Millions of kids want to be “like Mike” and with good reason. He’s a sports icon, one of the most marketed people in history, and after all these years, a swingin’ bachelor. But he’s no Allan Houston. Remember him? The sweet-shooting Knicks star who, two years after retiring, is still the 2nd highest paid player in the NBA. Houston sat on his ass and made $20.7 million. Beat that MJ.

Other hilarious entires on the report of NBA Salaries include Brian Grant, who retired in October and still made $17.3 million. An honorable mention goes to Jalen Rose, who made $16 million and was on the court for 246 minutes all season. Topping the list of the highest paid player is Kevin Garnett. Despite his years of bitching, it’s still hard to sympathize with a guy who made $21 million for the Timberwolves this season.

A look at the highest team payrolls leads to a familiar discussion. Once again, the Knicks got a terrible return on their investment. Their team payroll is $139 million, which leads the NBA by nearly $50 million. In Jalen Rose numbers, that’s more than 12 hours of basketball! The Knicks won 33, meaning they spent more than $4 million for each win. The 76ers and their $88 million payroll won 35 games this year.

Go ahead and take a look at the bottom of the team payroll list. These are teams that have built the right way. The Toronto Raptors’ payroll was a paltry $53 million and they won 47 games. Even more shocking, the Chicago Bulls’ payroll was also $53 million. All they’ve done is build the youngest core of talent in the NBA and swept the Miami Heat. Need a philosophy on running an NBA franchise? It’s all in the numbers.

The Chicago Bulls have suddenly become my favorite basketball team. During a game against the New York Knicks, the Bulls ran a promotion which would have given everyone in the crowd a free Big Mac from McDonalds if the Bulls scored 100 points. Unfortunately they didn’t quite reach 100. To make matters worse, the Knicks didn’t take too kindly to this Spurrier-like tactic.

With about two minutes remaining in the game, Chicago already had the game in hand and were close to scoring 100 points. At this point, fans were not chanting, “Hey, hey, hey, goodbye.” They were chanting, “We want a Big Mac.” With the entire United Center hungry for a post game snack, the Bulls decided to try to give back to the fans, and went for triple digits. Needing only 2 more points, Chris Duhon and other Bulls bench players began throwing up shots. The Bulls attempted four shots in the final 1.04 and missed all of them. The game ended 98-69 in favor of Chicago.

The Knicks were outraged by the whole ordeal. Eddie Curry took it personal and said, “I think they were definitely trying to rub it in, but we’ll see them next year.” Well Eddie, when you see them next year, the Bulls will have another post-season appearance under their belts and you won’t. Chris Duhon claimed there was no intention whatsoever to rub in the loss, “We just wanted to do something for the fans. I don’t cook at home so I wanted one for myself.”

The sad part about this whole story is not that the Knicks are upset about getting the score run up on them, it’s how the Bulls didn’t reach 100 points. I couldn’t care less if Isiah Thomas is complaining; if I was in attendance and the Bulls were shutting out New York 98-0, I still would have wanted Chicago to go for 100. I applaud the Bulls for going out their way to give back to the fans. Bulls fans have waited for this team to get back on the map after the championship years and now they’re doing it. Hopefully for the fans sake, the promotion runs into the playoffs where the Bulls will face Orlando or New Jersey. The Bulls have already scored 100 points on both teams this season.

Since we started this thing up on October 1st, I’ve definitely had to eat some popcorn crow over certain things. Nobody has proved me wrong more than Isiah Thomas and the New York Knicks. I didn’t have one good thing about Isiah and his cast of misfits before the season started. But I’ve been proved wrong, as the Knicks have stayed in playoff contention most of the season, earning Thomas an extension. And now, he’s even made a great personnel decision: signing Randolph Morris.

“It’s another guy we can add to our young core,” Thomas said. “We’re very happy to have him. It’s another big and it’s almost like another pick in this year’s draft — just a little early.”

Morris’ story isn’t typical of most college stars. After a stellar freshman season at Kentucky, Morris declared for the NBA Draft and went undrafted. However, he hadn’t hired an agent, which allowed him to return to Kentucky and continue playing. By going undrafted, Morris was unable to enter another NBA Draft. That’s when Isiah and the Knicks swooped in, signing him for two years at a paltry $1.6 million.

Morris’ salary generally falls in the range of the 26th overall pick in the NBA Draft. Essentially, the Knicks got a first round talent without using a first round pick. I’m not sure where he’ll fit in a crowded frontcourt that includes David Lee, Eddy Curry, and Channing Frye, he’s definitely an upgrade over Jerome James. To put it as simply as possible, James is trash. It’s too bad Isiah paid him $30 million.

If Isiah and the Knicks could have made these types of decisions a few years ago, they wouldn’t be recovering from turmoil like they are now. Nevertheless, progress is progress. Signing an inside presence like Morris, who had some great seasons at Kentucky, is a sign that things might be looking up for the Knicks.

The Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks went away from traditional colors and took the court with green uniforms last week. Both teams decided to shake things up for St. Patrick’s Day, which was celebrated last Saturday.

The Bulls unveiled their green Irish jerseys on March 14th against the Celtics of all teams. They wore them again on the road against the Grizzlies on St. Patrick’s day. I thought it was ironic that the Bulls wore them against the Celtics, but I guess it just happened to be that Boston was on the schedule. The jerseys were not entirely lucky however, as the Bulls beat the Celtics but lost to the Grizzlies. The design of the uniform is the same as the Bulls’ home jersey, except this special uniform was green.

Along with the Bulls, the New York Knicks decided to partake in the festivities of St. Pattie’s as well. Unlike the Bulls, who wore the green jerseys twice, the Knicks only dressed up for last Friday’s game against the Hornets at Madison Square Garden. The jersey was the Knicks home uni with a small “touch” of green. Just in case you’re wondering, the special St. Patrick Day jersey did not give the Knicks any Irish luck, as they lost to the Hornets 92-90.

I thought it was nice to see the Bulls and the Knicks do something different and bring out the holiday spirit of St. Patrick’s Day. Baseball teams in spring training wear special gear for the day, so it was nice to see another sport take on the tradition as well. Both jerseys can be purchased on nbastore.com if you’re interested in having something out of the ordinary.

The three ring circus that is the New York Knicks got better on Monday when the Knicks gave coach, general manager, and resident moron Isiah Thomas a multi-year extension to stay with the team.

Before I hammer on the Knicks, I should commend the job that Thomas has done this season with the Knicks, who currently sit in the 8th seed in the East and poised to make the playoffs for the first time in three years. He’s gotten great play out of sixth man David Lee and he has transformed Eddie Curry into one of the dominant centers in the East, an improvement from his days in Chicago when Curry looked lost and confused at times. He’s also gotten great play out of young players Nate Robinson and Jamal Crawford and the fact that Steve Francis is being kept off the floor due to injury may be helping this team more than it’s hurting.

All that being said, Thomas’ attempted sabotage of this team in the past few years can’t be overlooked. The Knicks have a lot of money wrapped up in Francis and Stephon Marbury, two guys who play the same position and style of selfish basketball. He’s made a great deal of bad acquisitions for players such as Jerome James and Malik Rose. He ran Larry Brown out of town after giving Brown a ridiculous $50 million contract. Let’s not forget the brawl between the Knicks and the Nuggets this year as well, when Melo sucker punched Mardy Collins and a melee ensued.

Give Thomas credit for the job he has done with the Knicks this season. The Knicks are looking at a potential postseason berth for the first time in a while. At the same time, the Knicks may be overreacting here. They’re still the punchline of the NBA.

I really have to take back what I said about Isiah Thomas’ job as head coach of the New York Knicks. Before the season, he was given one year by owner Mike Dolan to turn the team aronud. If he didn’t, he’d be fired. 50 games into the season, the Knicks are 22-28 and they’re just one win shy of equalling last season’s win total under the despised Larry Brown.

One of Thomas’ worst moves as GM of the Knicks was thought to be the acquisition of Curry. His health was in question and his performances hadn’t lived up to his talent. This year, he’s changed everything, averaging about 20 points and 7 rebounds a game. And now, he’s backing up Isiah. Curry has stated that if Thomas is fired at the end of the year, he’ll ask to be traded.

This should back up the preseason claims that Isiah was a great player’s coach. He showed this in Indiana and he’s now showing it with the Knicks. I didn’t think this season could be anything but a disaster for the Knicks and yet, Isiah has this team just 2.5 games out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Aside from that whole “come in the paint and we’ll rough you up” incident versus the Nuggets, Thomas has done an admirable job. He’s gotten career years out of Curry and the relatively unknown David Lee (11 points, 11 rebounds). If the Knicks do indeed fire Thomas, they’ll be losing their best player in the process. Finally, this team might be on their way back to respectability. It’d be foolish to fire the guy that could bring them back. What’s ironic is this is the same guy that played a huge role in plunging the Knicks into the NBA’s laughingstock.