Category: NBA News Blog

NBA news blog

Gary Forbes believes diabetes helped further career

But after all the twists in his career, taking him from the NBA Development League to the Philippines, Italy and Israel and finally back to the NBA, Forbes’ perspective has changed as dramatically as his address. He not only could have an NBA career with diabetes, he might not be in the NBA without it.

“I think the disease has helped me become better,” said Forbes, a veteran of two NBA seasons. “I’m better … at taking care of my body, getting the right amount of sleep, eating the right foods, working out, doing the things it takes to be in this league, and not only to be in this league but to be a good diabetic.”

Forbes was heading into his sophomore year at Virginia (he transferred to UMass after his coach, Pete Gillen, left) when he developed an unquenchable thirst and began dropping weight, losing 20 pounds in a week.

“I was going to the store every five minutes to get something to drink,” Forbes said.

Even with the checklist of diabetes symptoms, he did not start to realize that he could have the disease until doctors began asking about his family history. He had watched his father check his blood-sugar level and give himself injections of insulin, but it was so routine in Forbes’ life that he did not think that he would soon follow the same regimen.

— Reported by Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle

Sixers plan to use Spencer Hawes as power forward

76ers plan to use Spencer Hawes as power forward

[Doug] Collins has already said – loosely – that the preliminary plan is to move center Spencer Hawes over to power forward, teaming him early on the floor with Andrew Bynum, who will get the majority of the minutes at center and will be spelled by Kwame Brown.

Collins likes the idea of having Hawes at power forward alongside Bynum, because Hawes is skilled at manning the high post offensively and should let the Sixers take advantage of his ability to hit the elbow jumper (which will give Bynum infinitely more room to operate in the post) and use his ball skills to create more opportunities for players cutting off of him.

Hawes, who has never played power forward for extensive minutes, gave two reasons in a phone conversation earlier this week for why he expects the transition to be relatively seamless.

“I don’t think it’s a huge challenge,” Hawes said. “I’ve guarded the four a lot. Offensively, the way we’ve done it, the four and the five are pretty interchangeable. I don’t think the transition will be overwhelming.”

— Reported by John N. Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer

John Stockton, Karl Malone being inducted into Utah Sports Hall of Fame

Utah Jazz legends Karl Malone and John Stockton will join former BYU athletes Richard George, Chad Lewis and Doug Padilla next month in being inducted into the Utah Sports Hall of Fame.

The Oct. 23 event at EnergySolutions Arena includes a 6 p.m. reception and 7 p.m. dinner. For reservations ($75), send checks or credit card information to the USHOFF, P.O. Box 95982, South Jordan 84095.

Malone and Stockton were inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in consecutive years.

— Reported by the Deseret News

Baron Davis will have non-playing role with Knicks this season

Baron Davis will have non-playing role with Knicks this season

Baron Davis will have a multi-faceted role with the Knicks this season: He will spend some time around the team in an advisory role; he will work with Madison Square Garden’s “Garden of Dreams” Foundation; he’s expected to provide content for MSG’s in-game entertainment and he may do some scouting for the team, according to two sources with knowledge of Davis’ agreement with the Knicks.

Davis, 33, suffered a serious right knee injury in last season’s playoffs, and is expected to miss the entire 2012-13 season.

He’s currently an unrestricted free agent, but the veteran point guard has maintained close ties with the team. He’s spent a significant time rehabbing his injury at the team facility and he maintains a close relationship with several players.

— Reported by Ian Begley of ESPN New York

Wife of Stephon Marbury being added to VH1 Basketball Wives show

Hopefully they get VH1 in China … ’cause ex-NBA’er Stephon Marbury’s super hot wife has been tapped to be on the next season of “Basketball Wives.”

Sources close to the production tell us … Tasha Marbury is in final talks to join the show — a much needed cast replacement after Royce, Jennifer and Kesha were all axed.

We’re told producers approached Tasha for two main reasons … she’s actually a basketball wife (she and Stephon married in 2002) … and secondly she’s already friends with some of the other “wives.”

— Reported by TMZ.com

Russian billionaire Nets owner still expects championship within three years

When Mikhail Prokhorov bought the Nets two years ago, he declared the franchise will win a title by the end of the 2015 season.

After seeing his team’s roster dramatically overhauled this offseason ahead of the Nets beginning play in Brooklyn this fall, Prokhorov is standing behind that prediction.

“For me, there’s only one place: number one,” Prokhorov said Friday inside his team’s brand-new home, Barclays Center, in Brooklyn. “And I do my best to reach the championship.

“We’re moving on … slowly, slowly, step by step. It’s easy to make a strong team, but it’s very difficult to make a championship team. So we’re on the right way. And still, I’m expecting our championship within three years.”

Prokhorov was at Barclays Center alongside arena developer Bruce Ratner, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other dignitaries to help cut the ribbon for the $1 billion arena.

— Reported by Tim Bontemps of the New York Post

Gerald Madkins will take job with Clippers

Gerald Madkins, who spent the past two seasons as the New Orleans Hornets Vice President of Player Personnel, has accepted a front office position with the Los Angeles Clippers, a league source confirmed Saturday morning.

Although Madkins was in charge of the Hornets’ college scouting, he was based in Los Angeles. With the Clippers, Madkins will become the team’s director of basketball operations.

— Reported by John Reid of the New Orleans Times-Picayune

Madkins spent the last two seasons with the New Orleans Hornets as their director of player personnel. He served as the director of scouting for the Houston Rockets for two years, as the director of West Coast college scouting for the Seattle SuperSonics for one year and as a scout for the New York Knicks from 2003 to 2007.

— Reported by Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times

Working with Hakeem Olajuwon helped LeBron James improve

Working with Hakeem Olajuwon helped LeBron James improve

Hakeem Olajuwon training with LeBron James paid dividends

This was in the late summer of 2011, and LeBron was still in full seeker mode in the aftermath of the Heat’s NBA Finals collapse against the Dallas Mavericks.

Ripped for disappearing when it mattered most, mocked for still finding himself without a championship eight seasons into his pro career, LeBron reached out to a veritable Mount Olympus of basketball greats as the NBA lockout dragged on.

He met with Magic Johnson, spoke with Isiah Thomas and tried unsuccessfully to set up a chat with Larry Bird.

However, it was the Hakeem Sessions that paid the most obvious dividend.

How many times during the Heat’s 2012 championship run did LeBron turn his back to the basket and spin past a helpless opponent for an easy score?

How many times during his third league MVP season did LeBron exchange the easy and the familiar of the perimeter for the rugged and the raw of the low post?

And how many times in those final three matchups, against the Pacers and the Celtics and the Thunder, did

LeBron help the Heat climb back from daunting series deficits with moves right out of the Olajuwon repertoire?

Spinning, dipping, up-and-unders?

Cheetah-like drop steps followed by thunderous slams?

And yes, even a handful of feathery fadeaways along the baseline, a move so familiar Olajuwon will soon be releasing a full line of lifestyle gear, including personally designed basketball shoes, in its honor.

The Dream Shake.

“I saw all of the moves we worked on,” Olajuwon, 49, says proudly. “When you work with a player, the satisfaction is in knowing that now, when it counts, when it is valued, he is executing.”

— Reported by Michael Berardino of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Raja Bell remains in limbo with Jazz

Raja Bell remains in limbo with Jazz

Veteran Jazz guard Raja Bell told a Miami-area radio station Friday he’ll undergo a physical Monday in Salt Lake City.

Utah has yet to resolve a buyout with Bell, who is not expected to play for the Jazz during the 2012-13 season…

A buyout has been on the table since at least July, and Bell’s separation from the Jazz has long been expected. But while the chances of him attending camp are slim, at best, it’s recently become a remote possibility, since just eight days remain before Jazz media day and there’s been no recent progress between the sides.

Bell is in the final year of his contract with Utah and is set to make $3.5 million this season. The amount of the buyout has prevented the Jazz from removing Bell from the roster, and Utah has thus far been unable to trade him.

— Reported by Brian T. Smith of the Salt Lake Tribune