This Week's Top NBA Stories

Here’s a look at five headlining NBA stories from the week of Oct. 25:

5). Donaghy’s botched book deal could help NBA (FOX Sports.com, Oct. 30).

The stars are still aligned for a thrilling 2009-2010 NBA season. Disgraced former referee Tim Donaghy had hoped to rain on the league’s parade this season with his tell-all book titled “Blowing the Whistle: The Culture of Fraud in the NBA.” However, the book's publisher appropriately pulled the plug because of “concerns over liability.”

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Readers Pick Lakers to Repeat

Before the tip-off of the NBA preseason All Net asked its readers, "Who will be the NBA champions in 2010?"

The answer's in, and the winner's no surprise to hoist the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy (photo above) in June 2010.

Here's how it broke down:

Los Angeles Lakers: 39%
None of these teams: 27%

Cleveland Cavaliers: 15%

Orlando Magic: 10%

Boston Celtics: 7%

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High Expectations for '09-'10 Season

NBA Commissioner David Stern’s no fool. He knows full well what’s in store for the 2009-2010 NBA season.

Over the last few weeks, Stern apparently must've worked behind the scenes and on Friday the NBA and regular refs finally ironed out a new two-year deal just in time for Tuesday night’s opening tipoff.

Apparently there was no way Stern was going to screw up the drama and action for the league or its fans this season.

Expectations are the highest in recent memory, so evidently Stern knew he needed his full-time guys on board to shore up things for this highly-anticipated 2009-2010 NBA season.

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Locked-Out NBA Refs Made Wrong Call

Apparently the regular NBA referees were oblivious to the fact the rest of the country’s in a recession or that the national unemployment rate’s a staggering 9.5 percent.

If they did know, why in the heck did the union reject the NBA’s final contract offer last month?

The country’s harsh economic conditions simply made it extremely difficult for the regular NBA refs to have any leverage in negotiations with the league.

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Predictions for NBA 2009-10

The 8th annual GM survey results were released earlier this week for the 2009-2010 NBA season.

While the general managers were on point with some calculations, they totally missed the mark on others.

Here are All Net’s 1st authentic predictions for the upcoming year.

Which team will win the NBA 2010 Finals? The Cleveland Cavaliers.

Kobe & Shaq (2001, 2002, 2003), D. Wade & Shaq (2006), LeBron & Shaq (2010).

Which team will win the Western Conference? The San Antonio Spurs.

The Big Three get big sparks from Richard Jefferson (above photo) and rookie DeJuan Blair and dethrone Lakers in Game 7 of Western finals.

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Blame Warriors, Not Jackson

Out of the four major professional U.S. sports leagues, the NBA probably boasts the most prima donnas.

The latest NBA blabbermouth to show seemingly ingratitude and disrespect to the league and his current team is the Golden State Warriors’ swingman Stephen Jackson (above photo).

Jackson badly wants out of the misery in Golden State and has vehemently asked to be traded to a championship contender this upcoming season.

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Top NBA Teams for 2009-10

More than any other NBA season in recent memory, team chemistry will ultimately define many of the top ballclubs throughout the league this year.

If Shaquille O’Neal, Vince Carter, Richard Jefferson and the other big-time acquisitions over the offseason aren’t able to blend in with their new squads, look for teams that pretty much stayed intact from a year ago like the Denver Nuggets, Portland Trailblazers and Atlanta Hawks to make more noise.

Here are All Net’s top 10 teams for the upcoming 2009-2010 NBA season with their ’08-’09 regular-season records in brackets.

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Who'll be the First to Five?

One riveting sidebar story that will most likely persist the entire 2009-2010 season is which future Hall of Fame NBA player, Shaquille O’Neal, Tim Duncan or Kobe Bryant (photo above holding trophy), will possibly capture his fifth championship title first this year.

Big Shaq won three straight titles with the Los Angeles Lakers (2000, 2001 and 2002) and one with the Miami Heat (2006). The Big Fundamental has captured four championships with the San Antonio Spurs (1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007). And Kobe, currently the best baller in the game, got all his rings with the Lakers of course (2000, 2001, 2002 and 2009).

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Top NBA Players for 2009-2010

The climate has definitely changed in the NBA. There's no Shaquille O’Neal, Allen Iverson, Dirk Nowitzki or Kevin Garnett on this list.

Here are All Net’s top 10 players for the upcoming 2009-2010 NBA season.

10). Tim Duncan, 33, San Antonio Spurs. Although tendentious hampered his knee, the NBA’s best power forward of all time kept grinding last year. Rising NBA stars like Kevin Durant and Derrick Rose are absent here because in his race with Kobe and Shaq for their fifth championship rings The Big Fundamental hungers to be first.

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The Best Baller? No Debate

Who’s the best baller on the planet right now?

Kobe Bryant or LeBron James.

This debate was seemingly raging highest during the course of the 2008-2009 NBA regular season.

A highly-anticipated 2009 NBA Finals showdown of the sport’s two biggest heavyweights might have provided a little insight, but Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic spoiled the suspense by knocking out King James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals.

On the September issue of Pro Basketball magazine, the Cavs phenom and Los Angeles Lakers superstar are pictured side-by-side with the huge headline “LeBron vs. Kobe. Who’s better?” underneath them.

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Memories of Jordan, Stockton, Robinson

On Friday, perhaps the best class ever will be enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. In tribute to the Class of 2009, here are some jaw-dropping video career highlights of the Big Three honorees, David Robinson, John Stockton and Michael Jordan.



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