It's Miller Time

Reggie Miller, one of the greatest playoff performers in NBA history is pondering a comeback. The career Indiana Pacer at 41 years of age may join the Boston Celtics.

The Celtics contacted Miller and asked him to think about joining their revamped team in a reserve role, playing about 15 minutes per game. "[I have] contacted Reggie and he is contemplating a comeback with us," Ainge told The Associated Press through a team spokesman.

If he does join the Celtics, than he will join Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen as the stars of the team, and all of whom have not won an NBA Championship. "I'm always flattered when my name is mentioned as someone who can still help an NBA team win a championship," Miller said Wednesday in a statement relayed to The Associated Press by U.S. cable network TNT. "I've had limited discussions with Celtics management about their roster and a potential role for me. At this time, I'm enjoying my role as an analyst with TNT."

Over the course of his career, Miller scored 25,279 points, with an average of 18.2 points per game during his career. He shot .471 from the field, .395 from 3-point range and .888 from the free throw line. Miller made the All-NBA First Team three times throughout his career and received his only MVP votes in 1998 and 2000.

If Miller joins the Celtics, make sure to mark November 13th on your calender. Boston Celtics vs Indiana Pacers in Indiana.

Big Trades

Yesterday, some big trades in the MLB and NBA took place.

On the MLB side, many teams were looking to get ready for the post-season, as yesterday was the trade deadline. There were some minor trades, but 1 stuck out from the rest.

Canadian Eric Gagne was traded today to the Boston Red Sox for left-hander Kason Gabbard, Class AAA center fielder David Murphy and Class A outfielder Engel Beltre. Although Gagne has had injury troubles in past years, he is still a great player. The Montreal native is 2-0 with a 2.16 ERA and 16 saves for the Texas Rangers.

On the NBA side, another Boston team upgraded their team as the Boston Celtics traded for dominant big man Kevin Garnett. After months of wondering where he would end up, he is now in a place that can win. Earlier in the year, the Celtics acquired guard Ray Allen from the Seattle Supersonics. With Boston already having Paul Pierce, the Celtics are now instant contenders.

"Kevin Garnett is a great player in our league, with a fierce and competitive spirit, who brings offensive scoring prowess and a defensive presence to our team," said executive director of basketball operations Danny Ainge. "The players we're trading to Minnesota have bright futures in the NBA and we wish them well."

Boston did give up a lot though as heading to Minnesota are forwards Al Jefferson and Ryan Gomes; guards Gerald Green and Sebastian Telfair; center Theo Ratliff and two draft picks. One pick is Boston's 2009 first-round selection and the second is the pick Boston acquired from Minnesota in the Wally Szczerbiak-Ricky Davis trade. The Timberwolves also receive cash considerations in the deal.

"This trade is about improving the Minnesota Timberwolves and improving our team for the future," said Timberwolves vice president of basketball operations Kevin McHale. "The past few seasons our on-court performance has been disappointing to our fans, myself, Glen Taylor and the entire organization. Through this trade, we have obtained very talented, young players with a lot of potential, future flexibility with the salary cap and two future first-round NBA draft picks. This will not be an overnight fix, but it is the big step in renewing our commitment to build an exciting franchise for our fans."

The city of Boston should brace themselves, because this next year is going to be a wild ride.

"Worst Situation"

David Stern,the commissioner of the NBA addressed the betting allegations against retired NBA ref Tim Donaghy yesterday. It was the 1st time since the news hit the public that he spoke about the issue, and he looked like a guy who hadn't slept in days.

As I said in my last post about this, Donaghy may have gambled on NBA games he officiated and didn't. It is so serious, that the FBI is investigating the situation! "I feel betrayed by what happened on behalf of the sport, regardless of how protective I've been," Stern said. "This is not something that is anything other than an act of betrayal of what we know in sports as a sacred trust."

"Not only aren't they permitted to either gamble or provide information to people," Stern said, "they may not even provide other than to their immediate family the details of their travel schedules or the games they are going to work."

The FBI contacted Stern shortly after the NBA Finals had ended, June 20th to talk about a ref that might of been gambling on games. Donaghy resigned on July 9th, just 19 days after the FBI contacted the NBA.

"I can tell you that this is the most serious situation and worst situation that I have ever experienced either as a fan of the NBA, a lawyer for the NBA or a commissioner of the NBA," said Stern, who has held the top post for 23 years.

"This is something that is the worst that could happen to a professional sports league," Stern said. "And I want to say on the other hand that we are going to make good on the covenant that we believe we have with our fans, and I pledge that my involvement will be as intense and complete as it can possibly be." Well at least someone is acting responsibly.

Right now, the NBA is just 1 of 3 of the 4 major sports in North America have some controversy surrounding them? The NFL has Micheal Vick and dog fighting. The MLB has steroids and Bud Selig's hesitation to go to Barry Bonds' potential home run record tying or breaking games. And then this situation with the NBA.

What is going on with the sports leagues right now? With all this controversy it is really hard for kids to look up at these athletes and want to be them. Many great athletes have used steroid or gambles or done some sort of illegal action. I say that all these players and officials of these leagues better get their act together, or their PR will be ruined forever.

The Ultimate NBA Nightmare

Sports are very strange in a way. Playing sports is the only way you can fight without getting thrown in jail. There are a lot of things that you can do in sports that you can't do outside of the arena. When someone crosses that line, you know that person has done something extremely wrong.

The FBI is investigating that veteran NBA referee Tim Donaghy bet on basketball games over the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 seasons, including ones in which he officiated. Apparently Donaghy made calls during the game to effect the point spread of the games for him and his "mobster" friends.

Donaghy has a gambling issue in his life, but this is to far. To put into perspective on how devastating this is to the NBA, Scott Soshnick, a Bloomberg sports columnist said, "David Stern would rather have Shaquille O'Neal in the middle of a dog fighting scandal", referring to Micheal Vick. The law enforcement official said the bets involved thousands of dollars and were made on games during the 2005-'06 and 2006-'07 seasons.

''As we previously stated, we have been co-operating with the FBI in their investigation of allegations that a single NBA referee bet on NBA games that he officiated,'' commissioner David Stern said in a statement Friday afternoon.

''We would like to assure our fans that no amount of effort, time or personnel is being spared to assist in this investigation, to bring to justice an individual who has betrayed the most sacred trust in professional sports, and to take the necessary steps to protect against this ever happening again.''

It is safe to say that right now, everyone agrees with David Stern.

NBA Trade Rumors

Right now, the NBA is looking for a spark. It just had the NBA Finals, which received the lowest T.V ratings ever for the Finals. It refuses to re-seed in the playoffs, which led to the best series of the playoffs going in the Western Conference Semi-Finals between the Spurs and Suns. But finally, there might be some excitement on the way.

2 of the NBA's top players might be traded before the start of the '07-08 season. One of them is Kobe Bryant.

After changing his mind on whether he wanted out of Los Angeles, he has finally come to the conclusion that he does want to be traded. And he wants to go the the East (no surprise that the East is the worst Conference). After asking for Shaq to go, he now suddenly wants out for a better team, in a Conference that he has a better chance of winning in.

Bryant does have a case though. He is the best individual player in the league, but is playing with a bunch of nobody's. Trade offers for Shawn Marion and Jason Kidd have been unsuccessful, and the Lakers don't want to give up Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum and a first-round pick in the same trade for Indiana's Jermaine O'Neal because they see it as a lateral move that doesn't automatically shoot them up the ladder in the West. The Lakers better do something before the start of the season, because knowing Kobe's personality, he will either refuse to play or not play good.... in which case he won't play.

The other player that is apparently on the trade market is Kevin Garnett. One of the original players to come out of high school had oneof his best season's last year in terms of statistics. But the Minnesota Timberwolves could not help him out, as they went 32-49 last year and missed the playoffs for the 3rd straight year.

Phoenix and Boston are the teams currently interested is Garnett right now. But knowing that Steve Nash and Garnett have become good pals over the years after playing in several All-Star Games together, it's safe to say he'd much prefer the desert.

No matter what happens with these players though, these trade rumors will provide a much needed spark to the NBA's reputation.

Top 5 International Players in the NBA

The NBA is turning into a international man's sport. I now count down the 5 international players in the NBA right now.

Number 5: Andrea Bargnani

Andrea Bargnani or Il Mago was born in Italy and is one of the best young prospects in the game. He was drafted 1st overall in the NBA draft by Toronto becoming the 1st Italian to ever do so. In his debut year with the Raptors, he emerged as a 3-point threat who can drive to the hoop with ease. At mid-season he was voted to the NBA Rookie Challenge. Everything was looking up until March 21st, 2007. Bargnani underwent an emergency appendectomy after being taken to the hospital after feeling ill after a practice. He recovered in time to play the Raptors season finale and ended the year averaging 11.6 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. He came in 2nd in the NBA Rookie of the Year voting and along with teammate Jorge Garbajosa was named to the NBA all rookie team.

Number 4: Manu Ginobili

Manu Ginobili was drafted in the 2nd round, 57th overall in 1999. He spent most of his 1st year (2003) in the NBA on the bench and recovering from injury but managed to be named rookie of the month for March. In the playoffs, he surprised teams with his scoring touch and helped lead the Spurs to a championship over the Nets. In 2005, Ginobili was a starter and was named as a reserve in the NBA All Star Game. He then helped the Spurs to their 2nd title in 3 years in a 7-game series against Detroit. He was the runner up to the Finals MVP in Tim Duncan. On February 2007, Manu set a Spurs record scoring 24 straight points against Atlanta.

Number 3: Andrei Kirilenko

Andrei Kirilenko or 'AK-47' was born in Russia and plays for the Utah Jazz. He was drafted 24th overall in the 1999 draft by the Jazz. Despite being drafted in 1999, he spent the next 2 years with his Russian team. In the 2001-02 NBA season, Kirilenko joined the Jazz and was named to the 1st team on the NBA Rookie Team. In 2003-04, Kirilenko blocked the 3rd most shots in the league and was 4th in steals. In '05-06, Kirilenko recorded a career high 10 blocks in a game against Indiana and was 2nd in the league in blocks per game behind Marcus Camby. He was then named to the 1st team on the NBA All-Defensive Team.

Number 2: Yao Ming

A native of China, Ming was drafted 1st overall by the Rockets in the 2002 draft and signed with the team in October of '02. Ming was the rookie of the year in his 1sy year and was named to the NBA-All Rookie 1st Team. In 2004-05, the Rockets acquired Tracy McGrady and was voted as the starting center in the All-Star Game getting a record breaking 2,558,278 votes. The Rockets again had a early exit in the playoffs losing top the Mavs. In the next 2 years, Yao again had All-Star years, but couldn't get the Rockets passed the 1st round of the playoffs.

Number 1: Dirk Nowitzki

A native of Germany, Nowitzki was the 9th overall pick in the 1998 draft by the Bucks where he was immediately traded to the Mavericks for their 6th pick. After a confused rookie year for Nowitzki in '98-99, Dirk emerged as a future star in the league in 1999-00. The following season, Dirk was named to the All-NBA Team making team 3. In 2002-03, Nowitzki was named the top international player in the NBA by a survey of the leagues GM's. He also made his 2nd appearance in the All-Star game and the All-NBA second team. Nowitzki's best season was '06-07 where he led the Mavericks to an amazing 67-15 record. But their post-season dreams were cut short as the Golden State Warriors knocked them out. Nowitzki reportedly will be the MVP of the 2006-07 season.

Aprils Top 5 Stroies

5. The Masters - The 2007 Masters was one of the toughest ever with the winner over par. That winner was Zach Johnson. The self-proclaimed "normal guy" was the best player on the course and even beat Tiger.

4. Jays Season Opener - The Toronto Blue Jays opened their season with high hopes. So far they are 2nd in their division, but have had lots of injuries. If they get healthy, they will be dangerous.

3. Moss Trade - The New England Patriots traded for one of the best WR in the game pf football in Randy Moss. He will be a great addition to a WR core that has been depleted because of trades.

2. NBA Playoffs - The Toronto Raptors had one of their best seasons ever and will try to best the New Jersey Nets in the 1st round of the playoffs.

1. NHL Playoffs - The NHL playoffs started and are great. Every game has been entertaining and their have been many surprises. It will be interesting to see who will take it all.

Season Finale

The Toronto Raptors have had one of the best comeback years in recent memory. They finish off that season tonight against Philadelphia.

This is the last game that the Raps have to set the franchise record for most wins in the season. That being said, they probably won't start all of their stars. But they may get rookie sensation Andrea Bargnani back from injury tonight after a emergency appendectomy.

Even without their starters, Toronto still should win this game. They eant to close the season out on a high note for the post-season, and give the fans a good game on Fan Appreciation Day.