5'10" Young Hollywood Dunks Over Blake Griffin

You may not have heard of him, but you're about to. He's 5'10" tall and goes by the name Young Hollywood, and he shows off his dunking skills in several YouTube videos.

Young Hollywood will be getting even more publicity after using 6'11" Blake Griffin to dunk over while putting the ball between the legs after grabbing it from Griffin's hand. The video has gotten the attention of Sports Illustrated's Point Forward and ESPN on Twitter and one video of the dunk is reaching 90,000 views.

That's a serious vertical lift, as the still from the video shows Young Hollywood's head is as tall as the rim. Any 7-footers want to volunteer next?

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Updated: Clippers, Chris Paul Reach Agreement On Contract Extension

Reports are that Chris Paul will remain a Clipper, and is expected to sign a five-year extension with the team. (articles.washingtonpost.com)

Update: Since the original post below was published, Chris Paul verbally agreed to the five-year contract extension. Paul tweeted out his answer, which as you can see has already become quite popular, keeping him in LA for the long haul. Now it's just up to Paul and the Clippers to find their way deeper into the playoffs.

Original: Lob City looks to be holding onto its floor general for the long term. The Los Angeles Clippers and point guard Chris Paul are expected to come to an agreement on a five-year, $107-million contract extension. Monday is the first day Paul is able to verbally agree to the deal, although the contract cannot be physically signed until July 10.

The Clippers bringing in Doc Rivers as the head coach was thought to be an extra boost to keep Paul in LA, and it seemed to have worked. Now the Clippers have their core players locked in for several years (Blake Griffin signed a five-year extension last summer) and they believe Rivers is a coach that can take them from being a playoff team to an NBA Championship contender.

Paul averaged 16.9 points, 9.7 assists and 2.41 steals per game last season for the Clippers, who were knocked out of the first round of the playoffs in six games by Memphis, despite dominating the regular season with a 56-26 record.

Paul will also have a new scoring option to pass to in the backcourt as Los Angeles drafted 6'7" North Carolina shooting guard Reggie Bullock with the No. 25 pick in last Thursday's NBA Draft.

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Land of the Free & Home of the Hoops

The biggest feather-rumpling incident in basketball this week concerned Kobe Bryant asserting that he and the rest of Team USA 2012 would beat the team fielded by the States in 1992 – the famed Dream Team that *ahem* united the first year NBA players were allowed to compete in the Olympic games then proceeded to decimate any and all challengers by an average margin of 43.8 points en route to winning the gold medal.

Kobe Bryant's playoff beard grew late this year. (NBCOlympics.com)

Various members of the ’92 squad have weighed in on the discussion – largely doubting Bryant’s claim – and Kobe, in his usual fashion, refuses to stand down. While there’s never going to be a definite answer about who would win this hypothetical rivalry, one conclusion is safe to draw:

No other country plays basketball like the United States.

Sure, that statement reeks of jingoism. It’s a chest-beating, chain-rattling declaration of dominance. But it’s not a lie.

Since basketball was introduced on the Olympic level in 1936, Team USA has 16 medals total. Thirteen of those are gold, one is silver and two are bronze. Only at the 1980 games in Moscow has Team USA finished outside of the top three.

Everyone knows how good the Dream Team was, even opponents from 1992. Everyone knows LeBron James and Bryant brought home the top prize with the Redeem Team in 2008. However, less than half of these medals were won after professional athletes filled the national team’s roster. College athletes and amateur ballers residing stateside beat out pros from other countries routinely before ‘92.

The USA women’s team is no joke, either, having medalled eight times, claiming a bronze and a silver to accompany six first-place finishes.

There are plenty of stones to throw about the United States’ connection to basketball, the heaviest being that the game was invented in America. So, what? A sport’s origin and history is mostly meaningless during competition, especially in the modern era. Basketball is now one of the most popular sports worldwide, and seems to be trending upward given the popularity of international superstars such as Bryant, Marc and Pau Gasol, and upstart Jeremy Lin, not to mention the now-retired Yao Ming.

The 2012 version of Team USA already lacked size in the post, and Blake Griffin tore the meniscus in his left knee yesterday. But it still has the world’s best basketball player in LeBron, and Bryant is one of the fiercest competitors in sporting history.

No one knows for sure if this year’s group could beat the Dream Team, but after absolutely crushing the Dominican Republic by 54 points in an exhibition yesterday, it wouldn’t be wise to discount Team USA against anyone they may face in the 2012 Olympics.


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Free Agency 2012: Day 1.5 Recap

We’re more than 40 hours into free agency and while few big names have agreed to new contracts, most have held meetings with at least one suitor and multiple other players are expected to sign extensions. Here, we skip past the fluff and get to the action.

"This many, times 11.6 million." Roy Hibbert is making money this summer. (Reuters photo)

• Yesterday, the Philadelphia Inquirer confirmed that Lavoy Allen will make $6 million over the next two years while wearing a 76ers uniform. After being a second-round selection in the 2011 draft, Allen started 15 games last season and earned an extension with his excellent defense.

• In realizing that chasing Dwight Howard is hopeless, the Houston Rockets have made a play for another center. The club agreed to terms with Omer Asik, who spent last season with the Chicago Bulls. He’s no D12, but Asik averaged 5.3 rebounds and 3.1 points in 14.7 minutes as a backup. After he signs the contract on July 11 – the first day free agents are allowed to put pen to paper – the Bulls will have three days to match the offer and keep Asik, if management so chooses, since the Turkish big man is a restricted free agent. Kudos to the Rockets for moving quickly after Howard’s dismissal of any club outside of Brooklyn.

• Kevin Garnett technically avoided free agency all together by deciding on Saturday (the day before the process started) to stay in Boston Celtic green to the tune of $34 million over three years. Kevin Garnett put up 15.8 points and nabbed 8.2 boards per contest last year and continued to be an integral member of a team on the cusp of a Finals berth. With his new contract, Garnett will have made more salaried money than any other player in the history of professional basketball with just a shade under $325 million to his name.

• Across the country, Blake Griffin informed Los Angeles Clippers management that he intends to sign a five-year extension worth up to $95 million. Running mate Chris Paul declined to sign his extension, but things could change now that the All-Star forward has announced his plans to stick around southern California.

• Another big man, RFA Pacers center Roy Hibbert, will make a financial windfall next season no matter where he lands. The Portland Trailblazers offered the Georgetown product a maximum deal of four years and $58 million, according to ESPN’s Chris Broussard. Hibbert has not signed the Blazers’ offer sheet, but likely will, as reported by SI.com. The Pacers did not extend to Hibbert a max deal, but will have three days to make a matching offer if the 25-year-old signs with Portland. If he becomes a Blazer, Hibbert can do one of two things – 1) give Portland some much-needed consistency at the center position by keeping up his All-Star production, or 2) continue the bad luck of injuries to the team’s big men. (Yes, I’m knocking on wood for the sake of everyone involved.)

• As of this post, the most recent free agent news comes out of Indiana, where the Pacers and George Hill agreed to a 5-year deal. Few details are known, but the guard averaged 9.6 points in 50 games during his first season with the team.

• Andre Miller, the facilitator entering his 13^th NBA season, verbally agreed to a three-year contract with the Denver Nuggets. Specifics of the deal are unknown, but Miller was looking for roughly $3 million each season, as reported by Yahoo! Sports. The 36-year-old averaged 9.7 points and 6.7 assists for the Nuggets last year while sharing point guard duties with speedster Ty Lawson.

• He may not be the primary target, but the Brooklyn Nets reached a handshake agreement to retain Gerald Wallace. The swingman – obtained from the Blazers at last season’s trade deadline – declined to pick up a $9.5 million player option for 2012-13. The maneuver worked, as Wallace is expected to sign a four-year, $40 million dollar contract next week.

For a full list of players who could be changing teams, check out ESPN.com’s list of free agents for the summers of 2012 and 2013.


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