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Lakers guard Jordan Farmar had an ultrasound test and was examined today by Dr. Luga Podesta of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic. Results show that there is progress in his torn left hamstring, which Farmar injured in the first half of the Lakers game against Portland on December 1, but that the injury is still not healed.
Farmar will be out at least another week, and his next evaluation is scheduled for December 24, at which time another update will be issued
Here’s the Associated Press reporting on some upcoming good-will from Kobe Bryant, Bill Clinton and others:
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Former President Bill Clinton and NBA star Kobe Bryant will lead a panel on kids and sports at a conference next month.
The roundtable discussion will open the Clinton Health Matters Initiative Conference on Jan. 13 in La Quinta, Calif. Topics will include barriers to access, coaching quality and safety.
“There’s so much to be gained, so much from health and fitness,” Bryant told The Associated Press on Monday in Atlanta, where his Los Angeles Lakers were playing the Hawks. “It’s a really important initiative for kids to understand that you’re not just getting the benefits of being healthy, you’re also understanding how to be great leaders, how to be unselfish, how to work within a group, competitive spirit.”
Here is WATE in Knoxville, Tennessee reporting on a known player passing away:
Former Tennessee basketball player Dyron Nix has passed away in Atlanta at the age of 46.
Former Vol and Nix teammate Clarence Swearengen confirmed the death through a member of the Nix family.
Swearengen said Nix had gone to an Atlanta hospital complaining of breathing difficulty and died a short time later.
Nix was a standout player on the Tennessee basketball team from 1985-89. He became a fan favorite for his athletic style of play– and was drafted by the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets.
The New Orleans Pelicans announced today that the team has waived forward Josh Childress.
Childress, who originally signed with New Orleans on Nov. 12, 2013, appeared in four games with the Pelicans this season, tallying a total of three rebounds, two assists and a steal in 24 minutes. The Stanford product has appeared in 391 career games, including 70 starts, and holds career averages of 9.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 26.7 minutes per game.
New Orleans’ roster now stands at 14 players.
The Chicago Bulls announced today the team has signed free agent guard D.J. Augustin.
The team is without injured point guard Derrick Rose for the season, and was in need of additional guard depth.
Augustin (6-0, 183) is currently in his sixth year in the NBA. Drafted by the Charlotte Bobcats with the ninth pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, Augustin has played for the Bobcats, the Indiana Pacers and the Toronto Raptors. He appeared in 10 games this year with the Raptors, and averaged 2.1 ppg and 1.0 apg in 8.2 mpg.
In five-plus seasons in the NBA, he has played in 368 regular season games (147 starts) and averaged 9.4 ppg, 3.9 apg and 1.8 rpg in 24.1 mpg, and shot .400 from the field, .368 from behind the arc and .872 from the line. The 26-year old Augustin has also made two trips (23 games) to the NBA playoffs, where he has averaged 5.0 ppg, 0.9 apg, 16.9 mpg, .364 field goal shooting, .389 from downtown and .811 from the free throw line.
Augustin will wear No. 14 and he will be available for this evening’s game at Milwaukee.
Chicago’s roster now stands at 14 players.
Here’s the Detroit News on a big, fun Pistons development:
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This looks to be a week of discovery of sorts for Pistons coach Maurice Cheeks.
On Sunday, Cheeks revealed that when he accepted the Pistons job this past June, he didn’t know Andre Drummond would be this good.
“I didn’t,” Cheeks said after the Pistons’ 115-100 win over the 76ers. “Joe (Dumars) told me he was on an upswing, but I didn’t know. I (only) watched him a few times, but I didn’t know he would be as good as now. Trust me, he reminds me about his double-doubles every day.”
In context, Cheeks likely was referring to Drummond’s monster game — he put up 31 points and added 19 rebounds with six steals and two blocks on Sunday — along with Drummond’s seemingly rapid ascension, a track that could land him in the conversation of the best bigs in the game before too long.
Cheeks, however, cautions that despite his own expectations for Drummond, the center is just 20 years old, and not yet a seasoned, consistent veteran.
While the NBA world and especially Chicago Bulls fans are happy that Derrick Rose is back in action, so far in this still-new season the former league MVP hasn’t played especially well. He’s shot tons of bricks, and is still returning to form. Here’s the Chicago Sun-Times reporting:
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Tom Thibodeau doesn’t go out on limbs. There’s little gray or ‘‘what if.’’ So when discussing Derrick Rose on Tuesday, the Bulls coach was very matter-of-fact.
‘‘Derrick will be Derrick very shortly,’’ he said.
But what if he’s not? What if, after surgery and a long rehabilitation for his torn anterior cruciate ligament, this is the new Rose — a 34-percent-shooting, 15-points-a-game guard? What if he’s just another NBA player in a sea of upper-echelon talent who doesn’t quite make the cut into elite?
What if Rose being an MVP, as he was in 2011, is a case of days gone by?
It’s not a scenario that Thibodeau deems realistic.
‘‘You’ve got to remember, the guy has been out 18 months,’’ Thibodeau said.
Here’s the Atlanta Journal-Constitution blog on the parting of ways between the Hawks and forward Josh Smith this past offseason:
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At least they said hello.
Hawks general manager Danny Ferry has previously said the team did not make Josh Smith a contract offer once he became an unrestricted free agent this summer. Smith gave some more detail into the Hawks’ lack of interest this summer in a radio interview with 92.9 FM Monday.
“No, there wasn’t,” Smith said when asked if there was a contract offer. “During free agency, during that period, there were a lot of guys out in L.A. that were meeting with various teams. I was one of those guys. That’s where I work out in the summertime as well. The only time I saw the Hawks during free agency was when they came to one of my workouts just to say hello. I think they were meeting with Dwight Howard that day. They never came in or sat down with me during the free agency period to offer me anything.”
They had to lose sometime. After starting the season winning nine games in a row, the Indiana Pacers finally fell. Here’s the Associated Press:
Luol Deng scored 23 points, Derrick Rose added 20 points and the Chicago Bulls knocked off the NBA’s last unbeaten team with a 110-94 win over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday night.
Taj Gibson had 15 points and eight rebounds for Chicago (5-3), which won its fourth straight game behind 11-of-19 shooting from 3-point range…
Roy Hibbert led Indiana (9-1) with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Paul George, who averaged 24.6 points per game coming in, was held to 12 points.
Lots of fans complain when certain NBA players seem to keep getting injured and missing games. And that’s understandable. But what fans should remember is, no player actually wants to be injured. It’s in all likelyhood more frustrating for them than for anyone else. As for Brooklyn Nets point guard Deron Williams, here’s the New York Post:
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The $100 million point guard sprained his left ankle in the first quarter of Friday night’s 100-98 overtime victory over the Suns, landing on Miles Plumlee’s foot and rolling his ankle. Williams then collapsed to the ground, and lay motionless in pain. He limped to the locker room, ending his night after just five minutes, two points and one assist.
X-rays were negative, according to the Nets.
“It’s frustrating,” Williams said after the game. “That’s the only way to describe it. I’m sick of being injured, sick of being hurt. I just want to be healthy so I can help my team.”
The good news for Williams is he said the sprain is “not even close to as bad” as the injury he sustained in the offseason to his other ankle.