Ciara and Amar'e go to the beach. Prepare to be jealous of the level of physical fitness on display.

The couple was spotted together on South Beach.

If you want to know how Ciara stays so fit, she recently dished about her secrets here. She says that she stays away from eating salt and goes to the gym for an hour 5 to 6 times a week. Is it really that simple?

Let the speculation end: Ciara and Amar'e are officially a couple.

And I've officially been spelling his name wrong for months. I didn't realize it was Amar'e, so my fault for writing Amare for months and months. Anyways, what a great distraction mechanism for ignoring the 0-2 Celtics-Heat series: Ciara herself recently confirmed she and Amar'e are an item. Stop the press! Teehee, no, I'm kidding. I think they're a ridiculously good looking couple. They wasted no time in making their first official appearance together as a couple:

Again. A ridiculously good looking couple. I just left the gym, but Ciara makes me want to turn around and go back for a couple more hours. 

Swizz Beatz produced a Knicks anthem.

It's called "Go NY Go." He shot a video for the song at MSG with Carmelo and Amare:

And here's video of Swizz and Amare:

Here's what I have to say about this: so unfair!!! I love Swizzy!! He's all cool and fashion forward and the Celtics are over here playing cheesy 80's rock music and hip hop songs from last year. In any case, while Swizzy is one of my favorite producers, the Knicks can have all the cool, trendy fans. I'd rather send them packing with our corny music and solid team defense. Chea!

What do persistent rumors about a Ciara and Amare romance have in common with the health of Jermaine O'Neal?

They're both going strong right now.

It seems Amare celebrated the Knicks win over the Nets with Ciara by his side:

Amar'e Stoudemire, celebrated the team's win over the New Jersey Nets with R&B singer Ciara at Meatpacking District hot spot SL. While their reps claimed the pair are just friends, the duo "looked extremely close Wednesday night," said one onlooker, who added, "She was sitting on his lap and whispering into his ear all night." While Amar'e and Ciara huddled in a banquette in the corner, they were surrounded by club security and other Knicks, including Landry Fields, Jared Jeffries, Roger Mason Jr. and Andy Rautins. Ciara met Stoudemire through LaLa Vazquez, who is one of her closest friends and married to teammate Carmelo Anthony.


I dunno guys, seems like you might be shacking up and trying to be sneaky about it. Who knows? But if they were together, that's nice. They'd be a really tall and ridiculously good looking couple. 


And as for Jermaine, he played 11 minutes and had 5 points, 1 assist and 1 rebound (but it was an offensive one!)... He's feelin' pretty good about his return and so am I: 

The blogs don't know which way is up: Ciara reportedly dating Amare and Lebron.

On Lebron:

My people and I were at a lounge, feeling good and drinking. Sitting next to us was someone who was there with a friend. We all started chit chatting and I bought them each a shot. One of them told me that they worked at Mastro's. Later on, we were talking about NBA players and their significant others. Somewhere along the line we started talking about Beyonce and Jay Z. We were kind of tipsy and all over the place. Anyways, when we were talking about Camel and Bey, the employee told me that Ciara and Lebron had been at Mastro's like 3 months ago, alone, and Lebron's people had called up beforehand requesting that they eat in the private dining room. The employee also said that the only people who knew they were there were the employees because Ciara and Lebron came and left separately.

On Amare:

Knicks star Amar’e Stoudemire has set his sights on Grammy-winning singer and model Ciara. New York’s hottest sports hero has been spotted dining out with the stunning songbird in recent weeks, and on Monday night, the pair shared dinner at STK with a group of 15, including fellow Knick Carmelo Anthony and his wife, LaLa Vazquez. But sources tell us Amar’e and Ciara have also been seen together alone at the restaurant and at other Meatpacking hot spots. One said, “Ciara is best friends with LaLa and has been attending Knicks games with her, including Monday’s game. Through Melo and LaLa, her friendship with Amar’e has developed. They have been seen out together on numerous occasions.”

One spy said Ciara and Amar’e had dinner at STK alone together two weeks ago, when Amar’e was overheard asking for a private table as they arrived. They’ve also been spotted at The Collective.

A rep for Stoudemire told us, “I know that they are friends,” but declined to comment further. But a source close to the team added, “Ciara is extremely close to LaLa and always sits with her in Carmelo’s seats at the games. Ciara has become friends with Amar’e because they are all spending time together.” Reps for Ciara didn’t get back to us.

Obviously it's all speculation and nobody really knows what's going on. It's my personal opinion that people should stop speculating about who she's dating and start paying more attention to her music. I love CiCi!

Doc Rivers: "It was a good win, a bloodbath. But I thought it was beautiful." Celtics beat Knicks 96-86.

I talked about it before and Bill Simmons talked about it with Steve Kerr in his BS report: did the Kendrick Perkins trade take the fight out of the Celtics? Have the Celtics lost their fight? Are they less physically intimidating post-trade? 

These questions have arisen because, frankly, the team has played like the wind had been taken out of its sails. That wasn't so last night, and it was such a relief to see. After getting their butts handed to them in Houston and playing the worst that they have in years, they traveled to New Orleans and squeezed out a win against a much inferior team. In the face of these less than impressive last two games, I was nervous about the match up with New York. The Knicks are a team dealing with identity issues of their own, but the prospect of facing Amare and Carmelo was daunting. The Celtics did nothing to quell these fears in the first half, scoring just 37 points while allowing the Knicks to put 51 up on the board. There were some signs of life in the third... But they really turned it up in the 4th. 

Paul Pierce had THE LOOK on his face, and it was so good to see it back. He was a man possessed: The Celtics were going to win that game, no matter what. He scored 13 points in the final frame. And his teammates were right there with him. They displayed hustle and passion that has been missing in recent history. KG out hustled Amare, sprinting and wrestling with him for loose balls. Ray Allen got clocked and blood gushed out of his head, but he returned to action and spread the floor just by being there. And Rondo.... People were saying Rondo was "back" after that game in New Orleans. He wasn't. He was back last night. Shots falling for him around the basket (13 points), and he broke double digits in assists, with 12. But it wasn't about the numbers- it was about his hustle. He stifled Chauncey Billups. He fought for loose balls- most notably tracking down a long offensive rebound in the fourth, out-running Amare and hitting it off of him out of bounds to regain Celtics possession. Oh and he inadvertently elbowed Carmelo in the face ('Melo later got 6 stitches)... But he did that because he was fighting for control over a wild inbounds pass, and wrestled the ball away from Mr. Anthony. Yes! Carmelo started off on a roll, and it looked like he was going to score at least 40. He ended up with just 22 points, and only scored 5 points in the second half. 

It was the kind of win that the Celtics needed. They played together, they didn't waver and they out toughed a team boasting one of the most physically imposing guys in the league (Amare). And mostly, they showed that they're still a team that possess the will to win. And they imposed it in New York last night. Sorry Spike!

The real reason why Carmelo went to the Knicks... According to one message board.

First of all, let me just say this: when I found out Carmelo had been officially traded to the Knicks last night, I breathed a serious sigh of relief. The Lebron drama went on all summer, and that was immediately followed by months and months of speculation about where Carmelo would end up. It seems we'll have a brief respite from all the drama... Just in time for the summer, when Chris Paul, Deron Williams and Dwight Howard will all be free agents. But enough is enough, people! All of the hype, all of the speculation, all of the bending over backwards catering to superstar basketball players with their super sized egos, all the shady dealings of gold diggers like World Wide Wes (google it if you don't know)... It all starting to make me feel so disheartened. I plan on not looking at Twitter or ESPN this summer, to shelter myself from the insanity. 

Anyways, one writer on a message board had this to say about Carmelo's move to the Big Apple: 

Melo is now in NY full time and he can spend more time with his babymama and side baby. 

The side baby is 10 months old and the reason LaLa and Melo got married in the first place. It was either they get married or La was leaving for good. 

Melo also has a side chick in Cali that he pays her bills and bought her a car. I wonder if the Cali side piece will remain in the picture.

sidenote: look forward to Amare and CiCi to creep even more than they already do since Melo is a Knick now. They actually might become public now with La being behind it all.

One sign that you read blogs too much: upon reading that Carmelo went to NY you immediately thought about how Ciara would be all up in MSG with Lala, and the rumors would start going about her and Amare again... Because that's exactly what went through my mind. **Shaking my head at myself.**

Sanity restored: Carmelo Anthony is now reportedly a member of the New York Knicks.

Finally! An end to the Melo-Drama! 

Carmelo is a huge pick up for the Knicks, but I was kind of with Amare on this one. The big man encouraged the Knicks to keep the team together and not blow it up just to land 'Melo... And I believe that trading away Felton, Chandler and Gallinari constitutes blowing up the team. Felton was having a great year for the Knicks, and even though Amare and Carmelo are both top notch players, I think it could be a little tough going forward without the point guard.

P.S. I'm so sad for Chauncey :( Why did he have to be involved?! All he wanted was to stay in Denver, and now he's been shipped off to New York.

Ciara already linked to another NBA baller. *Phew* So apparently there was no truth to the Lebron story!

Could there be truth to this one? She HAS been spotted courtside at several of his games, both on the road and at home...

Images C/O The YBF.

So who IS this esteemed baller?

Find out after the jump.

Mr. New York Knicks himself, Amare Stoudemire!

Apparently they've been dating for the past month or so. According to this rumor, Ciara got fed up with 50 Cent after he began hanging out with Chelsea Handler, and cut off contact with him. She apparently started hanging out with Amare when he was in LA for a game against the Lakers. Hmm. Only time will tell if there's any truth to this. I personally don't buy it that Chelsea Handler could drive such a wedge between Ciara and 50.... But hey, you never know. (source)

Amare Stoudemire NBA 2003 Rookie of the Year

Amar'e Stoudemire won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award in 2003, made three appearances in the NBA All-Star Game, made first-team All-NBA Team in 2007, and won Bronze Medal with the United States men's national basketball team at the 2004 Olympic Games.