nba

Some brands will make you wait to see their Super Bowl ads.

Not Samsung.

Having teased quite brilliantly with its mockery of the NFL's strict trademark regulations, Samsung has now released the full version of the real thing.

The real thing from The Next Big Thing again features Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd.

Like Samsung's Galaxy Note, this ad is a slightly bloated but likable affair, indulgently allowing its stars to free-associate with good humor and not so much dwelling on niceties such as, well, the products.

Mr. Show's Bob Odenkirk again comes along for the ride, … Read more

A little advice to Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban: if you don't agree with an NBA referee, it's probably best to keep your fingers away from Twitter. It can cost you big time.

Following a three-point Mavericks loss to the New Orleans Hornets on Saturday, the Cuban took to the microblogging service to gripe about some officiating that occurred during the game:… Read more

LAS VEGAS--Anyone who lives in Vegas knows the pain of not having an NBA team. This city is denied allegedly because of its penchant for gambling.

Seattle has been denied for quite some time now because some hardy business people thought they'd rip its Sonics out and move them to the glory that is Oklahoma City.

Now there are strong sonic rumors that there was very good reason for Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to bound onto the stage during Qualcomm's neo-psychedelic keynote: A group he is co-heading is reportedly buying the Sacramento Kings.

Yahoo Sports reports that the … Read more

Whenever I attend a professional sporting event, two things seem certain: high prices and T-shirt cannons.

This basketball season, the chances of catching a flying T-shirt improved greatly for Philadelphia 76ers fans, with the debut of the world's largest T-shirt cannon.

The weapon of mass comfort, officially known as "Big Bella," weighs 600 pounds and can fire up to 100 shirts per minute. Judging by the startling straight-down-the-double-barrel picture supplied by the Sixers, the device appears somewhat similar to a jumbo Gatling gun. … Read more

LeBron James wants you to forget the fact that he said he was going to take his talents to Miami.

Samsung wants you to forget the fact that the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is quite big.

So in a marketing marriage of quite some convenience, the two have gotten together for mutual benefit.

I am grateful to TechCrunch for sizing up the new ad for the Galaxy Note 2, which attempts to turn LeBron James into, oh, Jesus Jordan.

He's friendly. He's lovely. He's a philanthropist. Yes, even though he's been a king from the very … Read more

2K Sports' critically acclaimed NBA 2K franchise is no stranger to best sports video game lists. The CNET TV team recently went behind the scenes at 2K Sports' headquarters in Novato, Calif., just days before NBA 2K13 hits store shelves. The goal: to find out what's in their secret sauce.

I had the opportunity to jump into the company's motion capture studio, and suited up with markers placed strategically on my body. Lights surrounding the perimeter of the studio hit the markers, and the reflections allow them to be identified and processed by computers to capture wireframe animations … Read more

Game developer Majesco's newly released NBA Baller Beats attempts to revive the nearly extinct rhythm video game genre -- and it doesn't involve playing a mock musical instrument, but rather bouncing a ball in front of your television.

To play Baller Beats, you merely need to bounce a basketball (or any similar-shaped ball) to the rhythm of a chosen song. A crescendo of icons float down a virtual track, instructing you to perform up to 20 different moves, such as dribbling the ball with a certain hand, or between legs, or performing a pass fake.

The game also features an eight-player multiplayer mode, as well as various difficulty settings and unlocks. The $59 Baller Beats also includes a real full-size Spalding replica NBA basketball, perfect for losing control of and destroying something breakable in the living room. … Read more

NBA Jam is an updated and faithful recreation of probably the most popular standup arcade basketball game of all time. For those who never went through several dollars in quarters at the local arcade playing this fun classic many years ago, NBA Jam is not your standard five-on-five simulation you see on consoles. This game is all about two-vs.-two high-flying dunk basketball, where just about every play is worthy of a highlight reel.

The control system for NBA Jam on offense includes a directional pad on the lower left part of the screen, and pass, shoot, and speed boost … Read more

It's clear that we are moving into a faintly disturbing period of human history. Thanks to technology, everyone is following us around. Thanks to Facebook, we're following everyone else around.

However, when it comes to the NBA, which tonight might enjoy the last game of its season, surveillance has reached a fascinating extreme.

For, thanks to cameras first developed to track missiles, each NBA player can now have his moves recorded 25 times per second. The system, from a company called STATS, is known as SportVU, which does not, I believe, stand for Sport Voyeurs United.

But perhaps … Read more