Hi, professional athletes. I’m just going to assume that you all are reading this, because why wouldn’t you? Recently, I wrote an award-winning piece about the 20 sports moments that I believed had truly transcended all others this year, and everyone from the Pulitzer committee to several bisexual Penthouse Pets agreed that it was the best thing they’d ever read. They especially appreciated the very first moment (No. 20) that I mentioned, which was Nicolas Batum punching an opponent in the balls as hard as he could.

Batum, of course, famously tried to justify his testicular attack by accusing Team Spain of flopping and intentionally losing a game to Brazil so they didn’t have to play Team USA. Even if that’s true – and it probably is – that is no excuse to hit another man in the testicles. That brings us to last night, when Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade kicked Ramon Sessions in the balls on purpose and received no punishment for it.

Now let’s go to the video.

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For my money, there’s no greater MS Paint artist in this generation or any other, for that matter (suck it, Picasso), than our own Danger Guerrero. His efforts within this specific medium have been unparalleled over the decades that I’ve known him, and I believe that he has no less than 75 works currently hanging in the Smithsonian and the Louvre. Do not quote me on that number, as it may be off just a tad.

However, despite the important life lessons that we were given by The Highlander series, there doesn’t have to be only one, and I recently stumbled upon the works of another outstanding MS Paint artist (pronounced ar-teest) who sadly remains anonymous at this current time. But like most great reclusive artists of the last several centuries and great artistic periods, this unknown person got his or her start on Tumblr, with the site “Great NBA Moments”.

Sure enough, this collection of artwork re-captures some of the greatest moments in NBA history through the stunning use of basic colors and brushes that only MS Paint can provide. Included in these incredible works are Michael Jordan’s iconic game-winning jumpshot, Dirk Nowitzki’s three-pointer in Game 5 of the 2011 NBA Finals and even the cover of the video game masterpiece, Shaq Fu.

Short of Larry Bird sharing a milkshake with Skeletor or any of the sketches that we’ve previously viewed from the artists at Double Dribble, this is probably the best NBA art that you will see this year. While there are many more beautiful works available at Great NBA Moments, I have included some of my favorites in this week’s With Leather Wild Art Gallery.

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Despite me watching it last night, the NBA posted its new “BIG Color” commercial on YouTube today to celebrate both the holiday season and the surprisingly plain jerseys that some teams will be wearing on Christmas day. As we already know, the Christmas day NBA schedule looks like this:

Boston Celtics at Brooklyn Nets
New York Knicks at Los Angeles Lakers
Oklahoma City Thunder at Miami Heat
Houston Rockets at Chicago Bulls
Denver Nuggets at Los Angeles Clippers

It’s a regular potpourri of games that we both care and don’t care about. Thanks NBA! But back to the uniforms and commercial at hand. The BIG Color commercial features four of the league’s most recognizable stars and Joe Johnson, as they bounce their jingle balls in rhythm to the tune of “Carol of the Bells”. For what it is, it’s a simple but cool spot that doesn’t play any favorites, except that 25 teams are left out of the fun. But that’s their fault for stinking.

Check out the commercial after the jump, as well as some special holiday cheer commentary from my favorite and most intelligent people on the Internet – YouTube commenters.

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Dwyane Wade hates America, that’s what I’m taking away from the news that he left Michael Jordan’s brand to become the new face of the Chinese company Li Ning. Named for China’s most famous gymnast, Li Ning is hardly a presence in the States, which is why the company and Wade are banking on this new partnership to bring China’s most popular brand to the forefront of the U.S. market. When I think about how this will affect the Chinese workers who make the shoes for American companies, it almost makes me sick that Wade would turn his back on us like this.

But that’s the chance he’s willing to take, as the first designs of Wade’s new shoes were released this week and people seem to be really excited about them. Still, why leave the guaranteed fame and fortune that comes with the Jordan brand to take such a huge risk at this point in his career? Wade finally broke his silence in an interview with the Associated Press.

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David Stern loves sending teams around the world for exhibition games, because it means more money for the league and owners. Sure, he’ll say it’s about expanding the league’s brand and creating a broader fan base with the hopes of one day establishing leagues and teams in other countries, but it’s about the money. It’s always about the money. And that’s fine, because money is good and capitalism is splendid as long as they’re prefaced with alley oops.

This week, the Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Clippers are the NBA’s goodwill ambassadors to the Far East, and players like Dwyane Wade and LeBron James couldn’t be more excited about showing off their recently released shoes that the Chinese fans will buy just as fast as the American fans did. Wait no, I mean they couldn’t be more excited about growing the NBA brand. Sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking.

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LeBron Iver

People send and Tweet a lot of links to me each week and the results range from tame and general to bizarre and borderline terrifying, but every now and then somebody shows me something that just makes me giggle with delight, and that’s good for everyone. That happened the other day when a friend passed along the Tumblr site Indie Basketball, which, as the name implies, combines popular indie bands with NBA stars. Simple and sweet.

But more than anything, I’m a sucker for puns, so that more than makes up for my shameful lack of knowledge when it comes to who some of these bands are. For example, Bat for Lashes? No clue. But Bat for Nashes? That’s a giggle-maker right there. So let’s get the pun machine rolling with some of our own names (that aren’t exactly indie bands, I know):

Earl the Pearl Jam
Houston Rocket from the Crypt
Kids in Glass Eddie Houses
King Charles Barkley
Franz Vasquez Ferdinand
P.J. Donnell Harvey
Heypenny Hardaway

Damn, that’s some fine punning right there. I’ve included some of my favorite Indie Basketball efforts after the jump, but don’t let that stop you slick hipsters from suggesting your own with your favorite Bright Eyes and Wolf Parade jams playing in the background.

*picks Frisbee off of lawn, keeps it*

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