Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) and the Minnesota Timberwolves, along with AEG Facilities, announced today they have extended the Target Center naming rights partnership through 2014. The three-year extension allows the parties to gain a better understanding of the potential for future renovations to Target Center.
“Target is pleased to continue our sponsorship of the Target Center and help provide our hometown with a facility where guests can experience exciting sports, entertainment and events,” said Shawn Gensch, vice president, marketing, Target. “Target Center is important to the vibrancy of downtown Minneapolis, and we look forward to carrying on our great relationship with the Timberwolves.”
Target has been the sole naming-rights holder of Target Center since the building opened in 1990.
“We are excited to extend our partnership with Target for the naming rights of Target Center,” said Timberwolves President Chris Wright. “This short-term extension allows both Target and the Timberwolves to fully understand the future renovation plan to Target Center. Target has been a tremendous partner for our franchise and this agreement demonstrates Target’s continued commitment to the building, downtown Minneapolis and the Timberwolves.”
The Target Center is managed by AEG Facilities and owned by the City of Minneapolis.
Month: September 2011
Rodney Buford and Eddie Robinson to play in new Canadian basketball league
Former NBA players Rodney Buford and Eddie Robinson have signed with the Halifax Rainmen of a new Canadian League that begins play next month.
The 33-year-old Buford, a 6-foot-5 guard, played five seasons in the NBA with Miami, Philadelphia, Memphis, Sacramento and New Jersey. He also played in Greece, Israel, Ukraine and Germany.
Robinson, 35, spent a season with the Charlotte Hornets and three with the Chicago Bulls. He hasn’t played professionally since 2008.
Thunder players get together for voluntary minicamp
Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman reports:
Despite the NBA lockout threatening to postpone the regularly-scheduled start of training camp, 10 of the Thunder’s projected 15-man roster got together for what became a voluntary minicamp.
It happened two weeks before camp is scheduled to start. It took place in Austin, Texas on the campus of the University of Texas. It lasted four days…
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According to the Twitter account of forward Nick Collison, veteran guard Royal Ivey organized the meet up. Both Ivey and Kevin Durant are Texas alums who return to Austin to work out for stretches each summer. Together, they tag-teamed last week as hosts to their teammates.
Ivey, Durant and Collison were joined by James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Nazr Mohammed, Eric Maynor, Cole Aldrich, Daequan Cook and rookie Reggie Jackson.
Of the five who were absent, Serge Ibaka is competing overseas, Thabo Sefolosha resides in his native Switzerland in the offseason and Byron Mullens was busy, well, enjoying his newlywed status. Nate Robinson and Kendrick Perkins also were not in attendance.
Spain beats France to win 2011 European basketball championship
The AP reports:
Juan Carlos Navarro stole the spotlight from what was supposed to be a big matchup between Pau Gasol and Tony Parker, leading Spain to it second straight European basketball championship.
Navarro scored 27 points to lead Spain to a 98-85 victory over France in the final on Sunday…
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Gasol chipped in with a double-double, adding 17 points and 10 rebounds for Spain, which became the first repeat champion since Yugoslavia in 1997…
Another difference maker in the final was Oklahoma City Thunder forward Serge Ibaka, who had five blocks in a five-minute span in the second quarter when Spain built a 10-point lead that it never relinquished. Ibaka, a native of the Republic of Congo, was playing his first tournament for Spain after being granted citizenship in July…
Parker scored 26 points for France but the San Antonio Spurs’ star got little help and could not bring his team its first continental title. France came within six points in the third period but a 7-0 run keyed by a 3-pointer from Navarro restored Spain’s double-digit lead…
Navarro also had five assists to lead a balanced Spanish effort. Guard Jose Calderon of the Toronto Raptors added 17 points while the Dallas Mavericks’ Rudy Fernandez had 14 and the Memphis Grizzlies’ Marc Gasol—Pau’s younger brother— scored 11…
Boris Diaw of the Charlotte Bobcats had 12 points for France, Chicago Bulls star Joakim Noah had 11 and eight rebounds and Nicolas Batum finished with 10 points.
Read NBA fan discussion of the game in this basketball forum topic.
Kevin Durant says players will not back down
The AP reports:
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Kevin Durant made his points on the court and off it Saturday, throwing down several thunderous alley-oops during a charity pickup game and saying afterward that the players will not give in to the owner’s demands in the ongoing NBA labor negotiations.
Durant, John Wall and other NBA players headlined the “Clash of the Superstars” at Coolidge High School in Washington, D.C.
“I think we’re going to stand up and stick to what we want,” Durant said. “I don’t think we’re just going to give in to a deal just because we want the season to start.
“I know fans may not want to hear that, but it’s kind of tough to put us in that position, but hopefully, like I said, everything gets resolved.”
Several hundred people watched the glorified scrimmage, one of numerous games players have organized across the country to reach out to fans and keep their skills sharp while they wait for the union and the league to reach a new collective bargaining agreement.
Former Celtics president Dave Gavitt dies at 73
The AP reports:
Dave Gavitt had an impact on the world of basketball. From a career as a successful coach to changing the face of college sports to introducing the Olympics to a Dream Team, Gavitt’s touch was everywhere.
His death Friday night after a long illness was confirmed by his family Saturday. He died in a hospital near his hometown of Rumford, R.I. He was 73.
Gavitt coached Providence to the NCAA tournament five times, including the Final Four in 1973. He was the driving force behind the formation of the Big East Conference and was its first commissioner. He was selected to coach the U.S. Olympic team in 1980, but the United States boycotted the Moscow Games. Gavitt was president of USA Basketball and oversaw the introduction of NBA players onto the U.S. Olympic roster, including the Dream Team at the 1992 Games.
“He was not only a great basketball coach and organizer of the Big East but he was a great, great statesman for basketball, college and international,” former St. John’s coach and fellow Naismith Hall of Famer Lou Carnesecca said Saturday.
Spain and France advance to EuroBasket championship game
The AP reports:
Defending champion Spain and first-time finalist France will compete for the European basketball title on Sunday and have qualified for next year’s Olympics in London.
Juan Carlos Navarro scored 35 points in a performance his coach called a “masterpiece” as Spain beat Macedonia 92-80 in the first semifinal on Friday.
France got 22 points from Tony Parker to beat Russia 79-71 in the late game. Nicolas Batum added 19 points for France, which reached the championship game for the first time.
“I’ve been chasing this for 11 years and I’m very happy that I can finally say I’m going to the Olympics,” Parker said.
France won a silver medal in 1949 but the tournament was played in a different format and did not have a final.
France went on a 10-2 to finish the third quarter and pull away. Going into the fourth, the run was 16-4, with eight points coming from Ali Traore.
Pau Gasol had 22 points and 17 rebounds for Spain.
Navarro scored 19 points in the third quarter to break open a close game. Spain coach Sergio Scariolo did not hold back in praising his point guard.
Joe Barry Carroll loses Atlanta bar discrimination claim
The AP reports:
A federal jury on Friday found that an upscale Atlanta restaurant did not violate the civil rights of an ex-NBA All Star and a friend who claimed they were expelled from the bar because they were black.
A panel of nine white members and three black deliberated just 15 minutes before deciding that Joe Barry Carroll and Joseph Shaw were not subject to racial discrimination. Their attorney Jeffrey Bramlett had been seeking at least $3 million in damages for the humiliation and embarrassment he claims his clients suffered when a security guard escorted them from the Tavern at Phipps in August 2006 after they refused to give up their seats to two white women.
Defense lawyer Ernest Greer said the establishment was following a longstanding policy rooted in Southern hospitality, in which men routinely give up their bar seats for women when the bar becomes crowded. Over the past 20 years, thousands of men, from stars like Michael Jordan to several sitting at the bar that night, have complied with the “good manners” policy, Greer said.
It was Carroll and Shaw who injected race into the exchange, he said.
“This incident didn’t happen because they were black,” Greer said. “This incident happened because Mr. Carroll and Mr. Shaw wanted to be treated better than anyone else that evening.”
J.R. Giddens signs in Greece
Euroleague.net reports:
PAOK Thessaloniki added some scoring punch by signing swingman J.R. Giddens for the season. Giddens (1.96 meters, 26 years old) made his Turkish Airlines Euroleague debut last season with Asseco Prokom, for whom he averaged 9 points on 47.4% three-point shooting and 5.2 rebounds in 10 games. His best game was his very first: 20 points on 9-for-9 two-point shooting and 10 rebounds in a losing effort against Khimki Moscow Region. Later in the season Giddens briefly joined Valencia Basket in Spain, but left before ever appearing in a game for the Spanish club.
Xavier Silas signs in France
Euroleague.net reports:
BCM Gravelines made a change at the shooting guard spot with the addition of rookie Xavier Silas and the release of Osiris Eldridge, who had signed for the club last month. Silas (1.95 meters, 23 years old) comes from Northern Illinois University, where he spent the past two seasons. He earned All-Mid-American Conference First Team honors last season. Silas was the conference’s leading scorer and ranked seventh in all of college basketball with 22.3 points per game. Before joining the Huskies, he played two seasons of college basketball at Colorado University.