The Kobe Bryant Apology Tour continued yesterday, after the N.B.A. star was fined $100,000 for mouthing an obscene homophobic slur at a referee earlier this week. Bryant made a public apology Wednesday, and also personally called the president of the Human Rights Campaign to apologize some more. But Bryant, who has some experience with handling bad PR, took a more forceful stance today, and vowed to eradicate the word from the english language: "It's about getting that message out there man, to kill that word. Just don't use it, just don't use it. And hopefully others can learn from the situation that occured and just knock that word out completely," he said on the Dan Patrick Show. more ›

May the Knicks-Marbury insanity never, ever end! Though Stephon Marbury has been banned from Knicks games and practices, he still opted to see his team play against the Lakers in L.A. by buying a ticket for a baseline seat (video here). Perhaps the best coverage of this comes from the Daily News' Frank Isola, who quotes Marbury as telling reporters last night: "All I've got to do is get free. Once I get free, the team I'm going to go to, I think a lot of people will be shocked. All the people that say nobody wants me on their team... I'm all of these different things...Frank Isola said I'm a cancer ... I'm doing my thing though." And when asked if basketball was no longer his thing, the point guard simply said, "I'm doing my thang." more ›

This was a shorthanded and tired team. Renaldo Balkman missed the game for his elbow in Tuesday's game against L.A. Eddy Curry and Quentin Richardson have the flu. The rest of the team is just sick of losing. more ›

Jason Kidd trade rumors are hardly new, but this time, they're probably for real. Nets President Rod Thorn and the guard have made no secret of the seemingly obvious incentives for both parties to want a deal before the Feb. 21 NBA trading deadline. Richard Jefferson and Vince Carter, the younger parts of the Big Three, have expensive contracts. more ›

Some L.A. Lakers fan (we assume) came up with a brilliant plan to psych out Phoenix Suns guard Leandro Barbosa last week. Barbosa fell victim to a hoax where his hotel gave him a message saying that Suns GM Steve Kerr wanted to meet him to discuss a trade to the New York Knicks. Jeez, that's maybe the meanest prank call we've ever heard! more ›

The Lakers cruised to a 70-45 lead and then had to hang on against a Knicks’ rally that happened with the unit of Nate Robinson, David Lee, Malik Rose, Jared Jeffries and Jamal Crawford playing most of the minutes. What changes are coming? It’s hard to say, but a good start would be splitting Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph up. Let’s just hope Isiah doesn’t start making trades. more ›

Stars 3, Rangers 2: What good is outshooting the opponent 41-18 if it doesn't lead to a win? That's what the Rangers have to ask themselves after Sunday's disappointing loss to the Stars. No matter how this game is measured -- except for the score that is -- the Rangers appeared to outplay the Stars. Mike Smith repeatedly stifled the Blueshirts' attack, however, and goals from Jaromir Jagr and Brendan Shanahan didn't end up as... more ›

With Kobe Bryant's trade demands in and out of the news, Gothamist wonders what Isiah Thomas would give up to put Bryant in a Knicks uniform. If you follow basketball, you know that Kobe has on again, off again, on again trade demands, and there's a video being shopped around where Kobe says some disparaging words about Lakers management and Andrew Bynum. The Lakers say that they won't be trading Kobe - and why would they - but when Thomas first heard of Byrant's trade request, he did think of a package. more ›

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Jared Jeffries was back in the starting lineup and responded with 14 points while Eddy Curry and Stephon Marbury added 27 and 22 points apiece. more ›

Revere Demo by F.Trainer. more ›

Gothamist would expect Chicago area sports teams to wear special green uniforms just because it's a city that dumps green dye into their river (our rivers can be greenish, thanks to other factors). But when we were checking out the Knicks' website, we learned that the Knicks will wear green uniforms for the first time, thanks to special sponsor, Tourism Island. And while Gothamist thinks this is lame, we understand why the Knicks undertook the sponsorship, beacuse if they ever needed the luck of the Irish, it's tonight, as they will be playing the first place Detroit Pistons. There will be other Irish tie-ins, like the entertainment, food specials (corned beef?), and giveaways, but we're pretty sure that most fans will be drowning their sorrows in beer so they forget the loss. more ›

When Phil Jackson retired from coaching the Lakers after the 2004 season he didn’t have a lot of positive things to say about Kobe Bryant calling him selfish among other things. Bryant chafed at playing within Jackson’s offense when Shaquile O’Neal was the primary option. A year apart obviously changed both of them as Bryant now shoots when he wants to, 36 times last night, and Jackson seems content to take his ten million dollars a year while watching him. The happy couple led the Lakers to a 97-92 victory last night as Kobe scored 42 points while going 15-36 from the field. more ›

Larry Brown still longs for his first win as the head coach of the New York Knicks. At 0-5, it would be nice if that win would come sooner than later. Last night, the Knicks came mighty close against the Golden State Warriors, but lost the game in the final minute, 86-84. Despite the fact that the Knicks came out to play in the first quarter (ha, we're so funny), ending the first period of play with a 10 point lead, they fell short. The Knicks even led by 13 at one point and held the lead for more than half the game (33 minutes). It's like they can't buy a break. more ›

While the Knicks lost last night's game by 18 points, they wake up with a real sense of relief this morning. Reggie Miller, the skinny, gawky perennial clutch shooter for the Indiana Pacers, has played his final game at MSG. While Reggie had a rough shooting night (13 points), teammate and fan-puncher Stephen Jackson picked up the slack with 33 points to lead Indiana to a win. more ›

After two disappointing losses on Saturday, hopes of a NY-area team making the NBA playoffs are looking fairly grim. The Knicks stand 5 1/2 games out of a playoff spot with just 12 left to play, while the Nets are a (somewhat) more manageable 3 1/2 games back. Current #7 and #8 East seeds Indiana and Philadelphia have played with serious heart in the last week, notching wins against the likes of the Spurs, Pistons, and Lakers, so both NY and NJ seem headed for the Secaucus lottery in June. more ›

After weeks of heartbreaking losses, the Knicks are starting to turn it around. They won games with Philly and Indiana last week, and continued the streak with an OT victory against the LA Lakers last night at MSG. Despite blowing a 12-point lead in the final 2 minutes, the Knicks rallied and actually pulled one out at the end. more ›

In a question that Gothamist seems to be asking too often these days, did the Nets (in this case) give up too much to get Carter or is it just what they need to become competitive. A lineup with Carter, Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson sounds very nice, but big names don't necessarily deliver championships (we're looking at you Lakers). more ›

Apparently Carmelo Anthony spoke too soon. The US Men's Olympic Basketball team was trounced earlier today by "European powerhouse" Italy. Just a week after Anthony, the youngest member of Team USA declared "We're guaranteeing a gold medal. We're bringing it back," the US suffered their worst exhibition loss since the NBA started sending players to the Olympics in 1992. more ›

Randy Kim, NBA.com more ›

Reed, enshrined at the Hall of Fame since 1982, led the Knicks to championships in 1970 and 1973; the title in 1970 was the first for the Knicks franchise and one of the most memorable performances in NBA History. Reed was injured in Game 5 of the Finals versus the Lakers and did not play in Game 6, which was the Lakers won with ease. When Game 7 came, Reed was not expected to play, but took the court moments before the tip-off, scored the first two baskets for the Knicks. His gutsy play in Game 7 propelled the Knicks to their first Championship. more ›

The offseason in the NBA has just begun and we’ve already seen the most dominant player in the league and the reigning scoring champion both involved in trade talks. This should set the stage very nicely for tonight’s draft. more ›