November 2012 – Page 16 – NBA Blog

DeMarcus Cousins reportedly confronted broadcaster Sean Elliott

Elliot criticized Cousins, who heard about it and didn’t like it

DeMarcus Cousins confronts broadcaster Sean Elliott

Apparently informed postgame of Elliott’s remarks, Cousins appeared on the court in his uniform and confronted Elliott after he and broadcaster Bill Land completed their postgame show.

“I was wondering why Cousins was out there in his uniform waiting for them to finish his postgame show,” said Bill Schoening, who does the play-by-play call on radio broadcasts of Spurs games. “Then I saw them in an animated conversation out on the court.

“I observed Sean walk away from Cousins and Cousins continue to talk to Sean as he left the scene, but I couldn’t hear what was being said.”

An NBA spokesperson said the league is aware of, and reviewing, the incident.

— Reported by Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News (Blog)

Lakers assign guard Darius Johnson-Odom to D-League

The Los Angeles Lakers have assigned guard Darius Johnson-Odom to the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA Development League, it was announced today by General Manager Mitch Kupchak.

Johnson-Odom, the 55th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, was acquired by the Lakers from Dallas on draft night. The 6-2 guard out of Marquette averaged 15.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 105 career collegiate games. As a senior, the Raleigh, North Carolina native led his team in scoring (18.3 ppg) and earned First Team All-Big East honors in addition to being named an Honorable Mention All-American by the Associated Press.

Johnson-Odom appeared in his first career NBA game last night against Golden State. In three preseason games with the Lakers, Johnson-Odom averaged 2.0 points in 4.7 minutes.

Houston Rockets coach Kevin McHale taking personal leave of absence

Houston Rockets Head Coach Kevin McHale will be taking an immediate leave of absence from the team to attend to a personal family matter. Assistant Coach Kelvin Sampson will handle head coaching duties during McHale’s time away. No return date has been set for McHale at this time.

“Kevin is a devoted family man who is needed back home in Minnesota at the moment,” said Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey. “The Rockets organization will keep Kevin and his family in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.”

A decade later, Camby takes floor as Knick

On Friday night against the Mavericks, Marcus Camby made his Knicks season debut, entering the game at the start of the second quarter.

It had been more than 10 years since Camby took the floor as a Knick — since Feb. 1, 2002, to be exact. Reflecting on when he first checked in, he said after the game, “The crowd was great. The moment was great.”

Camby only played eight minutes, but in the short time he was on the court, he said he wanted to make an impact with what he’s always been known for: defense and rebounding. He finished with two points and four rebounds, and he was able to provide some solid pressure on Elton Brand and Chris Kaman.

— Reported by Jared Zwerling of ESPN New York

Lakers hope to bring Phil Jackson back as coach

Lakers hope to bring Phil Jackson back as head coach

The Lakers are moving quickly toward hiring Phil Jackson as their next coach, with one person in the organization calling it a “95%” chance he will return for a third tour with the team.

The Lakers plan on meeting with Jackson on Saturday morning to make sure he is interested in the job. The unknown 5% in their equation is the chance Jackson doesn’t want to fill the vacancy created by the Friday firing of Mike Brown, either because of health reasons or other unknown issues.

The team realized a slew of things stemming from the 101-77 Lakers’ victory Friday over Golden State, primarily that the players wanted Jackson and fans wanted him too, in case their second-half chants of his name weren’t enough of a tipoff.

— Reported by Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times

Lakers forward Devin Ebanks arrested on suspicion of DUI

Lakers forward Deven Ebanks was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor DUI in Los Angeles early Friday morning, according to law enforcement sources and booking records.

Ebanks, 23, was pulled over at 2:49 a.m. in the Hollywood area by California Highway Patrol officers and booked at 3:44 a.m.

Ebanks was released later Friday morning after posting $5,000 bail. A post on his Twitter account Thursday afternoon encouraged his followers to celebrate a woman’s birthday Thursday night at Roxbury night club near Hollywood.

Ebanks’ next scheduled court date is Dec. 7, according to booking records.

— Reported by Mike Bresnahan and Andrew Blankstein of the Los Angeles Times

Lakers fire coach Mike Brown

The Lakers have fired Mike Brown as coach after the team’s 1-4 start, according to a person familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak publicly about it.

Brown was barely a month into his second season with the team, which struggled badly amid high expectations.

It was unclear who would be his replacement.

It was believed to be the earliest firing of a coach in the team’s history. Del Harris was relieved of his duties 12 games into the 1999 season.

The Lakers were 41-25 in Brown’s first season, losing to Oklahoma City in the second round of the playoffs.

— Reported by Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times

The Lakers have had a healthy Nash in the lineup for only 1½ of their five games so far thanks to a leg injury, while Howard has acknowledged that he’s still recovering from the back surgery that brought a premature end to his 2011-12 campaign and knocked him out of the London Olympics. Kobe Bryant has also been playing through a foot ailment.

The Lakers are off to the worst start in the Western Conference despite carrying the league’s largest payroll at just over $100 million, which would trigger an estimated luxury-tax bill at season’s end of nearly $30 million.

The team has also been trying to institute a form of the Princeton offense, a system that relies on reads and ball sharing in order to take some of the offensive load off Bryant. The results have been mixed, at best.

— Reported by Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com

Russell Westbrook says Derrick Rose can be even better than before

Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook said Thursday he believed his friend and summer workout partner Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose would return a stronger player when he returns from his ACL injury.

Rose tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during Game 1 of a first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers last season and had surgery May 12. Typically the recovery time after the surgery is eight to 12 months.

“Definitely, he’ll be stronger, definitely be a lot better after seeing him this summer, seeing how quickly he was getting better and better,” Westbrook said prior to Thursday’s game with the Bulls. “No doubt in my mind he will. He works hard at what he does, and he’ll definitely come back better determined and come back and try to be better.”

— Reported by Scott Powers of ESPN Chicago

Chris Paul now part-owner of PBA bowling team

Chris Paul has yet to make a long-term commitment to the Los Angeles Clippers, but on Thursday he became the owner of a new Los Angeles professional sports team.

Paul, along with former Los Angeles Rams running back Jerome Bettis, Terrell Owens and Kevin Hart, became the first celebrity owners in the inaugural season of the Professional Bowlers Association’s PBA League.

The PBA League will feature eight teams of five PBA players each and make its debut in January. ESPN will televise five weeks of PBA League competition beginning Jan. 27, plus the PBA League Elias Cup finals in April.

— Reported by Arash Markazi of ESPN Los Angeles

Lakers coach Mike Brown could soon be in trouble

An unsuccessful homestand for the Los Angeles Lakers, as they settle into Staples Center for the next six games, would put the job of Lakers coach Mike Brown in immediate jeopardy, according to sources close to the situation.

Sources told ESPN.com that the Lakers, while having publicly expressed support for Brown in the wake of a 1-4 start, have privately grown sufficiently concerned about the state of the team to the point that management is prepared to look seriously at a coaching change at this early juncture if L.A. can’t take advantage of what looks to be multiple winnable games in the upcoming stretch.

The homestand begins Friday night against the banged-up Golden State Warriors, who’ll be without injured center Andrew Bogut and key reserve Brandon Rush, and continues through Nov. 20 with games against Sacramento, San Antonio, Phoenix, Houston and Brooklyn.

The Lakers have had a healthy Steve Nash in the lineup for only 1½ of their five games so far thanks to a leg injury, while fellow newcomer Dwight Howard has acknowledged that he’s still recovering from the back surgery that brought a premature end to his 2011-12 campaign and knocked him out of the London Olympics. Kobe Bryant has also been playing through a foot ailment.

Yet sources maintain that patience in the organization is starting to erode as the wait continues for signs of improvement in the Lakers’ play.

— Reported by Marc Stein of ESPN.com