November 2012 – Page 20 – NBA Blog

President Obama will play basketball on Election Day

The president will observe his most time-honored Election Day ritual.

Former White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, who has joined the campaign on its final day to travel with President Obama, said his former boss sent an e-mail to his former personal aide, Reggie Love, to start organizing his regular pickup basketball game in Chicago for Tuesday.

Love is a former Duke University basketball player and regular hoops buddy of Obama’s, as is Chicago pal Martin Nesbitt, who has been traveling with Obama this week. The president will return to Chicago late Monday night to spend election day in his home town.

— Reported by David Nakamura of the Washington Post

Brandon Jennings and James Harden named NBA Players of Week

The Milwaukee Bucks’ Brandon Jennings and the Houston Rockets’ James Harden were today named Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Tuesday, Oct. 30, through Sunday, Nov. 4.

Jennings guided the Bucks to a 2-0 record to start the season, a first for the team since the 2005-06 campaign. Jennings led the league in assists (13.0 apg) and paced the conference in steals (4.0 spg), while finishing third on the team in scoring (17.0 ppg). He recorded point/assist double-doubles in consecutive games for the second time in his career, hitting a game-winning three-pointer against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Nov. 3. His 13 assists in each game tied his career high.

Harden led Houston to a 2-1 mark to open the season while pacing the league in scoring (35.3 ppg). In his debut as a Rocket, Harden scored 37 points, dished out 12 assists, grabbed six rebounds and collected four steals at Detroit on Oct. 31. Harden joined Larry Bird, Michael Jordan and Dwyane Wade as the only NBA players in the last 25 years to post at least 37 points, 12 assists, six rebounds, four steals and one block in a single game. His 37 points was the third-highest point total for any Rocket player in his debut, while the 82 points he scored in the Rockets’ first two outings was the most by any NBA player in his first two games with a team in NBA history.

Other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were New York’s Carmelo Anthony, Miami’s Chris Bosh, Orlando’s Glen Davis, Golden State’s Carl Landry, Los Angeles Clippers’ Chris Paul, San Antonio’s Tony Parker, Cleveland’s Anderson Varejao and Charlotte’s Kemba Walker.

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ESPN NBA voice Jim Durham dies

Jim Durham, ESPN’s lead radio play-by-play voice on the NBA and a former broadcaster for the Chicago Bulls and Dallas Mavericks, died Sunday at his home in Tomball, Texas (outside Houston). He was 65. No cause of death was announced.

Durham had called NBA games on ESPN Radio since 1996. His final assignment alongside his longtime partner, Dr. Jack Ramsay, was Tuesday night’s season opener between Boston and Miami.

Durham was the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s Curt Gowdy Media Award winner in 2011.

In addition to his ESPN duties, Durham was the radio and television voice of the Bulls from 1973-91, including the first seven seasons of Michael Jordan’s tenure with the team. His final season with the Bulls coincided with the team’s first championship.

— Reported by ESPN.com

List of Limited Partners in new Memphis Grizzlies ownership group

Memphis Grizzlies Chairman Robert Pera and CEO Jason Levien announced today the roster of Limited Partners that has been assembled to lead the team into an exciting new era in its history.

“We have one of the most dynamic ownership groups in professional sports,” said Grizzlies CEO Jason Levien. “We expect that its members will play a meaningful, ongoing role in realizing the goals we have set for the team and for ourselves, both on and off the court.”

Joining Pera and Levien in the ownership group are:

-Grizzlies Vice Chairman Steve Kaplan

-Staley Cates

-Pace Cooper

-Edward Dobbs

-Steve Ehrhart

-Harold Ford, Jr.

-Al Gossett

-The Hand Family

-Penny Hardaway

-Paul Harless

-Pitt Hyde

-Barry Klarberg

-Ashley Manning

-Joseph Nicosia

-Billy Orgel

-Elliot Perry

-Bill Rhodes

-Michael Savit

-Justin Timberlake

-Mike Wharton

-Duncan Williams

-The Wilson Brothers

“This ownership group will take the Grizzlies to the next level,” said Edward J. Dobbs, CEO of Memphis-based Dobbs Management Service. “Our team is going to thrive in Memphis for a long time.”

Pera was represented on the sale of the Grizzlies by Levien Sports, David Carlock and Jeffrey Pollack, who collectively assembled the team’s new Limited Partner group. Legal counsel was provided by O’Melveny & Myers.

Mavs coach Rick Carlisle is already a Damian Lillard fan

Count Dallas coach Rick Carlisle among the growing list in the NBA who are impressed with Trail Blazers rookie Damian Lillard.

Carlisle, whose Mavericks (2-1) face the Blazers (2-1) tonight in Dallas, called Lillard an “early Rookie of the Year candidate” after the point guard has opened the season with averages of 21.3 points, 9.0 assists and 4.0 rebounds in three games.

“He’s going to have that much impact on their team,’’ Carlisle said. “Plus, point guards have the abll more, so they are going to feature him even more. But I’m really impressed with his feel for the game. He has an air of confidence, and he does a really nice job involving his teammates. And his shooting ability – we haven’t seen a point guard come in like this that can shoot from 25-to-26 feet – easily – in some time.’’

— Reported by Jason Quick of The Oregonian

Kenyon Martin has no NBA contract offers

The NBA season is nearly a week old, and Kenyon Martin doesn’t know why he still can’t find a job in the league. He helped the Los Angeles Clippers during their playoff run last season. His knee issues of the past no longer seem to trouble him. And he’s even willing to take a contract for the league minimum.

So why hasn’t any team called wanting to sign him?

“There is a notion about me that is not accurate at all – I don’t know who started it or where it came from – that people can’t control me,” Martin told Yahoo! Sports. “I don’t understand. Have I had my issues like a lot of other people? Yeah. But I’m getting back that people think they can’t control me, that if I don’t play I’m going to explode, or I can turn a locker room.

“In 12 years there was not one day where I told one guy to dislike anybody. If you ask guys who I’ve played with that know me, they know what it is and know I’m about winning basketball games and competing.”

— Reported by Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports

Jason Richardson suffers sprained ankle

Doug Collins often has bemoaned the presence of photographers along the baseline, and on Sunday, when he lost shooting guard Jason Richardson to a sprained left ankle in the first quarter against the New York Knicks, the 76ers coach had yet another reason to complain.

However, it was Richardson, not Collins, who did the talking.

“They really don’t belong down there – you see what happens,” said Richardson, who suffered the sprain when he stepped on a cameraman’s foot at Madison Square Garden. “It creates all kinds of problems for players. There’s got to be a better way.”

Richardson was hurt less than two minutes into the game with the Sixers trailing, 5-2. X-rays of his ankle found no broken bones, but he left the arena with his foot in a walking boot.

— Reported by John N. Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer

Guard Jonny Flynn signs in Australia

The Melbourne Tigers NBL club signed former NBA former top-10 draft pick Jonny Flynn on Monday to replace sacked import Kevin Braswell.

23-year-old Flynn was the sixth pick of the 2009 NBA draft and spent time with Minnesota, Houston, Portland and most recently Detroit.

He was waived by the Pistons last month, paving the way for the point guard to join the NBL.

The signing of Flynn, who made the 2010 NBA All-Rookie second team, is a massive coup for the Tigers, who are 1-4 in their first season under new coach, former Boomer Chris Anstey.

— Reported by AAP via the New Zealand Herald

Melo leads Knicks past Sixers

Unlike the Philadelphia 76ers, the New York Knicks didn’t tip off the season on time last week. But it was the Knicks, and not the 76ers, who looked to be in midseason form Sunday afternoon.

Carmelo Anthony scored 27 points to lead four New York Knicks in double figures as New York routed Philadelphia 100-84 at Madison Square Garden.

J.R. Smith scored 20 points and hit four of the Knicks’ 11 3-pointers, Jason Kidd scored 12 points and Raymond Felton added 11 points for the Knicks…

Jrue Holiday had 27 points and Thaddeus Young scored 16 points for the 76ers, who fell to 1-1 in playing their first game in four days. Evan Turner had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds for the visitors.

“I thought they were much more aggressive than us,” 76ers coach Doug Collins said. “I think the layoff hurt us a little bit. We didn’t adjust to the speed of the game, the physicality of the game early. I’m hoping as we start playing more games we’ll be better.”

— Reported by Jerry Beach of the Sports Xchange

Magic step up and wreck Suns

J.J. Redick scored 24 points, Arron Afflalo and Glen Davis each had 22 points, and Nikola Vucevic added 18 points and 13 rebounds as the Orlando Magic rallied to beat the Phoenix Suns 115-94 Sunday night.

The Magic trailed by as many as 13 points early in the second half, but used a 40-point third quarter to build as much as a 21-point cushion in the fourth.

Luis Scola led the Suns with 24 points and Michael Beasley added 22. But Phoenix’s shooting eroded overall in the second half.

With the victory the Magic opened a season 2-0 for the first time since 2009-10. The Suns lost their fifth straight game in Orlando.

— Reported by Kyle Hightower of the Associated Press