Lester Hudson, the former Celtic, has received a training camp invite from the Washington Wizards. (Washington Post)

The Wizards have 12 players under contract heading into training camp, and that likely will not change much over the next few weeks. They have extended training camp invites to Lester Hudson and Cartier Martin, but the team has not decided whether it will enter the year with 13, 14 or 15 players.

Hudson never made a profound impact on the court when he was in Boston, but he’s somebody to root for. He was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, and has overcome setbacks at almost every level.

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(When I say “Tall Black freak,” I mean that in the most respectful way possible.)

Since I’m the biggest basketball nerd you’ll ever (never?) meet but somehow don’t have NBA TV, I sat at my computer this afternoon to watch Spain play the New Zealand Tall Blacks. My computer doesn’t have any speakers, so I had some earphones in, my shirt off, some plaid shorts on and my rapidly-growing belly hanging out. I was also eating a bag of peanut M&Ms. It would have made an attractive picture, really. Any girl would have been lucky to have me right then.

But anyway, out of nowhere, some athletic freak named Thomas Abercrombie started balling out for New Zealand. Just dunking everything. He caught an alley-oop in the vicinity of Marc Gasol, then dunked near Fran Vazquez, and later had a nice and-one after bouncing off Rudy Fernandez. And that was all in the first half. He finished the game with 19 points, each one seemingly more exciting than the last.

I don’t think Abercrombie’s terrific play is a normal thing, mostly because of three facts: 1) the announcer (an annoying, over-exaggerating bloke) seemed mighty surprised by Abercrombie’s output,  2) Abercrombie only scored 7 points in New Zealand’s first game, and 3) in 2007-2008 Abercrombie played for Washington State University, averaging only 1.2 points per game. But he DID average 21.0 points per game for the Waikato Pistons of the New Zealand National Basketball League, so maybe he’s gotten infinitely better since bumming it for WSU. Even if Abercrombie still isn’t a great player, he’s got at least one thing going for him in the eyes of NBA scouts: the 23-year old can sky.

Anyway, the above dunk (which is from approximately a year ago) is sick and I’ve now put Abercrombie on my 40,000-person list of players who could have won last season’s dunk contest.

Click the jump to see one of two alley-oops from Ricky Rubio to Rudy Fernandez.

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Balling in a long sleeve?

Doc Rivers’ son Austin continues to make a very big name for himself on the high school basketball circuit. Yesterday, he was named his team’s MVP at the Boost Mobile Elite 24 classic, a high school All-Star game for some of the top players the nation has to offer. (ESPN Rise)

Despite injuring his wrist, Rivers wowed the crowd of more than 1,000 spectators with various crossovers, a smooth jumper and the ability to blow by defenders. When he returned to the game after being treated with ice, he continued to score using his left hand including a sweet spin move and layup.

“Austin Rivers, he just comes out and dominates every time,” said Jahii Carson of Mesa (Phoenix, Az.), who added several crowd-pleasing dunks of his own. “He’s got NBA speed and NBA moves already … I think he’s the best player in our class.”

Jahii Carson wasn’t lying when he said Austin has NBA speed and NBA moves already. The kid can play. And when you’re that good, I guess nobody can give you crap for playing a game in long sleeves.

My grandmother Kicki lives on the second floor of my house, and she rarely knows what’s going on in the world of sports. She thinks Larry Bird is an exotic animal with wings, Big Papi is my grandfather’s nickname and the Super Bowl is the world’s biggest advertising convention. You can imagine my shock, then, when she asked me, “So the Celtics signed Shaq, huh?”

Speechless for a few seconds, I finally answered, “Umm, yeah, Kicki. They did.” If I didn’t know the power of Shaq’s star before then, I do now. When even Kicki knows who a sports player is, his appeal extends far, far beyond the basketball court. And from a recognition standpoint, Shaq might be the biggest star in Boston history.

Seriously.

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I’ve always wanted to know the answer to the age-old riddle: How many Croatians does it take to defend Russell Westbrook? Now, I know. More than one. Especially after the first one breaks his ankles.

Click the jump for bonus coverage of Nicolas Batum flying against Spain.
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I’ve got a question: Who would win a Shaq-Big Baby MMA bout? Shaq is ginormous, but I’d put my money on Big Baby. He’s got that low center of gravity, he’s an agile monster and for some reason I could see him being terrific with submission holds. The only problem with Big Baby’s MMA talents is that his punches do more damage to himself than they do to his target. But at least his punches hit the target. Shaq just swings and misses, like he did with Brad Miller, or gets worked over, like he did by Charles Barkley. So I’ve saying Big Baby would win that fight. He is one of the last people in the NBA who I’d want to brawl. The very last? DJ Mbenga. I have no doubt that the diesel, seven-foot tall “Hey, you guys!”-looking dude could kill me with his bare hands if he so chose. Seriously.

P.S. – Major tip of the hat to Chris Forsberg for the video. Go check out ESPN Boston for more about Shaq and Big Baby at the UFC Fan Expo.