In news that I could have broken several weeks ago (but didn't because Henry Abbott was all nice about asking us bloggers not to reveal it), TrueHoop is now an ESPN entity.

For those of you just here for cheesecake and sports gossip, this is pretty big news: of all the great NBA blogs out there on the Internet, TrueHoop is arguably the best and almost certainly the most informative, a must-read for NBA fans and sportswriters alike — and it was all built from the ground up through tireless dedication to digging up every curious aspect of the Association. In Henry's own words:

I'll be reading and linking to the same newspapers, blogs, magazines, and websites every day… The various executives and editors at ESPN have been nice enough to make clear, even in writing, that they aren't interested in monkeying in any profound way with the way things happen here…

My guiding philosophy through the whole process was: I don't want to do this if it's going to impair TrueHoop in some way. I don't want TrueHoop Lite. And I don't want you readers to one day yammer on about "back when TrueHoop was…"

Instead of doing the predictable "Watch out! ESPN's evil!" thing that tends to resonate through the sports blogosphere, allow me to be among the first to say: congratulations, Henry. If you can reach a bigger audience and get a better paycheck without changing the way you work and write, I say go for it. And tell Berman the name of this blog is a complete coincidence.