NBA News Blog – Page 1247 – NBA Blog

Shaq reportedly in middle of kidnapping, robbery, sex tape case

TMZ reports:

Shaquille O’Neal is embroiled in a criminal case in which 7 gang members allegedly kidnapped, beat up and robbed a man who claimed to have a tape showing Shaq having sex with other women while he was married to Shaunie.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ … Ladell Rowles — a member of the Main Street Mafia Crip Gang in L.A. who is friends with Shaq — along with 6 other members went on a search and destroy mission in L.A. on February 11, 2008. They believed a man named Robert Ross had the sex tape and they tried getting it back with the help of a gun or two.

According to the police report, the 7 gang members met up with Ross at a convenience store — Pink Dot — on the Sunset Strip. The men allegedly surrounded Ross’ Rolls Royce Phantom with guns drawn, jumped into Ross’ car and ordered him to drive to Rowles’ house in South Central L.A.

Once there, Rowles allegedly pistol whipped Ross and demanded that he turn over the sex tape. Ross said he would get the tape and bring it back to them. The 7 men then allegedly took Ross’ Rolex, diamond chain and earrings, along with $15,000 in cash — then let Ross go.

The 7 men have been arrested and charged with robbery, kidnapping and other crimes.

InsideHoops.com says: Well, this all sounds like anyone’s typical morning. But seriously, of course being a fan of Shaq like everyone else, I certainly hope the report isn’t accurate.

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.

Clippers exercise options on Blake Griffin, Al-Farouq Aminu and Eric Bledsoe

The Los Angeles Clippers today exercised the club’s fourth-year contract option on forward Blake Griffin and the third-year contract options on forward Al-Farouq Aminu and guard Eric Bledsoe.

Griffin, originally selected by the Clippers as the first overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, begins his third NBA season and is now signed through the 2012-13 campaign. Aminu and Bledsoe, the eighth and 18th overall selections in the 2010 NBA Draft, are now also signed through the 2012-13 NBA season. Under the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Clippers had the right to exercise these contract options.

The unanimous winner of the 2010-11 T-Mobile Rookie of the Year Award, Griffin turned in one of the most spectacular rookie campaigns in NBA history. He tallied a rookie and team-leading 22.5 ppg (12th overall), 12.1 rpg (fourth overall) and 63 double-doubles (third overall) and was the only player in the NBA to average at least 20 points, 12 rebounds and three assists. Griffin became the first rookie to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds since Elton Brand (20.1 ppg, 10.0 rpg) in 1999-2000; and he was only the fourth rookie to total at least 1,600 points, 900 rebounds and 250 assists, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1969-70), Elgin Baylor (1958-59) and Sidney Wicks (1971-72).

A six-time T-Mobile Western Conference Rookie of the Month selection, Griffin became the first rookie to appear in an NBA All-Star Game since Yao Ming in 2003 and the first rookie to be voted in by the coaches since Tim Duncan in 1998. Griffin also participated in the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge and won the Sprite Slam Dunk contest. On March 23, he recorded the first triple-double of his NBA career — 33 points, 17 rebounds and a career-high 10 assists in the Clippers’ double-overtime win over Washington, becoming the first rookie to record a triple-double of at least 30 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists since Jerry West did it on Feb. 26, 1961 (38 points, 15 rebounds, 10 assists).

Aminu averaged 6.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 17.9 minutes in 81 games played during his rookie campaign. He finished the season ranked fourth among all rookies in three-point field goal percentage (.315) and fourth among rookies in free throw percentage (.773).

Bledsoe, who was named to the 2010-11 T-Mobile All-Rookie Second Team, averaged 6.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 22.7 minutes in 81 games played (25 starts). He led the Clippers with 92 steals and played in the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge during NBA All-Star Weekend. Amongst NBA rookies, Bledsoe finished 15th in scoring and 4th in assists.

Clippers extend qualifying offer to center DeAndre Jordan

The Los Angeles Clippers today extended a qualifying offer to center DeAndre Jordan, making him a restricted free agent.

Jordan averaged 7.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.78 blocks in 25.6 minutes per game during a breakout year in which he played in 80 games, making 66 starts. Completing his third NBA season, Jordan shot a team-high and career-high 68.6 percent from the field (234-341 FG) and owned the highest field goal percentage of any player in the NBA with over 300 field goal attempts.

In accordance with the league’s collective bargaining agreement, in order for a team to retain its right of first refusal with respect to a restricted free agent, the team must tender the player a qualifying offer prior to June 30. A restricted free agent may sign an offer sheet with any team, but is subject to a right of first refusal with the team for which the player last played.

Jorge Garbajosa retires from Team Spain

FIBA.com reports:

Jorge Garbajosa has called it quits with Spain’s national team.

The versatile power forward, who is 33, made the much-anticipated announcement early Tuesday afternoon at the Spanish Basketball Federation headquarters in Madrid.

“This is the day that I never wanted to experience,” Garbajosa said.

“I want to thank the coaches, the players, and especially (FEB president Jose Luis) Saez. To all the media for your treatment, to my wife, my family, my friends that I have denied many summers to them and they have not minded, on the contrary they have supported me.

“It´s a very hard day. It´s what I must do.

“I retire from the national team but not from the FEB. I will continue in basketball.”

A lynchpin in the side for a decade, Garbajosa has been as important as any player in the squad during a golden era for Spain.

Charlotte Bobcats hire Rich Cho as new GM

Rich Cho became the third General Manager in Charlotte Bobcats history on June 14, 2011, and will enter his first season with the Bobcats in 2011-12. As General Manager, Cho will collaborate with Bobcats President of Basketball Operations Rod Higgins in areas including player acquisitions, salary cap management and compliance with league rules and the collective bargaining agreement.

A native of Burma who immigrated to the United States with his family in 1968 when he was three years old, Cho became the first Asian-American general manager in American major league sports when he served as General Manager of the Portland Trail Blazers in 2010-11.

Prior to his stint in Portland, Cho spent the previous 10 seasons as Assistant General Manager of the Seattle SuperSonics/Oklahoma City Thunder. Cho entered the NBA as an intern with the SuperSonics in 1995 while earning a law degree from Pepperdine University School of Law.

After serving as a part-time consultant for the SuperSonics in 1997, Cho was hired as the team’s Director of Basketball Affairs in 1998 before being promoted to Assistant General Manager in 2000.

A member of the Washington State Bar, Cho also served as Vice President of Legal for the SuperSonics from 2005-07 in addition to his duties as Assistant GM. In that role, he was responsible for all legal work involved with sponsorship agreements, licensing issues, employment contracts and immigration issues.

Following the team’s move to Oklahoma City, Cho also oversaw the Thunder’s D-League affiliate, the Tulsa 66ers, and their run to the championship game in 2009-10.

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.

Suns swingman Mickael Pietrus to pick up contract option

Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic reports:

Agent Bill McCandless would not have been doing his job had his client, Suns swingman Mickael Pietrus, opted out of his contract this summer and declined a $5.3 million option to be a free agent.

Pietrus waited to decide on the option until Monday afternoon but he is no fool. McCandless said Pietrus will opt in. That does not necessarily mean that he will remain a Suns player for the final year of his contract, given Phoenix’s overabundance of wing players.

McCandless said he and Pietrus are aware of the possibility of a Suns trade to better balance their roster.

“I’ll be surprised if Lon (Babby, Suns president of basketball operations) doesn’t make a couple deals on draft day or later,” McCandless said.

Steve Kerr says LeBron James is Scottie Pippen, not Michael Jordan

ESPN Chicago reports:

Scottie Pippen had it all wrong when he recently compared LeBron James with Michael Jordan, said one former Chicago Bulls teammate.

“The irony to me is that LeBron is not Michael. LeBron is actually Scottie,” former Bull and current television analyst Steve Kerr said Monday on “The Waddle & Silvy Show” on ESPN 1000. “He’s so similar to Scottie in that defensively he was just a monster, could guard anybody, really more of a point forward than scoring guard. Scottie always loved to distribute the ball. That’s really where LeBron’s preference is.

“Phil Jackson used to call Scottie a ‘sometimes shooter.’ Sometimes they would go in, sometimes they wouldn’t. That’s how it is with LeBron. He’s a great talent and a great player but you can see his flaws as a basketball player. He doesn’t have an offensive game that he can rely on: no low-post game, no mid-range jump shot so when the game really gets tough he has a hard time finding easy baskets and getting himself going. That’s what Michael did in his sleep so that’s why the comparison is wrong.”

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.

McHale, Rockets seek lead assistant coach

Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reports:

When Red Auerbach, the late Boston legend who drafted Kevin McHale, lit victory cigars on the Celtics’ bench, he had no right-hand man to share the moment. He had no assistant coaches, no player development staff, no one staying up nights studying video.

As stunned as Auerbach might have been had he been told of the career path of McHale, the playful rookie he drafted, he likely would have been amazed at the changes in NBA coaching since he left the bench in 1967.

When McHale signed on as Rockets coach last week, his first order of business was to begin interviews with assistant coaches, with one expected to serve in the lead assistant role that has become popular in the NBA.

“You try to get the right people,” McHale said. “The head coach is a guy who has a lot of irons in the fire. Guys who are looking at things just from an offensive standpoint or defensive standpoint, they can spend a lot of time on that and really concentrate on that. That’s really important, because there are times that you’re going to need someone to just auger in on one thing and help you. I think those models do work.

“You’ve seen it done in a lot of ways, but I think the league is trending more toward that model. I do like that model.”

DeShawn Stevenson says Heat have no class

Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas reports:

DeShawn Stevenson admitted that beating self-proclaimed king LeBron James made the Dallas Mavericks’ championship even sweeter.

“It makes me feel good, man, to beat him, to beat that Miami team,” Stevenson told ESPNDallas.com in an AmericanAirlines Arena hallway after the Mavs clinched the title with Sunday’s Game 6 win. “The way they act, the way they treated Dirk [Nowitzki], all the things that they said were very classless. To win on the court the way we did it, it was wonderful.”

The Mavericks thought James and Dwyane Wade disrespected Nowitzki, who was named Finals MVP, by mocking his cough in front of television cameras after the Game 5 shootaround. Nowitzki, who played Game 4 with a sinus infection that caused a nasty cough and a 101-degree fever, called the incident “a little childish, a little arrogant.”

Stevenson’s hostile history with James goes back much further than these Finals. Stevenson’s Washington Wizards were eliminated by James’ Cleveland Cavaliers three consecutive postseasons.

The last Wizards-Cavaliers series, in 2008, featured a feud between Stevenson and James that eventually involved a pair of high-profile rappers.

It started with Stevenson calling James “overrated.” LeBron answered that responding to Stevenson would be like rap icon Jay-Z getting into it with one-hit wonder Soulja Boy.

NBA heads to 2011 offseason of uncertainty

The AP reports:

“It’s an odd position, when the game is the best it’s ever been, when the ratings are the highest they’ve ever been, when the excitement is the greatest it’s ever (been),” Players Association attorney Jeffrey Kessler said last week. “It’s sort of odd to see the owners say we’re going to destroy this game unless you change this whole system. Players just want to play.”

Nobody can predict when they’ll get that chance again. When the Dallas Mavericks finished off the Miami Heat on Sunday night in Game 6, it sent the NBA into a most uncertain offseason.

Owners and players are nowhere close on a new collective bargaining agreement to replace the one that expires June 30. Without a new deal, players say they have been told by the owners they will be locked out.

The NBA was reduced to a 50-game season by a work stoppage in 1998-99, and the loss of games is a threat now. Citing leaguewide losses of about $300 million this season, the league hasn’t budged on its desire for significant changes to the financial structure, ranging from reductions in the length of contracts and the amount of guarantees, to an overhaul of the salary cap system that would prevent teams from being able to exceed it, as they can now under certain exceptions.

And Stern said the record TV ratings and all the other positive attention the league has received doesn’t make him any more motivated to get this settled, since he’d want to do it anyway.

“I don’t need any external prod to want to be able to make a deal,” he said…

The sides are scheduled to meet twice this week and say they hope for frequent discussions before the end of the month. Should those fail, the NBA could follow the NFL’s labor situation right into the court system, which both sides say they want to avoid. So although a work stoppage in July wouldn’t seem to have much effect since games aren’t going on, Stern insists “we very much feel the weight of the deadline.”