Video: Rockets Broadcaster Removes Headset, Yells at Refs

(post comes courtesy of the good folks at AOL Fan House)

Matt Bullard is the color commentator for the Houston Rockets, and, as you can see in this excellent photo taken of the man butchering Adam Keefe back in 1999, he once played for the team as well. It's safe to say that Bullard bleeds Rockets red, so it's not surprising that he's a little more emotionally invested in the games he's calling than he probably should be.

Witness Saturday night's game against the Trail Blazers, where, after a questionable call goes against Houston in the fourth quarter, Bullard actually removes his headset to berate the refs from media row.

Listen at 24 seconds when the announcer says ""You got to stop going for the flops! You guys are terrible"

Talk about being a Homer....

Kevin Durant's Got NEXT

The Durantula, Kevin Durant grabbed the honor of being ESPN The Magazine's NEXT athlete for 2010 in the publication's annual NEXT issue. A NEXT athlete is described as a future leader or trailblazer in their sport. The first issue of ESPN The Magazine was a NEXT cover with Kobe Bryant, Eric Lindros, Alex Rodriguez and Kordell Stewart. Other NEXT athletes include Adrian Peterson, Yao Ming, LeBron James and Derek Jeter.

In a recent NBA.com article he spoke about what it means to be NEXT, how he is probably always going to be skinny and why Beyonce is the greatest of all times "Kanye shoulder shrug".

Black Mamba Strikes Again

Just in case you live under a rock, here is Kobe's game winner against the Heat last night.

Thunder-cats Krumpin'

Did I ever mention that our players are pretty good dancers? Young Thundercats Kevin Durant, James Harden and Jeff Green get down to Chris Brown's "Transform Ya". KD has some pretty good krumping skills.

King James as the King of Pop

So last night Joakim Noah decided to call LeBron out for his celebratory dancing on the sideline during the game. Some say it was in poor taste and applauded Noah for standing up to the King. The truth is whether you like it or not, these are the Cavs. Always have been, always will be. Dancing is how they bond.

Check out the infomercial they did to Michael Jackson's greatest hits. I think Jamario Moon was getting it the best. What do you think?

LeBron James Gets Jiggy With

Dance Party Friday in Cleveland. Woot Woot!

And One: Nets Grab First WIn

What's the best way to get your first win? Live in denial. That's exactly what Kiki Vandeweghe did. NBA.com's John Schumann writes in his most recent column.

Before Friday's game with the Bobcats, new Nets coach Kiki Vandeweghe walked into his office as though he didn't have a care in the world. He seemed a little amused by the pre-game media process, and he looked like he was getting ready for a Friday night dinner at his favorite restaurant, not an NBA game.

He did realize his team was 0-18, right?

So how did the New Jersey Nets celebrate their first win you ask? At The Jersey Shore of course. Fist pumpin' like champs. Friggin' A man! WOOOO!

Ron Ron does it again

Having Ron Artest in the NBA makes every morning like Christmas. You just never know what kind of crazy presents you will have from him when you wake in the morning.

This morning's wacky Ron Ron gift was him in his boxers on the Jimmy Kimmel show. Ron Ron came out in his undies because he didn't have time to get dressed because he thought he would be late, he says. This stunt of course was an attempt to poke fun at ESPN writer Bill Simmons, who told Kimmel that Artest hopped on the Lakers' team bus in a hurry in only his underwear for fear of being left behind earlier a few weeks ago.

Artest says:

I was getting dressed in my room, such as today, and I had these sexy shorts on, such as these, and they called them boxers. But these are shorts, see? I can even put your pen in my pocket.... I was not freeballing.

Not only did Ron Ron come out in his skivies, he also had the words "Jimmy Kimmel Live" shaved into his hair.




Oh Ron Ron!

Sekou Smith of NBA.com's Hangtime Blog covered Ron Artest when he played in Indiana and said "Ron Ron has a heart of gold. But sometimes..eh.. things just don't connect with him."

You can say that again.

If the Hawks and Rockets are playing at Philips, prepare for a buzzer beater

This is starting to become a trend. For the second straight year, the Hawks defeated the Rockets at home thanks to a last-second bucket.

Witness:



And now from a year ago:



Interestingly, both plays involved late jumpers by Mike Bibby. If the game is tight coming down the stretch next year, I think Houston might want to keep an eye on him...

The ole' switcheroo

Via TrueHoop - A Turkish team tries to sneak a suspended player onto the court wearing another player's uniform.

Predictably, they didn't get away with it. The degree of difficulty on a maneuver like that seems too high a bar to cross to even attempt, without even considering the moral ramifications (and punitive ramifications, as the coach who tried the stunt has since been fired).

I can't help but wonder though: would it have worked with identical twins? Maybe if Jarron and Jason Collins ever end up back on the same team...

Photos We Love

Part of our responsibilities here with NBA.com is to post the nightly photo gallery. The NBA has a terrific collection of photographers who snap the action every night in arenas all around the league. We'll post some of our favorites from time to time.

This photo of John Salmons going up for a layup against the Lakers just speaks to me. It almost looks like performance art - as if Lamar Odom and Kobe Bryant are positioned just so for the purposes of the artist's vision rather than participating in a game of basketball.

P2W: Jason Williams

The NBA season is long, and often times injuries, performance issues, and other detritus will force teams to rely on players they hadn't necessarily planned to give heavy minutes. We'll take a look at some of those players from time to time here with a feature we'll call P2W (players to watch).

Today's P2W: Jason Williams, Magic

With Magic point guard Jameer Nelson on the shelf for the next 4-6 weeks with a torn meniscus, Orlando will hand over the reins to the artist formerly known as White Chocolate. A year after retiring from the league, Williams rejoined the association this year ostensibly as a back-up to Nelson, but he'll be forced into much bigger duty for at least the foreseeable future.

Wednesday night Williams logged 28:30 of game time, a high for the season, in a 108-94 win over Oklahoma City. Though he had only four points and five assists, he finished the night with a +27 rating and earned rave reviews from his coach:

"J-Will has always been a guy who has really pushed on the break," noted Magic coach Stan Van Gundy. "Jameer likes to push and attack, but he's not the same as J-Will. J-Will does that a little better than Jameer and Jameer does a lot of other things better. They're different guys and you play to their strengths."

One of Williams' strengths is a low turnover ratio, which could make him the perfect person to lead the Magic in Nelson's absence. All Orlando needs is someone to distribute the ball to the likes of Rashard Lewis, Vince Carter, and Dwight Howard, and Williams should have no problem accomplishing that feat.

Based on his first night's performance, it looks like the Magic won't skip too much of a beat.

Back In The Day...

Here at All Ball we like to take advantage of the intertubes to look at some of the NBA's brightest stars when they were still fresh-faced youngsters. With all the talk about LeBron James potentially having some interest in playing a pigskin (or at least, the Browns trying desperately to find anyone who might be able to score a touchdown), we scoured YouTube to find some examples of his gridiron prowess.



Based on this evidence, it looks like LBJ scores 50% of the time he touches the ball. Not sure he'd be able to keep that up in Cleveland...

Found old school footage of your favorite players? Email your favorites to us at nbadesk@gmail.com.

The Jump: 3D Shows Us What Not To Wear

On this week's episode of The Jump the running joke was Dennis "3D" Scott's blazer. We here at NBA.com have yet to indentify the fabric but have guessed that it is a mix of crushed velvet and shag carpet. It kind of reminds us of the couch at big momma's house that was always covered in plastic in the living room that no one sat in.




Please, if you're a stylist in the Atlanta area hit your boy 3Deezy up on Twitter.

Also please peep the way that Brent Barry uses Sekou Smith as a kickstand. C'mon son!

(Disclosure: Sekou and 3D you know we got nothing but love for you over at NBA.com. You're fam and it's all in love. Meet you in the cafeteria, lunch is on us!)

Fan Night Super Fan: Joe Schneeberger, Cavaliers

Cavaliers fans are ruthless and a little rough around the edges too. I guess that's what happens when you haven't had a championship since the Civil Rights Act passed. Watch this Cavaliers' season ticket holder Joe Schneeberger (sounds like a sneeze) take a shot at Chris Webber.

Twitter-cle: Iverson Saga and More

Have a short attention span? Can't get through those lengthy sports articles? Well we at NBA.com have got you covered. Every day we will sum up the latest news in a 140 character Twitter-cle then you too can be the educated sports guru around the watercooler at work. Enjoy!

@NBAnewsdesk Iverson doesn't want to ride the pine. Grizz tired of his complaining. Both sides say "peace out". Captain Jack gets wish leaves Warriors.

Pau Gasol Hits a High Note

Pau Gasol appears in a commercial for what appears to be the Spanish version of Guitar Hero. And since we here at NBA.com are so international (and took Spanish in 9th grade) we took the time to translate for you.

The basic theme of the song is about Pau being awesome, passing the ball to Kobe and asking Sasha Vujacic to so show him TwitPics of Maria Sharapova.

You can thank us later for the thorough translation.

What do you do after you score a career-high 33 points against the Lakers?

Hit up In-N-Out Burger of course!

At least that's what Aaron Brooks of the Houston Rockets did.

Wonder if he gets his burger animal style?

Kicks Alert: Exclusive D-Wade 2010 Jordans

Flash sports his new Jordan brand swag.

By now you may know that D.Wade has joined the Jordan Brand empire. Last week Jordan revealed the Air Jordan 2010 black and red model sneaker.

But what you did not know is the D.Wade has his own exlcusive joints just for him. Check it out.

Check out D.Wade's laptop screen. It's on NBA.com. Yeah, we're kind of a big deal
(photo courtesty of Sneakermestupid.com)

The sneaker is all blacked out and features a little peek-a-boo window just in case D.Wade wants to check out his arches while playing. And to top it all off, Wade's shoe has his name embroidered on the tab above the laces. This is the kind of sweet swag you get when you join the Jordan family. According to Sneaker Me Stupid.com this color scheme may be available to the public in February 2010.

Tall Guy in a Little Car

Who's your Haddadi!

The NBA's first Iranian player, Hamed Haddadi is dedicated to the environment. So deidcated, that he would stuff his 7-foot 2 frame into a fuel efficient smart car.

The NBA: Where "It Ain't Easy Being Green" happens.

The NBA: Where Rookie Hazing Happens

Runs to the donut shop, carrying equipment bags, giving up your seat on the bus and ridiculous costumes... oh rookie hazing. Check out Jeff Teague of the Atlanta Hawks in his pretty little lady bug outfit. With temperatures dropping he's lucky the guys let him wear those leggings. See, veterans do have hearts afterall. I Y this game.

Photos courtesy of Atlanta Hawks VP of Public Relations ArthurTriche

Tweet of the Week

The tweet of the week comes courtesy of Batman himself (no not Manu), Danny Granger.

@ dgranger so i get in the elevator and the girl walking out of it left a little surprise for me... i know farts supposed to smell but dang woman!

Turn That Frown Upside Down.

(photo courtesy of Sham Sports)

Turn that Frown upside down, is just the insane work of someone who is new to Adobe Photoshop. But it's hilarious! I dare you to try and not laugh while reading this. Shout out to Sham Sports for this ridiculosity.

Joakim Noah makes columnist eat his words

Chicago Bulls columnist Rick Morrissey literally eats his words after writing some deriding comments about Joakim's future in the NBA. I wonder if it was spicy or mild salsa? Skip to 1:30 in the video for the "tasty" part.