West

Why They Might Be Good: It's still difficult to accept the fact that last season—when they were healthy—these perpetual doormats sported one of the most reliable starting lineups in the league, led by rock Elton Brand. But as solid as they were in '06, they shored up their roster with the signings of professionally-diagnosed depressive forward Vin Baker and hilariously named center Boniface Ndong.

Why They Might Be Good: All-world forward Carmelo Anthony had one helluva off-season. "I kicked [tail] at the World Championships," said 'Melo with a smile. "I trained like a mo-fo, and I didn't appear in a single DVD in which one of my boys talked about selling drugs and capping snitches." Also, fragile big man Marcus Camby managed to make it through the summer without shredding a single tendon.

Seattle Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander proclaimed a miracle Tuesday, saying his injured foot had been healed, simply by prayer. Later that day, his prayers were met by thousands of others from Bears fans who were wishing Alexander wouldn't be able to play, leaving God a tough choice to make prior to Alexander's CT scan on Wednesday.

Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren should be paying attention to his team's marquee match up with the Bears this weekend, but he's instead focused on his on-going paternity suit. Holmgren's legal parents, Barbara and Lincoln, are in a custody battle over the coach with an Alaskan Walrus, named Wally.

Real estate developer and attorney Donald Sterling today committed to purchase the San Diego Clippers for nearly $13 million, an astronomical amount of money for a ball club with a dwindling fan base and only three winning seasons since its 1970 inception.