Month: February 2011

Talk of All-Star has been Melo, lockout

By Jeff Lenchiner

LOS ANGELES, CA — While the main attractions of 2011 NBA All-Star weekend are the on-court festivities, the off-court topics have been the same here as they have in the prior weeks and months of the regular season.

Everyone wants to know where Carmelo Anthony will go. High-up NBA employees with very legitimate connections are as unsure as fans wandering the streets in search of photos with stars and autographs.

The general consensus remains the same: The Nuggets, rather than losing Anthony like the Cavaliers lost LeBron James and the Raptors lost Chris Bosh, are likely to trade him before the February 24 trade deadline. In order, the Nets and Knicks are the favorites.

And then there’s a dreaded lockout looming which could wipe out some or — gasp — all of the next NBA season. Big meetings are going on this weekend between representatives of the owners and players to try to sort out the mess, but things still sound bleak.

Etan Thomas, who is on the Players Union executive board, told InsideHoops.com Friday that the two sides are “goal-posts apart.” No one else I spoke to had anything more positive to say about it.

That’s during All-Star off-time. The good news is, as players are hitting incredible shots and performing in the actual events, it’s safe to say that no one is thinking about all that other stuff and just focused on having a good time. John Wall dished 22 awesome assists Friday night in the Rookie Challenge, and as fans flew to their feet cheering the great plays, only excitement and appreciation for the spectacle was in mind.

Share your thoughts on the InsideHoops basketball forums.

Antonio McDyess plans to play next season

Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News reports (via blog):

No Antonio McDyess retirement yet

Antonio McDyess, the 36-year-old Spurs forward who as recently as last month had been leaning toward retirement at the end of the season, said Thursday he plans to return for a 15th season.

“My mind is pretty much made up,” McDyess said. “I feel like I’ll be able to lace ‘em up and go again.”

When McDyess joined the Spurs as a free agent in July 2009, his plan was to play two more seasons and call it quits. As an incentive, the Spurs built into McDyess’ contract a third season in 2011-12, of which only $2.64 million is guaranteed — sort of an early retirement present.

The way coach Gregg Popovich has used McDyess this season — sparingly and situationally — has convinced McDyess that he could survive another season. McDyess is playing a career-low 18:06 per game this season, and has missed five games for rest purposes. He is averaging career lows in scoring (5.1 points) and rebounding (5.2 per game), but his shooting percentage (50.2) is up nearly three points from last season.

Broadway plans play on Magic Johnson, Larry Bird

Mark Kennedy, an AP Drama writer, reports:

The playwright behind the Broadway play “Lombardi” is moving from the gridiron to the hard court.

Eric Simonson is working on “Magic/Bird,” a new play that will chronicle the lives of basketball Hall of Famers Larry Bird and Earvin “Magic” Johnson…

The story will trace the two basketball stars’ rivalry and friendship from their days as rookies in the NBA to their appearance on the Olympic Dream Team in 1992. Johnson and Bird were key parts in the storied struggle between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers during the 1980s.

“Here are these two, amazing at their craft, inspiring to watch, and yet they couldn’t be more different people,” said Kirmser. “There was a fierce competitiveness between them and yet such a great love and respect.”

The six-character play is scheduled to debut on Broadway in 2012.

If Kevin Durant is hosting any All-Star parties, someone forgot to tell Kevin Durant

I am in Los Angeles for 2011 NBA All-Star weekend, which begins Friday and runs through Sunday.

Wednesday night in a hotel near Staples Center I ran into Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Kevin Durant and several of his friends.

Of the bazillion invites I have received to various All-Star festivities, at least two of them mention that Durant will be one of the celebrity hosts.

I told this to Durant, and responded by telling me that he hasn’t agreed to host anything.

Parties can still be great even when the celeb hosts don’t show up, but remember, sometimes the celeb wasn’t supposed to be there in the first place.

–Jeff

D-Rose excited for All-Star

Nick Friedell of ESPN reports:

D-Rose excited for All-Star

Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose knows there are pundits out there who still doubt how good his team can be. As an All-Star starter and one of the leading candidates for the NBA MVP award, Rose knows that he will have even higher profile when he walks into the Eastern Conference locker room for the first time during All-Star weekend in Los Angeles.

“Teams know other teams in the league who are good,” Rose said after shootaround before the Bulls play the Spurs on Thursday night. “You know when other teams are ballin’. Like we know the Spurs are a very good team tonight. And you kind of get that respect around the league, even though with some media we’re under the radar as being an OK team even though our record is more than OK. Other players around the league know. That’s the fun thing about it.”

Rose knows that his team has opened up eyes all over the league this year with their play, and he realizes that while the task of climbing to the top of the Eastern Conference is difficult, it’s rewarding to be mentioned alongside the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics.

WADA could suspend Turkish lab in Diana Taurasi case

The AP reports:

The World Anti-Doping Agency could suspend the Turkish drug-testing laboratory that reported an apparent “false positive” for American basketball star Diana Taurasi.

WADA director general David Howman tells The Associated Press the agency has asked the Ankara lab to explain why it declared Taurasi’s samples positive for the banned stimulant modafinil, a decision which led to her contract being terminated by her Turkish club.

James Harden replaces Tyreke Evans in Rookie Challenge game

James Harden replaces Tyreke Evans in Rookie Challenge game

Oklahoma City Thunder guard James Harden will replace  injured  Sacramento  Kings  guard Tyreke Evans (plantar fasciitis, left  foot)  on  the Sophomore Team in the 2011 NBA Rookie Challenge game, which pits the league’s best rookies against the best second-year players.

The NBA Rookie Challenge game will be televised live nationally on  TNT  at  9 p.m. ET.

Cavaliers upset Lakers, 104-99

Cavs upset Lakers, 109-99

Before tonight, the Cleveland Cavaliers have shown life about twice over the past couple of months. It’s been a tough ride fo the Cavs and anytime they kept a game even remotely close, it’s been something of a moral victory.

The Los Angeles Lakers have been one of the league’s best teams, but lately they’ve struggled and have dropped some games they shouldn’t have lost. Still, you’d think the Cavs would be no match for the defending champs.

Apparently not! With Cavs reseve guard Ramon Sessions coming off the bench to shoot 9-of-16 for 32 points, eight assists and three steals, the underdogs won, toppling the Lakers 104-99 even with starting point guard Mo Williams only playing a bit more than three minutes.

The Cavs got 19 points and 10 rebounds from Antawn Jamison, 18 points and nine assists from Anthony Parker, and 13 points with 15 rebounds from center J.J. Hickson. As a team they shot 47.1 percent.

The Lakers as a team shot just 42.5% and committed 19 turnovers. Kobe Bryant was the main problem here, shooting just 8-of-24 for 17 points and 12 rebounds, but just two assists with seven turnovers. The team did get 30 points and 20 rebounds from Pau Gasol. Derek Fisher stepped up to score 19 on just 12 shots. But no one else was particularly good.

Count this as a high point in an incredibly tough Cavaliers season.

Rudy Gay out four weeks with shoulder injury

rudy gay

Memphis Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay underwent a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on his left shoulder today, which revealed a left shoulder subluxation.  Gay will begin rehab in one week and be re-evaluated in four weeks.

The 6-8, 240-pound forward originally suffered the injury in last night’s 102-91 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers when he was fouled with 5:31 remaining in the second quarter.

Currently in his fifth NBA season, Gay is averaging 19.8 points and 6.2 rebounds while posting career highs in assists (2.8), steals (1.69, 9th in the NBA), blocks (1.07), field goal percentage (.471), three-point field goal percentage (.396), free throw percentage (.805) and minutes (39.9, 2nd).  The 24-year-old holds career averages of 17.8 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists on .457 shooting in 36.0 minutes, playing in 372 of a possible 385 games.