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The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have recalled guard-forward Kelenna Azubuike from the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League.
Azubuike (6-5, 215) was signed as a free agent by the Mavericks on March 23 and immediately assigned to the Legends. During his time in Frisco, he appeared in seven games and averaged 6.4 points and 3.4 rebounds in 12.9 minutes per contest.
Kansas forward Thomas Robinson will announce at a news conference Monday that he will enter the NBA draft, Jayhawks coach Bill Self told ESPN.com’s Andy Katz.
Robinson’s decision to forgo his senior season has been commonly known in Jayhawks circles for the past month.
Robinson averaged 17.9 points and 11.8 rebounds a game in leading Kansas to a Big 12 Conference regular season title and a trip to the national championship, where the Jayhawks lost to Kentucky.
— Reported by ESPN.com News Services with Andy Katz contributing
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Already a massive struggle, the New Orleans Hornets’ season just got even more challenging.
The team announced today that Jarrett Jack will miss the remainder of the season due to a stress fracture in his right foot. Jack has missed the last three games due to the injury.
Jack has appeared in 45 games (39 starts) this season for the Hornets, averaging career-highs of 15.6 points, 6.3 assists and 3.9 rebounds in 34.0 minutes of play. The seventh-year guard led the team in scoring 16 times this season, in assists 27 times and in rebounds once. He collected five double-doubles and recorded his first triple-double of his NBA career with 17 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds 3/21 vs. GSW.
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Lamar Odom’s brief and bumpy ride with the Dallas Mavericks has come to an abrupt end.
The Mavericks and Odom spent Easter Sunday working out a parting, according to sources close to the situation, that frees the struggling Odom to leave the team immediately without actually being released.
“The Mavericks and I have mutually agreed that it’s in the best interest of both parties for me to step away from the team,” Odom said in a statement to ESPN.com.
“I’m sorry that things didn’t work out better for both of us, but I wish the Mavs’ organization, my teammates and Dallas fans nothing but continued success in the defense of their championship.”
Sources said Monday that Odom’s departure will be immediate and that the Mavericks intend to simply list him as inactive for the rest of the season instead of outright releasing him, leaving open the possibility that they could still trade him after the season in conjunction with the draft. Any team that has Odom on its roster as of June 29 must buy him out by that date for $2.4 million or otherwise accept responsibility for the full $8.2 million that Odom is scheduled to earn in 2012-13.
— Reported by Marc Stein of ESPN.com
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Gerald Green scored a season-high 32 points, including a clutch 3-pointer with 36.7 seconds left in regulation and a high-flying dunk in overtime, leading the New Jersey Nets to a 122-117 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday night…
Anthony Morrow scored 24 points, Deron Williams had 18 points and 10 assists and Kris Humphries added 16 points and 11 rebounds as New Jersey finished with its highest scoring total of the season—topping the 115 in a loss to Denver on Jan. 11.
Antawn Jamison scored a season high-tying 34 points, Lester Hudson had 26 and Alonzo Gee added 22 points and 11 rebounds for Cleveland, which lost for the 10th time in 11 games and the 13th in their last 15. Tristan Thompson had 15 points and 15 rebounds.
The teams traded the lead seven times in the final 5 minutes of regulation before Green gave the Nets a 109-106 lead with his 3-pointer. However, Hudson sent the game to overtime with a fall-away 3 with just 0.3 seconds left.
— Reported by the Associated Press
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Derrick Rose returned to Chicago’s lineup Sunday at New York, giving the Bulls their projected starting five for just the 11th time this season.
Rose missed 12 straight games with a strained right groin and has been sidelined 22 times this season because of a variety of injuries.
The Bulls had the reigning MVP in the lineup for the afternoon tip with Richard Hamilton, Joakim Noah, Carlos Boozer and Luol Deng for the first time since March 5 against Indiana.
— Reported by the Associated Press
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Despite recent reports Amar’e Stoudemire hoped to return from his back injury by next weekend, Knicks coach Mike Woodson said he does not plan on having the power forward anytime soon.
Stoudemire has missed the past six games with a bulging disk in his back and originally was given a timetable to return of 2-4 weeks — Wednesday marks two weeks since the diagnosis — but Woodson said he has no new information to suggest a return is imminent.
“At this point, I’m not counting on Amar’e right now to come back,” Woodson said after yesterday’s practice, declining to give a new timetable. “You’ve got to ask the medical people that, but the bottom line is he’s not going to be in uniform for a while.”
— Reported by Howie Kussoy of the New York Post
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Antoine Walker is hanging ’em up.
The former Celtics forward, who had been playing for the Idaho Stampede of the NBA Development League, announced his retirement in the locker room on Saturday night, according to the team.
Walker, who played 12 seasons in the NBA, is reportedly expected to make a formal retirement announcement in the coming days.
The 35-year-old’s most notable playing days came as a member of the Celtics from 1996-2003. He was named an All-Star three times while forming a potent duo with Paul Pierce.
— Reported by Ricky Doyle of NESN
Once a Knick, always a Knick. Or so the saying goes.
The New York Knicks announced today that Larry Johnson has been named Basketball and Business Operations Representative.
“I consider coming back to work for a franchise that I had so much success with a great honor,” Johnson said. “As I move onto the next phase of my career, I have been given an opportunity to touch so many different areas of the organization – helping develop young players, connecting with the community and actively involving myself in the business of basketball. I couldn’t be more excited to get going and learn as much as I can.”
In this new role, Johnson will work closely with the basketball operations department, focusing on player development; the community relations department, working to support the Garden of Dreams Foundation and on fan development; and the marketing and partnership departments, with involvement in numerous business initiatives.
The author of perhaps the most famous play in franchise history, “LJ” converted a four-point play with :05.7 remaining en route to a 92-91 victory over the Indiana Pacers in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals at Madison Square Garden on Jun. 5, 1999.
In five seasons in the Blue & Orange, Johnson, a four-time Knicks captain, averaged 12.3 points and 5.5 rebounds over 330 games from 1996 through 2001, and led the team into the playoffs each year before announcing his retirement on Oct. 10, 2001. Once acquired from the Charlotte Hornets on Jul. 14, 1996, Johnson’s reputation as being a great teammate and a player willing to sacrifice for the team’s greater-good quickly became evident to the Knicks’ faithful.
Johnson currently joins an extensive list of Knicks alumni employed by The Madison Square Garden Company, including: Mike Woodson (interim head coach), Darrell Walker and Herb Williams (assistant coaches), Allan Houston (assistant general manager/general manager Erie BayHawks), Cal Ramsey (director, special projects and community relations representative), John Starks (alumni relations and fan development advisor) and Walt “Clyde” Frazier (Network broadcaster).
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Rudy Gay scored 25 points, Zach Randolph added 15 points and 11 rebounds, and the Memphis Grizzlies built a big early lead and held on to beat the Dallas Mavericks 94-89 on Saturday night.
Gilbert Arenas added 14 points and made three 3-pointers, while Mike Conley finished with 12 points for Memphis, which won its second straight and seventh in the last nine games.
Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 17 points and eight rebounds, and Brandan Wright added 16 points. Vince Carter had 14 points, while Shawn Marion finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds in the Mavericks’ second straight loss.
Memphis led 29-10 after one quarter and moved two games ahead of Dallas for fifth place in the Western Conference, also claiming the head-to-head tiebreaker by winning the season series 2-1.
The Mavericks weathered an early 20-point Memphis advantage and pulled close midway through the third period.
— Reported by the Associated Press