HLBT Daily: Kings Chemistry Called into Question

The Sacbee recently put out an article which explains the strained relationship between Sacramento King forwards Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Kenny Thomas. Writer Martin McNeal tells, "[they] squared off briefly Monday during practice." The two are battling to claim duties as a starting forward, though do not believe for a second that a starting spot was the only inspiration for the spar. "The two fought when they played against each other [and] nearly went at it as Kings teammates during the final regular-season game against Seattle last season," explains McNeal.

The fight caused Ron Artest to reminisce over previous Kings fights. When he tried to come up with the best one, Artest settled on "when Vitaly (Potapenko) smacked Mike (Bibby) in the head." Bibby was not pleased. "What?" he exclaimed. "That never happened. That must have been one of those times Ron blacked out. You know he blacks out 75 percent of the time. He probably didn't take his medicine this morning."

Artest was supposedly in a "goofy" mood... I don't think Bibby cared.
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Chinese basketball player Sun Mingming has a dream of following fellow countryman Yao Ming to the NBA. "Yao Ming is the pride of all Chinese people," explains Sun. "Could I be like him one day? This is not something that can happen just because I wish it to happen. I need to work hard and even if I work really hard, I don't know if it will ever happen."

What are Sun's chances of playing in the NBA? Well, nobody knows the answer to that. Though to say that the man has a future in the NBA would not be much of a reach, despite Sun's relatively short arms.

Of course, to be in the NBA, athleticism and skill are important. Sun does not have much athleticism. His skills are acceptable at best. Just take a look at Sun for yourself...



Sun has something that no other NBA player has ever possessed - 7'9" of pure, unfiltered height.

What has made Sun so tall has also almost killed him. He recently had the tumor responsible for his great height removed from his skull. The tumor had been interfering with his pituitary gland, which caused it to produce extra growth hormone. "Anatomy of a Giant" airs in the United States on the Discovery Health channel on October 15. The show will follow Sun's journey from Harbin, China, to his recovery in the United States after his three-hour tumor-removing brain surgery.