The New York Post (Marc Berman) reports: Kobe Bryant has said he doesn’t want to play in tomorrow’s All-Star Game because of a pinkie injury, but likely will be forced to make a cameo, according to a league source. An NBA rule says a player can’t skip the All-Star Game if he plays the game before and the game after. That would subject him to a suspension. “I’m not going to play,” Bryant said. “The important thing is for me to get as healthy as I possibly can within the rules of the NBA and get ready for Tuesday.” The Lakers and league officials have been in negotiations for two days to figure out how to handle this. Having Bryant miss the game entirely would be a massive blow to the event, as he’s the leading candidate for MVP this season and the league’s most electrifying and best-known player.
Day: February 16, 2008
LeBron guarantees Team USA Olympic gold
This summer, the USA Basketball senior men’s team and other top national basketball teams around the globe head to China to compete in the 2008 Olympic basketball competition.
Team USA are clearly a favorite, and on paper the top favorite, but as we know from past international basketball competitions, many other countries put together some extremely effective squads who play very well together. But LeBron James today made a loud, clear statement. The Akron Beacon Journal (Marla Ridenour) reports:
When questioned by an international reporter, LeBron James guaranteed a U.S. victory in the 2008 Olympics in Bejiing. ”We will win. We’ll be Olympic champions this year,” James said.
Asked why he was so confident, James said: ”I think we have a great coach in (Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski) who allows us to do what we want to do as long as we abide by some of his rules. Then we have leaders and guys who don’t want to lose. We have a guy like Jason Kidd, who has not lost in FIBA sports his whole life. He’s like 30-something and 0. ”We’ve got Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard that hold down that starting lineup and guys coming of the bench who are going to be good for us, Dwyane Wade. We’ve got so many players, it’s going to be unbelievable. It’s going to be hard for us to be beat.”
InsideHoops.com will provide full previews and coverage of the summer’s competition.
Rumor: If dealt, Stackhouse can’t return to Mavs
ESPN (Chris Broussard) reports: The chances of Jason Kidd wearing a Dallas Mavericks uniform this season are shrinking by the day. First, Devean George refused to consent to the trade to New Jersey. Now, according to a league source, the league will not allow the Mavericks to bring back Jerry Stackhouse if he is traded and subsequently waived by the New Jersey Nets. According to one league source, the NBA has already made one of the teams aware of its position. “The league has taken Stackhouse out of the deal,” the source said. “They said, ‘He can be in the trade, but he can’t go back to Dallas after that.’ “
Kobe interview about his injury
Friday afternoon Kobe Bryant talked about his injury. Here’s a bit of what he said:
Q: Kobe, can you tell us how your finger is and your injury?
Kobe Bryant: It’s sore. Just trying to rest it. Doing what we can to try to get it as healthy as we can for the second half of the season.
Q: So you were offered surgery as an option, and didn’t like it?
Bryant: Well, no, that’s bad timing. I’ve been playing with it, so it’s kind of routine to do that. But we have a great medical staff and we’ll stay on top of it.
Q: Can you protect it more than you did at Minnesota?
Bryant: You’ve just got to be careful. It’s tough though. Especially when you’re rebounding, offensive rebounds. It’s always tough. But what more can I do? It’s torn anyway.
Read the full interview here.