Entertainment Blog – Page 5 – NBA Blog

Magic Johnson rejoining ESPN NBA coverage

ESPN today announced that Earvin “Magic” Johnson, the two-time Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer and sports icon, will return to the company and re-join NBA Countdown as a studio analyst this season, first appearing as part of ABC’s Christmas NBA coverage. From there, Johnson will join NBA Countdown pre-game coverage for the NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC series – the NBA’s marquee game of the week, starting Jan. 21, 2017.

Johnson will re-unite with Michael Wilbon, who is also making his return to NBA Countdown as an analyst this season on Saturday nights. They will join Sage Steele, returning for her 4th season as NBA Countdown host, to form the new Saturday trio.

Saturday editions of NBA Countdown begin at 8 p.m. ET and are 30 minutes long, prior to the 8:30 p.m. game broadcast.

InsideHoops.com says: Magic Johnson’s NBA analysis tends to be on the… basic side of things. But he’s famous, likable, a familiar face to the masses, and a basketball legend.

As a kid, Nick Young wanted to be a Hollywood stunt man

Before a superstar girlfriend made him tabloid royalty and before a video leak made him a pariah; before one coach sent him to the bench and a new one rescued him from it; before he was Swaggy P or could even dunk, Nicholas Young wanted to be in the movies.

Specifically, he yearned for a life as a Hollywood stunt man.

His mother, Mae, took Nick and his brothers to Universal Studios and the future Lakers guard became enamored with the anonymous role players who ran through fire and fought with swords and scaled walls without suffering a scratch.

At home, Nick jumped off the roof of the garage and the family’s Culver City apartment. He built ramps in the street to perform bicycle tricks.

“He was a very difficult child,” Mae Young, Nick’s mother, said, “because he was constantly bruised and cut and scraped up.”

— Orange County Register

Derrick Rose happy for Chicago Cubs World Series win

Derrick Rose isn’t a Bull anymore, but Chicago will always be a part of him. Here’s the Bulls.com blog reporting:

No, the parade Friday wasn’t for Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah returning to Chicago.

But as much as Rose and Noah hoped, wished and envisioned it would be them someday making Chicago feel proud, Rose, nevertheless, said he was thrilled for Chicago.

“Just coming back here, it felt good, to tell you the truth,” Rose told reporters after Knicks practice in the United Center. “Especially the Cubs winning. I felt the energy of the city. The city is on some type of high right now. It’s great for the city with everything that we’ve been going through, the killings, everything. We need some positive light shined here.”

Rose, the Englewood native and Simeon High School star, has been part of the Chicago fabric for almost 20 years, as a prep basketball phenomenon and then as the No. 1 draft pick of the Bulls and the NBA’s youngest ever Most Valuable Player. Though Rose did so unobtrusively, he was one of the more community oriented Chicago athletes. He often joined Father Michael Phleger in the youth social activism in the troubled South Side and made the largest ever charitable gift of a Chicago athlete, a $1 million donation to the non profit After School Matters for teenage out of school programs.

Video: Drake hits shot from halfcourt

It’s the offseason and you want basketball stuff to look at, so here’s a video clip of Drake lying down at halfcourt tossing in a shot:

Of course, we have no idea how many times Drake tried that shot before it actually went in. Still, nicely done.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra buys new house

Here’s the Miami Herald with some off-court reporting:

Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, who’s getting married to a former Heat dancer in July, has already upgraded his living quarters from his bachelor’s condo.

Spo, 45, just plunked down $2.6 million for a historic house in Coconut Grove, according to property records. He is set to get hitched to former cheerleader Nikki Sapp July 1…

Unlike his players, who often pay cash for their houses, Spoelstra got a mortgage just like the rest of us shleppers. Naples-based Florida Community Bank gave Spo a $1.95 million mortgage.

Nate Robinson tries out for NFL

Nate Robinson’s NBA career appears to have mostly come to a close. It’s possible he’ll return to the league, but at this point it wouldn’t shock anyone if this is the last we’ve seen of the pint-sized superhuman athlete. So what next? Nate just spent time playing bball in Israel. And the latest? He’s trying to fulfill his dream of playing in the NFL. Here’s the New York Daily News reporting:

Nate Robinson tried out with the Seahawks on Monday, and — according to his agent — was “impressive.”

Aaron Goodwin told TMZ Sports that the former NBA star, who played for the Knicks and seven other teams during 11 seasons in the league, worked out as a defensive back, which he played at the University of Washington. Last season, the 5-foot-9 Seattle native played for Hapoel Tel Aviv in the Israeli Basketball Premier League.

“Nate’s tryout with the Seahawks went well and was impressive,” Goodwin told the website, though no deal is in place.

Kobe Bryant getting advice from Hollywood bigshots

Now that his legendary basketball career has wrapped up, Kobe Bryant is finding fun new things to do and reportedly tossing ideas around with some of the biggest bigshots around. Here’s the AP via the OC Register reporting:

Kobe Bryant is getting advice from Steven Spielberg, J.J. Abrams and Jerry Bruckheimer as he redirects his competitive drive from professional basketball to his publishing and production company.

One month after retiring from the NBA, the Lakers star has a new daily routine. “I get up early and I train and I work out. Then I go to the office,” Bryant said in an interview.

He spends much of his day “kicking around ideas” with his staff of 10 full-time employees at Kobe Inc. in Newport Beach — and calls up those Hollywood heavyweights for guidance.

“I mean those are like unfair advantages,” Bryant said, laughing.

Dirk Nowitzki 2016 Heroes Celebrity Baseball Game

Here’s the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporting on Dirk Nowitzki’s celebrity baseball game, which donates proceeds to charity:

The Dallas Mavericks superstar will host his Dirk Nowitzki’s 2016 Heroes Celebrity Baseball Game on Friday, June 10, at 7 p.m. at the Dr Pepper Ballpark in Frisco…

Among the celebrities scheduled for the game are Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Cole Beasley and defensive back Byron Jones; Mavericks players Deron Williams**, Chandler Parsons, J.J. Barea, David Lee, Devin Harris**, Wesley Matthews, JaVale McGee, Salah Mejri, Justin Anderson, Jeremy Evans, Dwight Powell and coach Rick Carlisle**; Plano-raised actor Chace Crawford (TV series Gossip Girl and Blood and Oil) and actor Geoff Stults (TV series The Odd Couple and upcoming movies Hey Brother and The Kicker); and former Texas Rangers players David Murphy and Michael Young.

Space Jam 2 movie is coming

It took a while, but Space Jam 2 is reportedly finally on its way. Here’s the Hollywood Reporter with details:

Justin Lin, Andrew Dodge and Alfredo Botello are ready to shoot some intergalactic hoops with LeBron James.

The Fast & Furious 6 and Star Trek Beyond helmer is co-writing, with Dodge and Botello, Warner Bros.’ Space Jam 2. Lin is also looking to direct and produce via his Perfect Storm Entertainment, and sources say he will be thoroughly involved in the creative development of the project.

The WME-repped Cleveland Cavaliers forward, who recently appeared in Amy Schumer comedy Trainwreck, will star in the sequel. Rumors of a follow-up to the live action/animated 1996 hit have been circulating for years but picked up steam in July when James and his company SpringHill Entertainment signed a deal with Warner Bros.

Ray Allen opening an organic fast-food restaurant

When you are a jumpshot-maker who currently isn’t shooting jumpshots for anyone, you need something else to do.

And, people gotta eat.

Here’s the Miami Herald reporting on what Ray Allen has been up to lately:

Ray Allen and his wife, Shannon, are trying their hand at nutritious meals with Grown, an organic fast-food restaurant set to open in March in South Miami at 8211 S. Dixie Hwy.

James and his wife, Savannah, opened The Juice Spot in Brickell in December 2013 before closing the juice bar almost as quickly as LeBron James came and went from the Miami Heat.

The Juice Spot closed early this year, leaving a vacancy in the field of basketball player-owned healthy eateries in Miami.

But Allen’s will be different.

The very idea of healthy, organic “fast food” is one of the best I can think of in regard to how the world should be eating. For that reason alone, I hope Allen succeeds.