 Wins for Cavs or Lakers?

Jerry Crowe in his recent LA Times Sports column mentions the tough milestone of winning 70 games during an NBA season. It was last accomplished by the unstopa-Bulls back in the 1995-96 season, lead by of course Michael Jordan. The Boston Celtics tried to hit the 70 win mark ten years earlier during the 1985-86 season. That was the Celtics team which featured Larry Legend and Kevin McHale. They lost just 1 game all season at home, yet failed to achieve a 70 win season.

Looking at the NBA standings, there's three teams that have been considered legitimate contenders for 70 games in 2008-09; the Los Angeles Lakers (currently 28-6), the Cleveland Cavaliers (currently 28-6), and the aforementioned Boston Celtics (currently 29-8). As the season was steamrolling ahead for the Celtics not long ago, the talk was that this team had that milestone all but achieved. For some reason, the Celtics have been having a miserable time since losing to the Lakers, then the Warriors, then the Blazers, Knicks and most recently the Houston Rockets. The Celtics would only be allowed two more losses for the rest of the season to hit the 70-win mark. The injury bug has hit them, and many analysts continue to say they need some more depth, such as the problematic New York Knick, Stephon Marbury.

The Cavs and Lakers are allowed 6 more losses each, and if they hit the halfway point on that pace, it's a realistic goal for the two teams to get 70 wins each. Each has a Jordan-esque superstar with Kobe Bryant and Lebron James. Both are considered lethal scorers capable of doing the other things needed to really take over a game. It's also been said each has vastly improved on their defense, especially Lebron who wanted to add to his repertoire. These are the sort of ingredients of a Jordan-type baller, hungry for MVP awards, NBA titles, and 70-win seasons. Judging by the competitive drive of both players to be the best in the league, and any team facing these two in the 2nd half of the season could be in for a rough game.

2007 NBA Game Protest Upheld

Looks like a bit of interesting basketball history has been made. The Hawks vs Heat game from December 19th 2007 is now officially under review. Commissioner David Stern decided that the Hawks staff were "grossly negligent" in committing a scoring error which may have resulted in costing the Heat the Overtime game.

According to NBA.com's report:

"The Heat protested the game because, with 51.9 seconds remaining in overtime, the Hawks' scoring table personnel incorrectly disqualified the Heat's Shaquille O'Neal – asserting that a foul committed by O'Neal was his sixth foul of the game, when in fact it was only his fifth. The error occurred because the Hawks’ Official Scorer mistakenly attributed to O’Neal a foul at 3:24 remaining in the fourth period that was actually called against the Heat’s Udonis Haslem."

So the reasoning is that without Shaq, the Heat were at a disadvantage. As of right now each team's record has been edited by 1 game. 1 Loss was taken away from Miami, and the 1 win taken was away from the Hawks. There will be a replay of the final 51.9 seconds of the game prior to the teams' next meeting on March 8, 2008. This will determine the winner of the game, and let's hope there's proper officiating and stat keeping this time.

It's definitely an interesting story that we havent' seen recently in the NBA or any sports of recent times. ESPN's Pardon the Interruption team made the excellent point that all of the gambling money awarded on this game is definitely something to consider now. According to NBA.com, this is also the first protest granted since 12/14/82, when then NBA commish Larry O'Brien granted a protest by San Antonio Spurs over a 137-132 Double OT loss. Read more at NBA.com.

Celtics Look Good With 20

The Celtics officially got their 20th win today, with a 90-77 victory over the Toronto Raptors. Boston now sits pretty with a 20-2 record, the best in all of the NBA. They didn't have their 20th win until St. Patrick's Day (March) of last season. The Celts are now on a 9 game win-streak. In today's game six guys scored in double figures for the C's. Even more impressive, the team was able to win despite the absence of Ray Allen. Ray is still recovering from a sprained ankle, but it goes to show this team has what it takes to win without 1 of their big 3.

Currently the Celtics look on pace to finish with one of the best records since the historic Bulls run many years ago. Will they finish with 70 wins though? Time will tell as they face the tests of the season. The Celtics still need to prove themselves against Western Conference powerhouses such as San Antonio, Phoenix, Dallas and the like. Right now with Kevin Garnett leading All-Star votes, and leading the way for the Celts, they look pretty unstoppable.

3 Pointers, Triple Doubles & Starbury

An article at thestar.com discusses "how to succeed in the NBA" and looks at the fact that the league in general is heading towards a record-breaking season in terms of 3 pointers hoisted up. According to the report the average team has attempted 36 three-point shots per game, which is about 5 more attempts a game than five years ago. Five years ago saw the arrival of Steve Nash to the Phoenix Suns and this style of play has certainly seen a lot of 3 point shots taken.

In terms of triple doubles, ESPN.com has a look at whether or not King James and J-Kidd can average that for a season. The legendary Oscar Robertson did this, with an impressive 30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 11.4 assists back in 1961-62. Kidd has 11.6 points, 10.7 assists and 8.6 rebounds this season. Lebron has 30.7 points, 8.1 rebounds and 7.6 assists. Both guys are surely capable of doing it, but will need to pick up their overall production. Lebron is currently sidelined with a finger/hand injury. The ESPN report speculates that due to the NBA game slowing down so much it makes the feat harder to achieve. Check out the ESPN.com article here.

Condolences are extended to Stephon Marbury whose father passed away after falling ill at the Knicks-Suns game the other night in NYC. Stephon Marbury had the recent tirade with Coach Isiah Thomas where he left the team over an argument about not starting. He also lost his aunt back on November 19th, so these are surely trying times for the Knicks guard.

Phil Jackson a 2007 HOF Inductee

Phil Jackson and Roy Williams were among seven inductees for the Basketball Hall of Fame this past Friday.

From sportsnetwork.com:

"Jackson, a coach of nine NBA championship teams with the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers, and Williams, who guided North Carolina to the 2005 NCAA crown, were joined in this year's class by the 1966 NCAA champion Texas Western team, four-time WNBA championship coach Van Chancellor, referee Mendy Rudolph and international coaches Pedro Ferrandiz and Mirko Novosel.

Jackson won six NBA titles with the Bulls and three with the Lakers, tying him with Red Auerbach for the most NBA crowns as a coach. The North Dakota native was also the fastest coach to win 900 games following a professional career that saw him play for the Knicks and Nets. He was a member of New York's NBA title team in 1973."

Congratulations to legendary NBA coach, Phil Jackson, as well as all the other recent inductees. Read the full story here.

KG to Wear #5

Kevin Garnett replica jerseys are already on sale at the Celtics online store. KG will wear the #5 in Celtic Green. The number 21 which KG has been wearing since playing in Mnnesota was retired on October 15, 1966 and belonged to former Celtic great, Bill Sharman.

Check out the KG jerseys at the Celtics store here.

Also check out the Celtics other retired jersey numbers here.

Stats - NBA History

I think it would be interesting to note the top 3 all time players, and then the highest active NBA player in that catgeory (for main categories)..Here goes:

All-Time Points Scored:
1 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 38,387 pts
2 Karl Malone 36,928 pts
3 Michael Jordan 32,292 pts

Active NBA Player: Shaquille O'Neal sits at #14 with 24,820 points

All-Time Rebounds:
1. Wilt Chamberlain 23,924
2. Bill Russell 21,620
3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 17,440

Active NBA Player: #20 - Dikembe Mutombo with 11,687 rebounds for his career.

All Time Assists:
1. John Stockton 15,806
2. Mark Jackson 10,334
3. Magic Johnson 10,141

Active NBA Players: Gary Payton is #6 with 8,802 assists, and Jason Kidd is #7 with 8,114 assists.

All-Time Steals
1. John Stockton 3,265
2. Michael Jordan 2,514
3. Gary Payton 2,411

Active NBA Player: Gary Payton is 3rd above, next closest is Jason Kidd at #13 with 1,802 steals.

All-Time Blocks
1. Hakeem Olajuwon 3,830
2. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 3,189
3. Dikembe Mutombo 3,162

Active NBA Player: Dikembe sits at #3 up above, next closest is Shaquille O'Neal at #8 with 2,381 total blocks.

There you have it. Kobe fans would want me to note that he is between probably #30 to 35 all time in scoring with 17,257 points total (estimated, someone may know the exact position). Another interesting thing I noticed is that recently retired Indiana Pacers legend, Reggie Miller, was 12th all time on the scoring list. I wasn't expecting it and didn't realize it. Hitting those 3's pays off! (Watch out for Ray Allen)

You can check out more great historical info on the game at NBA Encyclopedia