April 2012 – Page 17 – NBA Blog

Dwyane Wade thinks Olympians deserve pay

Add Miami guard Dwyane Wade to the list of Olympians who believe basketball players in the Games should be paid.

Boston guard Ray Allen, a member of the 2000 gold medal team, told FOX Sports Florida on Tuesday he believes Team USA players should be compensated. Wade, who won bronze in 2004 and gold in 2008 and likely will play this summer in London, said Wednesday he agrees.

“First of all, it’s an honor to play in the Olympics, but there are a lot of things you do for the Olympics. A lot of jerseys you sell. There are a lot of things you do. We play the whole summer,” Wade said. “I do think guys should be compensated, just like I think college players should be compensated as well. Unfortunately, it’s not that, but I think it should be something for it.”

Wade agreed with Allen that the best way to pay Olympic players would be through jersey sales, but he didn’t specify an amount.

— Reported by Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports

LaMarcus Aldridge has abnormality in sore right hip

LaMarcus Aldridge’s Tuesday trip to Vail, Colo., will result in him missing tonight’s game against the Golden State Warriors — and possibly the final 15 days of the season.

Trail Blazers interim general manager Chad Buchanan said an “abnormality” was discovered in Aldridge’s sore right hip during his visit with Dr. Marc Phillipon on Tuesday, and the All-Star power forward is officially listed as day-to-day. Forward J.J. Hickson will start in place of Aldridge tonight, when the Blazers host the Warriors at the Rose Garden.

Buchanan said Aldridge will undergo further medical “consultation” and all parties involved will have “further conversation” before the team decides what to do with its franchise cornerstone going forward. When asked if surgery was being considered, Buchanan did not rule it out.

— Reported by Joe Freeman of the Oregonian

Kobe Bryant likely out Wednesday vs Spurs

Kobe Bryant will not play Wednesday night in San Antonio, missing his third consecutive game because of an inflamed tendon sheath in his left shin.

Lakers coach Mike Brown huddled with athletic trainer Gary Vitti after practice in San Antonio about it. Bryant was at practice for medical treatment — and Vitti reported further improvement in Bryant’s condition, which made notable progress through Monday — but declined to comment. Bryant had ice over his shin during practice but left without the protective boot he has been wearing.

Bryant’s track record is that he will play in games if he is physically capable — and he could play now if the situation mandated it — but the issue is that the situation with his shin will likely recur if he does not rest until it is pain free. The Lakers don’t want this to be an issue that crops back up with the playoffs coming up (the Lakers’ first playoff game is expected to be April 29).

— Reported by Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register

Spencer Hawes steps up, 76ers beat Nets

Center Spencer Hawes came off the bench for the first time and a scored a season-high 19 points to lead the slumping Philadelphia 76ers to a 107-88 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Tuesday night.

The win snapped a four-game losing streak and was only the fifth in 15 games for Philadelphia (30-27), giving it a half-game lead over the Knicks (29-27) for the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference. Milwaukee (28-29) is 1 1/2 games behind the Knicks.

The loss eliminated the Nets (21-38) from playoff contention for the fifth straight season.

Philadelphia got a big game from its bench, with Lou Williams adding 20 points and Thaddeus Young 19.

Kris Humphries had 20 points and 10 rebounds for New Jersey. Deron Williams added 14 points, six rebounds and five assists on a night that he was hounded by Philadelphia’s Andre Iguodala.

The Nets were without forward Gerald Wallace, who strained his left hamstring, in the win over Cleveland on Sunday night.

— Reported by Tom Canavan of the Associated Press

Celtics rise up to beat Heat in Miami

A week ago, the Boston Celtics beat the Miami Heat with defense. This time, they did it with offense.

Paul Pierce scored 27 points, Kevin Garnett added 24 points and nine rebounds, and the Celtics made their first eight shots of the fourth quarter to hold off the Heat 115-107 on Tuesday night.

Rajon Rondo posted double-digit assists for the 18th straight game, extending the NBA’s longest such streak in 20 years with an 18-point, 15-assist effort. Brandon Bass added 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Avery Bradley scored 11 for the Celtics, who shot a season-high 61 percent.

LeBron James finished with 36 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for Miami, which got 20 from Dwyane Wade and 18 from Mario Chalmers. Chris Bosh finished with 13 on 5-for-13 shooting.

The Celtics beat Miami 91-72 in Boston on April 1, a game the Heat called “unacceptable” after establishing season-lows in scoring and shooting.

— Reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press

NBA fan discussion took place in this basketball forum topic.

Ricky Rubio unsure if he will be healthy by training camp

Ricky Rubio met with media members this afternoon at Target Center for the first time since he suffered that season-ending knee injury on March 9 against the Lakers.

He’s back in Minnesota after spending more than two weeks in Colorado following knee surgery to repair two torn ligaments there.

Here’s some of what he said:

He made no promises when asked about being back in time for the start of training camp: “I don’t if it will be training camp, don’t know when I’ll come back,” he said. “The most important thing is to make sure when I come back it’s 100 percent. I don’t know if it’s training camp, I don’t know if it’s first week, second week (of regular season). I don’t want to put a date. It depends how my knee feels.”

When asked if he’s worried about being the same player when he comes back, he said, “Of course, you always think in my mind what can happen, especially the first couple days after surgery when you can’t move your knee. You just think about it, think about if you can come back. You just have to be strong and do your best to come back even harder. I love basketball. I love playing basketball. I’m going to do my best.

— Reported by Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star Tribune

LaMarcus Aldridge has lingering issue with hip

Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge continues to have trouble with his ailing right hip, which has been giving him trouble for several weeks.

Today, Aldridge and team trainer Jay Jensen few to Vail, Colo., to have the hip evaluated by specialist Marc Phillipon, the team announced.

Aldridge will not be with the team when practice begins at 11 a.m. today, and his status for Wednesday’s game against Golden State is questionable.

— Reported by Mike Tokito of the Oregonian

Hornets sign Jerome Dyson to 10-day contract

The New Orleans Hornets announced today that they have signed guard Jerome Dyson to a 10-day contract.

Dyson, a University of Connecticut product, has appeared in 44 regular season games (all starts) with the Tulsa 66ers in the NBA Developmental League this season, averaging 17.8 points, 3.9 assists and 3.5 rebounds in 34.0 minutes of play. The 2010 Third Team All-Big East selection was signed to the Hornets training camp roster on December 9th, 2011, appearing in one preseason game with New Orleans (five points and one assist in seven minutes of action). He was the last player waived on December 24th prior to the start of the season.

The 6’3” guard also played 47 games (10 starts) for the 66ers in the 2010-11 season, averaging 15.5 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists. The 24-year old went undrafted in the 2010 NBA Draft and played with the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2010 preseason.

The Rockville, Maryland native will wear #11 for New Orleans and brings the roster to 15.

Warriors re-assign Chris Wright to D-League

The Golden State Warriors today re-assigned rookie forward Chris Wright to the Dakota Wizards, the Warriors’ NBA D-League affiliate. The assignment marks the 65th time an NBA player has been assigned to his NBA D-League affiliate during the 2011-12 season and is the third and final assignment for Wright this season.

Wright returns to the Wizards, having appeared in nine games for the team during his previous two assignments, averaging 18.2 points, 8.0 rebounds 1.3 blocks and 29.0 minutes.

Wright, who earned a Call-Up to the Warriors from the Maine Red Claws in December 2011, has appeared in 19 games with Golden State this season, averaging 2.1 points and 1.0 rebounds in 4.8 minutes per game. Prior to his Call-Up, Wright played in four games for the Red Claws, averaging 17.0 points and 10.8 rebounds in 31.3 minutes per game.

Golden State fans can stay in step with Wright, who is expected to join the Wizards today and be available when the team begins their 2012 NBA D-League Championship run on Thursday, April 12 in a first-round playoff game against the Bakersfield Jam.

UConn guard Jeremy Lamb will enter 2012 NBA Draft

University of Connecticut sophomore guard Jeremy Lamb has decided to forego the final two seasons of his college eligibility and make himself available for the upcoming NBA Draft.

“It was a difficult decision, but after much prayer and discussion with my parents, I feel that it’s in the best interest of me and my family to declare myself eligible for the upcoming NBA Draft and pursue my dream of playing professional basketball,” Lamb said. “I have very much enjoyed my two years at UConn, especially getting to experience one of the greatest feelings that a college player can have, winning the national championship.”

The 6-5 Lamb, 19, from Norcross, Ga., started every game for the Huskies last season and led the team in scoring this season at 17.7 points per game. He also averaged 4.9 rebounds as he was selected to the All-BIG EAST First Team. He scored in double figures in 31 games, led the Huskies in scoring 17 times, scored 30 or more points in two games and 20 or more 10 times.

Last season, Lamb became just the sixth sophomore in UConn history to score 1,000 career points. His total of 1,060 points rank him No. 42 on UConn’s all-time scoring list. He is only the 11th player in UConn history to score as many as 600 points (603) in one season.

“It’s never easy to lose a great player from your program, but Jeremy has a unique opportunity that he needs to take advantage of,” UConn coach Jim Calhoun said. “He’s been a great kid to coach for the past two years … his teams have won 52 games, been to two NCAA Tournaments, and won a national championship. I look forward to him developing into a terrific player in the NBA and secondly, as he’s promised me, to come back and finish his degree.”

As a freshman, Lamb was an integral part of UConn’s run to the BIG EAST and NCAA national championships, earning NCAA Final Four All-Tournament, NCAA West Region All-Tournament, and BIG EAST All-Tournament honors. During the summer following his freshman year, Lamb competed with Team USA at the U19 FIBA World Championships, leading the team with a 16.2 scoring average and 18 steals in nine games.

“I have learned a lot, both on and off the basketball court as well as in the classroom, and I feel as if I’m ready to take the next step in my basketball career,” Lamb said. “I intend to successfully complete the current semester academically as I get prepared for the draft.”

Lamb becomes the 14th UConn player under Calhoun to leave school early to enter the NBA Draft. All but one of the previous 13 were drafted in the first round.

“First, I want to thank God for blessing me with the ability to play this great game,” Lamb said. “I want to thank Coach Calhoun for giving me the opportunity to play at UConn and I want to thank the entire coaching staff and all my teammates for helping me improve enough to hopefully be successful at the next level.

“I am proud that I will always be part of the Connecticut basketball family.”

— Per UConn Basketball