In an attempt to cash in on the popularity of Bravo's "Real Housewives" franchise, VH1 will roll out a new 'reality' series following the lives of the wives and girlfriends of several notable NBA players. "Basketball Wives" will debut in March.

The initial eight-episode order will feature the women in the lives of Shaquille O'Neal, Antoine Walker and Jermaine O'Neal, among others.

Obviously, there's great potential for drama here -- NBA players, rightly or wrongly -- have the reputation of living personal lives that would make Tiger Woods blush. Hall-of-famer Calvin Murphy fathered 14 children with nine different women, and Shawn Kemp reportedly has as many as eleven kids with nine different women. Just among the initial participants, Shaquille O'Neal was reportedly having an affair with Gilbert Arenas' fiancee earlier this fall, and Antoine Walker is on the hook for about $900,000 in gambling debts.

That more or less blows the housewives of Orange County right out of the water, doesn't it?

• Check out some of the most famous wives and girlfriends of NBA players

Lots of highly entertaining videos circulating in the NBA blogosphere this morning:

• NBA.com follows Allen Iverson as he returns to Philadelphia. Unsurprisingly, Iverson showed up late for the game. Someone send Eddie Jordan a truckload of Tums, OK? He's gonna need 'em.
• Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban made an appearance on the WWE's Monday Night Raw -- and was thrown through a table.
• Boston College's Reggie Jackson proving that a dunk doesn't need to count to be impressive. (He was called for an offensive foul on the play).
• And just for added fun, here's LeBron James making a full-court shot. With a football.

Once again, the stewards of the best championship event in American sports are proving incapable of leaving well enough alone.

Ordinarily, the "March Madness should Expand!" chorus doesn't reach full voice until Selection Sunday, led by coaches on the outside looking in. (Note to said coaches: the solution to your troubles is simple. Win more games.) But this year the discussion is starting early, and it's at the NCAA level. You know what that means...

Money.

The NCAA has an opt-out in its deal with CBS after the 2010 Final Four. According to a report in the Sports Business Journal, they've started exploring the possibility of expanding the tournament to 96 teams and are floating the possibility with potential broadcast partners. Their reasoning is simple -- more games means a bigger licensing fee.

I can't stand the idea, personally. Adding teams to the postseason just cheapens an achievement that, for most schools, really means something -- and would most likely end up benefiting mediocre teams from big conferences more than anyone else. What's your take?

• Expanding March Madness
• Should the NCAA Tournament Expand to 96 or 128 Teams?

Allen Iverson will be in the starting lineup when the Sixers face the Denver Nuggets tonight, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Iverson will be in the backcourt along with Philly's other AI -- Andre Iguodala.

Of course, starting Iverson is an easy decision for Sixers coach Eddie Jordan; right now Jordan doesn't have a lot of options. Louis Williams is sidelined for the next six weeks or so with a broken jaw, and rookie point guard Jrue Holiday is unavailable for the Denver game with a shoulder problem.

Jordan did tell reporters he envisions starting Iverson and Williams together once everyone is healthy, which would mean Iguodala at small forward and either Thaddeus Young, Elton Brand or Sam Dalembert heading to the bench. He'll need to work center Mareese Speights (torn MCL) back into the mix as well.

Of course, these problems have a way of working themselves out. By the time Williams and Speights are healthy, the Sixer roster could have a very different look, as management is known to be shopping both Brand and Dalembert.

Ex-NBA referee Tim Donaghy -- fresh off a stint in prison -- spoke to Bob Simon of 60 Minutes about his role in the biggest scandal to hit the NBA in years.

In the interview, Donaghy repeated his assertion that he never attempted to influence the outcome of games, and that he was able to win approximately 75 percent of his basketball bets by factoring in the individual biases his fellow referees held against certain players. He further claimed that his high rate of success was what drew the mob's attention, and that he began sharing inside information with them only after they threatened his family.

The mob ties drew the attention of the FBI; their investigation broke up the operation.

The entire interview is available on the CBS web site:

• Part One
• Part Two

Donaghy's high media profile isn't without purpose... his tell-all book, which was dropped by publishers in October... is now available via one of the self-publishing divisions of Amazon.com.

David Stern's Response

Of course, David Stern wasn't about to let Donaghy have the media stage all to himself. The commish released a formal statement in response to the 60 Minutes interview, saying:

In an interview aired on '60 Minutes,' Tim Donaghy repeated his allegations against his former colleagues, NBA referees, as well as the NBA. Those allegations have been fully investigated by the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office and the government completed its investigation, finding that the only criminal conduct was that of Mr. Donaghy.

Read David Stern's statement in its entirety on NBA.com.

It took 19 tries, but the Nets finally got into the win column on Friday night, beating the Charlotte Bobcats 97-91 at the Izod Center.

Second-year guard Courtney Lee scored a career-high 27 points to lead New Jersey.

The win was New Jersey's first of the season, after an NBA-record eighteen straight losses to begin the year. The previous mark for futility was 0-17, shared by the expansion 1988-89 Miami Heat and the 1999 Los Angeles Clippers.

The win came in Kiki Vandeweghe's debut as head coach. Vandeweghe replaces Lawrence Frank, who was let go when the Nets' losing streak reached 16 games. Assistant coach Tom Barisse coached the team through losses 17 and 18.

Unfortunately for New Jersey's remaining fans, Vandeweghe's coaching record didn't stay perfect for long. The Nets lost to the Knicks, 106-97, in Sunday's game -- Vandeweghe's second as head coach -- falling to 1-19 on the year.

Once again, Greg Oden's season is ending prematurely.

The first overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft missed the entire 2007-08 campaign while recovering from microfracture surgery. He made his NBA debut a year later and, though he struggled with consistency and nagging injuries, showed tremendous potential. He was just starting to reach that potential -- coming off a 20-rebound, four-block performance against Miami, when he broke the patella in his left knee while attempting to block an Aaron Brooks shot in the first quarter of Saturday's win over the Rockets.

(Warning -- the video of Oden's injury is not for the faint of heart.)

• Greg Oden Profile and Scouting Report
• NBA Injury Notes

Ohio State swingman Evan Turner will miss the next six-to-eight weeks after fracturing two bones in his back.

Seven minutes into the Buckeyes' game against Eastern Michigan on Saturday, Turner drove through the lane and went up for an emphatic two-handed slam. But he was unable to hang on to the rim as his momentum carried the lower half of his body forward, and he went crashing to the court, landing flat on his back. Initial x-rays were negative, but later tests revealed fractures to the transverse process of Turner's second and third lumbar vertabrae.

He's expected to miss the next two months, but should be able to make a full recovery.

Turner has been one of the stars of the young NCAA season, averaging 20.6 points and 12.9 boards for the 15th-ranked Buckeyes. He's projected as a potential top-five pick in the 2010 NBA draft.

Last month, Knicks guard Nate Robinson drew heavy criticism from his coach for taking a shot at the wrong basket as the buzzer sounded to end a quarter. In the ensuing firestorm, the NBA issued a clarification to the obscure rule covering such situations. Long story short... shooting at the opposing team's basket intentionally results in a turnover. The only way to score a basket for the opposing team is to inadvertently tip the ball through the hoop...

Like San Antonio rookie DeJuan Blair did last night, in the Spurs' loss to the Celtics.

Luckily for Blair, the two points he scored for Boston weren't the final margin; Boston won the game 90-83. Kevin Garnett led the way with 20 points. Blair actually posted a new career-high with 18 points (in the correct basket) for the game.

At least the game was over early.

The Nets hoped to break their season-opening 17-game losing streak last night and avoid setting a new NBA record for season-opening futility. That hope was abandoned quickly. Jason Kidd, Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks absolutely destroyed the Nets, scoring a half-game's worth of points (49) in the second quarter alone. At 0-18 on the year, the Nets are now in sole possession of the record for worst start in NBA history.

New Jersey needed a 23-12 run in garbage time cut the final margin to 16, as Dallas left Jersey with a 117-101 win.

Ex-Net Kidd had 16 points, 10 assists, 8 rebounds and 5 steals in the game. Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 24 points; Chris Douglas-Roberts matched Nowitzki's total in a losing cause.

The Nets' next chance to break their losing streak will come Friday against the Charlotte Bobcats, in what will also be Kiki Vandeweghe's head coaching debut.