Good to see Lebron's still humble.

Rajon Rondo and Glen Davis were seen partying with Lebron James and Dwyane Wade in Las Vegas on Friday. Maybe that would explain Rondo’s performance in Saturday’s scrimmage. (The Examiner via Ball Don’t Lie)

King James arrived to cheers at Tao Beach and was joined in the grand cabana by a group of friends including new Miami Heat teammate Dwayne Wade and Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets. At one point the fans in the pool chanted his name and James pulled out his camera to capture the moment. Nearby, former NBA player Alan Henderson and Glen Davis from the Boston Celtics also took in the sun and the scene. [...]

Basketball’s most wanted man, LeBron James, spent the night at Lavo inside The Palazzo celebrating his recent contract signing with the Miami Heat. James was joined by Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets, San Diego Charger Shaun Phillips, Atlanta Hawk Josh Smith, Rudy Gay of the Memphis Grizzlies, Boston Celtic Rajon Rondo and Larry Hughes of the Charlotte Bobcats. Fans of all ages waited outside the celebrity dining hotspot for the arrival of King James, who enjoyed dinner at the Italian eatery after walking the red carpet.

After dinner, James and his friends took over some VIP tables on the dance floor in Lavo’s nightclub where they danced and partied the night away, fueled by Perrier Jouët Rose Champagne, Patron Tequila and vodka.

Get mad at this if you want but, really, it doesn’t matter one bit. I have a lot of friends I used to play basketball against. And you know what? Every time I played against them I wanted to tear their hearts out and watch them bleed.

Scenario 1: You come off the bench behind two certain Hall of Famers. You have the opportunity to win a championship. You play with the players you have come to love as brothers. You relish in the love of a fanbase that has finally embraced you. You play 20 minutes a game as a defensive stopper and transition finisher.

Scenario 2: You come off the bench behind two guys who have never made an All-Star team. You definitely don’t have an opportunity to win a championship. You play with a bunch of guys you barely know. You have to fight for the love of a new fanbase. You play an undefined amount of minutes in an undefined role.

If it was you choosing between those two options, what would you have picked? Call me crazy, but I’m guessing scenario 1.

Tony Allen thought differently. He went for door number two. He was tired of being overshadowed by stars. (ESPN)

“Ultimately, it was the way [the Grizzlies] embraced me, the way they reached out to me and let it all out,” said Allen. “They let me know I was needed. In Boston, I was kind of overshadowed by those guys — Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. Here’s a ball club that’s on the rise and a lot of guys can make names for themselves. It’s a coming out party for a lot of guys on this team.”

“I don’t mind embracing the [defensive] role, but there is more to my game; let’s not get that twisted,” said Allen. “Whatever I can do to win ballgames — if that’s just passing out Gatorades or flashing towels or giving somebody a high-five, I’m willing to do that.”

Yeah, TA, you were overshadowed by Pierce and the better Allen. They’re great players. And now you’ll be overshadowed by O.J. Mayo and Rudy Gay — two decent ones — while you fight to make the playoffs, knowing that even if you do miraculously make it to the postseason you’ll be ousted in the first round. Do you realize how dumb your decision was, Tony? Not yet, I’m sure. But at some point it’s going to come back and slap you straight across the face. You’ll be wearing your warmup suit, watching Mayo and Gay get blown out by a true contender in front of a half-full FedEx Center, and you’ll finally realize it: That situation you had in Boston wasn’t so bad after all.

And yes, Tony, we know you can do more than embrace a defensive role. You also pile up turnovers like a madman and shoot one of the brokest jump shots in the history of the universe.

Damn it, Tony. I had learned to love you, my man. I had even learned to almost trust you on the court. And I still wish you well in Memphis. I just think you done fucked up. There’s very little in the world that compares to the bond formed by loving your teammates and succeeding with them. Why you would flush that down the toilet for a similar role in Memphis, I may never understand.

(“When I get to the NBA, more people will cry.”)

From Kwame Brown to Adam Morrison. The latest draft bust the Celtics might be interested in wears a mustache, loves Halo and probably smokes four or five packs a day. (Alex Kennedy, HoopsWorld) Read more »

Well, that was humiliating. (Photo by Brian Babineau/Getty Images)

Crickets and boos.  Boos and crickets.  Those two sounds were all that could be heard in the Boston Garden tonight.

After tonight’s 111-91 loss, on the heels of a two-point loss to Milwaukee, Celtics fans need more than boos.  They need Booze.  And probably a lot of it.

For the Celtics, it was more of the same:  One step forward, two giant steps backward.  That’s the way this whole season has gone, so why should they stop now, with the regular season so close to completion?  A four-game winning streak, a nice comeback, and the Celtics almost tricked me into thinking they had a pulse.  Even last night’s loss was understandable:  The C’s went ice-cold and Bogut played like the most dominant center since Abdul-Jabaar was still Lew Alcindor.

But what the hell happened in the TD Garden tonight?  Nothing good, I can tell you that much.  If you were to look at the stats, it would look like only Rajon Rondo and Rasheed Wallace had good games.  17 points and 8 assists for Rondo, 11 points, 6 steals, and 3 blocks for Wallace.  Then you look a little deeper, and you see that Rondo made the Mike Conley-Marcus Williams combo look like John Stockton and Steve Nash, and that leaves Wallace as the only decent Celtic standing.  There was nobody else to be proud of, no other shining moments.

I would keep writing, but I’d rather just try to sleep this one off.  Maybe I’ll wake up in the morning and forget all about it, but I’ll probably be thinking about Rudy Gay and O.J. Mayo even in my sleep.

Before the nightmares come, I’ll leave you with just one last thought.

Tonight’s game reminded me of a scene from Good Will Hunting.  You know, the one where Will tells the story of his father giving him three choices: the belt, the stick, or the wrench.

Just like Will, the Celtics chose the wrench.

‘Cuz f–k winning, that’s why.

I wrote my picks for Eastern Conference All-Star reserves yesterday. Today, I give my choices for the West. Read more »