Kobe Bryant returned to action after a five-game layoff due to an ankle injury on Tuesday, and quickly resumed being the deadliest closer in the league by scoring the Lakers’ last nine points including a 30-foot game-winning 3-pointer. He finished with 32 points on 13-of-19 shooting (including three 3-pointers), seven rebounds, six assists, three steals, and two blocks in 40 minutes of run. With 18 days of rest under his belt, he’s rested, and may be as dangerous as anybody not named LeBron for the rest of the year.

Elsewhere around the NBA:

Sacramento: Sacramento Kings’ big man Spencer Hawes was inactive for Tuesday’s game. Head Coach Paul Westphal said he is helping Hawes to learn his “role.” This takes being in a coach’s doghouse to another level, as Westphal seems intent on breaking his young pup of a center.

Sacramento: The Kings have waived Larry Hughes, a source tells Adrian Wojnarkowski of Yahoo! Sports.
Hughes was only part of the Tracy McGrady deal to make the salaries work. He was never going to play for the Kings. Hughes can still give a little ball handing and scoring off the bench for a contender.

Miami: Miami Heat swingman Dorell Wright scored a season-high 26 points on 9-of-11 shooting off the bench on Tuesday, including 6-of-7 shooting from downtown. He also had seven rebounds, two steals and three blocks in 30 minutes. It’s important to remember that Dwyane Wade was sidelined, boosting Wright’s playing time well above his 19 minutes average.

Charlotte: Hornets backup guard Marcus Thornton unleashed a career-high 37 points on 15-of-22 shooting vs. the Cavaliers on Tuesday, adding three 3-pointers, two assists and two steals in 31 minutes.

Thornton scored a franchise-record 23 points in the second quarter alone, but didn’t start the second half despite his out-of-body experience. He lost his starting gig to veteran Morris Peterson (two points in 21 minutes) when he got injured a few weeks ago, but may have taken it back tonight.

Portland: Nicolas Batum has taken over for Martell Webster as the Portland Trail Blazers starting small forward. It’s a changing of the guard for the Blazers. Batum has been shooting it well enough lately to not be a liability on offense, and we know what he does defensively.

Kobe Bryant won’t play in Sunday’s All-Star game because of his sprained left ankle. Bryant hasn’t played since Feb. 5 and by taking this weekend off, he’ll end up with a full 10 days of rest before the Los Angeles Lakers play again. We’re fully expecting Kobe to suit up when the Lakers take on the Warriors on Tuesday.

Elsewhere around the NBA:

Cleveland: Shaquille O’Neal played just 19 minutes due to foul trouble, but his contributions on the court outweighed the 10-point, six-rebound effort he gave against Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic in the Cavs win on Thursday. He drew double teams that opened the door for J.J. Hickson’s 20-point night, and then held Howard scoreless in the last 7:48 of the fourth quarter. After the game the quotable one said, “I don’t really consider it manning up until you play me straight up,” and in reference to Howard, “Superman my ass.” Game on.

Cleveland: Lebron James nearly triple-doubled in the Cavs’ 115-106 win over the Magic on Thursday, finishing with 32 points on 10-of-21 shooting (including two threes) with eight rebounds, 13 assists, and two steals. It goes without saying that when we’re hesitant to blurb a line like this because it doesn’t really surprise anyone, the player in question is good.

Philadelphia: Allen Iverson (personal reasons) will not play in Sunday’s All-Star game. Iverson is tending to his ill daughter and has missed the Sixers’ last four games. We’re still tentatively expecting him to rejoin the team after this weekend, but that’s far from certain. David Lee gets the nod to replace AI.

Los Angeles: Coach Phil Jackson acknowledged that he’s contemplating starting Lamar Odom over Andrew Bynum when the Lakers come out of the All-Star break. It would be a bold move for Jackson to change his lineup while sporting a 41-13 record, but the bottom line is that the Lakers play even better when Odom is on the floor.

New York: New York Knicks beat writer Marc Berman spotted Nate Robinson and coach Mike D’Antoni shouting at each other during a timeout on Tuesday night. Here we go again? According to Berman, D’Antoni barked at Robinson for botching a play, Nate shouted back at his coach and then turned his head and “uttered an F-bomb.” No word yet on if this lands Robinson back in the doghouse, but we wouldn’t be surprised if it did.

Lakers G Kobe Bryant missed Wednesday’s game against the Utah Jazz with a sprained left ankle. After playing through a multitude of injuries, Kobe has finally succumbed to them. If he skips the All-Star game he’ll have 10 days of rest under his belt and should be able to start the second half of the season strong, pushing for home court advantage in the playoffs. Of course, this logically means that he will suit up for the All-Start game and probably log big minutes.

Elsewhere around the NBA:

New Jersey: Devin Harris returned from a shoulder injury Wednesday and had 27 points, nine assists and a 3-pointer in another loss.

Philadelphia: Sam Dalembert tweaked his back at the end of the first half on Wednesday night and ended up sitting out the majority of the second half. Dalembert tried to go in the second half, but came out of the game quickly and never went back in. The good news is that he didn’t go to the locker room and didn’t seem to be in pain. He simply watched the second half from the bench. We’d expect that he’ll be fine after the All-Star break.

Chicago: Derrick Rose left Wednesday’s game in the first quarter with a right hip injury and will not return.
X-rays were negative, but this will leave his status for the All-Star Game in doubt. He finished with just three points in two minutes, and Kirk Hinrich will take over at point guard, while John Salmons should also see the ball a lot tonight.

Atlanta: Jamal Crawford was a late scratch for Wednesday’s game due to a sore shoulder. Expect Crawford to be back at 100 percent after the All-Star break.

Oakland: Monta Ellis (knee) will not play Wednesday against the Los Angeles Clippers. An MRI on Tuesday revealed that Ellis’ knee injury is only a mild sprain.

Utah: Jazz PF Carlos Boozer poured in 34 points (13-of-17 FGs, 8-of-9 FTs), 14 rebounds, four assists and four steals in Tuesday’s win over the Clippers, Utah’s ninth consecutive victory. The Jazz are red-hot going into the All-Star break, and Boozer hasn’t missed a beat since returning from his calf injury. His name is no longer appearing in many trade rumors and it seems like Utah hopes to keep this chemistry going into the postseason.

Orlando: Vince Carter came back to earth on Wednesday with 15 points, five rebounds and three assists.
The Magic were up 41-17 after one quarter, so Carter and the rest of the Orlando Magic starters played limited minutes. Still, this type of game is more in line with what we’d expect from Carter going forward.

Charlotte: Peja Stojakovic hit 7-of-16 shots and four more 3-pointers on his way to 20 points, four boards, an assist, two steals and a block in Wednesday’s win over the Celtics.

Vince Carter distorted space and time on Monday, scoring a season-high 48 points on a variety of vintage moves, connecting on 19-of-27 FGs, 6-of-10 three-pointers, and 4-of-4 FTs. VC has scored 20+ points in three consecutive games and is obviously over the shoulder injury that hampered him throughout January. He was posting up, hitting 3-pointers and slashing to the lane, and the buy-low window has officially been slammed shut. It was his highest-scoring game since 2006.

Elsewhere around the NBA:

Los Angeles: The Los Angeles Lakers will play without both Kobe Bryant (sprained left ankle) and Andrew Bynum (bruised right hip) vs. the Spurs on Monday.Consider both of them questionable for L.A.’s final game before the All-Star break, Wednesday at Utah. Lamar Odom will start at PF on Monday, moving Pau Gasol to center.

Toronto: Andrea Bargnani’s ankle was a bit tender on Monday and his participation in practice was limited. The Toronto Raptors don’t play until Wednesday, their final game before the break, and it appears Bargnani just got some precautionary rest.

Charlotte: David West scored 27 points in the Hornets’ losing effort on Monday, making 10-of-19 FGs and 7-of-7 FTs in his second-highest scoring total of the past 18 games.

West is still a reliable option, though his points (17.9), FG attempts (14.8) and rebounds (7.6) have all taken big dips this season, along with his playing time (35:36). Most of that was a lackluster November, however, and an ankle injury which has since healed.

Atlanta: Atlanta Hawks G Joe Johnson is probable for Tuesday’s game despite having the flu. He had been listed as questionable, so this is great news if you gambled on him in a shortened Week 16.

Portland: Brandon Roy did not end up having another injection of PRP on Monday. He’s hopeful rest and treatment will be enough to fix his hamstring, but it’s still too early to tell when he’ll play again. He also won’t be getting much rest over All-Star Weekend, as he’ll be required to be in Dallas for the weekend per the NBA.

Denver: Carmelo Anthony, who was quoted by the Nuggets’ official Twitter page as saying he was “probable” for Tuesday’s game against the Mavs, was non-committal about his availability when speaking with beat writer Benjamin Hochman. “Hopefully I can get back out there [Tuesday],” Anthony said after Monday’s practice. “It felt good out there today. It’s getting better each day. Pretty much I was doing a lot that I could do before I got hurt.”

New Jersey: Devin Harris is “50-50″ to play on Tuesday against the Cavaliers due to his shoulder injury.

Lakers G Kobe Bryant tied his season-high with 44 points on Monday (making 16-of-28 FGs, 4-of-7 threes, and 8-of-13 FTs) and in the process he passed Jerry West as the all-time leading scorer in Lakers’ history. Kobe now has 25,208 points for his career, incredible by any standard. His competitive fire continues to elevate his game even when nagging injuries (ankle, finger, elbow) are conspiring to bring him down. Bryant has proven himself to be one of the best players in NBA history.

Elsewhere around the NBA:

Washington: Antawn Jamison was bothered by a sore left knee during warmups on Monday, but played 40 minutes but shot just 2-of-17 from the field. Jamison was frustrated all night and thought he deserved more foul calls than the referees gave him.

Utah: As expected, Paul Millsap exploded for 25 points, nine rebounds and four blocks on Monday, while starting in place of injured Carlos Boozer (calf). There’s a reason money-conscious Utah Jazz lavished a four-year, $32+ million contract on Millsap this summer. Boozer could return this week but coach Jerry Sloan has already said he’ll find more minutes for Millsap in the rotation.

Dallas: Josh Howard played a season-low 11 minutes off the Mavericks bench on Monday, contributing just two points, three rebounds, two turnovers and three personal fouls.

Charlotte: Hornets rookie Marcus Thornton got hot in the second half on Monday, finishing with a team-high 25 points on 10-of-21 shooting (including 5-of-9 from downtown). He added four rebounds, four assists and one steal in 39 minutes. Chris Paul is sidelined indefinitely with a knee injury that likely will require surgery, which means Thornton will earn minutes at backup point guard.

Charlotte: Charlotte Hornets rookie Darren Collison racked up 16 points, four rebounds, 14 assists, one steal and four turnovers in another start for injured Chris Paul (knee) on Monday.

Sacramento: Kings center Spencer Hawes scored 23 points on Monday, making 10-of-18 FGs with seven rebounds, three assists and one block in 40 minutes of action. As the saying goes, “What goes up must come down.” He had played sub-20 minutes in four of the past seven games, and his erratic role changes depending upon matchups.

Denver: Kenyon Martin’s uncanny streak of double-doubles continued on Monday — he posted 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting, 12 rebounds, three assists, one steal and two blocks in a win over the Sacramento Kings. Kenyon looks spry and rejuvenated lately, and this is the healthiest he’s been since missing just five games in 2002-03.

Jamal Crawford led the Hawks to a 100-91 win over the Boston Celtics on Friday, scoring 28 points on 9-of-16 shooting (3-of-7 from downtown, 7-of-7 from the foul line) with three rebounds, six assists and two steals in 39 minutes off the bench. Crawford will continue to score if given the opportunity.

Elsewhere around the NBA:

Philadelphia: Allen Iverson turned back the clock Friday night, dueling with Kobe Bryant on his way to a season-high 23 points. AI also added two three’s, four assists, one steal and one block. He went shot-for-shot with Kobe during a memorable third quarter that brought back memories of the 2001 NBA Finals. All that said, we’d sell high on Iverson right now. He’s had 20+ points in two of his last three games and someone should be ready to bite on the name recognition.

Los Angeles: Kobe Bryant shook off a minor leg injury and scored 22 points in the second half of Friday’s win in Philadelphia. Kobe finished with 24 points, four rebounds, three steals, two blocks and three assists.

Portland: Coach Nate McMillan said that Brandon Roy (hamstring) is not expected to make his return on Monday. Roy will be re-evaluated on Monday and the Portland Trail Blazers are now hopeful that he gets back on the court by Feb. 3 or 4.

Denver: Carmelo Anthony (ankle) will not play Friday against the Thunder. Coach George Karl said that the ankle has worsened since playing in Houston on Wednesday, adding that the ankle had swollen up on the flight to Oklahoma City Thunder and that they’ll be taking a “wait and see process.”

Minnesota: Kevin Love will continue to come off the bench against the Clippers on Friday, with Ryan Hollins starting at center and Ryan Gomes at small forward.

New Jersey: Devin Harris (wrist) will not play against the Wizards on Friday. Harris is improving, but tonight will mark the third straight game he’s missed with this injury. We don’t have a timetable on his return but the New Jersey Nets will play it safe considering Harris is their best trade bait and their record is 4-40. Keyon Dooling gets another start.

The NBA acknowledged that they are investigating Gilbert Arenas’ violation of league rules that prohibit players from bringing firearms onto league property. The NBA released the following statement, “We’re aware of the situation and are working to gain a full understanding of the facts and relevant legal issues.” Now that the league has acknowledged the situation, we’re just waiting for that investigation to be completed and to see if Arenas gets a suspension or not.

Elsewhere around the NBA:

Free Agency: Estimates are starting to come in regarding ticket revenues and the news is worse than expected. The question for teams now becomes how much the salary cap is expected to drop. This means that several notable teams (Knicks, Nets, Heat) who have been setting themselves up for this summer’s blockbuster free agency class (LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson) will have less money to lure key players.

Los Angeles: Lakers G Kobe Bryant made it through practice Thursday without any pain in the knee he tweaked during Tuesday’s game against the Thunder. Kobe said of his knee, “It’s good. No problems. I feel fine.” All of the Los Angeles Laker fans should consider this the vote of confidence as Bryant seems to be fine.

Portland: An MRI on Brandon Roy’s shoulder revealed no tears, but he will be a game-time decision for Friday’s game against the Nuggets. The Portland Trail Blazers are calling the injury a shoulder muscle strain. The good news is the injury is not serious, but the bad news is it could possibly force him to miss another game or two. Check back before Friday’s game for a final update.

Boston: Celtics Coach Doc Rivers said Thursday Paul Pierce (infected knee) could miss at least two weeks, and is doubtful to travel on the team’s upcoming road trip. Boston Celtics returns home to play on Jan. 2, but if he skips that game he’ll get four days of rest to play on Jan. 6. It was reported that he called team trainers at 3 a.m. Wednesday due to intense pain, and was taken to the hospital to have his knee drained. Owners should have him sidelined until further notice.

Miami: Miami  Heat C Jermaine O’Neal lasted just three minutes into Wednesday’s game before being shutdown for the night with a groin injury. Information is scarce right now, but we’re going to guess he’s day-to-day.

Indiana: Pacers coach Jim O’Brien said Thursday that they are no hurry to bring back Jeff Foster, who injured his back last week playing against Dwight Howard and the Magic. “We don’t want to have him go seven minutes and have (the back) go out again. He’ll be back when we think we can play him for an extended period of time without risking further problems,” said O’Brien

2008-09 NBA Team Preview – Orlando Magic

2008 Record: 52-30
Division Finish: 1st – Southeast
2008 Playoffs: Lost, 4-1, to the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference Semifinals

Head Coach: Stan Van Gundy
Season: Going into second season
Record At Orlando: 52-30
Career Record: 163-103

Offseason Acquisitions:
Signed Mike Wilks, G, 2.7 ppg, 1.3 rpg, Free Agent
Signed Jeremy Richardson, F, 1.6 ppg, 0.4 rpg, Atlanta Hawks
Signed Dwayne Jones, C, 1.4 ppg, 2.5 rpg, Cleveland Cavaliers
Signed Anthony Johnson, G, 5.6 ppg, 3.8 apg, Sacramento Kings
Signed Mickael Pietrus G-F, 7.2, ppg, 3.7 rpg, Golden State Warriors

Offseason Transactions:
Excersiced option on guard JJ Redick through 2009-10
Resigned center Adonal Foyle

Offseason Losses:
James Augustine, F, 1.6 ppg., 1.2, rpg, Waived
Carlos Arroyo, G, 6.9 ppg., 3.5, apg, Free Agent
Kenyon Dooling, G, 8.1 ppg, 1.8, apg, Traded to the New Jersey Nets
Maurice Williams, G-F, 9.3 ppg, 3.1 ppg., Signed with Atlanta Hawks
Pat Garrity, F, 2.1 ppg, 1.4 rpg., Retired
Bo Outlaw, F, 2.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg. , Wavied

Rookies:
Courtney Lee, G, 20.4 ppg, 4.9 rpg., Western Kentucky

The Skinny:
Outside of LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, no player in the NBA may be more exciting than Orlando’s Dwight Howard. I haven’t watched the Slam Dunk competition in I don’t know how many years, but I was tuned into last year’s competition based solely on the performance of Howard. He did some amazing things with the ball and along with James could be the new face of the NBA.

Prior to Howard’s arrival in O-Town the team was struggling. They finished seventh in the Atlantic division and as a result were able to take Howard with the No. 1 pick. Within three years he had the team back in the playoffs despite a sub-.500 record which just goes to show that the East is a very weak conference.

Last season the Magic won the Southeast Division with a 52-30 record and won their first playoff series since the 1995-96 campaign as they beat Toronto, 4-1, in the first round. Their record was their best since that 95-96 campaign when they lost to the Bulls in the conference finals and was 31 wins better than the year before Howard was drafted. They were subsequently tossed from the playoffs by Detroit, 4-1.

Despite not being the prototypical NBA center that you normally think of at only 265 pounds on a 6-foot-11 frame, Howard is one of the best in the league. He averaged 20.7 points per game and 14.2 rebounds per game. He led the NBA with 69 double doubles and his 14.2 rpg. was a full rebound better than the next closest player (Marcus Camby).

As good as Howard is, he obviously can’t do it all by himself. He’s got a pair of really good supporting cast members in guard Hedo Turkoglu and forward Rashard Lewis. Turkoglu was second on the team at 19.5 ppg while grabbing 5.7 rpg. and handing out 5.0 assists per game. Lewis was just a shade back at 18.2 ppg., 4.2 rpg. and 5.4 apg. Also doing a solid job was point guard Jameer Nelson as he produced 10.9 ppg. and handed out 5.6 apg.

The problem with the Magic isn’t a lack of production at the offensive end of the court, it’s at the defensive end, particularly during the playoffs. Orlando ranked sixth in the NBA last year at 104.4 ppg. and were pretty decent at 99.0 ppg. on defense, which surprisingly ranked 11th.

However, as anyone will tell you defense is what wins you championships. If you don’t believe me, the top three defensive teams in the NBA – Detroit (90.1 ppg.), Boston (90.3 ppg.) and San Antonio (90.6 ppg.) – all made the conference finals. The Phoenix Suns have been mentioned a lot the last few years as a potential champion, but their model of all-out offense has yet to come to fruition. Twice the Suns got to the Western Finals, only to be beaten 4-1 by San Antonio and 4-2 by Dallas. Last year they dropped another 4-1 series to the Spurs.

When going up against a great defensive team like the Pistons in the playoffs, Orlando scored a mere 91.6 ppg. This shows the flaws in the idea of just trying to outscore opponents and not putting much stock in playing defense. Nine times out of 10 the better defensive team will win. Also, because Orlando had to work harder to score, they didn’t have the energy to play the necessary defense – not that they do anyways – but Detroit was only 0.5 ppg. under its regular season average of 90.7 ppg.

The playoffs is all about who can stick to their game plan and go about business as usual. Unless you’ve got a serious injury, the playoffs is not the time to have to change approach. Detroit was able to follow its game plan better than Orlando and the Pistons were the one who were able advance.

Between Howard and Lewis the Magic seem to have the defensive end pretty well covered. Where they are struggling on defense is the back court. Richard Hamilton scored more than 30 against Orlando in the final two playoff games and Chauncey Billups tossed in 28 in game two.

Prediction:
Orlando is a pretty solid team, but they need to get Howard more help. San Antonio and Detroit have five great players on the floor while the Lakers have a super star and a great player in Pau Gasol to help out Bryant. While Lewis, Turkoglu and Nelson are all pretty solid, they’re not great. The Magic must make a decision to either get one big gun, kind of like a Scotty Pippen, or build up the four other guys to be pretty good.

They lost Maurice Wiliams, who averaged 9.3 ppg., to Atlanta and replaced him with Mickael Pietrus from Golden State and his 7.2 ppg. Shooting guard JJ Reddick was one of the best college players of all time, but he has been a dud as a pro. Maybe he’ll get better or maybe he’s just going to be another in a long string of Duke players that are great in college but a flop in the league. If he could ever rise to anything close to the level that he had in Durham he could be that great No. 2 guy.

Rookie guard CourtneyLee has some potential to be a good player. He scored 20.4 ppg. at Western Kentucky, which is a pretty solid program that you’ve probably never heard much about. Lee is a good start, but he’s not going to be enough. Orlando should have another good record so they’re not going to have a draft spot where they can really get an impact player. To move up to the Detroit, Boston and Clevelands of the world they’ll have to make a trade or sign a big free agent.

There might not be a worse division in the NBA than the Southeast so unless Howard gets hurt the Magic should have no problems winning the division again this year. Orlando should win a first round series again, but that’s as far as they are going to get. Unless Stan Van Gundy can get the Magic to play better defense in crunch time they’ll be watching the conference semifinals from home.

As the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, the Detroit Pistons were a member team of the old National Basketball League (NBL) and the Basketball Association of America (BAA) before joining the NBA in 1949 and becoming the Detroit Pistons in 1957.

Today, the three-time champion Detroit Pistons play their home games at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Their head coach is the newly-hired Michael Curry, and their general manager is Joe Dumars, who played on the back-to-back title winning Pistons of 1989 and 1990.

Early Years in Detroit

When the Pistons first moved to Detroit in 1957, they immediately established themselves as a tough team to beat. They made the playoffs in each of their firsts six seasons in Detroit, though they didn’t get past the division finals.

The 1960s and 1970s were far from kind to the Pistons, who boasted some big names of the era but could not translate that into winning seasons. Between 1963 and 1973, the team only appeared in the playoffs once, despite having high-profile players like Bob Lanier, Dave DeBusschere, Dave Bing, and Jimmy Walker.

Despite a few playoff berths in the mid-1970s, the Detroit Pistons did not begin to establish themselves as an NBA contender until they drafted an Indiana point guard named Isiah Thomas in 1981.

Isiah and the Bad Boys

The Pistons continued to build after drafting Thomas. They acquired guard Vinnie Johnson and center Bill Laimbeer in 1982. This paid quick dividends for the team, as they returned to the playoffs in the 1983-84 season. They lost in the first round to the New York Knicks, but things were beginning to look up for Detroit.

The Pistons picked little-known shooting guard Joe Dumars in 1985, and they picked up forward Rick Mahorn in a trade that same year. Thomas, Dumars, Mahorn, Laimbeer and Dennis Rodman would form the core of the team that would earn the nickname “Bad Boys.”

The Detroit teams of the late 1980s and early 1990s had a rough, physical style of play that earned them the nickname. Rodman, Mahorn, and Laimbeer were well-known for their ability to get under the skin of opposing players. The team, under the leadership of head coach Chuck Daly, had a defense-first mentality that cast them as the polar opposite of flashier teams like the L.A. Lakers.

Championships

In the 1987-88 season, after amassing 54 regular season wins, the Pistons established themselves as the class of the Eastern Conference, beating the Washington Bullets, the Chicago Bulls and the Boston Celtics on their way to their first NBA Finals appearance since 1956 (when they were the Fort Wayne Pistons). They battled hard with the Western champion Lakers, but they eventually fell in seven games.

The following season, the Pistons won 63 games and returned to the NBA Finals bent on revenge against the Lakers. They got their revenge, sweeping the Lakers in four games.

The following year, the defending champion Pistons won 59 games and returned to the NBA Finals, this time against the Portland Trail Blazers. The opponent was different, but the result was the same. Detroit beat the Blazers in five games, making the “Bad Boys” back-to-back champions.

By the 1993-94 season, most of the core players had either retired or been traded, and the Bad Boy era came to an end.

Joe Dumars, the last holdover from the championship era, retired in 1999 and was named Detroit’s general manager in 2000. From the bottom up, he built a team that would eventually consist of Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Ben Wallace, and Rasheed Wallace, among others. With these players, and the guiding hand of head coach Larry Brown (hired in 2003), Dumars constructed a team that would give him a third championship ring, and the team defeated the Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant-led Lakers in the 2004 Finals. That Finals victory had at least an indirect impact on the fate of the Lakers, who, until then, were considered the first NBA dynasty of the new millennium.

2007-08 Season

With much of the championship core still in place (Ben Wallace left for the Chicago Bulls in 2006), the 2007-08 Pistons racked up 59 regular season wins and looked to be a favorite to win the East. They beat the Philadelphia 76ers in six games and the Orlando Magic in five games before falling to the eventual champion Boston Celtics in six games.

At the end of the 2008 season, head coach Flip Saunders left the team and was replaced by assistant coach Michael Curry.

2008-09 Outlook

Rasheed Wallace, Billups, Prince and Hamilton return, though they are a year older. Young players like Jason Maxiell and Rodney Stuckey will be expected to take on additional minutes and relieve some of the pressure off the older players. If they can do that, the Pistons will be a contender to win the East.

Greatest Players

Dave Bing, Chauncey Billups, Joe Dumars, Richard “Rip” Hamilton, Grant Hill, Dennis Rodman, Isiah Thomas

When James Naismith invented the game of basketball at the Springfield, Mass. YMCA in 1891, he was simply looking for a distraction for his rowdy young charges, who were often stuck indoors due to the harshly cold Massachusetts winters. Little did he know that his creation would one day evolve into a globalized, multi-billion-dollar sensation known as the National Basketball Association.

What follows is a brief history of the NBA, from its inception just after World War II to its gold medal winning Redeem Team, which recently won the gold in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

It was 1946. WWII was over and America was still basking in the glow of victory. Americans once again had entertainment dollars to spend, and in June, a group of sports arena owners got together with an idea on how to get people to spend some of that money on sports. A professional basketball league, with ten teams, comprising an East division and a West division. By June 6, the Basketball Association of America, or the BAA, was born.

The first game in BAA history was played on November 1, 1946, in Toronto, between the Toronto Huskies and the visiting New York Knickerbockers. The Knickerbockers won that game, 68-66.
The BAA owners had a distinct advantage over the competing National Basketball League, or NBL. They owned large arenas in the nation’s major cities and could command large crowds, thereby making more money. Though the NBL was probably the BAA’s equal when it came to quality of play, in the end the BAA had the superior dollars. In August 1949, the BAA and the NBL merged together, forming the National Basketball Association, or the NBA.

With the merger, the league now had seventeen teams, in cities large and small, across the United States. The league trimmed this number down to a record-low eight teams in 1954. The Kings, Celtics, Warriors, Lakers, Hawks, 76ers, Pistons, and the Knickerbockers are all still part of today’s NBA.

The quality of basketball back then was, understandably, not quite like what we see today. One of the reasons for this discrepancy was that, in the 1940s, African-American players were not allowed to compete in the NBA. That changed in 1950, when the NBA broke the color barrier by introducing several black players, including Earl Lloyd, Chuck Cooper, and Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton. Clifton was the first black player to sign an NBA contract, while Lloyd was the first to play in an NBA game.

Another change that positively affected the league was the advent of the 24-second shot clock in 1954. Before then, teams could use stall tactics against superior opponents to keep the score down. It was a tactically sound strategy, but it made for boring basketball. With the shot clock, a team had 24 seconds to attempt a shot. If no shot was taken (or if the ball hadn’t touched the rim) before time expired, the team lost possession.

The 1960s saw an expansion of the league from nine teams to fourteen. The decade also saw the inception of the NBA’s most formidable competitor, the American Basketball Association, or ABA.

The two leagues competed fiercely for spectators as well as top players. The NBA had the advantage of being in most major cities, while the ABA allowed undergraduates to join. That’s how Julius Erving, known as Dr. J., ended up in the upstart ABA. Rick Barry, the NBA’s leading scorer, also left for the ABA.

The NBA continued to expand and finally won the bidding war with the ABA. The two leagues agreed to a limited merger in 1976. This increased the number of NBA teams to 22.

In 1979, in an effort to further increase scoring and excitement, the NBA added the three-point shot, which was actually an ABA innovation.

The 1980s was arguably the most important decade in league history. This decade saw the epic rivalry between Larry Bird’s Boston Celtics and Earvin “Magic” Johnson’s Los Angeles Lakers. Johnson and the Lakers won five titles; Bird won three with the Celtics.

The 1980s also introduced the world to Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest player in the history of the NBA. He was drafted by the Chicago Bulls in 1984. Together with Scottie Pippen, Jordan’s Bulls won six NBA championships in the 1990s.

Jordan, Bird and Johnson helped form the 1992 Olympic basketball team, popularly known as the Dream Team. It was the first U.S. Olympic team to use NBA All-Stars. The team cruised to an easy gold medal. Since then, the NBA has been closely associated with USA Basketball.

The Chicago Bulls dynasty was broken up in 1998. Since then, the Western Conference has won the majority of the league championships. The San Antonio Spurs, led by Tim Duncan, have won four titles in that time span, while the Los Angeles Lakers, led by Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, won three. O’Neal was traded to the Miami Heat after the 2004 season, and after promising to deliver a championship to Florida, he and Dwyane Wade did exactly that in 2006, when they beat the Dallas Mavericks, four games to two, in the NBA Finals.

The most recent NBA champions are the Boston Celtics, who beat the resurgent Los Angeles Lakers four games to two. It was the Celtics’ first championship since 1986 and the Lakers’ first Finals’ appearance since Bryant and O’Neal fell to the Detroit Pistons in 2004.

After a subpar showing in the 2004 Olympics that resulted in a bronze medal, the NBA’s best players fielded a different team for the 2008 Games. Known popularity as the “Redeem Team,” the U.S. men’s basketball team was designed to bring the Olympic gold back to the country where the game was invented. Duke University coach Mike Krzyzewski led a team made up of the following players: Carmelo Anthony, Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosh, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, LeBron James, Jason Kidd, Chris Paul, Tayshaun Prince, Michael Redd, Dwyane Wade, and Deron Williams.

The “Redeem Team” accomplished its mission in the Beijing Games, beating Spain in the gold medal game, 118-107.

During the tenure of the current NBA commissioner, David Stern, the league has begun to expand its reach beyond the United States. Several players from foreign countries have become prominent players in the NBA (including Yao Ming, Manu Ginobili and 2007 league MYP Dirk Nowitzki), and the league’s games are currently televised in more than 200 countries.