Category: NBA News Blog

NBA news blog

Eddie Jordan to be new Philadelphia 76ers coach

Philadelphia 76ers President and General Manager Ed Stefanski announced today that Eddie Jordan has agreed in principle to become the next head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers.  Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The rumor is that it’s a three-year deal. More info later today.

“I saw first-hand the immense impact Eddie Jordan had in helping the Nets reach two NBA Finals and as the head coach in Washington, he consistently put his teams in a position to win on a nightly basis,” Stefanski said.  “He embodies all the qualities I was looking for in the next head coach of the Sixers and we are very excited to have him in Philadelphia.”

In June of 2003, Jordan was named the head coach of the Wizards.  Under his leadership, Washington made the playoffs in four consecutive seasons from 2005 through 2008.  During that four-year span, the Wizards posted a combined regular season winning percentage of .521.  In 2005, Jordan guided Washington to a first-round upset of the Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.

Jordan has been a head coach in the NBA for over 500 games across eight seasons with Washington and Sacramento.  His first stint as a head coach came with the Kings at the tail end of the 1996-97 season.  Following his time with Sacramento, Jordan served as the lead assistant coach for New Jersey, helping the Nets capture back-to-back Eastern Conference Championships in 2002 and 2003.

As a collegian, Jordan led Rutgers to the 1976 NCAA Final Four in his Junior year, and was named East Regional MVP. In his senior season, he was named honorable mention All-America, while setting Rutgers all-time career records in assists and steals.  Jordan went on to play seven seasons in the NBA, averaging 8.1 points, 3.8 assists and 1.82 steals and was a member of the Los Angeles Lakers Championship team in 1982.

Steve Blake has right shoulder surgery

Steve Blake has right shoulder surgery

Trail Blazers guard Steve Blake underwent successful arthroscopic shoulder surgery, the Portland Trail Blazers announced today. His recovery time is expected to be 6-8 weeks.

Blake separated his right shoulder trying to fight through a screen in the second quarter of Portland’s game at Philadelphia on January 14, sidelining the guard for five games.  He returned to action on January 26 at the Los Angeles Clippers and re-aggravated the injury in the second quarter, forcing him to miss an additional eight games.

Dr. Neal S. ElAttrache performed the surgery at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles.

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Mark Cuban suing the SEC

The Dallas Morning News (Brendan W. Case) reports: Last year, the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Mark Cuban. Now Mark Cuban is suing the SEC.   The billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks is seeking a court order to make the nation’s securities cop turn over documents related to its insider-trading investigation of him. Cuban filed a request for the records in December under the Freedom of Information Act.

LeBron triple-double, Cavs beat Magic 112-102

The AP reports: With Cleveland’s wondrous season on the line, LeBron James had 37 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists, and Mo Williams, who boldly predicted his team would come back and win this tight-as-can-be series, added 24 points in the Cavaliers’ 112-102 victory over the Orlando Magic in Game 5 on Thursday night… James scored 21 points in the second half—17 in the fourth quarter—and had a hand in 29 of Cleveland’s 34 points in the final 12 minutes. Hedo Turkoglu scored 29 to lead Orlando, and Dwight Howard had 24 and 10 rebounds before fouling out with 2:22 remaining when he was called for his sixth personal foul while trying to stop James on a drive.

Fans discussed the game live as it happened in this forum topic.

Jose Juan Barea has left shoulder surgery

Dallas Mavericks guard Jose Juan Barea underwent successful arthroscopic surgery to repair a cartilage injury to his left shoulder. The surgery was performed in Dallas by Dr. Richard Levy of Texas Sports Medicine. A timetable for his return has not been set.

In the 2008-09 NBA season, the 6-0, 175-pound guard averaged 7.8 points and 3.4 assists in 20.3 minutes per game.

Anonymous Nuggets player accuses Lakers of buying a win

The Denver Post (Mark Kiszla) reports after the Lakers beat the Nuggets in Game 5: In an accusation that goes straight to the heart of the sport’s integrity, one member of the Nuggets shook his head in disgust after the game, and could not believe how cheap it was for Los Angeles to buy a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference finals. “The Lakers paid $50,000 to win that game. They got their money’s worth,” said a Denver player, not wanting to be identified for fear of retribution from the league. Was the outcome rigged? I refuse to believe it was. The 16 field-goal attempts the Nuggets missed during the fourth quarter had much more to do with the defeat than any of the 30 personal fouls called against Denver by the referees.

InsideHoops.com editor says: There’s a 98% chance the player was just angry about how things went down, and was just lashing out, and absolutely doesn’t mean it. He probably thinks the refs made some lousy calls, was just venting some frustration, and shouldn’t be taken literally.

Odom rises, Lakers beat Nuggets 103-94 in Game 5

The AP reports: With Kobe Bryant luring double coverage then passing to his teammates, the Lakers owned the fourth quarter in a 103-94 victory Wednesday night that gave them a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference finals. Bryant scored 22 points—on just 13 shots—Lamar Odom had 19 points and 14 rebounds despite an aching lower back and Pau Gasol added 14 points and 10 rebounds… Carmelo Anthony scored 31 points, hitting 12 of 13 free throws, and Kenyon Martin and Chauncey Billups added 12 points each for the Nuggets. The teams were tied after the first, second and third quarters for just the fourth time in NBA playoff history… “I thought they got the benefit of the whistle,” George Karl said. “Every player in my locker room is frustrated, from guards to big guys. Gasol goes after at least 20 jump shots, 20 shots to the rim and gets one foul; our big guys have 16. Nene has six fouls, three or four of them don’t exist.”

Australia will have 2009-10 season

Basketball Australia (BA) has announced that eight-teams will participate in its upcoming season of elite men’s basketball in 2009/10, with powerhouse club the Melbourne Tigers agreeing to join the competition.

BA recently announced its intention to move ahead with a season of elite men’s basketball in 2009/10, before launching a new national basketball competition in 2010.

Adelaide, Cairns, Gold Coast, New Zealand, Perth, Townsville and Wollongong all made submissions indicating they wished to participate in the league. On Thursday the Melbourne Tigers also formally agreed to join the other seven clubs for an eight-team competition.

More info on our NBL/Basketball Australia page.

NBA rescinds Game 4 technical foul against Dwight Howard

The Cleveland Plain Dealer (Brian Windhorst) reports: The NBA announced this afternoon that is has rescinded the technical foul called on Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard in the second half of Tuesday night’s Game 4 win over the Cavaliers in Orlando. Howard was called for his sixth technical of the postseason when he taunted Cleveland’s Anderson Varejao after completing a layup, despite Varejao wrapping him up in a bear hug under the basket.

InsideHoops.com editor says: That ridiculous tech needed to be rescinded. I’m glad the league did it. The absurd techs being tossed around at any player who shows the least bit of emotion is really angering just about every fan and reporter I know of. Basketball is an emotional sport. Sports in general are emotional. A little bit of taunting, some fist-pumping, a bit of finger-pointing, enthusiasm, etc. are all part of basketball and make the game way more fun.