"I'm not your child."

Those were the words of Miami superstar Dwayne Wade directed at NBA Commissioner David Stern during today's labor talks between the players and owners. Obviously things are getting heated between the two sides.

Stern supposedly pointed a finger in the direction of Wade during today's session while making a comment and Wade barked back at him, "You're not pointing your finger at me. I am not your child." Wade reportedly felt as if Stern was belittling him.

Talks got so heated at that point that the players in the room nearly stormed out. Union executive directive Billy Hunter calmed the players down and asked the players to remain at the negotiation table with Stern and the 10 owners present.

Think there might be a sense of urgency in trying to get a deal done?

Both the league and players cautioned that a deal is still far from close, but talks will resume in a much smaller forum tomorrow. The contingent of big-name players on hand today will not be present tomorrow.

In the meantime, the Italian League team, Virtus Bologna, that offered Kobe Bryant a contract announced today that they had a deal with him to join their team. The deal is reportedly for about 10 games over a 35- to 40-day period and worth about $3 million.

There are some scheduling conflicts posed by two of the other teams in the league which could hinder the deal, but Virtus is confident Kobe will still sign the deal.

This Just Totally Irks Me

You know, I somehow expected this from Lebron James.

He already comes across as an arrogant, immature, pompous ass.

No wonder people are losing all respect for the guy!

But Dwayne Wade, too? I expected better from him...

Beautiful sportsmanship. Seriously...

This just exemplifies why I'm rooting hard for Dallas to win this thing.

One more win!

My Beef with King James

I haven't had a chance this past week to react to an incident that occured recently, but now that I have a few minutes, and I've actually had a chance to gather my thoughts on it, I figured now's as good a time as any to give you my opinion on it.

Everyone knows LeBron James is a great player. And, everyone knows he loves to have fun, especially on the court. But last Friday night against the Bulls, I think he went a little overboard.

Throughout the game that night, LeBron was seen dancing excessively on the sidelines and during the game, even while he was on the court. He was seen during one timeout making "funny" faces at the camera that just so happened to be right in his face. And as he put it later, he was just having fun.

Well, Bulls center Joakim Noah took exception to it. And frankly, so did I. Late in the game, while James was about to shoot a couple of free throws in front of the Bulls bench, Noah, sitting on the bench, started calling him out on it. After James made one of the free throws, he casually walked towards the Bulls bench to confront Noah, but before it got out of hand, it was broken up.

Still, even after the game, there was a lot of talk about it.

Now, we all know Noah had a knack for a doing a little excessive taunting back when he was at the University of Florida. And some might suggest he was being a bit hypocritical to call out James. But I think Noah was dead-on for calling him out in this case.

This is the NBA. It's a professional league where the players get paid. This is a different animal from the NCAA.

Some say that NBA players, no, check that, all professional athletes, are entertainers. While this might be true, the last thing that gives you the right to do is showboat, rub it in your opponents faces. It's one reason why I'm not a big NFL fan. Because the lack of maturity and respect from some players to their opponents disgusts me. (The end zone showboating after a score has gone far too overboard for my taste, and so has the showboating after making a great defensive play when they're trailing by three touchdowns late in a game.)

Back to LeBron James. As I said before, he's nothing short of a great player, a great athlete, a great talent. But one thing he does lack, in my opinion, is maturity. And I think it was that immaturity that led to the excessive dancing on the court.

By comparison, you never, ever saw Magic Johnson, Larry Bird or Michael Jordan dance around like that while on the court in the middle of a game. You never saw them disrespect their opponents. Heck, you don't even see Kobe do it, or even Dwayne Wade.

Why? Because they respected/respect the game and their opponents. And most importantly, they took/take the game seriously. They were/are passionate about it. Sure, they tried/try to have fun, but they did/do it without chastising their opponents.

They did/do it respectfully and with dignity.

Kobe, Shaq & P-Jax Reunited

Well, for nostalgia purposes anyway. The Big Three, as Shaq might have once called them, reunited on the same team for a one night only affair tonight, and it was apparently a rousing success! Of course, nothing could possibly top the pre-game Kazaam-like performance by Shaq as he danced, and razzled and dazzled a raucous Phoenix crowd. Shaq, the class clown of the NBA, did not disappoint in entertaining the fans, before, during, and after the game.

So could this all lead to one last hoorah for the Big Three as the Lakers make their run towards their possible 15th NBA title this June? Maybe, maybe not. There's no indication the Lakers are interested in Shaq's services with Andrew Bynum ahead of schedule in his recovery (and rehab?) from a torn MCL in his right knee. But one thing we do know, Kobe and Shaq, like they did for eight years together until five seasons ago, dominated tonight's All-Star Game in Phoenix, where Shaq calls his NBA home these days, and took home the co-MVP honors.

In the end, Kobe finished with a game-high 27 points on 12-23 shooting (very Kobe-like) along with four rebounds, assists and steals apiece. Shaq finished with 17 points and five boards and dominated the middle in his 15th All-Star Game appearance, second most in NBA history. The West All-Stars routed their East counterparts 146-119, blowing the game open in the third quarter. Amare Stoudemire added 19 points, while four others, including the Lakers' Pau Gasol, chimed in with 14 apiece for the West. The East was led by LeBron James' 20 points, with Paul Pierce and Dwayne Wade each adding 18 each.

And while Shaq said he missed the old times the two, or three if you include Phil Jackson, had together, Kobe was particularly ho-hum about it, saying it was fun for the one night while it lasted. It was quite obvious after hearing Kobe talk about it afterwards, even after Shaq had plenty of compliments to pass around about Kobe, labeling him as the best player in the league, that this was, indeed, just a one-night stand.

The Lakers will continue their title quest Tuesday at Staples against Atlanta. And with the trade deadline this Thursday, all eyes are on Phoenix as rumors have been swirling around the league that Shaq and/or Stoudemire could be on the move. Just don't expect Mitch Kupchak and the Lakers to be calling Steve Kerr.

Lakers Spoil Marion's Heat Debut

That was a fun game to watch today, wasn't it? Lakers get a nice win, 104-94, as Kobe bested D-Wade 33-19 in the scoring department. Kobe also added 5 assists to Wade's 9, and Lamar Odom added 15 points and 18 boards. Shawn Marion finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds in his Heat debut as Miami falls to a league-worse 9-40. The Lakers, meanwhile, continue to roll on the road trip and improve to 33-17 overall, and leapfrog San Antonio by 1/2 game into the 5th spot in the Western Conference. San Antonio lost in Boston earlier in the day, 98-90.

The Lakers head to Charlotte on Monday night before finishing up the long 9-game trip in Minnesota on Wednesday night as they head into the All-Star break this coming weekend. If all goes well, the Lakers should finish the trip an impressive 7-2 with wins in Charlotte and Minnesota.