NBA News Blog – Page 1112 – NBA Blog

First black NBA player gets honor at Atlanta Hawks game

Earl Lloyd remembers when he suited up for the Washington Capitols more than 60 years ago as the first black to play in an NBA game and wondering if he would make a good enough impression to stick around.

Lloyd and the Capitols lost the game. But he played well enough to earn a roster spot and break the color barrier in a league that had only three black players in 1950 and now features the highest percentage of African-American athletes in any of the major professional leagues.

“Before the game, I was terrified,” recalled Lloyd, who scored six points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Capitols in a 78-70 loss to the Rochester Royals on Oct. 31, 1950. “I had a fear of disappointing the people who depended on me. Luckily, letting people down was not a part of my DNA.

“I’m glad I was part of something that helped pave the way for others.”

Now, as part of Black History Month, the 83-year-old Hall of Famer will be honored for his breakthrough at halftime of the Atlanta Hawks-Miami Heat game on Sunday. The former West Virginia State standout along with six other African-Americans will be recognized at all Hawks home games this month.

— Reported by Jonathan Landrum Jr. of the Associated Press

Anderson Varejao suffers right wrist fracture

Anderson Varejao

Has big hair

Cavaliers forward\center Anderson Varejao received a follow-up exam and MRI on his injured right wrist today at the Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Sports Health with Dr. Thomas Graham and Dr. Tom Anderson.

The injury occurred during last night’s Cavaliers game against the Milwaukee Bucks at The Q in Cleveland with 9:01 remaining in the third quarter. Varejao did not return to play the remainder of the game.

The results of today’s MRI revealed a non-displaced fracture of the wrist.

He is now listed as Out and a timeline for his return to action will be established next week after further testing and examination is conducted at Cleveland Clinic. His status will be updated as appropriate.

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Scott Brooks earns spot as West All-Star coach

Scott Brooks

Should buy Durant and Westbrook a dinner

Oklahoma City head coach Scott Brooks and his coaching staff will guide the Western Conference All-Stars on February 26th at Amway Center in Orlando, it was announced by the NBA.

With Oklahoma City’s 101-87 win over the Utah Jazz Friday, the Thunder (21-6, .778) have clinched the best record in the conference through games played February 15.

This season, Brooks and the Oklahoma City staff have guided the Thunder to multiple winning streaks including an NBA season-high tying seven games, five games and four games. He earned Western Conference Coach of the Month honors for games played in December/January. The Thunder has won a conference best 12 games on the road this season.

In his 4th season as head coach, Brooks has a career mark of 148-112 (.569). In his first full season as head coach, Brooks was named 2009-10 NBA Coach of the year after guiding the Thunder to a 50-32 (.610) and the franchise’s first playoff appearance in Oklahoma City.

The coach of the East All-Stars will be determined by the team with the best record in the conference through games played February 15. The Boston Celtics Doc Rivers, who coached last year’s East squad, is not eligible to coach this year’s All-Star Game.

The 2012 NBA All-Star Game, which will air live at 8 p.m. ET on TNT and ESPN Radio in the U.S., and reach fans in more than 200 countries and territories in more than 40 languages.

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Bucks coach Scott Skiles ejected vs Cavs

Scott Skiles

Doesn’t like nonsense

Milwaukee Bucks coach Scott Skiles has been ejected in the third quarter against Cleveland after picking up two technical fouls within seconds.

Skiles was complaining to referee John Goble, who whistled him for his first technical with 2:46 left in the third quarter—after Mike Dunleavy was called for a blocking foul. Skiles walked onto the floor and took a few steps toward Goble, who quickly tossed the coach. Skiles punched the air before he was assessed the second technical.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Josh Smith says politics behind All-Star snub

Josh Smith

Can dunk on your entire family

Hawks forward Josh Smith looks at the reserves voted to the Eastern Conference All-Star team and figures there must be behind-the-scenes forces that explain why some of the players made the team ahead of him.

“You’ve got to factor in there is a lot of politics involved in the All-Star selection,” Smith said Friday. “Once you get that it’s really about politics, then nothing really surprises you. I call it ‘Nothing But Associates,’ NBA. It’s all who you know.”

Coaches vote for the All-Star reserves, so there is the potential for lobbying by fellow coaches, other team personnel, and player agents. For example, Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle reportedly lobbied coaches to vote for forward Dirk Nowitzki, who was selected for the team even after he had said he didn’t deserve it.

Smith said “I guess I don’t know the right people” and didn’t have people lobbying on his behalf.

— Reported by Michael Cunningham of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Kevin Love returns from 2-game suspension

Kevin Love

Beats suckers down

Kevin Love’s return from a two-game suspension means the Minnesota Timberwolves are regaining their leading scorer and rebounder, and losing a 6-foot-9 cheerleader.

Love was suspended for stepping on Rockets forward Luis Scola last weekend. He missed a win over Sacramento on Tuesday and a loss at Memphis, reducing the two-time All-Star to a role he wasn’t used to playing while he watched the games from his couch at his downtown Minneapolis home.

“I felt like I almost needed some pom-poms I was cheering so loud,” Love said on Friday morning after the team’s shootaround in preparation for the game against Dallas on Friday night.

Love is averaging 25 points and 13.7 rebounds this season. He also leads the NBA with 39.4 minutes per game. Rookie Derrick Williams started in Love’s place the previous two games and delivered two solid performances, but certainly not to the level the Wolves expect from Love.

— Reported by Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press

Kevin Love may participate in 3-point shootout at All-Star

Kevin Love

Wants to do it all

Western Conference coaches on Thursday invited Timberwolves forward Kevin Love to his second NBA All-Star Game, one year after Commissioner David Stern named him as an injury replacement for his first.

“It definitely feels different,” Love said on Thursday evening.

It feels different because his team has won more times in 24 games during this lockout-shortened season than it did in the first 48 games a year ago.

It feels different because he had an “inkling” coaches would select him and because he was invited Thursday morning to appear on TNT’s announcement show hours later that night.

He’ll also soon accept an offer to participate in All-Star weekend’s three-point shooting contest.

— Reported by Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star Tribune

Cavaliers sign Ben Uzoh to 10-day contract

The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed guard Ben Uzoh from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA Development League to a 10-day contract, Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant announced today. The signing of Uzoh marks the 22nd NBA Call-Up of the 2011-12 season. Uzoh will wear No. 6 for the Cavaliers and is available for tonight’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks.

In 12 games (all starts), Uzoh has averaged 16.8 points on .525 shooting, 6.5 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.8 steals in 34.4 minutes per game with the Vipers. The 6-foot-3, 205-pound point guard was named the D-League Performer of the Week for games played Jan. 16-22 after averaging 22.3 points on .651 shooting, 8.3 assists and 7.3 rebounds in 37.0 minutes and leading Rio Grande Valley to a perfect 3-0 week. He scored a season-high 31 points to go with 10 assists for his first double-double of the season in a 116-104 road win over the Reno Bighorns on Jan. 21.

The 23-year-old from Tulsa spent the 2010-11 season with the New Jersey Nets, playing in 42 games and posting averages of 3.8 points on .424 shooting, 1.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 10.4 minutes per game.

Andrea Bargnani not returning anytime soon

Andrea Bargnani

Not a rebounder

The Toronto Raptors will be without Andrea Bargnani for the foreseeable future.

Having already missed 14 games this year because of a strained calf — six in mid-January and eight more since re-injuring the left leg on Jan. 25 in Utah — Bargnani is poised to miss much more action. It would not be a surprise if he sat out until the all-star break, two weeks from now, although that is just an extrapolation of head coach Dwane Casey’s comments.

“His timeframe is extended, whether it is two weeks or three weeks, whatever it is,” Casey said Thursday afternoon after the team’s practice. “We’re not putting a day on it. Extended is beyond day to day, I think.”

— Reported by Eric Koreen of the National Post

Rockets assign center Greg Smith to D-League

Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has assigned center/forward Greg Smith back to Houston’s single-affiliation NBA D-League partner Rio Grande Valley. The assignment marks the 35th time an NBA player has been assigned to his NBA D-League affiliate during the 2011-12 season. It also marks the first official assignment of Smith’s career.

Smith (6-10, 250, Fresno State), who yesterday was selected as a 2012 NBA D-League All-Star, has averaged 16.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.28 blocks and 1.06 steals in 18 games (14 starts) with the Vipers in 2011-12. The current D-League leader in field goal percentage (.677, 130-192 FG), Smith also stands tied for third in the league in double-doubles (eight), eighth in rebounding average (8.3) and 10th in blocks per game (1.28).

In his first stint with the Rockets, Smith averaged 1.5 points and 2.0 rebounds in two preseason games with Houston before being waived on Dec. 22, 2011. In college, Smith averaged 11.7 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game as a sophomore last season at Fresno State. He was also the 2009-10 WAC Freshman of the Year, which was voted on by the WAC head coaches.