Rockets

Apparently there are two different Supermen in the NBA, Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard and Cleveland Cavaliers center Shaquille O’Neal.

But there is room for both if Men of Steel can acknowledge each other and Howard seems okay with that. Howard and O’Neal had been battling verbally over who deserves the title more, but Howard said on Sunday before the NBA All-Star Game that the battle between both over the “Superman” tag is over.

Apparently even before he plays an NBA regular season game this year, Houston Rockets guard Tracy McGrady is on pace to becoming an NBA All-Star next year in February when the event hits the Cowboys stadium in Arlington, TX.

McGrady so far has not played a single minute for the 12-9 Rockets which picked up Trevor Ariza during the offseason.

According to Yahoo! Sports, the Golden State Warriors have traded their forward and former captain Stephen Jackson to the Charlotte Bobcats for former Phoenix Suns swingman Raja Bell and Vladimir Radmanovic. Warriors guard Acie Law also heads the other way to Charlotte with Jackson.

Though the Commercial Appeal reported on Monday that Memphis Grizzlies guard Allen Iverson is contemplating retiring from the NBA, the Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley has mentioned that he is not sure of what Iverson’s future plans are; it might not include retirement.

For Iverson to retire from basketball when he can still play for some teams in the league would be an injustice to arguably the toughest smallest man to single-handedly carry a team to an NBA Finals in the history of the league.

“I’m not in Allen’s head. I don’t know what he’s thinking,” Heisley mentioned to AP.

According to reports from Yahoo! Sports, Houston Rockets star guard Tracy McGrady plans to return to playing in the NBA and the Rockets lineup by November 18. Following a microfracture surgery in February that ended his NBA season, McGrady wants to be back on the court to help a surprise Houston.

McGrady, who announced to team mates and the media at the same time his plans to have his left knee surgically repaired, has rehabilitated his knee for eight months and without Yao Ming injured and out of the picture, head coach Rick Alderman does need McGrady back and soon.

The phrase “Houston we have a problem” was probably used when the Houston Rockets center Yao Ming went down last season due to a foot injury during the NBA playoffs against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Initially it was diagnosed that Yao, an ambassador of the game, might never play Basketball again. Now things look a little different with the team from the state of Texas.

Apparently news circulating has it that Yao is confident a return soon to basketball because of the progress in his recovery from the foot surgery.

Most people expected NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to bring down the hammer on quarterback Michael Vick for his involvement in the dog fighting ring that he financed.

Commissioner Goodell might have been criticized in the past for being harsh on NFL players, but the league boss deserves a praise for allowing Vick back in and now that he has a team picking him up, Vick gets one thing most of us all deserve in life; a second chance.

The Denver Nuggets forward Linas Kleiza is jumping the pond and taking his professional playing career to Greece.

Free agent Lamar Odom will be staying put in L.A. instead of going back to Miami.

According to sources, Odom and the Los Angeles Lakers have agreed to a four-year deal is worth $33 million if the Lakers exercise the final season.

Odom will reportedly come away with $27 million in guaranteed money from the new deal. In the first three years of the deal it is believed that Odom will make $25 million, with the other $2 million coming in the fourth year if the Lakers decide not to pick up their team option.

To most July 1 is just the date three days before that wonderful Independence Day celebrations where we get to drink beer, barbeque burgers, hotdogs and chicken and we get to cap off the day with a fireworks show. But July 1 has a very different feel to NBA fans and franchises.