Before the NBA All-Star game, Nicki helped introduce the West team by performing “Moment 4 Life” and “Turn Me On”. After the jump, is your East squad with her new single “Starships” and “Super Bass”. jose3030

Rolling out the first dunk of the evening was Houston Rockets’

From the Staples Center to the Amway Center, it’s niggas in Orlando. And kicking off the NBA All-Star Saturday Night festivities, The Throne’s latest video

Heads up! With the NBA All-Star Weekend underway in Orlando, J.Cole participated in the celebrity game tonight. While on a fast break, he caught an alley hoop from comedian Kevin Hart. After the jump, he blocks Common’s easy lay-up. Remember this? yardie

On Christmas, the NBA finally kicked off their season and one of the league’s promos featured JB and Busta’s holiday tune “Drumma Boy“. We love this game baby, rumpa pum pum.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise, but next September, NJ Nets co-owner Jay-Z will headline the first concert at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Hopefully by then the NBA lockout is over. An official press conference will go down this Monday.

Guess who’s back? After noticing Freddie Gibbs’ insightful and often humorous observations on sports through his Twitter account, Rap Radar decided to give him a forum to express his thoughts on the thrills of victory and the agonies of defeat. It’s Gangsta Gibbs Wide World Of Sports. The black Bill Simmons is here. And for his 12th column, Gibbs weighs in on the NBA’s second lockout.

  Apparently, you can stop the reign. After 19 seasons in the NBA, Shaquille O’Neal announced his retirement earlier today. As a member of the Boston Celtics, Shaq was out the majority of this past regular season with an achilles injury. Shaq leaves the league with 4 championship rings, 4 MVP (3 Finals) awards, and 15 All-Star appearances. espn

With the NBA Playoffs a few days away, Swizz Beatz was commissioned to revamp the New York Knicks theme song. Earlier this evening, he and Amar’e Stoudemire shot the track’s video on the court of Madison Square Garden. Here’s a lil’ of what went down. It’s showtime!

As predicted, the NBA has fined the New Jersey Nets $50,000 due to Jay-Z’s Kentucky Wildcats locker room visit last month. The league prohibits personnel from interacting with collegiate athletes. si