LeBron James of the Miami Heat has just been awarded his 3rd NBA MVP title. 2011-2012.

Watch LeBron speak at the press conference after the jump.

[images: nba facebook]

Derrick Rose just re-negotated his contact with adidas. The parties agreed to an estimated 14-year, $250 million contact making Rose the highest paid, actively-endorsed player in the NBA. This is the second largest sneaker contact ever after Michael Jordan and his Jordan brand.

Two months ago Rose signed a five-year, $95 million contact extension with the Chicago Bulls.

[nicekicks]

TNT started off it’s All Star Saturday night presentation with a mixture of Kanye West & Jay-Z’s “Ni**as in Paris” music video and NBA footage. Check out the video here.

Nike LeBron 9 has been released today for $170. They are also available in 2K Sports’ NBA 2K12 today as well. After the jump you can see every color way that we’ve seen so far of this shoe.

• The shoe is the first to combine Flywire technology and Hyperfuse construction.
• Built for breathability and durability, the Hyperfuse construction is a composite of three different layers of material that are fused together to create a nearly seamless, one piece upper that sheds considerable weight without sacrificing protection.
• A midfoot harness that wraps around the foot incorporates Flywire 3.0 technology for added strength and lock down support. This lightweight upper mimics the speed and strength symbolic of LeBron’s game.
• The finely-tuned midsole provides a unique hybrid cushioning system. By combining Max Air 180 in the heel for absorption on impact with a Nike Zoom unit in the forefoot for a springy response, a player is protected on impact where they need it most. A composite shank plate provides torsional rigidity and support while reducing midsole weight.
• Signature aesthetic elements include:  LeBron’s new logo, his signature on the ventilated tongue and, scripted on the toe, the motto: “What we do in life, echoes in eternity.”
• Additional colorways include:
– the limited edition “Cannon” (hit retail early October)

– College: Kentucky (October 15), Ohio State (November 15) and University of Miami (November 29)

– Previously, a China-specific colorway (October 1)

– Other LEBRON 9 colorways will launch at key moments throughout the year.

[source: slam magazine and Nike]

NBA2K11 will come out for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii and PC-DVD. I’m not sure if a PSP version is in the works or not, their first PSP version came out last year, don’t know how successful it was.

Kobe and LeBron, the MVPuppets’ House is on Fire.. check it out

Here’s the changes that 2KSports are putting in the January 2010 NBA2K10 patch for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC. No release date has been set yet for this patch but it will be soon.

GENERAL
- When using the Living Roster, users can now play standard Quick Games with players who are injured in real life.

- The Dunk Off trophy should now be unlocking when the requirements have been achieved.

- The Upcoming Matchups and Rebounding Leaders overlays should no longer obstruct the camera during NBA Today/My Player play.

- The camera will no longer cut away to the nosebleed cam mid-free throw during NBA Today/My Player play.

- The ‘On-Ball Defense’ column should now properly perform ascending/descending sorts

GAMEPLAY
- Further tuned the assist logic such that the CPU should be more diligent in handing out assists to players.

- Pass accuracy has been toned down for passes out of a double team, passes out of contact shots, and non-inbound full court passes.

- Addressed a rare occurrence where the referee would hold on to the ball and not pass it to the shooter during free throw shooting situations.

- CPU players are now much more selective when choosing to pass the ball while attacking the basket.

- Offensive rebounds are now much tougher to grab following missed free throws.

- When played locked, the CPU will no longer throw a full court pass following a missed shot due to the user rapidly pressing the ‘Y’ button for the rebound.

ONLINE
- Corrected an issue that was causing online NBA Today games to disconnect when a user with his/her console set to North America was playing an opponent who had their console set to Europe/Asia.

- Fixed a Team-Up divergence that occurred when users would rapidly press the ‘Start’ button during the loading screen.

- Addressed a crash in leagues that would occur when the league was using an out of date roster.

- Addressed a divergence in leagues that would occur when the league was using a custom roster and/or had a league size larger than 12 users.

- Fixed a rare occurrence where some users would experience a crash during the ‘Connecting to Host’ dialog.

- Improved connection times when attempting to connect to an opponent.

- Fixed a rare hang on the ‘Closing Match’ dialog that appears at the conclusion of a Team-Up game.

MY PLAYER
- Users who are currently in the Playoffs time period of their seasons will no longer be disconnected from Pick-Up games after the first made basket of the game.

- Addressed an issue where users would occasionally hang (often after winning the Finals MVP) when advancing past the end of the season.

- Found and addressed an instance where cloned players were still being created when users chose to change teams following the Summer Circuit.

- The NBA 2K Insider will no longer incorrectly tell the user he has an important decision to make when a decision doesn’t need to be made.

- Fixed an issue that was causing incorrect game results to be posted to the Standings when the user chose to participate in a drill immediately after a played game.

- Decreased steal success when playing My Player Pick-Up games.

- Addressed an issue that would cause the Finals celebration to occur after the third win of a series when the user finished that game on the bench.

ASSOCIATION
- Users are now able to sign free agents during the season once the player re-signing deadline has passed.

- ‘Recent Games’ scores will no longer be erased when exiting from practice.

- The commentators will no longer refer to players as having scored 0 points when that is not appropriate.

- CPU teams will now trade amongst themselves during 30-team Associations when the user has automated the Player Trading task for all of the teams.

- Fixed an issue that was causing the game to report incorrect ages for 2K Share Draft Class prospects. The prospects will no longer retire after their first season in the league.

- Addressed a rare issue where players would have some of their attributes jump to 99 when they had low morale and/or were on a team with poor team chemistry.

- Addressed a case where players would not show up on the roster once they were signed by a team.

- In Season mode, users are now able to sign players from the free agent list.

- In Season mode, users are now able to trade players without needing to follow salary cap guidelines.

From 2KSports Forum