Brooklyn Nets guard D’Angelo Russell, NBA legend/Fox Sports analyst Jim Jackson and sports and entertainment journalist Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson. Photo Credit: Eric Salvary/Get Fit Radio TV

The Brooklyn Nets could use D’Angelo Russell. Russell last played November 11, missing the team’s last 26 games due to a knee injury.

Brooklyn will be without the point guard this evening against the San Antonio Spurs. 

The Nets’ leading scorer averaged 20.9 points over his 12 games along with 5.7 assists and 4.7 rebounds..

During his road to recovery, Russell has practiced with Nets’ G-League team, the Long Island Nets.  with his next opportunity to be activated, Friday night against the Miami Heat.

“D’Angelo is progressing really well,” Brooklyn Nets GM Sean Marks said earlier this week.

“He’s worked hard and he’s been diligent with his rehab. I would like to think it’s sooner rather than later. I’d never want to say it’s tomorrow or it’s three days or it’s five days or whatever it may be, but at the same time he’s anxious about getting out there and I know his teammates want to get him out there as well. So if things go well, I think we’ll see him in the short-term future here.”

Seeing Russell on the Nets’ bench has to be encouraging. He even received a technical foul while sitting on the bench, Monday at the Nets’ Martin Luther King Day home game against cross town rivals New York Knicks.

Since Russell’s injury the Nets have added nice pieces to the team like Nik Stauskas and Jahlil Okafor.

The Nets have gone 11-20 since Russell went down. They’ll do better with a Russell return. Taking a cursory look at sportsbook site, SportsBetting.ag”  they seem to think so too! With a healthy nucleus of Caris LeVert, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Spencer Dinwiddie and Allen Crabbe the Nets are pretty exciting to watch and could do damage in the years to come.

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Chicago Bulls forward Lauri Markkanen. Photo Credit: CSN

Chicago Bulls forward Lauri Markkanen Chats With Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson On Scoop B Radio. Press Play Below To Listen

News out of the midwest this week was that Dwyane Wade reached a buyout agreement with the Chicago Bulls and as expected he signed a deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Bulls are going young with Zach Lavine, Denzel Valentine, Bobby Portis, Kris Dunn, Jerian Grant and Lauri Markkanen.

Speaking of Markkanen, the talented Finnish forward averaged  15.6 points, 7.2 rebounds last season as an Arizona Wildcat. The former Wildcast says that despite his 7-foot size, he grew up liking Wade and his game.

Unfortunately, the rookie forward won’t get a chance to play alongside him at the United Center with his move to Cleveland. 

Former Chicago Bulls guard Dwyane Wade. Photo Credit: Rolling Stone

On a recent episode of Scoop B Radio, Markkanen says that his eyes were glued to his television set during the 2006 NBA Finals when Wade, then a member of the Miami Heat averaged a heroic 34.7 PPG 7.8 RBG and 3.8 AST in the Finals against the Dallas Mavericks.

“He was super quick,” Markkanen told me on Scoop B Radio. “And impacted the game in a lot of ways so I really liked how he played.”

Markkanen has a chance to get ample playing time with a young nucleus under Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg. Tall guards like Giannis Antetokounmpo lead the pack of positionless players who rule the NBA. Markkanen likes the challenge. “I played guard my whole life and then developed my inside game a couple years back,” he said.

“So it’s really whatever coach wants me to play. I can play whatever you ask me to.”

Having played his whole career in Europe and coming to the U.S. playing at Arizona, Markkanen believes he’s become well-rounded. “It’s more physical here,” he said.

“And I think half court basketball is weaker back home because you have a shorter shot clock. But the transition basketball is something that really stood out to me because you really have to get back on defense because players are more athletic.”

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The post With Dwyane Wade Now A Cleveland Cavalier, Chicago Bulls’ Lauri Markkanen Can’t Play With Childhood Idol, But Can Shine On Young Hoiberg Team appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony and RESPECT.Magazine managing editor Brandon ”Scoop B’ Robinson. Photo Provided By: Ismael ‘Calligrafist’ Sayeed of Calligrafist Photography

The New York Knicks have not played a regular season game since their 114-113 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on April 12, yet they’re still front page news.

Two weeks ago, the orange and blue fired Phil Jackson as Knicks team President. Over the weekend, former Cleveland Cavaliers GM David Griffin removed his name as Jackson’s successor. According to ESPN reports, Griffin had difference of opinion with Knicks ownership over how much control he would have over basketball decisions.

The icing on the cake?

2013 Knicks draftee, Tim Hardaway Jr., played the role of prodigal son after averaging 14.5 points and 2.3 assists in 27 minutes per game as a part-time starter for the Atlanta Hawks. Last week Hardaway Jr. signed a four-year $71 million deal with the Knicks. Despite that signing, online sportsbook TopBet predicts crosstown rivals Brooklyn Nets will finish next season better than the Knicks.

This ushers in the question: Was Tim Hardaway Jr. brought back to the Knicks to replace currrent star Carmelo Anthony?

If that is the case, Hardaway Jr. will have a lot more fun playing under current Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek than he did playing under former Knicks coach Derek Fisher. My sources told me that during Hardaway Jr’s first stint in New York, he bore the burden of being the son of NBA legend Tim Hardaway Sr. I’m told both both Fisher and Hardaway Sr. weren’t the best of friends during their playing careers in the 90s and at times Fisher took that frustration out on Hardaway Jr.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, before being fired as team president of the Knicks, Phil Jackson openly discussed his want to ship Anthony to another team. Anthony, for the record put up decent stats, averaging 22.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game last season. It has been widely reported that Anthony, who has one year remaining on his current contract, is willing to waive his no-trade clause if he’s dealt to the Cavaliers or the Rockets.

On Sunday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, reported that the Knicks have a “renewed willingness” to make a deal that would send Anthony to the Houston Rockets following their acquisition of Hardaway Jr.

Anthony has always contended that New York is what he loves since arriving to the Big Apple in a blockbuster trade with the Denver Nuggets in 2011.

Before signing his five-year, $125 million max deal with the Knicks in the summer of 2014, Anthony sought out the services of brand strategist and consultant, Ben Ricciardi. Ricciardi, the CEO of the Burbank, California based Times 10 brand agency, has been trusted to spearhead roll-out brand initiatives with everyone from Adidas, Nike, the Houston Rockets’ James Harden and others.

In an interview with Scoop B Radio on Friday, Ricciardi, an expert and trusted authority of late via his expert analysis about Uber’s ousted CEO Travis Kalanick said that in 2013, he suggested to Anthony that he needed to show his connectedness to New York City through visual campaigns via social media. After all, Anthony was born in Brooklyn and lived in the borough throughout his teenage years before moving to Baltimore.

#TBT a couple of years ago this commercial with @carmeloanthony helped us grow to a whole different level. Big shout out to @whoischristianvazquez! Also amazing job by to business partner and CCO of @Times10 @mistermichaeladrian. #bentimes10 #carmeloanthony #times10

A post shared by Ben Ricciardi (@bentimes10) on Apr 6, 2017 at 6:57pm PDT

Last week, a video clip of Anthony’s workout with his trainer, Chris Brinkley littered the internet. The video showed Anthony running in the park at 2 A.M. Also last week, another video clip showed interim Knicks President Steve Mills and his Knicks staff chuckling at Anthony’s workout while seated and watching hoops at the NBA’s Orlando Summer League. ESPN’s Ian Begley stated that the Knicks declined to comment on the matter, making it difficult to know what, exactly, was going on at the game.

Knicks executives laughing at Carmelo’s workout tapes is all you need to know about that situation pic.twitter.com/43oGvgf278

— 12up (@12upSport) July 2, 2017

While that drew attention, Anthony’s on-camera off season routine is nothing new. Anthony’s ‘Define Yourself,’ a campaign that detailed how Anthony was changing his body and changing his shape was a fan favorite. According to Ricciardi, the concept all began over lunch with Anthony. “I’m hearing how hard he works and he’s working all through the night, every day on his game, on his body and redefining himself,” Ricciardi told me on Scoop B Radio.

Check out Ben Ricciardi and Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson on Scoop B Radio

 

“I went to him and said: ‘man, like, the world doesn’t know this and the world needs to know why you’re staying in New York.’ You were born in Red Hook and you grew up in Red Hook until you were 13 years old. Everyone thinks of you as a Baltimore kid, but really you’re a New York kid and this is your hometown, and you were raised in Red Hook.”

Ricciardi added:

“Secondarily, people think of you as lazy, they think of you as not working hard and I’m seeing you grinding on your shot, working every day, working with your coaches, working with your trainers, we need to get that out there to people.”

The experiment worked. Anthony’s workout routine has been legendary. In the summer of 2014, he shed about 30 to 40 pounds by cutting carbs and meat from his diet and dedicating to his workout routine. “It wasn’t more about my diet, it was more about the training that I was doing and really pushing myself to that limit,” Anthony told me after his weight loss.

Anthony has been adamant about his loyalty to the Knicks over the years. He told a room full of kids at his annual ProCamps basketball camp: “My window is closing, so I’m trying to get this championship to New York ASAP.”

Ben Ricciardi. Photo Credit: Instagram

Ricciardi and Anthony also collaborated on a visual called ‘This Is Why I Stayed,’ a visual that explained why he chose the Knicks over the Houston Rockets and other teams who were courting Anthony back in 2014. “That piece came out incredible and actually ended up being played Opening Night on all the jumbotrons at Madison Square Garden after the first timeout.”

A six time NBA All Star, Carmelo Anthony, 33 was the NBA’s scoring champion in 2013. Anthony holds the record for the most points scored by a Knick at Madison Square with 62. He’s also a three time USA basketball Olympic gold medalist.

The hardest part of working with Melo may surprise you: “He goes back and forth whether he wants people to see stuff or not,” said Ricciardi. “The stuff came out amazing but he’s always wishy-washy, which you get from celebrities, athletes and people like that. One day they’re all excited and gung-ho and then the next day they’re like: ‘I don’t know if I want the world to see this.’”

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Shaquille O’Neal and his mother, Lucille O’Neal. Photo Credit: City of Newark, New Jersey

Retired NBA All Star and TNT’s Inside The NBA studio analyst Shaquille O’Neal has been running through headlines the last couple of days. People Magazine reports that Shaq will make a run at becoming a police sheriff in 2020. Earlier this week, the iconic NBA center announced that he’ll be the cover athlete for next season’s NBA 2K18.

Dude is blessed, dude is talented and The Big Aristotle has always been ahead of his time!

All homage goes to the man upstairs and also to great parenting. His late step-father, Army Sergeant Philip Harrison and his living mother, Lucille O’Neal raised him and his three other siblings: Latifah, Ayesha and Jamal.

In the spirit of Mother’s Day, this Sunday, Lucille O’Neal joined me on episode #56 of Scoop B Radio.

On the show, Momma O’Neal, an author and a motivational speaker, described her most memorable Mother’s Day gift; a cutting board, that Shaq made with the inscription that reads, ‘Lu’s Kitchen.’

“I still have that cutting board,” she said. “And the reason I love it is because when we get in the kitchen together and I cook fried chicken and macaroni and cheese, that cutting board always comes to my mind. It was one of my first Mother’s Day gifts.”

Check Out Lucille O’Neal & Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson On The Mother’s Day Episode Of Scoop B Radio

Momma O’Neal was a hard-working mom when her kids were growing up. She discusses being a strong black woman and the sacrifices she made as a responsible parent:

“Biggest sacrifice was maybe not having the money to pay a bill or having money to pay a bill and used it when my children had a need for it. I made many sacrifices but those are some of the ones where I would just put them first, I always put them first. Still do sometimes. But I don’t look at it as a sacrifice, I just am happy I’m able to do it. You know when you become a mother it’s no longer me first, it’s family first.”

She even detailed her Odessa Chambliss Quality of Life Fund, a fund in honor of her mother who passed away April 2, 1996:

“She had a great legacy, she loved people; a strong woman of faith and she just had, I mean tremendous love for everybody. So we put our heads together and came up with the Odessa Chambliss quality of life fund and we’re raising money for nursing scholarships out of the resources and the money that we have raised since 1996 we were able to get a building named in her honor on the campus of the great Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach.”

The next generation of O’Neal’s are entering the basketball world. Lucille O’Neal is a grandmother of fifteen grandchildren. `Her grandson, Shareef O’Neal, Shaq’s son, recently committed to the University of Arizona. When asked whether Shaq was as talented as Shareef was at that age, Momma O’Neal replied: “I have to say yes.”

She furthered that assertion by stating: “Because I’ve watched the development and it’s something that I’ve seen before. The world is seeing it because of the way that information gets out. But I’ve seen the progress, it’s in his genes he has a special gift. And he and Shaquille, I believe will be playing different positions. Shaquille was a power player in the middle of the paint, but Shareef is a finesse player and he can also play in the paint, so he’s good and his dad was good too.”

 Momma O’Neal shared something that was a shocker: she played basketball herself. Everybody talks about how great of a hooper her son was, but apparently, she checked the rock at the center position, also. “Because I’m tall so I played the middle,” she said.

She said her game wasn’t bad. “Nice defensive game not concentrating too much on the offense, but played defense because we were only able to go half court. The game is much different for women today.”

She added: “When I played basketball it was so quiet because we were only able to play half court. Now they have the WNBA where the women play as well as the men and they dominate the game at every position. I never played that level.”

It takes a village to raise a child and an even bigger village to help maintain an athlete’s success once they have arrived, the O’Neal family is basking in plenty of success these days. This past year, Shaq was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, had his jersey retired by the Miami Heat and a statue of Shaq was erected outside of Staples Center in Los Angeles.  The Staples Center Statue is a second in his honor; his first was built at his college alma mater, LSU. When asked about which recent accolades stood out the most, she paused for a minute and marveled.

“When we leave this earth we want to leave a legacy and those two statues are reminders of the legacy of Shaquille O’Neal,” she said.

She admitted to being impressed with the statue at Staples Center:

“The couple that made that statue they did a phenomenal job. It’s beautiful, it is detailed all the way down to the tattoos. And I really am I amazed at that one because it’s not the final but to end a career after so many years and have that monument it’s something special about that. The ultimate gift that every basketball player wants is to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, but to get a statue oh my it’s something. I don’t have a word for that, so out of all of that I guess it’s those two, the one at LSU, I don’t know if you’ve ever seen it but it’s beautiful as well.”

Lastly, Momma O’Neal is fair, but she’s also honest. That’s what mothers are supposed to do. Earlier this season, the Golden State Warriors’ JaVale McGee, (who by the way has been playing inspired basketball this season) and Shaq got into a war of words that found their way via Twitter and on the set of TNT’s Inside The NBA’s Shaqtin’ A Fool segment.

As per Rolling Stone Magazine:  While many believed O’Neal had finally taken it too far – The Mercury News’ Marcus Thompson II wrote about the reasons O’Neal was out of line – it wasn’t until Momma O’Neal, stepped in that he realized it was time to put an end to their long-standing feud.

“I have orders from the top to leave it alone,” Shaq told ESPN’s The Undefeated. “No, [not NBA commissioner Adam Silver]. My mama. Just say Shaq’s mom, called him, told him, ‘Stop this silliness. Leave him alone.’ So that’s the end of the beef”

What in the world did she say? “Well the conversations that my son and I have, I really want to keep confidential,” Lucille O’Neal told me on Scoop B Radio.

“But what I encouraged him to do was let it go because a war of words can go on forever. I mean it can go on a long time and some things are better left unsaid. So there had to be a cutoff point and I knew it was time so I encouraged him to just let it go. Brandon when I was growing up we used to say sticks and stones can break your bones but words will never hurt you that is really not true, because words can hurt you. So with the war of words going on both of them were hurt so it was just time to let that go.”

Sounds like wise counsel. 

Shifting gears: it’s holiday time. Mother’s Day is on Sunday. What are holiday dinners like in the O’Neal household?

Take us on home, Momma O’Neal:

“Okay for Christmas we have a lot of fruit and nuts because we love fruit and nuts,” she said. 

“Turkey, collard greens, potato salad , sweet potato pie , rice , macaroni and cheese, cake, all of those things that we really don’t need but we enjoy because Christmas and Easter those are special days. So we just eat what we like. We put aside whether or not it’s good for us. We just have what we like and if we can get something a little different if you come to visit we ask you to bring one of your favorite family dishes. But for the most part we sit back we eat, we laugh, and we get to know one another all over again. Hopefully a day will come when I can be in one place with all of my grandchildren and their parents and we can just take a nice family photo, because we’re scattered. I got grandkids in Texas, grandkids in California, and Grandkids here but my dream is to be in one place with all of them so I can take a nice family portrait.”

Sounds like a plan to me! Lucille O’Neal is about family. As the matriarch of her family, she genuinely embodies that. Good food, good advice and great conversation; who can beat that?

Happy Mother’s Day, Momma Lucille O’Neal! 

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Basketball Hall of Famer and TNT’s Charles Barkley chats with RESPECT Magazine’s Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson on Scoop B Radio Overtime. Photo Credit: Angie Vasquez / Scoop Vision Media

Over the last week, we’ve seen two instances where journalists, TV watchers, radio listeners and folks who read articles can get a quote from a notable figure and misinterpret it. For print and multimedia journalists: we get the spicy headlines, report what we saw and go about our day. But in cases where you’ve got unorthodox figures who are either very direct, don’t care or you have to know them to love them, what you see on tv cannot be easily translated to print.

The first instance came this past Friday when New York Knicks team president, Phil Jackson suggested that Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks might be better off going their separate ways. 

The Knicks did finish their season with a 31-51 record. New York has endured their fourth straight season out of the playoffs.

“We have not been able to win with him on the court at this time and I think the direction with our team is that he is a player that would be better off somewhere else and using his talent somewhere he can win or chase that championship,” Jackson said Friday.

New Yorkers, Knicks fans and NBA fanatics were ticked! 

Honestly, reading the quote vs. seeing Jackson on television discussing Anthony seemed entirely different. It was reminiscent of the perception that viewers had in watching vs. listening to the 1960 Presidential debate between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy.

Radio listeners thought Nixon won the debate. Television watchers thought Kennedy won the debate! Seeing and hearing are truly interesting things!

Back in basketball land, Jackson recently inked a two-year extension with the New York Knicks to remain their team President. Anthony, 32, has one year left on his current deal, with his no-trade clause still in effect. Many believe Anthony will wave his no-trade clause with top teams like the Los Angeles Clippers, Miami Heat and the Portland Trail Blazers as likely suitors for the small forward’s services.

Tuesday night on TNT’s Inside The NBA, Barkley replied to the criticism, stating:  

“I want to address something that really bothered me,” Barkley said. “I heard that all these nitwits, fools, idiots were complaining what I was saying about Isaiah Thomas the other night making me uncomfortable. Number one, I don’t care what y’all think. I don’t care what your mom and daddy think either, just for the record. But to insinuate what I was trying to — what I was saying, I’m uncomfortable talking about his pain and then going to basketball. For all you nitwits, scumbags, idiots, punks, to try to make that a story because y’all don’t have ratings and use my name to draw ratings, don’t do that. You don’t have any talent, it’s the simple fact, you don’t have any talent. Let me be me.

“I’ve talked to Isaiah. He didn’t take any offense to that. What I was talking about, I wish him and his family nothing but the best. For you punks to try to make a big deal out of it, it just pisses me off.”

Charles Barkley, just like Phil Jackson, speaks his mind in a candor that is more suitable for a family cookout. You know that one uncle who says whatever he wants to say however he wants to say it, whenever he wants to say it? We all have those in our family. Barkley reminds me a lot of my grandmother; she’s kind, loving, opinionated and some would say that she doesn’t give a damn and she’ll tell you why. Barkley is the same way.

“It took me a while to realize that I couldn’t make everybody happy,” Barkley told me in a recent interview on Scoop B Radio. “I think I was 24 or 25 when I took over the Sixers team and I wanted everybody to like me and then I realized: ‘I can’t make everybody happy.’ No matter what you say, you can’t make everybody happy. I feel an obligation to try and be honest. That was difficult for me in the beginning.”

Hear Charles Barkley & Scoop B Break Down Music and More On Episode # 25 of Scoop B Radio

Barkley meant no mal-intent, but if you have a question; darnit, he has an answer. If he’s wrong, he surely corrects himself. I was reminded of that, in a recent interview with Sir Charles on Scoop B Radio Overtime, where he, just like many Americans, amitted that he was wrong in assuming that Hillary Rodham Clinton would win the 2016 Presidential Election.

Appearing on Scoop B Radio Overtime, Barkley broke it down.

“We were dead wrong, said Barkley on Scoop B Radio Overtime. “You know what? I look at it like this: we didn’t win, it was difficult I was probably in a funk for a week, but you know what? I’m gonna try to do everything in my power to support the President because he’s the President of The United States.”

Charles Barkley Talks Trump, NBA TV Theme Songs and Michael Jordan On Scoop B Radio Overtime 

“I mean we got to get behind him, he’s done some things already that I don’t like, I’m against the Muslim ban, I’m against the immigration deportation, he’s got to stop trying to paint everybody with a broad brush. I mean It’s just wrong, most of these Muslim people here are amazing, hard-working people same thing with these illegal immigrants, they’re here, they’re hard working people. I think most people don’t want gangsters here, people don’t want terrorists here we all understand that, but people have to be able to be treated with respect and dignity.”

The cast of TNT’s Inside The NBA live in our living rooms.

They’re like family. Families have disagreements, families shoot straight from the hip and family apologies when they’re wrong. Phil Jackson has been wrong on a number of fronts throughout the season. Jackson is seemingly out of touch with today’s NBA in calling the Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James and his friends a ‘posse.’ and as an employer he’s publicly bashed his employee, Carmelo Anthony.

Jackson hasn’t admitted any wrongdoing. But Barkley has!

Where do we go from here?

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LOS ANGELES, CA – NOVEMBER 23: Derek Anderson #1 of the Los Angeles Clippers dunks against Latrell Sprewell #8 of the New York Knicks on November 23, 1999 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1999 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)

Derek Anderson was a fly dude when he entered the NBA.

The 13th pick in the 1997 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers, Anderson was fresh off winning a NCAA National Championship with Kentucky, had a deal with the Jordan Brand and played on a Cavaliers squad that included Shawn Kemp, Brevin Knight, a young  Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Wesley Person, Cedric Henderson, Bob Sura and Vitaly Potapenko.

He’d go on to average 11 points a game and 1.5 steals. He’d play ten years in the league where he’d average 12 points a game playing for the Portland Trail Blazers, Charlotte Bobcats, Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Clippers and the Miami Heat.

On Saturday, Anderson was the keynote speaker at the A&M Sports Academy’s March Madness Fundraiser. A&M Sports Academy is a hoops mentoring program founded in 2008. While there, he discussed the highs and lows of his journey: being a parent by the age of fourteen, being shot and stabbed, losing his mom to substance abuse, winning championships in college and the professional level. Anderson thinks he left impact. “I think they left with a purpose of I need to finish what I start  and also I need to change my attitude if I want to win,” Anderson told me.

“Those two things have always been key.”

While chatting with the students at the A&M Sports Academy, Anderson showed a video montage  of his career. Homeboy was high flying, acrobatic and showcased his arsenal of moves during his career. He zig-zagged, criss-cross apple sauced and broke ankles via crossover moves on guys like fellow NBA retiree, Kobe Bryant. While watching the montage, you couldn’t help but notice that Anderson also dunked on NBA big men like Horace Grant and Dikembe Mutombo! “I pretty much got everybody,” said Anderson. “If I can remember I think I got every big man that I can remember. So I really wasn’t searching them out, but I was always like I would love to get one of those posters up.”

You’d think Anderson got the biggest joy on dunking on Mr. No-no-no Mutombo? Was it Horace Grant? How about Charles Barkley? “Neither,” Anderson said with a sly grin.

Check out Derek Anderson Chatting With Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson on Scoop B Radio.

Apparently, Anderson has one guy in mind that he wanted to dunk on during his career that he couldn’t. “I was trying to dunk on Patrick Ewing,” Anderson said on Scoop B Radio. “I always see him trying to box out. I was growing up seeing him blocking everybody’s dunks. I see Dikembe do it but once I got Dikembe my rookie year, I was good. But I always tried to dunk on Patrick Ewing  because Jordan did it. Remember when Jordan baseline dunked on him? I always wanted to get one like that.”

In addition to chatting about his dunk conquests, the former Kentucky Wildcat also weighed in on his thoughts on the current Kentucky basketball squad and their stars chances at the next level. “I think if Monk ever plays defense he would be,” said Anderson. “But I think right now Fox is the key one. So Fox is the point guard. It’s a point guard driven league. If he continues to work on his jump shot and goes full speed like he is doing I think he will be a significant player.”

If you’re tardy to the party and not familiar with Anderson’s high-flying prowess, check it below

AAU culture is something that’s a hot button topic in sports. Kobe Bryant was critical about it in his farewell tour and Earl ‘The Pearl’ Monroe stated on the Scoop B Radio Podcast that it’s all about guard’s and forwards in the NBA. Derek Anderson weighed in as well on the debate. “I think it has changed dramatically,” said Anderson.

“I think what that is something that the AAU coaches just let their players do anything instead of teach them and train them. So now they don’t have any discipline. You look at that one kid who had 92 points, but he didn’t come past half court like half the time. Do you think our coaches would let us do that? No. He would have been all over us ‘Get back on defense play hard.’ But now there are so many coaches that let players be good so he can get a name and I think that is the issue with AAU. If they just roll the balls out and say: ‘who ever is talented go do it.’ And I think that is where AAU is failing us. The coaches aren’t demanding excellence. Therefore there is none.”

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The post Retired NBA Vet, Derek Anderson On Knicks’ Ewing: “I always tried to dunk on Patrick Ewing Because Jordan Did It” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Kendall Gill had a 15-year career in the NBA. Gill averaged 13 points, four rebounds and a shade under 2 steals while suiting up for the Seattle Sonics, Charlotte Hornets, New Jersey Nets, Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves, Chicago Bulls and the Milwaukee Bucks.

Honestly, Gill’s best career came in the 1999 season where he was the NBA’s steals leader, averaging 2.68 per game. In that season, he locked down all types of players from Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter, Grant Hill, Allen Iverson, Alan Houston and Larry Johnson.

Gill was a man on a mission that year, for real. He took joy in guarding players from positions 1-3 and he sometimes even guarded tweeners like now retired power forward, Kevin Garnett, who later was his teammate with the T-Wolves.

”If I asked Kendall to play power forward, he would do it,” former Nets coach John Calipari once said about Gill after practice. ”Look at him. He is still at it.”

Gill relished in playing against a young Kobe Bryant. “Kobe didn’t reinvent the wheel,” Gill told me in a recent interview. “He studied a lot of what Michael did and put a little bit of his own spin in it and became one of the greatest players that played the game. You can’t argue with that. Then when he leaves the game with 61, I mean who does that? He really put a stamp on his legacy when he did that.”

Gill’s name surfaced recently when former NBA coach George Karl released his book, Furious George: My Forty Years Surviving NBA Divas, Clueless GMs, and Poor Shot Selection.

The book garnered much attention presumably because of the excerpts detailing his relationship with his former players, J.R. Smith of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony and retired NBA player Kenyon Martin. Karl also included Gill. Karl said that Gill was a bad teammate. Gill played for him in Seattle from 1993-95.  “I was always a good teammate,” Gill told CBS Sports Radio’s Tiki and Tierney. “Always, always played within my team. As a matter of fact, George Karl himself said I was too unselfish to become a superstar. He told me that. And now, what you’re telling me – that he said I was a bad teammate – I take that personally. You can ask anybody that I’ve ever played with. Was I selfish? I was never any of those things. For him to come out and say that about me is simply wrong.”

As a member of the press, I’ve always had good dealings with Kendall Gill. Retrospectively my Scoop B Radio series chronicles some of my best interviews done from past and present. Kendall Gill made the cut. He always talked reverently about Muhammad Ali and Walter Payton being his role models growing up and enjoying reading Neale Donald Walsch’s Conversations with God book.

On a slow news Monday, take a listen.

Check out Kendall Gill and Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson on Scoop B Radio

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The post Scoop B: Catching Up With The NBA’s Unselfish Player, Kendall Gill appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.