As always, this cartoon is all in good fun. We hope you enjoy it just as much as we did making it!

• More Ricky Rubio bounce passes

• More LOB CITY

• More KD game winners

• More Amir Johnson put back slams

• More Denver Nuggets dancing

• More Shaq and Charles, Inside the NBA

• More Bosh and the Big 3

• More supporters of #FreeSteveNash movement

• More Lamar and Kris on the basketball court

• More D Rose, More MVP

• More Rookie Goodness

• More WORLD PEACE

With 5 games on tap to kick off the season, I compiled a video to get you in the NBA Christmas spirit. Happy Holidays. Enjoy!

(Video credits to users on Youtube)

H/T: Ball Don’t Lie

This is not the first time he has gone on camera with one of his impersonations…

We have seen him do his best Stan Van Gundy

His best Shaq

All this got me thinking… Who else would I want to see Dwight impersonate? Here are my suggestions, feel free to leave yours in the comments

You can follow Ian on Twitter @Vulcanoboy and check his website www.iancartoons.com
Thanks to @TasMelas and @Stackmack for some great feedback along the way.

- Jose Calderon Cartoon
- DeMar DeRozan Cartoon

Animation by Ian Cartoons

Special thanks to @stackmack and @TasMelas for inspiration

Jose Calderon Cartoon

A little background…

During the so called “off-season”, I relied on Twitter to get my basketball fix. Along the way I came across @Vulcanoboy who had won a contest run by Charlie Villanueva. We get to talking and he informs me that he is a cartoonist in his down time. With that said, I came up with the idea to run a series introducing the Toronto Raptors and here is the start of what I hope becomes something epic. The plan is to have the Raptors staring 5 introduced and if all goes well we will try to bring you once each month recapping how the team does on the court.

Steve Nash – Soccer
This one was a no-brainer. His passion for the game has been well documented, and he happens to be quite crafty with his feet as seen in the video and head as displayed at All-Star weekend a few years ago.

Nate Robinson – High Jump
The NBA has a plethora of high flying acts but ‘lil Nate gets the spot. His added flair makes him the perfect candidate to succeed at an individual sport.

Ron Artest – Boxing
They guy may have his issues on the basketball court, but if there was one NBA player I would bet on in the ring it would be Ron Ron.

Rasheed Wallace – Football (QB)
That arm! Rasheed Wallace may have found his calling when he threw up a 3/4 court Hail Mary. Has the QB skills and the ability to switch it up with some blocks for his men.

Shaquille O’Neal – Diving
He may be trying out things like beach volleyball and football but his real talent is diving. He has mastered the landing with minimal damage and makes it look more graceful each time.

Didier Mbenga – Judo
The strongest man in the NBA? Mbenga is a Black belt in Judo and from the looks of it he was ready to try out some of his moves on Chris Mihm.

Monta Ellis – Motocross
He may have been riding a moped, but the injuries he incurred lead me to believe he must have been trying some fancy tricks on that bad boy.

Vladimir Radmanovich – Snowboarding
He sure thought he was a pro when he decided to hit the slopes. Unfortunately it turns out he needs more practice.

TJ Ford – Track
His last name is sure giveaway for the Hemi engine that seems to power him. End to End there may not be a faster guy in the NBA. Or is there?

Jordan Farmar – Poker
He is new to the game and may not have a poker face yet but he had a great showing at the 2009 WSOP. Wouldn’t advise him to quit his day job, but it may be in the cards for the future.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow…
Allen Iverson: All star weekend is usually about everything but the game and this year was no different. All-Star regular, Iverson showed up in the team locker room rocking a new do. Gone were the braids that had become his trademark, and were replaced by a fresh buzz with a #2 blade. It was a long overdue change but one that had everyone doing a double take.

Random Acts of Shaqness
Shaquille O’Neal: Shaq has a larger than life personality and it took on a whole new form this season with the help of twitter and a group of masked men. During the all-star game, the Big Shaqtus stole the show as he joined dance group Jabbawokeez in a choreographed routine to introduce the players. (Video) It didn’t stop there as Shaq ventured into the Twitterverse and starting connecting with fans, having them go on Shaq hunts around different cities. One of my favorite stories of an Act of Shaqness came from two guys who met him at a diner.

Lights, Camera, Action!
Lebron James & Shaquille O’Neal: They may be teammates now but last season they had a rather unique duel going on. Who can put together the best pre-game intro’s. Pre-Game rituals have been a part of the game for a while – the dancing in a circle & the chest bumps but Lebron and Shaq took it to another level. Family Photos, Bowling pins, I can only imagine the creativity next season as they will star in the same intro.

Revenge on the Rookie
Jason Thompson: Rookie hazing is pretty common in the NBA, and most rookies get subjected to some level of humiliation during the season. Enter Jason Thompson of the Sacramento Kings, who one day forgot to come through on his rookie duties and well he paid for it. (Video) My favorite part – “Well now you have something to snack on while you driving”

Baby Mama Drama
Chris Bosh: This is one guy who worked hard to create an image. He was the geek, who made a video to gain some votes for a popularity contest. He embraced technology and when he went on twitter and sent out some subliminal messages no one blinked. Late last season that image was marred with the news that he was a “deadbeat” dad. While stories of this nature come out all the time in pro sports, it was a shocker to see who was linked to it this time.

Animal Instincts
Kevin Garnett: Kevin Garnett is a beast. When he steps on the floor, its with a take no prisoners attitude. His competitive edge is great attribute to have but at times last season we saw him go out of control. I for one was pretty disgusted…
Kevin Garnett Barks at Bayless (Video)- Kevin Garnett Gorilla Defense on Calderon (Video)

Tattoo-gate
Marcin Gortat: When speaking fo the Orlando Magic, Gortat is a role player who just happens to have given himself one of the coolest nicknames in the NBA. During the playoffs last season, the “Polish Hammer” got a call from the people at Reebok (who happen to provide him with his shoes) asking him to cover up the Jordan tattoo at the back of his leg. Gortat’s response was a classic – “I don’t think they are paying me enough to take it off.” He never did listen and so along with his new contract came a new shoe deal- this time from Nike.

I Salute You
Nate Robinson: With all the talk about young players throwing up signs during games, Nate Robinson threw up one of his own early in January. It was a salute to his online gamer friends to prove that it was really him playing them. (Photo)

Faux-Hawk Phenomenon
A bunch of players: I can’t recall who the pioneer was, but the Mohawk trend began spreading like wildfire through the NBA last season. Who rocked it best? Greg Oden. He had it right while others look like they just ran off the barber’s chair before he could finish up the job (see: Amare Stoudamire) Really though… it’s not a good look. Come next season I hope the trend has gone to die following the path of grown men wearing pantyhose under their shorts.

Hibachi Gone Cold
Gilbert Arenas: While Arenas wasn’t producing much on the court he was still entertaining his fans over at his blog. It became a place where fans went to embrace his persona and bash it at times, but it kept him relevant through his time away from the court. Just as the season kicked off, he told the press he was shutting down- there was talk about blogging being like a double edged sword and so on but it seems he had bigger plans in store. A book! Score Like Agent Zero – by Gilbert Arenas will be hitting bookstores in Feb 2010 (Via Gilbertology)

1. Poppin My Collar – Three 6 Mafia
2. Checkmate – Jadakiss
3. We Takin’ Over – DJ Khaled
4. Run This Town – Jay-Z ft. Kanye & Rihanna
5. Guess Who’s Back – Scarface ft. Jay-Z, Beanie Sigel
6. I’m A Hustla – Cassidy ft. Jay-Z
7. Hustlin’ – Rick Ross
8. Big Pimpin – Jay-Z
9. This Is Why I’m Hot – Mims
10. All Eyez On Me – Tupac Shakur
11. Back In The High Life Again – Steve Winwood
12. Some Guys Have All The Luck – Rod Stewart
13. Man Of The Hour – Pearl Jam
14. Victory - Biggie Smalls & Puff Daddy
15. No Body Does It Better – Carly Simon
16. Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop – Young Gunz
17. Smooth Criminal – Michael Jackson
18. I Won’t Back Down – Tom Petty
19. I Believe I Can Fly – R Kelly
20. If I Ruled The World – Nas

*Bonus Track* I’m Doing Me – Stephon Marbury

My twitter feed has been taken over, no work is getting done by me (or anyone I follow on Twitter apparently) and I haven’t left my computer in fear of missing out on some goodness.

Marburython on USTREAM: Have At It
Marburython on Justin TV: Mooncricket

If you late to the party, Michelle over at NBA Musings has a raw transcript with a highlight package of went down.

Russbengtson said it best on Twitter: Picking a favorite quote from the @StarburyMarbury marathon is like picking a favorite Michael Jordan highlight.

Chris Bosh has tried this, Dwight Howard has tried this, Kevin Durant has tried this but nothing comes close to the pure gold Steph has been spitting for almost 7 hours (he plans to do this for 24 hours straight)

THEY TRIED TO PUT ME IN A BOX!!!

(image via @jeskeets)

*Heels on Hardwood – EXCLUSIVE*
“THEY TRIED TO PUT ME IN A BOX!” – Stephon Marbury

Download MP3: The Put Me In A Box

Shoulders or Cantaloupes?

While most people were getting some shut eye last night, Dwight Howard decided he wanted to chat with the fans and fired up UStream. He had just arrived in LA, settled into his hotel room and turned on his computer (no Playboy mansion for the man). After some technical difficulties – which prompted him to call room service at 1:00AM PST – he let out a big “HEY WOOORRRRLLLDDD!!” Viewers were greeted with the infamous smile and surprisingly a fully clothed Howard. To sum up the hour long chat he did some impresonations, showed us his candy stash, ate fries while answering fan questions and even busted out some MC Hammer when he got a shout out from the rapper himself.

With the explosion of twitter and facebook, Dwight has completely embraced his fans. He spent an entire plane ride replying to people until twitter told him he has exceeded their post limit. This is a guy who is on the cover of NBA Live, has won an Olympic gold medal and was playing in the NBA finals last month. As a fan of the game, I can only appreciate that he is taking time to do this and I hope that other athletes look to him as an example. You may not be as funny but everything you can give back to the fans will keep them wanting more.

If you aren’t one of the 500,000+ already following Dwight on twitter you should do so @DwightHoward – You can follow me too while you are at it @Nat77

If you have an hour to kill you can watch the recorded video from last night UStream (Video) or click the screen caps below to get a glimpse of what you missed.

Mama Carter always rides shotgun!

Browsing the Internets late Sunday night a friend alerted me to the news that Vince Carter served as the honorary pace car driver for the Daytona 500. It may just seem like a regular story to most, but up here in Raptorland its breaking news when it comes to the man we love to hate. Immediately I started envisioning Mama Michelle Carter calling shotgun followed by telling him to put on his seatbelt, check his mirrors and so on. As usual with anything nowadays, I turned to twitter to get some reactions on the story and here are some of my favorite tweets

Via @THHB: Did the car stop mid-lap, leave the track, and head to North Carolina?
Via @Jose3030: Did the car have a flat tire and complain of needing time off?

“IF” the NBA on TNT rules come into effect the Cav’s will blow out the Suns!

—————————————————————————————————————————–

“IF” Tony Parker ate his “Sub” today
“IF” Manu stops riding on rollercoasters (pic courtesy of J.E.Skeets)
“IF” Roger Mason Jr can jack up another insane shot

… The San Antonio Spurs will win this game

“IF” Sacha turns into “The Machine”
“IF” Kobe can keep his elbows to himself
“IF” Andrew Bynum can stop throwing benjamins and get back onto the court

… The Los Angeles Lakers will win this game

Enzo!!

“IF” Devin Harris can pull off another crazy shot
“IF” Vince Carter can get through the game without “vincing”
“IF” Starbury gets more than 15 minutes of non garbage  court time

… The New Jersey Nets will win this game

Lambo!!

“IF” Rondo can turn on the jets and break Harris’ Guinness World Record
“IF” Tom Heinsohn can hold off on the Homerism (NJ is his hometown)
“IF” Starbury plays more than 15 minutes of mostly garbage time

… The Boston Celtics will win this game

Superman 1.0

“IF” Shaquille O’Neal throws on his cop uniform and lays down the law on the Orlando rim
“IF” JRich can use Dwight as a prop for an in game dunk to practice for next year
“IF” Matt Barnes has a repeat performance – fool me once shame on you… fool me twice shame on me!

… The Phoenix Suns will win this game

Superman 2.0

“IF” Dwight grows a pair and lays it out on the court instead of whining to the press
“IF” the magic can make more 3′s than the suns (both teams in top 10)
“IF” Rafer Alston can pull a Nash and actually pass the ball

… The Orlando Magic will win this game

Picture Credit: J.E Skeets

“IF” Kevin Durant’s ankle comes back to life
“IF” Joe Smith shows up to the game
“IF” Damien Wilkins morphs into Dominique

… The Oklahoma City Thunder will win this game

Picture Credit: Sports Illustrated

“IF” Jason Kidd records atleast 1 assist to add to his 10,001
“IF” Disco Dirk hits another off balance fade away jumper
“IF” Matt Carroll gets any burn in the game

… The Dallas Mavericks will win this game