NBA's greatest games at your fingertips

Some thoughts as we pass the quarter pole of the NBA season ...

I must admit the basketball geek inside of me went a little spastic when I read the league is creating a digital archive of NBA games and will make the content available — for a small fee, I presume — on its Web site.

Think about it. Every game at your fingertips. How cool is that? All bets would be settled. Did Jordan push off when he nailed that jumper over Bryon Russell in Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals? (Yup. He did.)

We can relive the epic battles between Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain without waiting for them to be aired on ESPN Classic. No more highlight montages, which tend to exaggerate a player's greatness. Actual games from start to finish.

A video library where we can watch the advent of flight in the NBA — when Julius Erving, David Thompson and George Gervin elevated the game above the rim — and the birth of cool, which was epitomized by Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe and Chamberlain.

We'll be able to trace the lineage of the league and prove to the underage crowd that before LeBron James, there was Magic Johnson and before him there was Oscar Robertson.

The project is expected to be completed in six years, but fans may have access to some games as early as next year. The league is archiving the older and the newer games first and working its way toward the middle.

"Many people would probably want to relive the shot that Michael hit over us [in the 1989 playoffs], but I'd want to see the play right before that one," said Lenny Wilkens, former Cleveland Cavaliers coach. "We were down with something like 10 seconds to go and everybody thought the ball was going to [Mark] Price. ... But Craig [Ehlo] ran a backdoor [play] from out of bounds. The thing is, he scored too soon."

Call the fashion police

So what's with basketball fashion these days?

Why is Ben Wallace sporting funky red goggles that looked better on Bootsy Collins and Elton John back in the day?

And why are Kobe Bryant and Ray Allen running around in black tights beneath their shorts? Said the Sonics guard: "It's not about fashion, it's about staying healthy."

Hmmmm. Still, don't get it.

Into the blogosphere

I've been asked to write a blog, but I'm no blogger. At least not yet. Still, got to admit that I get a kick out of reading some outlandish posts.

Here's a few snippets from what I think are the best in the NBA.

Nate Robinson on MSNBC: "Life can be tough as a rookie sometimes because your teammates get to pick on you a little bit. After I hit the game-winner against the 76ers, I had to go home in a wrinkled suit. They tied my suit up with tape and put my shoes somewhere. ... After the Miami game, some guys put some cream cheese in my shoes.

"One of the vets put it in the bottom of my shoes and I couldn't get it out so I just left it in there. I had to go on the plane back to New York with cream cheese in my shoes and socks."

Portland rookie Martell Webster blogs on the Trail Blazers Web site, but the Seattle Prep grad's posts are a little bland for my taste.

Clearly, he's no Paul Shirley, the basketball poet laureate who took blogging to new heights last season when he played in Phoenix. Although retired, you can still find his old posts on the Web.

From the Shirley archives: "I am 27, have no children, no wife, and no serious girlfriend and, while I am no male model, am not going to make anyone's All-Ugly Team anytime soon. (Incidentally, my version of this year's team has two members from Minnesota, one from the Milwaukee Bucks, one from the Warriors and one from the Portland Trail Blazers. In the interest of not getting the crap kicked out of me, should I actually play in a game against one of these teams, I will keep the exact identities to myself.)"

And Mark Cuban's blog is must-read material, especially when he's ripping TNT's analysts Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley. Hilarious.

Tatts all, folks

"Desperate Housewives" star Eva Longoria told gossip magazines that she had the initials of her boyfriend, San Antonio guard Tony Parker, tattooed in a place no one but he is allowed to see.

"You can see my tatts, they're all on public display, but the one that has Tony's initials is only seen by him," she said. "I'm not saying where it is — but let's just say he gets to view it on a very regular basis."

Obviously, she didn't seek advice from R&B singer Brandy, who reportedly split up with her fiance, New York guard Quentin Richardson. According to reports, she had a 4- to 5-inch image of his face tattooed on her back and after their breakup had it transformed into a cat.

Ouch! I guess love really does hurt.

Deal on wheels

Gary Payton decided on a little downsizing and placed his 1999 Bentley on eBay. Asking price: $100K.

The Miami guard and former Sonic said he grew tired of the car, one of five, hardly driving it the past few years. The initials G.P. are embroidered in the headrests, which might make finding a buyer a little difficult.

That's what friends are for

Proving that posses are not passé, Mike Bibby, a founding father of "Team Dime," nearly took the rap for the senseless shenanigans of members of his entourage. The Sacramento guard, however, was cleared on Monday of any criminal wrongdoing related to two September bar fights where he and friends were present.

During the three-month investigation, Bibby refused to, ahem, drop a dime and remained loyal to his childhood friends.

Ditto for James, who incorporated "The Four Horsemen," which is comprised of him and three friends. They wear jewelry, jackets and basketball shoes that bear their insignia, and now they have a marketing firm, which handles James' business ventures.

The Cleveland star picked the name in homage to the legendary football quartet that played in the 1920s at Notre Dame.

Guess no one told them that the original horsemen were War, Famine, Pestilence and Death. Not exactly a name that drums up business — unless you're a mortician.

Percy Allen: 206-464-2278 or pallen@seattletimes.com