NBA News Blog – Page 930 – NBA Blog

Jose Juan Barea warned by NBA about flopping

Believe it or not, but he was among the first two NBA players to receive a warning under the league’s new flopping fine policy.

He got a warning for flailing his arms but not falling Friday night on a play when Sacramento’s Jimmer Fredette gave him a stiff arm and got called for the offensive foul for driving into him.

The NBA considered that some over-acting by Barea.

Barea expressed surprise — almost bordering on pride — that he received a warning, even though he claimed the league hadn’t yet told him.

— Reported by Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star Tribune

No Avery Bradley for Celtics anytime soon

Avery Bradley’s return from shoulder surgery is still on pace, but, according to Rivers, he’s six weeks or more away.

Said Bradley: “We’ve got a timetable, but at the end of the day it comes down to how I feel.”

He has still not been cleared for contact. . . .

The Celts and Wizards are in the midst of a home-and-home that will be completed Wednesday in Boston. The quick series brings together head coaching pals Rivers and Randy Wittman, who were once the Hawks’ backcourt.

— Reported by Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald

President Obama will play basketball on Election Day

The president will observe his most time-honored Election Day ritual.

Former White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, who has joined the campaign on its final day to travel with President Obama, said his former boss sent an e-mail to his former personal aide, Reggie Love, to start organizing his regular pickup basketball game in Chicago for Tuesday.

Love is a former Duke University basketball player and regular hoops buddy of Obama’s, as is Chicago pal Martin Nesbitt, who has been traveling with Obama this week. The president will return to Chicago late Monday night to spend election day in his home town.

— Reported by David Nakamura of the Washington Post

Brandon Jennings and James Harden named NBA Players of Week

The Milwaukee Bucks’ Brandon Jennings and the Houston Rockets’ James Harden were today named Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Tuesday, Oct. 30, through Sunday, Nov. 4.

Jennings guided the Bucks to a 2-0 record to start the season, a first for the team since the 2005-06 campaign. Jennings led the league in assists (13.0 apg) and paced the conference in steals (4.0 spg), while finishing third on the team in scoring (17.0 ppg). He recorded point/assist double-doubles in consecutive games for the second time in his career, hitting a game-winning three-pointer against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Nov. 3. His 13 assists in each game tied his career high.

Harden led Houston to a 2-1 mark to open the season while pacing the league in scoring (35.3 ppg). In his debut as a Rocket, Harden scored 37 points, dished out 12 assists, grabbed six rebounds and collected four steals at Detroit on Oct. 31. Harden joined Larry Bird, Michael Jordan and Dwyane Wade as the only NBA players in the last 25 years to post at least 37 points, 12 assists, six rebounds, four steals and one block in a single game. His 37 points was the third-highest point total for any Rocket player in his debut, while the 82 points he scored in the Rockets’ first two outings was the most by any NBA player in his first two games with a team in NBA history.

Other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were New York’s Carmelo Anthony, Miami’s Chris Bosh, Orlando’s Glen Davis, Golden State’s Carl Landry, Los Angeles Clippers’ Chris Paul, San Antonio’s Tony Parker, Cleveland’s Anderson Varejao and Charlotte’s Kemba Walker.

Read NBA fan reaction and share your opinion in this basketball forum topic.

ESPN NBA voice Jim Durham dies

Jim Durham, ESPN’s lead radio play-by-play voice on the NBA and a former broadcaster for the Chicago Bulls and Dallas Mavericks, died Sunday at his home in Tomball, Texas (outside Houston). He was 65. No cause of death was announced.

Durham had called NBA games on ESPN Radio since 1996. His final assignment alongside his longtime partner, Dr. Jack Ramsay, was Tuesday night’s season opener between Boston and Miami.

Durham was the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s Curt Gowdy Media Award winner in 2011.

In addition to his ESPN duties, Durham was the radio and television voice of the Bulls from 1973-91, including the first seven seasons of Michael Jordan’s tenure with the team. His final season with the Bulls coincided with the team’s first championship.

— Reported by ESPN.com

List of Limited Partners in new Memphis Grizzlies ownership group

Memphis Grizzlies Chairman Robert Pera and CEO Jason Levien announced today the roster of Limited Partners that has been assembled to lead the team into an exciting new era in its history.

“We have one of the most dynamic ownership groups in professional sports,” said Grizzlies CEO Jason Levien. “We expect that its members will play a meaningful, ongoing role in realizing the goals we have set for the team and for ourselves, both on and off the court.”

Joining Pera and Levien in the ownership group are:

-Grizzlies Vice Chairman Steve Kaplan

-Staley Cates

-Pace Cooper

-Edward Dobbs

-Steve Ehrhart

-Harold Ford, Jr.

-Al Gossett

-The Hand Family

-Penny Hardaway

-Paul Harless

-Pitt Hyde

-Barry Klarberg

-Ashley Manning

-Joseph Nicosia

-Billy Orgel

-Elliot Perry

-Bill Rhodes

-Michael Savit

-Justin Timberlake

-Mike Wharton

-Duncan Williams

-The Wilson Brothers

“This ownership group will take the Grizzlies to the next level,” said Edward J. Dobbs, CEO of Memphis-based Dobbs Management Service. “Our team is going to thrive in Memphis for a long time.”

Pera was represented on the sale of the Grizzlies by Levien Sports, David Carlock and Jeffrey Pollack, who collectively assembled the team’s new Limited Partner group. Legal counsel was provided by O’Melveny & Myers.

Kenyon Martin has no NBA contract offers

The NBA season is nearly a week old, and Kenyon Martin doesn’t know why he still can’t find a job in the league. He helped the Los Angeles Clippers during their playoff run last season. His knee issues of the past no longer seem to trouble him. And he’s even willing to take a contract for the league minimum.

So why hasn’t any team called wanting to sign him?

“There is a notion about me that is not accurate at all – I don’t know who started it or where it came from – that people can’t control me,” Martin told Yahoo! Sports. “I don’t understand. Have I had my issues like a lot of other people? Yeah. But I’m getting back that people think they can’t control me, that if I don’t play I’m going to explode, or I can turn a locker room.

“In 12 years there was not one day where I told one guy to dislike anybody. If you ask guys who I’ve played with that know me, they know what it is and know I’m about winning basketball games and competing.”

— Reported by Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports

Jason Richardson suffers sprained ankle

Doug Collins often has bemoaned the presence of photographers along the baseline, and on Sunday, when he lost shooting guard Jason Richardson to a sprained left ankle in the first quarter against the New York Knicks, the 76ers coach had yet another reason to complain.

However, it was Richardson, not Collins, who did the talking.

“They really don’t belong down there – you see what happens,” said Richardson, who suffered the sprain when he stepped on a cameraman’s foot at Madison Square Garden. “It creates all kinds of problems for players. There’s got to be a better way.”

Richardson was hurt less than two minutes into the game with the Sixers trailing, 5-2. X-rays of his ankle found no broken bones, but he left the arena with his foot in a walking boot.

— Reported by John N. Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer

Guard Jonny Flynn signs in Australia

The Melbourne Tigers NBL club signed former NBA former top-10 draft pick Jonny Flynn on Monday to replace sacked import Kevin Braswell.

23-year-old Flynn was the sixth pick of the 2009 NBA draft and spent time with Minnesota, Houston, Portland and most recently Detroit.

He was waived by the Pistons last month, paving the way for the point guard to join the NBL.

The signing of Flynn, who made the 2010 NBA All-Rookie second team, is a massive coup for the Tigers, who are 1-4 in their first season under new coach, former Boomer Chris Anstey.

— Reported by AAP via the New Zealand Herald

Memphis Grizzlies name Jason Levien CEO

Memphis Grizzlies Chairman Robert Pera announced today that he has named seasoned sports executive Jason Levien as the new Chief Executive Officer and Managing Partner of Memphis Basketball, LLC, which operates the Memphis Grizzlies and FedExForum. In this role, Levien will have leadership responsibility for the entire organization; serve as the ownership group’s Managing Partner and as an Alternate NBA Governor.

“Jason and I share a vision for building a world-class team on and off-the-court,” Grizzlies Chairman Robert Pera said. “He has my complete trust, confidence and support in how best to lead our organization’s efforts.”

“I’m honored to be part of such a dynamic and potential-filled opportunity here in Memphis,” Memphis Grizzlies & FedExForum CEO Jason Levien said. “I appreciate what a special role the Grizzlies and FedExForum play in the Memphis community and I know that we will build successfully on the foundation already in place.”

Levien was, until recently, a co-owner of the Philadelphia 76ers and prior to that he served as an NBA team executive with the Sacramento Kings. Levien spent a decade representing professional athletes, including advising multiple NBA first-round draft picks and high-profile free agents. He serves as a general partner for Major League Soccer’s DC United. He graduated from Pomona College, where he was a member of the basketball team, and earned a law degree and masters in public policy from the University of Michigan.