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Phoenix Suns forward Channing Frye has been diagnosed with an enlarged heart and will be sidelined until at least December, the NBA club announced on Thursday (Friday, PHL time).

Doctors discovered the condition during a routine echocardiogram and will monitor Frye ahead of a re-evaluation in December before allowing him to take part in basketball-related activities.

"Nothing is more important to us than the health and well-being of our players," Suns president of basketball operations Lon Babby said.

"Channing and his family have the full support of our organization. His health is our primary concern and we are committed to helping him in any way he needs."

Frye, who has spent the past three seasons with the Suns, is a 29-year-old three-point ace. Since joining the Suns, he has connected on 434 3-pointers, third-most in the NBA during that span.

Frye, 29, averaged 10.5 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 64 games last season. He had previous stints with New York and Portland.


NBA: Phoenix Sun Frye out indefinitely with enlarged heart | Sports | GMA News Online | The Go-To Site for Filipinos Everywhere

When the 2012-13 NBA season kicks off, don't just be content to watch your favorite team play. There's a solid reason for watching each and every one of The Association's 30 teams whenever possible.

Sometimes it's worth watching as depth chart situations unfold. Sometimes you want to see how a certain dynamic affects the team.

In other situations, you may want to focus on a single player and what he brings to the table. Honing in on one star can be just as enjoyable as watching the team as a whole.

I don't think I need to convince you why you should watch the Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat or Oklahoma City Thunder (although I'm going to do it anyway). It might take a little bit of prodding to push forth the Charlotte Bobcats or Orlando Magic, though.

Here's why you should make sure to catch all 30 teams in the league. .............1 Reason You Must Watch All 30 NBA Teams During the 2012-13 Season | Bleacher Report

Since the SuperSonics left for Oklahoma City after the 2007-08, the city of Seattle has tried desperately to get a new NBA team. It's a basketball-mad city that's produced many players in today's NBA — Jason Terry, Brandon Roy, and Jamal Crawford, to name just three — and they loved the Sonics with real passion. However, it takes a long time to navigate the legal and political aspects of bringing in a new franchise, and much of the last four years have spent investigating various avenues.

On Monday, proponents of a new team saw a major victory when the Seattle City Council voted in favor of a proposed arena deal. The Associated Press reports: Seattle City Council votes in favor of new arena deal | Ball Don't Lie - Yahoo! Sports

When last season ended, Kevin Love didn't hide the fact that he expected big changes to occur this offseason to upgrade the talent around one of the NBA's rising stars.

Now that he's returned to Minnesota with a gold medal around his neck and seen the new faces that Timberwolves president David Kahn brought in this summer to add some much-needed experience to one of the youngest teams in the league, Love can't wait to get to work.

"I have faith in this team," Love said on Tuesday. "I have faith in what we've done this offseason."

The Wolves signed shooting guard Brandon Roy, forward Andrei Kirilenko, big men Greg Stiemsma and Lou Amundson and Russian guard Alexey Shved in addition to trading for hard-nosed Memphis forward Dante Cunningham. The massive makeover adds maturity, grit and, if Roy's knees hold up, some fourth-quarter playmaking to a team that desperately needed all of those things.

The Wolves also jettisoned Darko Milicic, Anthony Randolph and Michael Beasley in an effort to inject some more professionalism and commitment to a locker room that Love thought didn't take the games seriously enough.

Read more: Gold medalist Kevin Love has faith in new-look Wolves - NBA - SI-com

The LA Lakers front office has done all it can with the money they had this NBA off-season, but the team is still lacking a quality small forward. Metta World Peace is not the player he was five years ago and his shot selection leaves even players on the team scratching their heads.

Bleacher Report writer Richard Le's idea of moving All-Star shooting guard Kobe Bryant to small forward until Dwight Howard returns from injury is an excellent one. Peace would move to the bench and newly acquired Jodie Meeks would take over in the back-court.

The best news of this summer was the team added plenty of talented veterans that can move around and take on different roles and Bryant could help the team with a little flexibility on his part. Peace could move back into the starting lineup when the team needs to go big, but the athleticism and depth this team now has will give head coach Mike Brown several different options when the regular season begins.

NBA training camps get started in the next couple of weeks and this team needs to build some chemistry. Moving Kobe and company around to different positions will create a great team atmosphere and that could be just what the LA Lakers need to jumpstart the year until Howard is ready to take his spot in the middle of the paint.


NBA Rumors

The NBA is about to act in hopes of stopping the floppers.

Spokesman Tim Frank said Thursday the league is finalizing procedures to deal with flopping, the art of falling down when little or no contact was made in an effort to trick referees into calling a foul.

Frank said the competition committee met two weeks ago and discussed plans that would go in place this season. Commissioner David Stern believes too many players are deceiving referees by flopping and has been seeking a way to properly penalize them.

The procedures will likely involve a postgame review of the play by the league office, rather than an official calling an infraction during the game, Frank said. Players would likely be fined if the league determined they flopped.

The proposed plan mirrors a "postgame analysis" option Stern discussed after the competition committee met in June. The league already retroactively reviews flagrant fouls to determine if they need to be upgraded or downgraded.

"If you continue to do this, you may have to suffer some consequences," Stern said about flopping during the NBA Finals. "What those exactly should be and what the progression is, is to be decided, because ... we just want to put a stake in the ground that says this is not something that we want to be part of our game, without coming down with a sledgehammer but just doing it in a minimalist way to begin stamping it out. And I think there are ways we can do that and we'll have to wait and see exactly what we come up with."

The league's 62-person referee staff is holding its training camp, its first under the leadership of former NBA player and longtime league executive Mike Bantom. Bantom replaced Gen. Ron Johnson as executive vice president of referee operations earlier this month.

"I think one of the things that I'd just like to focus on is I think there's a perception out there that kind of throws into question sometimes the competence of our officials and even the integrity of them at times, and I think that that's not true to begin with and unfair, and I want to try and change that perception," said Bantom, who had been the league's senior vice president of player development since 1999.



NBA finalizing procedures to penalize flopping

The NBA is about to act in hopes of stopping the floppers.

Spokesman Tim Frank said the league is finalising procedures to deal with flopping, the art of falling down when little or no contact was made in an effort to trick referees into calling a foul.

Frank said the competition committee met two weeks ago and discussed plans that would go in place this season. Commissioner David Stern believes too many players are deceiving referees by flopping and has been seeking a way to properly penalise them.

The procedures will likely involve a postgame review of the play by the league office, rather than an official calling an infraction during the game, Frank said. Players would likely be fined if the league determined they flopped.

The proposed plan mirrors a "postgame analysis" option Stern discussed after the competition committee met in June. The league already retroactively reviews flagrant fouls to determine if they need to be upgraded or downgraded.

"If you continue to do this, you may you have to suffer some consequences," Stern said about flopping during the NBA Finals.

"What those exactly should be and what the progression is, is to be decided, because ... we just want to put a stake in the ground that says this is not something that we want to be part of our game, without coming down with a sledgehammer but just doing it in a minimalist way to begin stamping it out. And I think there are ways we can do that and we'll have to wait and see exactly what we come up with."

The league's 62-person referee staff is holding its training camp, its first under the leadership of former NBA player and longtime league executive Mike Bantom. Bantom replaced Gen. Ron Johnson as executive vice president of referee operations earlier this month.

"I think one of the things that I'd just like to focus on is I think there's a perception out there that kind of throws into question sometimes the competence of our officials and even the integrity of them at times, and I think that that's not true to begin with and unfair, and I want to try and change that perception," said Bantom, who had been the league's senior vice president of player development since 1999.



NBA finalising procedures around flopping | Stuff.co.nz

Rajon Rondo likes the feel of the new-look Boston Celtics. "We have a deep roster," the point guard said after the club's first full preseason workout Saturday.

"One to 15, any guy can go in there and make plays for us. I think it's going to be big for us as far as our depth off the bench -- guys won't be as tired when we get to the playoffs.

"It's good to have so many guys that are able to play the game."

Ray Allen is gone (to Miami) but the Celtics, who lost to Miami in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals last season, were busy during the offseason.

They brought in veterans Jason Terry, Courtney Lee, Jason Collins and Darko Milicic, while also adding rookies Jared Sullinger, Fab Melo and Kris Joseph in the draft.

Boston is also getting Jeff Green and Chris Wilcox back from injury. The Celtics are missing Avery Bradley after shoulder surgery, but he could return a couple of months into the season.

"I think with the team we have, with the added depth, with the youth mixed in with the experience, it will allow us to play better in back-to-back (game) situations," veteran forward Paul Pierce said. "We expect to play better in these situations this year."

Coach Doc Rivers put his team through its first full workout Saturday and liked what he saw from the first day.


Read More: NBA: Celtics bring new look into season | The Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME

LeBron James finally got the monkey, better known as his first NBA title, off his back.

Now that that accomplishment is in his rear-view mirror, it's time for LeBron to focus on something that is going to have much bigger impact on his legacy—his second NBA title.

Getting to hoist his first Larry O'Brien Championship trophy and securing his first NBA Finals MVP this past season solidified LeBron among the elite of the elite in the history of the NBA. But to be the best of the best, and to enter into the realm of legitimate Jordan comparisons, he absolutely has to repeat this season.

The Truly Elite in the NBA Win Back-to-Back Titles

Almost every player that is considered a truly elite player repeated as an NBA Champion.

Magic Johnson did it in 1987 and 1988. Hakeem Olajuwon did it in 1994 and 1995. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1987 and 1988.


Read More: Miami Heat: Why LeBron James Needs a Second NBA Title More Than His First | Bleacher Report

The N.B.A.’s best actors will now pay for their theatrics, at least when it comes to fooling game officials. The league announced Wednesday that it will institute an anti-flopping policy this season, enforced by fines and a dose of public shame.

“Flops have no place in our game,” Stu Jackson, the N.B.A.’s executive vice president for basketball operations, said in a statement. “They either fool referees into calling undeserved fouls or fool fans into thinking the referees missed a foul call.”

Flopping will not be called as an infraction during games, but will be determined afterward by video review. A player will be given a warning for his first offense and will receive a fine of $5,000 for a second violation, $10,000 for a third violation, $15,000 for a fourth violation and $30,000 for a fifth violation during the regular season.

Further violations will draw steeper fines and perhaps a suspension. The count will reset for the playoffs, just as it does for technical and flagrant fouls. The league will announce postseason flopping penalties at a later date.

Although many players welcomed the rule, the National Basketball Players Association announced plans Wednesday to file a grievance with the league office, claiming that it should have been consulted on what amounts to a disciplinary matter. The union will also file a complaint of unfair labor practices to the National Labor Relations Board.

“The N.B.A. is not permitted to unilaterally impose new economic discipline against the players without first bargaining with the union,” Billy Hunter, the union’s executive director, said in a statement. “We believe that any monetary penalty for an act of this type is inappropriate and without precedent in our sport or any other sport.”

Hunter labeled the rule a “vague and arbitrary overreaction and overreach by the commissioner’s office.”

The league defended the policy. “Although we haven’t seen any filing from the players association, our adoption of an anti-flopping rule is fully consistent with our rights and obligations under the collective bargaining agreement and the law,” N.B.A. spokesman Tim Frank said in an e-mail.

The policy represents the N.B.A.’s first attempt to curtail flopping, after years of complaints by fans, coaches and players. Commissioner David Stern has long pushed for a crackdown, but he had to convince the owners first.

“We’re hopeful that it has an impact on behavior on the floor,” Jackson said in a telephone interview. He added, “It’s a big enough problem that we felt strongly it needs to be addressed.”

Many players agreed.

“It’s going to clean up the game a little bit,” Nicolas Batum of the Portland Trail Blazers told The Oregonian. “Everybody flops sometimes, and if this cleans up the game, that’s great.”

The Knicks’ Amar’e Stoudemire called the crackdown “a great thing,” adding, “It takes out some of the acting on the court.” His teammate Tyson Chandler said, “There are a lot of guys in the league that are in trouble.”

The league will define flopping as “any physical act that appears to have been intended to cause the referees to call a foul on another player.” Officials will make their judgment based on whether a player’s “physical reaction to contact” is “inconsistent with what would reasonably be expected, given the force or direction of the contact.”

However, the league clarified that “legitimate basketball plays,” such as “moving to a spot in order to draw an offensive foul,” as well as minor reactions to contact, will not be punished as flops.

Although the fines are not particularly onerous, the shame of being publicly labeled a flopper might be an effective deterrent. Flopping is generally viewed by players as a cheap trick — or, more bluntly, a “chump move,” as Kobe Bryant said in an interview with Los Angeles reporters.

Embarrassment is not necessarily the goal, Jackson said, “but if it happens, and it helps keep flopping to a minimum, it’s great.”

The N.B.A. already employs game “loggers” who tag and catalog every play of every game. They will now add flops — or perceived flops — to the list of tagged plays, which will be reviewed daily by Jackson and his staff. Teams can also alert Jackson to suspected flops.

The league will not formally announce when a player has been judged guilty of flopping, Jackson said, but will instead post a daily update on the “media central” section of its Web site. No fines will be issued during the preseason, although players will be given warnings.

For serial floppers, the habit could get expensive quickly. Jackson said that a player can be fined for multiple flops in a single game. Thus, a three-flop night could cost $30,000 or more.

Some commentators and players would prefer to have referees call a flop when it happens, and for the punishment to be immediate. Jackson said that would be impractical and “not fair” to the referees, who would not have the benefit of replay and multiple camera angles. Using replay during a game might create too many delays.

“It’s too difficult for the referees to assess,” Jackson said. He added, “It’s unfair, given all the other levels of contact that they need to observe and violations that they need to observe during the game.”

Jackson’s staff will also have the benefit of using the league’s video database to compare similar plays from the past.

“They wouldn’t have that on the floor,” he said. “And the likelihood of making an error is higher than it would be here at the league office.”


www-nytimes-com/2012/10/04/sports/basketball/nba-institutes-policy-to-combat-flopping-html?_r=0

London to host NBA game in January

The Detroit Pistons and New York Knicks will play a regular-season game in London Jan. 17 at the O2 Arena, the site of this year’s Olympic gold-medal game . . . Maya Moore scored 20 points to lift Minnesota past Los Angeles, 94-77, in the opener of the Western Conference finals. . . Peyton Manning, wife Ashley, and former NBA player Penny Hardaway agreed to join the group of minority owners for the Memphis Grizzlies, said a person familiar with the deal. The Mannings and Hardaway join a group that includes singer/actor Justin Timberlake and a couple of Memphis businessmen, the person told the Associated Press on Thursday on condition of anonymity because prospective buyer Robert J. Pera’s purchase of the Grizzlies is pending approval by the NBA . . . Houston Rockets first-round draft pick Royce White has not reported to training camp and said he and the team are working on a plan to address his fear of flying.

The Boston Celtics lost the first game of the NBA's preseason Friday, 97-91 to Turkish team Fenerbahce Ulker. First-round draft pick Jared Sullinger and Jeff Green scored 16 points each, but the Celtics paid the price for a weak second quarter, getting outscored 29-18.

Rajon Rondo had 13 points and nine assists, while Jason Terry, one of a handful of new players on the roster, scored 12.

However, 25 turnovers showed there's work to be done before the Celtics' next exhibition game Sunday in Milan, against Emporio Armani.

The team returns to Boston on Monday and resumes practice on Oct. 11 before playing its first U.S. preseason game against the Knicks in Hartford, Conn., two days later.

Royce White couldn't wait any longer.

Last weekend, just before the Houston Rockets opened training camp, he called his agent and told him he had a problem. He needed to map out a plan for dealing with his general anxiety disorder and his fear of flying.

It needed to be done before his first NBA season began. Before the brutal cross-country travel schedule kicked in and before the disorder got any worse.

And if the Rockets, who drafted him 16th overall in late June, wouldn't work with him, then he would walk away from basketball — no matter how much money was on the table.

It was that simple.

"It was going to come down to, hey, are they going to do this?" White said. "Or I might have to think about never being able to play anymore. Ever."

The Rockets were receptive, though, and will allow White to travel by bus to selected games. White stayed in Houston to work out details of the arrangement while the team held its first week of training camp in McAllen, the home of its developmental league affiliate near the Texas-Mexico border.


Read More: A star NBA rookie faces his fear of flying | Sports | KATU-com - Portland News, Sports, Traffic Weather and Breaking News - Portland, Oregon

Josh Smith scored 21 points, Lou Williams added 18 and the Atlanta Hawks beat the Miami Heat, 92-79, in an exhibition game Sunday.

Chris Bosh finished with 22 points, and LeBron James had 10 for the defending NBA champion Heat, who played without Dwyane Wade as the star guard recovers from surgery on his left knee.

Ray Allen, making his Miami debut, had 10 points and five assists in 27 minutes.

Devin Harris (right knee) and Zaza Pachulia (groin) were held out by Atlanta.

Wade is expected to travel with the Heat for a seven-day trip to China that will include exhibition games against the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday and Sunday.

James had six rebounds and six assists in 24 minutes.

Read More: Hawks down Heat in Ray Allen's debut with NBA champions | Detroit Pistons | Detroit Free Press | freep-com

LeBron James is visiting China for the ninth time, which makes him one of the resident Miami Heat experts about the world's most populous nation.

Specifically, the food choices there.

''If anyone comes back with any body fat from this trip, then I don't know what they were doing on their free time,'' said James, the NBA's MVP.

So maybe it's fortunate that the coming week won't exactly include a ton of free time for the Heat, who arrived in Beijing on Monday night for a weeklong trip. The reigning league champions play the Los Angeles Clippers twice during the NBA China Games, starting in Beijing on Thursday and then again Sunday in Shanghai.

''Should be fun,'' James said. ''It's a very long trip to be bonding together, but we're going to use it and not waste an opportunity.''

The itinerary is hectic, with VIP receptions, a trip to the Great Wall of China and other excursions planned. The Heat are trying to ensure that players and personnel have time to experience some elements of Chinese culture on their own.

''You only have these type of opportunities so often,'' Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. ''You want to take advantage of it. This is the preseason. We understand the big picture. It's a great program that the NBA runs when you have an opportunity to play overseas. Our last trip was tremendous when we went to Europe. Great team-building, and you get to see another part of the world and do it together.''


Read More: Heat arrive in China for preseason games - Yahoo! Sports

US basketball star Tracy McGrady has confirmed he will play in China, becoming the latest foreign player to seek a career boost in the Asian nation near the sunset of his career. "There are times in life that a new road presents itself and it appears this time has come for me now," McGrady said on his official website.

"As I enter this next chapter, I am excited to play for Qingdao Eagles in China," he said in an entry posted on Tuesday.

The Qingdao DoubleStar Eagles said this week the team was awaiting the signature of the seven-time National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star on a contract, and expected to make an announcement soon.

Team officials in China's eastern city of Qingdao could not be immediately reached for comment on Wednesday.

Qingdao finished eighth last season in the 17-team Chinese Basketball Association. The season is due to start in November.

McGrady is familiar to Chinese fans through his years playing alongside the now-retired Yao Ming -- one of China's most popular athletes -- with the Houston Rockets.

"I have been to China several times in the last few years and I love the people and the country. It will be an honour to play for them," he said in the post.

McGrady, 33, said he was proud of his accomplishments in his 15-year NBA career alongside the "best players in the world". He played for several teams after entering the league at 18, including six seasons with the Rockets.

"I have experienced the best moments a player can experience and have had some dark ones too," he said.

The 2.03-metre (6-foot, 8-inch) forward signed with the Atlanta Hawks as a free agent last year but apparently failed to reach a deal with a NBA team for the upcoming season.

McGrady is the latest of several NBA players who have sought to revive their flagging careers in China.

Former NBA superstar Stephon Marbury led the Beijing Ducks to their first-ever Chinese championship last season.

Marbury, a two-time NBA All-Star, has reinvented himself since arriving in China in 2009 following a tumultuous 13-year NBA career that saw talent on the court but often boorish behaviour off it.

NBA star McGrady says he will play in China | Bangkok Post: news

The NBA made the transformation of the Dakota Wizards into Santa Cruz Warriors official Wednesday.

Most of the legwork to move the development league basketball team affiliated with the Golden State Warriors to Santa Cruz from its former home in Bismarck, N.D., had already been done. The team had gotten approval and started the building of a temporary arena at 140 Front Street near Beach Hill, had opened a store front and offices on Pacific Avenue and had held the first of two local tryouts Sunday in Oakland.

The second local tryout, open to anyone willing to pay the $100 fee, is scheduled for this Sunday at Aptos High.

"We're excited to bring the NBA D-League brand of basketball to Santa Cruz and Northern California," said NBA D-League President Dan Reed in a statement. "The relocation of the team from Bismarck to Santa Cruz further demonstrates the Golden State Warriors' commitment to developing top young NBA prospects in the NBA D-League. We thank the fans in Bismarck for their support of the team over the last six NBA D-League seasons."

In a meeting with Sentinel reporters last week, general manager Kirk Lacob, who is also an assistant general manager for the Golden State Warriors, said the approval is little more than a formality. However, now that the NBA has given the deal its blessing, the Santa Cruz Warriors -- who have sold 678 season tickets -- can start marketing in full and can make live the team's website,



NBA approves Santa Cruz Warriors' move - Santa Cruz Sentinel

It's an NBA baller battle as former LA Lakers point guard Smush Parker has called out Kobe Bryant for talking trash and acting like a diva according to TMZ reports on Thursday, October 11.

Parker is ticked that and he feels he is being disrespected by Kobe Bryant, who dissed him recently stating that Smush Parker costs him an NBA MVP title 7 years ago during the 2005-06 NBA season.

Smush claims that Kobe is running his mouth about him just like he does about all of his teammates because Parker once stated that Kobe Bryant was "overrated" as a teammate.

Just to clarify that deeming a NBA basketball player as "overrated" is fighting words in the baller world, just ask Miami Heat star LeBron James, who has battled the "overrated" curse since the beginning of his NBA career.

Read More: Kobe Bryant called out by Smush Parker after NBA diss - Cincinnati Pop Culture | Examiner-com

Defending National Basketball Association champions Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Clippers, a rising force in the Western Conference, arrived in Shanghai yesterday to prepare for their second NBA China matchup - part of their preseason schedule - tomorrow.

Today both the teams will turn up at the Oriental Sports Center in the Pudong New Area for the NBA's first Fan Appreciation Day in the city.

The event, starting at 11:30am, will feature a variety of basketball and entertainment elements, including open team practices, which for the first time will allow fans a close-up look as the Heat and the Clippers prepare for the China game, ahead of the 2012-13 NBA season.

Fans will be able to witness the training of both teams and have a close look at the big stars like the Heat's LeBron James and Dwayne Wade and Blake Griffin of the Clippers.

Basketball legends, cheer-leader teams, mascots and dunkers will also participate in the event to provide NBA-style entertainment.

"This is not a normal preseason atmosphere. The crowd definitely motivated our guys. They wanted to play well in front of the fans, and that's why we like this trip," Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said after the first game in Beijing on Thursday night, which the Heat won 94-80. "It's different than the normal preseason. We're looking forward to going to the next city, as well, Shanghai."

Spoelstra emphasized that the training during the China tour is serious and the trip would help the team bond well.

"The No. 1 priority for our week out here is basketball and work," Spoelstra added. "At the same time this is a great team bonding experience for us. We want to experience this country culturally. We want our guys experiencing a different culture, so we definitely have some activities planned when we get to Shanghai. Yes, we will be working, but we don't want to sit around in our hotel room ordering American room service. We want to try some Chinese culture."

Miami star James, the NBA's most valuable player last season, also has high expectations of the Shanghai game.


Read More: Clippers Stars Arrive for 2nd NBA Clash

Waltham, Mass. • Jared Sullinger is "Sully." Dionte Christmas is "Temple," because that’s where he went to college.

And Kevin Garnett calls Fab Melo "Melo" because "I don’t like really calling a man ‘Fab.’ "

The Boston Celtics rookies are getting nicknames, compliments of the man himself known as "KG" and "The Big Ticket." Garnett went out of his way Friday to make it clear that he’s doing it to be affectionate and not because, like many veterans throughout basketball, he can’t be troubled to learn their real names.

"My personal connection is a nickname. I’m not disrespecting people by not knowing their names," Garnett said. "Some people don’t even talk to rookies."

The Celtics are still loaded with aging veterans, relying heavily on Garnett and Paul Pierce along with new additions Jason Terry and Jason Collins. But the leadership in the process of passing to point guard Rajon Rondo, and this year’s crop of rookies could be the most productive since 2004.

Sullinger and Melo were first-round draft picks, with Kris Joseph coming in the second. (Garnett calls Joseph "Shawn," Christmas said, "because he reminds him of someone named Shawn.")

"Most of the time, it’s just ‘Young’un,’ " Sullinger said. "Knowing that he’s an NBA dinosaur, you’ve got to understand that being a ‘young’un’ is a good thing."

Christmas was a 2009 draft choice of the 76ers who played in Europe the past three seasons and would be happy to be called anything by Garnett once the final roster cuts are made. "For him to recognize me, for him to put an interest in me as a teammate, it’s definitely humbling," Christmas said.

Sullinger is enjoying his time with his new mentor, and is trying to soak it all up.


NBA: Kevin Garnett welcomes rookies to Celtics with nicknames | The Salt Lake Tribune