Shortly after the performance it was reported that Dr. Dre (not a real doctor by the way) paid upwards of $400,000 to make this happen.  There were even talks of putting an entire concert together and making it into a tour using this amazing technology.

DDMG is the company that put this together with unbelievable accuracy.  Its no surprise what they did either, because they were the same group that did all of the digital work on Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Just as fast of the company made a name for itself with the Tupac hologram it was gone…

The company filed for bankruptcy earlier this year and it has never been made known as to why.  The rumor was that they were in development of a digital Elvis that would be taken on tour, and the costs of both the digital Tupac and Elvis sunk the company.  So where does that leave us now?

Well there has been a lot of buzz recently as to the lineup for Rock the Bells 2013 the 10^th Anniversary, it was stated they plan to resurrect both Eazy-E and Ol’ Dirty Bastard at the show (ODB will most likely be performing with Wu-Tang).

Has another company decided to take over the work DDMG was doing or is this also the resurrection of DDMG as a company?

So far everyone is being very tight lipped.

If you would like to attend the event here are some of the details:

Rock the Bells arrives September 7-8 in San Bernardino, Calif.; September 14-15 in Mountain View, Calif.; September 28-29 in Washington, D.C.; and October 4-5 in Rutherford, N.J.

The trophy that was renamed the Larry O’Brien Trophy  and was originally called the Walter A. Brown Trophy.  They renamed it in honor of Larry O’Brien and the work he did as commissioner of the NBA.

Before 1983 when a team won the NBA Championship they were given two Walter A. Brown trophies, one to keep in the teams facilities and also the original trophy that would be held on to until a new champion was crowned, then it would be passed on to them (much like the Stanley Cup).

After 1983 when the Larry O’Brien Trophy was adopted teams were given a single new trophy each year, there was no longer an original to be passed on.  Players will sometimes pay to have copies made for their personal collection.

Since the league started awarding the Larry O’Brien trophy there have only been seven winners, they are as follows:

Heat-2

Rockets-2

Pistons-3

Spurs-4

Celtics-4

Bulls-6

Lakers-8

-The Larry O’Brien Trophy is 14.5 pounds and made of sterling silver, vermeil, and has a 24 karat gold overlay.

-It is 2 feet tall.

-It is supposed to resemble a basketball entering the net, and the ball on the trophy is almost the exact size of an official basketball.

-The trophy is made by Tiffany & Co. every year and they engrave the winning teams name and year.

We stopped by to see if we could get our hands on a trophy.  They said no…

Without replacing any materials or deconstructing the shoe all together Mache uses special paints to customize these shoes.

Here is a brief clip of the process Mache goes through to customize a pair of shoes

Here is Mache’s special request from Lebron James

Custom Bulls colors of  Nate Robinson Jordan’s

Air Jordan 13′s

Air Jordan 13′s

Air Jordan 6′s

He are a few of his “NERF” edition shoes

Zoom Kobe 7′s

Lebron 9′s

You have got to follow this guy to see what he is working on and what he comes up with next.  Oh and by the way, if you have the funds to shell out… he does custom orders.

machecustoms.com

www.facebook.com/machecustomkicks

https://twitter.com/MACHE275

http://instagram.com/mache275

It is with these things in mind that we decided to come up with the new Forest Lab design. When you are feeling tired and slowed down by your old tee’s, throw on the new “Thirsty” tee and allow it to replenish your freshness.

COMING SOON!!!!

Tee available in: Black, White, Grey

Gym towel available in: Orange, White

Upon completion of your senior year of high school, you are hired on by one of your state’s biggest companies. It is an extremely big deal because you are local, a great talent and someone that people think could eventually take the company to new heights. It is a very exciting time for the company.

The first few years at the company, you do great things. You exceed everyone’s expectations immediately (which is saying something since those expectations were unbelievably high) and the company starts doing really well. The future seems limitless.

Suddenly the HR department realizes your contract runs out in a few years and there has been no agreement for continued employment. They bring this to the attention of the management, who start to panic. They start overpaying for other semi-talented (but overrated) employees to work with you. The company continues to perform better and better but each year you feel it is increasingly on you to push it to the next level. The company doesn’t seem to have a good foundation in place to give you adequate help in order to truly succeed. Maybe this isn’t the best fit for you to reach your goals.

You are in your mid 20s and kind of ready for a change. You enjoy your work but don’t like having to constantly raise your co-workers up to succeed, once in a while you want them to be able to raise themselves. Maybe a different company could provide this. You have done more for your current company than any single employee in its history. Everyone has been telling you for years that you are amazing, of course it’s true. Maybe a change in scenery is what you deserve, what you need.

Your employment contract is up. You just completed another successful year, but one that actually fell short of expectations. The company continued to give you some help, but not nearly what you need. You definitely deserve to look for new employment.

Everyone starts offering opinions on what you should do, where you should end up. Your current company and other companies are engaged in a bidding war trying to get you to commit to another 4-5 years of service. You are grateful to your original company, but a change of location with better surrounding staff is starting to sound better and better. The fact that the new companies are in more exciting cities is only icing on the cake, after all you are in the prime of your youth.

You are still enjoying the attention, so you figure you should continue the pageantry with the announcement of where you are going. You host a big dinner party (a fund raiser for charity really) with reps from your original company, potential new companies and a whole TON of other people. This is going to be historic. Everyone will love it.

You thank everyone for coming, wax nostalgic for a bit about your last 7 or so years and get to the good stuff….your decision. You announce the big change, you are moving to a new company in Miami that already has a pretty great employee base. Everyone should see the logic in this decision right? You do. Maybe you should have given the companies a heads up before hand, but why ruin the announcement.

You start a whirlwind tour of your new home, receiving a heroes welcome. The new company has successfully gotten multiple new employees to help it regain its prior position in the industry. The future looks fantastic.

Except not everyone feels that way. People near your old company are attacking you, saying you betrayed them. All that attention you loved a few months prior is now united in belittling you, rooting against you. Why aren’t they happy for you? Sure you are a bit cocky and showy, but isn’t that what they want?

The next few years are rocky as you settle into your new environment. You have success, but it feels incomplete. Finally after the 2nd year, you accomplish the ultimate goal you have been shooting for since you joined the industry. That hole in your resume is filled…..now what?

You want to do it again and again through the remainder of your contract, the pieces are already in place…..you can do it. People have started to gather behind you again, giving you support and praise instead of attack. It isn’t like it was before, but it has gotten better.

You know that you didn’t handle your employment change very well, you got a bit caught up in the show of it. Regret is a part of life, but you still were able to accomplish your end goal. You are still in your prime and motivated for continued success….but maybe you can help make up for it..
If you can go back to your original company in a few years, maybe they will forgive you. You will be more content than before because of everything you have accomplished and maybe even push that company to the top. They would have to forgive you then, right?

You would have earned it.

That simple interpretation of Lebron’s career to date (based partially on current circulating rumors) could quite possibly be inaccurate since it is just based on my view of his career as a complete outsider. I admit that I was very annoyed that Lebron jumped ship from the Cavs, disgusted by the way he handled the announcement and even rooted against him his first year in Miami. After that first year though, I simply got over it.

Lebron is one of the best players we will ever see, I am glad he got his ring. I also hope he goes back to Cleveland and helps them win a ring. Not to make him a hero again there, but because Cleveland deserves that chance.
I am not giving Lebron a pass for everything that has happened, but nobody gets everything right.

When I make a mistake, it normally is out of the public eye. While I would love to have Lebron’s money, I would hate to have the scrutiny. Time teaches us all things, hopefully those lessons can happen more in privacy than in public.

The Lakers are desperate for an interior presence and have made it clear Gasol is not that person. If the Lakers feel that way, why would another team think differently? Gasol is a 32 year old post player that has a reputation for being more finesse than physical. As a Jazz fan, I immediately draw comparisons to Mehmet Okur. I have some comparative numbers at the bottom if you are interested.

Gasol was clearly a superior player to Okur in his prime (yes, past tense) but he seems to be aging at a fairly increased rate like Okur did. ESPN has Okur at 6’10” 260 lbs while Gasol is listed at 7’0” 250 lbs. I think Gasol can remain an effective NBA player for another 3-4 years because of his mostly interior game but his days of being an All Star are over.

That being said, here are some potential deals that I could see being realistically discussed, though Gasol is not involved in both of them.

#1 Rockets and Lakers

HOUSTON ROCKETS receive                                       

Pau Gasol

Future draft picks

LOS ANGELES LAKERS receive

Jeremy Lin

Cole Aldrich

Royce White

Why the Lakers would do it:

Pau Gasol has minimal value at this point but the Rockets have wanted him in the past. The key for the Lakers would be deciding if Jeremy Lin could co-exist with Steve Nash. Considering I could probably average 10 points a game next to Nash, I assume that Lin would be fine. Lin is 6’3” 200 lbs so he is capable of playing the 2 along side Nash and/or playing PG when Nash is off the court. He brings an obvious star power to LA (warranted or not) and could help protect Nash from future injury.

Cole Aldrich could continue to develop into a solid backup to Dwight, capable of playing long stretches without embarrassing himself.

The wildcard would be White. If the Rockets simply want to rid themselves of White’s situation, the Lakers have never been afraid of difficulty or drama. If the Lakers can find a way to help accommodate White, they could get a very VERY good player down the road for next to nothing.

Why the Rockets would do it:

Pau Gasol can remain an effective post player for several more years if put into the right situation. With James Harden providing an outside threat, Gasol could feast down low and possibly see a career resurgence.

Jeremy Lin is a money maker, but not worthy of the contract he signed. A team like the Rockets could quickly look to shed themselves of this contract since they could get an equally effective PG for much less yearly cost.

White has been a headache to the team since they drafted him. It may be time to move on.

#2 Kings and Lakers

Kings receive

Jodie Meeks

Devin Ebanks

Lakers receive

Jimmer Fredette

Why the Lakers would do it:

The Jimmer has exactly 1 skill that the Lakers could use in their current system: He can shoot. In the Laker’s system, he could easily score 12-16 points a night. He can’t defend the cotton candy vendor let alone an opposing player but that would hardly be a nuisance for the Lakers. Jimmer is still a name and the Lakers could actually help him find a great scoring role off the bench.

Why the Kings would do it:

Jimmer was destined to fail as an NBA star because of his glaring deficiencies. Kings’ fans will always hold it against Jimmer that he did not live up to their expectations as a top 10 pick. By trading him for some serviceable bench/role players, the Kings can move past the Jimmer experiment and focus on improving their team long term.

The Lakers are always capable of pulling off a key trade because they are rolling in money and one of the marque teams in the NBA. I do not see many realistic options where the Lakers can dump Pau Gasol’s contract on another team, let alone get back much value. The Lakers best option may be to try and shore up the bench with solid role players and focus on team chemistry.

When comparing Gasol and Okur we can see that Gasol was more of a post presence than Okur ever was, both in the higher RPG and FG%. When it comes to 3 point % we  find some additional value Okur provided that also led to his overall FG % being lower. Gasol is still clearly the superior player but I think people overlook how good Okur was during his prime. Both were labeled as finesse players, with Okur being a much more accomplished long range shooter.

This smaller baller has amazing skill for someone of any age and/or size. That being said, I can honestly say that I found the video more bothersome than entertaining. While it is meant to celebrate the ability of Julian Newman, it also highlights how foolish his opponents look….opponents that are playing very passively against him. Pride and social media are a dangerous combination. Once his opponents get sick of being scenery in Julian’s highlight video and step up the pressure, Julian is very much at risk for serious injury (whether accidental or intentional). I applaud Julian’s ability and desire to play against better competition but question the decision to allow it to happen. It shouldn’t be a matter or whether or not Julian can compete but whether or not it is the smartest decision for everyone involved.

What if we had a chance to rename them? I was recently told that making lists are the laziest form of writing so I won’t put numbers in front of my team choices…that stops it from being a list right?

In my mind, this is the worse culprit of the relocation name. Nothing about Utah screams a thriving Jazz scene or rich Jazz history. The team has become an important part of Salt Lake City but I think people would welcome a change to the right team name.

Less likely option: Utah Republicanzz. Since the Republican party was the first to support statehood for the Utah territory way back when, the state has been firmly planted on the red side of the political landscape. Of course you have to add the double zz in homage to the local obsession with the double zz for sports teams (Jazz, Buzz, Starzz. I admit I had to google what the WNBA team name was. I was around for its entire existence and couldn’t think of it). The potential promotions the team could do are endless.

More likely option: Tom Benson owns the New Orleans Hornets (NBA) and New Orleans Saints (NFL). He is rumored to be changing the name from the Hornets to the Pelicans in the near future. Why not just call the Miller family (Jazz owners) and offer to trade the Jazz the rights to share the Saints name in exchange for the NBA naming rights to the Jazz? The Utah or Salt Lake Saints would be a tip of the hat to the high density local demographic Mormons (also known as Latter Day Saints) while New Orleans would reclaim its old name. Win/win. Just think how much new team gear could sell with these new name changes. Some of the local media here have offered similar ideas but I came to this prior to reading anything so I am claiming it as my own.

This team finishes a close second for the relocation name problem. Less likely option: Los Angeles Traffic. While the name isn’t fierce, the fact that it would be replacing a name that references non-existent local landscaping could work in its favor. Despite the local appropriateness of the name, teams tend to avoid names that highlight flaws in the local area. I can’t imagine it would promote tourism.

Less likely option 2: Los Angeles Plastic.

Less likely option 3: Los Angeles Never Satisfieds of Anaheim.

More Likely option: Los Angeles Champions. The name reeks of arrogance, self-entitlement and assumption, isn’t that perfect for Los Angeles? The team has 16 championships and will always have the resources for more, why not be blunt? Why not step onto the court every night with that blatant confidence and expectation? This needs to happen.

I am not a very politically correct person, but the fact that the NFL team for our nation’s capital is racist both amuses and offends me. I really don’t care if there is a rich team history there, the name probably needs to be updated to something less confusing for parents to have to explain to children.

Less likely options: Washington Filibusters. Not only would the name be area appropriate, it would be educational as well. A trip to the local game could be educational as parents attempt to explain parliamentary procedure to bored adolescents. You want to come into our house and pass a motion of victory against us? Consider yourself filibusted! Washington Washingtons. If the first President of the United States is good enough to name the capital after, shouldn’t it be good enough for the local NFL team? Washington Lincolns. Why not go from a racist team name to a team name that points to the guy who abolished slavery? Washington Hope (or Dream). This is Washington afterall, there is no way a politician doesn’t try to grab the spotlight by trying to attach a reference to the American Dream to the name.

More likely option: Washington Heroes. This is almost as bad as the Hope or Dream suggestion but it is more acceptable to me since it has the implication of positive action. It could be trumpeted as a team name that the nation can rally around and it opens itself up to promotions that tie in the armed services. Perfect.

I kind of poked fun at this earlier, but this has to be one of the most annoying team names currently in use. I don’t even want to offer suggestions since it is obvious the team just needs to drop the stupid attempt at expanding their media hold in the Anaheim market. On second thought, maybe all teams should consider this. Utah Jazz of Idaho, Wyoming and Northern Colorado. San Antonio Spurs of Mexico. I like it. The ultimate move for all of professional sports in America would be to simply drop team names and simply be called the city they are in. I know this could cause an issue for places like Los Angeles that like to hoard teams (Lakers and Clippers) but tough. One city, one team. They can just merge into a super team and send the spare parts to Charlotte to bolster their roster.

Getty Images

Some of the greatest players in the history of the NBA have worn Los Angeles Lakers uniforms. With so many Hall of Famers having hoisted championship banners for L.A., it’s almost impossible to label one of them the greatest Laker of all time. Jerry West, who won an NBA title, made it to the Finals nine times and was a 14-time all star, would be in the discussion. However, West emphatically gives that title to Kobe Bryant.

“What he has accomplished with this team, I don’t think there’s any question in my mind at this point in time – because of him being with this team for his whole career – that he has been the greatest Laker player,” West told USA TODAY Sports on Thursday. “I do think he’s the greatest Laker player we’ve ever seen.

“He has an incredible desire to win and excel, and his work ethic and his skill level are what places him among the truly great, great players we’ve ever had in this league.”

Shaquille O’Neal dominated the playoffs and earned three NBA FInals MVP awards with the Lakers. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar took home five championship rings and three league MVP awards. Magic Johnson combined all of the aforementioned accolades, winning five NBA championships, three NBA MVPs, and three Finals MVPs. All are worthy of being in the discussion.

Kobe recently became the youngest player to ever reach 30,000 points in his career, and every one of them came in a Lakers uniform. He has won five championships and two Finals MVPs with L.A., and there’s no reason he can’t win a sixth. If Bryant wins a sixth ring, the Kobe vs. Michael Jordan debate may become more heated than ever. But if that day should come, there will be little debate as to who is the greatest Laker of all time.

By Steve DelVecchio

About Steve DelVecchio:
Steve DelVecchio is an editor and lead contributor for Larry Brown Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @SteveDelSports.

This article was taken from: yardbarker

Now that Black Friday has come and gone most people who participated in the chaos find themselves bruised, beaten, and sore. Well sit back relax and watch some athletes who felt the exact same way you now do. Well kinda…