I’m a big sucker for fan art – well, appropriate fan art – and that’s why I’ve been pounding my desk all morning over the news that the world’s biggest patent troll is going after Etsy’s new $40 million investment. But while soulless thieves are going after the sources of the Internet’s showcases for art and inspiration, they’ll thankfully never be able to crush the actual artists. At least not yet. I’m sure they’ll find a way eventually.

My Internet Artist of the Day of the Week goes to the guys at Double Scribble, a Tumblr site devoted to NBA fan art.

Double Scribble is the lovechild of basketball and art; two of Nick Kastner and Mike McGrath’s favorite things in the world. From the coldest, murkiest depths of Cleveland, OH (and now to some extent, some obscure part of North Carolina) Nick and Mike have forged a blog out of blood, sweat and tears in their unwavering vision to provide you, the viewer, with a never ending source of basketball related art.

And it’s pretty awesome. I’ve been shuffling back and forth through its archives since a friend emailed the link last week and there is just a ton of great artwork on this site that has really inspired me to consider re-launching my web comic series, “The Erotic Adventures of a Sports Blogger.” Spoiler alert: it’s sad and gross.

After the jump, I’ve included many of my favorite efforts of Double Scribble’s authors, but I encourage you to check out the submissions that they’ve posted from other artists as well. It’s a highly recommended worm hole to limit your productivity today.

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"I can't hear you, little boy LA LA LA LA LA LA!"

This year’s NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Contest has very few people excited. With a lineup of Derrick Williams, Paul George, Chase Budinger and Iman Shumpert, who will provide the most excitement based solely on his lob partner and New York Knicks teammate, Jeremy Lin, this contest will rely heavily on creativity and very little on star power.

*dead cat crashes through window with a note attached*

According to our With Leather day-old news service, Shumpert has backed out of the dunk contest and will be replaced by Utah Jazz forward Jeremy Evans, which means that our Linebriation will only come from the Rising Stars challenge on Friday. So that leaves many people asking the NBA and its bevvy of stars: What the F, dudes?

Where the hell is the glory and ego of yesteryear, when the stars would line up to throw down a few dandy dunkaroos while their crews hopped around like morons? I mean, Dwight Howard should have been contractually obligated to win his title back from Blake Griffin this year, but neither of them want to get their hands dirty.

Thankfully, there’s a voice of reason out there that points the finger at one of the NBA’s biggest dunk contest no-shows of the last 8 years: LeBron James. And that voice of reason is a young kid who puts every NBA superstar diva in his place.

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Chances are if you even squinted at a Twitter feed yesterday, you saw a million or so people bitching about this year’s NBA All-Star Game slam dunk contest lineup, and they were all justified in doing so. Not only will the contest not feature the defending champion, Blake Griffin, but last year’s actual champion runner-up, JaVale McGee is also sitting this one out. Not because he didn’t want to, mind you, but because he wasn’t invited.

So who got the call? Chase Budinger, Paul George, Iman Shumpert and Derrick Williams, or as I like to call them: Who, What, Why and How? No real disrespect intended to those guys, but as the Washington Post pointed out after the league’s announcement yesterday, they’ve combined for 55 dunks on the season. Griffin and McGee, the league’s Top 2 dunkers, have nearly 3 times that amount between the two of them. In fact, the four guys selected aren’t even among the Top 40 dunkers in the entire NBA.

To make matters even worse, the contest has now been cut down to just one round and there will no longer be celebrity judges. Instead, the fans are in charge of the voting responsibility, which is bad news for Budinger, George and Williams, because none of them have the luxury of being Jeremy Lin’s teammate like Shumpert, who will be fed lobs by the New York Knicks’ new star. It’s not even fair, but even worse – it’s not even fun.

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It’s official … he’s back in Cleveland! No, not this guy.

Sports

Yankees-Athletics: Live-Blogging The Luncheon For The Friends Of Eric Plunk - Jon and Nick of The Dugout (if they ever actually want to write them) spend six hours and change live-blogging a baseball game. In a related story, Eric Plunk is probably the worst and ugliest motherf**ker of all time. [SBN]

Technique Video Of the Day: 10th Planet Leg Lock - Joanne Spracklen is somebody I feel like you should know about, and given how easy it is for MMA girls who don’t look like Ghouls to get leading lady action movie roles, you might as well jump on her bandwagon now. [Cage Potato]

NBA Lockout Report: Derrick Williams Dunks On People - Brandon’s personal NBA Lockout Report: he is probably never going to get up to Dallas and see a Mavericks game live, is he? [TSS]

It’s Draft Season And Women Be Bringin’ You Down: The KSK Sex/Fantasy Football Mailbag - Worth clicking for Nathan Explosion in the header, even more worth clicking for the huge Saved By The Bell gif. I should start the With Leather Saved By The Bell/Fantasy Baseball Mailbag. [KSK]

Not Sports

Jim Carrey’s Love Letter to Emma Stone, as Read by His Ass - I don’t really blame him for (fake) pouring his heart out on the Internet, but Real Talk, Bryce Dallas Howard was a way hotter Gwen Stacy. I know you don’t agree with me already, but I will die defending this. [Film Drunk]

The Hilarious (and Dead On) Caricatures of Cartoonist Pete Emslie - What would your favorite celebrity look like if they showed up on the Flintstones? Find out here! Ah man, I wish that’s what this was. Natalie Port-rock! [UPROXX]

The Wire Inspired Motivational Posters Are Inspiring, Motivational - Needs more “”You gonna help, huh? You gonna look out for me? You gonna look out for me, Sgt. Carver?” but still outstanding. Stringer Bell was the best. [UPROXX]

Hustler Says They’re Close to Releasing Rihanna Sex Tape - Hopefully it’s with Jon Hamm and features a cameo from Shy Ronnie. [FARK]

15 Year-Old Girl Gets a Bionic Hand - Pretty cool, but call me when she can shoot it at ledges and use it to swing in and attack Nazis. For a more concise reference, “I hope she named it Fisto!” [Warming Glow]

The Best of 1960′s Spider-Man, Part 2 - I sincerely advise anyone who clicks this to go on Netflix and actually watch the old Spider-Man cartoon, as it is super hilarious and trippy. It has the laziest backgrounds this side of Caillou, and near the end just turns into colors and noises. [Gamma Squad]

10 Things You Didn’t Know About New York City and Hurricanes - I don’t know anything about New York City OR Hurricanes, so this was extremely informative. I did see The Hurricane wrestle in New York City once, does that count? [Buzzfeed]

Tom Cruise’s Ladies, Past and Present: Oh, the Horror! - If Tom Cruise is indeed heterosexual, I would prefer his celebrity female take to Derek Jeter’s. I’d miss Scarlett Johansson, and Katie Holmes didn’t show up until she was already aging out of Joey Potter, but Sofia Vergara and pre-MILF Mimi Rogers MORE than make up for it. [Moviefone]