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From the Chinese Basketball Association to a streetball game at New York City’s Dyckman Park… wherever JR Smith goes, drama follows.

Back on a mid-August evening at the aforementioned Dyckman Park, Home Base Entertainment and Skull Gang Records were battling in a second-round playoff match up.  For those who may be unfamiliar with the event, the Dyckman Basketball Tournament is a little something like the famed Entertainer’s Basketball Classic that takes place at Rucker Park.  Both the EBC and Dyckman tournaments are annual events where various celebrities (mostly rappers and/or their record labels) compile teams and do battle on the blacktop.  NBA players such as Jamaal Tinsley and Rafer Alston have been known to make regular appearances, while many others will show up periodically (Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, and Vince Carter have all played at Rucker).

Anyway, Skull Gang and Home Base were all tied up at the end of regulation.  Tyreke Evans and Sundiata Gaines had already been playing for Skull Gang, and they were about to get a big boost in the form of a third NBAer.  I’ll let ESPN take it from here…

…all of a sudden, a New York Knick appeared from the court’s fenced entrance with an entourage and cameras following him.

It was J.R. Smith, who came to suit up for SGR, a team he and his younger brother, Chris (also a Knick), had played for once earlier in the summer. This time, J.R. was alone on the court. Chris was on the sideline watching, along with Olympic gold-medal winner James Harden, Harlem-based rappers Jim Jones and Juelz Santana, as well as Lloyd Banks, who’s from Queens.

Smith only scored one bucket in SGR’s double-overtime win, but it was the biggest one of the night. In fact, it stopped play for a few minutes, with players, coaches and fans rushing the court and celebrating as if the game was in the books. After a rebound, Smith received the outlet pass, orchestrated his own one-man fast break and then threw himself an alley-oop off the backboard for the two-hand jam (a la Tracy McGrady in the 2002 All-Star Game).

Being that it’s 2012, a video of Smith’s dunk (and the chaos that ensued) can be seen on Youtube (via Pro Basketball Talk).  Said video comes complete with a Tyreke Evans 360 layup, so enjoy!

Oh, and Skull Gang did win the game.  Dipset!

Throughout the NBA season, Juwan Howard and Rick Ross can often be seen enjoying Miami Heat games from their courtside seats.  Now, they’re storming the studio together.  The recording studio.

Fourteen NBA players, including the 39-year-old Howard, have collaborated with some of the biggest names in hip hop to create what will almost certainly be the worst rap album since Lil Wayne’s most recent release.

According to The Huffington Post, Full Court Press Vol. 1 will be a clean album featuring musical acts like Rick Ross and Birdman alongside NBA players such as Carlos Boozer and Lamar Odom.  Assuming they’re able to move a few copies, the proceeds will go to a nonprofit children’s organization.

Well, at least their hearts are in the right place.  Not exactly sure how they plan on releasing a clean album with Trina on it, though.

Anyway, as the video mentions, Juwan’s first single is predictably entitled “Time To Ball.”  Upon learning that Juwan Howard had recorded a rap song, my mind immediately begun to conjure some more appropriate titles.

Instant classic.

The Basketball Jones: Jalen Rose once starred in a Master P music video.  So did Stromile Swift’s Memphis Grizzlies jersey.  All of this inspired me to do some research on Master P’s brief preseason stint with the Raptors.  It seems that Charles Oakley wasn’t too keen on the whole experiment.

Youtube: A couple videos of Jeremy Lin and David Lee playing pickup ball in Taiwan.  Nothing too exciting, but D-Lee does get hung on an off-glass dunk attempt early in the second video.

Sun Sentinel: Dwyane Wade is back on the court for the first time since his July knee surgery.  He’s about a week ahead of schedule with exactly a month to go until the start of training camp.  It seemed that Wade spent all of last season nursing some type of injury, so here’s hoping he’ll be able to stay healthy this year.

NJ.com/Twitter: Hilton Armstrong and Eddy Curry participated in workouts for the Brooklyn Nets yesterday.  NJ.com’s assessment of the situation:

Curry’s chances of making the Nets are slim, and it’s almost a certainty that he wouldn’t be offered guaranteed money, but there’s definitely a chance he could get a camp invite as the Knicks are desperate to find a backup for Brook Lopez.

Armstrong has a much better chance because he’s always in shape, and while he’s not overly talented, he’s a respectable defender. He also took part in the Nets’ free agent minicamp in May.

It seems that NJ.com hasn’t been checking Armstrong’s Twitter, ’cause he signed with the Greek team Panathinaikos.

Eddy Curry will be in the NBA this season.  Deal with it.

Pro Basketball Talk: According to Mario Chalmers, Mario Chalmers is better than [at least] one of the following players: Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Steve Nash, Derrick Rose, Rajon Rondo.  Somewhere, Mario, there is a line that separates confidence and foolishness.  You have crossed it.

LA Times: Steve Blake and his wife are doing some really nice things for children in Rwanda.

Dime: Are these actually the top 10 360 layups of all-time?  Well, considering that the entire thing isn’t Vince Carter, I think there were probably a few omissions… but that doesn’t make the video any less fun.

Twitter: It appears that Steve Novak took just one shot in the paint last season, and he missed it.  I think this makes his shot chart exactly the opposite of DeAndre Jordan’s.

ESPN: The Worldwide Leader is back again with their annual rankings of the top 500 players in NBA basketball.  As of now, they’ve reached #238, Markieff Morris.  How the hell is Lazar Hayward 49 spots better than James Singleton?  Make me the 105th expert, ESPN; I watch the Wizards from time to time.

SLAM: Prior to Minnesota’s hiring of Rick Adelman, Don Nelson had interest in coaching the Timberwolves.  I think Adelman was an excellent choice, but Ricky Rubio, Kevin Love, and Don Nelson?  That sounds like run gun fun!

Some people say everybody deserves a second chance.  The Brooklyn Nets say Eddy Curry deserves a 5 billionth chance.  The following courtesy of the NY Daily News…

Eddy Curry may get another chance in New York.

League sources confirmed the Knicks castaway is working out Wednesday for the Nets, who desire a backup for Brook Lopez and are running out of options.

The Nets are also working out former lottery pick Hilton Armstrong at the same time, his agent confirmed, after the 6-11 center impressed during Brooklyn’s free-agent mini camp in May.

Both Curry and Armstrong are free agents hoping for a spot in the training camp, which starts Sept. 29. The Nets can only offer the veteran’s minimum.

“This is an excellent opportunity for Hilton,” his agent, Sam Goldfeder, said. “He’s 100 percent ready for his chance to make the Nets.”

Curry’s inclusion is curious considering his history in New York. After former Knicks GM Isiah Thomas mortgaged the team’s future for Curry in 2005, the 7-0 center ate and underperformed his way to the doghouse.

He signed with the Heat before last season and won a championship, but played in only 14 games (averaging 2.1 points), falling below even 39-year-old Juwan Howard on the depth chart.

Armstrong played in France last season after five seasons in the NBA, where he averaged 3.1 points and 2.6 rebounds with the Hornets, Kings, Rockets, Wizards, Hawks.

Adding any amount of serious insight just seems silly, so here are a couple of jokes.  They’re more than a little predictable.

• What with the NBA’s new allowance of advertisements on jerseys, could Jay-Z and Mikhail Prokhorov be looking to capitalize on the billboard-like space that will be available across Curry’s chest?
• Wait… you’re telling me that all I have to do to get back to the league is have a better workout than Eddy Curry? –Hilton Armstrong on his opportunity of a lifetime.
• Billy King is probably convinced that Curry has a lot of inside information on the Heat… or the best places to eat in New York.  One or the other.
• The Nets are loaded with talent, but they lack championship experience.  Having backed up Juwan Howard for 83 minutes last season, Curry brings invaluable veteran savvy to any locker room.
• I’m kind of surprised Curry would even show up for something called a workout without some sort of guaranteed, monetary reward in place.  A shot at the vet’s minimum doesn’t seem like it’d be enough motivation for the ol’ boy to break a sweat.
• Curry must not be aware of the recent ban that New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg placed on large sodas.  Yo, Eddy, he wants to ban salt too!
• Assuming the Nets will be better than the Knicks, what better way to rub it in than to not only beat them, but to insert Eddy Curry when the lead reaches 20?
• Billy King wants to prove that it is possible to sign a worse rebounder than Brook Lopez.

You know, I kind of hate that Curry’s become such a laughingstock.  I’m not ashamed to admit that I used to enjoy watching him play as a member of the Knicks (before he really ballooned) and the Bulls.  However, even I can’t help but participate in the fun making.  The way he’s been able to hang around in the league is nearly as ridiculous as Mike Sweetney getting annual invites to Celtics camp.

Man, these GMs are somethin’ else, aren’t they?  They’re like teenage girls chasing the so-called “bad boy” when it comes to disappointing seven footers—it’s like they can’t resist the urge to try and turn a Curry or a Darko into something they’ll never become.

Put Paul George in an airplane.  Equip him with a parachute and drop him anywhere in the world.  Assuming he reaches the ground unharmed, chances are he’ll be the best dunker in whichever town it is that he lands.

Recently, Paul George found himself in Shanghai, China.  He was there with LeBron James (among others) on one of those promotional missions for Nike, and he pretty much proved my whole hypothetical airplane scenario to be true by throwing down a variant version of Vince Carter’s signature reverse 360 windmill.  Observe (and be patient, it’s the second one)…

This is being advertised all over the internet as a “reverse 360 between-the-legs windmill.”  Whether you want to consider it a legit windmill or not, take a moment to consider just how ridiculous this combination of maneuvers is.  You could literally break this dunk down into four separate fast-break-worthy dunks: a reverse, a 360, a between-the-legs, and a windmill (albeit a mini windmill).

Young Paul George is on some video game sh!t, folks.  He’s just throwing combo dunks together like he’s pressing Xs and Os on a PlayStation controller.  Unreal.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a DeShawn Stevenson sighting!  Everyone’s favorite LeBron stopper has been pretty low-key since tweeting a photo of the ATM in his kitchen, but Stevenson, now a member of the Atlanta Hawks, has recently been seen/video recorded participating in multiple games at the Orlando Pro-Am League.  Unlike many NBA players who will casually coast through these sort of games, DeShawn appears to relish a rare opportunity to serve as his team’s primary offensive weapon.  Watch as he shows off his handle, slings no-look passes, taunts players from opposing teams, and just generally acts a fool.  Courtesy of HTHoops.com…

While your shove was completely understandable, number 23, this is why we who will never play basketball against DeShawn Stevenson can’t get enough of DeShawn Stevenson.  What a character.

In all seriousness (not that the rest of this post wasn’t serious, because it was), this video does serve as yet another reminder of just how incredibly talented one must be to make it in the NBA.  On the highest level, Stevenson’s offensive arsenal is quite limited… and that’s a generous assessment.  Playing against these guys, who are certainly much better than your average pickup player (note: Daryl Dorsey of AND1 Mixtape/D-League semi-fame is on Stevenson’s team), Stevenson looks a little somethin’ like a scorer.  A little somethin’ like Michael Jordan, even, eh NBADraft.net?

Not until about 10 minutes ago had I ever compared the careers of Baron Davis and Tracy McGrady, but now that I think about it… they’ve been pretty damn similar.  Both Davis and McGrady possessed incredible natural gifts, and it could certainly be argued that they were once the finest athletes the league had to offer at their respective positions.  Being the highly-skilled basketball players that they are, Davis and McGrady were able to capitalize on their physical talents in the early stages.  T-Mac had his major breakout after being dealt to Orlando, and Davis grew into a bigger role when former Hornets star Jamaal Mashburn began to experience injury problems.

Though neither of the two high-flying up-and-comers were surrounded by the type of talent necessary to contend for championships, they were able to achieve All-Star status, land major endorsement deals, and lead their respective squads to multiple playoff berths.  In 2002, the two were pitted against one another in a five-game quarterfinal.

What you’re about to watch are highlights from the third game of that series.  T-Mac led all scorers with 37 points while Baron filled up the stat sheet to the tune of 33/14/10.  Since you probably don’t remember, I won’t say who wins the game.  As you watch, take note of McGrady’s quickness, length, and fluidity, as well as Baron’s speed, strength, and explosiveness.

My favorite play in this entire video is the driving layup by McGrady at 4:44.  Watch him simply dust his defender without even making a move before casually laying it in over shot-blocking bruiser Jamaal Magloire.  Both the first step and the finish are unbelievable demonstrations of quickness.  By the time Magloire completes his gather McGrady already has the ball above the cylinder.  Amazing.

Also, the explosion of Baron Davis on each of his fast-break dunks reminded me of what an incredible leaper he once was.  With all that muscle attached to his frame he must’ve been like a cannonball flying through the air.  I know I would’ve gotten the f@ck out of his way!

Getting back to their comparable careers: Since the Hornets defeated the Magic in ’02, Davis and McGrady have traveled their own rocky roads.  T-Mac went on to put up 32 points per game in ’02/03, but his Orlando team struggled to make noise in the Eastern Conference.  He was eventually traded to Houston, where he experienced sporadic individual success as he battled a multitude of injuries.  He’s never really been the same since hurting his back in ’05/06.

As for Baron, he moved in and out of favor (and the lineup) with both the Hornets and the Warriors prior to coming on like an MVP candidate in that ’06/07 season which will forever be remembered for Golden State’s upset of the top-seeded Mavericks.  Unfortunately, the “We Believe” Warriors quickly fell apart amidst a historically strong field of Western Conference opponents, and Baron found himself breaking down as a member of his hometown Clippers.  Many attributed his health problems to an apparent lack of proper conditioning, and his passion for the game began to come into question.  As I’m sure you know, McGrady has experienced similar criticism throughout his career.

Now, Davis and McGrady come off the bench for a couple of middling teams from the East.  Baron recently suffered a horrible knee injury as his Knicks fell to the Heat in the first round of the playoffs, and T-Mac played more sparingly than he’d hoped to when he joined the Atlanta Hawks.

As hard as it is to believe, both McGrady and Davis are a year younger than Kobe Bryant.  The same Kobe Bryant who just won Olympic Gold and has his sights set on a sixth NBA title.  At times, both T-Mac and Boom Dizzle played like they were every bit as good as the Bean… but as quickly as they rose to prominence, they fell into mediocrity.

They say life is short.  In the world of sports, life is even shorter.  In the cases of Tracy McGrady and Baron Davis, life seemed to last but a millisecond… and that’s a damn shame.

At least we’ll always have Youtube, where Tracy McGrady still has a tattoo and Baron Davis isn’t a hipster.

Being that he’s a professional athlete, it stands to figure that Anthony Tolliver values his stamina… so the fact that he doesn’t smoke is to be expected.  It seems, however, that Tolliver may be even more opposed to smoking than your average guy who relies heavily upon his physical fitness to bring home the bacon.

You see, according to Tolliver himself, if you as much as allow your cigarette smoke to billow into his air space… well, you’ll probably be sorry.  Via his Twitter account…

Yikes.  Personally, I don’t smoke… but for those who do, you may want to refrain from doing so within 10-20 feet of Mr. Anthony Tolliver.

Or maybe smoking in the vicinity of Tolliver could be an effective method of quitting.  I mean, how many farts to the face will a person tolerate before he becomes capable of giving up just about any bad habit?  For me, I don’t think it would take very many.

Thank goodness Minnesota has some smoking bans in place.  This could’ve resulted in all-out chemical warfare.

Welcome back to NBA247365.COM’s countdown of the top 20 NBA uniforms of all-time!  We’ve reached the top five, but those who missed out on earlier stages of the list can go back and check out numbers 20-16, 15-11, and 10-6.  Now, here are the best of the best…

#5: Los Angeles Lakers (1966-now)**

The Celtics have won more titles, but the Lakers are arguably the most successful franchise in NBA history.  From George Mikan to Dwight Howard, it seems that they’re always able to draw the league’s premier talents, and since 1966 those talents have been wearing the same purple & gold (and white on Sundays since ’01).  It’s a color scheme fit for NBA royalty, which is exactly what the Lakers are.

#4: New York/New Jersey Nets (1976-1990)**

Together, Julius Erving and the ABA pioneered a fresh brand of exciting basketball.  In addition to the three-point line, one of the best things they brought to the NBA via the 1976 merger was the uniform of the Nets.  The look remained current all the way through the ’89/90 season, and it was brought back periodically throughout 2012 as part of the Hardwood Classics program.  Even Kris Humphries looked relatively cool in this uniform, demonstrating its true aesthetic greatness.

#3: Chicago Bulls (1995-1997)***

The uniform I’m referring to here is the black alternate with the pinstripes.  You know, the one that coincided with the first comeback, the Concord XIs, Space Jam, and the team that went 72-10.  Considering all that happened during the specific two-year period that this style covered, the fact that it did last just two years kind of adds to its legend.  The Bulls’ regular home and road unis have always been nice in their own right, but this alternate was fire.

#2: San Francisco Warriors (c. 1970)**

With the Golden Gate on the front and a trolley car on the back, I’d argue that no uniform in the history of sports has been more effective in representing its city, and this creative graphic rendering of San Francisco resulted in what I consider the coolest jersey of all-time.  Delving beyond the obvious, there are so many unique aspects of the design to appreciate.  For example, consider the diagonal alignment of the number on the back, or the the combination of two different fonts on the front.

Never have I seen, and never do I expect to see another uniform quite like this one.  As far as creativity, “The City” takes the cake.

#1: Boston Celtics (1946-now)**

Off the top of my head, I can’t rattle off the dictionary definition of “classic.”  However, I feel like I can give you a pretty good idea of what the word means: if something was relevant over six decades ago and remains at the forefront in the present day (ESPN just ranked the Celtics’ uniforms #1 in the NBA), then it’s probably classic.

It’s not just the winning, sixty-plus-year history of the Celtics that makes their uniform great.  Although simple, both the home and road versions are pleasant to look at.  Personally, I like the fact that the Cs haven’t altered the shape of their jerseys; Paul Pierce wears the same standard tank top with the scoop-neck collar that Bill Russell wore as he won 11 titles in the ’50s and ’60s.  This type of tradition is unmatched, and that’s why Boston earns the #1 spot.

*Denotes a personal favorite.

**Denotes an iconic uniform.

***Denotes a “player-made” style.

Regular readers of this blog know the drill: when Stephen Jackson speaks, I post.

In his latest interview, which comes to you from San Antonio’s AM 760 and runs over 11 minutes long (f@cking right!), Captain Jack delves into detail regarding his new rap album, Jack Of All Trades, set to release sometime in September. He also shares some personal insight on the NBA lifestyle and discusses LeBron’s $300 sneakers.

What with Michael Beasley having an estate sale and Stephen Jackson performing a concert, I’d argue that we’ve stumbled into the most interesting week of this offseason.