June 2016 – Page 6 – NBA Blog – NBA Basketball Blog

Pistons sign GM Jeff Bower to contract extension

Bower has been Pistons general manager since June, 2014

The Detroit Pistons have signed general manager Jeff Bower to a contract extension.

“We couldn’t be more pleased with the job Jeff has done for our organization,” said Head Coach and President of Basketball Operations Stan Van Gundy. “He’s been at the forefront of all the moves we’ve made over the last two seasons and has implemented much of the strategy and structure throughout our basketball operations department. The confidence I have in his ability allows me to go out and coach during the season knowing that he’s always looking to make our team better.”

Pistons Owner Tom Gores praised Bower’s work shaping the roster and contributing to a cohesive leadership team.

“Jeff has been a key link for Stan and me and the whole organization to accomplish many things in a very short period of time,” said Gores. “His ingenuity, along with having a deep understanding of Stan’s basketball vision, has very quickly helped us toward our goal of long term sustained success. He deserves a lot of the credit for getting us to the playoffs and assembling a cohesive, young team that will continue to grow.”

Bower was named general manager on June 3, 2014. His tenure coincides with the team’s improved record over the last two seasons and its return to the playoffs for the first time since 2009. In Bower’s first year as the Pistons general manager, the club went 32-50 and posted a three-game improvement from the previous season. Detroit moved to 44-38 in 2015-16, marking the team’s most wins and first above-.500 record since 2007-08.

Bucks, Jason Kidd will soon sign extension

The Bucks were a disappointment this season, putting up a 33-49 record. They showed little growth from last year. But, their roster remains young, and the team still clearly loves head coach Jason Kidd. And the two sides will reportedly soon agree to an extension. Here’s the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporting:

The Milwaukee Bucks and head coach Jason Kidd have agreed on the parameters of a three-year, $15 million contract extension, multiple league sources with knowledge of the deal confirmed to the Journal Sentinel on Monday.

Kidd initially signed a three-year, $15 million contract when he came to the Bucks in the summer of 2014, after one season coaching the Brooklyn Nets. The new deal would take him through the 2019-’20 season, which would include the first two years of the team playing in its new downtown arena.

The Bucks have compiled a 74-90 record in Kidd’s two seasons as head coach.

Tiago Splitter learning broadcast skills

Hawks center Tiago Splitter is still a basketball player, and focused on that, but has recently spent time gathering a side skill: broadcasting. A pretty good idea, since that’s one of the obvious job choices out there once their playing days end. Here’s the Atlanta Journal Constitution reporting:

Tiago Splitter is ahead of the game.

He already has a prime broadcasting job.

Still, the Hawks center spent last week getting a crash course in the new craft at Sportscaster U., a program sponsored by the NBA Players Association at Syracuse University. He will put what he learned to use when he calls basketball games during the 2016 Summer Olympics in his native Brazil in August.

Splitter had hoped to play in the Olympics but right hip surgery in February while playing his first season with the Hawks put an abrupt end to such dreams.

“I’ve thought about in in the past,” Splitter said of a possible broadcast career after his playing days are over.

JJ Barea had surgery in April

Here’s the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporting on Mavericks guard Jose Juan Barea:

Barea said he underwent arthroscopic surgery in April to repair his right medial meniscus. The 10-year veteran added that only rest – not surgery –was needed to repair the strained right groin injury that nagged him during the latter stages of the regular season and throughout the Mavericks’ five-game first-round playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

“I just had one knee scope the day after the season, and it was awesome,’’ Barea. “It was real quick and I’m good to go.’’

Barea played in Dirk Nowitzki’s Heroes Celebrity Baseball Game this past Friday night and walked away without any complications from his surgery. He also played a few games of knockouts with some kids at the Mavs’ Hoop Camp on Monday morning at the University of Texas at Dallas.

Stephen Curry pranks media with ice pack

The Warriors lead the Cavs 3-1 in the 2016 NBA Finals. The defending champs won’t have Draymond Green’s services for Game 5, but they’re still in good shape. Now, as for guard Stephen Curry, is he fully healthy? Nobody knows. He’s looked like himself for some stretches of some games, but plenty of other times has looked like a regular, mortal, pretty good guard. He’s clearly mostly healthy, or else he wouldn’t be out there at all. But as for real injuries? Here’s CSN Bay Area with the latest:

It was with a completely different look that Steph Curry walked to the interview podium Sunday after Warriors practice.

There was a large ice pack wrapped around his right shoulder, a visual that was particularly notable in the wake of weekend reports he is coping with a shoulder injury.

The ice pack was, according to Curry, his comedic response to reports he was having problems with his shoulders.

“I can’t even keep a straight face,” Curry said. “Whoever said I was getting shoulder surgery and all that kind of stuff, we’ve got bumps and bruises, but every – we’ll be all right.”

Tyronn Lue fined by NBA for comments

Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue has been fined $25,000 for public criticism of officiating, it was announced today by Kiki VanDeWeghe, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

Lue made his comments during the postgame press conference following the Golden State Warriors’ 108-97 victory over the Cavaliers in Game 4 of The Finals on June 10 at Quicken Loans Arena.

Draymond Green is suspended for NBA Finals Game 5

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has been assessed a Flagrant Foul 1 upon league office review, it was announced today by Kiki VanDeWeghe, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

In accordance with NBA rules, Green will serve a one-game suspension without pay for accruing his fourth Flagrant Foul point of the 2016 postseason. He will serve his suspension Monday, June 13 during Game 5 of The Finals at Oracle Arena.

The incident occurred when Green made unnecessary contact with a retaliatory swipe of his hand to the groin of Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James with 2:48 remaining in the fourth quarter of the Warriors’ 108-97 win in Game 4 of The Finals at Quicken Loans Arena.

Under league rules, any player who accumulates four flagrant foul points over the course of the playoffs will be automatically suspended for one game, and every additional flagrant foul will result in either a one-game suspension (for a Flagrant Foul 1) or a two-game suspension (for a Flagrant Foul 2).

“The cumulative points system is designed to deter flagrant fouls in our game” said VanDeWeghe. “While Draymond Green’s actions in Game 4 do not merit a suspension as a standalone act, the number of flagrant points he has earned triggers a suspension for Game 5.”

James has been assessed a technical foul upon league office review for his role in the altercation, which included a physical taunt.

Lakers remove Magic Johnson from staff listings

The Los Angeles Lakers have announced today that Hall of Famer Earvin “Magic” Johnson has asked the team to remove his honorary title of Vice President, and to remove his name from the team staff directory in publications and other sources. Their explanation is as follows:

The change is being made in hopes of clarifying any confusion over Johnson’s involvement with or representation of the team.

“Earvin will always be a revered and beloved member of the Lakers family, but he does not have a position or role with the organization at this time,” said team spokesman John Black. “He is not an advisor or a consultant, and his opinions, comments and social media posts are solely his, and do not represent or reflect those of Lakers ownership or management. Hopefully this will eliminate any confusion over this issue in the future.”

Street in Queens, NY named after Anthony Mason

Anthony Mason was an awesome NBA player. A versatile, rugged forward with handles like a guard. Super fun to watch. And he passed away far too soon. Mase will be remembed in many ways, one of which now comes in the form of a street named in his honor. Here’s the New York Daily News reporting:

Fans, friends, civic leaders and former teammates gathered Saturday in Jamaica, Queens, to honor Anthony Mason, the late, great Knicks’ bruising forward, renaming the street where he grew up, for him.

“Anthony Mason Way,” was added to 147th St. at Rockaway Blvd. for the player who died last year at 48 of congestive heart failure.

“This is a beautiful event,” said his son, Antoine Mason, 23. “The tough thing is, it’s not about anybody else here. It’s about the guy who’s up there.”

A city hoops legend and a graduate of Springfield Gardens High School, Mason was feverishly dedicated to the game. He’d break into the school gym to practice his game through the night, his son said.

Cavs in big trouble, down 3-1 in NBA Finals

The Cavs are in big trouble in the 2016 NBA Finals. You know that, because they are down 3-1 to the Warriors, who were the best team in the league this season. But having some historical perspective is often helpful. Here’s the News Herald reporting:

The Cavaliers are trying to do something historical in the NBA Finals, as in first-man-to-row -a-bathtub-across-the-Atlantic-Ocean-from-the-United-States-to-England historical.

Ten teams in the 70-year history of the NBA have triumphed after being down 3-1 in a playoff series. But it has never happened in the Finals. The most recent team to do it, the Cavs don’t need to be reminded, was the very Warriors they are trying to beat. Oklahoma City had a 3-1 lead and then lost in Oakland, lost at home and lost Game 7 in Oakland last month in the Western Conference finals.

As if that isn’t bad enough for the Cavaliers, who trail the Warriors, 3-1, heading into Game 5 on June 13 in Oakland, only twice in the 10 comebacks did the road team prevail in Game 7, which is what the Cavaliers would have to do to topple the defending champions.