“I was a free agent and it was natural to explore my options,” Nash said, according to ESPN.com. “Some people said I was a little crazy going back to Phoenix because I wouldn’t have as good a chance to win. I liked the team and coaches and I was comfortable.”

Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns are on the rise after going 4-1 during a five-game road trip.

From the outset, it looks like Nash made the right decision. The Suns are on the rise in the West, wrapping up a five-game road trip with a 4-1 record. Last night, in a game against the Philadelphia 76ers, Nash registered the first 20-20 in points and assists in the NBA since  Jan. 2, 2006, at New York (where he totaled 22 assists — the highest in his career).

Life with out Shaq on the court seems much brighter as well, as the Suns are back to their high-flying, quick-scoring ways.

The college basketball season also got underway last night. Here are some quick highlights:

• Jim Boeheim reached his 800th win at Syracuse.
• North Carolina is ranked #4 in the nation, even though they lost four starters to the NBA.
• Isiah Thomas lost his first game as head coach for FIU against the defending champs, UNC.

Post from: EveryJoe

Looks Like Nash Made The Right Decision

Shaquille O'Neal - Image: JR Davis via Newscom

Below you can see Shaq boxing it up with Oscar De La Hoya for an episode that will air on ABC September 8th. The week after, he’ll try to outswim lazy pothead Michael Phelps and then after that: unknown. I guess ABC wants to make sure the show doesn’t tank before ordering more episodes.

Still, if the thing doesn’t end up immediately banished to whatever hell contains Shaq-Fu and Kazaam, there’s a very good chance Shaq will do something MMA related on there. He’s been dicking around with training for a while and my bet is that his recent ‘call out’ of Brock Lesnar was an attempt to rope him onto the show.

But until he finds someone in the UFC willing to take on one of his rigged challenges, we’ll just have to settle with UFC commentator Mike Goldberg being on the show. He’s the co-host of Shaq VS, and yes! He does repeat half the same lines from UFC shows. It’s kinda surreal.

Post from: EveryJoe

Shaq beats on Oscar de la Hoya

Basically, “mum” is the word. And it’s probably the word because LeBron doesn’t want to admit that he’s ready to move on — championship or not.

LeBron James still hasn't given Cleveland an answer about a possible contract extension past the 2009-2010 season.

Cleveland may have signed Shaq in part to entice LeBron to stay with the team longer than he had planned. If the King’s recent statements regarding the situation are any indication, I don’t think Shaq is going to make much of an impact on his decision.

“I signed a contract in 2006 with an option,” he said, according to Yahoo! Sports. “It would make no sense for me to sign that contract if I didn’t keep my options open. I’ll let you fill in the blanks.”

LeBron James will be playing basketball for ________ in 2010.

I think I’ll fill “New York” in that blank and see what happens. What about you?

Image: Zuma Press

Post from: EveryJoe

LeBron May Not Stay In Cleveland

The trouble is, the White House is obviously not just any old house. You can’t just go out for a drive one night and say, “You know what? I think I’ll drive over and see how Barack and Michelle are doing.”

But that’s just what Shaq did.

Not surprisingly, he wasn’t admitted. He wrote on Twitter afterward, “The white house wouldn’t let me in, whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?”

Why’d he decide to do it in the first place? Like most silly stunts, he had a bet with a friend. He lost. Now he’s going to do 1,000 push ups.

Image: Zuma Press

Post from: EveryJoe

Shaq Tries to Drop In on the President

According to the Detroit Free Press, there is some growing speculation that Wallace might be returning to the Detroit Pistons.  After losing Rashed Wallace to the Boston Celtics, the Pistons are reportedly looking for another frontcourt player. They are in desperate need of an aggressive rebounding presence.

Ben Wallace might be a Piston by the start of the 2009 - 2010 NBA season.

Ben Wallace could be signed for the veteran’s minimum of $1.3 million. He was at home with the Pistons before and could find a good fit with them again.

Image: Zuma Press

Post from: EveryJoe

Is Ben Wallace Returning To The Pistons?

Shaquille O'Neal - Image: JR Davis / Newscom

Here’s what Dana White had to say on the subject during an segment on the Dan Le Batard show: “Shaq’s pretty serious, Shaq text messages me all the time and is twittering me all the time saying … he wants to fight Brock is what he says. And I said go win your next NBA championship because he’s gonna win one next year and then we’ll talk. You know he’s been training for 10 years.”

When asked about the potential weight problems – Shaq is 325 pounds while the heavyweight cutoff is 265 pounds – White responded that a fight at super heavyweight might be the way to go before reminding Dan that Brock used to be billed up around that weight before coming to the UFC and getting in hardcore fighter shape.

For those wondering if Shaq is ‘for real’, all I can tell you is he has indeed been training mixed martial arts for years and uses it during the off season to stay fit. Now we just have to wonder if his takedown defense is better than his three pointer skills.

Post from: EveryJoe

Shaq wants to fight in the UFC

The fact that Michael Jackson passed away yesterday was beyond surreal. Add in Farrah Faucet and you’ve got a double-whammy.  Then Shaq gets traded to Cleveland to team up with Lebron for what seems to be a destined championship run in 2010.

The 2009 NBA Draft class was not as strong as in previous years, but definitely offered some surprises.

What else happened on draft night?

Here’s a brief recap for your viewing pleasure:

• Richard Jefferson was traded to San Antonio.

• Blake Griffin was the number one pick in the ’09 draft.

• Tyler Hansbrough went to the Indiana Pacers.

• Golden State stole Stephen Curry from the New York Knicks.

• Brandon Jennings’ short stint in Europe paid off — he was able to gain more experience playing professionally overseas than he would have gotten playing in college. As a result, he was drafted 10th overall.

• Ricky Rubio sank in the draft and ended up going to Minnesota (along with Johnny Flynn for double the point guard fun).

Post from: EveryJoe

A Brief Recap Of The 2009 NBA Draft

Does Kobe need to win an NBA Championship in order to get out of the ominous shadow that is Shaquille O’Neal?

Kobe has to win a championship with out Shaq in order to get the monkey off his back.

Kobe Bryant is sick of answering the question, sick of hearing it. He’s so fed up, in fact, that he got a little spiteful this time around when he was asked about his legacy without Shaq:

“People think Shaq would have won a championship without me on that team? They’re crazy.”

Oh, snap.

Unfortunately for Kobe (and every other major superstar in professional sports) the media likes to jump onto certain, contemplative bandwagon questions and drive them into the ground. And this is the latest one.

It doesn’t matter how Kobe chooses to answer it anymore. The only way he can make it go away is by winning an NBA Championship without Shaq.

Of course, after that he’ll have to answer another burning question. “Does Kobe have to win more the six championship rings in order to finally get out of Jordan’s shadow?”

One question at a time, please.

Photo: Zuma

Post from: EveryJoe

Shaq, The Monkey On Kobe’s Back

Here’s what happened. Lou Amundson (Suns forward, newbie basketball guy, and tree hugger) likes to ride his bike to work every day. When he comes out of practice, however, the bike is usually gone. It gets moved to different areas of the stadium, courtesy of Shaq. After this little joke happening several times over, Amundson thought he’d get Shaq back. So he filled up Shaq’s van with packing peanuts. A little lame as pranks go, but even Amundson held back with it came to returning the pranking favor to the large one.

Image: Bauer-Griffin

Post from: EveryJoe

Shaq Pays for Being a Prankster

I’m sure some kind of fines/suspensions will be forthcoming …

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Rockets vs Suns Fight Video