Filed under: Bulls, Lakers, NBA Fans, NBA Videos

Via You Been Blinded, we have some slightly uncomfortable video from a recent camp Michael Jordan put on. During a Q&A with a bunch of kids, some enterprising mini-baller asks MJ if Kobe could beat him. Here’s MJ’s answer.

The immediate thought is that he’s going for a reaction with the ‘no contest’ comment. But then he justifies it by explaining how Kobe couldn’t stop him. He’s dead serious. (And probably right.)

The rest of the 5-minute clip strikes me as really weird — hundreds of pre-teens sitting Indian-style, watching a 45-year-old casually drain jumpers in an array of workout ensembles. Yeah, if I were 12 again, I’d be as rapt with attention as those kids. And I would have wet myself see those two dunks near the end of the video up close and personal.

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There are a couple of surprises here, first, Shawn Kemp is only 40. Surprising only because Kemp has a daughter who’s 32. Second, an Italian basketball team called Premiata Montegranaro has offered him a contract. Of course this report comes via Ball Don’t Lie (via The Sport Count) who claims that this article reports that. Only the article is in Italian. And my mom’s basement doesn’t have a pocket Italian translator.

So I’ll just assume all this is true. Which is awesome. Because Shawn Kemp has been no stranger to the ladies in America—a country with sexual harassment laws. Can you imagine what Kemp can do in Italy? A country where sexually harassing women is the national past-time? Only good things can happen from this. Well, assuming the pasta isn’t unlimited. Only good non-pasta things. Thank you Italy.

Italian MetroNews [Italy newspaper]
Has Europe gotten it right for once? [The Sport Count]
The NBA euro exodus continues… [Ball Don’t Lie]

Filed under: AZ Cardinals, NFC West, NFL Fans

It happens all the time, but because we’re talking about Matt Leinart, D-list celebrity and NFL quarterback, it somehow takes on more meaning: during last year’s training camp, the Cardinals’ first under head coach Ken Whisenhunt, Leinart admitted that he had no idea what he was doing.

“I know at this point last year, I had no clue,” Leinart acknowledged candidly. “A little bit, but really had no clue what was going on.”This year, I feel like I do. I have a command of the offense.”

Leinart said he’s matured personally with the birth of his son and professionally as a quarterback. Unlike the public perception, he said he’s basically a homebody.

“Believe it or not, I like to be in the house pretty much every night. “It may not seem like it. But that’s pretty much how I am…”

Learning a new offense is something rookies, players on new teams, and teams with a new coach face every year. It’s hardly a big deal … but, this is Leinart we’re talking about. You know, Nick Lachey’s BFF.

Thing is, if Leinart’s season gets off to a good start, nobody will give a crap about all the off-field stuff. I mean, Tony Romo spent the summer following Jessica around the country and playing golf, and nobody questions his commitment. And just imagine how much Romo will be able to get away with as soon as the Cowboys win a playoff game.

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The Olympics begin in August, and they’re in China, so, you know, it should be a rather fascinating world event, if you’re into fascinating world events. And we are proud to welcome back our Deadspin Beijing Bureau, our own trio of correspondents living in China and reporting on everything they see, Olympics related and otherwise.

Monday at the Olympic Village, Team McDonalds China unveiled the largest Olympic team in history, 639 athletes strong. Sadly, Ronald McDonald (a naturalized citizen), after failing the new, more stringent gender test , has been banned from the Games and deported.

As of August 1, the always fashion-conscious drivers of the city’s 66,000 taxis will be sporting this handsome maize button-down and trouser ensemble, tastefully accentuated by a Bill Blass navy and gold striped tie.

Drivers are reportedly not pleased with the stifling blue stretch pants.

Over at the Olympic Village, cocky owners of J-visas have been bitching, as they are wont to do, about internet censorship. It seems that newly-arrived journalists are feeling some buyer’s remorse as, after paying upwards of $2500 for a connection, they’ve found that, gasp, China’s plucky internet censors have blocked access to the website of Amnesty International. Other sites, including BBC’s Chinese-language site and Human Rights Watch also seem blocked. We’re not sure why journalists covering the Olympics would need to log-on to AI, unless they are trying to write a story about whether or not it is blocked. Come on guys: lay off the softballs.

As semi-permanent “residents” of China, we are a bit jaded about the subject of Internet censorship; that is to say, we’re used to it. During the course of our stay here Wikipedia, Flickr, Myspace, Blogspot, and innumerable pornographic mainstays have been blocked at one time or another. It isn’t that hard, what with proxy servers and the like, to get around these blocks, but the story brings about an important point: the fact that China has broken one of it’s most important promises it made in order to win their Olympic bid. The government pledged that, effective January 1, 2007 accredited journalists would have complete freedom to report on whatever and interview whomever they wish in the country. [DBB’s Note: Will was late filing our accreditation papers…]

Press freedom, air quality, and human rights were the biggest concerns of the IOC when mulling Beijing’s bid in 2001. Despite solemn promises and detailed plans, China’s delivery on these issues has been spotty. With a week until the opening ceremony the air pollution index has hovered north of 100 (50 is deemed safe internationally, though in China 100 is called a “blue sky day”), journalists are worried about their hard-drives being copied, and it’s impossible to access independent information on human rights issues. Dammit, China, you gave us your word.

Elsewhere, the Blacks & Mongolians bar story continues to leg it out with foreign papers beginning to get their two cents in. The Washington Post paraphrases echoesour recent sentiments in Wednesday’s article and notes black business owners are increasingly just as likely to be harassed as black patrons. Bar owners and many Beijingers, we presume, are eager for this whole Olympics mess to be over.

Fortunately for us, it is just getting started.

In the next post from The Deadspin Beijing Bureau: The crew attempts to enter its own Olympic Delegation to BOCOG.

The Deadspin Beijing Bureau can be reached at Deadspin.China@gmail.com

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When athlete’s blog, is it really them? Shockingly, no. Yardbarker, you should be ashamed of yourselves. [ESPN The Mag]

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Rumor has it that the new Yankee Stadium will have suction tubes that will suck errant fans into the bowels of the stadium, like when Luke fell off the catwalk in Empire Strikes Back. Nets are so low-tech.

Joseph Carullo, 54, was reaching for a foul ball on Tuesday night during the seventh inning of the Yankees-Orioles game, when he “apparently lost his balance” and fell into the netting below his box seat. Authorities called the fall an accident, and there was no arrest (after a lengthy investigation, I’ll bet). You expect this kind of thing at Wrigley, but not here.

Net Result At The Stadium [New York Post]

Filed under: Kings, Rockets

Like 12 hours after news broke that the Rockets had traded for Ron Artest, our beloved enigma is making waves in the media, responding to some anxious comments from would-be new teammate Yao Ming. Sam Amick of the Sacramento Bee caught up with Ron-Ron this afternoon to talk about the trade and Yao. A couple key excerpts:

We’ve still got to make sure there’s still a commitment. That’s the main thing, is to make sure there’s still a commitment. When I speak to the powers-that-be of the Houston Rockets organization, we’re going to find out how much they really want me there. We’ll find out. I’m still waiting to find out if this is just a trade or if this is like a long-term commitment type thing. […]

I understand what Yao said, but I’m still ghetto. That’s not going to change. I’m never going to change my culture. Yao has played with a lot of black players, but I don’t think he’s ever played with a black player that really represents his culture as much as I represent my culture. Once Yao Ming gets to know me, he’ll understand what I’m about. Sometimes it’s hard to get to know Ron Artest because I’m so down to earth to a fault. … I can’t wait to be putting on that jersey and be standing next to Yao Ming. I can’t wait. I guess once Yao Ming approves it, I’ll be a Houston Rocket.

On the first point: Artest can’t block the trade if Houston won’t talk extension, but that’s not going to stop Ron from talking about it. He’s completely unfiltered, as we all know, and while you wouldn’t think he could say anything that would change Houston’s collective mind, we do have 15 days before the deal can become official. If he gets too aggressive with the ‘pay me’ talk — this is relatively mild — the Rockets could get cold feet.

The Yao stuff is interesting if only because Ron talks as if he needs to impress Yao, to convince him he’s OK. Honestly, Artest has reason to feel miffed that Yao brought up the Brawl today without prompting. Instead of popping off, it almost reads like Ron completely understands Yao’s fears and wants to reassure him everything will be OK. It’s an odd pose for a guy who, for the last four years, has done everything in his power to assert to those around him that he (Ron) is better than everyone else. Deferring to Yao, even at this early stage, is a big step.

Sacramento, of course, wishes Amick would choke on his word processor until this thing is final. No more drama!

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