Category: General NBA insight

General NBA insight

2013-14 NBA All-Rookie teams player list

The Philadelphia 76ers’ Michael Carter-Williams, the 2013-14 NBA Rookie of the Year, headlines the 2013-14 NBA All-Rookie First Team, the NBA announced today.

Carter-Williams was the lone unanimous First Team selection (250 points, 125 First Team votes), while the Orlando Magic’s Victor Oladipo narrowly missed a perfect ballot (248 points, 124 First Team votes). Trey Burke of the Utah Jazz (230 points, 108 First Team votes), Mason Plumlee of the Brooklyn Nets (214 points, 95 First Team votes) and the New York Knicks’ Tim Hardaway Jr. (204 points, 87 First Team votes) complete the 2013-14 NBA All-Rookie First Team.

The NBA All-Rookie Second Team consists of the Boston Celtics’ Kelly Olynyk (119 points, 19 First Team votes), the Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo (116 points, 15 First Team votes), the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Gorgui Dieng (96 points, 21 First Team votes), the Charlotte Hornets’ Cody Zeller (67 points, three First Team votes), and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Steven Adams (65 points, nine First Team votes).

Other players receiving votes, with point totals (first place votes in parentheses):

Ben McLemore, Sacramento, 63 (4); Pero Antic, Atlanta, 62 (10); Nick Calathes Memphis, 39 (2); Ryan Kelly, L.A. Lakers, 29; Matthew Dellavedova, Cleveland, 20 (3); Nate Wolters, Milwaukee, 20; Ray McCallum, Sacramento, 8; Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Detroit, 6; Hollis Thompson, Philadelphia, 5; Tony Snell, Chicago, 4; Phil Pressey, Boston, 2; Anthony Bennett, Cleveland, 1; Reggie Bullock, L.A. Clippers, 1; Robert Covington, Houston, 1; Alex Len, Phoenix, 1; C.J. McCollum, Portland, 1; Shabazz Muhammad, Minnesota, 1; Andre Roberson, Oklahoma City, 1; Jeff Withey, New Orleans, 1.

Adam Silver would like a higher NBA age minimum

What do you think of the NBA age minimum? New NBA commissioner Adam Silver feels it’s a bit too low. Here’s the Philadelphia Inquirer reporting:

Two 19-year-olds – Jabari Parker and Andrew Wiggins – are expected to be among the first three players picked in the NBA draft on June 26.

Drafting players that young won’t be the case much longer if NBA commissioner Adam Silver gets his wish.

“I’m in favor of raising the minimum age from 19 to 20,” Silver said Tuesday before the NBA draft lottery in New York.

That could ultimately end the “one-and-done” phenomenon in college basketball, when top players head to the pros after their freshman seasons.

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

2014 NBA Finals game schedule

Here is the 2014 NBA Finals game schedule. The Miami Heat beat the Indiana Pacers in six games of the Eastern Conference Finals to reach the Finals. And in the West, the San Antonio Spurs beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in six games. Here is the official 2014 NBA Finals game schedule. All games televised on ABC.

2014 NBA Finals Schedule: San Antonio Spurs vs. Miami Heat

Game 1 – Thu June 5 Miami at San Antonio 9:00PM ET

Game 2 – Sun June 8 Miami at San Antonio 8:00PM ET

Game 3 – Tue June 10 San Antonio at Miami 9:00PM ET

Game 4 – Thu June 12 San Antonio at Miami 9:00PM ET

Game 5 * Sun June 15 Miami at San Antonio 8:00PM ET

Game 6 * Tue June 17 San Antonio at Miami 9:00PM ET

Game 7 * Fri June 20 Miami at San Antonio 9:00PM ET

*If necessary

NBA initiates charge to terminate ownership of Donald Sterling in the Clippers

Clippers

The NBA initiated a charge yesterday (Monday) seeking to terminate the ownership of Donald Sterling in the Los Angeles Clippers. If the NBA Board of Governors sustains the charge by a 3/4 vote, all ownership interests in the Clippers will be terminated and the team will be sold to new owners.

The NBA Constitution provides Mr. Sterling with the opportunity to respond to the charge by May 27, as well as the right to appear and make a presentation at a special meeting of the Board of Governors. This hearing, which is planned for June 3, will be presided over by NBA Board of Governors Chairman Glen Taylor, the controlling Governor of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The charge asserts that Mr. Sterling engaged in conduct that has damaged and continues to damage the NBA and its teams. Among other things, Mr. Sterling disparaged African-Americans and “minorities”; directed a female acquaintance not to associate publicly with African-Americans or to bring African-Americans to Clippers games; and criticized African-Americans for not supporting their communities.

Mr. Sterling’s actions and positions significantly undermine the NBA’s efforts to promote diversity and inclusion; damage the NBA’s relationship with its fans; harm NBA owners, players and Clippers team personnel; and impair the NBA’s relationship with marketing and merchandising partners, as well as with government and community leaders. Mr. Sterling engaged in other misconduct as well, including issuing a false and misleading press statement about this matter.

All of these acts provide grounds for termination under several provisions of the NBA Constitution and related agreements.

NBA Advisory/Finance Committee spoke again today

The following statement has been issued by Mike Bass, Executive Vice President, Communications, regarding today’s meeting of the NBA Advisory/Finance Committee:

“The Advisory/Finance Committee met again this afternoon via conference call.  The Committee discussed the recent media appearances by Donald Sterling and Shelly Sterling, received updates on the hiring of Dick Parsons as the Los Angeles Clippers interim CEO and on his meeting yesterday with Clippers employees, and reviewed the status of the charge for termination of the Clippers’ ownership.  The Committee will reconvene next week.”

NBA says if Donald Sterling is out, Shelly Sterling will be out too

In response to statements made by Shelly Sterling, wife of Donald Sterling, NBA spokesman Mike Bass stated:

“Under the NBA Constitution, if a controlling owner’s interest is terminated by a 3/4 vote, all other team owners’ interests are automatically terminated as well.  It doesn’t matter whether the owners are related as is the case here.  These are the rules to which all NBA owners agreed to as a condition of owning their team.”

NBA owners meet again to discuss Clippers situation

NBA owners meet again to discuss Clippers situation

NBA owners went back to work Wednesday on Commissioner Adam Silver’s desire to end Donald Sterling’s ownership of the Los Angeles Clippers.

The advisory/finance committee held its second conference call in the past two weeks, reviewing the timing and process for forcing Sterling to sell the franchise following his lifetime ban for making racist comments.

League spokesman Mike Bass said in a statement that the committee also discussed the search for a new CEO and got an update on Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum’s visit with Clippers employees. The owners plan to meet again next week.

— Associated Press

Kevin Durant wins 2013-14 NBA MVP Award

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.