Lamar has been silent since all of the trade rumors about him have begun circulating heavily. Take a look at Kobe’s comments about his friend and teammate Lamar leaving the Lakers in the video below.

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However, the NBA’s plantation owners complained to commissioner David Stern and the deal was killed. Now there is that #awkwardmoment when your team tries to get rid of you but can’t.

Lamar Odom also called into the Stephen A. Smith show when the news of the trade first broke and he sounded like he’d been listening to Drake’s “Marvin’s Room” on repeat for a few hours:

As for Chris Paul he is threatening to lawyer up and the teams are appealing. We’ll keep you posted on this as it develops.

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“My thoughts and prayers are with the young boys family…”

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Khloe & Lamar Expecting Twins?

Khloe Kardashian: “When I First Met Lamar, I Wasn’t That Down”

In an interview with iVillage, Khloe Kardashian admitted that when she first met Lamar Odom, it was hardly love at first sight. Khloe says “It was typical. I was in a night club and he was a basketball player and I ain’t no whore sister, so I wasn’t down for that whole thing.”  It was all rainbows and kisses for the reality star and Lakers forward–after he picked up her $3,000 bar tab. Khloe and Lamar ended up tying the knot six weeks after their initial meeting, which was featured on the E! Channel  reality series “Keeping Up With The Kardashians.”

The newlyweds have branched off with their own show “Khloe and Lamar” which also airs on E!, and recently launched a unisex fragrance Unbreakable.

VIDEO:

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Liza has a book coming out and says it isn’t a tell-all. Liza says Lamar is happy about the book.

“Let’s be clear, I don’t watch the show!”

Lamar Odom Has Family Drama On New Show “Khloe & Lamar”

Lamar Odom Tells Paparazzi To Watch Their Mouth [VIDEO]

The two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers bowed out of the 2011 NBA Playoffs and their run at a three peat in stunningly embarrassing fashion: a 122-86 shellacking to the Dallas Mavericks. The beatdown completed a 4-game sweep, the first ever Phil Jackson-coached team to get the broom.

Never mind the fact that the Lakers failed to play any defense beyond the 3-point line, allowing the Mavericks to hit 20 3′s tying a playoff record, LaMar Odom and Andrew Bynum decided to play like bush-leaguers as the game was winding down. Bynum’s foul was most egregious because he made no attempt on the ball and did not plan to, and it was against a player half his size in JJ Barea who was in mid-air and could have been seriously hurt the way he crashed to the court. To add insult to the punk move, Barea still made the shot he was attempting.

Bynum, who spoke out earlier in the series about trust issues amongst his fellow teammates (mainly the lack of help when Bynum leaves the man he is guarding to assist on the pick and roll), made no apologies for the foul afterward. While he was clearly frustrated, anger is never an excuse for trying to intentionally hurt another player. That behavior is not what Phil Jackson’s teams are about and not how the Lakers organization has represented themselves throughout their history. That being said, here are my predictions of what will happen to the Lakers this upcoming offseason.

5) Brian Shaw will be new Lakers head coach

Shaw is a former Lakers player who has played with Kobe Bryant and under Phil Jackson during the first title run at the turn of the century. Shaw has bided his time as an assistant under Phil for six years. Shaw was one of the front runners for the vacant Cleveland Cavaliers position before Byron Scott was hired and, most importantly, he has Kobe’s stamp of approval.

4) Kobe will demand changes going forward

While the Lakers have been blown out in elimination games before, most recently in Game 6 of the 2008 Finals against Boston, but never have players reacted in such a classless way. Kobe was visibly disgusted with Bynum’s foul on Barea and repeatedly said that fouls like that “should never happen” during his post game press conference. No one, save for Phil Jackson, is more hurt and humiliated by how the series played out. When asked about what the team needs to do in the offseason to get better, Bryant coldly said “that’s up to Mitch,”  referring to Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak. Let’s not kid ourselves. Similar to when Shaquille O’Neal was sent packing to South Beach, Kupchak and upper management of the Lakers will approach Kobe with any possible changes they will make. Kobe will have final say on everything which is not a good look for a few players to be named later.

3) Phil Jackson will not coach again

As the cameras followed Phil Jackson off of the court after his worst playoff series in 20 years as a coach, even Phil haters had to admit the NBA Finals won’t be the same without seeing Jackson in his booster seat.

Jackson, 65, definitely did not envision getting swept and embarrassed by his players as the way he would end his decorated coaching career. That gives some people reason to believe the Zen master will return to coaching, after taking a year off, to come full circle with the New York Knicks, the team he won a championship with as a player in the 1970′s. I am here to tell you this will not happen. Jackson has happened to inherit ready-made teams in his career (Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen on the Chicago Bulls, Kobe and Shaq on the Lakers and finally Kobe and Gasol) and while the Knicks have two superstars in Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudamire, Jackson’s star players played lockdown defense. Anthony and Stoudamire are not committed to defense at all and are not being held accountable for it. If Mike D’Antoni decides to stop being stubborn and hire a defensive-minded assistant coach that can whip STAT and Melo into shape on the defensive end, MAYBE Phil takes on the challenge after D’Antoni’s contract is up. Remember the last “New York” kid that said coaching the Knicks was his dream job? Larry Brown lasted one season fighting with Stephon Marbury and bolted.

2) Bynum and/or Gasol will be traded

Bynum had a bounce back season in 2010-11 showing the potential that kept the Lakers from including him in any rumored deal for Carmelo Anthony. He was the best player in the playoffs for L.A., but the other players, for whatever reason, failed to get Bynum the ball on a consistent basis. That frustration boiled over (see aforementioned foul) and may have been the final straw in a good, but injury plagued tenure in Tinseltown. The rumors swirling is that Bynum could be dealt straight up for Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard.

Pau Gasol will be on the move after a 2011 playoffs where he never scored his season average (18.8) in points in a single game and only reached his rebounding average (10) once. Add to that the allegation that a teammate’s wife caused his fiancee to dump him being the reason for his poor play and the “Gasoft” tag gets magnified. If the unnamed teammate happens to wear #24, Gasol will definitely be sent packing. This has shades of LeBron James last year in Cleveland letting personal issues with teammates affect his play. Gasol has to be stronger than that. He was the piece that helped Kobe get back to the top three years ago, but there is no defending quitting on the court.

1) Dwight Howard will be the center for the Lakers in 2011-2012 season

Dwight Howard’s teammates in Orlando left him hanging. Because Hedo Turkoglu, Jason Richardson, and Gilbert Arenas, among others, forgot how to shoot , the Magic were bounced in the first round in 5 (!!) games. Howard, who scored 75 points and grabbed 35 rebounds in the first two games of that series, was justifiably upset. The Magic made the Finals in 2009, lost in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2010, and took two steps back in 2011 going out in the first round. Openly speaking about the possibility of playing with Kobe, Howard has fans in Mickey’s backyard nervous. After all they loss one franchise center (Shaq) to L.A. for virtually nothing in 1996, a move which set the franchise back a few years. The aforementioned trade for Bynum would not hurt either team financially and Kobe would be getting the best pivot in the NBA. Howard has no history of injury which immediately makes him a better option than Bynum. Expect bringing Superman to L.A. to be one of those talked about moves (see #4) Lakers brass runs past Kobe.

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Will the Winner of Heat-Celtics Come Out of the East?

After 82 hard fought games it is time for the NBA’s ”second season.”  This is what fans have been waiting for ever since LeBron James stunned the basketball world by announcing he would be taking his talents to South Beach. While the team he left behind (Cleveland Cavaliers) went on to win 42 fewer games without him (19-63 down from 61-21 with James a year ago), James only went on to finish second in the league in scoring and led the Heat to 58 wins, putting him in the discussion for his third straight MVP award. Ask James and he’ll tell you that means nothing. After being accused of quitting on the Cavs last season against Boston and going out in unsportsmanlike fashion to Orlando in 2009, King James wants everyone to witness him carry the Heat to the promised land and put all the doubters to rest. To do that he will have to do what he couldn’t do at the end of last season and 3 out of 4 times this season with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in tow: beat the Boston Celtics. Will he succeed? Check out my predictions on this and the rest of what promises to be one of the best NBA Playoffs ever.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

FIRST ROUND
1 Chicago Bulls vs 8 Indiana Pacers

When the Indiana Pacers fought to make the playoffs they were probably expecting to face the Miami Heat, who they beat earlier in the year. Instead they got a Bulls team clicking on all cylinders led by MVP front runner Derrick Rose. The Bulls won 62 games this season and locked up home court advantage throughout the entire playoffs. The Bulls only won 60 games five other times in franchise history (hint: all in the 1990′s) and each time they went on to win the NBA title. Read on to see if I think they will make it six, but they will get off to a good start.

Prediction:  The Bulls finally get out of the first round (not being a #8 seed helps that way) in a sweep 4-0.

4 Orlando Magic vs 5 Atlanta Hawks

The Atlanta Hawks won the season series 3 games to 1, however I am not sold on an Atlanta team that lost by more than 30 points on their home floor three different times. Al Horford has made strides this ear but he is not a true center and will be overmatched by Orlando center Dwight Howard. Atlanta is a mystery to me. They play well enough to be a mid-level playoff team (more a testament to the weak Eastern Conference) but you never expect them to progress to title contender. They are getting no respect and it feels like they don’t really care. I can’t take a team seriously if the road team’s fans are louder than the home fans in your own gym. Joe Johnson is a quiet superstar and may need to change that perception (especially since he signed a huge contract to stay for five years when he could have went elsewhere) if the Hawks are going to go anywhere in the future. I just want to see him get mad and carry the Hawks for once. It won’t happen this year, however. Not even this round.

Prediction: Orlando shows regular season matchup is a fluke taking out the Hawks 4-2.

3 Boston Celtics vs 6 New York Knicks

This will be the most interesting series in the first round of the East playoffs. These two teams haven’t met in the playoffs since 1990 where the Knicks upset the favored Celtics in a best of 5 series by winning the final three games. This current crop of Knickerbockers have the tools to repeat history. The loss of Kendrick Perkins will be glaring for Boston if Shaquille O’Neal is not productive coming off a calf injury. The Knicks have the best closer in the game in Carmelo Anthony and a confident Amare Stoudamire. Chauncey Billups’ championship experience will help the Knicks, but will they play any semblance of consistent defense? Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen have been down this road before but never without Perkins. Rajon Rondo the best player on the team a year ago is reportedly playing hurt and is still sulking over Perkins’ departure. This will be the longest series of the first round only because the Knicks potent offense will win a few games by default, especially over a Celtics team that has the lowest scoring average in the entire league (90.2 ppg) since early March. Boston has been doubted before and they took all that talk of their demise all the way to the NBA Finals last year. They still play something called good defense and will win the series in seven only if Shaq is a factor and Rondo returns to form, otherwise the Knicks pull the upset.

Prediction: Boston has yet to lose to the Knicks this season and have come too far to go home early. They will move on 4 games to 3.

2 Miami Heat vs 7 Philadelphia 76ers

With all the hype, drama and media coverage that bordered on overkill (there are at least two national media outlets that have season-long sections dedicated to the daily exploits of The Miami Heat — ESPN’s “Heat Index” and USA Today’s “Heat Check”) The Maimi Heat’s season starts now. All eyes will be on the new Big 3 of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to see if LeBron can back up the tough talk from the narcissistic pre-season coronation/pep rally in July that introduced the trio to the Miami faithful. They get off to a great start against Philly who are a nice story, but will not be able to match up to the firepower of the Heat.

Prediction: Heat burn the Sixers 4 to 1.

EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS

1 Chicago Bulls vs 4 Orlando Magic

This series is a tough one to call. The Magic are playoff tested. The return of Hedo Turkoglu along with the experience of Jason Richardson (a Western Conference finalist last season in Phoenix), Gilbert Arenas, and Jameer Nelson will be a factor in this series. Chicago may be the #1 seed, but losing to Orlando would not be considered an upset in my opinion. Orlando will win this series, however I give Chicago an outside chance only if Derrick Rose gets Dwight Howard in foul trouble with his signature acrobatic drives to the cup thus leaving the middle open for Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer to go to work. Orlando has their own point to prove with Miami getting all the press and prestige in the “sunshine state” and their veteran leadership will trump youth this year, not for lack of effort from Mr. Rose.

Prediction: Orlando stops the Bulls 4-2

2 Miami Heat vs 3 Boston Celtics

When the NBA season tipped off in October with the first installment of Heat-Celtics everyone watching figured this would be a preview of the Eastern Conference Finals. Unfortunately the Chicago Bulls had something to say about where these two teams would end up so the showdown comes one round early. I hate to beat a dead horse, but the absence of Kendrick Perkins effectively brought Boston back to the pack in the East. Miami reportedly loved the deal as shown in the last regular season meeting where Miami did as they pleased in the paint en route to a 100-77 win. The series won’t be as lopsided as the depth of the Celtics bench will keep the games competitive. Again, the effectiveness of Shaq (or any big other than Kevin Garnett) will swing the series. Former Heat Jermaine O’Neal will have something to prove in this series against the team that let him walk and will have a decent series.

Prediction: In another seven game marathon, the Miami Heat will upset the Celtics 4-3 and send Doc Rivers into retirement. Let the finger pointing (and rebuilding) begin in Beantown.

EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS

2 Miami Heat vs 4 Orlando Magic

Ironically this will the toughest test for the Heat. Dwight Howard will be the only thing standing in the way of a trip to the NBA Finals for LeBron James and the Heat. For the Heat to win this series they have to get contributions from a bench that has been invisible all season. The Heat should have Udonis Haslem back by this point giving them a much needed body to bang with Howard, but the three-headed monster of Erick Dampier, Joel Anthony, and Zydrunis Ilgauskas have to use their fouls to frustrate Howard. Technical fouls accumulated in the regular season are wiped clean in the post season so unless Howard has a major meltdown that gives him 7 techs, he isn’t missing any time.

Unlike the Bulls series, getting Howard in foul trouble will not matter as the Magic have proven they can beat the Heat without Howard touching the ball on offense (as witnessed in the classic comeback from a 24-point deficit back in March). LeBron may have flashbacks to the 2009 Conference Finals with Turkoglu alongside Richardson, Arenas, and (wait for it) Ryan Anderson taking the place of Rashard Lewis behind the 3-point arc. The Magic live and die by the 3 pointer and if they are on it could extinguish the Heat. LeBron has personal incentive (proving Orlando general manager Otis Smith wrong) to make the Magic disappear, but his exploits along with Wade and Bosh may not be enough without consistent play from the Ringo Starr’s on the bench.

Prediction: Orlando upsets ”The Heatles” denying LeBron a trip to the NBA Finals 4-2 in year one of “The Process”.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

FIRST ROUND
1 San Antonio Spurs vs 8 Memphis Grizzlies

This is the matchup the Grizzlies wanted for reasons only known by the team itself. It has been reported that Memphis tanked the last few games to assure themselves of the 8th seed and avoid facing the Lakers. Spurs forward Tim Duncan responded simply ”we see what’s happening”. Uh oh, bulletin board material. This series won’t go more than five. The Grizz are still without their star Rudy Gay, lost for the year with a shoulder injury, and while super sub Tony Allen has been playing out of his mind the last few weeks and Memphis boasts the fourth best record in the Western Conference since the All-Star break, the Spurs have their own Big 3 in the aforementioned Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobli. Even though Ginobli hyperextended his elbow in the regular season finale, they won’t need him in this round.

Prediction: Spurs move on 4-1

4 Oklahoma City Thunder vs 5 Denver Nuggets

The Denver Nuggets traded away the face of their franchise and didn’t miss a beat en route to a 50-win season. If that doesn’t put coach George Karl in the discussion for Coach of the Year I don’t know what does. The Nuggets have no standout superstar yet share the ball effectively in a way not seen since the Detroit Pistons of the 2000′s. The Thunder have two superstars in the NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. OKC also has Kendrick Perkins. It is hard to believe one man can swing the balance of power from one conference to the next, but it goes to show how important a serviceable big man is to a championship contender. Perkins brings the toughness that can offset Nene and any antics by Kenyon Martin.  The players that came over in the trade from the Knicks will be fun to watch, but the Thunder’s defense will prove to be too daunting.

Prediction: Thunder bury the Nuggets 4-2

3 Dallas Mavericks vs 6 Portland Trailblazers

This will be as exciting as the Knicks-Celtics series. The Dallas Mavericks have been a Jekyll and Hyde team known to excel in the regular season only to flame out in the playoffs. Their inability to get out of the first round the last few years is the reason why former Mavs coach Avery Johnson is currently wasting away in New Jersey. Since blowing a chance to go up 3-0 on the Miami Heat in the 2006 NBA Finals, the Mavericks have not gotten past the second round, losing in the first round twice. Not having Caron Butler hurts but Shawn Marion and Jason Terry lead a formidable bench which will be needed to help Dirk Nowitzki. Portland has a snubbed all-star in LaMarcus Aldridge an emerging star in Wesley Matthews, the high energy of Gerald Wallace, and their star player Brandon Roy currently coming off the bench (?!). They have not moved past the first round since 2000, but they will give Dallas all they can handle.

Prediction: Dallas hears the whispers of another collapse and because of it they will respond to the perceived disrespect by advancing in a tough series 4-3.

2 Los Angeles Lakers vs 7 New Orleans Hornets

Andrew Bynum only has a bone bruise in his hyperextended right knee. That means he will not miss significant time, if any at all in the playoffs. That is bad news for the rest of the Western Conference. The Lakers may not even need Bynum in this series as the Hornets will be without star forward David West. That leaves Emeka Okafor on an island against the size of the Lakers. Chris Paul will do his best but the Hornets are undersized and overmatched against the two-time defending champs.

Prediction: Lakers win 4-1.

WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS

1 San Antonio Spurs vs 4 Oklahoma City Thunder

The experience of the Spurs and the multiple big men (Antonio McDyess, Dejuan Blair, Duncan) they can throw at Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka combined with the neutrilization of Kevin Durant’s offense by Manu Ginobli will make the difference here. This series may go the distance as Durant and Westbrook try to set up a rematch with the Lakers in the Conference Finals, but the Spurs will prevail.

Prediction: Spurs win 4-3

2 Los Angeles Lakers vs 3 Dallas Mavericks

The Mavericks got the first round monkey off their back, but reality will set in. The Mavericks will not have an answer for Pau Gasol, LaMar Odom and Bynum and there is a guy by the name of Kobe Bryant who will command a double team at some point. While Dallas has come a long way defensively they rely on their offense to dictate the pace of the game.

Prediction: Lakers advance 4-2

WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS
1 San Antonio Spurs vs 2 Los Angeles Lakers

Unlike the Eastern Conference, the West holds to form with the two best teams meeting for the chance to play in the Finals. San Antonio, like Boston, defied age and logic during the regular season being the last team to lose 10 games in a year where they were supposed to be in the middle of the pack. These teams are evenly matched, their regular season was a wash. Both teams have game changing superstars and a deep bench. It comes down to Kobe and Phil. Kobe has the nastiest killer instinct since Jordan and I can’t see him losing this series. Losing the #1 seed to the Spurs is just another challenge for the Black Mamba which is a bad omen for San Antonio.

Prediction: Lakers go back to the NBA Finals after a hard fought 7 game slug fest 4-3.

NBA FINALS

Orlando Magic vs Los Angeles Lakers

Probably not the team from Florida Commissioner David Stern had in mind to face the Lakers in the NBA Finals, but in a rematch of the 2009 Finals the experience of the Lakers produces the same result. It was Kobe Bryant’s mission statement to send coach Phil Jackson off with his fourth three-peat while simultaneously earning his sixth ring tying him with Michael Jordan. Again, the challenge is what drives Bryant and his will to win elevates the rest of the team to victory.

Prediction: Lakers complete the three-peat 4-2, possibly pushing Dwight Howard closer to Tinseltown after next season.

**Bonus**

AWARDS SEASON:

MVP: Derrick Rose (Runner-up: LeBron James)

Coach of the Year: Tom Thibodeau, Chicago (Runner-up: Gregg Poppovich, Spurs)

Rookie of the Year: Blake Griffin (Runner-up: John Wall)

Defensive Player of the Year: Dwight Howard (Runner-up: no one worth mentioning)

Sixth Man of the Year: LaMar Odom (Runner-up: Jamal Crawford)

5 Reasons The Miami Heat Will NOT Win The NBA Title This Season

For more about the episode, click here.

How The Kardashians Made $65 Million Last Year…

Lamar Odom Tells Paparazzi To Watch Their Mouth [VIDEO]

The NBA All-Star Game reserves were unveiled last Thursday (Feb. 3rd) on TNT. With all the talent in the NBA and only seven reserve spots to fill by head coaches of the Eastern and Western conference there will be some players that are deserving that will be left off the team. However this year there were some glaring omissions which makes you wonder if all the head coaches even voted. Below are some of the players that should have been All-Stars this season.

Beginning with the Eastern Conference you can’t go wrong with the starters the fans voted in: LeBron James, D-Wade, Derrick Rose, Dwight Howard and Amare Stoudamire are all deserving. The reserves that were chosen were only from three teams. Eastern Conference coaches cannot vote for their own players so the results were a little surprising. The entire Boston Celtics starting lineup minus Shaq (Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett) was selected, Miami Heat forward Chris Bosh, Atlanta Hawks Al Horford and Joe Johnson round out the East reserves.

The argument can be made that Bosh shouldn’t be on the team and somebody has to be better than Ray Allen and Al Horford, right? Looking at the teams in the East, Carlos Boozer of the Chicago Bulls had so many mysterious injuries that kept him out of action that he can’t complain, a case could be made for Raymond Felton of the New York Knicks, but his production started to decline in January, Andrew Bogut in Milwaukee? The team has been disappointing and Bogut isn’t putting up the numbers he did in his breakout year last season. Who else in the East is in the top ten to fifteen in scoring? Danny Granger in Indiana? Stephen Jackson in Charlotte? Both of those teams are inconsistent. So while it may look like the Boston Celtics versus the West All-Stars late in the first quarter on Sunday February 20th, in a testament to how weak the Eastern Conference is after the top four teams, I think the coaches got it right.

Looking at the Western Conference, here is where it gets ridiculous. Again, the fans got four out of five right in the starters: Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant deserve to go, but Yao Ming has been out of action since November. There was no other center in the Western Conference that could have been voted in? Congrats to Blake Griffin on making the team as a rookie.

Kevin Love

The fact that Kevin Love was not voted in as a starter or selected as a reserve initially is a travesty. I, like Charles Barkley, do not believe a team’s record should go against a player. Love is leading the NBA in rebounding with over 15 a game. That is Dennis Rodman numbers. The last time he did not have a double-double (double figure points and rebounds) was November 19th! Sure Minnesota only won 11 games to this point, Love has three games with 30 points and 20 rebounds this year! He shoots threes like a shooting guard. Thankfully Commissioner David Stern did the right thing and in about 24 hours, too. Which means he was probably equally shocked. Still I wonder how Love feels to be added as a replacement. Hey, Ray Allen made the All-Star team twice that way and he’s not complaining. Okay, lets move on to the true snubs:

Lamar Odom

If the coaches are going to vote another Laker on the team it should be Lamar Odom, not Pau Gasol. Odom has been consistently good, foul on “Big Baby” Glen Davis at halfcourt at the end of the first half last Sunday (Jan. 30) against the Celtics aside. In that same game Kevin Garnett was constantly beating Gasol and Andrew Bynum down the floor for easy baskets. Those guys stopped playing.

LaMarcus Aldridge

LaMarcus Aldridge has carried the Portland Trailblazers this season without leading scorer Brandon Roy. The fact that Portland has a winning record without their superstar should have stamped a ticket for Aldridge and keep coach Nate McMillan open for Coach of the Year consideration. Tim Duncan, who made the team, is not even the second best player on the squad (Tony Parker holds that honor) and his scoring numbers are way below his career average.

Monta Ellis

Because the West is still heavy on guards, Monta Ellis, Steve Nash and the aforementioned Parker were left off. Ellis is automatically the more egregious of the two snubs. He has single-handedly been responsible for over half of Golden State’s 19 wins to this point including their most recent triumph over Milwaukee (Feb 3rd). In spite of that, who i he going to replace? Hard to argue with Russell Westbrook and Deron Williams here.

Unless the rosters are expanded to 15 players instead of 12, the Western Conference will have this problem every year. It is rare that all the players chosen for baseball’s All-Star team get to play. With the amount of TV timeouts I am sure the coaches can get 15 players some burn in the All-Star game.

Let’s see if David Stern makes this happen.

Top 4 Contestants for the 2011 NBA Slam Dunk Competition

Spotted at thesuperficial.com

Who Has The Most To Lose, Lakers Or Celtics?

GALLERY: Khloe K & The Lakers Visit The White House

VH1′s “Basketball Wives” is a great show. We have truly grown to love the ladies and understand what it takes to be a basketball player’s wife, girlfriend, or fiance. So we put together a list of the hottest basketball wives besides the ones we see on television everyday.

The list is a compilation of wives, fiances, and girlfriends (they liked it but they didn’t all put a ring on it) and we rated them  for you. Who is the hottest?

Check it out:

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GALLERY: Inside Trina’s King Magazine Photo Shoot

We have 17 whole episodes of Thats Whatsup. From Sitcom Pornstars, to Black Vampires, to the KKK attacking Lamar Odom, to defending our hero, Kanye West and exposing Jay-Z as a KKK Jedi Illuminati. Here are our favorite moments.

The “KKK” Attacks Lamar Odom

SPOTTED: Lamar Odom & Khloe K Out To Lunch

Check out more photos of the Kardashians below:

There are a few ways to visit the White House. You can be a great poet or musician. You can be a head of state or prominent politician or journalist. You could also be an athlete who wins a championship. Or if your name is Khloe Kardashian you can marry a champion athlete and visit the White House. Will Kim be making a visit soon? The Saints might win it too. The KKK Conspiracy to take over the country is not a joke. Watch out for the Kardashian Konspiracy.

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Lamar Odom Keeps Marital Home In His Name

VIDEO: Kim Kardashian Makes Salads Sexy

According to TMZ, Lamar Odom isn’t quite as gullible as folks might think.

The $4 Million home he purchased for them in Tarzana, CA is held in his name alone, per their prenup.

TMZ obtained legal docs — an Interspousal Transfer Grant Deed — in which Khloe acknowledges their home is Lamar’s “sole and separate property.”

Well Khloe, “you in his hut now.”

Lamar Odom celebrated his birthday and the whole Kardashian klan came out for the party as well as Lauren London! Lauren just gave birth to Lil Wayne’s baby and she looks better than ever!

Check out Khloe & Lamar on a lunch date!

Beware of the Chickenhead Flu!

Newlyweds Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom were seen out to lunch in West Hollywood. Seems like all is well for the controversial couple. Peep the pics below:

Lamar wants kids with Khloe soon!

Beware of the Chickenhead Flu!!!

From AccessHollywood.com

LOS ANGELES, Calif. –

Lamar Odom’s not the type to wait around.

The NBA star, who married Khloe Kardashian after a whirlwind, month-long courtship, said on Friday night’s episode of “Chelsea Lately” that he’d like to have babies on the way, too.

“Soon,” he said. Asked if the couple wanted kids quickly, he added, “I do!”

Judging by his stats, Lamar, who has two children from a previous relationship, has love to give – he’s averaged 4.7 assists with the Los Angeles Lakers so far this season, up from last season’s 2.6 per game.

But a baby may not be the only thing the new couple would like to have on the way.

While it’s sister Kourtney who’s heading toward the expected conclusion of her pregnancy this Christmas, Khloe, who joined her husband on “Chelsea Lately,” said the Kardashian family may have some more news coming up after the holidays.

CONTINUED AT ACCESSHOLLYWOOD.COM

Didn’t Mobb Deep get tattoos like this too? Umjusayin. Must be love, huh? Spotted @HipHopHoneys.com

Newlyweds Lamar Odom and Khloe Kardashian were seen together at the opening celebration for Philippe West Hollywood last night. Check out the photos of the couple below:

The “KKK” Attacks Lamar Odom!

Lamar Odom finally talks about his marriage and he’s obviously lying. First sign he’s lying is that he keeps touching his face and licking his lips. The second sign is that he won’t make eye contact with the person interviewing him.

Here are 3 way to tell someone is lying from Forbes 10 Ways To Tell If Someone Is Lying

Eye Contact
A subject’s failure to make eye contact is often sign of deceit, say both former NYPD officer Parker and former CIA agent Moran.

If you notice Odom keeps looking down and around without making eye contact with the interviewer.

Watch Body Language
Derrick Parker, a 20-year veteran of the New York Police Department and co-author of Notorious C.O.P., says to look for physical clues, especially sweating and fidgeting.

Lamar Odom is constantly licking his lips and touching his face while moving his tongue around his mouth.

Listen for the Pause
Forced to make up a story on the spot, most speakers will take a beat or two to collect their thoughts.

If you notice, Odom pauses before each answer.

Here’s the latest episode of “Thats Whatsup.” We are covering the recent Lamar Odom Khloe Kardashian wedding.

Thats Whatsup Episode 2: Sitcom Pornstars And Hermaphrodites

Thats Whatsup Edisode 1: Leave Kanye Alone

VIA ESPN:

The Utah Jazz will match the four-year, $32 million offer the Portland Trail Blazers tendered their restricted free agent Paul Millsap, the team posted on its Web site and a league source confirmed to ESPN.com Thursday evening.

Under the terms of the contract, the Jazz, which stated all summer that it would match any offer Millsap received, will have to pay the 24-year-old forward $10.3 million this weekend. Portland had front-loaded the contract to discourage Utah from matching.

A formal announcement was scheduled for Friday, the last day Utah can match the Portland offer.

Utah’s decision is likely to set in motion a string of moves by both teams. The Jazz, whose payroll will balloon to roughly $84 million, will continue trying to trade All-Star forward Carlos Boozer. If the Jazz don’t move Boozer before next season’s February trade deadline, they will have to pay a luxury tax of nearly $15 million.

The team recently told Boozer, who will make $12.7 million this season, that he is not in its long-term plans, and Boozer responded by telling the Jazz to trade him. Chicago, Miami and New York are among the most interested teams.

Before the Blazers made their offer to Millsap, the club was in preliminary talks with Utah and Chicago about a three-team trade that would send Boozer to the Bulls, Chicago point guard Kirk Hinrich to Portland and Bulls forward Tyrus Thomas to the Jazz. Now that Portland recoups the roughly $8 million in salary cap space it used to make the offer to Millsap, those trade talks could be revisited.

The Blazers could also decide to go after Los Angeles Lakers‘ forward Lamar Odom. Negotiations between Odom and the Lakers have stalled, as Los Angeles recently took its three-year, $27 million offer off the table.

Portland has showed little interest in Odom to this point, a fact that baffles several executives around the league, but after coming up short in its attempts to add Hedo Turkoglu and now Millsap, perhaps the Blazers will set their sights on Odom. Not only would such a move strengthen Portland but it also would weaken the defending champion Lakers.

Weak, strong, doesn’t matter… These ‘ballers’ still have some pretty hot wives. Check it out!

VIA ESPN:

The newly minted NBA champions made what amounts to a daring trade Thursday night, shaking up the league’s second day of free agency by essentially swapping out on-the-rise swingman Trevor Ariza for the versatile, physical and famously unpredictable Ron Artest.

The Los Angeles Lakers and Artest have struck an agreement in principal on a multiyear contract that, according to sources close to the process, will total roughly $18.7 million over three years or $33.5 million over five years, depending on which contract structure Artest ultimately prefers. But they had to let Ariza go to create the financial flexibility to do so.

It was Artest, not surprisingly, who was the first to announce his forthcoming partnership with Kobe Bryant and his long-awaited move to the glamour capital of the Western Conference, sharing the news with CBSSports.com and writing in a text message to ESPN.com: “I am happy to say I am goin’ to L.A.”

ESPN The Magazine’s Chris Broussard reported late Thursday that the financial aspects of the deal have not been finalized, in part because Artest’s camp wants more time to weigh its options. Wednesday is the first day players can sign new contracts for the 2009-10 season, after the league announces the new salary-cap ceiling and luxury-tax threshold.

A five-year contract, which Broussard reported would include a player option on the fifth season, would bring Artest added security in case of injury. The shorter three-year deal, though, would enable Artest to return to free agency at 32, with full Larry Bird rights and the potential to sign a more lucrative deal with the Lakers or another team.

Either way, L.A. has made a surprising splash, when it was widely expected the Lakers would merely try this offseason to re-sign Ariza and Lamar Odom.

ESPN.com reported Wednesday that Ariza was growing frustrated by the Lakers’ reluctance to start his new contract higher than the projected mid-level exception for next season of $5.8 million and giving strong thought to signing elsewhere.

VIA ESPN:

It wasn’t long ago that Kobe Bryant reportedly wanted out of Los Angeles. He’s not going anywhere now.

Fresh off winning the championship, the Lakers guard decided not to exercise an early termination option on the last two years of his contract and will return for the 2009-10 season, a league source told ESPN.com’s Chad Ford.

Bryant is scheduled to make $23 million next season by not opting out. He also has a player option to opt out of his contract in the 2010-11 season. The Lakers will work with Bryant over the summer and fall to hammer out a new, long-term extension, according to the source.

The Los Angeles Times reported late Tuesday that Bryant will sign a three-year extension with the Lakers sometime this month. According to a source close to the situation, Bryant could make $47.8 million over the next two years and another $86 million to $91 million with the extension, with the difference depending on the salary cap.

After two straight first-round exits from the playoffs, Bryant requested a trade in the spring of 2007, saying that he didn’t like the direction the team’s rebuilding was going.

The Lakers then went out and traded for big man Pau Gasol. Los Angeles increased its win total from 42 games to 57 and went to the NBA Finals, eventually losing to the Boston Celtics. The Lakers bounced back with a 65-win season in 2008-09, made it back to the Finals and beat the Orlando Magic for the title. Bryant distinguished himself by winning his first championship without Shaquille O’Neal. The duo won three from 2000 to 2002.

The Lakers have also been trying to come to terms with unrestricted free-agent forwards Lamar Odom and Trevor Ariza. The Times reported that general manager Mitch Kupchak reached out to the camps of both players Tuesday evening.