Basketball World Championship

For the first time in 16 years, Team USA won gold in the Basketball World Championships. This year’s Basketball World Championships were in Istanbul, Turkey.

Turkey, the home team, were of course the fan favorites and they surprised everyone by making it to the gold medal game. Hedo Turkoglu scored 16 points in an 81-64 loss to the United States. Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder was the tournament series MVP.

Kevin Durant News

After leading Team USA to their first gold medal victory in the Basketball World Championships in the last 16 years, Kevin Durant had a lot to say on the matter. Durant, who scored 28 points, was offended that reporters were calling this US team the “B-Team”, in reference to superstar NBA players Lebron James, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett opting to not play in the tournament.

When asked about his thoughts on the win, Durant had this to say, “We played some of the best players in the world this tournament and most of these players have been playing together on the same team for the last few years. We only had a few weeks to gel as a team and we did it!”

Durant’s high is sure to come to an end once he goes back home and realizes he still plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder who are currently favored at to win 16/1 betting odds to win the NBA Finals.

NBA Schedule Released

Although we are more than 4 months away from Christmas, I feel that with the recent NBA betting schedule being released today, Christmas came early! Only key nationally broadcasted schedules were released, however those are only the games I care about to be honest.

NBA Opening Week

The first game of the season will have the Boston Celtics’s top 3 versus the Miami Heat’s top 3. This game will be played in Boston on Tuesday, October 26th. You have to love the way the NBA customizes their schedule, instead of just letting a robot do it.

NBA Christmas Day Games

If today felt like Christmas for NBA betting fans, then actual Christmas day is going to feel like Heaven for any NBA online betting fan looking for some action. The NBA has announced 5 games will be played on Christmas day and the game that we have all been waiting for, Lakers versus the Heat will be the third game of the day after the Celtics and Magic game. Talk about 12 straight hours of NBA betting action!

McGrady and Shaq Signings

Currently Tracy McGrady and Shaq O’Neal are sitting ducks waiting for a team to save them. Tracy McGrady previously made it known that he would like to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers; however the Lakers did not show any interest at all. Even if McGrady was willing to sign for a song and a dance, the Lakers are not willing to risk changing their chemistry.

On the other side, you have Shaq who says he has another 4-5 seasons in him, the only sad thing is that most NBA teams believe he should have retired last season. Other than selling tickets, can either McGrady or Shaq help a NBA team win?

NBA Betting Odds

Although many still believe that McGrady still has some talent left, and would be a great player off the bench, the same cannot be said for Shaq. The team that may want McGrady is the Orlando Magic. Currently the Orlando Magic are sitting at 11/1 betting odds to win the NBA finals after a great run made last year. Many believe that they are only missing a tiny link to make it to the next step, and I believe McGrady can be that link.