(Photo credit: NBA.com)

April 2nd-10th is NBA's Green Week, a week where NBA players are wearing organic cotton shirts, signing balls made out of recycled materials, taking part in tree plantings and other environmental activities.  Canada's own, Steve Nash has been a strong advocate of the green campaign so it's only fitting that fans take part as well.  Here are a few tips on how NBA fans can be environmentally friendly.

• A sharpie marker
• RECYCLED scrap paper
• Scissors
• Outdated basketball jerseys

(click on image for larger view)

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Raptors 102, Knicks 95

Have you ever wondered why Andrea hasn't shaved?  It's simple.  Andrea just plays freaking better with it, I remember everyone (including myself) don the nicknames Bust-nani, Kwame and Darko 2.0 to our #1 draft pick but he's finally done it, he's proving to be an effective player in the league.  If anything has come out of this season, it's that Andrea Bargnani can play, the confidence is finally there and it's translating into his game.   Andrea had 23 pts, 7 boards, and some D, with 2 steals and 4 blocks against the Knicks in MSG, the scene of the 30-point massacre back in February.  But today's victory was one with a few story lines, the Knicks are officially eliminated from the playoffs, the Raptors have won six straight (longest streak since '07) and we're still in the playoff race?!  Yep, mathematically, the Raps are still in, but realistically it's a different story.

April 5th has been declared as 'Unsung Player Day' recognizing those hardworkers in the NBA who don't seem to get any spotlight. Our friend at With Malice describes the day in more detail:

"Yup, I’m declaring April 5th ‘Unsung Player Day’… we should recognize the guys who toil and work hard every day, for no recognition. Well, today’s your day. In reality, these guys are just as responsible for making the NBA what it is today - every team needs role-players, guys to come on and give that valuable 2-5 minutes. Without them, there is no NBA. I would encourage NBA bloggers to put up an ‘unsung player’ on their blog on April 5th."

Without further delay, Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you HHN's Unsung Players:

Uhhh huhhh, my thoughts exactly Kobe, my thoughts exactly.

Raptors 99, Magic 95

...the streak isn't a fluke, they're actually playing well.

Welcome to the NBA season, Toronto!  Unfortunately, you've only have eight games left to play.

I hate to toot my own horn but the crew at The Puns asked me what my prediction would be for the game:

"Something's just clicked for the Raptors lately. They're too far from the playoffs and they're too far from that top lottery pick, I say they screw their season even more and beat the Magic. It'll be close, I say like a five point game but they'll win."

Anyhow, enough bragging.

 It's a little late, but here it is...SUCKA FREE from the week of March 22nd

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Dwight Howard and the Eastern Conference powerhouse, Orlando Magic host CB4 and the Raptors are on Wednesday.  The Raps are now 28-45 but are on a season high 4 game winning streak.  The Magic on the other hand are 55-18 are on a 6 game win streak and are an impressive 29-7 at home.

(Photo credit: NBA via Treehugger.com)

The National Basketball Association is showing its commitment in helping make its communities more environmentally active by launching their inaugural 'NBA Green Week'.

"From April 2-10, all 30 NBA teams will participate in the program, with efforts ranging from raising fan awareness to fundraising for local environmental agencies. Each team must have at least one green-themed action during the week, according to the league office." (Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal)

The New Jersey Nets, Phoenix Suns, Chicago Bulls, Houston Rockets, and Atlanta Hawks are all teams that have actively been involved in green initiatives and raising environmental awareness within their communities. Not to mention NBA players such as Steve Nash who are environmental activists.

Some fun points I've found out about to watch for during the games of 'NBA Green Week' (April 2 - April 10):

- The Denver Nuggets, and Chicago Bulls (according to Bulls GM John Paxson in a recent ESPN Radio1000 interview I listened to) will be among teams set to wear commemorative green jerseys in support of NBA Green Week.
- All NBA teams will be wearing 100% organic cotton shooting shirts designed by Adidas during pre-game warm ups and on the bench.
- Carmelo Anthony will be sporting some sweet new Jordan Brand kicks this week to match his jersey.

So, what's our readers' take on this?

Do you think that campaigns like these will truly help make people more environmentally aware and friendly in their daily actions and purchase trends?

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Welcome To Toronto, Pops. With 28% of the vote, Pops Mensah-Bonsu's new handle is:

"THE BRITISH BULLDOG"

I starting to feel like I'm the Pops Mensah-Bonsu marketing team, but the dude is freaking entertaining to watch. Acie from Raptors Forum has been accredited with the creation of the nickname, Eric Smith had hyped it up on the FAN590, so congratulations is in order for Acie! And thanks to JE Skeets' nickname creation for another Raptor, The British Bulldog can now officially be tag team partners with this guy and be known as"CUCKOO FOR ROKO POPS"

(Photo credit: NBAE/Ron Turenne)

Terrell Owens decided to take the hour trip north from his new zip code in Buffalo, NY and attended what turned into an afternoon OT thriller between the Toronto Raptors and the Chicago Bulls.

Terrell also helped energize the fans in attendence at the Air Canada Centre by autographing a couple of  footballs and spiraling them into the crowd from centre court. As you can see in the photo above, Terrell also got a pretty sweet welcome gift! (I still need one of those fresh Raptors alternate jerseys myself!)

As you may or may not have heard yet, the Buffalo Bills will likely be playing the Indianapolis Colts in their regular season Toronto 'home game' at the Rogers Centre this upcoming NFL season.

We all know T.O. is the NFL player most people love to hate, but you can't hate on him about this. Good to see Terrell.

Get your popcorn ready!

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