HoopsHype.com Rumors

For instance, Durant is pretty into rapping, which he's shown in a joking Nike ad and on various freestyles. Now, he's getting a little more professional. In the video above, you can check out Durant's track "Worried About Tomorrow" with his friend and colleague Privaledge. It's not bad, as far as NBA forays into music go. There's room for growth, but we're certainly not dealing with a "K.O.B.E." sort of embarrassment. Yahoo! Sports

Oklahoma City Thunder, Kevin Durant, Showbusiness 

But with All-Star rosters set to be announced Thursday and the Thunder boasting an NBA-best 20-5 record, the third-year shooting guard said he believes he should be one of the seven reserves voted in by coaches for the Western Conference. "Oh, yeah, definitely -- yes, sir," he said when asked if he should be an All-Star. "I'm not confident, though. I can't control that. I'll just keep playing hard, winning basketball games and having fun with my guys." SI.com

Oklahoma City Thunder, James Harden 

So locker room opens and there on big screen, PTI is debating "Perk/LeBron." LeBron James was in training room at time, but other players buzzing about how almost the entire league "clowned" Kendrick Perkins after he was dunked on by Blake Griffin last week. Sulia

Los Angeles Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder, LeBron James, Blake Griffin, Kendrick Perkins 

The NBA announced Tuesday that Kevin Durant's basket with six seconds remaining in regulation Monday at Portland should not have counted. Durant was awarded two points when an official ruled that a blocked shot by LaMarcus Aldridge was goaltending. “With the benefit of slow motion replay following the game, it has been determined that Aldridge made contact with the ball just before the ball hit the backboard,” the statement read. “Therefore, this should have been ruled a good block and goaltending was the incorrect call.” Oklahoman

Oklahoma City Thunder, Kevin Durant 

But if Griffin challenges him again, Perkins doesn’t plan to run for cover. “If I was in the same position, in the same rotation, I’m going to jump again and again and again,” Perkins told Yahoo! Sports. “I don’t care. A lot of people are afraid of humiliation or don’t know how to handle embarrassment or would even get embarrassed. I don’t care. “I’m the same Perk you’re going to see. I’m still going to sign autographs the same way. I ain’t going to change. The people that move out the way and stuff are the people who have insecurity problems. “That’s my job. How will my teammates look at me if next time I just back out the way and just let him dunk when I’m supposed to be defensive-minded, a shot-blocker? That would be a coward move on me. He’d just have to dunk on me again.” Yahoo! Sports

Los Angeles Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Blake Griffin, Kendrick Perkins 

Shortly after the dunk, James tweeted, “Dunk of the Year! @blakegriffin just dunked on Kendrick Perkins so hard!!! Wow! I guess I’m No. 2 now. Move over #6.” James was referring to his alley-oop dunk he threw down after jumping over Chicago Bulls guard John Lucas III a day earlier. “You don’t see Kobe [Bryant] tweeting,” Perkins said. “You don’t see Michael Jordan tweeting. If you’re an elite player, plays like that don’t excite you. At the end of the day, the guys who are playing for the right reasons who are trying to win championships are not worrying about one play. “They also are not tweeting about themselves talking about going down to No. 2. I just feel [James] is always looking for attention and he wants the world to like him.” Yahoo! Sports

Miami Heat, Oklahoma City Thunder, LeBron James, Kendrick Perkins 

“There are sorry defenders, the guys that don’t want to defend or the guys that run away because they don’t want to put themselves in position like that,” Brooks said. “Perk is not going to run. If it happens again, hopefully it will be a different result. But he is going to put himself in that position again. “That’s what he is about.” Yahoo! Sports

Los Angeles Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Blake Griffin, Kendrick Perkins 

The NBA has released a statement saying that Kevin Durant’s basket with six seconds remaining in regulation of last night’s 111-107 Thunder win at Portland should not have counted. Durant was awarded two points when an official ruled that a blocked shot by LaMarcus Aldridge was goaltending. Oklahoman

Oklahoma City Thunder, Kevin Durant 

John Canzano: Long on Durant: "He carries stuff around just to give to fans when he's getting off the bus or going to the arena." Twitter

Oklahoma City Thunder, Kevin Durant 

Kevin Durant: Praying for @amareisrael and his family has he goes through a tough time! Twitter

New York Knicks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Amare Stoudemire, Kevin Durant 

Jeff McDonald: Asked if there's bad blood between him and Russell Westbrook, Parker said no: “I respect Westbrook. He’s a great player in our league." Twitter

Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, Tony Parker, Russell Westbrook 

To them, he preaches that it's more fun to lose yourself in the camaraderie of winning than to lose and have big numbers. As an example of that mind-set, Perkins put it like this: "Can you name me five players off the 2004 All-Star team?" The reporter scratched his head. "Can you name me who won the championship in 2004?" Detroit, the reporter answered. "My point exactly." Los Angeles Times

Detroit Pistons, Oklahoma City Thunder, Kendrick Perkins 

Adam Zagoria: JR Smith is considering the #Knicks, Clippers, Lakers, Thunder and Bulls, league sources told SNY.tv. Twitter

Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Free Agency, JR Smith, China 

Several other Americans are still playing in China, including former Knick forward Wilson Chandler and former Nuggets and St. Benedict’s Prep guard J.R. Smith, who on Wednesday dropped 60 points in a Chinese league game, hitting 14 of 18 3-pointers. Smith is considering the Knicks, Clippers, Lakers, Thunder and Bulls, league sources told SNY.tv. ZagsBlog.com

Chicago Bulls, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Free Agency, Wilson Chandler 

“The thing about Perk is he's going to put himself in a position to contest everything around the basket,” said Thunder coach Scott Brooks. How many NBA players willingly would put themselves in harm's way? How many would risk embarrassment in the ever-changing social media age? Coaches and teammates of Perk say the answer is not many. “I've been around a lot of defensive-minded players,” Brooks said. “You're going to get dunked on. There's no way around it. There's tremendous athletes in this league. But it doesn't affect him. He's going to come out and do the same thing tonight and guard the basket. That's what he does.” Oklahoman

Oklahoma City Thunder, Kendrick Perkins 

“I'm a fan of the game and I appreciate what he did,” Brooks said of Griffin. “But I also appreciate what Perk does. He challenges baskets. That's what the good defenders do. The sorry defenders are going to back away because they don't want to be posterized. You put yourself in a position to get embarrassed, but by doing that you protect us from being scored on. And we're a pretty good defensive team because of Perk.” Oklahoman

Oklahoma City Thunder, Kendrick Perkins 

Chris Miller: Kobe CP3 Durant Blake Griffin and Andrew Bynum Western All Star starters Twitter

Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, Andrew Bynum 

Somebody get Kevin Durant a pair of sunglasses and a tuxedo to wear on the red carpet. That way he’ll feel right at home as an honorary member of Team Hollywood for the 2012 NBA All-Star Game. It’s two Lakers, two Clippers and the two-time scoring champion from Oklahoma City who’ll make up the starting lineup for the Western Conference on Feb. 26 in Orlando. Forwards Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City – Crashing the All-L.A. party, he is to the West what LeBron James is to the East: the standard-bearer and a no-brainer pick (26.6 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 3.1 apg). Kobe Bryant may still be the reigning royalty in the lineup, but this fresh prince is getting ready for an MVP trophy and maybe a crown. NBA.com

Oklahoma City Thunder, Kevin Durant 

Kevin Love: @blakegriffin I hope you told Kendrick Perkins to shut up about the mantra!!! Twitter

Los Angeles Clippers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder, Blake Griffin, Kendrick Perkins, Kevin Love 

Not everyone is so fired up about Blake Griffin's dunk over Oklahoma City big man Kendrick Perkins on Monday. The Clippers star went down the lane, elevated, made contact with Perkins and then threw the ball down into the basket, the fingers on his outstretched hand grazing the rim. The play has been the talk of the league. "I have no appreciation for it at all," said Perkins' Thunder teammate, Kevin Durant. "It was a layup, I think. He threw the ball in and got fouled and made his free throw, so it was three points at the end of the day, no matter how it happened, how it went in the basket. I really wasn't impressed. He finished it. So what? We've moved on." ESPN.com

Los Angeles Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, Kendrick Perkins