Carmelo Anthony Wraps Up China Tour With Furry Friend

New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony just wrapped up his promotional excursion through China, as part of the Jordan Brand Flight Tour, and made a new friend he tried to bring back to New York City with him.  Sadly for Knicks fans, it wasn't New Orleans Hornets guard Chris Paul.

The Knicks forward posted a picture of himself holding a cuddly panda bear on his Twitter account--and, although David Stern comes to mind, no it wasn't him.

'Melo, Paul and Miami Heat star Dwayne Wade just finished a week-long, four-city itinerary of China for the Jordan brand; which celebrates basketball in local communities.  The three NBA stars made stops at basketball camps and skills clinics to sign autographs and promote the game-- and the Michael Jordan sneakers over 300 million basketball fans will see and now be screaming for.

The big-three were treated like rock-stars and mobbed by thousands of screaming fans.  Yao Ming, you did a good job of bringing the NBA to the people's Republic.

The Knicks star and his fellow good will ambassadors each had their own shoes to promote for the tour.  Anthony's was called "Explosive" and based on a Chinese opera.

No word yet if Anthony signed with a Chinese team or if he and the free-agent-to-be Paul discussed the possibility of playing together for the Knicks.

Carlos Boozer Throws The First Stone

Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. Chicago Bulls forward Carlos Boozer should pay attention to that old adage.

Boozer, who has been called out for his subpar playoff performance has started the war of words between the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls. In a tweet to Shandel Richardson from the Sun Sentinel , Boozer said the Heat had two great players. Boozer doesn't see Miami's big three as a big three. He clearly sees it as a big two and a third wheel.

Now Bosh wasn't having the greatest playoff against Boston, but stepped it up when he had to. Bosh will have to continue his high level of play if Miami is to beat Chicago. On the other hand Boozer will have to be big in this series, especially since he let off the first verbal shot in the series.   

Dwayne Wade Wants To Hear Your Boos

When the Miami Heat signed Chris Bosh and LeBron James over the summer to form the Superfriends, every basketball fan from coast to coast had some animosity. More so in the cities of Cleveland and Toronto, where Bosh and James escaped from to go to Miami. So when the Heat go to Cleveland and Toronto, Bosh and James get the business and Dwayne Wade gets cheers. Wade recently joked that he would like to get booed as much as James and Bosh.

"Yeah, that's like a slap in the face," Wade said, smiling in an interview with the Palm Beach Post. "You know, we go back to Cleveland, I got cheered. We come here, I get cheered. That's a slap in the face to these guys. No, those cheers are boos to me as well."

Even in jest Wade would never be vilified, except in his hometown of Chicago since he never really entertained the thought of signing with the Bulls. Also, he didn't bail out on his current team for another and leave a franchise in shambles. I'll say this, Wade was smart to recruit Bosh and James to Miami. Toronto wasn't going anywhere and we see what Cleveland is without LeBron. If anything Wade is guilty by association, and I say that jokingly. Wade will never be lustily booed unless he's in Boston, L.A.(against the Lakers), or Chicago.

Personally I think fans need to get over this I hate the Miami Heat thing. Since when do you see players giving up money to win. They still get paid an obscene amount and they also know they need other pieces around them to win. I'm sure it adds more fuel for them to win.

Bosh Hurts Ankle Blames Omer Asik

The worse case scenario is coming to fruition for the Miami Heat. With LeBron James already on the sidelines with a sore ankle, Chris Bosh hurt his ankle in a loose ball scrum Saturday night in a loss to the Chicago Bulls.



With a thin froncourt and limited on depth Dwayne Wade will have to go at it alone until further notice. The team's depth will be tested and luckily it'll only be for a limited time. Luckily x-rays wee negative.

Meanwhile, Bosh wasn't too pleased with Bulls big man Omer Asik. Asik made a late dive for the loose ball.  Ok, it was late but you can't question his hustle. That's part of the game and what you get paid for. Bosh has his money, Asik might not have a contract next year.

 "C'mon, that is how guys get hurt, that is how serious injuries happen. You've got to watch people's legs. I know guys want to hustle and everything but we all want to play and provide for our families and have a job.We all want to be healthy and that is very important If it is by somebody's leg, don't dive for the ball, it's too close."

That's what Bosh had had to say about it. If you would've dove on the floor you wouldnt've had that leg exposed. I guess you couldn't get a floor burn and not risk yourself to possible injury. Next time dive and preserve your health.

Don't Be Alarmed

The Miami Heat and their supertrio probably played the worst game they'll probably play this year. The Heat dropped an 88-80 decision to the Boston Celtics last night. Save for LeBron James, the Heat didn't play that well. They showed flashes and LeBron showed that he might be the go to guy out of the three. Due to a hamstring injury and his divorce/custody case Dwayne Wade looked a little rusty to me. Chris Bosh looked like Chris Bosh having a lousy night in Toronto. Also as usual Boton played their trademark tough defense. They won't look this way every game. Nor will they look like the 72 win Bulls team every game. But there's no way they put together another nine point quarter this year.

LeBron Will Never Be Viewed As The King

With LeBron James officially a member of the Miami Heat, its safe to say that many will say that no matter how many titles he wins there, he will never be known as the King. James is without a doubt one of the top players in the NBA today and perhaps will go down as one of the greatest of all time. But with him signing with Miami just says that he wasn't able to close the deal in Cleveland. I will agree with many that a championship in Cleveland would've meant a whole lot more to his legacy than teaming up with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh to win one and possibly more. I'm not here to bash James for his decision. In the spirit of competition,the man wants to win.I can't blame him for that. Same goes for Wade and Bosh. Both of them will be look at the same. Players that couldn't win without another superstar. Wade does have a ring and it was his team, but he still had Shaq with two good knees and something to prove. It also helps to have the officials in your back pocket and another star (Dirk Nowitzki) shrinkig up in the spotlight.  All three are grea players, but the spotlight wll be squarely on James. This is Wade's team and his town. I've always said that James lacked a killer instinct, and him going to Miami confirmed my suspicion. True, he's a great player, but in the past and this year's playoffs included, he has shrunk in big moments. It kind of reminds me of Ric Flair hiding behind the Four Horsemen. There's a tier of great players like Bill Russell, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird. Its true they had stellar help around them, but the team was built around them. Like the Cavaliers were built around James. Instead he will go down with the likes of James Worthy, Billy Cunningham, Robert Parish, and countless good players who were a cog in the machine.  

Nasty Dunk

 
This was absolutely NASTY. I know it rattled Varejao.