June 2011 – Page 13 – NBA Blog

David Kahn asks Kurt Rambis to prepare a report on changes for next season

The AP reports:

Kurt Rambis has been waiting two months for an answer about his coaching future with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

It turns out he had some homework to do before team President David Kahn could make a decision.

Kahn said on Friday that he asked Rambis to write an extensive, detailed report about his team and the changes he would make if he comes back for a third season as head coach. Kahn said he asked Rambis to complete the report in mid-May, and the coach turned it in last weekend, setting up a series of meetings this week.

Kahn and Rambis met for four hours Thursday night and were scheduled to meet for another few hours Friday.

Kahn hired Rambis away from the Los Angeles Lakers in 2009, signing him to a four-year contract to start a massive rebuilding project in Minnesota. Rambis has won just 32 games in his first two seasons as coach — with 132 losses — and the Wolves finished last season with a 15-game losing streak that dropped them to the worst record in the NBA.

Timberwolves sign Ricky Rubio

The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced the team has signed Ricky Rubio, the fifth overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, to a multi-year contract. Rubio joins the Wolves following a decorated professional career in Spain that began when he was just 14 years old, the youngest ever to compete in the Spanish ACB League, and culminated with his FC Barcelona Team winning the 2011 ACB Championship earlier this week. Per team policy, terms of the contract offer were not disclosed.

“This is a day our organization and our fans have been eagerly awaiting from the moment we drafted him, and I couldn’t be more pleased to welcome Ricky to Minnesota,” said David Kahn, Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations. “Ricky’s skill set and feel for the game have made him one of the best young players in Europe for six years now, and at age 20 he’s still a young player with a lot of upside. I expect Ricky to enjoy a long and successful career here in Minnesota.”

Rubio and his FC Barcelona team clinched the 2011 ACB Championship on Tuesday, capping a two-year run in which the team also won two Catalan Cup Tournaments, two Spanish Supercups, two Spanish King’s Cups and the 2010 Euroleague title. Along the way Rubio earned All-ACB honors and was named the league’s Best Point Guard following the 2009-10 season. Rubio was also honored as the MVP of the 2009 Catalan Cup Tournament and won the 2010 Euroleague Rising Star Award as the best player under the age of 22 in Europe. In his two seasons with FC Barcelona, Rubio appeared in 68 regular season games, averaging 5.9 points, 3.0 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.85 steals in 21.6 minutes per game.

Prior to joining FC Barcelona, Rubio played four seasons with DKV Joventut Badalona, where he averaged 7.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 20.3 minutes per game. Rubio won FIBA Europe’s Young Player of the Year award in each of his final three seasons with Joventut, honoring him as the top player in Europe under the age of 22. He was also selected as the ACB Defensive Player of the Year in 2009.

A longtime member of the Spanish National Team, Rubio competed in the Beijing Olympics in 2008, helping Spain win a silver medal. At age 17, Rubio was the youngest player ever to compete in the gold medal game at the Olympics. Rubio also led his Spanish team to the 2006 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, where he averaged 22.3 points, 12.8 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 6.5 steals per game. Rubio posted two triple-doubles and a quadruple-double during the tournament, including a 51-point, 24-rebound, 12-assist, 7-steal performance in the championship game against Russia.

Kings forward Jason Thompson has broken right toe

X-rays taken yesterday at the UC Davis Sports Medicine Clinic revealed that Sacramento Kings forward Jason Thompson has a non-displaced sesamoid bone fracture in his right great toe. He will wear a walking boot for approximately four to six weeks, at which time Thompson will be re-evaluated.

Thompson, a three-year NBA veteran, averaged 8.8 points (.507 FGs, .605 FTs), 6.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game through 75 contests, of which he started 39 this past season for the Kings.

ESPN writer Chris Sheridan sues Peter Vecsey and NY Post for libel

Nathan Vardi of Forbes reports:

Chris Sheridan, a basketball writer for ESPN, sued basketball columnist Peter Vecsey and NYP Holdings, claiming they “published a maliciously false article” that impugned “Chris Sheridan’s veracity and competence as a journalist.”

Vecsey’s article argued that the New York Knicks did not have a good chance of obtaining basketball player Carmelo Anthony from the Denver Nuggets and called Sheridan’s reporting the “latest fairy tale” derived from the “same fountains of misinformation that frequently play make-believe with ESPN’s Chris Sheridan.” Sheridan had reported on ESPN.com two days earlier that if Anthony were to be traded from the Nuggets, he would only agree to sign a contract extension if he was traded to the Knicks. Sheridan cited an anonymous source…

Sheridan claims that Vecsey was motivated by his “historic malice towards Mr. Sheridan” and “fabricated an entirely false and sustained tirade against Mr. Sheridan.” Sheridan claims he demanded a retraction from Vecsey and the New York Post on April 7, but that they did not respond.

Heat make qualifying offer to Mario Chalmers

The Miami Heat announced today that they have made a qualifying offer to Mario Chalmers, making him a restricted free agent and giving Miami the opportunity to match any contract offer he receives.

Chalmers, a 6’2”, 190-pound guard, has appeared in 225 regular season games (132 starts) averaging 7.9 points, 3.7 assists, 2.3 rebounds, 1.45 steals and 26.7 minutes while shooting 40.9 percent from the field, 35 percent from three-point range and 77.8 percent from the foul line. Among Miami’s all-time leaders, he ranks eighth in steals (327), tied for ninth in three-point field goals made (272), 12th in assists (826), 19th in minutes (6,012), tied for 19th in games played (225) and 22nd in three-point field goal percentage (.350).

In 33 career postseason games (eight starts), he averaged 8.1 points, 2.7 assists, 2.1 rebounds, 1.52 steals and 26.4 minutes while shooting 43 percent from the field, 36 percent from three-point range and 75 percent from the foul line. During the 2011 NBA Finals, Chalmers increased his postseason averages in the six-game series against Dallas in points (11.8), assists (3.5), rebounds (2.7), minutes (29.0) and three-point field goal percentage (.400).

Chalmers set a new Heat record this season after dishing out 13 assists off the Miami bench at Toronto on April 13, the most from a non-starter in franchise history. He also currently holds the Heat all-time record for steals during a regular season game with nine vs. Philadelphia on November 5, 2008 and tied the franchise mark for steals during a postseason game with five vs. Atlanta on May 1, 2009. Additionally, during his rookie campaign, he became just the fifth player, and the first rookie, in franchise history to start in all 82 games while on his way to earning Second Team NBA All-Rookie honors.

Chalmers was originally drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round (34th overall) of the 2008 NBA Draft. His draft rights were acquired by the Heat in exchange for two 2009 second-round draft picks and cash considerations on draft night.

Caron Butler proud of his Mavericks

Two-time NBA All-Star forward Caron Butler may have been out injured during the Dallas Mavericks playoff run to the 2011 NBA championship, but he’s still proud to be a part of the team and is happily soaking it all in.

“I’m trying to take it all in stride. All your life you want to be a champion. You always carry yourself like that, and represent your family the right way. To reach this height is so rewarding,” said Butler. “So many great players always fall short of this goal. It is a very humbling experience.”

Butler, who went down halfway through the year with a season-ending torn patella injury, says he was in fact just days from being cleared for a return by the Mavericks. He had been playing 1-on-1 and 2-on-2 in practice, and was participating in shoot-around. The team even brought his uniform to Miami, just in case he was cleared.

“It took me nine years to get here. I was playing some of the best ball of my career, and life threw something at me. I kept moving forward, and that was our team’s identity. Coach said we’re going to continue to move forward because that’s what you did. I was less than a week out from being cleared. I was so close to coming back. This team inspired me, the same amount that I inspired them. It was more and more a breath of fresh air. And together we made beautiful music.”

Continued Butler, “Jason Kidd and Jason Terry saying they were going to dedicate the playoffs to me, that was really special. For Kidd, a future Hall of Famer, and Terry, whose jersey will probably hang in the rafters in Dallas one day, to say that, let me know that they respect me as basketball player, but more than that, they respect me as a person. In a sense, I felt like I was more a part of the win this way, than if I was out there myself.”

DeShawn Stevenson arrested for public intoxication

The Dallas Mavericks won the 2011 NBA championship Sunday night, and immediately on Monday, when people weren’t making LeBron James jokes, they were tossing cracks around as to how Mavs guard DeShawn Stevenson was going to celebrate winning it all.

And low and behold, one of the more crude jokes came true Tuesday night.

Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas reports:

Dallas Mavericks shooting guard DeShawn Stevenson was arrested for public intoxication in Irving, Texas, on Tuesday night, two days after the franchise won its first NBA championship.

Irving police were called to the Grand Venetian apartment complex at about 10:30 p.m. CT after receiving a call to report an intoxicated person walking in the area. Officers reported that Stevenson, who does not live at the complex, appeared intoxicated and did not know where he was.

He was arrested without incident on the Class C misdemeanor charge based on the results of a sobriety test, officer’s observations and his statements.

“They felt he was a danger to himself and others,” Irving public information officer John Argumaniz said. “Basically, he was intoxicated to a point where he didn’t feel comfortable letting him walk away or leave. They didn’t have any other options at that point.”

And here’s Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

According to Irving police, Stevenson was walking incoherently in the area of the Grand Venetian apartments near the 6200 block of Love Drive about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday. Police were called, and when the officers arrived and checked on Stevenson, he reportedly didn’t know where he was.

Following field sobriety tests and Stevenson’s statements to officers, he was arrested without incident and later released on a $475 bond at approximately 5:30 this morning.

Anyway, Stevenson isn’t off to a great start as an NBA champion!

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.

Maloof family sell most of Palms Vegas casino

With economic troubles across the United States (and around much of the world) over the last several years, the city of Las Vegas has been hit especially hard. A vacation to a hotel casino is a luxury, not a necessity.

And now, the Maloofs have had to take a major step with their famous Palms casino:

Dale Kasler of the Sacramento Bee reports:

The owners of the Sacramento Kings have surrendered controlling interest in their Las Vegas casino, in a deal that they say improves their finances considerably.

After months of negotiations, the Maloof family announced Tuesday that it has reached a “recapitalization” agreement with the Palms Casino’s main creditors, investment firms TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners.

Co-owner George Maloof said the deal erases the Palms’ debt but leaves the family, which built the trendy casino a decade ago, with less than 50 percent of the equity. That gives controlling interest to TPG and Green.

But Maloof, who enjoys a high profile in Las Vegas, said he will continue to run the Palms. He said “it’s not disappointing at all” that controlling interest has passed to the creditors.

The deal could have significant implications for the Kings at a crucial time in the team’s history. The Kings passed up an opportunity last month to move to Anaheim, agreeing to give Sacramento a last chance to build a new arena. City officials and the NBA expect the Maloofs to contribute to the project, but the amount remains to be seen…

Brian Gordon of Applied Analysis, a Las Vegas financial consulting firm, said several casinos have had to restructure their debts in the past year or so. Typically, the creditors wind up owning a stake in the casino, he said.

I’m a fan of the Palms. They have some of the best bars/clubs in Vegas.

Mavericks players are against idea of no championship rings

When you win an NBA championship, you are supposed to get a championship ring.

That’s just how it is.

And after winning the 2011 championship, Dallas Mavericks players want to be able to show off the same type of bling other previous winners have gotten to show off.

The AP reports:

Mark Cuban’s idea to celebrate an NBA championship with something other than a ring is being soundly rejected by his players, his coach and the top guy in the front office.

“We’ve got to talk to him about that,” said Dirk Nowitzki, the finals MVP. “I don’t think the last word has been spoken yet. We know he always wants to do something different, something bigger. But the ring is just so classic. I think I would vote for a ring. I mean, I’m a man. I don’t know how I’d feel about a bracelet.”

Donnie Nelson, the president of basketball operations, even made a bold offer.

“I’ll pay for them,” he said. “Now, they might have to be plastic.”

Cuban called rings “old school … done,” adding that he wants to “take it to the next level and do something different.”

I will assume Cuban will give the players what they want.

Production of comedic movie starring LeBron James delayed again

Jeff Sneider of Variety reports:

LeBron James will have to wait at least another year to make his Hollywood debut.

The Miami Heat forward has been attached to star in Universal/Imagine’s sports comedy “Ballers” since September 2009, and after an initial yearlong delay to accommodate his summer 2010 free agency, production was pushed to next month. However, in the wake of Miami’s NBA Finals loss to the Dallas Mavericks, exec producer Michael Rosenberg told Variety that because the script is still being developed, “we are not shooting this summer.”

Story follows five guys who attend the LeBron James Adult Basketball Camp in Las Vegas, but end up dragging the phenom into their myriad life issues.

Malcolm D. Lee (“Undercover Brother”) remains attached to direct and is working on a new draft of the screenplay originally written by Babaloo Mandel and Lowell Ganz and re-written by Peter Steinfeld.