BASKETBALL

In the NBA, The Lakers may still be trying to land Dwight Howard, but in the mean time, after adding Steve Nash to the mix, they decided they were going to try and land more help.  Also, in the event that they don’t land Howard, they want to get some scoring help at the small forward position. After all, they already lost Lamar Odom to the Clippers.  That’s why the Lakers went out and nabbed Antawn Jamison.  Jamison is a solid veteran in this league — someone who rose to prominence on the Warriors, then helped the Wizards with their playoff run in the mid-decade, and finally wound up in Cleveland as a means to help LeBron (except LeBron left).  Now, Jamison will be an integral asset to a Laker organization determined to get back to the finals while they still have a relatively healthy Kobe.  Adding Nash and Jamison is a good start to building their arsenal against the Thunder, Spurs, Mavs, and Grizzlies.

FOOTBALL

In the NFL, the Redskins are super high on their top draft choice Robert Griffin III.  He has been delighting at mini-camps, and they are ready for him to be the future and face of the franchise in Washington.  However, with the real NFL camps about to get under way, RG3 was still unsigned.  This is something they needed to take care of right away, as the Redskins traded a lot to get that pick and make Griffin the image of the franchise.  With that said, they want him in training camp right away so he doesn’t even miss one practice snap.  RG3 signed a 4-year deal worth $21 million, will all the money completely guaranteed no matter what.  Sounds like a lot, but just a few years ago if you were highly touted as a top QB draft pick, you could get contracts worth between $50 and $60 million.  Bad timing for RG3. Either way,  the pressure is on him to make the Redskins a contender.

Finally, in the NFL, Steelers superstar free safety (and Head and Shoulders advocate) Troy Polamalu hit the radio circuit yesterday wanting to tell the truth.  He says that during his career he has frequently lied about “not” having a concussion so he can get back in the game.  He says that football is all about camaraderie and toughness and getting back out there on the field no matter what.  It practically puts him in a peer pressure position to play hurt just to keep morale up.  However, this is very unsafe.  It comes to the forefront of the discussion, because so many experts are now saying that football might be… too dangerous, and that suffering concussions can lead to shorter life spans.  The NFL has taken measures to try and reduce the amount of ‘hard hits’, but bottom line is, regardless of penalties or personal fines to players, it’s very hard to control what happens on the field out there.  How many more players will come forward about playing through concussions?

BASKETBALL

In the NBA, with just a few hours left on the clock to decide whether or not to match the Rockets offer, the Knicks ultimately decided NOT to match the money for Jeremy Lin.  $25 million is a lot of money, but for a guy like Jeremy Lin, a player who has galvanized a fan base, and shows promise of being a good role player in this league, it may seem surprising, but it really just depends on whom you ask.  They got Raymond Felton in return. Jeremy Lin is officially a Rocket, and many Knicks fans are very sad to see him go.  He was a ‘good guy’ they could root for, but now they will have to hope that the nucleus of Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire can give them some success.  Jeremy Lin will be sorely missed by New Yorkers.
Elsewhere, in the NBA, with Steve Nash joining the Lakers after a long career with the Suns, there were reports that he was trying to lure 40-year old super athlete Grant Hill to come to LA as well.  After all, even though he’s 40, Hill was a former superstar and can always come in and nail down the big shot when you need him.  It looks like Nash’s courting of Hill worked — Hill is coming to Los Angeles, except… not as a Laker.  Nope, Hill decided that the better option was to join the up-and-coming Clippers.  While the Lakers are always in the running for a title, there’s something exciting about playing with Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and a rising Clipper team that everybody roots for.  This is likely the best move for Hill.  But, let’s take just one last look at it — HE’S 40 YEARS OLD AND STILL PRODUCTIVE IN THE NBA!!!!  There are 22 year old guys who can’t even make a practice squad.  Hill is incredible!!

Finally, in the NBA Summer League, some scary news on the court.  Nolan Smith, former Duke point guard stand out, was hoping to prove himself worthy in a standard Summer League game.  But, yesterday, Smith was fouled pretty hard, took a few steps, and then collapsed to the ground.  His teammate Wesley Matthews immediately came to his aid, and said that he saw Smith’s eyebrows twitching.  It looked pretty serious — so much so that they decided to take Smith off the court on a stretcher (very rare for basketball).  However, according to Matthews, Smith was still breathing and talking while on the ground, and it’s likely that he suffered a concussion (and not something much more serious).  Hopefully, the doctors will give him a go ahead to keep playing, allowing him to continue trying to make a name for himself in this league.  Good luck, Nolan Smith.