J.R. Smith calls Caitlyn Jenner 'that science project'

It seems J.R. Smith has yet to grasp this whole social media thing without creating a little controversy. Even when the Cleveland Cavaliers guard uses his thumbs to publicize good works, he still finds a way to stick his foot in his mouth.

Smith, who will play in game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday,  deleted a meme referring to Caitlyn Jenner as "that science project" on his Instagram shortly after posting it Wednesday.

"Shout out to Akon !" the image reads. "He is about to supply 600 million africans with solar power. Im really upset that this isnt major news but that science project bruce jenner is #Society"

Smith reposted the image with his own caption: "Hmmm... what's more important?"

Akon is about to supply 600 million africans with solar power & ya worried about Ms Jenner 😴😴😴 pic.twitter.com/Lf1c6ofxe2

— iG: PayDay3God (@PesosSlimeLova) June 3, 2015

The meme — which is a part of a trend where people compare Jenner to another news story as a way of ridiculing her gender change — compared Jenner with singer Akon's solar power initiative in Africa.

Tweets coming back to haunt Smith are nothing new to the oft-troubled player — especially during the playoffs.  In 2012, Smith was fined $25,000 for posting a picture of a woman in his bed wearing a thong.

NY Post responds to Raptors GM and Toronto Sun with one spectacular headline (PHOTO)

The Toronto Raptors took shots at the Brooklyn Nets from all different angles before Saturday's Game 1 playoff matchup at the Air Canada Centre.

You may recall the Toronto Sun's cute headline calling the Nets team "dinosaurs" before the Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri amped up the Toronto faithful by saying "F**k Brooklyn" at a pre-game rally outside the venue.

Well the New York Post fired back — as only the NYC tabloid could — and knocked off two bird-brained remarks with one spectacular back page headline after the Nets beat the Raptors 94-87.

Sunday morning's headline was short and sweet — but not exactly like they teach you in journalism school:

"F#@K YEAH."

Ujiri apologized for his profane outburst. Don't expect any such thing from the Post.

Raptors GM apologizes for ‘F—k Brooklyn’ rant (VIDEO)

The general manager of the Toronto Raptors had a couple of choice words for the Brooklyn Nets before Game 1 of their first-round NBA playoff series and they weren't the friendly Hello Brooklyn New York fans have become accustomed to.

Speaking to several thousand fans in Maple Leaf Square outside of Air Canada Centre before the opening game Saturday, Toronto general manager Masai Ujiri ended his speech with “F— Brooklyn!” before handing the microphone off and exiting the stage to raucous cheers.

(WARNING: Video below contains profanity)

Ujiri then met with the media at halftime of the Nets’ 94-87 win, where he attempted to clear the air.

“Guys, I apologize,” Ujiri said. “I used [the] wrong choice of words out there. This thing is not really about me. It’s about the players, and the playoffs. I’m just trying to get the crowd up there [riled up]. It was a wrong choice of words. I apologize to kids out there, and to the Brooklyn guys. Nothing against them, I’m just trying to get our fans going.”

Nevertheless, Ujiri said he wasn’t answering any questions and tried to temper his foul mouthed enthusiasm.

“You know how I feel,” he said. “I don’t like them, but I apologize.”

It was a fitting way to kick off what should be a very competitive and entertaining playoff series between the two Atlantic Division rivals. The two teams engaged in four close games during the regular season, with each side winning two.

Deron Williams on Nets in playoffs: 'It's part of the takeover'

You wouldn't know it by Tuesday night's game at Barclays Center, but the Brooklyn Nets essentially have New York City to themselves — in an NBA sense.

While the Nets will never win a head-to-head popularity contest with the Yankees, the boys from Brooklyn have arguably converted a few Knicks fans and are poised to knock that other Madison Square Garden team — the playoff-bound Rangers  — off the city tabloids' back pages as well.

Thanks to making the playoffs for a second straight year — something the Knicks weren't able to do — the Nets have top billing as the lone NYC team in the NBA playoffs.

And that accomplishment across the East River didn't go unnoticed by one Nets veteran.

"I think it will be good for us," Deron Williams said before the Nets' 109-98 loss to the Knicks Tuesday night. "I think it's good for our brand, good for Brooklyn basketball. You know, it's a part of the takeover."

While the Melo-less Knicks had them looking more like a bunch of lightweights last night, the Nets have the satisfaction of knowing their crosstown rivals will be punching their sofa pillows while watching the playoffs from home.

And, as the happy Nets coach Jason Kidd said, "No one got hurt."

A win over the Knicks would've  knocked the Nets into the fifth seed, but they could drop to sixth if they also lose tonight's season finale in Cleveland and the Wizards beat the Bobcats.

And the Nets aren't exactly streaking at the moment. They have lost three of their last four games, both to non-playoff teams.

Even so, the Nets 34-16 overall record this calendar year is the second-best of any East team and sixth-best in the league.

"You look forward to it now," Paul Pierce said of the postseason. "Definitely, it's that time of the year. You get the chills. It's sort of the time you look outside, the weather is getting warm. The playoffs are here. It's an exciting time of the year. Everybody loves being in the playoffs."

Ask the Knicks.

Warriors’ Bogut out indefinitely with serious rib injury: Report

The Golden State Warriors announced Monday that starting center Andrew Bogut is out indefinitely with a serious rib fracture.

The injury puts into question Bogut’s availability for the playoffs, which begin this weekend and it “doesn’t sound like he expects to play again this season or postseason,” according to The Mercury-News.

”I’ve got to be careful, because if it cracks I’m looking at a punctured lung. You’ll see me in the hospital with a tube coming out of me,” said Bogut. ”It’s one of those things people have played through, but this is too close to comfort for me.”

Bogut sustained the injury after getting sandwiched between two players during the fourth quarter of Golden State’s 119-117 overtime loss in Portland on Sunday. He already had some pain in the area after getting elbowed in the ribs by the Nuggets' Kenneth Faried last Thursday. 

The 7-foot Australian exited Sunday's game with less than a minute remaining in regulation and did not return. A post-game X-ray revealed the extent of the complicated injury. Bogut said he can't take deep breaths and is pain anytime he coughs or sneezes — let alone try to run. The normal recovery time is at least six weeks.

Losing Bogut, one of the premier defensive big men in the league, could be a potentially crippling blow, although Golden State was 40-27 (.597) with him in the lineup and 9-4 (.692) without him. Bogut boasts a net rating of +9.1, and the Warriors have performed meaningfully better on both sides of the ball when he’s on the court. Golden State currently boasts the West’s stingiest defense, in large part due to his presence.

Should Bogut miss the postseason, Warriors coach Mark Jackson will be forced to turn to small ball lineups and/or rely more heavily on 35-year-old reserve center Jermaine O’Neal.  

Jackson’s other options include power forwards Marreese Speights and Hilton Armstrong. 

“[The injury] certainly does not make us a better basketball team,” Jackson said.

Knicks' Iman Shumpert throws down monster dunk against Pacers (VIDEO)

New York Knicks small forward Iman Shumpert is mostly known for his defensive prowess on the court.  But last night — during Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Indiana Pacers —he threw down a monster tomahawk dunk that was totally offensive and nearly brought down the house at Madison Square Garden.

It was just a year ago the Knick with the Kid 'n Play hairstyle tore his ACL in the playoffs.  It looks like he is back to normal — big time.

The Pacers' Chris Copeland got an open look on the left wing but missed the shot off the back of the rim. With four Pacers planted in the paint, Shumpert soared to grab the ball. The 6'6" Shumpert leaped into the air, caught the ball with one hand and threw down the blistering dunk. Knicks fans went into a frenzy as the home team took an 11-point lead early in the second quarter.

"I think I was trying to make a statement," said Shumpert after the game. "I just wanted to win this game real bad. We needed this game."

Shumpert finished with 15 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the field and six rebounds as the Knicks won Game 2, 105-79, to even the series.

Good news for Knicks fans — Shumpert is also only 22-years-old.

Joakim Noah throws down nasty dunk to lead Bulls over Nets

If anything epitomized the Brooklyn Nets' lackadaisical effort and the Chicago Bulls' determination to win Game 7 of their first-round playoff series, it was this nasty dunk by Joakim Noah.

No Luol Deng. No Kirk Hinrich. No Derrick Rose. No problem for the 6-foot-11 center as he traipsed through the Nets defense like they were Rihanna's background dancers and slammed this third quarter basket. The depleted Bulls went on to a 99-93 victory.



Noah's foot hurt so much two weeks ago, he feared it could keep him out of the series. Too bad the Nets couldn't find a way keep him out of his game — or even this play.

The New York-born Noah screamed, shoved and hustled his way to 24 points and 14 rebounds.  Marco Belinelli also scored 24 points to help the Bulls advance to a second-round series against the Miami Heat that tips off Monday night.

"I'll remember this for the rest of my life," Noah said.

Not surprisingly, Mark Sanchez gets booed at Celtics-Knicks playoff game

There are a lot of places Mark Sanchez can choose to visit during the off season but public New York City arenas with Jumbotrons might not be the wisest choice.

Once again the New York Jets quarterback was roundly booed at Madison Square Garden as he sat courtside at Saturday's Game 1 Knicks-Celtics NBA playoff game.  The Butt Fumble quarterback heard it loud and clear from the crowd when his image was shown on the Jumbotron and looked like he was trying to find someone's rear to hide his face.



ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith tweeted what a lot of fans were thinking. And on this video, the woman's resounding laugh says it all.

Doesn't he get enough abuse at MetLife Stadium?

Damn! Mark Sanchez sitting courtside, just got roundly booed. Don't even know why they showed him on the jumbotron.
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) April 20, 2013

J.R. Smith posterizes Jeff Green and lets crowd know about it

The New York Knicks' most entertaining tweeter, J.R. Smith, did all his talking on the court Saturday and beefed up his Sixth Man of the Year credentials to boot. The New Jersey product slam-dunked a beauty over Celtics forward Jeff Green during the Knicks hard fought 85-78 win in Game 1 of the their first-round NBA playoff matchup at Madison Square Garden.

Smith came off the bench to help the Knicks hold the Celtics to a measly eight points in the last quarter and had the crowd roaring after his dunk.

After the slam, Smith wasn't shy about posterizing Green either. Let the video do the talking — Smith will surely tweet about it later.

Lil' Wayne says he feels 'unwanted' by the 'Oklahoma way'

Rapper Lil' Wayne said that— after being denied a ticket to see Thursday's NBA playoff game at Chesapeake Energy Arena— he felt unwelcome and "unwanted" at the Oklahoma City arena and isn't planning to return.

You may have heard about the tweets by Lil' Wayne— after the Oklahoma City Thunder told the miffed rapper he couldn't get a seat at Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals against the San Antonio Spurs— where he said he was "denied by the team to be in the arena."

Thunder management made a brief statement about the singer's rant:

"We are completely sold out, had nothing available at all.  We would love to have him at our game, but he needs a ticket."

To which Lil' Wayne sent a text message to ESPN stating:

"They denied me the tix.  Didnt want me in their arena.  They also said if I do come , I can only sit behind the bench, not on the floor & that I wouldn't be able to get any special escort nor entrance.  They said its the "Oklahoma way."

It sounds like the "Oklahoma way" really means the game was 100% sold out but that's not how Lil' Wayne sees it.

The rapper said two Thunder players— Kevin Durant and James Harden— have reached out to offer him tickets to Saturday's fourth game of the NBA playoffs in Oklahoma City.

"That's not the point, though," he told the Associated Press on Friday night.  "It's the players stepping up but of course the players aren't white.  I don't want to be sitting there on behalf of you and I'm sitting next to a (person) that's like 'I don't want this (guy) sitting next to me.' (Forget) you ... I'm in Forbes," he said laughing.

The singer says he routinely buys tickets for such games "from this guy named Mike."  He said Mike had requested special security, parking and entrance for the rapper, but Mike said the team responded that they would only sell the seats for Mike's personal use.

The Grammy-winning artist said his manager had advised him not to return to the city's arena for sporting events or concerts, but added, "I never say never."  He claims other venues including Miami welcome his with open arms and he likes being able to energize the players— many who are fans of his music.

"That's like me going on stage and... seeing LeBron (James) in the crowd with his hand up.  I'm going to perform a little bit harder," he said. But in Oklahoma, he said that while "the players want me there, I don't want to feel— I'm going to still feel unwanted."

A team spokes person has said Lil' wayne's representatives insisted he sit in the front row, but none of those seats were available and that the team has sold out every home game during the playoffs.

Looks like it's the nosebleed section for Lil' Wayne and his "milli."

Rajon Rondo stashes lip balm in sock and still gets chapped

When you play a team called the Heat, you've got to expect a little lip cracking and Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo didn't forget to bring his chap stick to Wednesday night's game against Miami.

Rondo was spotted pulling a stick of lip balm out of his sock during the second quarter of the Celtics' 115-111 overtime loss to the Miami Heat in Game 2 of the NBA Eastern Conference finals, rubbing a little on his lips, then stashing it back in his knee highs.

It was hard to figure out what chapped Rondo more, his lips or the the calls by the referees.

Rondo did his part to keep the Celtics from cracking by playing every second of the 53-minute game and finishing with 44 points and 8 rebounds and 10 assists.  He scored all 12 Boston points during overtime.  The Celtics players and their coach, Doc Rivers, still weren't satisfied with the calls that went against them.

Asked about a non-call after he was hacked by Dwyane Wade in OT, Rondo could not even be soothed by his historic night.

"It's lind of irrelevant," he said.  "We lost."

The Celtics fell behind in the series, 2-0, and face a crucial Game 3 when they return to Boston.

They make the moisturizer to soothe chapped lips but is there a stick big enough to ease the pain of losing?

Dwyane Wade takes verbal poke at Mike Bibby

In Game 1 of their current playoff series, Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade threw New York Knicks Mike Bibby's loose shoe into the stands— resembling the big kid who throws your sneakers over a telephone pole wire at the school bus stop.

Afterwards Wade said he was just kidding with his former teammate and was "always messing with Bibbs."

Today Wade remarked on the state of the Knicks' dire point guard situation and took a verbal shot at Bibby— who will be the Knicks' starter for Game 5 in Miami.

"Yeah, I know a little about Mike.  I know Mike has made more shots in this series than he made all last year," Wade said with a smile.  "Send that to Mike."

It sounded more like sarcasm than jest in Wade's tone when he sounded off about the Knicks-sub turned starter.  Maybe he was looking for a fall guy for last season's flop in the NBA Finals.

Bibby was horrible in the Heat's playoff run last season when he was with the Big 3.  While the Heat advanced to the NBA Finals, Bibby shot a minuscule .281 in 20 games, including .258 on 3-pointers during that span.

Through four games in this series, Bibby has shot a measly .313 but has hit 5-of-13 (.385) from outside the arch including a clutch 3-pointer with 1:23 left in Game 4 to give the Knicks an 84-81 lead in the Knicks win.

With Jeremy Lin, Iman Shumpert and Baron Davis sidelined with injuries, the Knicks will put whatever hopes they have of winning— literally— in the hands of Bibby— who hasn't averaged 30 minutes a game since the 2009-10 season.

"If I can get 30, 40 minutes out of Bibby," said Knicks coach Mike Woodson.  "I'll play him 30, 40 minutes."

While the 33-year old Bibby is a liability on defense, one thing he can bring to the Knicks is stability and 10 years of playoff experience.

And a few words to Wade.  Pick on someone your own size.

Stoudemire eyes Game 4 return and says it's not his fault

Amar'e Stoudemire held a press conference today and— despite his doubtful status— told reporters he still wants to see if he can play Sunday in game 4 of the Knicks-Heat NBA Playoffs series.

 The Knicks forward thinks he can play only five days after surgery on his badly gashed left hand— which is in a cast.

Stoudemire tried to minimize the stupidity of punching the cabinet— which housed a fire extinguisher in the hallway of AmericanAirlines Arena— on Monday night after the Knicks 104-94 loss.  He said fans had "the wrong perception" and had more excuses than remorse for the episode.

He said the whole episode has been blown out of control and said it was all a big accident.

"We're down 0-2 and I knew how important it was to get a win in Miami," said Stoudemire.  "We played somewhat well enough to win game 2. I was more frustrated we were down 0-2.  It wasn't like I was trying to take out the fire extinguisher door.  I wanted to make noise and let out frustration."

"Fans actually think I had a closed fist and punched through that glass door," he continued.  "They have the wrong perception of what happened. I walked by and swung my arm backwards it hit [the] fire extinguisher door and I slashed my hand by accident."

Stoudemire— wearing a T-shirt with the words "Marked Man" on it— went on to blame the gruesome cut on percentages.  Something along the lines of only getting about 33-percent of the shots teammate Carmelo Anthony was getting in the game.

"I just walked by the door and it's made of 85-percent metal and 2-percent strip of glass.  I didn't try to hit the glass.  I walked by and hit my hand on the wall.  I didn't see the glass."

It's a moot point now and the final decision for him to play will up to the doctors and coaches.  Even if he does play, he will be in a severely limited capacity.

"There's a great chance [but] I'm not totally sure yet.  I'll be back soon," said the feisty Stoudemire.

Even if he can play with his injured non-shooting hand, chances are he will be ineffective but that didn't stop Stoudemire from  being pessimistic.

"I've persevered through a lot of injuries and worked hard to recover from injuries," he reasoned.

"It's up to the doctors," Knicks coach Mike Woodson said when he heard about Stoudemire's aspirations.  "[He] used bad judgement" after Monday's game.

Game 3 of the best-of-seven series is on Thursday at Madison Square Garden.

Carmelo to Lin: Take your time coming back

The New York Knicks were totally demolished, humiliated, undressed (pick a word) 100-67 in their playoff opening loss to the Miami Heat on Saturday.  The sight of Iman Shumpert being carried off the court with a torn left ACL only added injury to the insult but Carmelo Anthony still doesn't think it's time for Jeremy Lin to rush back and fill the gap.

In fact, the Knicks forward is advising the point guard to not come back at all against the Heat.

"No," Anthony said.  "We don't want him to rush it.  I've seen situations like that before.  That's something we do not want."

The horrible Game 1 injury to the rookie Shumpert may inspire Lin to attempt a hasty return, but considering that he hasn't played since March 24, it's likely that Lin could really effective.

Even when healthy, the Heat ate Lin up in their last meeting on Feb. 23 when he went 1-for-11 with eight turnovers.

Lin has been progressing from left knee surgery and has not ruled out returning for Game 4 on Sunday.

"I don't really want to make a promise because I just don't know how it's going to feel," Lin said on Sunday.  "If I felt good today, that would be more of a possibility, but I didn't feel that great today."

"I don't want to make myself vulnerable to something even worse,"  he added.

Meanwhile, Anthony knows he will be shouldering the burden of the Knicks offense but will not let the pressure get to him.

"Pressure?  I try not to play with pressure," he said.  "I go out there, I play ball."

It might be a little easier with healthy Lin at his side.