When you’re prone to injury, you may not have anything better to do…

HipHopRX: Greg Oden, 22, of the Portland Trailblazers, had some rude nude pictures to surface on the Internet. Embarrassed and ashamed (hopefully), he’s apologizing to his fans, team and organization.

A friend of Greg’s told him Tuesday morning around 6 AM that pictures taken with his cellphone (and sent to his ex) had surfaced on the internet. Oden officially apologized, saying “I would like to apologize to everybody; Portland, the fans, the organization.” He also told reporters at the Blazer’s facility, “It was very embarrassing.”

According to Oden, the pictures that shows him fully unclothed are from almost 2 years ago, meaning he was around 19 or 20 years-old at the time.

Is it the Clipper Curse, or simply an unfortunate event?

ESPN: Blake Griffin’s first season with the Los Angeles Clippers is over before it even began.

Griffin will have surgery on Jan. 20 on his broken left kneecap, shelving the No. 1 draft pick for at least four more months, the eternally star-crossed Clippers announced in a statement Wednesday.

Griffin hasn’t played a regular-season game yet for the Clippers after injuring his kneecap in their final preseason game Oct. 23, wincing in pain as he landed after a dunk. After resting the stress fracture for several weeks, the former Oklahoma star recently increased his workload in rehabilitation by running on a treadmill.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles Lakers forward Ron Artest suffered a concussion and injured his left elbow after falling at his home.

Artest didn’t travel with the Lakers to Saturday’s game at Sacramento after tripping over a box and falling down a flight of stairs at his home on Christmas night, the team said in a news release.

He was treated at UCLA Medical Center, undergoing a CT scan and receiving stitches in the back of his head and his elbow. A neurologist examined him on Saturday and confirmed he had a concussion, the team said. Artest is day to day.

Read more here.

After 14 NBA seasons, former MVP guard Allen Iverson has called it quits.

Iverson spent most of his career with the Philadelphia 76ers, before being traded to the Denver Nuggets during the 2006-07 NBA season.  Two seasons later, he was dealt to the Detroit Pistons for Denver’s very own Chauncey Billups, a situation for Iverson that would prove to be controversial and complicated, leading to a one-year contract deal with the Memphis Grizzlies this season.

The superstar guard retires with one MVP award, in 2001, along with two All-Star Game MVP’s, four scoring titles and one trip to the NBA Finals.

Andrew Bynum had a dominating game Sunday night against the Oklahoma Thunder, going 9-11 from the field, 7-7 from the free-throw line in route to scoring 25 points. He also had 9 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots. Managing to stay out of foul trouble, Bynum’s defense helped the Lakers open a 35 to 16 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Bynum wasn’t the only Laker to have a dominant game, though. Kobe Bryant chipped in 26 points, 7 assists, and 6 rebounds to give the Lakers a big lead early. A couple of circus shots by Kobe, including an impossible shot over the backboard, helped cement the momentum in the Lakers favor for the rest of the game. Pau Gasol put up 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists in his second game of the season.

The Lakers improved their record to 10-3 on the year, trailing Phoenix by half a game for the division lead. The Lakers face the New York Knicks for their next home game on Tuesday night.

Is retirement an option?

SI.com:  The Allen Iverson experiment with the Memphis Grizzlies is over.

The Memphis Grizzlies announced Monday in a statement that the team has ended its one-year contract with the 10-time All-Star and former league MVP in what it called a mutual agreement.

Iverson began an indefinite leave of absence on Nov. 7 to deal with a personal issue after playing only three games with Memphis, all in California.

General manager Chris Wallace says they agreed Iverson is stepping away from the game to focus on those personal matters.

Wallace says the Grizzlies wish Iverson the best.

The Sacramento Kings just can’t catch a break…

Inside Hoops: Sacramento Kings’ guard Kevin Martin will undergo surgery Monday, November 9th at the UC Davis Medical Center to repair a non displaced hairline fracture of the navicular bone in his left Wrist. Dr. Robert Szabo will perform the procedure. Martin is expected to miss a minimum of eight weeks.

Considering the team is set to endure another losing season, it probably makes sense for Martin to have this problem fixed correctly rather than trying to play through it.

It’s tough to say who on the Kings will make up for Martin’s scoring. There was a huge gap between him and everyone else.

Expected to miss 4-6 weeks…

Inside Hoops: Chicago Bulls forward Tyrus Thomas suffered a fractured radius of his left forearm during a weight training session this morning at practice. X-rays confirmed the injury and he will undergo surgery tomorrow. The surgery will be performed at Rush, by team physicians Dr. Brian Cole and Dr. John Fernandez, and assisted by Dr. Mark Cohen.

Thomas is expected to be out four to six weeks. In four games (three starts) this season, the Louisiana State product has averaged 8.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg and 1.75 bpg in 21.0 mpg.

After ten days of the NBA regular season, there are multiple questions, injuries, surprise performances, and disappointments.  For those first ten days, here are the top ten teams in the league.

1) Boston Celtics (6-0), wins versus CLE, CHA, CHI, NOH, PHI and MIN

The Celtics have started off hot, injury-free, and ready to win the East.  Despite a mediocre performance against the Minnesota Timberwolves Wednesday night, Boston has to be on top of everyone’s power rankings to start the season off.

Next five: vs. PHX, @ NJN, vs. UTA, vs. ATL, @ IND

2) Denver Nuggets (5-0), wins versus UTA, POR, MEM, IND and NJN

Carmelo Anthony is playing like an MVP candidate, and the Nuggets remain undefeated through five games.  Something to note: rookie Ty Lawson is very good, and JR Smith has yet to return from his suspension.

Next five: @ MIA, @ ATL, @ CHI, @ MIL, vs. LAL

Read more…

Four games kicked off the 2009-10 NBA season tonight, and no fan was left disappointed.

Behind Kobe Bryant’s 33 points and Andrew Bynum’s 26 points and 13 rebounds, the Los Angeles Lakers defeated a Los Angeles Clippers team with a hobbled Baron Davis, 99-92.  Forwards Blake Griffin and Pau Gasol missed the game due to injuries.

In what could be called a Western Conference rivalry, the Houston Rockets fell to the Portland Trail Blazers by nine, 96-87.  Aaron Brooks led the way for Houston with 19 points and five assists, while Travis Outlaw produced 23 points off the bench for Portland.

Gilbert Arenas is healthy again, and the Washington Wizards bounced the Dallas Mavericks in their home opener by double-digits, 102-91.  Dirk Nowitzki shot the ball poorly despite adding 34 points and nine boards, while the Wizards rallied behind Arenas’ 29 points and nine assists, along with Andray Blache contributing 20 points and seven rebounds.

In what panned out to be the most interesting game of the night, the Cleveland Cavaliers were defeated by the Boston Celtics, in Cleveland, 95-89.  LeBron James did not disappoint, handing Boston a 38-point, eight-assist effort, but all of his teammates were held to under 13 points each the entire game.  Boston’s Paul Pierce led the team with 23 points and 11 rebounds.