NBA News Blog – Page 1188 – NBA Blog

Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries marriage rumor: Not going so great?

Rumors are swirling that Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries are on the brink of splitting, just two months into their marriage.

Star reports that Kardashian may have already consulted a “top divorce lawyer,” as she was spotted on said lawyer’s floor in a New York office building. The magazine claims that Kardashian is fed up with Humphries’ partying while he is out of a job thanks to the NBA lockout. It reported that Humphries has been spotted partying in both Miami and New York without Kim, getting flirty with multiple women and “acting like a single man.”

“Kris takes other girls’ cell phone numbers all the time,” a source said. “To be honest, I don’t think Kris truly loves Kim. And I don’t think he ever really did.”

— Reported by Page Six of the New York Post.

Jameer Nelson talks about future of Dwight Howard with the Magic

Nelson, one of Howard’s best friends, says he has no idea what Howard will do next summer. But he isn’t concerned about the magazine interview.

“People ask me every day what he’s going to do,” Nelson said. “I don’t know what he’s going to do. I don’t know what I’m going to do tomorrow. One thing I know is the guy is preparing to be the best player he can be this season, and that’s all I can say. I don’t know what his decision is going to be.

“Whatever he’s going to do, he’s like my little big brother. He’ll definitely have support from me. But obviously, he’s definitely wanted here in Orlando.”

— Reported by Zach McCann of the Orlando Sentinel Blog. Full article is here.

Pistons fire sideline reporter Eli Zaret

Eli Zaret, who has spent the last five years with the Pistons organization, doing sideline reporting and other television assignments, has been let go by the team’s new management.

“The new guys are very smart, the direction that they’re going in, a plan that’s different than the one that is in place,” said Zaret, who has been part of the Detroit sports scene for more than 30 years.

Pete Skorich , who had been with the franchise for 30 years and most recently executive vice president of broadcasting, parted ways with Palace Sports and Entertainment a couple of weeks ago. It was then that Zaret saw the writing on the wall.

— Reported by Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News

NBA owners, players closer on revenue split

The NBA and Players Association have made progress on the proposed revenue split between owners and players, an important element in settling a new collective bargaining agreement and ending the lockout, league sources involved in the ongoing labor negotiations told Yahoo! Sports.

As long expected, the two sides have moved closer to a “50-50 split, give or take a point with ranges based on revenue performance,” one source said.

While the league’s owners and players made progress in Wednesday’s 8½-hour mediation session, one source involved in the talks was hesitant to characterize it as a “breakthrough” moment, saying system issues could again derail talks. The two sides will resume mediation at 2 p.m. ET following the conclusion of the owners’ board of governors meetings. The owners are meeting to discuss a new revenue-sharing plan, and what type of proposal they present to the players on Thursday will determine whether the labor talks continue to gather momentum.

Still, the biggest hurdle between the two sides remains the luxury tax proposals to punish big-spending teams and discourage them from overpaying players.

— Reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports

NBA talks resume Wednesday morning after 16-hour session

NBA owners and players are meeting for a second straight day, shortly after finishing a 16-hour marathon with a federal mediator.

The sides resumed talks about 10 a.m. Wednesday, about eight hours after they broke for the night.

No bargaining had been expected Wednesday or Thursday, since the owners have board meetings. But instead their labor relations committee came back for further discussions with the players’ association executive committee.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Bryant Gumbel of HBO calls David Stern a `plantation overseer`

Bryant Gumbel invoked images of slavery in a scathing attack on NBA Commissioner David Stern, saying he is acting like a “modern-day plantation overseer” in his treatment of players during the league’s lockout.

Gumbel, during a closing segment on HBO’s Real Sports, said Stern is standing in the way of a solution to the league’s labor dispute…

“His efforts are typical of a commissioner who has always seemed eager to be viewed as some king of modern-day plantation overseer, treating NBA men as if they were his boys. … His moves are intended to do little more than show how he’s the one keeping the hired hands in their place.”

He called Stern’s poor treatment of the players “palpable and pathetic.”

— Reported by Joel Provano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Video of Bryant Gumbel talking about David Stern

InsideHoops.com editor says: This is absurd nonsense, and an unrealistic, crazed exaggeration by Bryant Gumbel. There certainly is some truth in suggesting that the men of the NBA do get treated like boys in some ways (dress code — though almost every company has dress codes one way or another — and some other stuff), but Gumbel went completely over the top with this. Pretty silly stuff. If getting $5 million USD a year to play basketball, travel and live the life of a rock star means sometimes having to not post on Twitter around game-time, dress a bit more corporate sometimes, and avoid bashing the refs and saying a few other things is the equivalent of being a “plantation worker,” then sign me up.

Hamed Haddadi signs in Iran

Memphis Grizzlies center Hamed Haddadi joined Melli Haffari basketball team on Tuesday.

The Ahvaz-based basketball team signed Haddadi on a short-term contract for an undisclosed fee.

Following the North America’s National Basketball Association (NBA)’s ongoing lockout, the Memphis Grizzlies center joined Melli Haffari to play for the Iranian Basketball League and will return to Memphis in December to take part in the training sessions.

— Reported by the Tehran Times

Udonis Haslem still working his way back

Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem continues to work himself back into playing shape after missing most of last season because of ligament damage in his left foot. He returned for the playoffs, but battled conditioning issues. The lockout is giving him opportunity to “get himself in shape” after undergoing offseason ankle surgery.

“That’s what I was lacking, conditioning,” said Haslem, speaking Tuesday at a charity event at Miami Northwestern High School. “I can pedal a bike all day, but it’s nothing like being out there on the floor and getting up and down and actually shooting and jumping.”

Haslem has yet to play competitively since the Heat lost to the Dallas Mavericks on June 12 in Game 6 of the NBA Finals.

— Reported by Shandel Richardson of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

14 mayors write letter to NBA owners and players urging end to lockout

Like many of the people he serves, Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker is a huge Utah Jazz fan.

He attends a few games each year. He TIVOs and watches most Jazz telecasts, and is a daily follower of the franchise for six-plus months a year.

And, yes, he wants the NBA lockout to be over.

That’s why Becker and 13 other mayors, including ex-NBA standout Kevin Johnson of Sacramento, recently co-signed an open letter to NBA owners and players, hoping to persuade the two sides to resolve the labor-deal impasse and get the ball rolling on the 2011-12 season.

Call it their “Occupy NBA Arenas” movement.

“I want to be able to enjoy the Jazz,” Becker said Tuesday afternoon while owners and the players’ union negotiated with a federal mediator.

“I hope on a personal level they get going, because I love following them (the Jazz) and seeing these players develop and the coaching and all the dynamics that goes on — and I hope for their success.

“But,” Becker continued, “it’s also really important in our community.”

— Reported by Jody Genessy of the Deseret News

76ers say goodbye to GM Ed Stefanski

Yesterday morning, not long before the sale of the 76ers was set to be announced at the Palestra, Stefanski, the Sixers’ general manager, was informed that he was being relieved of his duties. The new ownership group, headed by Josh Harris, had decided to give president Rod Thorn full charge of the duties he and Stefanski had shared last season. Instead of Stefanski going to the place where he played his college ball, he was left uncertain about his future.

Stefanski had 1 year remaining on his contract, while Thorn, who was brought in in August 2010, after a dismal 27-55 season, has several years remaining on a hefty contract.

Said Stefanski, who came to the team in December 2007: “This is the new ownership’s day. I wish them all the best. Having met with Josh and Adam [Aron, the new CEO], the Sixers are in capable hands.”

Among the more noteworthy moves Stefanski made in his four seasons were giving maximum contracts to Andre Iguodala and Elton Brand, firing fan-favorite Maurice Cheeks, hiring and firing Eddie Jordan after one season, and bringing in current coach Doug Collins. The team made the playoffs in all but one of Stefanski’s four seasons.

— Reported by Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News