Inside Hoops – Page 1155 – NBA Blog

Different type of All-Star Weekend for Dwyane Wade

Here’s the South Florida Sun Sentinel reporting on banged-up veteran Heat guard Dwyane Wade:

An experience that had become routine for Dwyane Wade over the years suddenly was foreign. It was so new Wade for a moment thought about returning in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game at Smoothie King Center. Then he thought against it.

“I’m normally in there at the end,” Wade said. “It was a part of me that really wanted to be in there. I came out in the second half and I felt a lot better. I wanted to play but I decided not to for the better of our season.”

As expected, the night ended earlier than usual for Wade in the Eastern Conference’s 163-155 victory against the West. Wade left with 5 minutes, 49 seconds remaining in the third quarter, becoming a cheerleader the remainder.

He experienced the game from a “different lense.”

“Just on my vet stuff this year,” Wade said. “I actually got it from other vets. I’ve been around guys when they were older and how they approached the All-Star Game, where they kind of let the younger guys go out there and enjoy themselves and get a feel for the game and have fun. I just kind of chilled a little bit.”

Raptors GM will be listening as trade deadline looms

The Toronto Raptors are having a fine season, but like every squad in the league, deals are possible. Here’s the Toronto Sun reporting:

Masai Ujiri has always said he would let the players dictate which way he went with things and he’s not backing off that now.

That does not mean he definitely won’t be busy between now and Thursday’s NBA trade deadline, just that he’s not going to be out there seeking moves as hard as he would have been had the Raptors not got on a bit of a roll and shown their President and GM something over these last couple of months.

“I’ll be right here (waving his cellphone) waiting and we’ll see what happens,” he said of his plans between now and the trade deadline. “I never know what to expect. Sometimes it’s quiet until the last minute. Sometimes it’s busy. As far as our team, I think the team has played well. They have done well with the platform so keep trying to grow.

“These guys are taking the opportunity and I said we would give them the platform, and if they continue to grow we’ll see how we do but we haven’t done anything yet,” Ujiri cautioned. “I don’t want to call out the conference, I can’t do that, but it’s the measuring stick and I think we have to keep that in mind.”

Carmelo Anthony sets NBA All-Star game three-pointer record

Here’s the New York Post reporting on Knicks star Carmelo Anthony, who had a memorable All-Star weekend in New Orleans:

It was an eventful All-Star weekend for Carmelo Anthony off the court in New Orleans, where he declared he’d take “a pay cut’’ to re-sign with Knicks if he likes their roster plans. Anthony then made his on-court experience a memorable one by setting an All-Star Game 3-point record.

Anthony’s smile, which rarely has been seen this season, were in abundance in the Big Easy. The Knicks superstar admitted he would have a tough time enjoying All-Star Weekend because of the club’s 20-32 record, but he still had a blast — even if he fell short of winning the MVP. Kyrie Irving of West Orange, N.J., won it with 31 points and 14 assists.

Anthony scored 20 of his 30 points in the first half and hit a huge 3-pointer with 1:04 left to key the Eastern Conference’s 163-155 come-from-behind All-Star Game shootout victory over the West at New Orleans Arena. He finished with eight 3-pointers, breaking the record of six, co-held by LeBron James and Mark Price.

LeBron James updates his Basketball Mount Rushmore comments

Here’s the Boston Globe reporting on LeBron James, who has gotten attention recently for his opinion as to which NBA legends would belong on a basketball version of Mount Rushmore:

LeBron James has had all weekend to reconsider the list of players on his basketball version of Mount Rushmore.

Last week, the four-time MVP said his top four players were Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Oscar Robertson, adding that one of those will eventually be replaced by him. Those statements sparked a debate at All-Star Weekend about the game’s greatest players.

James stuck to his original list, but said there are plenty of other names who could be considered.

“Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar], Kobe [Bryant], it’s hard to knock anybody off,” James said. “There needs to be another mountain. It’s too many guys. I was definitely thinking of Kobe as the top four of all time. I think about Kareem for sure. There’s so many greats that played this game.”

All-Star Dirk Nowitzki plans to take it easy this weekend

Here’s the Dallas Morning News blog reporting on veteran Mavs star Dirk Nowitzki, who would be perfectly happy spending most of Sunday’s All-Star game on the bench watching the action:

The Mavericks played 54 games before the All-Star break, and Nowitzki played in all but two of them. Like most of his teammates, he was rolling in the weeks leading up to the NBA’s annual intermission.

Unlike most of his teammates, he doesn’t get to kick back on a beach or at the house to chill out for a few days. But he still doesn’t plan on putting in much of a workload in New Orleans. With his sprained left ankle still healing, plus a playoff race ahead of him, he values all the rest he can get.

“A couple minutes,” was all Nowitzki said when asked what he expects to do in Sunday’s All-Star Game. “I got a couple days now, and I probably won’t do much, including the game.”

President Obama is a big Stephen Curry fan

Lots of basketball fans appreciate the shooting ability of Stephen Curry. Count President Obama in that group. Here’s the Bay Area News Group reporting:

All-Star Stephen Curry has a fan in President Barack Obama, who offered high praise to the Warriors guard for his shooting ability.

“I gotta tell you, Curry is the best shooter I have ever seen,” Obama told TNT’s Charles Barkley in a portion of a taped interview released Friday. “I believe that.

“In terms of being able to, you know, off the dribble get his shot off from anywhere that fast, best I’ve ever seen.”

No clues to the future of Kevin Love

Here’s the New York Post reporting on Timberwolves star Kevin Love, who for now is… on the Timberwolves.

Love’s name has made the speculation rounds, and with his ability to join the free-agent ranks in 2015, that is not changing. He would be a hit, with his talent, personality and flair. When asked about his future and if he ever gives a thought to New York, he replied with a straight-faced deadpan.

“New York? Right now, I’m thinking about Derek Jeter’s decision. How about that?” Love said.

His standard line is “I want to win” and he’ll think about what he wants to do in 2015 in, well, 2015. He is sharp enough to realize it is a no-win situation.

“If I say that I like Charlotte or ‘Charlotte is a great city, I love spending time there,’ then all of a sudden I’m going to Charlotte,” Love said. “Anything I say is going to be a misconception or be some sort of a headline. It’s silly.”

David Stern will be inducted into Basketball Hall of Fame

David Stern is going from the NBA commissioner’s office to the Hall of Fame.

The recently retired Stern was elected Friday to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and will be enshrined with the class of 2014 on Aug. 8 in Springfield, Mass.

Alonzo Mourning, Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond, Kevin Johnson and Spencer Haywood are hoping to be part of the class. They were chosen as finalists, with the full class to be unveiled April 7 during the NCAA men’s Final Four.

Stern retired on Feb. 1 after exactly 30 years as commissioner, during which he brought the league to its greatest success. Jerry Colangelo, chairman of the Hall of Fame board, said the Hall hopes to have a special spot to display a tribute to Stern.

— Associated Press

Nets stuggle in back-to-back games

The Brooklyn Nets struggled to start the season, but picked things up once 2014 rolled around. But they still tend to drop the second game of back-to-backs. Here’s the New York Post reporting:

Before any questions could be asked at his postgame press conference after the Nets’ 92-76 loss to the Bulls on Thursday night, Jason Kidd knew what the first topic of discussion would be.

“Back-to-backs,” he said.

Once again, the Nets came up on the short end in the second half of a back-to-back this season, dropping to 2-10 in those games this season, with eight more sets of back-to-backs left to be played.

“We fought. We were right there,” the coach said. “We had a couple of great opportunities, and we just couldn’t get the stop, or we had a great look with the ball and the ball just didn’t go in for us at that point.

“That’s just basketball. The guys fought and gave us a great opportunity to win on the road, and it just got away from us there at the end.”

College: Suspended Marcus Smart to stay in locker room

Oklahoma State’s Marcus Smart is expected to watch Saturday’s game from the locker room instead of the stands.

University spokesman Mike Noteware told ESPN that Smart — who’ll be serving the second of his three-game suspension for shoving a fan at Texas Tech — will not be in the crowd when Oklahoma State hosts rival Oklahoma at 2 p.m. Saturday on ESPN.

Smart is not allowed to travel with the team while suspended but has been permitted to practice. His suspension ends after Tuesday’s game in Waco against Baylor.

The Cowboys (16-8, 4-7 Big 12) lost their first game without Smart on Tuesday at Texas and have dropped five straight and six of seven.

— ESPN.com