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Lady Gaga was no match for the NBA’s playoff schedule.
The Washington Wizards announced Tuesday that the Grammy winner’s May 15 concert at the Verizon Center has been moved up to May 12 because it conflicts with a possible Game 6 in the club’s Eastern Conference playoff series against the Indiana Pacers.
— Associated Press
Tuesday in San Antonio the Spurs beat the Trail Blazers 116-92. Tony Parker shot 13-of-24 for 33 points and nine assists in the win. Enjoy these Parker video highlights:
Here’s the New York Daily News reporting on Steve Kerr:
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Steve Kerr is now the top candidate for three high-profile jobs, with the Golden State Warriors joining the Lakers as formidable competition for Phil Jackson and the Knicks.
According to a league source, Warriors owner Joe Lacob wants to hire Kerr to replace Mark Jackson, who was fired on Tuesday following three successful seasons as Golden State’s head coach. In fact, the Warriors wasted no time reaching out to Kerr, contacting him less than three hours after Jackson was dismissed. And a source maintains that the Warriors’ job is Kerr’s if he wants it.
The Knicks are still in play, but it is telling that Kerr — who met with Jackson 11 days ago in New York — has not made a decision, and that by delaying, two attractive jobs have become available.
Turning down Jackson in New York to coach Jackson’s former club in Los Angeles would be a stunning turn of events. The Warriors seem more logical since Kerr has several connections to the organization. He knows Lacob well and has a relationship with Lacob’s son Kirk, who works in Golden State’s front office. Kerr also worked with Warriors president Rick Welts in Phoenix.
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The video game company 2K has announced that Oklahoma City Thunder superstar, four-time NBA scoring champion, and recently crowned 2013-14 NBA Most Valuable Player Kevin Durant will make his solo debut as video game cover athlete on NBA 2K15, the next installment of the top-selling and top-rated NBA video game simulation franchise. With the selection, Durant completes a banner year in which he garnered the NBA’s top award for the first time in his career and fulfilled his lifelong dream of being the feature athlete on an NBA 2K cover, all while cementing his legacy as one of the greatest players of this generation.
“I’m honored to be selected for the cover of NBA 2K,” said Durant, who is currently leading the Oklahoma City Thunder against Los Angeles Clippers during this year’s NBA Playoffs. “I’ve been an avid fan and player of NBA 2K since I was a kid, and being selected as the sole cover athlete of NBA 2K15 is an amazing accomplishment at this point of my life. I feel like my time has come.”
“We’re continually challenging ourselves to align the NBA 2K franchise with the best of this generation, and Kevin Durant brings one of the NBA’s greatest into our stable of kings,” said Alfie Brody, Vice President of Marketing for 2K. “Our goal is to consistently bring an unmatched experience for the millions of fans that play the NBA 2K series, while paralleling the NBA’s evolution and growth year-over-year.”
In addition to his accomplishments as four-time NBA scoring champion, and winning the 2014 NBA MVP award, Durant’s impressive basketball resume includes four All-NBA team selections, five NBA All-Star selections, and the 2007-2008 NBA Rookie of the Year award, solidifying him as the perfect choice to bring NBA 2K basketball to fans across the globe
Here’s the New York Daily News reporting on the Heat and Nets, who are facing each other in the Eastern conference semifinals:
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This is what it’s supposed to look like when the two-time defending champ plays the sixth seed.
It’s supposed to be lopsided, with the favorites imposing their will and their athletic advantage, scoring easily and often under the basket.
Only it wasn’t supposed to happen to the Nets, not after they beat the Heat in all four regular-season meetings.
“Regular seasons don’t even matter,” Miami’s Dwyane Wade said.
Like the Heat was preaching all along, the playoffs are a different animal. It became painfully apparent for the Nets on Tuesday night at American Airlines Arena, where they were stomped by a balanced Miami attack and fell in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
It was just too easy for LeBron James and Co. in their 107-86 domination. They outscored the Nets in the paint, 52-28. They shot 57%, breaking open the game in the third quarter before Jason Kidd waved the white flag.
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Philadelphia 76ers guard Michael Carter-Williams underwent successful surgery today to repair the labrum of his right shoulder.
The surgery was performed by Dr. David Altchek at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York and his rehabilitation will be supervised by head team physician Dr. Brian Sennett of Penn Medicine.
“The health of our players is our primary concern,” said Sixers President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Sam Hinkie. “There were a number of healthy discussions between Michael, our medical team, several medical specialists and Michael’s representatives. After careful consideration and thoughtful research, we collectively agreed that it was in Michael’s best interest to move forward with the procedure now and allow for maximum recovery time.”
There is no timetable set for his return.
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The Golden State Warriors have fired head coach Mark Jackson. Jackson, who recently completed his third season as head coach of the team, guided the Warriors to a 51-31 record this season and a combined 121-109 record (.526) during his tenure in the Bay Area. Jackson was named the 24th head coach in the team’s West Coast history on June 6, 2011.
Jackson has been a successful coach with the Warriors. Yet they have cast him aside, reportedly due to personality conflicts between the coach and upper management.
“It’s never easy to make a decision of this nature,” said General Manager Bob Myers. “Mark has accomplished many good things during his three years with the organization, including his role in helping elevate this team into a better position than it was when he arrived nearly 36 months ago. We’re appreciative of his dedication and commitment since his arrival and are extremely grateful for his contributions. However, as an organization, we simply feel it’s best to move in a different direction at this time.”
“Mark Jackson has had a big impact on the improvement of our team and the success that we’ve had over the last couple of years,” said Owner & CEO Joe Lacob. “Nonetheless, we must make some difficult decisions in our day-to-day operations of the club and this would certainly qualify as one of those examples. We wish Mark the best of luck in his future endeavors and thank him for his contributions over the last three years.”
Jackson, 49, became just the third head coach in franchise history to lead a team to at least 50 wins in a season, joining Don Nelson and Alvin Attles, who both posted 50-win seasons twice with the Warriors. With 121 regular-season victories overall, Jackson ranks fourth on the franchise’s all-time wins list, trailing Attles (557), Nelson (422) and Eddie Gottlieb (263). Additionally, the 98 regular-season wins posted over the last two seasons (51 in 2013-14 & 47 in 2012-13) represent the Warriors best two-year stretch since the team posted 99 victories combined in the 1990-91 (44) and 1991-92 (55) seasons, which was also the last time Golden State made consecutive postseason appearances.
According to Yahoo Sports, “Golden State plans to pursue several top coaching candidates, with Steve Kerr and Stan Van Gundy at the top of the list, league sources said. The possibility of reaching out to the Chicago Bulls for permission to speak with coach Tom Thibodeau will also be a consideration, league sources said. The Warriors will likely move quickly to reach out to Kerr, who has strong relationships with owner Joe Lacob and president Rick Welts, league sources said.”
Toronto Raptors President and General Manager Masai Ujiri announced Tuesday the club and head coach Dwane Casey have agreed in principle on a new three-year contract through the 2016-17 season. Casey guided the Raptors to a team-record 48 victories and an Atlantic Division championship in 2013-14.
“From day one last summer Dwane has done an excellent job both on-and-off the court,” said Ujiri. “There’s been growth from each player on the roster and the team’s identity of toughness and a desire to always compete has clearly been established.
“We’re very excited to continue to grow and develop this team with Dwane as our head coach.”
Casey incorporated four new players into the roster following an early December trade and from that point forward led the Raptors to the best mark in the Eastern Conference at 41-22. He directed the club to eight victories in the final 11 games in December and was rewarded with NBA Eastern Conference Coach of the Month honours. His 2013-14 squad finished in the Top 10 in the NBA in defensive field goal percentage (.450) and points allowed (98.0), and also posted a franchise-best 22 road wins.
“I thank Tim (Leiweke) and Masai for providing me and my staff the platform this season to coach and now to continue the process of developing this young team,” said Casey. “We have taken some big steps toward our goal of installing a culture and a defensive mindset.
“At the same time we realize the challenge ahead in order to complete our quest to build a championship program for the best fans in the NBA!”
In his third season at the helm of the Raptors, Casey continued to oversee the development of a young nucleus. Toronto was the only team this past season with two second-year starters to reach the postseason. Point guard Kyle Lowry established career highs in scoring (17.9) and assists (7.4), guard DeMar DeRozan earned his first All-Star selection, sophomore forward Terrence Ross moved into a starting role in December and increased his scoring average by 5.7 points and second-year centre Jonas Valanciunas led the team in double-doubles (25).
Casey was named head coach of the Raptors on June 21, 2011, just nine days after he helped lead the Dallas Mavericks to the 2011 NBA Championship. He earned his 100th career victory as head coach of the Raptors on April 2 with a 107-103 win versus Houston.
Casey has served as a head coach, associate head coach and assistant coach during his 19 seasons in the NBA.
Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder is the winner of the Maurice Podoloff Trophy as the 2013-14 NBA Most Valuable Player, the NBA announced today. It is the first MVP award for Durant, who captured his fourth scoring title in five seasons, joining Wilt Chamberlain, George Gervin and Michael Jordan as the only players to accomplish this feat. Despite teammate Russell Westbrook appearing in only 46 games, Durant guided the Thunder to the NBA’s second-best record at 59-23.
Durant totaled 1,232 points, including 119 first-place votes, from a panel of 124 voters that consisted of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada as well as an NBA.com MVP fan vote, making for 125 total ballots. For the fifth consecutive season, the NBA gave fans the opportunity to submit their votes by ranking their top five choices through a dedicated Web page on NBA.com. The fan vote counted as one vote and was compiled with the 124 media votes to determine the winner. Players were awarded 10 points for each first-place vote, seven points for each second-place vote, five for each third-place vote, three for each fourth-place vote and one for each fifth-place vote received.
Rounding out the top five in voting are Miami’s LeBron James (891 points, six first-place votes), the Los Angeles Clippers’ Blake Griffin (434 points), the Chicago Bulls’ Joakim Noah (322 points), and the Houston Rockets’ James Harden (85 points).
Durant averaged a career-best 32.0 points to go with 7.4 rebounds and 5.5 assists, also a career high. In capturing his fourth scoring title, he joined Jordan (10), Chamberlain (seven), Gervin (four), and Allen Iverson (four) as the only players in league annals to win at least four scoring titles. He shot .503 from the field, .391 from three-point range, and .873 from the free throw line, leading all players in free throws made (703) and attempted (805). Durant authored two 50-point games, topped the 40-point mark on 14 occasions, and turned in 17 games with at least 30 points and 10 rebounds.
Durant’s consistency was highlighted by his streak of 41 consecutive games scoring at least 25 points, which ran from Jan. 7 through April 6, and was the longest streak since Michael Jordan did it in 40 straight games during the 1986-87 season. It’s the third-longest streak (single season) in NBA history, behind Wilt Chamberlain, who did it in all 80 games during the 1961-62 season, and Oscar Robertson, who went for 25-plus in 46 straight games during the 1963-64 season. Chamberlain did it for 106 straight games over the course of the 1961-62 and 1962-63 seasons.
The winner of four NBA Player of the Month honors in 2013-14 (October-November, December, January and March), Durant was also named Player of the Week six times (Dec. 2, Dec. 30, Jan. 20, Jan. 27, Feb. 10 and March 24).
The NBA MVP trophy is named in honor of the late Maurice Podoloff, the first commissioner of the NBA who served from 1946 until his retirement in 1963.
Here’s the New York Daily News reporting on the latest in the Donald Sterling saga:
Donald Sterling is reportedly shopping for lawyers to swat back at the NBA.
The embattled bigot has reached out to several law firms, including Los Angeles-based Glaser Weil, to build a legal bench that can rush to court and cry foul over his lifetime ban and league efforts to force a Clippers sale, TMZ Sports reported Monday.
Sterling did not return calls seeking confirmation.
“Sorry, he’s sound asleep,” a man who picked up on one of Sterling’s personal numbers told the Daily News Monday.
Glaser Weil partner Patty Glaser is a Hollywood super lawyer who has repped other big-name clients, including Conan O’Brian in his exit from NBC and Keith Olbermann in his fight with Current TV.
Her firm recently helped defend Paula Deen in a racially charged employment discrimination case in which the culinary queen admitted she used the “N” word.