Boston Celtics Blog – Page 91 – NBA Blog

Boston City Hall Plaza chosen for Bill Russell statue

The AP reports:

Boston Mayor Tom Menino says that City Hall Plaza has been chosen as the site for a proposed statue of Celtics basketball legend Bill Russell.

Menino made the announcement Monday with the Bill Russell Legacy Committee and the Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation. They said the site was chosen because of its location near the “Freedom Trail.”

Three artists chosen as finalists will present their designs to Russell and the committee in the fall.

Gary Dzen of the Boston Globe (blog) reports:

Three artists will be competing for the right to design the statute for Russell, who was one of the Celtics’ all-time great players and a widely respected civil rights activist.

The artists are Fern Cunningham, Ann Hirsch, and Antonio Tobias Mendez.

The winning design will be unveiled in spring 2012. Menino, who has pushed to relocate City Hall to South Boston, said renovations will be made to the plaza to coincide with the statue’s installation.

Celtics co-owner Stephen Pagliuca said Russell was a role model for the young, and a mentor as well. “He always found the time to take a youngster aside,’’ he said. “He was an individual who went out of his way to work with young children.”

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NBA says NYTimes.com blog was based on inaccurate info

The following is an official release from the NBA:

The information from Forbes that serves as the basis for this article is inaccurate and we do not know how they do their calculations. Forbes does not have the financial data for our teams and the magazine’s estimates do not reflect reality.

Precisely to avoid this issue, the NBA and its teams shared their complete league and team audited financials as well as our state and Federal tax returns with the Players Union. Those financials demonstrate the substantial and indisputable losses the league has incurred over the past several years.

The analysis that was posted this afternoon has several significant factual inaccuracies, including:

“(The NBA) is a fundamentally healthy and profitable business”

• The league lost money every year of the just expiring CBA. During these years, the league has never had positive Net Income, EBITDA or Operating Income.

“Many of the purported losses result from an unusual accounting treatment related to depreciation and amortization when a team is sold.”

• We use the conventional and generally accepted accounting (GAAP) approach and include in our financial reporting the depreciation of the capital expenditures made in the normal course of business by the teams as they are a substantial and necessary cost of doing business.

We do not include purchase price amortization from when a team is sold or under any circumstances in any of our reported losses. Put simply, none of the league losses are related to team purchase or sale accounting.

“Another trick…moving income from the team’s balance sheet to that of a related business like a cable network…”

• All revenues included in Basketball Related Income (“BRI”) and reported in our financial statements have been audited by an accounting firm jointly engaged by the players’ union and the league. They include basketball revenues reported on related entities’ books.

“Ticket revenues… are up 22% compared to 1999-2000 season”

• Ticket revenues have increased 12% over the 10 year period, not the 22% reported.

“17 teams lost money according to Forbes … Most of these losses were small…”

• Forbes’ claim is inaccurate. In 2009-10, 23 teams had net income losses. The losses were in no way “small” as 11 teams lost more than $20M each on a net income basis.

“The profits made by the Knicks, Bulls and Lakers alone would be enough to cover the losses of all 17 unprofitable teams.”

• The Knicks, Bulls and Lakers combined net income for 2009-10 does not cover the losses of the 23 unprofitable teams. Our net loss for that year, including the gains from the seven profitable teams, was -$340 million.

“Forbes’s estimates — a $183 million profit for the NBA in 2009-10, and those issued by the league, which claim a $370M loss…”

• Forbes’s data is inaccurate. Our losses for 2009-10 were -$340 million, not -$370 million as the article states.

“The leaked financial statements for one team, the New Orleans Hornets, closely matched the Forbes data…”

• This is not an accurate statement as operating income in the latest Forbes data (2009-10) is $5M greater than what is reported in the Hornets audited financials.

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Celtics need help at center

Chris Forsberg of ESPN reports:

The Celtics are in need of some big-man help with 32-year-old Jermaine O’Neal and his balky knee currently the only true center inked for the 2011-12 campaign. What’s more, Boston doesn’t have a lot of money to spend on a position that typically commands big money and, unless you have money, there’s not a lot of options on the open market.

So what’s feasible? The Celtics can cross their fingers that the mid-level and bi-annual exceptions live on in the next CBA and that those might offer limited flexibility in targeting serviceable big men. But even if the mid-level stays around $5.8 million like last season, that’s certainly not enough to lure prizes like Nene ($11.4 million last season) or Tyson Chandler ($12.6 million). Heck, it might not be enough to entice Samuel Dalembert ($13.4 million), who is in line for a hefty salary decrease, but is going to have plenty of interest from the mid-level crew (including the rival Heat who remain in similar pursuit of big-man help).

What’s left? Go completely AARP with 39-year-old Kurt Thomas? Maybe another flirtation with Kwame Brown? Want to roll the dice with Joel Przybilla’s knees? Prefer to just go bargain basement and see what happens (Go ahead and Google Alexis Ajinca, we’ll give you a minute)?

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Will Celtics try to land Grant Hill?

Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe reports:

Grant Hill is concentrating on staying in shape, and he takes nothing for granted after ankle problems and a hernia cost him significant parts of four seasons. In his six seasons in Orlando (2000-07), Hill played just 200 games. He blamed the Magic for misdiagnosing an ankle injury and botching the initial surgery, and spent years trying to regain the form that made him one of the game’s best scorers. He never quite got back to that level, but Hill was able to reinvent himself.

“I think going through all that helped me really learn and understand how to take care of myself, just really being in tune with my body,’’ he said. “I feel like I wear down more mentally than I do physically. I went out to Phoenix thinking I’d play two years, and now it’s four going on five. I don’t want to put a number on it. I want to take it year by year, but I definitely have a lot left in the tank.’’

Depending on his price and desire to come off the bench, Hill could be a target of the Celtics. He has a strong relationship with Doc Rivers, who wanted Hill to sign with Boston before he opted for Phoenix. Perhaps if Hill had remained healthy, Rivers’s coaching stint in Orlando would have been more successful.

“He was great, still is, he’s a friend,’’ Hill said of Rivers. “He was so supportive. It’s woulda, coulda, shoulda, we might have done some pretty good things together but it didn’t happen. I think I’m a better person going through all of that. And he’s a better coach. I think he will tell you that. It’s prepared him probably even more so what he’s doing now in Boston. It hasn’t hurt the friendship or relationship, at least I don’t think so, but it was an unfortunate set of circumstances.’’

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Celtics exercise option on Avery Bradley

The Boston Celtics announced today that they have exercised a contract option on guard Avery Bradley for the 2012-13 season. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Bradley, a 6’2” guard, averaged 1.7 points in 5.2 minutes per game this past season for the Celtics. The 19th overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft appeared in 31 games for the Celtics and netted a season-high of 20 points on 10-of-16 shooting in the final game of the season against New York on April 13. Bradley also made nine appearances for the Maine Red Claws of the NBA Development League and averaged 17.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 3.0 steals in those contests.

Celtics extend qualifying offer to Jeff Green

The Boston Celtics announced today that they have extended a qualifying offer to forward Jeff Green, making him a restricted free agent. The qualifying offer allows the Celtics to match any off he receives from another team.

Green, a 6’9” forward, averaged 13.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 32.4 minutes per game split between Oklahoma City and Boston during the 2010-11 season. In his 26 games with the Celtics, Green shot 48.5 percent from the field. The fourth year pro also shot 43.4 percent from three-point territory in nine games during the playoffs. In his first Celtic start against the Wizards on April 11, Green recorded 20 points and a career-high tying 15 rebounds. Green, a member of the 2008 All-Rookie First Team, has posted career averages of 13.9 points and 5.5 rebounds in 315 games.

Antoine Walker pleads guilty to casino debts

The AP reports:

Former NBA star Antoine Walker has pleaded guilty to passing bad checks in the form of unpaid gambling debts in Las Vegas.

The Las Vegas Sun reports the former all-star shooter who now plays for the NBA Development League’s Idaho Stampede will be put on probation and work toward paying off $750,000.

InsideHoops.com editor says: In case you were wondering, no, he did not fire any off-balance, deep three-pointers at any point during the legal proceeding.

Big Baby Glen Davis hires sports psychologist

Ricky Doyle of NESN reports:

Glen Davis struggled throughout the playoffs as the Celtics were bounced in the second round by the Miami Heat. In an effort to help himself mentally, Davis has hired a sports psychologist.

The 6-foot-9 forward appeared on KFXX in Portland to discuss a number of topics, including his playoff struggles, which included him averaging only 4.9 points and 3.6 rebounds in 21.2 minutes per game.

He said he wasn’t there mentally and that he is doing a lot of mental preparation for the upcoming season.

“I hired a sports psychologist to help you tap into the zone…as far as you miss a shot, you don’t worry about that,” he said. “You go to the other end and use that energy to do something else on defense…Let it pass like a cloud. Clouds pass by you all the time and you don’t worry about it. You’ve just got to keep going. That’s what I’ve been concentrating on, just how to handle things like a professional.”

Celtics center Jermaine O’Neal will keep playing

Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald reports:

Few players deliberate more over the pros and cons of surgery than Jermaine O’Neal, who after undergoing knee surgery last January has decided to take a more holistic approach with the torn ligament in his left wrist.

O’Neal, who went through the playoffs with the wrist injury, has decided to forgo surgery in favor of rehabilitation, according to Danny Ainge. The Celtics president said yesterday that O’Neal, attempting to take advantage of the team’s resources before players are locked out on July 1, has been a regular at the workout facility in Waltham.

“He has every intention of coming back,” Ainge said of the only true center on his team’s roster. “He has every desire to play, and didn’t like the way it finished this year, and doesn’t want to end his career on that type of note. He wants to be a much greater contributor.

“He chose not to have surgery.”

Glen Davis likely to test free agency this summer

The Boston Celtics have enjoyed success while forward Glen Davis has been a key part of the rotation.

And, they’ve done just fine while he was sitting on the bench, watching the action.

He’s definitely a useful player. But whether he’ll remain in Boston or not remains to be seen.

Evans Clinchy of NESN reports:

Glen Davis sounds as though he’s got one foot out the door after four years as a Boston Celtic. Maybe a foot and a half, even.

He also sounds perfectly OK with that.

Speaking with reporters at a charity event this week in Medford, Mass., the C’s youngster known as “Big Baby” had a few interesting words to say about his upcoming free agency.

“I can be Glen Davis wherever,” he said when asked about being himself in Boston. “It depends on the system, the people around the system, who is going to let Glen Davis be Glen Davis, not let Glen Davis be something they think he should be.”

It’s not just Davis’ 295-pound body that’s grown a lot over these last few years. Clearly it’s his ego, too.

Davis is just a bench guy. In 277 career games, he’s started 31 of them, only sneaking into the Celtics’ first unit when Kevin Garnett has been injured. But he’s become one of the league’s very best bench guys, finishing fourth last season in the voting for Sixth Man of the Year.

He’s a unique player, and no matter where he goes, Davis should keep making his mark.