The All-Star weekend is well known as one can get details, videos as well as pics of it all over the Internet. In fact, it still has a good deal of curiosity from fans of the game and of Vince Carter’s incredible basketball accomplishments. For the duration of the match, Vince Carter was actively playing for the Toronto Raptors, the team which in the end won. In the game was also his cousin, Tracy McGrady and Steve Francis of the Houston Rockets.

The historic year 2000 Vince Carter Slam Dunk Contest was as well Vince’s initial attempt at this special contest, and was even far better known for that experts claim Vince Carter made the first reverse full 360 ever. Not just that, but he also windmilled the ball.

In fact, the show was so popular and widely respected, that it continues to be widely mentioned to this day and any search on YouTube will show you a good deal of pro and fan produced videos dedicated to this extraordinary feat.

On the other hand, the Vince Carter Slam Dunk Tournament is without doubt not the only extraordinary success that he has made over his considerable and extraordinary career in professional basketball. He has as well won the All-Star no less than 8 instances, two times the All-NBA and in last year he earned the Olympic gold medal.

Currently, Vince Carter plays for Orlando Magic and continues to develop his career, raking in a wage of more than sixteen million. His career only started out in 98 but continues to improve in terms of importance and impressiveness. Right up until lately being traded with the Orlando Magic team, he played for the NJ Nets.

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Iverson had received the most interest from the Charlotte Bobcats and Miami Heat. Both teams have a lot of upside for ‘The Answer’-the Bobcats are coached by his Larry Brown, whom Iverson played for in Philadelphia. Miami would likely use Iverson in a reserve role-while he bristled at that assignment in Detroit, he’s suggested that he’d be more receptive to it on a contending team.

From a financial standpoint, however, there are problems with both Miami and Charlotte. The Heat is already over the salary cap, and simply doesn’t have the personnel budget to pay Iverson what he could demand elsewhere. Charlotte, meanwhile, is up for sale and would be able to offer Iverson a short term deal with the prospect for renegotiation later, but that may not be something he’s interested in.

Memphis, on the other hand, has $3.5 million dollars of free space under the salary cap. They could easily outbid either Miami or Charlotte, and would also make Iverson the focal point of the team. While GM Wallace confirmed that they’d made a formal offer to “AI” he was mum on the specific terms:

“We’re heading into the home stretch before the season, and we have had interest in Allen all summer. We’ve been in touch on a fairly consistent basis and had dialogue with his agent, Leon Rose, since the beginning of free agency. We’ll probably add another guard at some point, but we don’t need to rush to do it.”

The enigmatic Iverson appeared in only 57 games for the Nuggets and Pistons due to injury and averaged a career-low 17.5 points per game. Iverson remains one of the most potent scoring threats in the sport and his willingness to play through injuries that would land most NBA players on the disabled list has made him a fan favorite. And that might be the crux of his appeal in Memphis-on a team going nowhere Iverson will put butts in the seats and get the local community excited about the Grizzles which is something that they’ve been unable to do with any regularity.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and respected authority on World Cup betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

Williams signed a one year NBA contract to play for the Los Angeles Clippers in 2008, but walked away from it without playing a game wanting to spend time with his wife and family. His attempt to be reinstated late in the season was rebuffed by the NBA, and he ended up sitting out the entire campaign.

When the Clippers relinquished their rights to Williams earlier this summer, he became an unrestricted free agent. Magic General Manager Otis Smith provided these comments on the signing:

“Jason provides depth and leadership to our backcourt. He is a veteran point guard that knows what it takes to help us reach our ultimate goal.”

Williams has become more of a consistent player as hes matured, and should provide some valuable depth in the Magic backcourt. When asked to reflect on his NBA and college career”marked by several suspensions and countless other controversies”Williams sounded a philosophical tone:

“Let me tell you this: If I could go all the way back [to the beginning], I wouldn’t do a damn thing different. I know I messed up here and there along the way, but those things I didn’t do right helped me become the person I am now.”

Williams played a crucial backup role during the Miami Heat’s 2005-2006 NBA championship run, and will be expected help the Magic win the sport’s ultimate prize. They’re expected to face a tough test in their own conference, with Cleveland, Miami and Boston all having upgraded their lineups during the offseason. Boston got an additional boost recently with the news that Kevin Garnett had returned to practice and is likely to be back in the lineup when the season begins.

Ross Everett is a widely published freelance sports writer and respected authority on World Cup betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

The Mavs have fallen back the last couple seasons – they were once the frontrunner in the West but now have become an average team. It wasn’t too long ago they were going deep into the playoffs.

In 06, the Mavs were up two games on the Miami Heat then lost 4 games in a row. The Mavs did rebound a season later with an outstanding record of 67-15, only to lose in the first round.

In 08′-09′Dirk Nowitzki had another stellar season averaging nearly 26 points per game. While Dirk has been criticized for his leadership in the past – he still is one of the best players in the game.

Most notably, Shawn Marion’s addition to the team will give the Mavs a defensive toughness that the team desperately needs. Shawn Marion will reunite with former teammate Jason Kidd (they played together in Phoenix with the Suns), and his all around versatility will be invaluable to the team. If Marion can contribute like he did in Phoenix, this move will payoff big for Cuban.

It seems as if the Mavs can score plenty of points now – but can they stop anyone on defense. To win games in the playoffs teams must stop opposing teams in critical situations; the Mavs do not have a shut down type player. Opposing teams scoring average was in the middle of the league at 15th.

Dirk Nowitzki is often forced to focus on rebounds, which takes away from his ability to do what he does best – score the basketball. He’s still put up big numbers over the years, but it’s been tough come playoff time. He’s been called out on his presence when it comes to playing under pressure.

The Mavs have won 50 or more games every season since the 00′-01′ season which shows great consistency. Dirk Nowitzki isn’t getting any younger and he might only have 2-3 more seasons where is he an elite player with an opportunity for a championship. The Mavs would like to get another shot at the NBA Finals – and this time finish their opponents.

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The Bulls were a very good home team, 28-13, but a terrible road team,–28. This will have to improve if the Bulls want home court advantage in the playoffs come the spring time.

Point guard and rookie sensation Derrick Rose had a fantastic rookie season. Rose averaged 6 assists per game, 16 points per game and started 81 games. Rose is a very explosive player and has all-star written on him.

Much of the Bulls’ success hinges upon the youth of this team. It seems as if each season, the Chicago Bulls are acquiring more promising young talent, and one season, everything will gel. This may be the year. Let’s take a look at some of the players in the mix.

Young teams in the NBA typically don’t win much so a year under Rose’s belt should help his game. The point guard should be a leader on the court as well as scorer when necessary, Rose can do anything he chooses.

Teams in the Bulls division – Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks, Detroit Pistons (w/ the exception being the Cleveland Cavaliers and maybe the Detroit Pistons) are not better then the Chicago Bulls.

And then there’s Luol Deng, still only 24 years of age. He’s had some bad luck with injuries, but if Deng can stay healthy, he will add a great value to this team.

The Bulls lack a scoring big man, while they have Tyrus Thomas, Brad Miller and Joakim Noah, none are low post scoring threats each time down the court. Their skills are not “low post friendly”. The Bulls big men typically get their points off rebounds and fast breaks points. This will be a problem for the Bulls now that the Cavs have Shaquille O’Neal. Brad Miller always seemed to guard Shaq well throughout his career.

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Chauncey Billups is now in Denver (and playing great basketball). Allen Iverson, who was acquired in this trade, has also left town to sign with the Bobcats (so much for winning that championship anytime soon). Then there’s Rasheed Wallace, who opted to join the Celtics after the end of this season.

In are Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva, two capable scorers. In is Ben Wallace, a familiar face from the past, though not nearly as effective as he used to be.

Ben Gordon should help their scoring issues. He put up some very respectable numbers in the past for the Bulls and even came up big in several playoff games.

Villanueva comes in with some size. He can score points as well and with his presence on defense, he should help improve both sides of the ball.

Say what you want about the Pistons. They’re a different team than they once were, but they’re clearly not throwing in the towel either. It was about 7 or 8 years ago that the Pistons were the joke of the NBA, and GM Joe Dumars has done a terrific job at rebuilding the team. It’s apparent that the Chauncey Billups trade was a bad idea, but the Detroit Pistons are ready to accept their current state and move on.

There’s some talented youth in Rodney Stuckey, and he’ll finally have the opportunity to shine at the point guard position. Additionally, Jason Maxiell will continue to develop, and Chris Wilcox will provide the team with some solid minutes at the forward and center positions.

Meet the new Detroit Pistons. There’s certainly some talent to go around here. Perhaps they’ll surprise us all.

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While this is by no means a record to celebrate about, they just missed the playoffs by four games. The Charlotte Bobcats also played some of their best basketball toward the end of the season, and this left many NBA fans wondering whether the team might be able to continue moving into the direction of a competitive basketball team.

While there’s a decent amount of talent on the team, much of the credit has to go to Larry Brown, who joined the team as its head coach last season. Brown has a storied resume that includes stints in Detroit (where he won a championship), Indiana, Philadelphia (where he made the NBA finals), and other teams around the league.

A young basketball team typically does not know how to win close games and don’t do well on the road – this should change to a degree this season.

The Bobcats in the 08′- 09′ season were a pretty good team at home, 23-18 – but the road record is what prevented them from making the playoffs, 12-29. If the Bobcats can maintain a good home record like a season ago and improve their road record, they will be close to a .500 team.

The loss of Emeka Okafor may hurt the Bobcats in rebounding in the long term – Okafor was 10th in the NBA in rebounding averaging 10.1 per game.

F Gerald Wallace averaged nearly 17 points per game last season and will need to continue to do so this season.

Keep an eye on the Bobcats this year. A young team that’s only getting better, they can definitely make some noise.

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The most shocking reason for this all stems from the fact that the Nuggets had traded Allen Iverson, the team’s second highest scorer, to the Detroit Pistons. This panned out to be a great deal!

The Nuggets look to improve on this upcoming season and make it to the finals. They didn’t have any real changes during the off-season, but their core is all healthy and will continue to improve with time.

The addition of point guard Chauncey Billups essentially changed their season for the better once he arrived in town. Billups brought a defensive mentality from the Detroit Pistons who were one of the best defensive teams of the decade.

Then there’s Carmelo Anthony, one of the most natural point scorers in the league. With the arrival of Billups and his defensive skills, this only helped Melo on the defensive side of the ball.

Birdman, also known as Chris Andersen stepped up off the bench and had a huge year. He’s become one of the best shot blockers in the league.

One who provided much “entertainment” for the Denver Nuggets was Chris “The Birdman” Andersen off the bench. The Birdman has become one of the best shot blockers averaging nearly 3 blocks per game. Look for him to have another great defensive season.

The Denver Nuggets do have NBA Finals potential. But if they expect to make it there it seems as if they will have to go through the Lakers once again, Denver should improve as a team overall in 09-10.

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The Hawks finished second in the Southeast division behind the Orlando Magic with a 47-35 record and were swept in the second round of the playoffs. The first round win against the Miami Heat wasn’t that impressive either – every win and loss was in the double digits.

The Hawks have a very young team and looking to build even further in the 09′-10′ season. The Hawks were lead by Joe Johnson who averaged nearly 22 points per game in 79 games played.

Johnson is a prolific shooter, especially from the perimeter, and Horford is an exceptional, multi-faceted basketball player whose presence has dominated the team greatly during his two seasons in the league. This is the man to build the team around for years to come.

It will be very tough to over take the Orlando Magic in the Southeast division this season. While the Magic have some new pieces in place surrounding Dwight Howard – they are still the favorites.

Rounding out the team are other valuable pieces, which include the ever so talented Josh Smith, point guard Mike Bibby, newly acquired Jamal Crawford, rookie Jeff Teague, and others.

The Eastern Conference just became stronger again with the acquisition of Shaquille O’Neal to the Cleveland Cavaliers – how will the Hawks stop Shaq? That remains to be seen.

Look for the Hawks to build on their success from the last two years. This is a talented, young team that can’t be slept on looking forward. Hawks fans have many reasons to be excited.

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The general assumption for most NBA fans was the Los Angeles Lakers vs. Cleveland Cavaliers – the Lakers fulfilled their end of the bargain, Cavs did not. Instead, the Magic took their place.

The Cavs were eliminated in the Eastern Conference Finals by the Orlando Magic, and relatively easy to. If it wasn’t for Lebron James miracle shot at the buzzer, the Cavs would have been embarrassed at their performance.

During the 2008-2009 season, the Cavs looked like the team to beat. Boasting the best home record in the NBA (they had a 39-2 home record), the Cleveland Cavaliers also had the best record in the NBA. A 66-16 finish gave them the top seed in the Eastern Conference and home court advantage throughout the entire playoffs. It looked like it’d be the year for Cleveland.

Elaborate pre-game shows don’t win games in the spring and summer time. The Cavs might be the favorite to come out of the East but their true test doesn’t come in a Dec. game against the Minnesota Timber wolves on a Tuesday.

Surely, the team was lacking in the big man department. Enter Shaquille O’Neal. The Cavs now enjoy the presence of the big man on their roster, and will look to use his physical prowess and playoff experience to bring home an NBA title.

There’s a lot on the line, and the Celtics and Magic have both made some big moves themselves during the off season. The changes by both the Magic and Celtics should have big impacts in the East, but the Cavs have made their power moves as well.

With Lebron’s contract coming to an end, the time is now for Cleveland. If they have any hope, it’s only going to be while Lebron’s in town. There’s a chance he stays in Cleveland, but there are going to be some real hefty offers from some major market teams, which Cleveland may not be able to match.

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