The Toronto Raptors wouldn’t be too bad off, either.

While the Raptors are usually not the first pick of young basketball fans looking to make their name in the sport, the north-of-the-border NBA club was apparently the favorite of a youthful Kevin Durant. He liked Vince Carter and how he led Toronto to a sudden ascent in the Eastern Conference, Durant said this week on The Dan Patrick Show.

He also liked what the Raptors got to wear.

“Believe it or not, I wanted to play for the Toronto Raptors. That was my favorite team,” Durant told Patrick. “… I was a big Vince Carter fan growing up. I liked their jerseys, to be honest. They were a new team when I was growing up, so I wanted to be a part of that.”

A great follow-up to that would have been Patrick asking Durant about the alternate jersey that Durant has been stuck wearing with Oklahoma City this year, but alas, Patrick moved on to asking Durant about Kobe Bryant.

Rekindle your memories of those awesome Raptors jerseys here.

Hat tip to Sports Radio Interviews via Deadspin

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What the what?

Quote of the Day

“I just want him to be more Tim Duncan-like. I tell him I like Tim Duncan. I want Tim Duncan. That’s what I want.”
– Nuggets coach George Karl, on Javale McGee — but really, who doesn’t want a player to be more like Tim Duncan?

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Shameless plug! It starts tonight.

HOCKEY!!

—
NESN Nation (@NESNNation) January 19, 2013

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Because when does turning your backside to Novak Djokovic not work?

Adrian Gonzalez

Gonzalez is expected to be playing in the Hub for a long time, but his professional baseball career started way before his introductory news conference at Fenway Park this past offseason.

Over the next few years, Red Sox fans will get to know the man they call Gonzo very well. But until then, let's see how well you already know Boston's new first baseman.

Click here to test your knowledge of Adrian Gonzalez's path to becoming a member of Red Sox >>

And in the NFC, the Atlanta Falcons have the same record as the Pats, and have solidified themselves as the odds-on favorite to reach the Super Bowl.

Meanwhile, there are several other teams making their own cases to be considered among the NFL’s elites.

At 8-4, the Michael Vick-led Eagles have climbed to the top of the NFC East and are considered by many to be the most explosive team in football. Then there are the Pittsburgh Steelers, who at 9-3 continue to play a hard-nosed style, and it’s been working, for the most part.

And don’t forget the Patriots’ next opponent, the Chicago Bears. Always known for gritty defense and an ability to simply out-hit their opponents, the Bears are 9-3 and pacing a tough NFC North.

Who is the best team in the NFL? Leave your thoughts below.

Who is the best team in the NFL?survey software

According to the Los Angeles Times, Sterger says she'll hold back on suing the Minnesota Vikings' quarterback, so long as the NFL punishes Favre for allegedly sending her lewd photos and text messages in 2008.

Sterger's manager, Phil Reese, says his client would like to see the league take action before the end of the 2010 season, because Favre is sure to retire afterward. The Vikings are 5-7 and have almost no chance of making the postseason.

The official site of Adrian Gonzalez, www.agonzalez23.com, is under construction, and features a picture of Boston's new slugger donning his Red Sox uniform.

Judging by the domain name, one would have to assume that Gonzalez will keep No. 23 on the back of his uniform after leaving San Diego. Red Sox center fielder Mike Cameron currently has that number, but he agreed to give it back to his former Padres teammate.

How many home runs will Adrian Gonzalez hit in 2011?customer surveys

Sylvester Stallone made a name for himself in the film Rocky as Rocky Balboa, an underdog boxer from South Philly who refuses to quit, and eventually takes on Apollo Creed in the heavyweight championship.

The story is symbolic of the American ideal of perseverance and fortitude, and was especially relevant in 1976 (when the movie was released), as the U.S. had just ended its fight in Vietnam and the country was in an odd transition phase.

Rocky, the character, became an icon. Not just for boxing, but for the entire world. He's fictional, though. When you think Rocky, you think Stallone.

Perhaps that's why Stallone, a longtime actor who's been in 50 different films other than the Rocky series (there were five sequels), was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame on Wednesday.

Stallone has never been an officially sanctioned fighter, but he, or his persona, at least, has arguably had a bigger impact on the sport than any other person over the last 40 years. He was even given the "Lifetime Cinematic Achievement in Boxing" award by the Boxing Writers Association of America.

There has been criticism of the Hall of Fame's decision to allow Stallone to be enshrined. The Sacramento Bee's Victor Contreras thought the idea of his induction was laughable, and compared it to Mike Tyson winning an Academy Award (for his role in The Hangover, one would presume).

But obviously, Stallone is respected among the boxing community. And it's not like there isn't precedence for this sort of thing.

In the Baseball Hall of Fame, there is an entire wing dedicated to entertainers. Abbott and Costello will forever be enshrined in Cooperstown for "Who's on First."

No one is arguing that Stallone is a Hall of Fame boxer, nor is anyone making the same case for Rocky Balboa. But Rocky's impact on the sport cannot be understated, and it, along with Stallone, deserves to be recognized as pivotal members of the Boxing Hall of Fame.

Do you think Sylvester Stallone deserves to be in the Boxing Hall of Fame? Share your thoughts below.

Baseball Reference ran a simulation of Boston’s new lineup and found, using each player’s on-base and slugging percentages over the past three seasons, that the Red Sox’ projected batting order would average roughly 5.675 runs per game, which is about 919 runs over a 162-game season.

Boston scored 818 runs last year, so the addition of Crawford and Gonzalez, combined with healthy seasons in 2011 from Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis will be a huge upgrade from 2010.

Here is the batting order that Baseball Reference projects the Red Sox will have in 2011, with the average of each player’s on-base and slugging percentages over the past three years:

1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF (.339/.395)
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B (.372/.475)
3. Carl Crawford, LF (.349/.454)
4. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B (.387/.523)
5. Kevin Youkilis, 3B (.404/.560)
6. David Ortiz, DH (.356/.498)
7. J.D. Drew, RF (.379/.495)
8. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C (.317/.364)
9. Marco Scutaro, SS (.351/.385)

The simulator also projects the Red Sox’ optimal lineup for 2011, based on the same calculations. The lineup, which projects to score 5.754 runs per game (or roughly 932 runs for the season) features Crawford, a career top-of-the-lineup hitter, batting in the No. 8 slot, while Youkilis, Boston’s most consistent slugger over the past two seasons, would hit second.

Here is the full lineup:

1. J.D. Drew, RF (.379/.495)
2. Kevin Youkilis, 3B (.404/.560)
3. David Ortiz, DH (.356/.498)
4. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B (.387/.523)
5. Dustin Pedroia, 2B (.372/.475)
6. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C (.317/.364)
7. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF (.339/.395)
8. Carl Crawford, LF (.349/.454)
9. Marco Scutaro, SS (.351/.385)

It should be noted that these projections are based off several variables, and that this batting order may or may not be the one manager Terry Francona chooses to pencil into his lineup card on a regular basis. Nonetheless, the Red Sox, who already scored the second-most runs in the majors in 2010, will once again have one of the most potent offenses around.

Frank and Jamie McCourt's battle over the ownership of the team has been well documented, with recent news that further hints a potential sale of the club in the near future.

And even with the tumultuous ownership situation, the Dodgers continue to spend money. LA ranked 11th in the majors in 2010 with a $94.9 million payroll, and has made a flurry of moves so far this offseason.

Unfortunately, a few of those moves have been lauded by several analysts as some of the worst moves of the month — and the winter meetings are not even over. Juan Uribe's three-year, $21 million deal is bad enough, but giving $3.25 million to 35-year-old, overweight catcher Rod Barajas is downright laughable.

The Dodgers need a change at the top, and with the sale of the team pending, there's only one person that comes to mind right away as the man for the job.

Mark Cuban has been vying for the ownership of a baseball team for several years now, and the Dodgers would be the perfect fit.

Cuban, the owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, has everything you'd want in the proprietor of a Los Angeles franchise. He's brash, cocky, friends with dozens of celebrities and, most importantly, willing to spend money. Put it this way: if the NBA didn't have a salary cap, Cuban probably would have gotten LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to join Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd in Dallas — and he wouldn't have broken a sweat doing it.

Even though the Dodgers are supposedly loaded with talent — Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier are (or were, at least) two of the hottest young players in the league –  they simply haven't been able to get it done. After two straight NLCS losses to the Phillies in 2008 and 2009, Los Angeles collapsed in 2010, winning just 80 games and falling out of the race by late August.

With Cuban, they'd have an owner who holds his players and staff accountable. His track record with the Mavericks speaks for itself. Dallas has made the playoffs in each of Cuban's 10 seasons owning the team, and has won a whopping 69 percent of its regular season games. Granted, the Mavs haven't won a championship in that time, but much of that has to do with a guy they like to call Kobe Bryant.

When Cuban took over the Mavericks, the team had a 40 percent winning percentage in its 20 prior years of existence. Imagine the kind of growth he could produce for an MLB franchise, one that is not hampered by salary restrictions.

Do you think Mark Cuban should buy the Dodgers when the McCourts are inevitably foced to sell? Leave your thoughts below.

Josh McDaniels

The Denver Broncos cut ties with McDaniels following the team's 10-6 loss to the rival Chiefs on Sunday. McDaniels started out 6-0 in his career in Denver last year but went just 5-17 before getting the axe, including a fairly epic collapse at the end of the 2009 season.

He also got embroiled in some controversy this year and didn’t exactly come off looking like a class act, as Spygate II dominated headlines around Thanksgiving.

But there's a reason McDaniels got the job in Denver in the first place — he's a hard worker, and he knows a lot about the game. He was originally hired as a special assistant for the New England Patriots back in 2001 (when he was 25 years old) and eventually worked his way up to the position of offensive coordinator.

McDaniels was Tom Brady's quarterbacks coach during the Patriots' trio of Super Bowl victories in the middle of the decade, and the former Broncos' coach knows several players on New England's offense very well.

So the question is obvious.

Should the Patriots rehire Josh McDaniels to be a part of their coaching staff? Leave your thoughts below.

Monday, Dec. 6: Has Patriots-Jets surpassed Red Sox-Yankees as the best Boston-New York sports rivalry?

Should the Patriots rehire Josh McDaniels to be a part of their coaching staff?Market Research

According to ESPN.com, a California judge has granted Jamie McCourt‘s request to throw out the marital property agreement that gives her ex-husband, Frank McCourt, sole ownership of the club. Team operations will not be affected by the decision, but the Dodgers could soon be shared under California community property law, which means the team likely will be sold unless one of the McCourts buys out the other.

Nonetheless, Frank McCourt’s lawyer, Marc Selzer, says that his client is still entitled to owning the Dodgers.

“This ruling does nothing to change the ownership of the Dodgers,” Selzer said in a statement. “Even without the marital property agreements in place, Jamie has no rights to the team. Without the agreements in place, it becomes the court’s job to determine which property is Frank’s and which is Jamie’s based on who holds legal title to the team. The facts are crystal clear on this point. The Dodgers are solely in Frank’s name.”

Dodgers general manager Ned Coletti confirms that the latest musings will not affect baseball operations, nor will it have an effect on the team’s 2011 budget.

“I think it’s business as usual,” Colletti told ESPN.com on Tuesday. “I am operating on the same process I did yesterday and as I did five years ago. [There is] no change to our thought process at all.”

The Dodgers already have made a flurry of moves this offseason. The team has signed three veteran players — pitcher Jon Garland, infielder Juan Uribe and catcher Rod Barajas — and re-signed pitcher Hiroki Kuroda.

The former Indianapolis Colts running back has returned to the team after spending the entire 2010 UFL season with the Florida Tuskers. Rhodes set UFL records in touchdowns (10), rushing yards (547) and al-purpose yards (918).

"The UFL was an awesome experience for me," said Rhodes.  "It was what I needed. It was definitely a blessing. I needed to go there and get that on my back too so I can carry that when I come here (to Indianapolis)."

This will be Rhodes' third stint in Indianapolis. He played with the Colts from 2001 to 2006, and then again in 2008, rushing for a total of 2,812 yards and 25 touchdowns. Rhodes was also a member of the Colts' 2006 Super Bowl-winning team.

Tom Brady

Brady never holds back emotion on the field or on the sidelines, and he’s been caught on camera several times with a face that would make Ray Lewis take cover.

Thankfully for Pats fans, these faces mostly come when Brady is fired up about a good play, and lately, he’s made a lot of them.

Click here to see pictures of Tom Brady going nuts on the field >>

At one airport, a JetBlue Airbus A320, painted with the Jets' logo as part of a sponsorship deal with the team, received a slight makeover, as seen in the pictures below. While it's not the Jets' actual team plane, it certainly gets the point across.

A few New England fans, or Jets haters, perhaps, added a simple white sign that reads "45-3" on the nose and the engine of the plane. The safety of this prank is concerning, but the hilarity of it pretty much negates any other feelings toward it.

Photos courtesy of Deadspin.com 

According to the New York Post, however, the Jets have ordered a local steakhouse to take off certain Jets-themed menu items were not authorized by the team.

Prime KO Japanese Steakhouse, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, was serving "green on green Jets salad" and a "Jets dragon roll" until team spokeswoman Jessica Ciccone called the restaurant and demanded the items be taken off the menu. Despite the fact that the head chef, Makoto Kameyama, is a huge fan, the Jets apparently care very strongly about protecting their brand.

Meanwhile, Kameyama, originally from Japan, continues to support his favorite team, and even added a Jets-themed latke to the menu for Hanukkah — a potato pancake topped with basil, to be specific.

According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Chicago White Sox offered young infielder Gordon Beckham and other prospects to the Padres for Gonzalez, but obviously San Diego felt Boston's offer of prospects Casey Kelly, Anthony Rizzo and Reymond Fuentes.

Beckham, 24, finished fifth in the 2009 AL Rookie of the Year voting, and, unlike all the players in the package the Red Sox sent for Gonzalez, has major league experience. Nonetheless, Chicago will stand pat with its up-and-coming second baseman.

It looks like the waiting is over, however, as the New York Daily News reports Rivera will sign a two-year, $30 million deal that will keep the future Hall of Fame closer in pinstripes through 2012.

Rivera is coming off yet another strong season, in which he saved 33 games while posting a 1.80 ERA and 0.83 WHIP. The 41-year-old earned $15 million in 2010, so he is not getting a raise.

It was believed that a deal with Rivera wouldn't get done until New York locked up his Derek Jeter. But with the negotiations with the shortstop moving slowly, the Yankees decided to pounce on their closer; which was a no-brainer, anyway.

LeBron James

Nonetheless, James and the Heat played the Cavaliers in front of a sellout crowd at Quicken Loans Arena, with over 20,000 fans booing LeBron from the moment he took the court.

And even though the fans are not allowed to speak obscenities, just about everything else in the arena was derogatory toward James.

Unfortunately for Clevelanders and Cavaliers fans, James played one of his best games of the season, and the Heat routed the Cavs.

Click here to see some pictures of LeBron James’ return to Cleveland as a member of the Miami Heat >>

The third baseman told the Boston Globe that his preference would be to stay in Boston and he could sign a deal "right now if I wanted to." That said, he'll have to consider the deal, as well.

"I got used to seeing that park full in the first inning and still full in the ninth inning. I liked that atmosphere," Beltre told the Globe. "If everything was close to the same, I would go back to Boston. But we have to see. The number of years is what is important to me."

The Oakland A's offered Beltre a five-year, $45 million deal on Nov. 17 and are widely considered Boston's top competitor for the All-Star. Beltre played on the west coast for the Dodgers (1998 to 2004) and Mariners (2005 to 2009) for the first 12 years of his career.

"The dust has barely settled on the 2010 season, but we are already firmly focused on 2011 and the opportunities that lie ahead," Hambrecht said. "The league is currently completing its long-term planning process and I believe that the successes of the past two years and the initiatives we are putting in place are evidence that the United Football League is moving towards a steady future."

League attendance topped 300,000, including numerous sellouts in Omaha and Sacramento, thanks to former NFL stars Jeff Garcia, Daunte Culpepper and Dominic Rhodes participating. The championship game, which featured Hambrecht's Locos and the Florida Tuskers, was broadcast live to a worldwide audience on YouTube.

"The UFL package is about more than simply the game on the field and our pregame entertainment and stadium tailgating experience appealed to fans of multiple demographics. The affordability of our product and the player accessibility — such as signing autographs for fans after every game — proved very attractive to families and to parents who were able to introduce their children to live professional football for the first time."

Konerko, 34, is coming off arguably his best season in 2010, in which he hit .312 with 39 homers, 111 RBIs and a career-high .977 OPS.

With Adrian Beltre’s future in Boston uncertain, the Red Sox might be in serious need of a replacement at the hot corner. And while Konerko definitely cannot play third base, Kevin Youkilis can — which means Konerko would play first base if he were to sign in Beantown.

But Konerko is a Type-A free agent who made $12 million in 2010, and he declined arbitration from the White Sox. This means a few different things. For one, the Red Sox (or any team, for that matter) would have to give up their top draft pick to sign him. Secondly, Konerko turning down arbitration — after a career year — means he not only wants more than $12 million in 2011, he probably wants a multi-year deal, as well.

With aging slugger David Ortiz already under contract for $12.5 million next year, it would be problematic for Boston to sign another old, plodding power hitter who can't play much defense.

There's plenty of interest in the market for Konerko, and he will definitely sign somewhere. The Orioles, Cubs and even the White Sox have been linked to him, according to MLB Trade Rumors.

But it would be wiser for Boston to go after a younger option like Beltre, in addition to targeting a major free agent like Carl Crawford or Jayson Werth.