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Blake Griffin does not plan to defend his NBA Slam Dunk title

Blake Griffin

Every day is like a dunk contest

Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin was voted as a starter to the NBA All-Star Game on Thursday but said he doesn’t plan on defending his slam dunk contest title during All-Star weekend.

“As of right now I don’t plan on being in it,” Griffin said Thursday night. “Those dunk contests aren’t my thing, I said that last year. There’s a lot of guys that can put on a great show and do some good stuff.”

Last year Griffin won the slam dunk contest, played in the Rookie Challenge and played in the All-Star Game during a whirlwind All-Star weekend in Los Angeles.

— Reported by Arash Markazi of ESPN Los Angeles

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Kyle Lowry takes plea in Las Vegas misdemeanor case

Kyle Lowery

Allegedly also likes playing dodgeball

A lawyer has entered a no contest plea for Kyle Lowry in a bid for dismissal of a misdemeanor battery case alleging the Houston Rockets guard threw a basketball at a female referee and threatened her during a game at a Las Vegas gym last September.

A court clerk said the 25-year-old Lowry didn’t appear Thursday with his lawyer, Patrick McDonald, before Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Eric Goodman.

Goodman agreed to dismiss the case July 19 if Lowry completes 100 hours of community service at a battered women’s shelter or a similar program, completes an impulse control counseling program and stays out of trouble for six months.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Gerald Henderson out 2-4 weeks

Gerald Henderson

An actual decent Bobcat

Things keep getting harder for the 3-20 Charlotte Bobcats.

An MRI taken Thursday confirmed that Bobcats guard/forward Gerald Henderson suffered a right hamstring strain during the third quarter of Wednesday night’s game at Portland. Henderson is expected to miss 2-4 weeks.

Herderson is the team’s leading scorer this season, averaging 15.0 points and 4.4 rebounds in 33.8 minutes per game.

The Bobcats have been getting smoked this season. And now things will get even harder.

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Orlando Magic sign guard Ish Smith

Ish Smith

Has cool first name

The Orlando Magic have signed free agent guard Ish Smith from the NBA D-League’s Los Angeles D-Fenders, President of Basketball Operations/General Manager Otis Smith announced today. Per team policy, terms of the deal are not disclosed.

Smith (#10, 6’0”, 175, 7/5/88) was not selected in the 2010 NBA Draft. This season, he played in six games (one start) with Golden State, averaging 4.5 ppg., 1.5 rpg. and 1.5 apg. in 10.5 minpg. Last season (2010-11), Smith played in 43 combined games (three starts) with Houston and Memphis during his rookie campaign, averaging 2.3 ppg., 1.8 apg. and 1.1 rpg. in 10.3 minpg. He also played in eight games (five starts) with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA Development League, averaging 12.5 ppg., 7.9 apg., 4.3 rpg., 1.50 stlpg. And 1.25 blkpg. in 32.9 minpg.

Smith appeared in 121 career games (91 starts) during his four-year collegiate career at Wake Forest, averaging 9.2 ppg., 5.1 apg., 3.7 rpg. and 1.26 stlpg. He became the first player in Wake Forest history to post more than 1,000 points (1,114) and 600 assists (612) during his career. Smith finished his career ranked second all-time on the Demon Deacons’ list in assists.

As a senior (2009-10), he started all 31 games, averaging 13.2 ppg., 6.0 apg. (seventh in the nation), 4.9 rpg. and 1.68 stlpg., earning Second Team All-ACC honors. As a freshman (2006-07), became the first freshman in ACC history to lead the conference in assists (6.0 apg.) and the first Wake Forest player to do so since Muggsy Bogues in 1987.

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Rick Carlisle is sorry for kicking ball into stands

Rick Carlisle

Apparently also enjoys soccer

Before Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle took questions, he apologized for kicking a ball into the stands that boinked a young boy on the noggin and led to Carlisle’s second technical foul and ejection from Wednesday’s 95-86 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

“I want to apologize to our franchise, Mark [Cuban], our fans,” Carlisle said. “The incident where the ball got kicked into the stands — that can’t happen. My intent was not to kick it into the stands, I was trying to kick it to the referee, but I’m not a very good kick. But, that can’t happen; the officials made the right call on that one. That’s a regrettable situation.”

It’s many of the other calls — or non-calls — that Carlisle objected to. He picked up his first technical 27 seconds into the fourth quarter when he felt Delonte West got fouled on a drive to the basket. Carlisle’s night ended about two minutes later when Jason Terry lost the ball to Nick Collison, who Carlisle thought should have been whistled for a foul.

— Reported by Jeff Caplan of ESPN Dallas (Blog)

LeBron James open to being in Dunk Contest

LeBron James

Has talents

LeBron James has plenty of dazzling slams so far this season.

Wednesday, he chose not to slam the door on participating in the All-Star Slam Dunk contest in two weeks in Orlando.

“I have thought about it before and a few times in the past I kind of had an ankle injury that kind of kept me out of it and a couple of times I was just like, ‘You know what, I’m going to go in here and rest my legs for this weekend and then get back to the regular season,” James said. “But, I mean, they say a lot of the greats have done it and I’ve watched it over the years.”

A lot of the greats – Michael Jordan, Julius Erving, Clyde Drexler – have, and All-Star talents Vince Carter, Dwight Howard and Blake Griffin have participated in recent years.

— Reported by Ethan J. Skolnick of the Palm Beach Post

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Orlando Magic waive guard Larry Hughes

Larry Hughes

Still exists

Following tonight’s game vs. Washington, the Orlando Magic have waived guard Larry Hughes, President of Basketball Operations/GM Otis Smith announced.

Orlando’s roster now stands at 14 players.

Hughes, who was signed as a free agent by Orlando on Dec. 9, appeared in nine games this season with the Magic, averaging 1.3 ppg. in 12.7 minpg.

The Magic host Cleveland on Friday, Feb. 3 at 7 p.m.

Kevin Durant didn’t love Blake Griffin’s dunk over Kendrick Perkins

Blake Griffin

Dunked Kendrick’s face off

Not everyone is so fired up about Blake Griffin’s dunk over Oklahoma City big man Kendrick Perkins on Monday.

The Clippers star went down the lane, elevated, made contact with Perkins and then threw the ball down into the basket, the fingers on his outstretched hand grazing the rim. The play has been the talk of the league.

“I have no appreciation for it at all,” said Perkins’ Thunder teammate Kevin Durant. “It was a layup, I think. He threw the ball in and got fouled and made his free throw, so it was three points at the end of the day, no matter how it happened, how it went in the basket. I really wasn’t impressed. He finished it. So what? We’ve moved on.”

Durant wasn’t surprised the play gained so much attention.

“I wasn’t surprised because Blake is a poster child,” Durant said. “He dunks the ball a lot and makes spectacular plays. If it wasn’t against us, maybe I’d say it was a good play, but it was against us, so it was a bad play. I have nothing against Blake, don’t get me wrong. But it was against us, so I’ve got to stick up for my teammate.”

— Reported by Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas

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NBA ticket prices rise for first time in 3 years

The NBA’s average ticket price increased for the first time in three years, up 1.7 percent to $48.48, the Team Marketing Report said Wednesday in its annual survey.

New York Knicks’ tickets cost more than double the league’s average and five times as much as seats for the Memphis Grizzlies.

Knicks tickets averaged $117.47 after a 32.5 percent increase – and these figures don’t even include premium seats.

The Los Angeles Lakers were second at $99.25 after a 4.2 percent hike, and Boston third at $68.55 while leaving its average flat. Chicago was fourth at $68.37 with a 3.3 percent increase, followed by the Miami Heat at $67 following a 10.7 percent jump.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Cavaliers recall Luke Harangody from D-League

The Cleveland Cavaliers have recalled forward Luke Harangody from the Canton Charge, the Cavaliers exclusively owned and operated NBA Development League team, Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant announced today.

Harangody was assigned to Canton on Jan. 26th and played in three games (three starts) with the Charge, averaging 13.3 points on .400 shooting and 8.7 rebounds in 34.7 minutes per game. The 6-foot-8 forward recorded two double-doubles in his three games with the Charge, including a 21-point, 11-rebound effort in 39 minutes versus the Los Angeles Defenders on Jan. 28. Harangody has appeared in five games with the Cavaliers this season, posting averages of 2.6 points on .455 shooting and 1.2 rebounds in 7.6 minutes per game.