NBA Betting – Top Five Shaq Moments Of All Time

Four NBA championships, three NBA finals MVP awards, one NBA MVP award, and 15 All Star appearances are on the resume of NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal. The most dominant center to ever play the game will have left an impression on the sport forever, and although it is tough to see him go there are the sports betting highlights and memories that will live on. Excuse me for a minute, but here are Shaq’s top-five moments of all-time.

5. I AM KAZAAM

Okay, so this wasn’t exactly part of his basketball career, but his film career has to be recognized on this list. O’Neal’s personality and celebrity status was one of the most memorable things he brought to the game, as he attracted a new fan base and a ton of attention after he played a genie in the movie Kazaam.

4. THE REUNION

After years of bitterness and jabs back and forth between the two through the media, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant lined up as teammates one more time in the 2009 NBA All Star game. The two created magic together during their time with the Los Angeles Lakers, and it was a nice moment to see the two back on the floor in the same uniform one last time.

3. THERE GOES THE RIM

In one of the most memorable moments in NBA history, a young O’Neal ripped down the net at the Meadowlands Arena as a member of the Orlando Magic, breaking down the entire net in front of thousands of screaming fans in a video that is still being played today.

2. SHAQ FOR MVP

After one of the most dominant seasons in NBA history, O’Neal was awarded the only sports betting bonus MVP award of his career for the 1999-2000 season after averaging 29.7 points and 13.6 rebounds per game, leading the Lakers all the way to the NBA finals that year and capturing the championship trophy.

2. LAKERS WIN

That NBA finals run was the best moment of his career, as the Lakers defeated the Indiana Pacers for their first of his four NBA championships. O’Neal and Bryant were absolutely dominant in those years together, leaving many to wonder about what could have been.

NBA Predictions

Sports betting fans handicapping the NBA are anxiously counting down the days until the regular season ends. To say the 2010-11 NBA betting seasons have been unpredictable would be an understatement. However, with only four games left, a lot has been decided, except for one thing, the MVP trophy. Here is our prediction based on the regular season, for which player should receive the MVP trophy.

From Lebron James to Kobe Bryant to Steve Nash, the best player on the best NBA team has naturally been awarded the MVP trophy. In theory, that award should go to Manu Ginobli or Derrick Rose of the San Antonio Spurs or Chicago Bulls respectively. Yet in reality, consider that Derrick Rose by most writer’s accounts has already been given the title, despite being a one dimensional player. This is betonline.com scam — in our opinion, the guy who should be given the MVP trophy is Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Known more as a secondary player on the Thunder, Westbrook is literally the straw that stirs the drink in Oklahoma City. Now at first glance, you may be like if anyone should receive the award, it should be Kevin Durant. But consider, that as the point guard for the Thunder, Russell Westbrook has the ability to take games over, whether it be from the offensive or defensive side of things.

On the one hand, it seems like a no brainer to give Derrick Rose the MVP award, but considering Westbrook is a more complete point guard, we think the more deserving man should have the award. What’s more, the Western Conference has always been considered to be the more superior of the two conferences. Meaning to say, Westbrook is guarding players such as Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant and Tony Parker, while Rose guards Jose Calderon, Richard Hamilton, and Baron Davis.

Do The Boston Celtics Have What It Takes To Win An NBA Title?

The March Madness betting tournament signals the home stretch of the regular season of the NBA, as teams try to make last minute stands and fine tune adjustments for the playoffs. One of the many teams with a chance to contend this season, are the Boston Celtics. However, as many sports betting handicappers have seen in the last 10 games, the Celtics appear to be struggling mightily. Is this a sign of things to come for the playoffs, or are the Celtics no longer taking the regular season seriously?

It’s no betonline com scam, we think this may be a combination of the two suggested answers above, as it is becoming evident, that without the big four of Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, the Celtics are not a very good team. Despite recently being tied with the Chicago Bulls for the top spot in the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics have struggled mightily over the last two week.

Throughout the 10 games played in the two week span, the Celtics have managed a break even record, of five wins and five losses. To put that into perspective, the Chicago Bulls, the team the Celtics are attempting to surpass as the top team in the Eastern Conference, has gone nine and one in that same stretch.

With 11 games remaining in the season, many Celtics fans and writers alike, are questioning, how wise of a decision it was to trade away Kendrick Perkins at the trade deadline. For those unfamiliar with the Boston Celtics, Kendrick Perkins was the team’s star center for the last couple of years, before a knee injury sidelined him. The belief amongst the Celtics is that Perkins was expendable because of the depth they had at center. However, as we have seen recently, the depth of Shaq and Jermaine O’Neil is not a comforting feeling for a team trying to win another NBA title.

NBA Draft Guide Which Stars Stock Is On The Rise?

For the first time in the last six years, many NBA betting online enthusiasts are uncertain of which college hoops star will go first overall in this year’s draft. Enter the March Madness betting tournament, in which stars from across the nation raise their stock in order to get selected in the first round of the NBA draft. Here are two players with their stock on the rise going into the March Madness tourney.

• Kawhi Leonard F San Diego State – Before the season began it was fair to assume that nobody had considered San Diego State a serious threat for the National Title, let alone knowing who Kawhi Leonard was. Now four months later, college basketball experts and NBA scouts alike can’t get enough of Leonard as he has been the centerpiece of San Diego State’s push towards a top seed in the March Madness tournament. For most of the season, Leonard has led the Aztecs in scoring and rebounds per game. What’s perhaps most impressive is that at small forward, Leonard is more than just a swing man. Leonard is a new breed of small forward, one with good defensive awareness and offensive scoring. Look for this year’s National Title tournament to be the coming out party for Kawhi Leonard.

• Nolan Smith G Duke – Going into 2010-11 Duke decided it was going to build around freshmen recruit Kyrie Irving, as opposed to returning senior stars Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler. For the first six weeks of the season building around Irving seemed like the smart idea. However, when Irving got injured, Duke came knocking on Nolan Smith’s door. Since taking over as the leader of the Blue Devils, Nolan Smith has provided the type of court IQ that starting NBA guards are made of. His play over the second half of the season has earned him ACC player of the year honors. Thus his goal is to guide Duke back to the National Title game for the second year in a row. If he is able to do so, look for Smith to be a lottery pick come June.

Carmelo Anthony Finally Traded

Monday February 21, 2011 will be marked down as one of the most important days in the NBA betting online history, as that is the day that Carmelo Anthony was finally traded from the Denver Nuggets. After nearly seven months, and 12 teams and 25 players, the sports betting world was shocked to see the Nuggets win the trade that shipped Carmelo Anthony out of town. With Anthony finally getting his wish to play in the Eastern Conference in New York, will he be able to guide the Knicks to a playoff berth?

Monday night ended several months of anticipation as the year of the player take over appears to be complete. This past offseason, three of Carmelo Anthony’s friends from his 2004 draft class took over control of the NBA, as they all agreed to play with one team, forcing the Miami Heat to sell half of their team to make room for their massive contracts. Then eight months later, Anthony in effect did the same thing to the New York Knicks.

Essentially, Carmelo Anthony has wanted out of Denver for some time, as the team has failed to go far in the playoffs. However, rather than move to a team that could afford him but still be in rebuild mode, Anthony decided that he wanted to take control of the negotiations. Meaning to say, on Monday when he was traded to New York, Anthony was part of one of the biggest trades in the history of the NBA. Here are the pieces to the deal.

To New York: Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter and Renaldo Balkman.

To Denver: Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov 2014 first round pick and a cash exemption.

Basically, the deal works out so that half of the New York Knicks franchise is shipped to Denver for Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups. The other players mentioned in the New York side of the deal will most likely be bought out or traded away. It’s amazing what the league has turned into.

NBA Final Prediction

With just under five months remaining in the NBA betting online season, it is time to look at the contenders for the league’s Championship. Over the last four years, we’ve come to expect as sports betting enthusiasts, to see some teams continuously in the Championship finals of their respective sport, such as the LA Lakers. However, this year fans we see the two finalists being teams other than the Lakers and the Celtics!

In 2010-11 the two teams that will be remaining at the end of the year to battle it out for NBA supremacy, will be the Chicago Bulls of the Eastern Conference and San Antonio Spurs of the Western Conference. Over the last few years, there has been speculation towards both teams, as to which team is on the rise and which team is taking a step back.

For instance, the Chicago Bulls were literally a mess only a few seasons ago, and then the Bulls went and hired Vinny Del Negro as Head Coach and drafted the next Michael Jordan, Derrick Rose. Under Del Negro for two seasons, the Bulls went from basement dweller to two straight seasons of playoffs. What’s more, given how weak the Eastern Conference has been the last couple of seasons, the Bulls were able to make the playoffs under Del Negro and Derrick Rose’s guidance with 500 records. Now in 2010-11, Vinny Del Negro is coaching the Los Angeles Clippers, while Rose remains with the
Bulls.

The Bulls are presently being coached by former Boston Celtic assistant coach Tom Thibodeau. This year the Bulls currently hold a record of 34 – 14 and despite being without injured center Joakim Noah, appear to be destined for a long playoff run.

On the other hand, the San Antonio Spurs were speculated to be getting too old and therefore would take a step back in 2010-11. Instead, Spurs Head Coach Greg Popovich has the 2010-11 Spurs looking like a combination of the 2003, 2005 and 2007 Spurs NBA Championship teams. At 40 wins and eight losses, the Spurs could be the first team since the 2007-2008 Boston Celtics to go from leading the NBA in the regular season to winning the NBA title.

Most Important NBA Trades In League History

Sports betting handicappers from around the country are counting down the days until disgruntled Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony is traded to a new team. In years past, the NBA has been known as a league where fans could bet on how many players were involved in a deal as many trades have been known to include over 10 players. But how important would a Carmelo trade be in the history of the league? Here are three deals that had breeders cup betting fans and experts alike floored.

• Carmelo Anthony Trade - Alright at first glance this sounds like a cop out, but think about it, if the rumors are true and Anthony does indeed find a new home, fans can expect more players to switch between teams than ever before in the history of the NBA. There is talk that potentially 15 players could be involved in the deal to ship Anthony out of Denver. Essentially Anthony wants to go to a team where he can contend now and not to a rebuilding team. In order to do that more than two teams have to be involved in the deal and a lot of draft picks and expiring contracts.

• Kevin Garnett And Ray Allen To Boston 2007-2008 - Prior to the 2007/2008 NBA season, to say that the Boston Celtics sucked would have been a gross understatement. That offseason, over a two day span, the Celtics ownership shipped out pretty much their entire roster except for franchise star Paul Pierce. In return they brought in former Minnesota Timberwolves star Kevin Garnett and Seattle Super Sonic Ray Allen. The result, the Celtics ended up with the second best season in league history en route to the team’s first Championship since the Bird era.

• Kobe Bryant To Los Angeles Lakers 1996 - In 1996 the Charlotte Hornets agreed to deal their first pick in that season’s draft to the Los Angeles Lakers for hall of famer Vlade Divac. By luck of the draw that pick at 13^th overall turned into Kobe Bryant. Now 15 years later, and Kobe has helped guide the Lakers to five NBA titles, including the last two championships. Divac would retire four years after the deal, and the Hornets would relocate to New Orleans.

NBA Weekend Betting

Heading into the weekend, NBA betting online enthusiasts have many games to be aware of. On Friday alone, 11 games jump out at sports betting fans to keep their eyes on, as several have intriguing value.Here are a few games to be played on Friday that look to be the most appealing.

• New Jersey Nets vs. Washington Wizards – Two of the NBA’s youngest and most struggling franchises clash on Friday night in Washington. At first glance, this game may receive the lowest amount of action on the night. But then again, a game like this is where you can make a lot of money, because of how little action it will receive. We suggest taking this game to go under the spread.

Thus far in the season, taking the Nets against the spread would find some good value. In 35 games this season, the Nets have managed to go 17 – 18 against the spread. Meanwhile, the Wizards have accumulated a record of 13 – 20 against the spread. Meaning to say, you would be wise to take the Nets in this game on the point spread line.

• San Antonio Spurs vs. Indiana Pacers – This game features one of the league’s hottest teams in the Spurs taking on a middle of the pack team in the Pacers. These teams are very different both in terms of overall win loss records and talent level. However, where they do share a similarity is on the point spread.

Indiana has an overall record of 14-16-2 against the spread this season, while the Spurs have a record of 21-3-1 against the spread. Suggesting, that since the Spurs open up as a six and a half point favorite, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that they will cover the spread.

LA Clippers Show Fans Light At End Of Tunnel

Sports betting online fans looking for an NBA team on the rise should look no further than that other Los Angeles team, the LA Clippers. On Sunday, the Clippers shocked the NBA sports wagering site world, as they upset the new look Phoenix Suns 108 to 103. If it weren’t for their youth, the Clippers could have blown out the Suns, as they led by as much as 20 points by half time. Led by Blake Griffin, the Clippers are finally showing their fans, that they have a good team.

Unlike their Staples Center’s co-tenets the Los Angeles Clippers have no idea what it means to win. In the team’s 32 year history, they have only made the playoffs on three separate occasions. Of those three occasions, they have only gone to the second round once. That one time was almost five years ago, as they were a field goal away from defeating the Phoenix Suns.

Over the five years since the team’s last post season appearance, the Clippers have gotten a lot younger and have had several first round picks. In 2008, things appeared to be moving in the right direction, as the Clippers drafted young guard Eric Gordon. The plan was for Gordon to run the back court with Baron Davis, while forwards Chris Kaiman and Elton Brand ran the front court. Instead, an unmotivated Baron and injuries to Brand and Kaiman set the team up for a first overall draft pick in the 2009 draft. The result was the club picking Blake Griffin from Oklahoma.

However, as the Clippers luck would have it, their future franchise star would blow out his knee in training camp. Furthermore, after recovering from knee surgery this offseason, Blake Griffin, Eric Gordon and a freshly motivated Baron Davis appear to be turning the team around. In a couple of years we could be discussing the Clippers as a legitimate NBA Championship contender. Okay, we can dream can’t we?

David Stern Is Santa Claus

This past weekend on Saturday December 25, 2010 David Stern the NBA betting online commissioner, revealed himself to the fans as Santa Claus. Stern and the rest of the people at the NBA online betting commissioner’s office shocked the fans earlier this season, by announcing the double header of games on ESPN for Christmas Day. On that day, fans would be treated to a three course meal of incredible basketball games.

For an appetizer, at 12:30 fans would start the day by watching the up and coming Chicago Bulls take on the revitalized New York Knicks. In a game featuring Derrick Rose and Carlos Boozer taking on Amare Stoudemire and Raymond Felton, the Knicks would win the game 103 – 95.

Then for a main course, Stern and his elves at the NBA commissioner’s office would spoil fans with a double header of the 14 game win streak Boston Celtics taking on the new look Orlando Magic in one game. In the other game, fans would be completely spoiled as they would be able to follow up a fantastic Celtics verses Magic game, with the Miami Heat verses the Los Angeles Lakers.

In the Celtics verse Magic game, the Magic showed their fans that they made the right decision by reshaping their roster two weeks ago in two huge deals, as they would defeat the Celtics in a tight scoring defensive oriented affair. On the other hand, the Celtics showed their fans that all good things have to come to an end by losing the game after leading for most of it.

The main event of the evening saw the Miami Heat trio of Bosh, Wade and James, take on Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. Miami faced a huge test in the Lakers, as to date, they’ve been unable to defeat a top team in the NBA.

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