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Eric Dampier of the Miami Heat has been fined $10,000 for his Flagrant Foul, Penalty Two against Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.
The incident occurred with 2:13 remaining in the third quarter of the Heat’s 125-95 loss to the Spurs at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, TX on March 4.
Marc Stein of ESPN reports:
After three months away from the game, Rashad McCants is planning to come back to Texas to try to revive his NBA career.
McCants reconnected this week with the D-League’s Texas Legends and has been invited to rejoin the team after leaving the Legends in December to sign a more lucrative contract in China.
The Chinese deal with Lionang Panpan, however, collapsed almost immediately after McCants left Frisco. The former 2005 lottery pick appeared in only three games with the Legends before his departure and hasn’t played organized ball since.
But McCants, who likewise hasn’t played in the NBA since the 2008-09 season, asked to rejoin the Legends after receiving an offer to join the recent flurry of NBA veterans — headlined by Allen Iverson — to sign in Turkey this season. The 26-year-old apparently convinced Legends co-owner and Mavericks president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson that he’s ready to commit to a D-League stint as opposed to signing somewhere in Europe where he can make more money.
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The Memphis Grizzlies signed free agent Leon Powe, Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced today.
Originally selected by the Denver Nuggets with the 49th overall pick in the second round of the 2006 NBA Draft, the 6-8, 240-pound forward owns career averages of 6.3 points and 4.0 rebounds on .516 shooting in 14.3 minutes in 223 games (19 starts) over four-plus seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics, who acquired his rights from the Nuggets on draft night.
The former University of California standout averaged 5.0 points and 2.7 rebounds on .492 shooting in 13.4 minutes in 14 games (three starts) for the Cavaliers this season before he was waived on Feb. 24.
A key reserve for the Celtics during their 2007-08 NBA Championship run, Powe has appeared in 28 playoff games, averaging 4.7 points and 2.6 rebounds in 10.8 minutes. The 27-year-old gives Memphis three players with NBA Championship experience, including Powe’s former Celtics teammate Tony Allen and Jason Williams, who captured the 2005-06 title as a member of the Miami Heat.
The Grizzlies have a full roster of 15 players.
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The AP reports:
The New Jersey Nets are still far away from their Russian owner’s goal of making the team a global brand and NBA champion. But for now, at least, they’re the league’s most successful team in games played in Europe.
Brook Lopez scored 25 points and New Jersey ended a six-game losing streak with a 116-103 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Friday in the first regular-season game on the continent.
Kris Humphries had 18 points and 17 rebounds and Deron Williams earned his first win since being acquired from the Utah Jazz last week, adding 16 points and 11 assists…
The Nets and Raptors will face each other again at the O2 on Saturday, as the NBA decided to bring regular-season games to Europe for the first time as part of its push to increase its fan base on the continent. The O2 has hosted preseason games for the last four years.
The attendance for Friday’s game was an announced sellout of 18,689, but there were some empty seats.
“I loved the crowd,” said Bargnani, who was the highest-scoring European player on the night. “I really felt the excitement. I was nervous in the first half. I think it’s going to be better tomorrow.”
The unusual venue meant the public announcer had to do some extra work, explaining some of the basic rules every now and then to the British crowd— like pointing out that a player fouled while shooting gets two free throws.
And with crowd support split between the two teams—despite the Nets being listed as the home team—players had the rare experience of being booed by rival fans before every free throw, and then cheered by their own supporters if the shot was good.
Sacramento Kings’ center Hassan Whiteside underwent successful surgery this morning at the UC Davis Medical Center to repair a partially torn patellar tendon in his left knee. Dr. Richard Marder performed the surgery.
Whiteside will miss four to six months of action and should be available by the start of the Kings’ 2011-12 Training Camp.
Los Angeles Lakers forward Devin Ebanks has been diagnosed with a stress fracture of the left tibia and will miss a minimum of three weeks, it was announced today.
Ebanks, a 6’9” rookie out of West Virginia, was selected by the Lakers with the 43rd pick in the 2010 NBA Draft. In 20 games this season with the Lakers, Ebanks is averaging 3.1 points and 1.4 rebounds in 5.9 minutes.
Assigned to the NBA Development League’s Baskersfield Jam on December 27, Ebanks averaged 16.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.5 steals in 27.7 minutes over six games before being recalled by the Lakers on January 9.
Utah Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor announced today that the team has assigned rookie forward Jeremy Evans to the Utah Flash of the NBA Development League (D-League). He is expected to be in uniform tonight as the Flash hosts the New Mexico Thunderbirds at 7 p.m. MST at UCCU Center in Orem, Utah.
In 32 games for the Jazz this season, the 6-9, 196-pound Evans has averaged 3.2 points and 1.4 rebounds in 6.6 minutes. Evans has not played in the last four Jazz games, with his most recent appearance coming February 23 at Dallas. The rookie has scored in double figures twice this season, including a career-high 11 points in 11 minutes in his NBA debut at Denver on October 27. He becomes the fifth player in Jazz history to be assigned to the D-League, including current Jazz teammates C.J. Miles and Kyrylo Fesenko.
Selected by the Jazz in the second round (55th overall selection) of the 2010 NBA Draft, Evans played four seasons at Western Kentucky and finished as the Hilltoppers’ all-time leader in blocked shots and field goal percentage.
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Oklahoma City Thunder guard Nate Robinson underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on his right knee the team announced today.
The 5-9 guard first experienced discomfort in the knee following the team’s practice on Monday. After deliberation, Robinson and the team made the decision to proactively address the situation.
“After consulting with our medical team, we have decided this is the best course of action to resolve the issue with certainty, and have Nate back on the court as we enter into the final stages of the season,” said Thunder Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti.
Robinson is expected to miss 4-6 weeks.
The University of Washington product has appeared in one game form the Thunder, since being acquired on February 24th, scoring six points in eight minutes of action.
The San Antonio Spurs today announced they have signed guard/forward Othyus Jeffers (pronounced oh-THEE-us) from the Iowa Energy of the NBA Development League to a 10-day contract. Jeffers is the 11th call-up of the 2010-11 D-League season.
Jeffers, a 6-5 guard/forward, has appeared in 37 games with the Energy this season, averaging 21.2 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.95 steals in 38.4 minutes while shooting .480 (276-575) from the field, .295 (13-44) from three-point range and .741 (22-293) from the foul line. He’s led the Energy to a D-League best 30-10 record, reaching double figures in scoring in all 37 games he’s appeared in. Jeffers has registered 17 double-doubles on the season, including a 32 point, 18 rebound performance at Tulsa on Nov. 26.
Last season Jeffers started the year off with Iowa before getting called up by the Utah Jazz. He spent the remainder of the season with Utah appearing in 14 games, averaging 2.6 points and 1.4 rebounds in 5.1 minutes per game. He also appeared in six playoff games for the Jazz seeing 14 minutes of action. Prior to his call-up, Jeffers averaged 14.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.77 steals in 29.2 minutes while shooting .510 (124-243) from the field.
A native of Chicago, Jeffers was originally selected by the Iowa Energy in the third round (47th overall) of the 2008 D-League Draft. In his first year with Iowa (2008-09), he led the Energy to the playoffs and was named the 2009 D-League Rookie of the Year, in addition to being a D-League All-Star selection. Jeffers was also chosen to play for the D-League Select Team in the 2009 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, where he averaged 20.5 points and 7.0 rebounds.
Jeffers concluded his collegiate career at Robert Morris University in Chicago (24.0 points, 11.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game) earning The Sporting News NAIA Player of the Year and Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year honors. He preceded his one season at RMU with two seasons at Illinois-Chicago (13.5 points and 8.1 rebounds per game) and one season at Los Angeles Southwest College (22.3 points and 10.3 rebounds per game).
Jeffers will wear No. 12 for the Silver and Black and will be available for tonight’s game vs. Miami.
The San Antonio Spurs today announced they have signed forward Steve Novak for the remainder of the season. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed. Novak originally joined the Silver and Black on February 8 signing a 10-day contract becoming the eighth call-up of the 2010-11 NBA Development League season.
Novak, a 6-10 forward, has appeared in eight games for the Spurs, averaging 2.5 points in 6.1 minutes per game, while shooting .462 (6-13) from the field and .444 (4-9) from three-point territory.
Prior to joining the Spurs, Novak appeared in two games with the Reno Bighorns, averaging 18.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in 29.5 minutes, while shooting .684 (13-19) from the field and .643 (9-14) from three-point range. Earlier this season, Novak averaged 1.6 points in 2.6 minutes in seven games with the Dallas Mavericks. Overall, he has appeared in 210 career games with Houston, the L.A. Clippers, Dallas and San Antonio with averages of 3.9 points in 9.7 minutes per game. For his career, he is shooting .436 (295-677) from the field and .406 (195-480) from three-point land.