Larry Brown Sports

The Chicago Bulls will need energizing performances from their bench throughout the playoffs if they plan to make a deep run. In particular, guys like Taj Gibson need to step up with Joakim Noah battling through a painful case of plantar fasciitis in his foot. Gibson made a big contribution on Thursday night.

He may have only scored four points in Chicago’s 79-76 Game 3 win over the Brookltn Nets, but two of them were game-changers. During what turned out to be a 9-1 run that led to a 12-point lead for the Bulls in the second quarter, Gibson dunked all over Kris Humphries. The United Center went insane.

The Bulls took a 2-1 series lead over the Nets with the win, which is exactly where they want to be after three games. They did their job in splitting the first two games in Brooklyn, and now Chicago will look to take a commanding 3-1 lead on Saturday. If role players like Gibson and Nate Robinson step up, there’s no reason they shouldn’t be able to take the series.

You know what the best part about this news is? We hopefully are done following this absurd story.

Kris Humphries and Kim Kardashian officially finalized their divorce on Friday, a year and a half after Kim initiated the proceedings.

The couple was married on Aug. 20, 2011. Kim filed for divorce 72 days later on Oct. 31, 2011, and they have been arguing over the divorce ever since. Humphries was refusing to grant a divorce and instead wanted the marriage annulled under the grounds that the whole thing was a fraud.

As TMZ first reported, a settlement was reached to finalize the issue. Kardashian got the divorce she was seeking, Humphries does not get the money he demanded, and both parties are responsible for paying their attorneys fees.

The process took 536 days, but Kardashian got what she wanted. At least Humphries has the NBA playoffs to look forward to — Brooklyn hosts Chicago on Saturday.

When Lamar Odom and Kris Humphries were paired against each other for a jump ball during the fourth quarter of the Clippers-Nets game Saturday, the fact that the two were former brother-in-laws via the Kardashian family was not lost on the Los Angeles crowd.

Initially, Humphries was going to jump against Blake Griffin, but after Humphries kept pointing that Odom was supposed to jump, the officials made the change. The crowd began to loudly cheer, knowing that they were about to see two Kardashian clan members go heads-up against each other on the court.

The Clippers ended up winning the game 101-95 thanks to Chris Paul’s amazing play in the fourth quarter, but the real victors were the savvy crowd members who recognized they were witnessing a great moment in basketball history.

Chest bump to Beyond the Buzzer

Kris Humphries’ California lawyer reportedly dropped him as a client, allegedly because he disagrees with the NBA player’s pursuit of annulment concerning his marriage with Kim Kardashian.

TMZ reported Thursday that Humphries’ lawyer, Marshall Waller, says there has been an “irremediable breakdown of the attorney-client relationship.”

TMZ says Waller believes there are no grounds for Humphries to pursue an annulment in his marriage to Kardashian because there is no evidence of fraud. He reportedly withdrew from representing Humphries after Kris’ other lawyer stuck with the fraud claim. Humphries will need a new legal sponsor in California.

Humphries and Kardashian were married on Aug. 20, 2011. She filed for divorce 72 days later on Oct. 31, 2011. Humphries filed a response on Dec. 1, 2011 in which he requested an annulment rather than divorce.

Stories like this only support Kardashian’s belief that Humphries is dragging out the divorce on purpose to mess with her, which, admittedly, seems like it could be pretty fun.

Kris Humphries tried boasting following his team’s win over the Knicks on Monday, but JR Smith put him in place.

Humphries, who had 11 points and 13 rebounds in the Brooklyn Nets’ 88-85 win at Madison Square Garden, bragged on Twitter about his team quieting the home crowd.

“Big game tonight! The Garden got really quiet on the way out!” he wrote.

Knicks guard JR Smith didn’t like what he read, so he hit Humphries back with a Kanye West taunt.

Wasnt quiet when Kanye tore it down last month! RT @krishumphries: Big game tonight!The Garden got really quiet on the way out!#Brooklyn

— JR Smith (@TheRealJRSmith) January 22, 2013

Kanye of course is the new boyfriend of Humphries’ ex, Kim Kardashian. Kris and Kim are still technically married, though they have been separated since Kardashian filed for divorce in Oct. 2011, 72 days after they were married.

Kanye performed at the Hurricane Sandy benefit concert at MSG last month, leading to the well-timed tweet from Smith.

Smith has gotten himself into trouble over Twitter in the past, but he’ll only get laughs from this one. Well played JR, well played.

Photo credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

Kanye West has reportedly been shopping for engagement rings for the mother of his child, but one fairly significant problem stands in his way — she’s still married. Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries may be separated, but the couple has yet to complete the process of a legal divorce. According to a number of gossip magazines and websites, Kardashian wants out but Humphries is intentionally making her life difficult.

A recent issue of US Weekly (via the NY Post) reports that Humphries has been active in dragging out his divorce from Kardashian just to create a headache for her and Kanye. Kardashian’s attorney Laura Wasser has described her client as “handcuffed to Mr. Humphries.”

The US Weekly report matches up with another recent report about the Kim and Kris situation which claimed Kardashian feels he is ruining her life. It is believed that Humphries has presented Kardashian with a couple of lofty demands if she wants out of the marriage, one of which would be Kim K. telling the world that the marriage was a fraud. Most of us who have some sort of common sense feel that it was, but it’s hard to believe that Humphries was completely innocent when we hear stories like this.

In addition to Kardashian’s admission that the marriage was a fraud, Humphries is also reportedly seeking $7 million from her. A source close to Kardashian reportedly said she cannot come out and say the marriage was fake because she already told the court that wasn’t the case. If she admitted that it was true now, that would constitute perjury.

Do you feel bad for anyone in this situation? Just the baby? Same here.

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West may be in a serious relationship and expecting a child together, but Kardashian is still married to Kris Humphries. While it’s easy to forget that the whole Kim and Kris thing even happened because the couple was happily married for only 72 days, they are still married in the legal sense — just not happy.

According to RadarOnline.com, Kardashian has grown furious with Humphries for delaying their divorce and not allowing her to move on with her life.

“Kim is seeing red because she is still legally married to Kris Humphries,” RadarOnline.com’s source reportedly said. “Kim is overjoyed at the news that she is pregnant with Kanye’s baby, but she isn’t able to fully embrace it because of Kris. Kim feels that Kris is hell bent on dragging her name through the mud by prolonging the divorce proceedings.

“Kim knows that she most likely will still be married to Kris when she gives birth to Kanye’s baby, and that absolutely sickens her. Kim has been pressuring her attorney, Laura Wasser, to get Humphries to sign off on the divorce, to no avail. Kris is holding the position that if Kim grants him an annulment on the grounds that the marriage was a sham, this whole thing ends. However, Kim won’t give in to his demands because it would damage her brand.”

The only person I feel sorry for in this situation is the baby, who has to be born into this world of scripted proposals and fake marriages. We know enough by now to know that life is pretty much just a game for someone like Kim Kardashian.

H/T SI Hot Clicks