Stars Turn Into Ballers for NBAE

In its ninth season, the NBAE League, that's NBA Entertainment League, got underway last weekend in Santa Monica. The NBAE is the NBA's invitation-only, closed-to-the-public basketball league for celebrities and entertainment-industry executives.

It was formed in 1997 in an attempt to build and nurture industry relationships. The league has featured many A-list celebs like Don Cheadle, Jamie Foxx and Snoop Dogg to B-list celebs like Joe Torry, Flex Alexander and Bill Bellamy playing some serious basketball in the 14-team league.

Every Sunday the teams battle it out at a secret location to have fun, stay in shape and talk trash. All 14 teams suit up in NBA replica jerseys and play 20 minute halves. The season is a 13-game season that lasts until March, when the playoffs and championship takes place.

Granted, most of the celebrities have schedules that prevent them from participating in every game, so the team rosters do shift now and then. But one celeb who may take it more seriously than others is Snoop Dogg, who once was offered a scholarship to play college ball but couldn't accept because of injury. Word is that the Doggfather actually creates his schedule around the Sunday game. Other actors have been known to ask for Sundays off to play. A lot of the other celebs don't have Snoop's basketball skills, so don't expect dunks, killer crossovers, and no-look passes from the likes of Donald Faison, Anthony Anderson and Ice Cube. But some guys to put all their energy into it, and so you can expect some team ball even if it is Jaleel White (Steve Urkel) and Nick Cannon handling the rock.

To keep up with the very secretive league, visit the official Web site

Tony Parker Shoots Video for Upcoming Single

Eva Longoria let the cat out of the bag awhile back that boyfriend Tony Parker was an aspiring hip-hop star. Then he let it all out after the Spurs won the NBA Championship last year and started spitting some French rhymes to a happy Spurs crowd.

Now Parker is going to the next level as he filmed a video for "Top of the Game," a song he recorded with Fabolous. Apparently the Spurs guard blocked off a couple of streets in downtown San Antonio and brought in Tim Duncan, Robert Horry, Nazr Mohammed and Brent Barry to help him in front of the camera.

Parker was born in Belgium and raised in France with French as his first language. Most of the upcoming album will be in French and will also feature French emcee Booba. You can see a clip of the video under production here.

Shaq Gets Down With Payless Shoes?

LeBron James has Nike, Allen Iverson has Reebok, Tracy McGrady is down with Adidas, Dwyane Wade re-upped with Converse and Shaq signs with… Payless ShoeSource? Shaq maybe on the sidelined for the next few weeks but he'll be sporting his new Dunkman Game Show the entire time.

The Big Fella recently signed an exclusive deal with Payless to distribute his shoe at Payless stores starting Dec. 1. Not only is the actual deal with Payless a shocker, but the price tag for the shoes may leave basketball fans in awe. While you can hardly find a pair of NBA superstar shoes for under $100, Shaq's shoes will run $24.99 for youth and $39.99 for adults.

"When I was a kid, I got a lot of my shoes at Payless," O'Neal said in a statement. "Now having kids of my own, I wanted to create a performance shoe that parents everywhere felt good about providing for their kids or themselves."

Shaq will be wearing the Game Shoe in all his games this season, let's hope that the shoe wasn't the reason for his hurt ankle last week. That's not good publicity.

Rick Fox Taking on Hollywood

Former Laker star and world-famous hair model, Rick Fox has been out of basketball for a while and apparently is getting bored with retirement. The L.A. pretty boy is getting his acting skills in order and has secured a three episode gig on UPN's "Love Inc."

He plays the character David Marley who goes out with Clea Lavoy played by Holly Robinson Peete, who is married for former NFL quarterback Rodney Peete. The date doesn't go to well, but Fox does get to sneak a kiss in.

"Usually I get approval on who Holly is going to be kissing.... I didn't get approval this time," Peete joked with the L.A. Times. Rick may be a little too good-looking for Holly to be kissing on TV."

"I haven't checked with Rodney," Fox told the Times, "but having been married to an actress [Vanessa Williams], you just chalk it up as something that comes with the job."

Black Eyed Peas, Denver Nuggets Raise Hurricane Relief Funds

Denver Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe and his wife Peggy booked the Black Eyed Peas for a Gulf Coast fundraiser at their house last week while the hip-hop group was in town on the Gwen Stefani national tour. Nuggets players Carmelo Anthony, Marcus Camby and Earl Boykins all showed up at the $500–a-head party, along with actress Regina King.

The party lasted until 3:30AM (yes, the Peas stayed the entire time), but no word on how much money the party raised.

Venus Williams Gets Comeback Award

Last week Venus Williams was on hand at the Glamour magazine Women of the Year Awards at the Lincoln Center in New York. She was named Comeback Woman of the Year for winning Wimbledon earlier this year.

Even with the star power from Venus, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Goldie Hawn, Brooke Shields and others, nothing distracted from the shining star of the night, Mukhtaran Mai. Mai, a Pakistani who was gang-raped by Pakistani men seeking revenge on her family, was awarded Woman of the Year for her courage, fighting for a woman's education in Pakistan as well as helping her community after the devastating earthquake in Pakistan.

About the Author:

Quibian Salazar-Moreno is a freelance writer living in Denver and a regular contributor to AOL Black Voices. You can e-mail him or visit his Web site to talk sports, entertainment and everything in between.