Turkish team not signing Utah Jazz center Mehmet Okur

Mehmet Okur

Steve Luhm of the Salt Lake Tribune reports:

Utah Jazz center Memo Okur will not sign with Fenerbahce Ulker, an Istanbul-based professional club in his native Turkey.

The team’s general manager denied reports Saturday that his club was pursuing Okur.

Aydin Ors told Salsabasket.net, a basketball website in Turkey, that Fenerbahce Ulker wasn’t planning to sign any new players.

Hours earlier, website MixBasket reported that Fenerbahce Ulker and Okur were negotiating a one-year contract, which would have included an opt-out clause in case the NBA lockout is settled.

Video: Magic Johnson likes Larry Bird. Not then, but now

Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson and Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird weren’t friends in their playing days. Sure, they respected each other — the same way you might respect a tornado flying towards your home and loved ones — but there was a friendly competitive hatred there.

These days, though, with their playing days long behind them, the memories remain, but feelings of dislike have been left in the past.

Here’s a video clip of Magic Johnson, at a Los Angeles Times-related event, talking about liking Larry Bird:

Read fan reaction or discuss your opinion in this basketball forum topic.

Tyson Chandler takes big loss on Chicago-area home sale

Tyson Chandler

The Chicago Tribune reports:

Former Chicago Bulls center Tyson Chandler who was part of this year’s NBA title-winning Dallas Mavericks team, has taken a huge loss on his 20-room, brick-and-limestone mansion in north suburban Northfield, selling it for $2.1 million.

The 7-foot-1 Chandler, 28, took one of the biggest housing losses of any area celebrity in recent years, selling his mansion for slightly more than half of what he paid for it in mid-2006. As the Red Eye newspaper reported in September 2006, Chandler paid $4 million for the mansion — just weeks before he was traded to the New Orleans Hornets after five seasons with the Bulls.

Chandler first listed the three-story mansion in 2007 for $4.99 million, and over the years reduced his asking price many times. Its final asking price was $2.895 million.

Custom-built in 2004 and covering about 11,000 square feet, the six-bedroom mansion has six full baths, two half baths, three fireplaces, a two-story great room, custom travertine and walnut floors, chef’s kitchen with a large breakfast room, wine cellar, a home theater, an exercise room, spa, mudroom, four-car garage, and a first-floor master suite with a large onyx bath. The mansion is on a 0.91-acre parcel.

Chris Mullin impressed with new direction of Warriors

The AP reports:

Chris Mullin harbors no hard feelings toward the Golden State Warriors, and the Hall of Famer says he would go back to work for them under the new regime if the fit were right.

He’s not ruling that out, either. Mullin — set to be enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame next Friday night — counts new coach Mark Jackson among his close friends. He worked with assistant general manager Bob Myers when Myers was an agent and Mullin was Golden State’s executive vice president of basketball operations.