Hitting newsstands soon is the new edition of SLAM Magazine with Carmelo Anthony gracing the cover with his new gold medal from London, the new Knicks threads for the upcoming season, and the Empire State Building behind him (not pictured: Melo's bronze medal from 2004). The time is now for 'Melo in NYC — do you think the Knicks make it out of the East this year?
Today I was browsing the new Grantland Channel on YouTube (which they just launched earlier this week) and one of their powerful launch videos is a 'Hockumentary' (documentary by director Jonathan Hock) on new Houston Rockets rookie Royce White.
White's story is one we can all draw inspiration from as he possesses the size and skills to be a future NBA star. Experts called him a top 5 talent going into last June's draft. But it is an anxiety disorder that he battles daily, and an admitted fear of flying, that caused question marks for teams who are uncertain if he can handle being in the NBA. The documentary follows a candid White on the day of the NBA Draft, who battles high anxiety leading up to the uncertainty of where he would be chosen. I couldn't help but feel emotional when that moment does come above. Royce White is setting a positive example for millions of people dealing with anxiety disorders and flat out, he's an easy person to root for as we near the start of his NBA career. Watch this stirring documentary above!
The NBA continues their summer series of top 10 countdowns of every team's best plays of the season, and today, our hometown Chicago Bulls can be seen above! Some amazing memories. Rose's Christmas Day winner over the Lakers, the OT tip-in by Luol, and of course... well... actually, I won't spoil #1.
Shaquille O'Neal one of the greatest centers of all time in NBA history, and the man reasonable for Kobe Bryant having three of his five championship rings will have his Los Angeles Lakers jersey number 34 retired.
O’Neal who is a 15-time All-Star won four NBA titles collected three NBA Finals MVP awards. Also averaging 23.7 points per game, 10.9 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks per game. He is a sixth all-time in scoring, 13th all-time in rebounding and seventh all-time in blocks.
O’Neal along with Kobe Bryant will go down in Laker history for contributing a lot to the organization. Shaq and Kobe won three straight titles together from 2000 to 2002 with Shaq winning all three serial MVP’s. Shaq’s number will be retired on April 2nd with the Lakers playing the Dallas Mavericks.
Today's big announcement from 2K Sports lives up to the hype as in their newest installment of their award-winning 2K series, NBA 2K13 will feature the '92 Dream Team as a playable team! "Play as the greatest", 2K says. October 2nd, we'll all be able to. Simply awesome... can't you just feel the power from that image above?
And oh, now we can settle the rather ridiculous '92 Dream Team vs. '12 Gold Medal Team debate with 2K13.
OK, now I'm ready to take on the day. adidas Basketball just started the launch of their new #TheReturn campaign centered around Derrick Rose and his recovery from the tragic torn ACL injury that ended our playoff run and will sideline Rose into much of the next season (and perhaps all of it).
Needless to say though, this epic mix of visuals of Rose's rehabbing with words like Belief, Hope, Focus, Push and Drive are quite the motivator, no? I believe we'll be seeing a Derrick Rose back on the court 100% and better than ever when the time is right.
