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The NBA is Back, and so are the Characters

Bookmark and Share by Charles Jay

I love the way Joshua Robinson of the New York Times started his story about the recent exhibition game between the New York Knicks (+3000 to win the Atlantic Division) and Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv, an Israeli team: "So a basketball coach, an NBA referee and a rabbi walk onto the court at Madison Square Garden locked in an argument. Stop me if you’ve heard this one."

It seems the coach of the Maccabi team, Pini Gershon, who is known as the "Bob Knight of European basketball," took exception to the Knicks' Al Harrington complaining about some fouls that called, and decided to bait the referee a little, even though one of his players got a call against Harrington, and that resulted in him being given his second technical foul of the game, which calls for an instant ejection.

Well, Gershon wouldn't leave the court, not even after NBA Security tried to take him off. Gershon even stole a moment to stick his face in the TV cameras, smiling as if amused at what he has wrought. Nate Robinson goes over there to see what's going on, and he's scratching his head because people are yelling in Hebrew (you've got to spend more time on the city streets, Nate!). Ah yes, a good time was being had by all.

Almost all.

Apparently Knicks president Donnie Walsh stormed out of the building because he was upset and embarrassed. The referees (replacement referees, no less) were not feeling the entertainment value either. Isn't that kind of unusual for an understudy?

Anyway, while the discussion about what to do with Gershon is going on, a rabbi named Yitzchak Dovid Grossman got into the fray. The game was being played to benefit his organization, and he actually walked across the court, first to try and convince the referee to let Gershon stay (“This is not a regular game. In a game for friendship, you forgive”). Former NBA player Ed Pinckney, who was doing color commentary on the MSG Network, said, "If he stays, they'll probably give him a standing ovation." Then, seeing that everybody was kind of losing patience (“What can I do? I tried to make peace.” he said), the rabbi helped convince Gershon to leave.

Next stop for Maccabi Tel Aviv was Los Angeles, for a game with the Clippers. Has anybody told "the Bob Knight of European basketball" that there's no chance for face time with Jack Nicholson, no matter what he does?

I understand the rabbi will be in the Staples Center too. Maybe they have a little act worked up, him and the coach. After all, if it didn't work on Broadway, perhaps better luck in Tinseltown!

I'll tell you what would be REALLY funny though - if the Clippers (+2500 to win the Pacific Division) got beat by this team.

More funny, and at the same time, sad stuff:

I can hear those birds chirping now. The marriage between Lamar Odom, forward of the Los Angeles Lakers (+200 to win the NBA title in the BetUS NBA futures odds) and reality ho Khloe Kardashian, is about to really become official.

In case you had any doubts, here's the pre-nuptial agreement, all worked out (allegedly). In the event of a divorce, Khloe receives:


  • A flat sum of about $500,000 for every year they were married
  • $25,000 a month in general support
  • A new luxury vehicle at the end of every lease cycle
  • $5000 a month for shopping
  • $1000 for beauty care and courtside Lakers tickets for the Kardashian family
  • A luxury home that hasn't even been bought yet
  • Face time with "the Bob Knight of European basketball" at Laker games (no, no, no - I'm just kidding about that one)

There's also no truth to the rumor that NBA super-agent Arn Tellum was negotiating for Khloe.

Regardless, Odom can consider it spent.

Khloe was "dating" former Minnesota Timberwolves (+8000 to win the Northwest Division) guard Rashard McCants (who has the same agent as Odom) previously. McCants, however, is currently unemployed, while Odom just signed a new four-year, $33 million deal with the Lakers. So you see, there was a sudden switch.

Someone close to the situation says, "There is a tremendous amount of love between the two, and that will prevail in the end. It might get rocky at times, but Lamar and Khloe are very much in love,"

Oh yeah, just thinking about it, I feel the urge to write a song or two.

Somebody needs to tell Lamar that if it's a certain fetish he's looking to satisfy, he can get it a lot cheaper somewhere else.

Odom probably needs to take the Dennis Rodman approach. Rodman, who last played with the Dallas Mavericks (+400 to win the Southwest Division) was at a nightclub in the Fountainbleu Hotel the other night and reportedly just walked up to the bar, whispered something in her ear and grabbed her between the legs. He wasn't arrested, but this wasn't the first time he has been accused of something like this. One woman who worked at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas won a $200,000 judgment against him after a 2006 incident where he apparently was "grabbing her and forcing her to dance, holding her against her will and slapping her backside in front of subordinates and patrons," according to the woman's complaint.

What's pathetic is that he probably does these things because more than once in a while, the woman grabs back.

As a sidelight, Rodman had been arrested, along with Carmen Electra, another good girl like Khloe, yards before at the Bentley Hotel in Miami Beach for what I guess was a double assault.

I'm sure Rodman can find somebody "special" out there. The question is - do you think Khloe and Lamar would be up for a double date?