James Harden: the Man, the Cake, the Legend

Looks like another cake has been made in the image of James Harden (looks like him to me). It's kind of weird that that's not the only cake made in effigy of James Harden this year as we reminisce about this photo of the 1st ( of many hopefully) Harden cake:

This guy was kind of interesting before since he has a beard and was a pretty decent player but this summer he's really a established himself as not only a great basketball player (except in the finals, that was tough) but also as a player worthy of being sculpted in pastries. I don't know about you guys but James Harden is quickly becoming one of my favorite players on and off the court.

It may not be a championship or a fat new contract, but this has to make James still feel pretty good. Who knows maybe he could be the subject of the Cake Wars for one show, or by the way it's going maybe even a whole season, out of the deal?  Keep an open mind James, you never know where this is gonna go...


(Thanks to @yourmandevine for sharing the new cake photo, funny dude)

Great Postgame Interviews #1 Metta World Peace aka "Ron Ron"

Metta World Peace aka Ron Artest

These two clips together represent Ron Artest’s aka Metta World Peace’s 2010 post game after winning the Championship. There are so many great moments it is almost kind of hard to wrap your mind around them all from the shout out to his psychiatrist to not answering a question until 4 minutes into the interview to randomly trying to get some love from some people on their laptops. Funny how Metta is disappointed that they aren’t as excited as he is about him winning a ring (except for that one girl reporter). It is almost like Metta is playing an overly exaggerated Metta World Peace, like an actor over playing a part. I have to say, I really liked the second question the first reporter asked Metta. It is a funny running gag that we should incorporate into every Metta World Peace post game. Say Queensbridge Metta, say Queensbridge.

Harrison Barnes Will Preform At Your Your Next Children's Party

These photos are too funny not to share. I always like when these guys don't take themselves too seriously and also if you haven't noticed I'm a big fan of children's literature with the whole kids book reviews ( again feel free to rip on me in the comments, I'm secure enough).

I have to think though this must be some sort of rookie hazing because Harrison looks a little less than happy to be the the Cat in the Hat. Not a very believable portrayal, Harrison. Get into character, who is the Cat in the Hat and what motivates him?  Maybe call Mike Meyers for some insight on how he portrayed the Cat in the Hat and just do the exact opposite.   If you're going to go all out and dress up as the Cat in the Hat complete with face makeup, you might want to try giving a LITTLE effort.

Great Post Game Interveiws #2: Zaza Pachulia

Zaza Pachulia

Personally I love it when Zaza grabs the mic away from the reporter, but of course the “nothing easy, game seeeeevvvvveeeennnnnn!!!!!!” is the climax of the video. But then after then natural ending point, he goes on to awkwardly tell his fans he loves then and he will miss then and he will “feel” them in game 7 (that’s a little personal Zaza….). Awwwww, how sweet. Be sure to get us something in Boston, will ya Zaza? I just think he was happy to see a building full of people and took his chance to finally be heard. The world is a better place because of it Zaza. “NOTHING EASY, NOTHING EASY!!!!!!”

"In The Paint" By Patrick Ewing Book Review

In The Paint (a pun on being a painting book, and also Patrick Ewing being the “author.” I'm sure Tas Melas would love this.) is a children's activity book that features children's art and ideas to help inspire children to create works of art on their own. The book features assistant coach for the Magic and rejected Bobcat head coach candidate, Patrick Chewing, I mean Ewing. Even though Patrick Ewing is billed as the main author of this book, all he really does is write the introduction to the book and give you a little background information on his interest in art. Additionally throughout the book you get tidbits of information into Patrick's soul such as he likes to use the color green in his paintings. Though Patrick does admit that he is PROBALY a better basketball player than an artist (I disagree, have you seen Patrick Ewing's painting that made it on a credit card? That's what all real artists aspire to. Also, his acting career which features Space Jam, Senseless, Spin CIty, Herman’s Head, Funny About Love, and Webster. All classics Patrick.), he also mentions that his teammates are purchasing his paintings as they think they will be valuable collector's items in the future. (So that's what Anthony Mason was doing with the money he didn't pay in taxes).

The book primarily displays the artwork of children, and a paragraph or two scattered on the page to help inspire kids to make works on their own. Though the book jumps around quite a bit, it's not necessarily bad for an activity/art book since you often won't be working through the whole book in one sitting. Patrick Ewing plays a very small part occasionally showing up in a picture or two, but that's about it. (Apparently he has bigger hands of the children involved in the paintings. Go figure). The book covers fundamental painting advice like texturing, primary colors, mixing colors, etc. Patrick also likes painting because he thinks he can make a mistake (This book WAS published right after the Knicks lost in the 1999 finals hoping that this book would be more gratifying than some silly old championship anyway). One thing that's concerning is the text appears all over the book and could be difficult for a child to follow along in its chaotic order. They did a good job when they addressed how to make the color of your own skin with paints. They were able to incorporate diversity without seeming preachy at all, which can be difficult to do. Some of the texts for the paintings strike me as funny and you can tell are genuinely from children. Like this one for the painting titled false teeth:

“I started with this leaf I made. Then I put it sticking up and the design inside was like teeth and a head. Then I started mixing blues to put it someone. See all of the blues? I call it false teeth.” –Zach, 8 years old

In summary, it's actually a pretty good hands-on book it may also be a little easier for certain readers to want to read the book since it also stars a sport’s celebrity. It's a little too long and over the place, but for a children's book by a NBA player is really not that bad at all. It is not as embarrassing as a Mugsy Bouges block or Scottie Pippen dunk, but isn’t a member of the Dream Team either. (I was disappointed that Patrick wasn’t wearing his Harry and Larry t-shirt as a smock.) This book is about as exciting as when he got to coach his son for a summer, glad to have been a part of it but a little disappointing. I would like to see more participation from Patrick Ewing and a tighter format and more structure in the book. 

The State of Indiana Says "Screw You, Ours is Bigger" to Los Angeles

The news of Kareem Abdul Jabbar finally getting his statue he's wanted so badly must have spurred the state of Indiana to "match & raise you" in the hypothetical poker game that is NBA player statues. Indiana State University, Bird's Alma Mater, has approved a 15 ft (about 4.5 meters) bronze statue of Larry Legend after an anonymous donor ( you're not supposed to donate to your own statue, Larry) & university reached agreement on the artist. The sculptor, Larry Wolfe consciously made the Larry Bird statue larger than Magic Johnson's.

The Sculptor with how big he orginally wanted the statue with Indiana as a scale.

“I don’t have anything against Magic,” Wolfe said.
“Larry is just better,” Wolfe then said in unison with Jack Fox, director of development for the Indiana State University Foundation.

(those guys have such good timing together maybe they should start their own barber shop quartet like Homer Simpson did.) Them's fightin' words Indiana, I wouldn't be surprised if Los Angeles ramped up their schedule and announced a 30 foot bronze statue of Kobe Bryant tomorrow. The only problem is the state of Indiana seems to all be on the same page... This should be a good showdown of "who has the biggest statue" contest. Come on you two, don't be little petty boys about this. Remember,  it's not the size of the statue but what you DO with it.

( after hearing about Los Angeles's 30 foot statue of Kobe, Indiana is immediately working on approving a fifty foot statue of Reggie Miller. )

Great Postgame Interviews #3 : Kevin Garnett

 

Kevin Garnett

After looking at a lot of funny KG post game moments, this one has to be my favorite. From forgetting he is in an interview to talking about bar fights to hitting on Craig Sager (and he isn’t even in one of his best suits). This is just classic KG right here and he is definitely not lying about Charles being in a bar fight before. Maybe this funny Kevin Garnett interview might even inspire a new generation to make funny post game interviews for years to come. ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!