Category: NBA News Blog

NBA news blog

Dwight Howard progresses to 5-on-5 limited contact

Dwight Howard

Dwight Howard is getting closer to full clearance in his recovery from spinal surgery, taking part both Wednesday night and Thursday afternoon in some 5-on-5, limited-contact action in Lakers practice.

Howard still is not approved to advance to full-scale scrimmaging and won’t play in the exhibition opener Sunday night in Fresno against the Golden State Warriors, Lakers spokesman John Black said Thursday.

That’s in keeping with the careful rehabilitation from April 20 back surgery that the player and team agreed upon, but the Lakers don’t see much that Howard can’t do already.

“Doesn’t look like he’s hurting a bit,” Lakers forward Pau Gasol said.

— Reported by Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register

Peyton Manning, Penny Hardaway joining prospective Grizzlies ownership group

Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning and his wife Ashley, a former Memphian, and Memphis basketball legend Penny Hardaway have agreed to become limited partners in Robert Pera’s bid to buy the Grizzlies, a source close to Pera said Thursday.

Pera, whose purchase of the team from Michael Heisley is being vetted by the NBA, has assembled a group with both star power and local ties, including recent additions such as pop star and actor Justin Timberlake and former congressman Harold Ford Jr.

— Reported by Kyle Veazey of the Memphis Commercial Appeal

Tracy McGrady may play in China

Tracy McGrady may play in China

Tracy McGrady, one of the top NBA players of the past decade, is considering playing in China this season, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.

McGrady’s preference is to sign with an NBA club — preferably one that can compete for the championship — and a source said he will wait to see if he is picked up by such a team before committing to play overseas. McGrady could wait up to four weeks before making his decision, the source said.

The Chinese publication, 361 Sport, first reported on Tuesday that McGrady’s representatives are in discussions with the club, Qingdao Doublestar, of the Chinese Basketball Association.

— Reported by Chris Broussard of ESPN the Magazine

Rockets rookie Royce White already struggling due to anxiety disorder

While Rockets forward Royce White remained in Houston, missing the start of the Rockets training camp, he issued a statement through a publicist and a series of tweets that indicated his start was delayed to work on a plan to treat his anxiety disorder.

White did not attend the Rockets media day on Monday or travel with the team to McAllen. He met with Rockets officials on Wednesday in Houston, according to a person with knowledge of the meeting who said “progress” was made that indicated he could be joining the team shortly.

In a lengthy statement, White said he needed more time to plan for the start of his NBA career.

“It causes me anxiety to know that serious consequences could happen if I do not express what I deal with, or if I am not truthful enough to ask for what I need, to be healthy. For me, hiding is no longer a healthy option in treating my anxiety or OCD, so I have asked for some help from the organization to ensure long-term health for myself.”

— Reported by Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle

Knicks might want Josh Howard

Knicks might want Josh Howard

Now that Rasheed Wallace is in the house, continuing the Knicks’ trend of adding players over 30, it only begs the question: Are they still looking to increase their average age?

According to a source close to free agent Josh Howard, the Knicks are still interested in the 32-year-old swingman and have had recent conversations with his representatives.

The Knicks first inquired about Howard last month, but if they’re serious about adding him now, they’ll have to cut one of their players with a non-guaranteed contract, which applies to training camp only. Currently, the Knicks have 20 training camp invites (including Wallace), which is the maximum amount allowed per team.

— Reported by Jared Zwerling of ESPN New York

Knicks to play Pistons in London this January

The NBA is coming back to London with a regular-season game between the Detroit Pistons and New York Knicks in January.

The NBA says the Pistons and Knicks will play on Jan. 17 at the O2 Arena, the site of this year’s Olympic gold-medal game.

The Toronto Raptors and New Jersey Nets played a pair of regular-season games at the same venue in March 2011, but the NBA skipped London on its preseason tour this year.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Melo is willing to sacrifice some scoring

Melo is willing to sacrifice some scoring

Carmelo Anthony had some interesting things to say to ESPN New York 98.7 FM’s Dave Rothenberg about the Knicks’ offense and his approach with Amare Stoudemire this season.

Anthony reiterated that he is willing to sacrifice his scoring if it helps the team win games.

“(On) a night to night basis I want (the offense) be more well-rounded,” Anthony told Rothenberg.

Anthony says the Knicks need to “play within our means” on the offensive end.

Regarding his approach to scoring the ball, Anthony said he’ll “see how the game is going, check the flow of the game. I just want to win basketball games. If I score 10,11 points and we win basketball games, that’s my mindset right now.”

— Reported by Ian Begley of ESPN New York

NBA will now penalize players for flopping

This has been a long time coming, but now it’s official: The NBA will now penalize players they feel have flopped.

Flopping is a (relatively) easy and extremely cheap way to trick a referee into making a call in the player’s favor. But the player is “lying” by flopping. He’s faking it. He’s pretending to react to something in a way that isn’t genuine. It’s an insult to fans, and to basketball and the game in general.

So, this is good news.

Here is the official announcement: NBA announces anti-flopping rule

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

Jeremy Lin in talks with Harvard on licensing deal

Jeremy Lin in talks with Harvard on licensing dea

Rockets point guard Jeremy Lin and his alma mater, Harvard University, are in talks to create a co-licensed merchandise line, two people with direct knowledge of the negotiations said.

The line would be created with Nike Inc., which has Lin as an endorser and which outfits the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based university’s football and basketball teams, said the people, who were granted anonymity because the contracts aren’t signed.

Lin, 24, the first Taiwanese- or Chinese-American to play in the NBA, became a global sensation last season after taking over as the starting point guard for the New York Knicks. He moved to the Rockets during the offseason on a three-year, $25 million free-agent contract that the Knicks chose not to match.

— Reported by Scott Soshnick of Bloomberg News