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The NBA's Eastern Conference stinks.
Not you, Indiana Pacers or Miami Heat. You're OK.
But the rest of the conference? Malodorous. This season is the first since 1972 in which the East had only two teams with winning records on Dec. 1.
The East was 23-57 against the Western Conference before Monday's games, including the New Orleans Pelicans' 103-99 victory against the New York Knicks — the 3-13 Knicks, by the way — at Madison Square Garden.
"The Eastern Conference this year, it won't end up as bad, because they'll play each other more. But man, some of those games right now, it's embarrassing," ESPN analyst and former NBA coach Jeff Van Gundy said. This is not the first time the West's superiority has put the East's inferiority to shame. It's not unusual for the eighth seed in the West to reach 45-plus wins for a playoff spot and the eighth seed in the East just a sub-.500 38 wins to make the playoffs.
But this season's stark difference is more pronounced.
Injuries have ruined the first month of the season — and perhaps maybe even longer — for the Chicago Bulls (Derrick Rose), Brooklyn Nets (Deron Williams and now Paul Pierce) and Knicks (Tyson Chandler), leading to this early-season fiasco in the East.
"The biggest problem is the Knicks, Nets and Bulls," TNT analyst and former Phoenix Suns general manager Steve Kerr said. "Those were teams who were supposed to be pretty good. In fact, I thought Miami was going to be challenged in every round of the playoffs coming in because of the Nets, Knicks, Pacers and Bulls. Now, all of a sudden, Derrick Rose is injured. The Knicks are a complete mess. Brooklyn's injured. It's like, 'Let's just get to the conference finals already with Indiana and Miami.' " Twelve Eastern Conference teams started Monday with losing records, and the Toronto Raptors, with a record of 6-10, were in first place in the Atlantic Division.
Thirteen of the West's 15 teams have records good enough for one of the top eight spots in the East. Only the Sacramento Kings and Utah Jazz don't have records good enough to crack the top eight in the East.
The Minnesota Timberwolves are 9-10 — and 13th in the West.
Despite the clamor to alter the NBA playoffs and seeding, the topic is not high now on the competition committee's agenda, a person familiar with the committee's discussions told USA TODAY Sports.
In fact, the way the records in the league are stacking up could be an intended consequence of the 2011 collective bargaining agreement. The NBA sought more competitive balance, and in the West six games separate first place from 13th and in the East five games separate third place from 15th.
When Carmelo Anthony, Williams, Carlos Boozer, Chandler, Nene and Andrew Bynum migrated to Eastern Conference teams, it appeared the balance of power had shifted. But it didn't.
The Western Conference, which has won 10 of the last 15 NBA championships, has cultivated its talent, might have made better front office decisions and benefited from some players — such as Dwight Howard — moving to the West from the East.
"The West has been the much stronger conference for more than a decade," Kerr said. "The change came when Shaq (O'Neal) left Orlando and went to the Lakers. It's not just Shaq moving. That just seemed to be the tipping point. Phil Jackson goes to L.A., the Lakers become dominant, the Spurs really came into their own, and all of a sudden you had two dominant franchises in the West, but everyone else in the West was competing and drafting well."
In the last seven 82-game seasons, it has required an average of 46.4 victories in the West to make the playoffs as an eight seed. It took 50 wins to make the playoffs in 2007-08 and 2009-10. In the East, an average of 38.9 victories has been good enough for the playoffs and sub-.500 teams making it seems to be the norm.
"When I was in Phoenix, my second year in 2009, we won 46 games and missed the playoffs," Kerr said. "That would have been good for a five seed in the East that year. That's just the way it's been."
Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut made the playoffs with the 40-win Milwaukee Bucks in 2005-06. In 2007-08 the Warriors won 48 games and didn't make the playoffs.
"I've been on both sides of it," he said. "I've been in Milwaukee when 37, 38 wins gets you in the playoffs. And this looks like another season in the West when it's going to take you 48 or 50 (wins). The league is even as far as a whole, but when it comes to East-West, for some reason it's — I don't know what it is — it just isn't matched up."
Bogut and others have suggested at least eliminating the rule that gives a division winner an automatic playoff spot and a top-four seed.
"It makes sense to look really long at eliminating divisions. You have to keep the conferences," Kerr said. "But there really isn't any advantage to having divisions. I don't think teams take that much pride in hanging a division banner. Usually, it takes a circumstance where they say, 'Now is the time.' If this year's Atlantic Division debacle, if it continues, maybe this is the tipping point to just go to two conferences without divisions."
There are more radical ideas. Eliminate seeding by conference and take the top 16 teams regardless of conference for the playoffs. That comes with increased travel problems and costs: Golden State vs. Miami in the first round, while exciting, is a difficult proposition in a seven-game series.
Van Gundy proposed eliminating sub-.500 teams from the playoffs. Instead of the Heat playing the 38-44 Bucks, which was the case last season, Miami would receive a bye to the second round. Or, he said, bring a team with a winning record but didn't make the top eight in its conference into the opposite conference for the playoffs.
"To reward teams who are below average makes no sense," Van Gundy said. "There should be a standard that you don't get in the playoffs unless you're .500 or better. .
Not you, Indiana Pacers or Miami Heat. You're OK.
But the rest of the conference? Malodorous. This season is the first since 1972 in which the East had only two teams with winning records on Dec. 1.
The East was 23-57 against the Western Conference before Monday's games, including the New Orleans Pelicans' 103-99 victory against the New York Knicks — the 3-13 Knicks, by the way — at Madison Square Garden.
"The Eastern Conference this year, it won't end up as bad, because they'll play each other more. But man, some of those games right now, it's embarrassing," ESPN analyst and former NBA coach Jeff Van Gundy said. This is not the first time the West's superiority has put the East's inferiority to shame. It's not unusual for the eighth seed in the West to reach 45-plus wins for a playoff spot and the eighth seed in the East just a sub-.500 38 wins to make the playoffs.
But this season's stark difference is more pronounced.
Injuries have ruined the first month of the season — and perhaps maybe even longer — for the Chicago Bulls (Derrick Rose), Brooklyn Nets (Deron Williams and now Paul Pierce) and Knicks (Tyson Chandler), leading to this early-season fiasco in the East.
"The biggest problem is the Knicks, Nets and Bulls," TNT analyst and former Phoenix Suns general manager Steve Kerr said. "Those were teams who were supposed to be pretty good. In fact, I thought Miami was going to be challenged in every round of the playoffs coming in because of the Nets, Knicks, Pacers and Bulls. Now, all of a sudden, Derrick Rose is injured. The Knicks are a complete mess. Brooklyn's injured. It's like, 'Let's just get to the conference finals already with Indiana and Miami.' " Twelve Eastern Conference teams started Monday with losing records, and the Toronto Raptors, with a record of 6-10, were in first place in the Atlantic Division.
Thirteen of the West's 15 teams have records good enough for one of the top eight spots in the East. Only the Sacramento Kings and Utah Jazz don't have records good enough to crack the top eight in the East.
The Minnesota Timberwolves are 9-10 — and 13th in the West.
Despite the clamor to alter the NBA playoffs and seeding, the topic is not high now on the competition committee's agenda, a person familiar with the committee's discussions told USA TODAY Sports.
In fact, the way the records in the league are stacking up could be an intended consequence of the 2011 collective bargaining agreement. The NBA sought more competitive balance, and in the West six games separate first place from 13th and in the East five games separate third place from 15th.
When Carmelo Anthony, Williams, Carlos Boozer, Chandler, Nene and Andrew Bynum migrated to Eastern Conference teams, it appeared the balance of power had shifted. But it didn't.
The Western Conference, which has won 10 of the last 15 NBA championships, has cultivated its talent, might have made better front office decisions and benefited from some players — such as Dwight Howard — moving to the West from the East.
"The West has been the much stronger conference for more than a decade," Kerr said. "The change came when Shaq (O'Neal) left Orlando and went to the Lakers. It's not just Shaq moving. That just seemed to be the tipping point. Phil Jackson goes to L.A., the Lakers become dominant, the Spurs really came into their own, and all of a sudden you had two dominant franchises in the West, but everyone else in the West was competing and drafting well."
In the last seven 82-game seasons, it has required an average of 46.4 victories in the West to make the playoffs as an eight seed. It took 50 wins to make the playoffs in 2007-08 and 2009-10. In the East, an average of 38.9 victories has been good enough for the playoffs and sub-.500 teams making it seems to be the norm.
"When I was in Phoenix, my second year in 2009, we won 46 games and missed the playoffs," Kerr said. "That would have been good for a five seed in the East that year. That's just the way it's been."
Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut made the playoffs with the 40-win Milwaukee Bucks in 2005-06. In 2007-08 the Warriors won 48 games and didn't make the playoffs.
"I've been on both sides of it," he said. "I've been in Milwaukee when 37, 38 wins gets you in the playoffs. And this looks like another season in the West when it's going to take you 48 or 50 (wins). The league is even as far as a whole, but when it comes to East-West, for some reason it's — I don't know what it is — it just isn't matched up."
Bogut and others have suggested at least eliminating the rule that gives a division winner an automatic playoff spot and a top-four seed.
"It makes sense to look really long at eliminating divisions. You have to keep the conferences," Kerr said. "But there really isn't any advantage to having divisions. I don't think teams take that much pride in hanging a division banner. Usually, it takes a circumstance where they say, 'Now is the time.' If this year's Atlantic Division debacle, if it continues, maybe this is the tipping point to just go to two conferences without divisions."
There are more radical ideas. Eliminate seeding by conference and take the top 16 teams regardless of conference for the playoffs. That comes with increased travel problems and costs: Golden State vs. Miami in the first round, while exciting, is a difficult proposition in a seven-game series.
Van Gundy proposed eliminating sub-.500 teams from the playoffs. Instead of the Heat playing the 38-44 Bucks, which was the case last season, Miami would receive a bye to the second round. Or, he said, bring a team with a winning record but didn't make the top eight in its conference into the opposite conference for the playoffs.
"To reward teams who are below average makes no sense," Van Gundy said. "There should be a standard that you don't get in the playoffs unless you're .500 or better. .
Join:
2006/12/07
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29893
On Tuesday, Michael Carter-Williams and Victor Oladipo made history. No two NBA rookies had ever recorded triple-doubles in the same game until the Carter-Williams’ Philadelphia 76ers beat Oladipo’s Orlando Magic 126-125 in double overtime.
Carter-Williams, who was named Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month on Tuesday, had 27 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists. Oladipo scored 26 points and had 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
Carter-Williams has been turning heads since his NBA debut, when the Sixers stunned the Miami Heat with a win. Oladipo has been solid all season for the Magic. The two are the frontrunners to win Rookie of the Year.
Only eight times in NBA history have two players recorded triple-doubles in the same game. Jason Kidd and Clyde Drexler have done it against each other twice, once in 1995 and 1997. Chris Webber and Gary Payton did it against each other in 2000. Kidd also did it against Jay Williams in 2002 and Tracy McGrady in 2003. Caron Butler and Baron Davis did it against each other in 2007.
Only two sets of teammates have ever had triple-doubles in the same game: Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen for the Chicago Bulls in 1989 and Kidd and Vince Carter for the New Jersey Nets in 2007.
No rookie has ever been involved in one of those games, let alone both players being rookies.
That’s how historic this performance by Oladipo and Carter-Williams was.
Two NBA rookies make history as Sixers beat Magic | For The Win
Carter-Williams, who was named Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month on Tuesday, had 27 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists. Oladipo scored 26 points and had 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
Carter-Williams has been turning heads since his NBA debut, when the Sixers stunned the Miami Heat with a win. Oladipo has been solid all season for the Magic. The two are the frontrunners to win Rookie of the Year.
Only eight times in NBA history have two players recorded triple-doubles in the same game. Jason Kidd and Clyde Drexler have done it against each other twice, once in 1995 and 1997. Chris Webber and Gary Payton did it against each other in 2000. Kidd also did it against Jay Williams in 2002 and Tracy McGrady in 2003. Caron Butler and Baron Davis did it against each other in 2007.
Only two sets of teammates have ever had triple-doubles in the same game: Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen for the Chicago Bulls in 1989 and Kidd and Vince Carter for the New Jersey Nets in 2007.
No rookie has ever been involved in one of those games, let alone both players being rookies.
That’s how historic this performance by Oladipo and Carter-Williams was.
Two NBA rookies make history as Sixers beat Magic | For The Win
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2006/12/07
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The NBA game in Mexico City between the San Antonio Spurs and the Minnesota Timberwolves was postponed Wednesday night after smoke filled the arena.
The game will be rescheduled on a date to be determined and played in Minneapolis, the NBA said in a written statement.
The league said a generator malfunction caused smoke inside Mexico City Arena.
This was to have been the second time an NBA regular season game was played in Mexico.
NBA game in Mexico City postponed after smoke fills arena - CNN-com
The game will be rescheduled on a date to be determined and played in Minneapolis, the NBA said in a written statement.
The league said a generator malfunction caused smoke inside Mexico City Arena.
This was to have been the second time an NBA regular season game was played in Mexico.
NBA game in Mexico City postponed after smoke fills arena - CNN-com
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In a bid to create a "more civilized online environment," 2K Sports has announced that if the Kinect or PlayStation Camera catches you using profanity while playing NBA 2K14, you'll be given a technical foul.
A 2K Sports representative confirmed the news to Polygon, after YouTube user "randomfrankp" posted a video (featuring language that is probably NSFW) showing how his use of profanity was penalized with an in-game technical foul.
In real-world collegiate and professional basketball, referees can call a technical foul on a player, coach, or any other member of a team for unsportsmanlike conduct, including the use of profanity on the court. Accruing two technical fouls yields an ejection from a game.
NBA 2K13 played on the Xbox 360 with a Kinect unit attached also penalized players for using profanity. 2K Sports has now expanded this feature to the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions, so long as the Kinect and PlayStation Camera devices are switched on.
The 2K Sports representative did not provide a list of words that would lead to a technical foul, but said, "The obvious ones are there." The representative said this feature brings both realism to the game and a "more civilized environment for our players."
Players are, of course, free to disable NBA 2K14's voice controls in the game's options menu so that they can curse at will.
NBA 2K14 penalizes you for swearing - GameSpot
A 2K Sports representative confirmed the news to Polygon, after YouTube user "randomfrankp" posted a video (featuring language that is probably NSFW) showing how his use of profanity was penalized with an in-game technical foul.
In real-world collegiate and professional basketball, referees can call a technical foul on a player, coach, or any other member of a team for unsportsmanlike conduct, including the use of profanity on the court. Accruing two technical fouls yields an ejection from a game.
NBA 2K13 played on the Xbox 360 with a Kinect unit attached also penalized players for using profanity. 2K Sports has now expanded this feature to the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions, so long as the Kinect and PlayStation Camera devices are switched on.
The 2K Sports representative did not provide a list of words that would lead to a technical foul, but said, "The obvious ones are there." The representative said this feature brings both realism to the game and a "more civilized environment for our players."
Players are, of course, free to disable NBA 2K14's voice controls in the game's options menu so that they can curse at will.
NBA 2K14 penalizes you for swearing - GameSpot
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2006/12/07
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29893
Bryant hasn't played this season while recovering from surgery in April on a torn Achilles tendon.
Los Angeles signed the fourth-leading scoring in NBA history to a two-year contract extension last week. Bryant's new deal is reportedly worth $48.5 million and takes him into his 20th season with the Lakers.
Kobe Bryant will make his long-awaited return from a torn left Achilles tendon when the Los Angeles Lakers host the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night.
In a dramatic video posted on his Facebook page before the Lakers played at Sacramento on Friday night, Bryant set his much-anticipated comeback date. The video, which was also uploaded to the team's Facebook page, was titled: "Seasons of Legend. Lakers announce Kobe's return."
The video shows Bryant's No. 24 jersey flapping in the wind. There is rain, sleet, snow and lightning for nearly 2 minutes. At one point, his jersey tears.
Sunshine breaks through the clouds, and the video fades to black. Finally, words flash across the screen that read, "The Legend Continues...December 8."
"That's something special right there," Lakers teammate Nick Young quipped when a reporter showed him the video on his smartphone in the locker room.
How effective Bryant will be against top-tier competition is the last lingering question in his return.
Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni said Bryant will likely be eased back into the lineup, though he declined to discuss how many minutes he will play in his first game. Asked what his expectations are for Bryant this season, D'Antoni said, "That he'll be a dominant player."
"He can play any way," D'Antoni said. "He can play below the rim, above the rim, the side of the rim. The guy can play any way. He'll figure out how he'll be effective and he'll come at you with everything he's got."
Bryant did not travel with the team to Sacramento.
The 15-time All-Star hasn't played since he was injured April 12 in a home win over the Golden State Warriors. He had surgery the following morning and was projected to take six to nine months to recover.
Bryant's return has seemed imminent since he began practicing last month. The 35-year-old guard has said that he could adjust his game and contribute something to the Lakers even if he's not fully healthy when he finally steps on the court for his 18th NBA season.
His teammates expect the same.
"He's the biggest competitor that there is. Happy to have him back," guard Jodie Meeks said. "He's looked great. Obviously he has to get his timing back and his legs, but I know he's probably been training pretty hard. I don't think it will take him long at all."
Los Angeles signed the fourth-leading scoring in NBA history to a two-year contract extension last week. Bryant's new deal is reportedly worth $48.5 million and takes him into his 20th season with the Lakers.
Bryant hasn't given up hope of adding a sixth championship ring to his trophy case, even while the Lakers struggle to keep up with the NBA's best teams. Los Angeles entered Friday night's game with a 9-9 record.
That's still slightly better than most Lakers fans expected this season after the departures of Dwight Howard and Metta World Peace coupled with the injuries to Bryant and 39-year-old point guard Steve Nash, who could return next week from the nerve root irritation in his back.
"We've developed some guys that are really going to contribute a lot, and it might not have happened if (Bryant) was here," D'Antoni said. "You have to look at the bright side of it. Now we just have to get him back to the level that he's capable of playing."
Bryant expected to return versus Raptors on Sunday | NBA-com
Los Angeles signed the fourth-leading scoring in NBA history to a two-year contract extension last week. Bryant's new deal is reportedly worth $48.5 million and takes him into his 20th season with the Lakers.
Kobe Bryant will make his long-awaited return from a torn left Achilles tendon when the Los Angeles Lakers host the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night.
In a dramatic video posted on his Facebook page before the Lakers played at Sacramento on Friday night, Bryant set his much-anticipated comeback date. The video, which was also uploaded to the team's Facebook page, was titled: "Seasons of Legend. Lakers announce Kobe's return."
The video shows Bryant's No. 24 jersey flapping in the wind. There is rain, sleet, snow and lightning for nearly 2 minutes. At one point, his jersey tears.
Sunshine breaks through the clouds, and the video fades to black. Finally, words flash across the screen that read, "The Legend Continues...December 8."
"That's something special right there," Lakers teammate Nick Young quipped when a reporter showed him the video on his smartphone in the locker room.
How effective Bryant will be against top-tier competition is the last lingering question in his return.
Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni said Bryant will likely be eased back into the lineup, though he declined to discuss how many minutes he will play in his first game. Asked what his expectations are for Bryant this season, D'Antoni said, "That he'll be a dominant player."
"He can play any way," D'Antoni said. "He can play below the rim, above the rim, the side of the rim. The guy can play any way. He'll figure out how he'll be effective and he'll come at you with everything he's got."
Bryant did not travel with the team to Sacramento.
The 15-time All-Star hasn't played since he was injured April 12 in a home win over the Golden State Warriors. He had surgery the following morning and was projected to take six to nine months to recover.
Bryant's return has seemed imminent since he began practicing last month. The 35-year-old guard has said that he could adjust his game and contribute something to the Lakers even if he's not fully healthy when he finally steps on the court for his 18th NBA season.
His teammates expect the same.
"He's the biggest competitor that there is. Happy to have him back," guard Jodie Meeks said. "He's looked great. Obviously he has to get his timing back and his legs, but I know he's probably been training pretty hard. I don't think it will take him long at all."
Los Angeles signed the fourth-leading scoring in NBA history to a two-year contract extension last week. Bryant's new deal is reportedly worth $48.5 million and takes him into his 20th season with the Lakers.
Bryant hasn't given up hope of adding a sixth championship ring to his trophy case, even while the Lakers struggle to keep up with the NBA's best teams. Los Angeles entered Friday night's game with a 9-9 record.
That's still slightly better than most Lakers fans expected this season after the departures of Dwight Howard and Metta World Peace coupled with the injuries to Bryant and 39-year-old point guard Steve Nash, who could return next week from the nerve root irritation in his back.
"We've developed some guys that are really going to contribute a lot, and it might not have happened if (Bryant) was here," D'Antoni said. "You have to look at the bright side of it. Now we just have to get him back to the level that he's capable of playing."
Bryant expected to return versus Raptors on Sunday | NBA-com
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It appears Christmas will come a bit early for the Los Angeles Lakers. Kobe Bryant will make his season debut Sunday against the Toronto Raptors after tearing his Achilles’ nearly eight months ago.
In his absence, the Lakers went 9-9 through their first 18 games and found most of their most production off the bench. Steve Nash continues to battle injuries and Pau Gasol has struggled to find his rhythm, shooting a career-low 42 percent from the field.
Now, with their most productive reserve — Jordan Farmer — headed for the injured list for four weeks with a torn hamstring, the Lakers welcome back one of the most decorated players in franchise history with hopes of making their 61st playoff appearance.
Needless to say, having the fourth-best scorer in NBA history will boost the Lakers’ chances in the tough Western Conference. What’s more, Bryant averaged a career-high six assists in his first year in Coach Mike D’Antoni’s offense last season, while still averaging 27.3 points per game. Bryant’s ability to create opportunities for himself and his teammates will vastly improve a starting lineup that’s struggled to jell.
With the Lakers featuring seven new players on its roster this year, forming chemistry with Bryant could take some time. While Bryant is bent on winning a sixth NBA title, he also returns with something to prove as many wonder how effective the 35-year-old can be coming off of his first major injury. As a result, there could be nights where Bryant is more focused on racking up his scoring numbers. Currently, the Lakers are tied with Memphis and New Orleans for the 10th spot in the Western Conference, just behind the surprising Phoenix Suns (10-9) and Golden State (11-8). Portland, San Antonio and Oklahoma City have distanced themselves from the pack as the conference’s top three teams.
Aiding the Lakers are the injuries to Memphis all-star Marc Gasol (out three to four weeks with an MCL sprain) and Pelicans rising phenom Anthony Davis (out four to six weeks with a broken hand). But in the Western Conference, where all but three of the 15 teams possess a record of . 500 or better, making up for ground lost during Bryant’s absence and now, his transition back into the lineup, is a tall task.
What’s more, the Lakers have struggled defensively this season, allowing 102.9 points per game, good for 28th in the NBA. Bryant has already admitted he won’t be able to do everything fans have grown accustomed to see him do during his Hall of Fame career, and that likely includes serving double-duty as a lockdown defender and fourth-quarter offensive hero.
It’s anybody’s guess as to how Bryant will perform when he returns to the floor, which makes the Lakers’ playoff chances just as cloudy. But thanks to their ability to avoid a meltdown in his absence, the Lakers have at least left open the window of opportunity for a playoff push, even in the deep Western Conference.
BY THE NUMBERS
1
Game in which two rookies have produced triple-doubles after Orlando’s Victor Oladipo (DeMatha) and Phialdelphia’s Michael Carter-Williams accomplished the feat in the 76ers’ 126-125 double-overtime victory over the Orlando Magic on Tuesday. Carter-Williams has 27 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists while Oladipo finished with 26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
5
Games missed by Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade this season after he sat out Thursday’s loss to Chicago because of illness. Wade’s continued injury problems have led the defending NBA champs to seek back-court help via a trade, according to ESPN-com’s Brian Windhorst.
QUOTABLES
“They hate me. They hate me. I don’t know why, but it is what it is. I already know I’ve got the target on my back, but I’ll play through it. I don’t care. I really don’t. It doesn’t bother me none.”
– Denver Nuggets guard Nate Robinson, after he was assessed with a technical foul following a Nov. 29 loss to New York. Robinson was fined $25,000 for his comments to The Denver Post.
“If I’m healthy and my meniscus is fully healed, of course I’ll be out there playing. But if it’s something totally different and the outcome is not how I would want it to be, there’s no need.”
– Chicago Bulls Derrick Rose, during a Thursday news conference in his first public comments since tearing the meniscus in his right knee on Nov. 22. Though Rose has been declared out for the season by the Bulls, the former MVP would not rule out a return should Chicago make the playoffs.
Around the NBA: Will Kobe Bryant’s return cause shake-up the Western Conference?
In his absence, the Lakers went 9-9 through their first 18 games and found most of their most production off the bench. Steve Nash continues to battle injuries and Pau Gasol has struggled to find his rhythm, shooting a career-low 42 percent from the field.
Now, with their most productive reserve — Jordan Farmer — headed for the injured list for four weeks with a torn hamstring, the Lakers welcome back one of the most decorated players in franchise history with hopes of making their 61st playoff appearance.
Needless to say, having the fourth-best scorer in NBA history will boost the Lakers’ chances in the tough Western Conference. What’s more, Bryant averaged a career-high six assists in his first year in Coach Mike D’Antoni’s offense last season, while still averaging 27.3 points per game. Bryant’s ability to create opportunities for himself and his teammates will vastly improve a starting lineup that’s struggled to jell.
With the Lakers featuring seven new players on its roster this year, forming chemistry with Bryant could take some time. While Bryant is bent on winning a sixth NBA title, he also returns with something to prove as many wonder how effective the 35-year-old can be coming off of his first major injury. As a result, there could be nights where Bryant is more focused on racking up his scoring numbers. Currently, the Lakers are tied with Memphis and New Orleans for the 10th spot in the Western Conference, just behind the surprising Phoenix Suns (10-9) and Golden State (11-8). Portland, San Antonio and Oklahoma City have distanced themselves from the pack as the conference’s top three teams.
Aiding the Lakers are the injuries to Memphis all-star Marc Gasol (out three to four weeks with an MCL sprain) and Pelicans rising phenom Anthony Davis (out four to six weeks with a broken hand). But in the Western Conference, where all but three of the 15 teams possess a record of . 500 or better, making up for ground lost during Bryant’s absence and now, his transition back into the lineup, is a tall task.
What’s more, the Lakers have struggled defensively this season, allowing 102.9 points per game, good for 28th in the NBA. Bryant has already admitted he won’t be able to do everything fans have grown accustomed to see him do during his Hall of Fame career, and that likely includes serving double-duty as a lockdown defender and fourth-quarter offensive hero.
It’s anybody’s guess as to how Bryant will perform when he returns to the floor, which makes the Lakers’ playoff chances just as cloudy. But thanks to their ability to avoid a meltdown in his absence, the Lakers have at least left open the window of opportunity for a playoff push, even in the deep Western Conference.
BY THE NUMBERS
1
Game in which two rookies have produced triple-doubles after Orlando’s Victor Oladipo (DeMatha) and Phialdelphia’s Michael Carter-Williams accomplished the feat in the 76ers’ 126-125 double-overtime victory over the Orlando Magic on Tuesday. Carter-Williams has 27 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists while Oladipo finished with 26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
5
Games missed by Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade this season after he sat out Thursday’s loss to Chicago because of illness. Wade’s continued injury problems have led the defending NBA champs to seek back-court help via a trade, according to ESPN-com’s Brian Windhorst.
QUOTABLES
“They hate me. They hate me. I don’t know why, but it is what it is. I already know I’ve got the target on my back, but I’ll play through it. I don’t care. I really don’t. It doesn’t bother me none.”
– Denver Nuggets guard Nate Robinson, after he was assessed with a technical foul following a Nov. 29 loss to New York. Robinson was fined $25,000 for his comments to The Denver Post.
“If I’m healthy and my meniscus is fully healed, of course I’ll be out there playing. But if it’s something totally different and the outcome is not how I would want it to be, there’s no need.”
– Chicago Bulls Derrick Rose, during a Thursday news conference in his first public comments since tearing the meniscus in his right knee on Nov. 22. Though Rose has been declared out for the season by the Bulls, the former MVP would not rule out a return should Chicago make the playoffs.
Around the NBA: Will Kobe Bryant’s return cause shake-up the Western Conference?
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2006/12/07
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When Kobe Bryant dons the now-familiar Sunday white Lakers jersey and steps onto the same court that's been the site of his greatest accomplishments (Raptors vs. Lakers, 9:30 p.m. ET on NBA TV), he will actually enter a new realm. For the first time he doesn't need to exceed the boundary to be remarkable. Living up to the standards he's already set would be an incredible achievement for a 35-year-old coming back from a torn Achilles tendon.
He always made us wonder what he'd do next. That's still in play today, as he makes his return from the injury that threatened to end his career -- or at the very least, end the version of Kobe Bryant that we had watched for 17 seasons. We make an exception for him. Even as he drops hints of his physical limitations, as he reports that the range of motion and explosiveness in his legs and ankles aren't what they used to be, we still hold out the possibility that he could be the same.
That's where the intrigue comes from. It's not as if he's shaking up the landscape of the NBA. He's coming back to an average team and is unlikely to elevate it to championship-contending status. We're talking about a player and a franchise that have won just one second-round playoff game since 2010. And after all the breathless speculation about his return date, it turns out we're talking about a player who missed only the first 19 games of the season. Players miss stretches like that all the time; Kobe himself missed the first 15 games of the 1999-2000 season.
The thing is, we're talking about him. Kobe is a rare commodity, one of the few athletes who can command such lavish attention regardless of which place his team occupies in the standings. Sports -- and the NBA in particular -- have a need for these iconic figures. It's a role Kobe has embraced, and yes, feeds into.
It's reached preposterous proportions, hasn't it? The buzz that started with his first practices, prompting a Los Angeles sports radio station to run ads paying tribute to the player referred to simply as "Him." The overly dramatic Facebook video with the grammatically nonsensical "Seasons of Legend" title, followed by computer-generated images of the golden No. 24 jersey buffeted by wind, rain and snow. The eager anticipation of his return, as if Mission Control was establishing contact with the first astronaut to make it through re-entry to the Earth's atmosphere. And the fact Kobe's return can generate those absurdities is what makes it so wonderful.
We're paying him too much attention just like the Lakers are paying him too much money for his extension. In both cases, Kobe earned it. He's made buying a ticket or turning on the TV to watch him worthwhile so many times already that it warrants further investment. If anything, he deserves extra scrutiny now because this isn't just the comeback, it's the countdown. Kobe's contract covers 227 more games, with no promises of another contract when it's done. He's on the books for 2 ¾ seasons, no more. The moment he leaves, the NBA will be about 25 percent less interesting.
There's another way this will be a new experience for Bryant: for the first time we'll be judging him within the context of himself. He might find it liberating. Even though he came to feel burdened by the constant, self-induced comparisons to Michael Jordan, Bryant also realized it was a sign he was doing something right. And trust me, he considers one of the greatest testimonies to his career that he was the constant in an ever-evolving series of NBA debates: Kobe vs. Vince, Kobe vs. T-Mac, Kobe vs. Iverson, Kobe vs. LeBron.
Now it's Kobe vs. Kobe. The 2013-14, post-Achilles version against the player who scored 31,617 points in his first 17 seasons. In some ways it can be tougher than going one-on-one against someone else. For example, the 2012-13 season didn't raise many eyebrows or drop jaws, simply because it didn't match his peak performances. At age 34, when decline should have been evident, he put up a scoring average of 27.3 points that bested nine of his previous 16 seasons, and an assists average of 6.0 that matched his career high. Kobe took great pride in it, because he knew how hard he had to work to maintain his standards while his body grew older. The effort required was reaching the point that he wondered if he could continue to do so, or even if he wanted to. Then he tore the Achilles, and had a fresh challenge to motivate him.
In 2005, before he'd even reached the midpoint of his NBA career, Kobe told me: "I hope, one day, people will look back at my career and see everything that I've been through, everything that my fans have been through … and I just stayed steady. I didn't wig out. I just stayed steady, I stayed professional.
"And at the end of the day, when it's my last year, people can look back and say, 'You know what? He had a hell of a career, he was a hell of a basketball player, a hell of a person.' And then they'll appreciate all the years prior, too."
It's not the end of the day yet, but the sun is dipping toward the horizon. In other words, it's time to get a head start on the appreciation.
NBA: The new Kobe Bryant against the old Kobe Bryant - ESPN
He always made us wonder what he'd do next. That's still in play today, as he makes his return from the injury that threatened to end his career -- or at the very least, end the version of Kobe Bryant that we had watched for 17 seasons. We make an exception for him. Even as he drops hints of his physical limitations, as he reports that the range of motion and explosiveness in his legs and ankles aren't what they used to be, we still hold out the possibility that he could be the same.
That's where the intrigue comes from. It's not as if he's shaking up the landscape of the NBA. He's coming back to an average team and is unlikely to elevate it to championship-contending status. We're talking about a player and a franchise that have won just one second-round playoff game since 2010. And after all the breathless speculation about his return date, it turns out we're talking about a player who missed only the first 19 games of the season. Players miss stretches like that all the time; Kobe himself missed the first 15 games of the 1999-2000 season.
The thing is, we're talking about him. Kobe is a rare commodity, one of the few athletes who can command such lavish attention regardless of which place his team occupies in the standings. Sports -- and the NBA in particular -- have a need for these iconic figures. It's a role Kobe has embraced, and yes, feeds into.
It's reached preposterous proportions, hasn't it? The buzz that started with his first practices, prompting a Los Angeles sports radio station to run ads paying tribute to the player referred to simply as "Him." The overly dramatic Facebook video with the grammatically nonsensical "Seasons of Legend" title, followed by computer-generated images of the golden No. 24 jersey buffeted by wind, rain and snow. The eager anticipation of his return, as if Mission Control was establishing contact with the first astronaut to make it through re-entry to the Earth's atmosphere. And the fact Kobe's return can generate those absurdities is what makes it so wonderful.
We're paying him too much attention just like the Lakers are paying him too much money for his extension. In both cases, Kobe earned it. He's made buying a ticket or turning on the TV to watch him worthwhile so many times already that it warrants further investment. If anything, he deserves extra scrutiny now because this isn't just the comeback, it's the countdown. Kobe's contract covers 227 more games, with no promises of another contract when it's done. He's on the books for 2 ¾ seasons, no more. The moment he leaves, the NBA will be about 25 percent less interesting.
There's another way this will be a new experience for Bryant: for the first time we'll be judging him within the context of himself. He might find it liberating. Even though he came to feel burdened by the constant, self-induced comparisons to Michael Jordan, Bryant also realized it was a sign he was doing something right. And trust me, he considers one of the greatest testimonies to his career that he was the constant in an ever-evolving series of NBA debates: Kobe vs. Vince, Kobe vs. T-Mac, Kobe vs. Iverson, Kobe vs. LeBron.
Now it's Kobe vs. Kobe. The 2013-14, post-Achilles version against the player who scored 31,617 points in his first 17 seasons. In some ways it can be tougher than going one-on-one against someone else. For example, the 2012-13 season didn't raise many eyebrows or drop jaws, simply because it didn't match his peak performances. At age 34, when decline should have been evident, he put up a scoring average of 27.3 points that bested nine of his previous 16 seasons, and an assists average of 6.0 that matched his career high. Kobe took great pride in it, because he knew how hard he had to work to maintain his standards while his body grew older. The effort required was reaching the point that he wondered if he could continue to do so, or even if he wanted to. Then he tore the Achilles, and had a fresh challenge to motivate him.
In 2005, before he'd even reached the midpoint of his NBA career, Kobe told me: "I hope, one day, people will look back at my career and see everything that I've been through, everything that my fans have been through … and I just stayed steady. I didn't wig out. I just stayed steady, I stayed professional.
"And at the end of the day, when it's my last year, people can look back and say, 'You know what? He had a hell of a career, he was a hell of a basketball player, a hell of a person.' And then they'll appreciate all the years prior, too."
It's not the end of the day yet, but the sun is dipping toward the horizon. In other words, it's time to get a head start on the appreciation.
NBA: The new Kobe Bryant against the old Kobe Bryant - ESPN
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Addressing the NBA's weak Eastern Conference on Sirius XM Radio's new NBA channel, deputy commissioner Adam Silver said Monday the league's competition committee will examine if divisions have outlived their usefulness.
"One thing I have learned from David (Stern) over all those years ... is every day we should wake up and take a fresh look at everything we do. Divisions fall into that category," said Silver, who will take over for Stern as NBA commissioner in February. "Historically, based on geography in terms of ways to schedule and convenience of travel, the goal was to enhance rivalries and I'm not sure if that's still what's happening.
"That's something I'm sure I'm sure the competition committee, when they next meet, will be taking a fresh look at." USA TODAY Sports last week took a look at the troubles of the Eastern Conference — at the time, only two of 15 teams had a winning record and the Western Conference dominated head-to-head games against the East — and a person familiar with situation said the competition committee had not yet discussed the value of divisions in today's NBA.
Right now, the Boston Celtics are in first place in the Atlantic Division with a 10-12 record, and the winner of the division is guaranteed at least the No. 4 seed even if multiple teams from other Eastern divisions have better records.
The East's struggles have prompted a closer examination of the way playoff seeds are determined, starting with the idea that divisions should be eliminated and records should determine playoff seeds within each conference.
That sentiment was echoed by Los Angeles Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni in a separate interview on Sirius XM. "I don't check the divisions," he said. "Who cares? ... It really doesn't matter. I just check conferences."
Stern, who also was in the interview conducted by Ian Eagle and Stern Kerr, isn't as bothered as some by divisions.
"If I were a fan, and I am, I'd be focusing more on the issue that one of those teams that doesn't make the playoffs in the West nevertheless will be lottery eligible and turn up with a better pick than you might think they should get," Stern said. "That to me is the potential is that lurking out there that's going to occasion a lot of conversation."
Later on the show, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he preferred divisions.
"I actually like divisions because it helps sell tickets," Cuban said. "If you're just one big conference, then you're going to have an unbalanced scheduled so you might play Miami three times or four times in an open schedule one year and two times another year. That's like baseball. It's so unbalanced you never really know if it's the best team. I like having the divisions. I like having the conferences."
Cuban also took Stern's point about good teams from the West in the lottery a step further.
"What's happened now is the law of unintended consequences," Cuban said. "Because there's so many underperforming teams in the East, and they have to play each four times, poor teams are going to make the playoffs with better records than they expected to have and good teams in the West aren't going to make the playoffs and you're going to have good teams getting better players and this being a good draft.
"Teams that tried to underperform to get the better players are going to make the playoffs and not be in the lottery. There'll be a new set of incentives to come out of all of this."
Other noteworthy items from the interview on Sirius XM's NBA channel, which launched Monday:
• Silver said the league is starting to see signs the 2011 collective bargaining agreement is working for owners.
"My early take is that while it's far from perfect, and we didn't accomplish everything we set out to get, it's beginning to work," he said. "You're seeing more parity throughout the league and a major shift in the finances of the league. While not every team is profitable yet, we went from a situation in collective bargaining where something like 24 teams were unprofitable to a situations now where roughly 24 teams are profitable.
"In addition, the intent of the agreement through a very onerous tax is to have a form of player sharing and to give every team, regardless of market size, an opportunity to both compete for a championship, and if well managed, to be profitable. We're seeing that now."
• Stern is still looking forward to turning the commissioner's job over to Silver on Feb. 1.
"First of all, I've been as busy as can be," Stern said. "I'm trying to clean off my desk. The only way to do that with my office, I'm going to have to get a chute headed to a dusty dumpster and that's the way I'm going to get out of here.
"I couldn't feel better. The game is at the top. We've had a great year. Adam Silver who has been at the NBA for 22 years in five different jobs has moved up, ready to take over and it's just a very exciting time for me.
"I enjoy the opportunity and the kudos, 'Hey David remember when?' etcetera, etcetera.
"Other than that, I'm looking forward to not being guided by a calendar. I'm looking forward to perhaps doing some traveling, particularly where Adam sends me for the NBA. We have some internal jokes about places he's happy never to go so they're on my list."
• Kerr asked Silver if there a countdown calendar marking the days until Stern leaves office. Stern jumped in said, "It's actually a clock down to tenths of seconds."
Adam Silver: NBA will consider getting rid of divisions
"One thing I have learned from David (Stern) over all those years ... is every day we should wake up and take a fresh look at everything we do. Divisions fall into that category," said Silver, who will take over for Stern as NBA commissioner in February. "Historically, based on geography in terms of ways to schedule and convenience of travel, the goal was to enhance rivalries and I'm not sure if that's still what's happening.
"That's something I'm sure I'm sure the competition committee, when they next meet, will be taking a fresh look at." USA TODAY Sports last week took a look at the troubles of the Eastern Conference — at the time, only two of 15 teams had a winning record and the Western Conference dominated head-to-head games against the East — and a person familiar with situation said the competition committee had not yet discussed the value of divisions in today's NBA.
Right now, the Boston Celtics are in first place in the Atlantic Division with a 10-12 record, and the winner of the division is guaranteed at least the No. 4 seed even if multiple teams from other Eastern divisions have better records.
The East's struggles have prompted a closer examination of the way playoff seeds are determined, starting with the idea that divisions should be eliminated and records should determine playoff seeds within each conference.
That sentiment was echoed by Los Angeles Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni in a separate interview on Sirius XM. "I don't check the divisions," he said. "Who cares? ... It really doesn't matter. I just check conferences."
Stern, who also was in the interview conducted by Ian Eagle and Stern Kerr, isn't as bothered as some by divisions.
"If I were a fan, and I am, I'd be focusing more on the issue that one of those teams that doesn't make the playoffs in the West nevertheless will be lottery eligible and turn up with a better pick than you might think they should get," Stern said. "That to me is the potential is that lurking out there that's going to occasion a lot of conversation."
Later on the show, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he preferred divisions.
"I actually like divisions because it helps sell tickets," Cuban said. "If you're just one big conference, then you're going to have an unbalanced scheduled so you might play Miami three times or four times in an open schedule one year and two times another year. That's like baseball. It's so unbalanced you never really know if it's the best team. I like having the divisions. I like having the conferences."
Cuban also took Stern's point about good teams from the West in the lottery a step further.
"What's happened now is the law of unintended consequences," Cuban said. "Because there's so many underperforming teams in the East, and they have to play each four times, poor teams are going to make the playoffs with better records than they expected to have and good teams in the West aren't going to make the playoffs and you're going to have good teams getting better players and this being a good draft.
"Teams that tried to underperform to get the better players are going to make the playoffs and not be in the lottery. There'll be a new set of incentives to come out of all of this."
Other noteworthy items from the interview on Sirius XM's NBA channel, which launched Monday:
• Silver said the league is starting to see signs the 2011 collective bargaining agreement is working for owners.
"My early take is that while it's far from perfect, and we didn't accomplish everything we set out to get, it's beginning to work," he said. "You're seeing more parity throughout the league and a major shift in the finances of the league. While not every team is profitable yet, we went from a situation in collective bargaining where something like 24 teams were unprofitable to a situations now where roughly 24 teams are profitable.
"In addition, the intent of the agreement through a very onerous tax is to have a form of player sharing and to give every team, regardless of market size, an opportunity to both compete for a championship, and if well managed, to be profitable. We're seeing that now."
• Stern is still looking forward to turning the commissioner's job over to Silver on Feb. 1.
"First of all, I've been as busy as can be," Stern said. "I'm trying to clean off my desk. The only way to do that with my office, I'm going to have to get a chute headed to a dusty dumpster and that's the way I'm going to get out of here.
"I couldn't feel better. The game is at the top. We've had a great year. Adam Silver who has been at the NBA for 22 years in five different jobs has moved up, ready to take over and it's just a very exciting time for me.
"I enjoy the opportunity and the kudos, 'Hey David remember when?' etcetera, etcetera.
"Other than that, I'm looking forward to not being guided by a calendar. I'm looking forward to perhaps doing some traveling, particularly where Adam sends me for the NBA. We have some internal jokes about places he's happy never to go so they're on my list."
• Kerr asked Silver if there a countdown calendar marking the days until Stern leaves office. Stern jumped in said, "It's actually a clock down to tenths of seconds."
Adam Silver: NBA will consider getting rid of divisions
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Not all basketball players can dunk. Not every coach can take his team to the playoffs. But anyone in the N.B.A. can be fined — and lately, it seems, almost everyone has. Last month the N.B.A. issued 21 fines and suspensions — a punitive spree that amounted to about $602,882. If all those penalties raised some eyebrows, it was for good reason. The number of punishments in November matched the total from the first full calendar month of the previous three N.B.A. seasons combined.
And that sum did not include fines for the 343 technical fouls and 21 flagrant fouls called in games last month. Those infractions bring automatic fines of $2,000 each.
“Normally, you don’t have that many early in the season, then around the holiday season, you get more, then as you get down near the playoffs, you get more,” said Rod Thorn, the N.B.A.’s president for basketball operations. “This year, it’s started early.”
The league’s disciplinary binge reflected what appears to be a growing impulse in the N.B.A. and the other sports leagues. Fines in American sports have become a fact of life, like a charge at a tollbooth.
Jason Terry, a Nets guard, noted that there were just more ways to get in trouble now than when he entered the N.B.A. 14 years ago.
“Social media, dress code, standing up during the game, uniform regulations — it’s the letter of the law around here, and we don’t have much say in it,” he said.
There is a debate about how much fines affect players. A $5,000 fine for a player making $2,690,875, the median N.B.A. salary this season, would be roughly proportional to a $95 penalty for someone making $50,895, the median New York City household income last year.
The city issues a $95 fine for illegally parking your car in a truck-loading zone — enough money to spoil a morning but probably not an entire day.
Still, Thorn said, the results speak for themselves. He rejoined the league this season — after over a decade working in team front offices — to be its chief disciplinarian. He held the same job from 1986 to 2000. He said that fighting had decreased drastically since his first time and that every rule adopted in his absence had seemed to take hold.
“No one likes to lose money,” Thorn said.
The N.B.A. instituted a rule last season that results in a $5,000 fine the second time a player is caught flopping, or faking contact to draw a foul. The rule has snared some of the biggest stars, including LeBron James of the Miami Heat and James Harden of the Houston Rockets, who was given a $5,000 fine last month. It has not been popular among players, to say the least.
“Fine somebody $5,000 for jaywalking or something,” Terry said. “Five thousand for something on a basketball court? That’s a little much to me.”
Terry may not know that New Yorkers view jaywalking as an inalienable human right. But his sentiment stands, reflecting that players do care about the fines.
Two players were fined $25,000 last month for inappropriate Twitter messages. Mike Woodson, the Knicks’ coach, was fined the same amount for criticizing referees during a radio interview. Two players were fined $15,000 early in November for a popular celebration that has been deemed obscene by the league. Another was fined $10,000 for cursing in a postgame interview.
Some players think these amounts should correspond more closely with individual salaries. A rookie making the minimum, $490,180, is affected differently from Kobe Bryant, who has a league-high $30,453,000 salary this season. (A player does lose a 110th of his salary for each game he is suspended.)
Fines issued during the season are withdrawn directly from a player’s paycheck. For fines issued in the off-season, players are asked to write a check to the league. Once collected, the money is divided between the league and the players union, and the two organizations donate their shares to charitable causes.
Some players have expressed skepticism about the process, questioning the motives behind issuing more and more fines. In response, an N.B.A. spokesman noted that fine money helped the league and the union make a joint $500,000 donation last month to Unicef to support typhoon relief efforts in the Philippines. The biggest individual contributor of fine money — and the enduring symbol of the N.B.A.’s growing disciplinary compulsion — is Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, who has been fined almost $2 million since purchasing the team in 2000. (Cuban has a net worth of $2.5 billion, according to Forbes.)
Despite the money he has forfeited, Cuban praised the N.B.A. for at least becoming more transparent and consistent with its disciplinary process since his first full season as an owner, when he was fined seven times for about $500,000.
That season, Cuban was fined for “conduct unbecoming of an N.B.A. owner” after he sat on the floor next to the Mavericks’ bench. In an email this week, he said that he was trying to convey to his staff that he was “accessible and approachable.” Instead, Cuban said, a rival owner complained to the league, and he was fined $100,000.
“Today, I think discipline is less to make this owner or that owner happy and far more democratic and consistent,” Cuban said. “I know when I’m going to get fined before I do it, and I know exactly how it will play in the media in a Twitter world.”
He added, “Things have changed.”
The fines in November proved as much. The last penalty went to Jason Kidd, the coach of the Nets, who spilled a soda onto the court to manufacture a Nets timeout in a close game. It is a trick said to have a long history among savvy coaches in the game.
But an increase in cameras at arenas and the improvement of video technology in recent years meant the N.B.A. had access to the evidence in an instant.
Kidd was fined $50,000.
www-nytimes-com/2013/12/11/sports/basketball/nba-players-are-paying-by-the-rules-html?_r=0
And that sum did not include fines for the 343 technical fouls and 21 flagrant fouls called in games last month. Those infractions bring automatic fines of $2,000 each.
“Normally, you don’t have that many early in the season, then around the holiday season, you get more, then as you get down near the playoffs, you get more,” said Rod Thorn, the N.B.A.’s president for basketball operations. “This year, it’s started early.”
The league’s disciplinary binge reflected what appears to be a growing impulse in the N.B.A. and the other sports leagues. Fines in American sports have become a fact of life, like a charge at a tollbooth.
Jason Terry, a Nets guard, noted that there were just more ways to get in trouble now than when he entered the N.B.A. 14 years ago.
“Social media, dress code, standing up during the game, uniform regulations — it’s the letter of the law around here, and we don’t have much say in it,” he said.
There is a debate about how much fines affect players. A $5,000 fine for a player making $2,690,875, the median N.B.A. salary this season, would be roughly proportional to a $95 penalty for someone making $50,895, the median New York City household income last year.
The city issues a $95 fine for illegally parking your car in a truck-loading zone — enough money to spoil a morning but probably not an entire day.
Still, Thorn said, the results speak for themselves. He rejoined the league this season — after over a decade working in team front offices — to be its chief disciplinarian. He held the same job from 1986 to 2000. He said that fighting had decreased drastically since his first time and that every rule adopted in his absence had seemed to take hold.
“No one likes to lose money,” Thorn said.
The N.B.A. instituted a rule last season that results in a $5,000 fine the second time a player is caught flopping, or faking contact to draw a foul. The rule has snared some of the biggest stars, including LeBron James of the Miami Heat and James Harden of the Houston Rockets, who was given a $5,000 fine last month. It has not been popular among players, to say the least.
“Fine somebody $5,000 for jaywalking or something,” Terry said. “Five thousand for something on a basketball court? That’s a little much to me.”
Terry may not know that New Yorkers view jaywalking as an inalienable human right. But his sentiment stands, reflecting that players do care about the fines.
Two players were fined $25,000 last month for inappropriate Twitter messages. Mike Woodson, the Knicks’ coach, was fined the same amount for criticizing referees during a radio interview. Two players were fined $15,000 early in November for a popular celebration that has been deemed obscene by the league. Another was fined $10,000 for cursing in a postgame interview.
Some players think these amounts should correspond more closely with individual salaries. A rookie making the minimum, $490,180, is affected differently from Kobe Bryant, who has a league-high $30,453,000 salary this season. (A player does lose a 110th of his salary for each game he is suspended.)
Fines issued during the season are withdrawn directly from a player’s paycheck. For fines issued in the off-season, players are asked to write a check to the league. Once collected, the money is divided between the league and the players union, and the two organizations donate their shares to charitable causes.
Some players have expressed skepticism about the process, questioning the motives behind issuing more and more fines. In response, an N.B.A. spokesman noted that fine money helped the league and the union make a joint $500,000 donation last month to Unicef to support typhoon relief efforts in the Philippines. The biggest individual contributor of fine money — and the enduring symbol of the N.B.A.’s growing disciplinary compulsion — is Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, who has been fined almost $2 million since purchasing the team in 2000. (Cuban has a net worth of $2.5 billion, according to Forbes.)
Despite the money he has forfeited, Cuban praised the N.B.A. for at least becoming more transparent and consistent with its disciplinary process since his first full season as an owner, when he was fined seven times for about $500,000.
That season, Cuban was fined for “conduct unbecoming of an N.B.A. owner” after he sat on the floor next to the Mavericks’ bench. In an email this week, he said that he was trying to convey to his staff that he was “accessible and approachable.” Instead, Cuban said, a rival owner complained to the league, and he was fined $100,000.
“Today, I think discipline is less to make this owner or that owner happy and far more democratic and consistent,” Cuban said. “I know when I’m going to get fined before I do it, and I know exactly how it will play in the media in a Twitter world.”
He added, “Things have changed.”
The fines in November proved as much. The last penalty went to Jason Kidd, the coach of the Nets, who spilled a soda onto the court to manufacture a Nets timeout in a close game. It is a trick said to have a long history among savvy coaches in the game.
But an increase in cameras at arenas and the improvement of video technology in recent years meant the N.B.A. had access to the evidence in an instant.
Kidd was fined $50,000.
www-nytimes-com/2013/12/11/sports/basketball/nba-players-are-paying-by-the-rules-html?_r=0
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2006/12/07
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While the marquee 2014 NBA draft prospects get showered with nationwide praise, a talented set of sleepers continue to get better under the radar.
Their stock might not be swelling at the moment, but sooner or later, pro scouts and executives will give them their due.
Our unheralded group includes gifted competitors from high-profile programs such as Kentucky and UCLA. Mid-major and Midwestern talent also crashed this slumber party, not to mention an international contender currently playing in the D-League.
Don't sleep on this crew, because their names will be called earlier than anticipated on draft night.
Pictures: Predicting Biggest 2014 NBA Draft Sleepers | Bleacher Report
Their stock might not be swelling at the moment, but sooner or later, pro scouts and executives will give them their due.
Our unheralded group includes gifted competitors from high-profile programs such as Kentucky and UCLA. Mid-major and Midwestern talent also crashed this slumber party, not to mention an international contender currently playing in the D-League.
Don't sleep on this crew, because their names will be called earlier than anticipated on draft night.
Pictures: Predicting Biggest 2014 NBA Draft Sleepers | Bleacher Report
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2006/12/07
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29893
Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett share a championship with Doc Rivers and a bond that didn't break when they ended up on opposite coasts.
"I'll always have a special place for Doc," Garnett said.
Now the two veterans are trying to teach a new team what they learned from their old coach.
Andray Blatche and Joe Johnson each scored 21 points in the Brooklyn Nets' 102-93 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday night (Friday, PHL time), making Pierce and Garnett winners in their first matchup with Rivers.
Brook Lopez had 16 points and Deron Williams 15 for the Nets, who won their season-high third straight. Pierce scored 10 points off the bench in his second game back from a broken hand. Chris Paul scored 20 points but had just two assists as the Clippers lost for the first time in nine games this season when he reaches 20.
Pierce and Garnett went 2-0 in a reunion tour of ex-Celtics this week. They helped the Nets beat Boston here Tuesday (Wednesday, PHL time), then Rivers made an emotional return to Boston on Wednesday. Rivers said before this game he knew it would be fun because of how competitive his two former stars are.
It finally rubbed off on their new team, as the Nets were much more fired up than in some of their poor performances during an 8-14 start.
"We hope so. I think our experience, our competitiveness, our leadership, hopefully can rub off on everybody," Pierce said. "We're starting to see signs of that, and that's what we're here for."
Garnett had just two points but played rugged defense on Blake Griffin, hitting him so hard on one foul that officials originally called it a flagrant before overturning it when replay showed he'd actually hit Griffin in the upper arms, not the face.
Rivers coached Pierce and Garnett to the 2008 NBA title, but wasn't interested in remaining in Boston for a rebuilding era. The Celtics let him go to Los Angeles for a first-round pick. The Clippers wanted Garnett, too — and maybe even Pierce — but the teams couldn't find a way to make a deal that would've been legal under NBA rules.
Pierce and Garnett were eventually dealt to the Nets, and Rivers remains close with the duo. Garnett took a detour during his intense pre-jump ball ritual to stop at the Clippers bench for a hug with Rivers and his assistants from Boston.
"I was shocked that Kevin came over before the game because he has a routine," Rivers said. "I turned to [assistant Tyronn Lue] and said, 'Well, Kevin's going to struggle now. He just broke his routine.' But no, we talk all the time. It was nice. They were really happy about last night is basically what they both said."
Pierce chatted with Rivers a couple of times, joking that he knew all his plays. Both players sat out Nets' loss in Los Angeles on Nov. 16, along with Williams and Lopez. The Nets are healthier now and finally playing good basketball — although Lopez landed awkwardly and re-injured his ankle, and it's unknown if he'll play Friday (Saturday, PHL time) at Detroit.
Griffin had 12 points and 11 rebounds but shot 2-of-8 for the Clippers, who were a step behind on the sixth stop of their seven-game road trip that wraps up Saturday (Sunday, PHL time) at Washington.
"We've got to put everything into that game," Paul said. "We're going to D.C. Washington is a team that's been playing well. We've got to win it. It's early in the season but it's a must-win for us so that we can at least feel somewhat decent for this trip."
The Clippers jumped to an 11-2 lead, but the Nets controlled the second quarter. Brooklyn outscored Los Angeles 19-7 over the final 4:41, turning a 37-all tie into a 56-44 lead, the final basket drawing oohs from the crowd when Williams shook free of Paul with a crossover dribble and into the lane for a layup.
Nets players and fans throughout the arena were on their feet when Blatche made three straight jumpers late in the third. The Nets gave him the ball for one final chance, but he missed and they took an 83-62 lead to the fourth.
The scores:
NETS (102) - Johnson 21, Blatche 21, Lopez 16, Williams 15, Livingston 6, Plumlee 4, Teletovic 4, Anderson 3, Shengelia 0, Taylor 0
CLIPPERS (93) - Paul 20, Crawford 19, Griffin 12, Green 8, Collison 8, Hollins 7, Jordan 6, Jamison 6, Dudley 4, Jackson 3, Mullens 0
Brooklyn 20-36-27-19
Los Angeles 25-19-18-31
NBA: Pierce, Garnett help Nets beat Rivers' Clippers | Sports | GMA News Online
"I'll always have a special place for Doc," Garnett said.
Now the two veterans are trying to teach a new team what they learned from their old coach.
Andray Blatche and Joe Johnson each scored 21 points in the Brooklyn Nets' 102-93 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday night (Friday, PHL time), making Pierce and Garnett winners in their first matchup with Rivers.
Brook Lopez had 16 points and Deron Williams 15 for the Nets, who won their season-high third straight. Pierce scored 10 points off the bench in his second game back from a broken hand. Chris Paul scored 20 points but had just two assists as the Clippers lost for the first time in nine games this season when he reaches 20.
Pierce and Garnett went 2-0 in a reunion tour of ex-Celtics this week. They helped the Nets beat Boston here Tuesday (Wednesday, PHL time), then Rivers made an emotional return to Boston on Wednesday. Rivers said before this game he knew it would be fun because of how competitive his two former stars are.
It finally rubbed off on their new team, as the Nets were much more fired up than in some of their poor performances during an 8-14 start.
"We hope so. I think our experience, our competitiveness, our leadership, hopefully can rub off on everybody," Pierce said. "We're starting to see signs of that, and that's what we're here for."
Garnett had just two points but played rugged defense on Blake Griffin, hitting him so hard on one foul that officials originally called it a flagrant before overturning it when replay showed he'd actually hit Griffin in the upper arms, not the face.
Rivers coached Pierce and Garnett to the 2008 NBA title, but wasn't interested in remaining in Boston for a rebuilding era. The Celtics let him go to Los Angeles for a first-round pick. The Clippers wanted Garnett, too — and maybe even Pierce — but the teams couldn't find a way to make a deal that would've been legal under NBA rules.
Pierce and Garnett were eventually dealt to the Nets, and Rivers remains close with the duo. Garnett took a detour during his intense pre-jump ball ritual to stop at the Clippers bench for a hug with Rivers and his assistants from Boston.
"I was shocked that Kevin came over before the game because he has a routine," Rivers said. "I turned to [assistant Tyronn Lue] and said, 'Well, Kevin's going to struggle now. He just broke his routine.' But no, we talk all the time. It was nice. They were really happy about last night is basically what they both said."
Pierce chatted with Rivers a couple of times, joking that he knew all his plays. Both players sat out Nets' loss in Los Angeles on Nov. 16, along with Williams and Lopez. The Nets are healthier now and finally playing good basketball — although Lopez landed awkwardly and re-injured his ankle, and it's unknown if he'll play Friday (Saturday, PHL time) at Detroit.
Griffin had 12 points and 11 rebounds but shot 2-of-8 for the Clippers, who were a step behind on the sixth stop of their seven-game road trip that wraps up Saturday (Sunday, PHL time) at Washington.
"We've got to put everything into that game," Paul said. "We're going to D.C. Washington is a team that's been playing well. We've got to win it. It's early in the season but it's a must-win for us so that we can at least feel somewhat decent for this trip."
The Clippers jumped to an 11-2 lead, but the Nets controlled the second quarter. Brooklyn outscored Los Angeles 19-7 over the final 4:41, turning a 37-all tie into a 56-44 lead, the final basket drawing oohs from the crowd when Williams shook free of Paul with a crossover dribble and into the lane for a layup.
Nets players and fans throughout the arena were on their feet when Blatche made three straight jumpers late in the third. The Nets gave him the ball for one final chance, but he missed and they took an 83-62 lead to the fourth.
The scores:
NETS (102) - Johnson 21, Blatche 21, Lopez 16, Williams 15, Livingston 6, Plumlee 4, Teletovic 4, Anderson 3, Shengelia 0, Taylor 0
CLIPPERS (93) - Paul 20, Crawford 19, Griffin 12, Green 8, Collison 8, Hollins 7, Jordan 6, Jamison 6, Dudley 4, Jackson 3, Mullens 0
Brooklyn 20-36-27-19
Los Angeles 25-19-18-31
NBA: Pierce, Garnett help Nets beat Rivers' Clippers | Sports | GMA News Online
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2006/12/07
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29893
Bleacher Report caught up with Gilbert Arenas for an interview. They turned the interview into a slideshow, because of course they did, so here are a few of the more interesting answers he gave. If you’re interested in the rest, it’s here.
On whether he sees a future for himself in basketball:
“Yeah, right now I’m just developing apps. Next summer, I’m going to train really hard and then try to make a team. I’m going to try to come back.”
On what he would tell potential teams:
“If you take away the last few years, from my last year in Washington, and you think about my career, there was nothing but hard work. I was in the gym three or four times a day, working on my skills. If we lost a game, and I thought I played bad, I’m staying in the gym to keep shooting. That’s what I did. That’s what I was known for: I was a gym rat.
“I made a mistake, and that’s what we all do.”
On who he sees himself being a fit for:
“I know the Knicks — I’ve watched them. They need a lot of help; they need scoring. ‘Melo [Carmelo Anthony] needs an outlet. Someone who can just put the ball in the basket and take the pressure off him.
“I [also] called Jason Kidd before the season and said ‘Listen, I feel that I can be better than some of the players you’re going to have.’ But they were already stacked to the brim. I thought I would’ve been great coming off the bench for the Brooklyn Nets.
“With Derrick Rose being down, Chicago could use some more scoring. They’re struggling a little bit.
“I guess the Lakers, with Steve Nash out. I think I could’ve made that squad, because that’s who I was working out with before training camp started. I was playing pretty well there. But they had 15 players, so …”
On how his career would have been different without injuries:
“I try not to do the fantasy thing. If I didn’t get hurt, what would I be? Who knows? When I look back on my career, from the hard work I put in, I got everything I deserved.
“The thing that happened in Washington — it happened. All you can do is just grow from it. That took a toll on me. That was probably — I think if I could’ve bounced mentally out of that situation faster than I did, I would probably still be in the NBA. But since I couldn’t understand why they were trying to treat me like that, I basically gave up. I just didn’t want to be a part of it anymore. I never really tried anymore. I just basically gave up.”
Gilbert Arenas wants to make an NBA comeback
On whether he sees a future for himself in basketball:
“Yeah, right now I’m just developing apps. Next summer, I’m going to train really hard and then try to make a team. I’m going to try to come back.”
On what he would tell potential teams:
“If you take away the last few years, from my last year in Washington, and you think about my career, there was nothing but hard work. I was in the gym three or four times a day, working on my skills. If we lost a game, and I thought I played bad, I’m staying in the gym to keep shooting. That’s what I did. That’s what I was known for: I was a gym rat.
“I made a mistake, and that’s what we all do.”
On who he sees himself being a fit for:
“I know the Knicks — I’ve watched them. They need a lot of help; they need scoring. ‘Melo [Carmelo Anthony] needs an outlet. Someone who can just put the ball in the basket and take the pressure off him.
“I [also] called Jason Kidd before the season and said ‘Listen, I feel that I can be better than some of the players you’re going to have.’ But they were already stacked to the brim. I thought I would’ve been great coming off the bench for the Brooklyn Nets.
“With Derrick Rose being down, Chicago could use some more scoring. They’re struggling a little bit.
“I guess the Lakers, with Steve Nash out. I think I could’ve made that squad, because that’s who I was working out with before training camp started. I was playing pretty well there. But they had 15 players, so …”
On how his career would have been different without injuries:
“I try not to do the fantasy thing. If I didn’t get hurt, what would I be? Who knows? When I look back on my career, from the hard work I put in, I got everything I deserved.
“The thing that happened in Washington — it happened. All you can do is just grow from it. That took a toll on me. That was probably — I think if I could’ve bounced mentally out of that situation faster than I did, I would probably still be in the NBA. But since I couldn’t understand why they were trying to treat me like that, I basically gave up. I just didn’t want to be a part of it anymore. I never really tried anymore. I just basically gave up.”
Gilbert Arenas wants to make an NBA comeback
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2006/12/07
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29893
With Tuesday’s win over defending NBA champion Miami, the Indiana Pacers strengthened their hold on the top spot in the league standings at 19-3 while Paul George, who is averaging 24.7 points, further solidified his status as a legitimate NBA superstar. But perhaps lost on the radar was what transpired two days earlier. Indiana suffered its worst of the season, a 114-98 defeat at the hands of Oklahoma City and another forward who’s been known to make a few waves: Kevin Durant.
The Montrose Christian alum exploded for 36 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, besting George’s 32-point performance in a game that often saw them match up with each other. Upon exiting the game with just less than four minutes left, he reportedly exhorted those gathered on press row to “write about that!”
Durant’s outburst — both verbal and on the court — likely stems from the notion put forth by some that George stands as this year’s top MVP candidate not named LeBron James. After all, for the past two years, Kevin Durant was Paul George.
During the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season, Durant took the league by storm in winning his third straight scoring title, earning MVP honors in the All-Star Game and leading the Thunder to the Finals before falling to the James-led Heat.
Last season, Durant upped the ante, becoming the youngest player to join the 50-40-90 club by shooting 51 percent from the field, 41.6 percent from the three-point line and 90.5 percent from the free throw line. The Thunder captured the top seed in the Western Conference, but when Russell Westbrook went down with a playoff-ending knee injury, so too did the team’s chances at winning a title — and seemingly the buzz surrounding the 25-year-old Durant.
Though he hasn’t reached last year’s historic pace, Durant is still putting up big numbers this season. The four-time all-star is averaging a NBA-high 28.4 points and a career-high 8.2 rebounds in pushing the Thunder to a 17-4 record, good for third-best in the tougher Western Conference.
Durant, of course, hasn’t been totally forgotten. He still led the Western Conference in the first round of All-Star Game voting with 607,407 votes, just behind James (609,336) for the overall lead.
What’s more, even George himself admitted that Durant is a tougher defensive assignment for him than James, telling reporters after Sunday’s loss that “when [Oklahoma City plays] against us, [Durant's] moving a lot. He’s the screener, he’s getting back-screened and he’s coming off pin-downs and it’s a little different when I’m guarding him and it makes it a tougher cover.”
With just more than a quarter of the NBA schedule in the books, there’s still plenty of time for the MVP conversation to fluctuate. Since 1990, the award has been given to a player on a team that finished with the league’s best record 58 percent of the time. At the moment, that distinction is held by the Pacers. But if the words of Oklahoma City teammate Kendrick Perkins are any indication, Durant is determined to not let him or his team got lost in the discussion.
“KD don’t want me answering this question,” Perkins told the Oklahoman, in reference to Durant when asked about the Pacers forward, “because he’s getting tired of hearing about Paul George.”
BY THE NUMBERS
104,765
Dollars that Michael Jordan’s game-worn shoes from the famous “Flu Game” sold for on Thursday, breaking the record price paid for a pair of game-worn shoes in any sport. Jordan gave the shoes to Utah Jazz ball boy Preston Truman following his 38-point, flu-ridden performance in Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals.
3
Consecutive games won by the Brooklyn Nets following Thursday’s 102-93 win over the Los Angeles Clippers, marking the team’s first and longest win streak of the season.
QUOTABLE
“It’s appealing. One of the best centers in the NBA, one of the best interior players, is my brother. There’s a lot of attractive factors there. But who knows if that’s even a possibility or if that will ever happen”
Around the NBA: Is Kevin Durant this year’s forgotten superstar?
The Montrose Christian alum exploded for 36 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, besting George’s 32-point performance in a game that often saw them match up with each other. Upon exiting the game with just less than four minutes left, he reportedly exhorted those gathered on press row to “write about that!”
Durant’s outburst — both verbal and on the court — likely stems from the notion put forth by some that George stands as this year’s top MVP candidate not named LeBron James. After all, for the past two years, Kevin Durant was Paul George.
During the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season, Durant took the league by storm in winning his third straight scoring title, earning MVP honors in the All-Star Game and leading the Thunder to the Finals before falling to the James-led Heat.
Last season, Durant upped the ante, becoming the youngest player to join the 50-40-90 club by shooting 51 percent from the field, 41.6 percent from the three-point line and 90.5 percent from the free throw line. The Thunder captured the top seed in the Western Conference, but when Russell Westbrook went down with a playoff-ending knee injury, so too did the team’s chances at winning a title — and seemingly the buzz surrounding the 25-year-old Durant.
Though he hasn’t reached last year’s historic pace, Durant is still putting up big numbers this season. The four-time all-star is averaging a NBA-high 28.4 points and a career-high 8.2 rebounds in pushing the Thunder to a 17-4 record, good for third-best in the tougher Western Conference.
Durant, of course, hasn’t been totally forgotten. He still led the Western Conference in the first round of All-Star Game voting with 607,407 votes, just behind James (609,336) for the overall lead.
What’s more, even George himself admitted that Durant is a tougher defensive assignment for him than James, telling reporters after Sunday’s loss that “when [Oklahoma City plays] against us, [Durant's] moving a lot. He’s the screener, he’s getting back-screened and he’s coming off pin-downs and it’s a little different when I’m guarding him and it makes it a tougher cover.”
With just more than a quarter of the NBA schedule in the books, there’s still plenty of time for the MVP conversation to fluctuate. Since 1990, the award has been given to a player on a team that finished with the league’s best record 58 percent of the time. At the moment, that distinction is held by the Pacers. But if the words of Oklahoma City teammate Kendrick Perkins are any indication, Durant is determined to not let him or his team got lost in the discussion.
“KD don’t want me answering this question,” Perkins told the Oklahoman, in reference to Durant when asked about the Pacers forward, “because he’s getting tired of hearing about Paul George.”
BY THE NUMBERS
104,765
Dollars that Michael Jordan’s game-worn shoes from the famous “Flu Game” sold for on Thursday, breaking the record price paid for a pair of game-worn shoes in any sport. Jordan gave the shoes to Utah Jazz ball boy Preston Truman following his 38-point, flu-ridden performance in Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals.
3
Consecutive games won by the Brooklyn Nets following Thursday’s 102-93 win over the Los Angeles Clippers, marking the team’s first and longest win streak of the season.
QUOTABLE
“It’s appealing. One of the best centers in the NBA, one of the best interior players, is my brother. There’s a lot of attractive factors there. But who knows if that’s even a possibility or if that will ever happen”
Around the NBA: Is Kevin Durant this year’s forgotten superstar?
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2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Kyrie Irving, a budding superstar with the Cavaliers, cannot become an unrestricted free agent until 2016. That is the earliest he can choose to leave the team. That is not any time soon, and most fans here seem to understand the rules of his employment.
"He's trapped with us that long," said Mike Polk, a comedian based in Cleveland.
Yet Irving's situation has not prevented a segment of the population from voicing concern. It is never too early to worry in Cleveland, where the psychic wounds are deep. The city has not celebrated a major sports championship since 1964, and one of its greatest basketball stars, LeBron James, decamped for South Florida three years ago.
Even as he plays for the Miami Heat, James continues to cast his considerable shadow over Cleveland - and on Irving, in particular, who has become the target of some LeBron-inspired civic angst. Such was the case on December 7, during the Cavaliers' game against the Los Angeles Clippers, when a young fan wandered onto the court wearing a T-shirt that read, "Kyrie Don't Leave."
Play stopped. Security officers became involved. Irving found the episode disconcerting.
Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said, "There are pressures that he has to deal with that none of us have to deal with."
The state of play is unusual in Cleveland, where Irving, 21, has emerged as one of the NBA's most dynamic point guards. With James eligible for free agency again next summer, the city's most optimistic residents wonder whether Irving can help woo him to return. It would be a one-two punch to rival any in the league.
Optimism, though, tends to be a foreign feeling here, too much disappointment and too much frustration. Although last week's T-shirt incident was isolated - "Most people in this city have perspective," Polk said - some are fearing the worst. It makes no sense, given Irving's contract. But it also makes total sense.
"It's like you had a hot wife who left you for another guy," Jason Herron, a season-ticket holder, said. "Now, you have a new hot girlfriend, and you're worried that she's going to leave you too. It's almost embarrassing. He can't even go anywhere for two years."
Herron, a sales manager at a car dealership, gained a measure of fame (or infamy, depending on your point of view) for his central role in an unusual episode in the city's history. On July 8, 2010, Herron watched James' televised "Decision" with friends at a local bar. Herron was hopeful that James would choose to stay in Cleveland, but he also packed lighter fluid. "Just in case," he said.
Shortly after James declared that he would sign with Miami, Herron went outside and started a bonfire. He used a James jersey as kindling. A local television news crew's video soon was widespread online, and it became yet another symbol of Cleveland's fraught relationship with professional sports.
Since his departure, James has won two championships with the Heat. And the Cavaliers have reverted to familiar form as one of the league's resident punching bags, finishing last in the Central Division in each of the past three seasons.
If fans have any reason to feel encouraged about the future, it comes in the form of Irving, a 6-foot-3 ball-handling wizard whom the team selected with the top overall pick in the 2011 draft. Irving, who grew up in West Orange, N.J., before attending Duke for one injury-marred season, appeared in his first All-Star Game last season. He entered Saturday's game against Miami averaging 21 points, six assists and 3.2 rebounds.
The season has been an adventure. There were reports of a players-only meeting that became confrontational. Irving struggled with his shooting stroke. And the team's progress under Brown, back for his second stint with the Cavaliers after Byron Scott was fired last April, has been halting. Irving was asked last week if he could identify the toughest part of adapting to Brown's system.
"I don't even know where to start," he said. "So many things you can pinpoint. But as a team, we're just moving forward with one another, and that's all you can do."
It was not the sort of statement that inspires great confidence, but the team has been playing better lately. The Cavaliers arrived in Miami after winning five of their last six games, and Irving collected 37 points in last Tuesday's victory over the New York Knicks.
"He was making them all over the place," Knicks coach Mike Woodson said.
If James is intrigued by the idea of teaming up with Irving, he has kept it to himself. At the same time, Irving has given no indication that he wants to leave Cleveland - perhaps because he has no choice in the matter, at least for a while.
Then there is the money. The Cavaliers can offer Irving a five-year contract extension next summer. If Irving wanted to keep his options open, he could sign a one-year qualifying offer with the Cavaliers for the 2015-16 season, then become an unrestricted free agent. But players of Irving's stature almost never do that. Under the rules of the collective bargaining agreement, the Cavaliers can supply him with the most lucrative contract.
When James was weighing his future in 2010, Polk, the comedian, produced a video called "We Are LeBron." Set to the tune of "We Are the World," notable Clevelanders including the city clerk and a well-known furniture pitchman begged James to stay. They even offered to rename streets after him. It did not work.
Polk appears to be taking a more measured approach with Irving, who is not going anywhere any time soon. Then again, Polk would not be surprised if Irving eventually left.
"That's just the way things work," he said. "There's no sense in getting all worked up about it."
Read more: [url=www-smh-com-au/sport/basketball/nba-kyrie-irving-a-rising-star-but-cleveland-fans-worry-about-another-lebron-james-decision-20131216-2zfws-html#ixzz2ncq00cf4]NBA: Kyrie Irving a rising star but Cleveland fans worry about another LeBro
"He's trapped with us that long," said Mike Polk, a comedian based in Cleveland.
Yet Irving's situation has not prevented a segment of the population from voicing concern. It is never too early to worry in Cleveland, where the psychic wounds are deep. The city has not celebrated a major sports championship since 1964, and one of its greatest basketball stars, LeBron James, decamped for South Florida three years ago.
Even as he plays for the Miami Heat, James continues to cast his considerable shadow over Cleveland - and on Irving, in particular, who has become the target of some LeBron-inspired civic angst. Such was the case on December 7, during the Cavaliers' game against the Los Angeles Clippers, when a young fan wandered onto the court wearing a T-shirt that read, "Kyrie Don't Leave."
Play stopped. Security officers became involved. Irving found the episode disconcerting.
Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said, "There are pressures that he has to deal with that none of us have to deal with."
The state of play is unusual in Cleveland, where Irving, 21, has emerged as one of the NBA's most dynamic point guards. With James eligible for free agency again next summer, the city's most optimistic residents wonder whether Irving can help woo him to return. It would be a one-two punch to rival any in the league.
Optimism, though, tends to be a foreign feeling here, too much disappointment and too much frustration. Although last week's T-shirt incident was isolated - "Most people in this city have perspective," Polk said - some are fearing the worst. It makes no sense, given Irving's contract. But it also makes total sense.
"It's like you had a hot wife who left you for another guy," Jason Herron, a season-ticket holder, said. "Now, you have a new hot girlfriend, and you're worried that she's going to leave you too. It's almost embarrassing. He can't even go anywhere for two years."
Herron, a sales manager at a car dealership, gained a measure of fame (or infamy, depending on your point of view) for his central role in an unusual episode in the city's history. On July 8, 2010, Herron watched James' televised "Decision" with friends at a local bar. Herron was hopeful that James would choose to stay in Cleveland, but he also packed lighter fluid. "Just in case," he said.
Shortly after James declared that he would sign with Miami, Herron went outside and started a bonfire. He used a James jersey as kindling. A local television news crew's video soon was widespread online, and it became yet another symbol of Cleveland's fraught relationship with professional sports.
Since his departure, James has won two championships with the Heat. And the Cavaliers have reverted to familiar form as one of the league's resident punching bags, finishing last in the Central Division in each of the past three seasons.
If fans have any reason to feel encouraged about the future, it comes in the form of Irving, a 6-foot-3 ball-handling wizard whom the team selected with the top overall pick in the 2011 draft. Irving, who grew up in West Orange, N.J., before attending Duke for one injury-marred season, appeared in his first All-Star Game last season. He entered Saturday's game against Miami averaging 21 points, six assists and 3.2 rebounds.
The season has been an adventure. There were reports of a players-only meeting that became confrontational. Irving struggled with his shooting stroke. And the team's progress under Brown, back for his second stint with the Cavaliers after Byron Scott was fired last April, has been halting. Irving was asked last week if he could identify the toughest part of adapting to Brown's system.
"I don't even know where to start," he said. "So many things you can pinpoint. But as a team, we're just moving forward with one another, and that's all you can do."
It was not the sort of statement that inspires great confidence, but the team has been playing better lately. The Cavaliers arrived in Miami after winning five of their last six games, and Irving collected 37 points in last Tuesday's victory over the New York Knicks.
"He was making them all over the place," Knicks coach Mike Woodson said.
If James is intrigued by the idea of teaming up with Irving, he has kept it to himself. At the same time, Irving has given no indication that he wants to leave Cleveland - perhaps because he has no choice in the matter, at least for a while.
Then there is the money. The Cavaliers can offer Irving a five-year contract extension next summer. If Irving wanted to keep his options open, he could sign a one-year qualifying offer with the Cavaliers for the 2015-16 season, then become an unrestricted free agent. But players of Irving's stature almost never do that. Under the rules of the collective bargaining agreement, the Cavaliers can supply him with the most lucrative contract.
When James was weighing his future in 2010, Polk, the comedian, produced a video called "We Are LeBron." Set to the tune of "We Are the World," notable Clevelanders including the city clerk and a well-known furniture pitchman begged James to stay. They even offered to rename streets after him. It did not work.
Polk appears to be taking a more measured approach with Irving, who is not going anywhere any time soon. Then again, Polk would not be surprised if Irving eventually left.
"That's just the way things work," he said. "There's no sense in getting all worked up about it."
Read more: [url=www-smh-com-au/sport/basketball/nba-kyrie-irving-a-rising-star-but-cleveland-fans-worry-about-another-lebron-james-decision-20131216-2zfws-html#ixzz2ncq00cf4]NBA: Kyrie Irving a rising star but Cleveland fans worry about another LeBro
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2006/12/07
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29893
Rudy Gay scored 26 points in his first home game since coming over in an NBA trade from Toronto to lead the Sacramento Kings past the Houston Rockets 106-91 on Sunday.
Gay added five rebounds and four assists. He finished 10-for-20 shooting in a dazzling home debut for the Kings, who had lost eight of their past 10 games.
DeMarcus Cousins had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Isaiah Thomas added 19 points and eight assists to help Sacramento hold on to the lead for most of the final three quarters.
James Harden twisted his left ankle early in the third quarter but finished with 25 points, and Dwight Howard had 13 points and 10 rebounds while battling foul trouble in a disappointing end to Houston's cramped three-game road trip. The Rockets lost at Portland on Thursday and won at Golden State on Friday.
Portland's Damian Lillard hit a spinning fadeaway shot with one-tenth of a second left in overtime to lift the Trail Blazers over the Detroit Pistons 111-109.
Lillard was guarded well by Rodney Stuckey as he tried to drive to the basket, but he was able to hit a tough fadeaway from about eight feet. Detroit couldn't get off a shot before the buzzer.
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 27 points for Portland and Lillard finished with 23 points.
In Tennessee, Kevin Love had 30 points and nine rebounds as the Minnesota Timberwolves hit a season-high 12 three-pointers in beating the Memphis Grizzlies 101-93.
The victory ended Minnesota's 11-game losing streak to the Grizzlies and also gave the Timberwolves their third win in the last four.
The Phoenix Suns beat the Golden State Warriors 106-102 for their fifth straight game after Eric Bledsoe scored seven of his 24 points in the fourth quarter.
In other games, the Oklahoma City Thunder downed the Orlando Magic 101-98 and the Denver Nuggets defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 102-93.
Read more: NBA: Rudy Gay stars in home debut for Sacramento Kings over Houston Rockets
Gay added five rebounds and four assists. He finished 10-for-20 shooting in a dazzling home debut for the Kings, who had lost eight of their past 10 games.
DeMarcus Cousins had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Isaiah Thomas added 19 points and eight assists to help Sacramento hold on to the lead for most of the final three quarters.
James Harden twisted his left ankle early in the third quarter but finished with 25 points, and Dwight Howard had 13 points and 10 rebounds while battling foul trouble in a disappointing end to Houston's cramped three-game road trip. The Rockets lost at Portland on Thursday and won at Golden State on Friday.
Portland's Damian Lillard hit a spinning fadeaway shot with one-tenth of a second left in overtime to lift the Trail Blazers over the Detroit Pistons 111-109.
Lillard was guarded well by Rodney Stuckey as he tried to drive to the basket, but he was able to hit a tough fadeaway from about eight feet. Detroit couldn't get off a shot before the buzzer.
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 27 points for Portland and Lillard finished with 23 points.
In Tennessee, Kevin Love had 30 points and nine rebounds as the Minnesota Timberwolves hit a season-high 12 three-pointers in beating the Memphis Grizzlies 101-93.
The victory ended Minnesota's 11-game losing streak to the Grizzlies and also gave the Timberwolves their third win in the last four.
The Phoenix Suns beat the Golden State Warriors 106-102 for their fifth straight game after Eric Bledsoe scored seven of his 24 points in the fourth quarter.
In other games, the Oklahoma City Thunder downed the Orlando Magic 101-98 and the Denver Nuggets defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 102-93.
Read more: NBA: Rudy Gay stars in home debut for Sacramento Kings over Houston Rockets
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In some ways the first-quarter showing should have been expected, considering the up-and-down ways of the Kings this season.
The Kings held the NBA’s highest scoring team, the Houston Rockets, 16 points below its scoring average in a win Sunday.
So of course Sacramento would be able to hold down a team that had the second-worst scoring offense in the NBA at 90.4 points per game, right?
By the time the Kings figured out how to do that Tuesday night, they had already given up 35 points in the first quarter and fallen behind by 18 points in the second quarter in what became a 95-87 loss to the Charlotte Bobcats at Time Warner Cable Arena.
“We can’t come off a game where we hold one of the best offensive teams in the league below their scoring average and play one of the worst scoring teams and they come out and have an incredible first quarter,” said center DeMarcus Cousins. “You’ve got to be consistent with your game. If we continue at this pace it’s going to be a long season.”
The Bobcats came out ready to play early. The Kings looked lethargic, and they paid for it with a loss.
“We got back in the game, we got close,” said Kings coach Michael Malone. “But you can’t play three quarters in the NBA on the road and expect to win.”
Malone was asked if the Kings’ slow start surprised him.
“Nothing surprises me,” the coach said.
Cousins, on why the Kings started so badly: “I wish I knew the answer to that.”
The Kings cut the deficit to 80-78 with 8:53 to play, but could not overtake Charlotte, a task complicated by Rudy Gay sitting out the entire fourth quarter with right knee stiffness.
“I wanted to stay out there with the fellas, and I hate to watch the game,” Gay said. “But I realize with the schedule coming up and it was bothering me so (Malone said) to pull myself out.”
Gay said he would receive treatment on his knee and try to play tonight in Atlanta.
“He was complaining at halftime about his knee,” Malone said. “He went out, wanted to give it a shot in the third quarter, gave us some minutes but he wasn’t moving real well out there so we decided to shut him down. I don’t think it’s real serious, but I don’t want to speculate until I speak” with director of sports medicine Pete Youngman.
The Kings’ inconsistency has dogged them all season and been a major factor in their 7-16 record.
Isaiah Thomas said the Bobcats “were scoring and getting whatever they wanted” in the first quarter.
“We have to have that identity where, no matter what, we’re going to bring it,” Thomas said. “The effort and the energy have to be there. We may not make the shots or take care of the ball, but we have to play as hard as possible, and (not doing that) got us the loss” Tuesday. The Kings weren’t making shots, shooting 37.5 percent, their second-worst shooting performance of the season.
The Kings’ slow start allowed the Bobcats’ Gerald Henderson to get going (20 points). By the end of the game Kemba Walker had a team-high 24 points, and Ramon Sessions had 16 points and six assists off the bench.
“We have to start paying attention to detail,” Thomas said. “We play good one game and then play very bad the next. We didn’t play very bad (Tuesday), but it was just tough to win with letting them score 35 in the first quarter.”
Cousins had 30 points, 17 rebounds and six assists. The only other King to score in double figures was Thomas, with 21 points, as Sacramento became the 21st opponent that the Bobcats (11-14) have held under 100 points, the most in the NBA.
Read more here: Kings fall flat in first quarter - Kings/NBA - The Sacramento Bee
The Kings held the NBA’s highest scoring team, the Houston Rockets, 16 points below its scoring average in a win Sunday.
So of course Sacramento would be able to hold down a team that had the second-worst scoring offense in the NBA at 90.4 points per game, right?
By the time the Kings figured out how to do that Tuesday night, they had already given up 35 points in the first quarter and fallen behind by 18 points in the second quarter in what became a 95-87 loss to the Charlotte Bobcats at Time Warner Cable Arena.
“We can’t come off a game where we hold one of the best offensive teams in the league below their scoring average and play one of the worst scoring teams and they come out and have an incredible first quarter,” said center DeMarcus Cousins. “You’ve got to be consistent with your game. If we continue at this pace it’s going to be a long season.”
The Bobcats came out ready to play early. The Kings looked lethargic, and they paid for it with a loss.
“We got back in the game, we got close,” said Kings coach Michael Malone. “But you can’t play three quarters in the NBA on the road and expect to win.”
Malone was asked if the Kings’ slow start surprised him.
“Nothing surprises me,” the coach said.
Cousins, on why the Kings started so badly: “I wish I knew the answer to that.”
The Kings cut the deficit to 80-78 with 8:53 to play, but could not overtake Charlotte, a task complicated by Rudy Gay sitting out the entire fourth quarter with right knee stiffness.
“I wanted to stay out there with the fellas, and I hate to watch the game,” Gay said. “But I realize with the schedule coming up and it was bothering me so (Malone said) to pull myself out.”
Gay said he would receive treatment on his knee and try to play tonight in Atlanta.
“He was complaining at halftime about his knee,” Malone said. “He went out, wanted to give it a shot in the third quarter, gave us some minutes but he wasn’t moving real well out there so we decided to shut him down. I don’t think it’s real serious, but I don’t want to speculate until I speak” with director of sports medicine Pete Youngman.
The Kings’ inconsistency has dogged them all season and been a major factor in their 7-16 record.
Isaiah Thomas said the Bobcats “were scoring and getting whatever they wanted” in the first quarter.
“We have to have that identity where, no matter what, we’re going to bring it,” Thomas said. “The effort and the energy have to be there. We may not make the shots or take care of the ball, but we have to play as hard as possible, and (not doing that) got us the loss” Tuesday. The Kings weren’t making shots, shooting 37.5 percent, their second-worst shooting performance of the season.
The Kings’ slow start allowed the Bobcats’ Gerald Henderson to get going (20 points). By the end of the game Kemba Walker had a team-high 24 points, and Ramon Sessions had 16 points and six assists off the bench.
“We have to start paying attention to detail,” Thomas said. “We play good one game and then play very bad the next. We didn’t play very bad (Tuesday), but it was just tough to win with letting them score 35 in the first quarter.”
Cousins had 30 points, 17 rebounds and six assists. The only other King to score in double figures was Thomas, with 21 points, as Sacramento became the 21st opponent that the Bobcats (11-14) have held under 100 points, the most in the NBA.
Read more here: Kings fall flat in first quarter - Kings/NBA - The Sacramento Bee
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MIAMI The pulpit changed from TNT's National Basketball Association studio show to a sit-down interview on CNN with Rachel Nichols.
But that hardly had Charles Barkley changing his tune when it came to the Heat and LeBron James.
Asked about his lack of a championship ring during his Hall of Fame NBA career, Barkley veered into LeBron's lane and stayed there for a while.
"It's interesting," Barkley said. "People always ask me about the championship ring. And I never think like they think. You know, basketball's what I do, it's not who I am.
"I thought LeBron shoulda stayed in Cleveland. Just 'cause he got them rings now, he ain't no better. Think about the notion that, just because I didn't win a sportin' event, my life is not successful. That's gotta be the stupidest thing I ever heard."
James has won NBA championships the past two seasons with the Heat. He can become a free agent this coming offseason.
Asked if he would like to see James back in Cleveland, where he began his NBA career, not far from James' childhood home in Akron, Barkley said: "I think it'd be great for him to go back to Cleveland. Number one, I don't think they are great fans in Miami. I thought they were great fans in Cleveland."
Barkley in recent years has had a somewhat antagonistic relationship with Heat fans.
"I'm not digging a deeper — they're not the — listen, those were the same fans who were leaving when they thought they had lost to the Spurs," he said of the Heat's last-minute comeback in Game 7 of the 2013 NBA Finals. "So let's don't act like they're super fans."
Before Saturday's game against the Cavaliers, Cleveland coach Mike Brown said he is not surprised that James has come to be viewed as an improved player at this stage of his career.
"I wouldn't put it past him that he still can improve his game," said Brown, who coached James in Cleveland.
Sun Sentinel
NBA: Barkley says LeBron should return to Cavs
But that hardly had Charles Barkley changing his tune when it came to the Heat and LeBron James.
Asked about his lack of a championship ring during his Hall of Fame NBA career, Barkley veered into LeBron's lane and stayed there for a while.
"It's interesting," Barkley said. "People always ask me about the championship ring. And I never think like they think. You know, basketball's what I do, it's not who I am.
"I thought LeBron shoulda stayed in Cleveland. Just 'cause he got them rings now, he ain't no better. Think about the notion that, just because I didn't win a sportin' event, my life is not successful. That's gotta be the stupidest thing I ever heard."
James has won NBA championships the past two seasons with the Heat. He can become a free agent this coming offseason.
Asked if he would like to see James back in Cleveland, where he began his NBA career, not far from James' childhood home in Akron, Barkley said: "I think it'd be great for him to go back to Cleveland. Number one, I don't think they are great fans in Miami. I thought they were great fans in Cleveland."
Barkley in recent years has had a somewhat antagonistic relationship with Heat fans.
"I'm not digging a deeper — they're not the — listen, those were the same fans who were leaving when they thought they had lost to the Spurs," he said of the Heat's last-minute comeback in Game 7 of the 2013 NBA Finals. "So let's don't act like they're super fans."
Before Saturday's game against the Cavaliers, Cleveland coach Mike Brown said he is not surprised that James has come to be viewed as an improved player at this stage of his career.
"I wouldn't put it past him that he still can improve his game," said Brown, who coached James in Cleveland.
Sun Sentinel
NBA: Barkley says LeBron should return to Cavs
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The Kobe Bryant injury bombshell dropped on Thursday, proving to NBA loyalists across the globe that hope is a very dangerous thing.
Per a Los Angeles Lakers press release, Bryant will be sidelined for an extended period with a knee injury: Kobe hadn't been playing particularly well since his return from a ruptured Achilles, averaging 13.8 points and 5.7 turnovers per game on 42.5 percent shooting. But that wasn't really all that important to a huge portion of NBA fans.
Everybody just wanted to see Bryant on the floor, defying the odds and trying to take on the seemingly impossible challenge of extending his career after an injury that had ended so many others. Lakers fans, in particular, needed Bryant to play. Kobe occupies a mythical place in Lakers lore. He's indestructible, something more than human. Lakers fans and Bryant supporters the world over simply assumed he'd beat the odds because...well, because he's Kobe.
His latest injury is just another reminder that tempered expectations, though no fun at all, are usually the safest kind to have.
Bryant's loss is devastating, and the outpouring of disappointment started mere moments after news broke of his upcoming absence.
B/R's Kevin Ding noted that this particular injury carries with it some potentially far-reaching complications: It's not crazy to assume that this latest setback could be the one that ends Bryant's career. The Lakers and their fans have to be particularly cognizant of the downward spiral that can result from continued setbacks to aging stars—especially after watching it happen to Steve Nash.
The long-term prognosis certainly isn't going to make anybody feel better.
More broadly, Bryant's injury serves as bleak notice that it's usually not safe to assume the players we put on pedestals won't someday fall off. Truehoop's Ethan Strauss expressed that sentiment: Remember, Derrick Rose got the depressing-injury ball rolling earlier this year. He went down with a torn meniscus just 10 games into his return from a torn ACL. Nobody had a more hopeful, unrealistic expectation-inducing comeback campaign than Rose, which made his second consecutive lost season sting a little extra.
Kobe's injury changes a number of things about this NBA season and the future of the league.
For starters, it completely alters everything the Lakers will do for the rest of this year. Even if we assume Los Angeles will only be without No. 24 for six weeks, that period of time will almost certainly be long enough to see it slip too far back in a brutal Western Conference to entertain realistic hopes of contending for a playoff spot.
If we assume the worst (probably a wiser course to take if recent events are any guide), L.A. will have to reconsider trading Pau Gasol and will almost certainly give a second look at its overall plan for the next few years. Bryant got $48.5 million from the Lakers partly because they assumed that even if he wasn't going to be a superstar, he'd at least help them sell tickets and preserve fan interest. He can't do that as effectively if he's not on the court.
You can bet that the trickle-down effect of both Bryant and Rose's injury will force teams to think much more carefully about investing in stars. If the Bulls had to do it all over again, they'd still give D-Rose a max deal, but older guys like Bryant—especially coming off of serious injuries—are going to find it much harder to secure big dollars.
In addition, the more careful teams around the NBA might see their strategies meet with a little more league approval. The San Antonio Spurs have caught flack and fines in recent years for resting their vets, so maybe decisions like the one they made the very same day news of Bryant's injury broke will be met with less scorn from the league. NBA fans are going to stay optimistic despite the painful losses of Bryant and Rose. That's part of being a fan; rationality doesn't always play a role.
And for every D-Rose and Kobe, there's a Russell Westbrook and an Anthony Davis. Sometimes, stars surprise us with quick returns to health. Sometimes, hopes get rewarded.
That's not the case today, though. And it's going to take a while for NBA fans to get over the blow of losing yet another huge name to injury.
Kobe Bryant Injury Another Massive Disappointment for NBA Fans | Bleacher Report
Per a Los Angeles Lakers press release, Bryant will be sidelined for an extended period with a knee injury: Kobe hadn't been playing particularly well since his return from a ruptured Achilles, averaging 13.8 points and 5.7 turnovers per game on 42.5 percent shooting. But that wasn't really all that important to a huge portion of NBA fans.
Everybody just wanted to see Bryant on the floor, defying the odds and trying to take on the seemingly impossible challenge of extending his career after an injury that had ended so many others. Lakers fans, in particular, needed Bryant to play. Kobe occupies a mythical place in Lakers lore. He's indestructible, something more than human. Lakers fans and Bryant supporters the world over simply assumed he'd beat the odds because...well, because he's Kobe.
His latest injury is just another reminder that tempered expectations, though no fun at all, are usually the safest kind to have.
Bryant's loss is devastating, and the outpouring of disappointment started mere moments after news broke of his upcoming absence.
B/R's Kevin Ding noted that this particular injury carries with it some potentially far-reaching complications: It's not crazy to assume that this latest setback could be the one that ends Bryant's career. The Lakers and their fans have to be particularly cognizant of the downward spiral that can result from continued setbacks to aging stars—especially after watching it happen to Steve Nash.
The long-term prognosis certainly isn't going to make anybody feel better.
More broadly, Bryant's injury serves as bleak notice that it's usually not safe to assume the players we put on pedestals won't someday fall off. Truehoop's Ethan Strauss expressed that sentiment: Remember, Derrick Rose got the depressing-injury ball rolling earlier this year. He went down with a torn meniscus just 10 games into his return from a torn ACL. Nobody had a more hopeful, unrealistic expectation-inducing comeback campaign than Rose, which made his second consecutive lost season sting a little extra.
Kobe's injury changes a number of things about this NBA season and the future of the league.
For starters, it completely alters everything the Lakers will do for the rest of this year. Even if we assume Los Angeles will only be without No. 24 for six weeks, that period of time will almost certainly be long enough to see it slip too far back in a brutal Western Conference to entertain realistic hopes of contending for a playoff spot.
If we assume the worst (probably a wiser course to take if recent events are any guide), L.A. will have to reconsider trading Pau Gasol and will almost certainly give a second look at its overall plan for the next few years. Bryant got $48.5 million from the Lakers partly because they assumed that even if he wasn't going to be a superstar, he'd at least help them sell tickets and preserve fan interest. He can't do that as effectively if he's not on the court.
You can bet that the trickle-down effect of both Bryant and Rose's injury will force teams to think much more carefully about investing in stars. If the Bulls had to do it all over again, they'd still give D-Rose a max deal, but older guys like Bryant—especially coming off of serious injuries—are going to find it much harder to secure big dollars.
In addition, the more careful teams around the NBA might see their strategies meet with a little more league approval. The San Antonio Spurs have caught flack and fines in recent years for resting their vets, so maybe decisions like the one they made the very same day news of Bryant's injury broke will be met with less scorn from the league. NBA fans are going to stay optimistic despite the painful losses of Bryant and Rose. That's part of being a fan; rationality doesn't always play a role.
And for every D-Rose and Kobe, there's a Russell Westbrook and an Anthony Davis. Sometimes, stars surprise us with quick returns to health. Sometimes, hopes get rewarded.
That's not the case today, though. And it's going to take a while for NBA fans to get over the blow of losing yet another huge name to injury.
Kobe Bryant Injury Another Massive Disappointment for NBA Fans | Bleacher Report
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Former NBA star Dennis Rodman held tryouts Friday for a North Korean team to face a dozen NBA veterans in an exhibition game on leader Kim Jong Un’s birthday next month — though he hasn’t convinced all the players on the American team that it’s safe to come to Pyongyang.
The flamboyant Hall of Famer said plans for the Jan. 8 game are moving ahead but some of the 12 Americans he wants are afraid to come.
Some foreign analysts say the dramatic purge and execution of Kim’s once-powerful uncle less than a week ago has cast doubt on Kim’s future. But officials here say there is no instability and Kim remains firmly in control.
“You know, they’re still afraid to come here, but I’m just telling them, you know, don’t be afraid man, it’s all love, it’s all love here,” Rodman told The Associated Press after the tryouts at the Pyongyang Indoor Gymnasium. “I understand what’s going on with the political stuff, and I say, I don’t go into that venture, I’m just doing one thing for these kids here, and for this country, and for my country, and for the world pretty much.”
Rodman, who arrived in Pyongyang on Thursday, said he expects to announce the roster soon. He also said he is planning another game in June.
Rodman, wearing a pink button-down shirt and puffing on a cigar, watched as a couple dozen local players took to the basketball court for the tryouts. After the session, he told the players that each of the 12 he chooses will get two new pairs of tennis shoes.
When asked why he liked basketball, North Korean player Kim Un Chol told Rodman he started playing the game because he was impressed by it on TV, and said he also wants to be good at the sport because it is a favorite of leader Kim and his late father, Kim Jong Il.
Rodman asked all the players if they felt the same way. They nodded in unison.
“I want you guys to do one thing for your leader,” Rodman then told them. “It’s his birthday. It’s a very special, special day for the country.”
Rodman and Kim have struck up an unlikely friendship since he traveled to the secretive state for the first time in February with the Harlem Globetrotters for an HBO series produced by New York-based VICE television.
He remains the highest-profile American to meet Kim since the leader inherited power from his father in 2011.
Known as much for his piercings, tattoos and bad behavior as he was for basketball, Rodman has mostly avoided politics in his dealings with the North and has avoided commenting on the North’s human rights record or its continued detainment of American Kenneth Bae for allegedly committing anti-state crimes.
On Friday, he stressed that he hopes the game will be friendly, without political or nationalistic overtones.
He said the former NBA players will take on the North Koreans in the first half, but the teams will be mixed for the second half.
“It’s not about win or loss. It’s about one thing — unite two countries,” Rodman said.
Read more: Dennis Rodman holds tryouts for North Korean team to face NBA veterans on Kim Jong Un
The flamboyant Hall of Famer said plans for the Jan. 8 game are moving ahead but some of the 12 Americans he wants are afraid to come.
Some foreign analysts say the dramatic purge and execution of Kim’s once-powerful uncle less than a week ago has cast doubt on Kim’s future. But officials here say there is no instability and Kim remains firmly in control.
“You know, they’re still afraid to come here, but I’m just telling them, you know, don’t be afraid man, it’s all love, it’s all love here,” Rodman told The Associated Press after the tryouts at the Pyongyang Indoor Gymnasium. “I understand what’s going on with the political stuff, and I say, I don’t go into that venture, I’m just doing one thing for these kids here, and for this country, and for my country, and for the world pretty much.”
Rodman, who arrived in Pyongyang on Thursday, said he expects to announce the roster soon. He also said he is planning another game in June.
Rodman, wearing a pink button-down shirt and puffing on a cigar, watched as a couple dozen local players took to the basketball court for the tryouts. After the session, he told the players that each of the 12 he chooses will get two new pairs of tennis shoes.
When asked why he liked basketball, North Korean player Kim Un Chol told Rodman he started playing the game because he was impressed by it on TV, and said he also wants to be good at the sport because it is a favorite of leader Kim and his late father, Kim Jong Il.
Rodman asked all the players if they felt the same way. They nodded in unison.
“I want you guys to do one thing for your leader,” Rodman then told them. “It’s his birthday. It’s a very special, special day for the country.”
Rodman and Kim have struck up an unlikely friendship since he traveled to the secretive state for the first time in February with the Harlem Globetrotters for an HBO series produced by New York-based VICE television.
He remains the highest-profile American to meet Kim since the leader inherited power from his father in 2011.
Known as much for his piercings, tattoos and bad behavior as he was for basketball, Rodman has mostly avoided politics in his dealings with the North and has avoided commenting on the North’s human rights record or its continued detainment of American Kenneth Bae for allegedly committing anti-state crimes.
On Friday, he stressed that he hopes the game will be friendly, without political or nationalistic overtones.
He said the former NBA players will take on the North Koreans in the first half, but the teams will be mixed for the second half.
“It’s not about win or loss. It’s about one thing — unite two countries,” Rodman said.
Read more: Dennis Rodman holds tryouts for North Korean team to face NBA veterans on Kim Jong Un
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NBA draft experts, and leading US sports website ESPN, believe he will be a top-four selection should he be available in the draft, with some of the opinion he could even go No.1.
It was in far humbler surrounds on Monday where the son of former NBL player Cecil left his mark though, scoring 32 points in helping his school team Lake Ginninderra College to a six-point win over Caulfield Grammar in their opening match of the Australian Schools Championships at Kilsyth, in Melbourne's outer-eastern suburbs.
While still raw, the 198cm athletic ball-handler, who can play at the point or as a shooting guard, wowed the small crowd, predominantly made of fellow teenagers but also featuring NBL and Basketball Australia types, with his slashes to the hoop, an improving jump shot, which included back-to-back three pointers, and a one-handed dunk with a cocked wrist to finish an alley-oop.
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Exum was clearly the leader of the Canberra-based team - and he enjoys the expectations.
"I am seen as kind of a leader, so it's good to have that responsibility," he said.
Deciding whether to nominate for the NBA draft in June, or choosing to have at least one year developing at an elite American college, also needs to be handled responsibly.
"To be honest, I haven't been thinking about it too much. I am just trying to go with it. I am back home but my mum is still in Singapore, so she is going to head back soon. After that I will make my decision with my whole family," Exum said.
"I want to get it done by February. It shouldn't be too hard to make. But I just want to make sure I use my time right so I make the right decision."
For the time being, Exum is happy to keep what he believes is relative anonymity in Australia. However, modern technology means NBA scouts are well aware of his ability, and a prominent US-based website, the Bleacher Report, is following the Australian Institute of Sport product and emerging Boomer around this week.
"There has been a lot of hype but I have kind of been undercover being in Australia. It has been good getting all the hype and still being under cover," he said.
"I don't mind it and I have adjusted well to it."
Next year's draft promises to be one of the deepest, and best, in history, with several players, including Exum, viewed as potential "franchise" players able to carry a team for a decade.
College stars Jabari Parker, the do-it-all Duke forward, Kentucky power forward Julius Randle, Oklahoma State guard Marcus Smart, Arizona's Aaron Gordon and Kansas' star freshman Andrew Wiggins are also coveted selections.
Exum keeps a close eye on the performances of all fellow NBA draft prospects, but does not believe the likes of Parker and Wiggins have an advantage in terms of improving their "stock" because they are at college, where players are meticulously drilled and learn the nuances of the game.
"They are getting an advantage and a disadvantage. They might play bad and go down (in rankings). It's the same with me. I am over here, not playing and they are not seeing me, but still my stock stays up," he said.
Should Exum, who lists injured Chicago Bulls superstar Derrick Rose as his idol, nominate for the draft, it would cap a major re-emergence of Australian talent in the NBA. He would join Patrick Mills (San Antonio Spurs), Aron Baynes (San Antonio Spurs), Andrew Bogut (Golden State Warriors) and Matthew Dellavedova (Cleveland Cavaliers) in one of sport's most high-profile leagues.
Read more: Dante Exum's NBA draft deadline