August 2011 – Page 4 – NBA Blog

Rockets forward Chase Budinger enters beach volleyball tourney

Chase Budinger of the Houston Rockets has entered the men’s open division of the Corona Light Wide Open beach volleyball tournament to be played Saturday and Sunday.

The former Arizona star, who has played the last two seasons with the Rockets, will partner with former UC Santa Barbara all-star Dane Jensen. Budinger was a two-sport standout at La Costa Canyon High in San Diego County. He won the 2006 Mizuno National Player of the Year Award in volleyball and was named a McDonald’s All-American in basketball.

With NBA players locked out by owners, no one is sure if there will be a 2011-12 season.

“Volleyball has always been a passion of mine, and it has been great to get back out on the beach and train,” Budinger said in a statement. “I’m really excited about this opportunity and I’m looking forward to seeing how my skills match up against some of the top players.”

— Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle blog

Hawks draftee Keith Benson to play in Italy

Former Oakland men’s basketball standout Keith Benson will be heading to the island of Sardinia to play professional basketball with Italian team Sassari, Oakland coach Greg Kampe said on Thursday. A second-round pick by the Atlanta Hawks, the 6-foot-11 Benson was the first Oakland player selected in the NBA draft.

“We’re delighted for Keith,” said Kampe. “I know he has worked hard in the past couple of months with our strength coach Todd Wohlfeil and he has his weight up to 233, with a goal of 240.”

— Tom Markowski of the Detroit News

Raptors guard Leandro Barbosa signs in Brazil

Leandro Barbosa doesn’t feel like sitting around doing nothing if the NBA lockout extends into the basketball season.

The AP reports:

Toronto Raptors guard Leandro Barbosa has signed a deal to play in his native Brazil.

Barbosa signed with Rio de Janeiro-based club Flamengo. The deal includes a clause that would allow him to return to the NBA if the lockout ends.

A statement on Flamengo’s website says Barbosa signed Thursday. Details of the deal weren’t released.

Barbosa was the third leading scorer on the Raptors last season, averaging 13.3 points per game. The team had the third worst record in the league, finishing 22-60.

It’s likely that over the next couple weeks, plenty of other bench-level NBA players will take this route.

Lakers donate part of playoff bonus to help staff during lockout

The Lakers were in a foul mood after getting eliminated from the playoffs in a shocking sweep by Dallas in May, but some players remembered to make financial considerations before scattering for the off-season.

Kobe Bryant insisted on giving some of the team’s playoff bonus to two members of the Lakers’ video department whose contracts were not renewed after the season. Chris Bodaken and Patrick O’Keefe split about $65,000 of the Lakers’ playoff bonus.

Bodaken started with the Lakers as a ball boy in 1986 and spent the last 10 seasons as their director of video services. O’Keefe was the Lakers’ video coordinator for six seasons. They both hope to be re-hired by the team when the NBA lockout ends. For now, they are thankful for Bryant’s financial gesture.

“He always looks out for people who are lower on the totem pole,” O’Keefe said.

Said Bodaken: “At the end of the day, he told us he was going to take care of us and he did, and that’s not how most people in the world operate. He not only talks the talk. He walks it.”

— Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times

Kendrick Perkins pleads not guilty

Oklahoma City Thunder starting center Kendrick Perkins has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges of public intoxication and disorderly conduct and is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 30.

According to documents released to The Associated Press on Thursday after an open records request, Perkins entered his plea by mail through attorney Langston Adams. He was arrested just after 2 a.m. Saturday in Beaumont, Texas, where an event for his charitable foundation was being held.

Denise White, a spokeswoman for Perkins, says doctors instructed Perkins to stay in bed and drink fluids after he passed out while playing dominoes at Milwaukee Bucks guard Stephen Jackson’s home last Thursday.

— The Associated Press

Spurs hire Matt Herring as Director of Athletic Performance

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that Matt Herring has joined the organization as the team’s Director of Athletic Performance.

Herring comes to San Antonio after spending the past five years as the strength and conditioning coordinator for the University of Florida men’s basketball and men’s and women’s golf programs. He was an integral part of the Gators back-to-back national championships in 2006 and 2007. Prior to his stint in Gainesville, he helped the Oklahoma State Cowboys men’s basketball program reach the 2004 Final Four. He arrived at Oklahoma State University after spending two years as an intern at the University of Texas.

“We are thrilled to welcome Matt Herring to the Spurs family to serve as our Director of Athletic Performance,” President of Sports Franchises R.C. Buford said. “Coming from one of the premier programs in college basketball led by Billy Donovan at Florida, Matt brings championship credentials with him and we look forward to the contributions he will bring to our team.”

Herring earned his bachelor’s degree in exercise sports science from Southwest Texas in 1994. He achieved his M.Ed. in kinesiology from the University of Texas in May of 2002. He is a member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association and USA Weightlifting. He also is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and a Certified Sports Performance Coach.

Prior to joining the strength and conditioning field, the Austin native was a teacher in the Schertz school district from 1994-99.

Dominican Republic, coached by John Calipari, beats Kentucky Pros in exhibition again

The Dominican Republic swept its two-day exhibition tour of Kentucky, beating a team of former Wildcats Pros 91-86 Tuesday night.

The intensity on the court sure didn’t feel like an August exhibition.

NBA star Rajon Rondo led fellow former Wildcats John Wall, Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight in a final-minute full court press but couldn’t complete a comeback over the Dominican squad coached by John Calipari. Rondo and Knight both took fourth quarter charges…

Wall, the NBA’s No. 1 draft pick for the Washington Wizards in 2010, led the Pros with 26 points. Backup Eulis Baez had 17 points and nine rebounds for Dominican, which also won Monday night at Lexington’s Rupp Arena, 106-88.

Calipari rested NBA All-Star Al Horford and former University of Louisville stars Francisco Garcia and Edgar Sosa in the second half. Calipari said he needed to see more players as he tries to winnow his roster in preparation for the Americas tournament, set for Aug. 30-Sept. 11 in Argentina. The winner of that event will earn an automatic bid to London’s 2012 Olympics.

— The Associated Press

Jimmmy King in court on child support claim

University of Michigan “Fab Five” member and ex-Toronto Raptors player Jimmy King said he is working with authorities to resolve a child support claim after being arrested earlier this month. The state says he failed to pay $17,000.

“We are working with the attorney general’s office,” King told reporters Tuesday outside a hearing in Pontiac. “We are going to do everything in our power to make sure that this is taken care of. I’m just going to continue doing what I’m doing to support my family.”

King, 38, is scheduled to return to court Sept. 9 for a preliminary hearing.

— The Associated Press

Basketball referee Troy Raymond commits suicide

College basketball and former NBA referee Troy Raymond committed suicide in a New Orleans hotel room late last week just hours after police found his wife’s body in their Houston-area home.

Police found his wife, Leslie Anderson Raymond, 41, deceased at their home in Spring, Texas, at 2:08 p.m. on Friday.

Constable Tim Holifield of Montgomery County Precinct Three told CBSSports.com that the medical examiner ruled the cause of death a homicide caused by asphyxiation due to manual strangulation.

“We’re not prepared to tell you who’s responsible,” Holified said. “But certainly Mr. Raymond is a person of interest — and his death brings about more questions than answers.”

Holified said that during the course of the investigation while at the residence on Friday, investigators were notified that Troy Raymond had been found dead in a hotel in New Orleans due to a single gunshot wound to the head.

— Reported by Jeff Goodman of CBS Sports.

Scottie Pippen wins $2.37M judgment over airplane deal

Former NBA basketball star Scottie Pippen has won a $2.37 million judgment against a Miami businessman, Craig Frost, and a Miami company, CF Air.

Pippen, who has a home in Fort Lauderdale, and his wife, Larsa Pippen, filed suit against Frost in 2007 regarding Pippen’s disastrous ownership of his own airplane through a company called Air Pip.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Air Pip had fallen apart in 2004, and Pippen lost a related $5 million judgment in Missouri to U.S. BankbizWatch . Pippen lost a further appeal of that judgment in 2007.

Pippen tried to argue that he was a victim of a conspiracy by those he trusted to put together the airplane deal.

— Paul Brinkmann of the South Florida Business-Journal