Kobe Bryant is already ahead of schedule, plans to return by season opener.

Jeff Gross/Getty Images

Kobe is not human. It's only been 3 months since he went under surgery for a torn Achilles tendon and he is already looking at August for full activity.

Kobe on his rehab: "I'm progressing faster than everybody expected so I'm very happy with it." He is targeting mid August for full activity
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) July 10, 2013

As crazy as it sounds, even his orthopedic surgeon confirmed the news. If everything goes accordingly, Kobe will be 2 months ahead of schedule and will be on the floor for the first game of the season.

KOBE to be at full activity in 4 weeks. That means no restrictions but later stages of tendon recovery still remain. Will see him at Game 1.
— Dr. Robert Klapper (@DrRobertKlapper) July 10, 2013

Yay for medical science advancements and illegal German procedures. Thanks for keeping Kobe together.

Via: BTB

Charles Barkley hijacked a local Phoenix Newscast and did the weather.

Just when you thought that Charles Barkley might be retiring from doing the Inside the NBA for TNT, he goes and shows up on your local news without notice. Aside from being terrible at doing color commentary, his back up plan to work as a weather man will likely not work out.

Cool transition from the weather to talking about your plants. It is always good to engage a conversation that no one cares about with a weatherman. Stick with half time show, you only have to work on Thursdays. I know Shaq get be a little annoying, but it is only 6 hours. You can take 6 hours of mumbling and yelling right?

LeBron James will never compete in the NBA Dunk Contest.

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Guys, this is the worst LeBron James news since the "Decision."

From SI:

On Saturday night after the Heat’s 105-89 home victory over the Utah Jazz, James ended all speculation about him competing in the (Slam Dunk) contest. When asked, if he would ever compete, James said:

“No,’’ said James to Fox Sports Florida. “It’s over with. I’m getting too old… It’s a taxing season. A lot of stars play a lot of the bulk of the minutes. So they got to protect their body and understand that they got to do what’s best for them. There were times when I wanted to do it. But I came into All-Star Weekend a few times banged up and I didn’t want to risk further injury.”

LeBron is currently in his 10th season, he is 29 years old and did this last year.

What was even more amazing than that dunk was that he managed to dodge the contest for this long. He entered the league at 19, and dominated right way with pure athletic ability (and the right amount of playmaking). According to NBA history, these kind of guys can't escape the beloved event of the All Star weekend. Hey Mr. David Stern, maybe you can do this one last thing for the fans before your retirement, we promise to hate you a little less.

LeBron, please give us an answer. Because winning the Slam Dunk contest was every child's dream and I can't imagine you to think differently. I still practice on my Nerf hoop to this day awaiting for my invite (my 360-through-the-legs is legit). I just don't get it, look at what he could do back in Cleveland and tell me how he could possibly lose to Nate Robinson (his 3-peat is a joke).

The worst thing about all of this, was that he lied. He declared for the 2010 Dunk contest and toyed with our hearts.

Thanks for crushing the souls of millions, again.

A D.C. Sports Anchor was a little too excited about the Wizards' win over the Heat.

This dude threw professionalism out the window when the Washington Wizards defeated the Miami Heat, but can you blame him? If your team, that also happens to be the worst in the league, gets their second season victory against the defending champs, you should be allowed to go a little crazy. Just ask the guy that almost killed himself after the first Wizards win, he was lucky Emeka Okafor was there to save his life.

Source: SB Nation

The New York Knicks and OKC Thunder reveals new alternate uniforms.

The New York Knicks jersey looks great, the league has been missing orange for a long time now.

The Thunder jersey looking not so great, those are just plain and boring, the players don't even look excited. Look at Iman Shumpert, arms wide open to let you guys know how cool his jersey looks, even though he is one of those guys that will wear anything and call it swag, he got this one right.

Update: The Thunder will only wear those for 10 road games, no idea for the Knicks.

Sources: Beyond the Buzzer, @OKCThunder

NBA: Where you have 90 seconds for a handshake.

Well, this came out of no where. Apparently the NBA is tired of starting games later than allotted, so David Stern decides to put his tyrannical power to work.

From PBT:

From the time pregame introductions end, teams will have 90 seconds to return to the court and be ready for the opening tip.

Basically, this means no more pre-game rituals, no more silly handshakes and no more dancing.
I for one absolutely hate this, those rituals are something fans love and try to imitate. Removing them for casual watchers is just not fair.

This really hits hard, where am I going to get my .GIF fixes now?

Sources: PBT  and PurpleandYellow Tumblr (Picture)

NBA releases an official video demo of flops that will be fined.

From sportsnola.com

The new NBA rule has raised a lot of eyebrows since its official release. Many fans were concerned by what they define as a flop, so the Association released a video demonstration today that will clear things up.

Please visit this link for the video. A must watch for all basketball fans.

A few thoughts:

• Clippers training camp must be a hoot. Watching game tapes of soccer are definitely part of their practice schedule.
• NBA seems to be protecting a certain someone, who may or may not be the best player in basketball right now. Oh, the possibilities are endless.
• Considering there are 3 referees in the game, how are they missing some of these blatant calls, I am sure one of them might not have the best angle, but seriously?

There are still too many issues to address with the new rule, but for now, let's hope this is a first step in the right direction and a solution will soon be reached.

Source: Deadspin, SportsNOLA (Picture)

Blake Griffin called the NBA's new flopping rule, a money grab.

We all know that the Clippers are currently the best flopping team, when they established themselves as one of the league's premier on court actors. As of yesterday, the NBA have decided to put an end to this outrageous trickery by implementing the new flopping policy. The problem is that, there are no penalties in game, because all flops are reviewed afterwards and the appropriate fine will be handed to the culprit. Fines are increased each time the player violates the rule, with a maximum of 30,000 dollars for the fifth violation, other penalties are administered at a sixth and above violation.

In a recent interview, Blake Griffin addressed the rule and called it a money grabbing scheme. Before you go nuts, and flashbacks of the Dunk Champion falling on to the ground when getting hit by guys much smaller than him. Raising questions to why a monster built body like his could submit itself to the floor countless number of times, he actually makes a good point. This new strategy by the NBA does not help change outcome of games that could potentially be decided by a flop. Guys can decide to take that fine, and make a play that can help them win the game.

The policy is definitely flawed and although it will cut down on the number of flops, it will not solve the problem in the long run. Penalties must be issued in games, otherwise the integrity of the league will always be at stake.

Update with video:

 Sources: Ball Junkie (picture), NBA.com, Beyond  the Buzzer.

Derek Fisher finds his way back to Lakerland.

Not really, but he is back at the LA practice facility to just work out.

You can spot him at 0:16 of the video, ignore the big doofus working on his post moves.

 

Derek Fisher definitely wants to finish his career with the Lakers, but he will not be able to be signed by them until the trade deadline. 

With the salary the Lakers have to pay, resigning Derek Fisher would be unlikely, and many teams have been reported to be interested in the veteran guard.

Sources: @Lakers