NBA Blog – NBA Basketball Blog
NBA Blog: The NBA basketball news blog section of Inside Hoops
 |
The NBA announced today that Monta Ellis of the Indiana Pacers and Reggie Bullock of the Detroit Pistons have each been suspended without pay for five games for violating the terms of the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Program.
Their suspensions will begin with the next NBA regular season game that they are eligible and physically able to play.
|
The L.A. Clippers and the City of Inglewood announced today that they have entered into a three-year Exclusive Negotiating Agreement (ENA) that will allow the Clippers to explore building a new state-of-the-art basketball arena, training facilities and team offices in Inglewood, Calif. Under the ENA, which was unanimously approved Thursday morning by the Inglewood City Council, the Clippers will consider a 20-acre site located south of Century Boulevard at Prairie Avenue and directly across the street from the future football stadium and entertainment district being developed by The Kroenke Group.
The ENA establishes a three-year timeframe during which the L.A. Clippers will develop the details of its proposed basketball facility. The City of Inglewood will conduct an environmental review including an evaluation of the proposed facility’s construction and operational impacts.
The Clippers have called STAPLES Center, located in downtown Los Angeles, home since 1999. The team’s current lease with Anschutz Entertainment Group, the owners of STAPLES Center, will expire at the end of the 2023-2024 NBA season.
“Today’s announcement is consistent with what Steve Ballmer and the Clippers leadership have said for years – we want to be regarded as the best. That requires setting the highest bar for our performance in every aspect of our business,” stated Gillian Zucker, L.A. Clippers President of Business Operations. “To accomplish this goal, we must have options for the future.”
“This agreement serves as an example of the team’s commitment to providing Clipper Nation with the best game experience in the NBA,” Zucker said. “It is another step in the journey toward building a championship culture that will deliver positive results for Clippers players, fans and the greater Los Angeles community.”
“The Clippers applaud the energy and vision that Mayor Butts has for his city,” added Zucker. “His tenacity was instrumental in getting this Exclusive Negotiating Agreement across the finish line.”
The new arena would be 100 percent privately funded and privately capitalized. No public dollars will be used for this project.
Under the exclusive negotiating agreement, the L.A. Clippers are responsible for the costs to plan, entitle and develop the proposed facility. Within 24 hours of signing the ENA, the L.A. Clippers will pay the City of Inglewood $1.5 million, which will fund the City’s administrative costs. If additional funding is required, the Clippers will provide the necessary resources.
|
The Brooklyn Nets have named Travon Bryant as an assistant player development coach on Head Coach Kenny Atkinson’s staff.
Bryant joins the Nets after spending the last two seasons as an assistant coach for the NBA Development League’s Oklahoma City Blue. The Long Beach, Calif., native played collegiately at the University of Missouri (2000-04) before embarking on an 11-year pro career overseas, most recently with Japan’s Akita Northern Happinets in 2015. Bryant also played in Greece, Italy, Germany, Ukraine and France during his time abroad.
|
The Philadelphia 76ers today exercised the contract option on forward Robert Covington for the 2017-18 season.
In 204 games (165 starts) over the course of three seasons with the Sixers, Covington holds averages of 13 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals per game while shooting 35 percent from three-point range and 81 percent from the free-throw line. His 170 made three-pointers in 2015-16 were the fifth-most ever in a season by a Sixers player, and his 474 threes are already fifth-most in franchise history behind Allen Iverson, Kyle Korver, Andre Iguodala and Hersey Hawkins.
This past season, Covington finished fourth in the NBA with an average of 1.9 steals per game, while his total of 127 swipes on the year placed him 11th in the league. Covington, Houston’s Trevor Ariza, Golden State’s Stephen Curry, San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard and Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook were the only NBA players with 125 threes and 125 steals in 2016-17.
Covington was originally signed by the Sixers on Nov. 15, 2014, after spending much of the 2013-14 season with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Houston Rockets’ D-League affiliate. He appeared in seven NBA games for Houston and was named D-League Rookie of the Year during an All-Star campaign.
|
|
The Staples Center is home to both the Lakers and Clippers, but the latter squad would reportedly enjoy a home of their own.
According to the LA Times, “Inglewood’s City Council will vote Thursday on an exclusive negotiating agreement with a Clippers-controlled company to use city-owned land to build an arena for the team, according to a copy of the agreement.”
More from the Times: The 22 acres where the 18,000- to 20,000-seat arena would be built are across the street from the 298-acre site where Rams owner Stan Kroenke is building a stadium that will house his team and the Chargers.
|
Typically, American teams that win championships in American major team sports get invited to the White House. Why? It’s tradition. And it’s fun. So, it happens. (Is there more to it?)
But right now, the current political climate in the United States (and the world, really) is… shall we say… complicated.
It’s not yet known if the Warriors will receive an invite to visit the White House, to pal around with President Trump. It’s also not yet known if the Warriors, either as individuals or as a group, would accept the invite.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle: “Somebody asked me about it a couple months ago, a hypothetical, if a championship were to happen: ‘What would I do?’” Curry said Wednesday afternoon. “I think I answered that I wouldn’t go. I still feel like that today.”
Some would suggest if you disagree with a politician, it’s best to engage, discuss matters, see if you can affect change. Others would simply want to avoid that politician altogether, using absence as a statement. It’s too early to speculate on what may happen. We’ll see.
As yellow confetti fell from the rafters and TV cameras swarmed Monday night, Kevin Durant grabbed the charcoal cap emblazoned with the Larry O’Brien trophy before embracing Stephen Curry. In that moment, as a capacity crowd belted along to “We Are the Champions,” the Warriors had finally vindicated the 3-1 Finals lead they squandered last June. Nothing — not the chorus of critics, not the Herculean performances from Kyrie Irving and LeBron James, not a lengthy hiatus from head coach Steve Kerr — could keep Golden State from winning its second NBA title in three years.
Cleveland, fresh off a 137-point outburst in Game 4, used an early 14-2 run Monday to seize a seven-point lead midway through the first quarter. With James, Irving and J.R. Smith leading the way, the Cavaliers were up 41-33 early in the second. That’s when Golden State, perhaps the most combustible team of this era, tightened up defensively, ratcheted up the tempo and unleashed a 21-2 rally. Durant poured in 13 points on only five shots in the quarter to power the Warriors to a 71-60 lead by halftime.
Durant scored 39 points — he broke 30 in all five games of the Finals — and Curry had 34 and 10 assists… Right after the pass to Iguodala to put the Warriors up eight, Durant nailed a 3 to erase the Kevin Love and-1 seconds prior. When a Kyle Korver 3 with 8:27 left cut it to six, Durant sliced backdoor for an easy dunk, uncontested just like the six dunks he had in the first half of Game 1. In all, he made 14 of 20 shots, including five of eight from beyond the arc. For the series, he shot 56 percent from the field. He led the Warriors in rebounds and blocks.
And in the clincher, Curry had 34 points, 10 assists, six rebounds, and enough moments to silence his loudest critics. The reasonable ones, anyway. He led the way to a 129-120 win over the Cavaliers, clinching the Warriors’ second title in three years, completing their vengeance from last year’s epic collapse. This is how you earn super stardom. Curry wasn’t the Finals MVP. But he vindicated himself by averaging 26.8 points, 9.4 assists and 8.0 rebounds in an NBA Finals.
While James went for game highs in points (41) and minutes (47), Kyrie Irving and J.R. Smith were second and third on the Cavs with 26 and 25 points, respectively. For the Warriors, Stephen Curry was second with 34 points — hitting 10-of-20 shots — and 2015 NBA Finals MVP Andre Iguodala accounted for 20 points in 38 minutes off the bench.
 |
Many different words can be used to describe “edge.” As in, playing with more edge. Nerves. A sense of urgency. Pick whatever word or phrase you like — you get the idea. But you aren’t Warriors coach Steve Kerr. He’s got a better sense of all of this. And here’s what he said on the matter:
“For us as a team tonight, we’ve got to be more on edge,” said Kerr before the game, according to the Bay Area News Group. “I hope we’re a little more nervous. We didn’t seem that nervous in Game 4. Nervous is good. Appropriate fear is the Greg Popovich line. You need that. When we come out in the beginning of Game 4 and lose shooters and turn the ball over carelessly, we’re obviously not ready. I would hope we’re more ready, more prepared tonight.”
More from the Bay Area News Group: There’s a running theory that the pressure is on the Warriors tonight. They own a 3-1 series lead, but after the Cavs took Game 4, that’s now the same deficit they overcame to beat the Warriors a year ago. If they can get a win in Oakland to send the series back home, they might gather enough steam to pull it off.
NBA Finals Game 5 is tonight in Oakland at 9 p.m. ET. The Warriors lead 3-1.
|
If you hire Phil Jackson and pay him a massive amount of money to run your basketball team, you might as well let him do his job, right?
According to New York Newsday, “Knicks owner James Dolan gave his usual answer when he was asked about his basketball team during an appearance on “Good Day New York” on Fox. “Ask Phil,” Dolan said.”
More from Newsday: “Dolan said he’s continuing to leave all basketball decisions to team president Phil Jackson and general manager Steve Mills. Since hiring Jackson in March 2014, Dolan has been mostly hands off and let Jackson run the club. “It’s all Phil. It’s all Steve,” Dolan said. “I’m working on my music. They’re working on the basketball team.”
An issue here, of course, is the job that Phil Jackson has been doing. So far, it hasn’t resulted in much success. The Knicks aren’t a playoff team, and only have one good young prospect: Kristaps Porzingis, whose season ended more with frustration than inspiration.
Still, Dolan’s words make sense.
 |
Former NBA player Darius Miles made a ton of money in his career — tens of millions of dollars.
Now he’s reportedly selling things like waffle irons to round up enough cash to make ends meet and pay off debts.
Blowing over $60 million (before taxes, fees, expenses, etc — but still) sounds tough. But Miles made it happen.
According to TMZ Sports, here are some of the items Darius sold off:
— LeBron James signed jersey ($1,500)
— Larry Bird signed jersey ($100)
— AR15 firearm ($500)
— Beretta Cx4 Storm gun ($400)
— Self-contained karaoke machine ($75)
— Dirk Nowitzki signed shoe ($375)
— Lamar Odom signed shoe ($225)
— 5 VHS players (total of $21.50)
The other big question that needs to be asked: Why is the signed LeBron jersey so much more valuable than the signed Bird jersey?
And, what will be the first tapes played on those VCRs? Whoever bought them must have some old tapes they’ve been waiting to watch for a while. I’d like to know what they are. This question may remain unanswered, however. Them’s the breaks.