NBA News Blog – Page 1126 – NBA Blog

Baron Davis may be ready by late January

What’s on Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni’s mind? Not only the return from injury of Carmelo Anthony, but also the looming Knicks debut of Baron Davis.

Davis is getting closer and closer to returning from a herniated disk and a person familiar with the situation said the guard will take a big leap in his rehab this week by starting full running drills and some contact basketball drills.

It’s not out of the question for him to be cleared for practice by next weekend and a late-January debut has become more likely than not.

Last night after the Knicks lost, 104-92, to the Thunder, D’Antoni said optimistically, “Melo will be back pretty soon and hopefully Baron’s around the corner and we’ll see what we got.’’

— Reported by Marc Berman of the New York Post

Lamar Odom considered taking time away from NBA

As his Martin Luther King Day reunion with the Los Angeles Lakers approaches, Lamar Odom has revealed that he was “real close” to walking away from the game for a season — or perhaps longer — well before his December trade to the Dallas Mavericks.

Left reeling by the July murder of his 24-year-old cousin and a fatal car accident days later that killed a teen pedestrian after the car he was riding in as a passenger collided with a motorcycle, Odom told ESPN.com that he had to be convinced by wife Khloe Kardashian to scrap his plans for a hiatus.

“Real close,” Odom said when asked Saturday how close he came to asking the Lakers for a season-long sabbatical.

“My wife talked me out of it.

“Cause I was asking myself: ‘Was I mentally prepared to play? If I didn’t play well, was I mentally prepared to help the team?’ I had thought, ‘Maybe I need a year.’ Because of the lockout, I thought, ‘Maybe somebody’s sending me a sign that I needed this time off.’

“(But) when I told some of my friends and my family that I was thinking about steppin’ back for a minute, I think the reaction from the closest people to me kind of gave me the energy to get back at it.”

— Reported by Marc Stein of ESPN.com

Vanessa Bryant gets two of Kobe’s mansions

Kobe Bryant and Vanessa are well on their way to becoming single … because we’ve learned Kobe has already transferred title on two of his mansions over to his soon-to-be ex-wife.

TMZ has checked official records … which show on January 5th, Kobe surrendered his interest in 2 of their estates to Vanessa … on that same day Vanessa surrendered her interest in a 3rd home to Kobe.

As far as who got what … the title transfers don’t list addresses, but our sources say Vanessa is now the full owner of the mansion she shared with Kobe in Newport Coast. As for the second home Vanessa now owns in full … it’s the nearby mansion where her mother has been living.

— Reported by TMZ

No new Lakers signings expected

It has been a month since Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak told reporters the team was still “pursuing big deals” in the aftermath of the vetoed Chris Paul trade that resulted in Lamar Odom ultimately being shipped to Dallas as a consequence.

Things have died down since then.

“We’re in a different time frame right now,” Kupchak told ESPNLosAngeles.com before the Lakers hosted the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday. “You’re talking about a period of time when there was free agency and everybody was scrambling to put together their rosters and sign players and deal with the issues that were out there. We’re into the season now, so generally speaking, when you’re into the season things slow down and people typically want to see how their team looks. So, without being specific, that’s where we are.”

The Lakers have a full 15-man roster at the moment and would need to release a player to add one of the veteran free agents on the market. Accomplished NBA contributors Gilbert Arenas and Joel Przybilla are still without a team and Yahoo! Sports reported Rasheed Wallace is considering coming out of retirement to sign somewhere.

“We don’t expect to sign anybody any time soon,” Kupchak said.

— Reported by Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles

Amar’e Stoudemire, amateur tattoo artist

The bespectacled NBA All-Star took a challenge to ink celebrity tattoo artist BangBang Tuesday night, the Knicks off night, at the hoopster’s Meatpacking District pad.

BangBang, 26, of Brooklyn, shared with the Daily News on Thursday his photos of Stoudemire turning the tables on him.

“He gave me a basketball with some initials, which are kind of representative of his religious beliefs. I told him I wanted whatever he wanted to do,” BangBang said of the fresh tat on the inner calf of his right leg.

While Stoudemire is heavily decorated with body art — including the words “Black Jesus” on his neck and the scripture Matthew 20:16 on his chest — he has never given anyone a tattoo until now.

“He’s got a lot of strong Jewish beliefs, so he gave me kind of the Jewish term for God, or symbol of God. I love it,” said BangBang.

— Reported by Bill Hutchinson of the New York Daily News

Michael Jordan’s former HS coach arrested for harassing police during investigation

A REPORT FROM WECT 6 TV

Detectives with the Wilmington Police Department found a body while searching a home in Wilmington Friday for evidence relating to a missing person’s case, and WECT has learned that one of three men arrested at the home the night before used to be Michael Jordan’s basketball coach while he attended Laney High School.

Police arrested Clifton Herring in the 1100 block of Cowan Street on Thursday night, while investigating reports of the missing woman.

Police say they went to 1115 Cowan Street Thursday night to look for the missing woman and Andrew Bernard Adams let them search the residence. While at the scene, they arrested two men who they say were trying to walk away with various CDs, DVDs, a DVD player and some clothing. Antonio Heard, 42, and Kyperoo Gore, 23, were charged with burglary.

While arresting those two, police say Herring, who was intoxicated, became “belligerent and repeatedly refused to follow officers’ orders to stay out of the way.” They arrested Herring and charged him with resist/delay/obstruct an officer in the process of carrying out his/her duties. Two officers had to restrain Herring.

— Reported by WECT 6

Warriors sign center Earl Barron

With center Kwame Brown out injured for months, the Golden State Warriors have added help up front.

The Warriors Saturday have signed free agent center Earl Barron, the team announced. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not released. It’s likely a very short, small contract.

Barron, 30, played with the Portland Trailblazers, Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks last season, appearing in 21 games (seven starts), averaging 3.8 points and 3.6 rebounds in 14.6 minutes. In seven starting assignments, the 7’0’’ center averaged 4.4 points and 5.4 rebounds in 23.4 minutes.

Barron, who was not drafted by an NBA team, originally signed as a free agent with the Orlando Magic in 2004, one season prior to joining Miami, where he spent three seasons with the Heat and won an NBA Championship in 2006. Barron owns career averages of 5.1 points and 3.7 rebounds in 15.2 minutes per contest in 110 games regular-season games over four seasons with Portland, Milwaukee, Phoenix, Miami and the New York Knicks. The Clarksdale, MS, native played four seasons at the University of Memphis (1999-2003).

He will wear uniform #40.

Lakers guard Steve Blake out 3-4 weeks

After further evaluation, it has been determined that Lakers guard Steve Blake will be out approximately three to four weeks due to the costochaondral fracture (fracture of the cartilage that connects the rib to the sternum) he originally suffered during the Lakers’ game against Phoenix on Tuesday and aggravated in Wednesday’s game at Utah.

Blake is the fifth leading scorer on the Lakers this season, averaging 7.3 points and 2.8 assists in 24.3 minutes per game, coming off the bench behind starting point guard Derek Fisher.

Sacramento Kings hire Alex English as assistant coach

Sacramento Kings President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie announced today the hiring of Alex English as an assistant coach, joining current assistants Jim Eyen, Jim Todd and Bobby Jackson on Head Coach Keith Smart’s staff.

“Adding Alex to our basketball program is good for all and especially good for our players,” explained Smart. “He was an elite player in this league for a long time and is a very good coach. When he talks, they’ll listen. His game prep and film study aspects are some of his many strong points, and that’s only going to help our staff. We’re trying to surround ourselves with the right people that fit our basketball team who have the ability to teach our guys and also have a firm hand to get them walking in the right direction as young men.”

A member of the Basketball Hall-of-Fame and the NBA’s 13th all-time leading scorer (25,613 points), English arrives in Sacramento after spending seven seasons as an assistant coach and director of player development with the Toronto Raptors (2004-11). Prior to his stint north of the border, English served in a similar capacity with the Philadelphia 76ers (2003-04) and Atlanta Hawks (2002-03). He began his professional basketball management career in 2001-02 as the head coach of the NBA Development League’s North Charleston (S.C.) Lowgaters, where he guided his team to a 36-20 record and a berth in the finals of the first NBDL Championship.

The 6-foot-7, 190-pound English was an eight-time NBA All-Star and selected to the all-league second team three times (1982, 1983 and 1986), as well as presented with the league’s J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award for his dedication to community service in 1988. English averaged 21.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game in 1,193 regular season games, shooting an impressive .507 from the field and .832 from the foul line. He appeared in 68 postseason contests, averaging 24.4 points and 5.5 rebounds per contest. A second-round selection by the Milwaukee Bucks in 1976 (23rd overall), English played two seasons in Milwaukee (1976-78), two with the Indiana Pacers (1978-80), and 11 in Denver (1980-90) before finishing his career in 1990-91 with the Dallas Mavericks. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1997.

English was dealt by Indiana to the Nuggets on February 1, 1980 and would go on to become the Nuggets’ career leader in scoring (21,645) and assists (3,679) as a teammate of the Kings’ current Director of Player Development Fat Lever. In 10 of his 11 seasons in Denver, he averaged better than 21 points, and in eight of those seasons scored more than 25 per contest. He led the Nuggets to nine straight playoff appearances from 1982-90, including a berth in the 1985 Western Conference Finals, and averaged 24.4 points during 10 playoff seasons. On March 2, 1993, English was honored by the Nuggets with the retirement of his uniform No. 2.

Former N.C. State player Gavin Grant found not guilty of robbery charges

Gavin Grant, a former standout N.C. State basketball player, was acquitted Thursday of first-degree burglary and robbery with a dangerous weapon charges related to a home invasion robbery.The jury’s decision in Wake County Superior Court capped a trial that started Monday with prosecutors contending the 6-foot-8 Grant was one of two men who broke into a West Raleigh apartment in September 2010, armed with a gun and demanding money from one of the residents.

The incident occurred in September 2010.

Eliza Jacobellis, a woman in the Raleigh apartment, dialed 911 on Sept. 24, 2010 to report that two men were trying to take her boyfriend’s money.

Former N.C. State baseball player Domonique Andrews Rodgers, one of the accusers, told police he knew his attackers, offering the names of Grant and another former Wolfpack basketball player —Farnold Degand, who had an alibi.

— Reported by Anne Blythe of the News Observer