This post right here goes out to all of those great NBA players stuck in below-average teams, surrounded by bad talent or sometimes bad management, losing games night-in-and-night-out, but keeping their heads up high as true professionals should. They are some of the best players in the league today, but haven't received the hype or the respect because of their poor squads. Some of them need to be released from their misery and traded away, some just need a little more help on their side to show the world what they're capable of.
These are the NBA's Lost Ones, players who all play in Sub .500 teams in the NBA (sorry Love and Rubio, T-Wolves touched 12-12 last night!):
Steve Nash: The former two-time MVP is the poster boy of this list, qualifying for all of the above categories as a 'Lost One'. Nash is still a top player in the league. He's averaging 14.7 ppg over an incredible 54.7% shooting in addition with league-leading 9.9 assists a game. Yes, two days away from his 38th birthday, Nash is STILL leading the NBA in assists. His team, however, is only 9-14 so far, and after spending the golden years of his career in Phoenix with Amar'e Stoudemire, Shaun Marion, and Joe Johnson, his best teammates are now Marcin Gortat and Jared Dudley. But Nash remains a pro, and just a few days ago, broke the Suns' franchise assist record. I've always been a fan of the Suns, but this legend needs to be traded to a contender so that Phoenix can rebuild and Nash, still chasing that elusive championship, can get one last shot at the promised land.
Deron Williams: A few years ago, the 'best point guard in the NBA' argument featured Williams and Paul. Whatever the hell happened? New Jersey happened. Ever since being traded from Utah to one of the worst teams in the NBA, Williams has been in the league's lostlands. At this point last year in Utah, Williams was having the best season of his career, averaging 21.3 ppg with 9.7 apg before being traded to the Nets. He saw out a injury-plagued second-half of the season with the poor team before having a great summer vacation playing for Besiktas in Turkey, getting his jersey retired in the process. His name may not be mentioned regularly amongst the best PGs in recent months, but Williams is still getting consistent averages of 20.2 ppg and 8.7 apg. Unfortunately, the Nets are awful, holding on to a 8-17 record and have been playing mostly without their only other legit starter, Brook Lopez. Williams is in the last year of his contract: will the Nets trade him away or bring in someone else - like Dwight Howard - to keep him when they make their move to Brooklyn? Or will Williams see out this year and return rejuvenated after signing with a different team next season? Still only 27, he has many good years left under his belt: expect Deron not to be a 'Lost One' for too much longer.
Monta Ellis & Stephen Curry: The Golden State Warriors backcourt deserve a mention together. Ellis (21.5 ppg) and Curry (16.8 ppg) are on paper one of the most explosive backcourts in the NBA. So why the stacked losses? Golden State are 8-13, but their is cause for optimism in the Bay Area. This is an improving team under coach Mark Jackson, and although Ellis (25) and Curry (23) still haven't been able to carry their squad into the playoffs, they are both young and have a promising future ahead. Now only if they can stop getting injured every couple of weeks...
Kyrie Irving: Why am I putting a rookie just 21 games into his NBA career on this list? Because this rookie really deserves more shine and more victories than his current 9-13 Cavaliers. Irving is living up to the hype of being the #1 draft pick, rewarding the post-LeBronacalypse-era Cleveland with 18 and 5 early in his career. More importantly, the Cavs are winning... well relatively. This is a team that only won 23% of their games last year. Now, because of a depleted Eastern Conference, Cavs are only one and half games away from grabbing a playoff spot! And even if they don't, and this continues to be another losing season in Cleveland, few people in the city will notice because they know they have a team leader to build their future around. Hopefully he can be surrounded by some good talent over the next few years to show his complete potential.
John Wall & Tyreke Evans: I have a reason for putting these two former Kentucky guards together. Both are monsters of the stat-sheet and exciting talents to watch, both are only a few years into their career, and both of them have the same question marks hovering over them: leadership and maturity. Wall's Wizards (4-20) and Evans' Kings (8-15) are two of the biggest stinkers in the NBA. The talent in these two guards is undeniable, but neither has yet figured out how to convert that talent into team wins. Surrounded by young talent, both have a long way to go before graduating away from the 'lost ones' list (Wall's way up is much longer than Evans'), but these two are too gifted to be ignored or denied. One day, one or both are going to figure it out and become superstars in the league.
Carmelo Anthony: Wait, WHAT? you may ask me... Isn't this guy a starter in the All Star Game this year? Doesn't he play under the flashing lights of New York City, along with fellow stars Amar'e Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler. Doesn't he average almost 24 points a game? Hell, isn't he one of the best offensive players in the NBA? Yes, yes, yes, yes, to all your questions. Yet, Melo embarrassingly finds himself on this list. His much-publicised trade to New York hasn't been working out too well so far for Anthony or his teammates. The Knicks are losing a lot, and despite the talent on their roster, find themselves at a lowly 9-15 and below Cleveland in the East. Without a talented point guard to run the squad and a consistent focus on team defense, the Knicks are imbalanced and Anthony's individual brilliance isn't enough to fix that. Still, a talent like him - and the talent that surrounds him - can't be kept quite for too long, can it?
Kevin Durant won the All Star MVP Award. Kobe Bryant broke Michael Jordan’s All Star scoring record and had his own nose broken. Kevin Love won the three-point shootout. Kyrie Irving was the best young star amongst a host of young guns at the Rising Stars competition. And a certain ‘King’ James – for his brilliance and for his mistakes – made some headlines in Orlando during the mid-season festivities.
Once again, India faced no challenge from the basketball forces of neighbouring South Asian nations as they strolled through the Mid Zone Qualifiers this past weekend in New Delhi (Feb 24-26 2012) and secured a spot for themselves in the U18 FIBA Asia Championship, set to be held in Mongolia in August.
Cleveland. Minnesota. Charlotte. Utah. Night in and night out, NBA players across the North-American hemisphere are putting in work, some are putting on a show, while others are quietly stacking up wins. Distracted by the big city/big team hype, you may not hear about many regularly, but nearly every NBA city has a rising star to watch for the future, a shining star enjoying his prime, or a fading star that still has enough in his tank for a few last miles.
The following teams will be participating in this tournament:
India’s U18 Men’s Basketball team will play in a Mid-Zone Qualifying Tournament against Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka in New Delhi from February 24-26, 2012. The team that wins this tournament will qualify for the 22nd FIBA Asia U18 Championship, which will be held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, from August 17-26.
Jeremy Lin is not the first Asian-origin person to dominate on a basketball court. Asians of all backgrounds have been breaking ankles, hitting threes, dunking and shutting their opponents down, and they’ve been doing it in playgrounds, in sweaty gyms, in schools, colleges, and in professional leagues around the world. Lin isn’t even the first Asian to be an NBA star: a certain 7 foot 6 behemoth by the name of Yao Ming would like to take credit for that. Many others from China or Japan or Iran have had their brief stints at the highest level of the game.
While the USA and India may be on opposite spectrums of the scale in the basketball world, the game has proven to be a crucial medium for the two countries in recent years. 
While India’s Senior Men’s team disappointed with their performance at the FIBA Asia Championship last year, the slight improvement made by India’s Women’s and India’s Youth Boys’ teams have helped move India two spots up in the ‘Combined’ rankings of International Basketball Federation (FIBA) rankings to 47th place in 2011.
Basketball, as a game, offers uniquely opposing perceptions from different-thinking players and lovers of the game. On one hand, it is a game where five individuals, all taking on the court at the same time, mesh and mold perfectly together to make a strong unit to defeat their opponents. It doesn’t matter who the individual is or how much he scores as long as his team outscores the opposing team at the end of regulation.
It is difficult to mourn a person’s death when you’d rather remember their life. And Harish Sharma, the visionary leader of Indian Basketball, certainly led a memorable life. 
For those who have long followed this blog, fans of basketball in India and fans of the NBA, you may know that a lot of my posts also appear on SportsKeeda.com: the portal for sports fans and writers in India. 
The calendar will tip off with the 23rd FIBA Asia Champions Cup, FIBA Asia’s premier event for club teams, which will be hosted by Lebanon at Beirut from June 2–10th, 2012. The top club teams from the top basketball nations in the continent take part: last year's competition was won by Al-Riyadi Beirut in Pasig, Philippines. 
The best under-18 women players will compete at Batu Pahat in Malaysia, at the 21st FIBA Asia U18 Championship for Women, which is the last FIBA Asia event of the year, from September 29th - 6th October. This is the qualifying event for the 2013 FIBA World U19 Championship for Women. The 20th edition of this tournament was held in Thailand in 2010 and won by China. India will be competing in this championship, showcasing the up-and-comers in the women's section from around the country. 
These are the NBA's Lost Ones, players who all play in Sub .500 teams in the NBA (sorry Love and Rubio, T-Wolves touched 12-12 last night!):
Monta Ellis & Stephen Curry: The Golden State Warriors backcourt deserve a mention together. Ellis (21.5 ppg) and Curry (16.8 ppg) are on paper one of the most explosive backcourts in the NBA. So why the stacked losses? Golden State are 8-13, but their is cause for optimism in the Bay Area. This is an improving team under coach Mark Jackson, and although Ellis (25) and Curry (23) still haven't been able to carry their squad into the playoffs, they are both young and have a promising future ahead. Now only if they can stop getting injured every couple of weeks...
Carmelo Anthony: Wait, WHAT? you may ask me... Isn't this guy a starter in the All Star Game this year? Doesn't he play under the flashing lights of New York City, along with fellow stars Amar'e Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler. Doesn't he average almost 24 points a game? Hell, isn't he one of the best offensive players in the NBA? Yes, yes, yes, yes, to all your questions. Yet, Melo embarrassingly finds himself on this list. His much-publicised trade to New York hasn't been working out too well so far for Anthony or his teammates. The Knicks are losing a lot, and despite the talent on their roster, find themselves at a lowly 9-15 and below Cleveland in the East. Without a talented point guard to run the squad and a consistent focus on team defense, the Knicks are imbalanced and Anthony's individual brilliance isn't enough to fix that. Still, a talent like him - and the talent that surrounds him - can't be kept quite for too long, can it?
After only being up by two at halftime, hosts Vidya Niketan began to stretch their lead in the second period in the Boys' final against the squad from Delhi Public School (Bangalore South). A strong effort by Venkatesh of Vidya Niketan helped lift his side to a 59-45 victory. Kedar had 19 points for the losing side. 
For the teams who qualified for the finals of this league, the cash prize was of Rs. 75,000 and Rs. 50,000 for winners and runners-up in each category. Chief Guest K. Govindraj, the President of the Karnataka Olympic Association and Senior Vice President of the BFI distributed the cash awards and prizes. 
Then there's 5-11 Tummala, who was born in Phoenix but her parents moved to America from Andhra Pradesh in India. Tummala is a great inside-outside threat who has worked hard for St. Mary's in Arizona to now find herself ranked at #68 by ESPN HoopGurlz in girls basketball across the US. 
Bhasin is a dual citizen of both India and the USA. In a story published for San Bernandino's 'The Sun', Bhasin said that she would be open to representing either country. Let's just hope she chooses us!
There are special eligibility rules for the Federation Cup, which are based on the top eight Men's and Women's teams from the previous year's National Basketball Championship, completed in New Delhi in January 2011. For the Men's championship, the champion club/unit in each state's inter-state basketball championship will be invited to play in the Federation Cup. For the Women's championship, the state teams themselves take part. Indian Railways are represented by the Railways champion unit in both the Men's and Women's championships. 
Women's Section The Women's teams of the following States are eligible to participate on the basis of the results of 61st National Basketball Championship held at Delhi in 2011 but in the case of Indian Railways the Champion unit of Inter-Railway will represent: 
