• This has actually been bothering us for a while. MJ may be the retired king of the basketball court, but it doesn’t mean he can get away with anything. This ‘stache of his, which he’s been wearing for a while, actually, randomly started getting attention after he wore it in this Hanes ad. Dude. It looks stupid. There, we said it. Charles Barkley (hilariously) agrees with us: “That is one of the stupidest things that I have seen in a long time,” he said recently. source

• $273
  million amount the Mavericks
  have lost in Cuban’s nine years
  of running the team
• 76%
  share amount of the team Cuban owns;
  Ross Perot Jr. owns 5 percent, and
  he’s mad source

• » Why’s he getting sued? Simply put, Perot (the former presidential candidate’s son) thinks that Cuban is putting an unsustainable amount of debt on the team, and that they’ll become insolvent over time. The famously outspoken Cuban, who bought most of the team from Perot back in 2000, has enough money in his bank account and a diverse enough portfolio of businesses to ensure that doesn’t happen, and suggests that Perot is merely looking to get out of the deal.

• It’s not often that a single photo kills an entire career. But in the case of Gilbert Arenas, this photo of him joking around about the gun incident last month – after he was already on thin ice with both the NBA and the law for the incident in the first place – led to an epic indefinite suspension and created controversy around the photo itself. That’s a good photo.

How it screws up Gilbert’s career

• Wizards’ magic trick Arenas has been the franchise star of the Wizards for years, and he’s been something of a train wreck for most of them, partly due to his antics and history as a “jokester,” partly because he’s been injured for most of the last few years. Plus, they suck this season. He’s probably gone.
• Promises of pain NBA commissioner David Stern is a guy who doesn’t screw around and will bring pain onto stars he thinks deserve it (just ask Ron Artest). And when he suggests “or worse” in reference to an indefinite suspension, you know he’s freaking screwed. Don’t screw with David Stern.
• Career-ender?It’s too soon to tell whether the incident will completely screw up what had going with the NBA, but with promises of a trial and the fact that he had guns in Washington, D.C. (which has some of the strictest drug laws in the country), it might be. Or he might be Michael Vick. source

The situation with the photo

• snapped The photo was taken last night before a game. He was joking around with his teammates, making gun symbols with his fingers.
• snatched The next day, the NBA had Getty Images remove the photo from the wire for most of the day. The Washington Post nailed them. source

Gil’s tweets

• I know everybody seen the pre game pics..my teammate thought to break the tention we should do that..but this is gettn way to much
• Gilbert Arenas • Regarding the fate of his fingers, and the incredibly stupid reasoning behind them. Whichever teammate suggested that should be slapped, because he just cost Arenas a career. On a side note, does this guy know when not to tweet? Like, say, when you’re being investigated? source

• bad Washington Wizards star Gilbert Arenas owed teammate Javaris Crittenton money.
• worse The loose cannon Arenas apparently wouldn’t pay Crittenton back his debt for some reason.
• worser Both of them apparently pulled out firearms in the locker room. Because that’s smart. source

• monday Cleveland Browns star Braylon Edwards was accused of assaulting a good friend of Cleveland Cavaliers star Lebron James outside of a nightclub.
• wednesday Braylon Edwards was traded to the NY Jets; many think that it was because of the incident. Yes, Lebron is powerful enough to get a football player traded. source

• It’s like the commercial, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. What happens in hypnotism stays in hypnotism.
• Washington Wizards star Mike Miller • Describing the bizarre sight of a hypnotist at their training camp. New coach Flip Saunders brought in John-Ivan Palmer, described as “the World’s Fastest and Funniest Hypnotist,” for the team’s training camp. He’s apparently worked with Saunders before. You are now getting sleepy … • source

• 78% of NFL stars wind up broke within two years of retiring
• 60% of NBA stars are broke within five years of retirement source

• They couldn’t reach a deal with the ref’s union. Earlier this week, talks between the league and the National Basketball Referees Association broke down. Now, the NBA’s on its way to using replacements in its ref training camp. The NBRA was ready for it. “I predicted that a lockout was forthcoming and yet it does not mean that both sides cannot continue to talk and work through some of these issues,” said lead negotiator Lamell McMorris. source

• He was arrested on weapons charges on a three-wheel hog. You thought we were joking with that headline, weren’t you? Delonte West, currently a starting shooting guard with the Cleveland Cavaliers, was arrested in Prince George’s County, Md. last night after he a.) cut off a police officer on his three-wheeled motorcycle on I-95, b.) admitted to carrying one weapon, and c.) was found to have two others, including one in a guitar case slung on his back. Dude! Dude. source