October 13, 2011 – NBA Blog – NBA Basketball Blog

Dennis Rodman thinks NBA players need to give in to owners

“I just think that … the players should bow down,” Rodman said. “They should bow down. In 1999 we (were locked out) and we missed half the season. The owners bowed down then. They gave the players everything. I think the players should do the same thing for the owners because today most of these teams are losing money. It’s not the players’ fault. It’s the owners’ fault. I think they should give a little bit and move on.”

Rodman insists he’s not taking the owners’ side in all of this but it’s apparent he doesn’t believe today’s NBA player deserves the kind of money he is getting.

“I don’t think they work that hard because most of the players don’t give a damn about the game. They want the money. I’m not taking the owners’ side, I just think the players should look at themselves. ‘OK, I’m making $16-million or $17-million a year but what have I accomplished?’ Most of the players haven’t accomplished anything. That’s what you have to look at.”

— Reported by Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun

Read NBA fan opinion or share your views in this basketball forum topic.

Magic give customers on installment plans a break on payments

People who are paying in installments for their 2011-12 Orlando Magic season tickets and partial plans have been given a reprieve by the team.

This afternoon, the team sent e-mails to those customers to say their next payment won’t be due until a new collective bargaining agreement between the league and the players’ union has been reached.

Team officials would not comment. NBA Commissioner David Stern has told all league and team employees that they will be fined heavily if they talk about the league’s labor dispute.

— Reported by Alex Martins of the Orlando Sentinel Blog

David Stern thinks NBA needs deal by Tuesday to save Christmas Day games

Commissioner David Stern said his “gut” tells him there will be no NBA games on Christmas Day without a labour agreement by Tuesday.

That day, when owners and players are scheduled to meet with a federal mediator, is a “really big deal,” he added.

Owners will then open two days of board meetings Wednesday, and without an agreement by then Stern believes further cancellations are coming.

“Right now, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, just before my owners come into town, having brought in the labour relations committee and Billy (Hunter) having brought in his executive committee, it’s time to make the deal,” Stern said Thursday. “If we don’t make it on Tuesday, my gut — this is not in my official capacity of cancelling games — (feeling) is that we won’t be playing on Christmas Day.”

Stern cancelled the first two weeks of the regular season on Monday when the sides couldn’t reach a deal before a deadline he had set.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Manu Ginobili suffers minor ankle sprain

Manu Ginobili is hobbling around his Argentinian home after suffering a slightly sprained right ankle earlier this week.

The Argentinian paper La Nueva Provencia reports today that Ginobili sustained the injury while working out with several members of the Argentinian national team during a pickup game in Bahia Blanca, Argentina. (Hat tip: Project Spurs.com)

The injury, which is not considered serious, apparently occurred when Ginobili landed awkwardly on his ankle after attempting a 3-point shot.

— Reported by Tim Griffin of the San Antonio Express-News Blog

Mark Cuban decides Mavs players will get championship rings, not some alternative

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, after careful deliberation, has decided that the Mavericks will receive championship rings for their title that was won in June.

By “careful deliberation,” we mean it probably came after one night of partying with the players after the Miami series. Back when those things were legal.

As you recall, Cuban had an off-the-cuff remark after the championship series against Miami that he thought rings had become too old-school for this day and age.

— Reported by Eddie Sefko of Dallas Morning News Blog

InsideHoops.com editor says: Mavs players would have probably revolted had they not gotten a conventional championship ring. Now they can breathe easy.

Tiger Woods bummed out by NBA lockout

Tiger Woods, when asked about the NBA lockout:

“Yeah, of course I’m bummed,” he said. “I think anybody who is an NBA fan is certainly bummed. I know that probably one person who is happy is probably Doc Rivers. I mean, with the age of his team, it’s nice for them to only play half-a-season. It’s true. It’s a fact, come on.”

Woods then shifted gears to the his hometown team.

“But as far as us out west, I’m looking forward to the Lakers getting back there and we’ll see what they do,” he continued. “The problem is, you can’t talk to anybody. You can’t see who is potentially on the block of being traded, what kind of deals can we do? Nothing can be happening.

“So as a fan, it’s disconcerting because I’m excited about what we could add to the team, but it’s also I understand this is business, and everyone in this business wants to make money. I know the owners were losing a bunch of money, and some of the markets were feeling the effects. They can’t draw certain players, so they’re just trying to make it fair for everybody so everybody can win.”

— Reported by Jessica Camerato of CSNNE.com

Thunder guard Thabo Sefolosha signs in Turkey

Turkish champion Fenerbahce Ulker strengthened itself on the wings with the signing of Thabo Sefolosha, who is among the game’s premier defensive players. Sefolosha (1.99 meters, 27 years old) arrives from Oklahoma City of the NBA, where he averaged 5.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.2 steals over 79 games as a starter last season. He has played a total of five seasons in the NBA between Chicago and Oklahoma City and appeared in 367 regular season games. Sefolosha began his professional career with Tege Riviera Basket in his native Switzerland before joining Elan Chalon in France. He spent two seasons there between 2003 and 2005 and took part in the Eurocup both seasons.

— Reported by Euroleague.net

InsideHoops.com editor says: I assume he has an out-clause to return to the NBA when the lockout ends.

Carmelo Anthony reveals extent of surgeries on elbow, knee

Carmelo Anthony revealed the severity of his left elbow and right knee surgeries yesterday and confessed he didn’t want it out in the public after it was performed in early May.

Anthony said he had loose chips removed from his left elbow and a broken-bone fragment cleaned out from his left knee.

“Something I like to keep off the radar,” Anthony said on WFAN’s “Boomer & Carton” show on why he kept it secret until late September. “I just wanted to go in there and get it done and not have a big movie surrounding that. Eventually it came out. It came out when I was healthy.” …

The Knicks normally announce their players’ surgeries. But the club needed permission from Anthony because of recent medical disclosure laws, and got denied.

— Reported by Marc Berman of the New York Post

Read NBA fan opinion or share your views in this basketball forum topic.

Seattle Seahawks want LeBron James

Miami Heat superstar LeBron James and Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll have been tossing playful messages back and forth on Twitter. LeBron digs football and wouldn’t mind being an NFL star in another life.

But as the NBA lockout continues, perhaps that life could be this one?

No. Of course not. But it’s fun to think about.

Here’s the jersey the Seahawks made for LeBron:

Read NBA fan opinion or share your views in this basketball forum topic.

NBA, players heading to federal mediation

The NBA’s owners and locked-out players will meet with a federal mediator in hopes of resolving their deadlock and saving the 2010-11 regular season, which has already lost two weeks.

Union executive director Billy Hunter said Wednesday in an interview on WFAN-AM in New York that the union had agreed to meet with a mediator.

George Cohen, director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, told The Associated Press he will oversee negotiations between the sides starting Tuesday in New York.

In a text message, NBA spokesman Tim Frank said “We are working on scheduling a meeting for early next week,” USA Today reported.

Earlier Wednesday, Hunter told WFAN that the meetings with the mediator would begin Monday. But later in the day, an NBA source directly involved with the talks told ESPN.com TrueHoop’s Henry Abbott that the meetings would start Tuesday.

Hunter is expected to meet with NBA players Friday afternoon in Los Angeles, sources with knowledge of the situation told ESPN The Magazine’s Chris Broussard.

Cohen said he already has been in contact with representatives of both sides “for a number of months.”

“I have participated in separate, informal, off-the-record discussions with the principals representing the NBA and the NBPA concerning the status of their collective bargaining negotiations,” Cohen said in a statement issued by the Washington-based FMCS.

— Reported by ESPN.com and the Associated Press