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Rick Carlisle is sorry for kicking ball into stands

Rick Carlisle

Apparently also enjoys soccer

Before Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle took questions, he apologized for kicking a ball into the stands that boinked a young boy on the noggin and led to Carlisle’s second technical foul and ejection from Wednesday’s 95-86 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

“I want to apologize to our franchise, Mark [Cuban], our fans,” Carlisle said. “The incident where the ball got kicked into the stands — that can’t happen. My intent was not to kick it into the stands, I was trying to kick it to the referee, but I’m not a very good kick. But, that can’t happen; the officials made the right call on that one. That’s a regrettable situation.”

It’s many of the other calls — or non-calls — that Carlisle objected to. He picked up his first technical 27 seconds into the fourth quarter when he felt Delonte West got fouled on a drive to the basket. Carlisle’s night ended about two minutes later when Jason Terry lost the ball to Nick Collison, who Carlisle thought should have been whistled for a foul.

— Reported by Jeff Caplan of ESPN Dallas (Blog)

Is Dirk Nowitzki’s All-Star run in jeopardy?

The suspense of Nowitzki being voted a starter by the fans for the first time in his career never materialized. Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin quickly filled the void left by Carmelo Anthony’s defection to the Eastern Conference. Starters will be announced Thursday night and the all-Oklahoma City duo of Thunder superstar Kevin Durant and Griffin, an OKC native, have those spots sewn up.

The issue facing West coaches in selecting the seven reserves is what to do with Dirk? The reigning NBA Finals MVP and an All-Star mainstay would typically be a no-brainer selection based on history, even if his numbers aren’t quite up to typical standards.

However, Nowitzki has had a most unusual season that now includes a mid-season, week-long hiatus and behind-the-scenes personal training camp, plus the lowest marks since his rookie season in scoring average (16.7), rebounds (5.8) and shooting percentage, both overall (44.8) and behind the arc (20.0).

— Reported by Jeff Caplan of ESPN Dallas

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Mark Cuban reportedly eliminated from Dodgers bidding race

Blake Griffin

Dunked Kendrick’s face off

The owner of the reigning NBA champions will not be the next owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Mark Cuban was eliminated from the Dodgers’ ownership sweepstakes Friday, along with baseball executive and former agent Dennis Gilbert, according to two people familiar with the process but not authorized to discuss it.

At least eight bidders advanced to the second round Friday, including a group led by Magic Johnson and veteran baseball executive Stan Kasten and another headed by local developer Rick Caruso and former Dodgers manager Joe Torre.

East Coast hedge fund giant Steven Cohen, former Dodgers owner Peter O’Malley and St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke also are believed to have advanced, as well as a joint bid between investor and civic leader Stanley Gold and the family of the late Roy Disney.

— Reported by MCT Wire / Los Angeles Times

Mark Cuban surprised Steve Nash still playing

The most surprised person to see Steve Nash still playing is Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

Back in the summer of 2004 when the Mavs were deciding whether to let Nash – then a free agent – go, or resign him, Cuban relied on his medical staff to help him make up his mind.

“I’ll say it now, if you would have told me Steve would have been playing eight years later I would have bet any amount of money you’d be wrong,’’ Cuban said. “But some guys do a great job of taking care of their bodies and taking advantage of the new technology that‘s come along.

“The thing about Steve is his discipline.’’

— Reported by Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Blog

Mavericks recall guard Dominique Jones from D-League

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have recalled guard Dominique Jones from the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League.

Jones (6-5, 215) has seen action in nine games for the Mavericks and was assigned to the Legends on Jan. 15. He played in three games while in Frisco and averaged 13.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 21.7 minutes per game.

Jones will join the team tonight when the Mavericks take on the Suns at 7:30 pm CT at the American Airlines Center.

Mavs assistant Darrell Armstrong arrested in California

Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials say an assistant coach for the Dallas Mavericks basketball team has been arrested on an outstanding warrant from Las Vegas.

Sgt. James Brown says Darrell Armstrong was arrested and booked Tuesday in a case involving non-sufficient funds. Details about the case weren’t immediately available.

Armstrong’s bail was set at $40,000, and someone posted it Wednesday morning.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Mavs assign Dominique Jones to D-League

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have assigned Dominique Jones to the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League.

Jones (6-5, 215) has played in nine games with the Mavericks and is averaging 1.8 points, 0.9 rebounds and 4.0 minutes while shooting .400 (6-15 FGs) from the field and 1.000 (4-4 FTs) from the free throw line.

This is Jones’ second stint with the Texas Legends as he played 10 games for the team last season. In those contests, he averaged 18.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.6 steals in 37.5 minutes.

The Legends host the Tulsa 66ers on HP Court at Dr. Pepper Arena in Frisco this Wednesday, Jan. 18 at 7 pm.

Lamar Odom considered taking time away from NBA

As his Martin Luther King Day reunion with the Los Angeles Lakers approaches, Lamar Odom has revealed that he was “real close” to walking away from the game for a season — or perhaps longer — well before his December trade to the Dallas Mavericks.

Left reeling by the July murder of his 24-year-old cousin and a fatal car accident days later that killed a teen pedestrian after the car he was riding in as a passenger collided with a motorcycle, Odom told ESPN.com that he had to be convinced by wife Khloe Kardashian to scrap his plans for a hiatus.

“Real close,” Odom said when asked Saturday how close he came to asking the Lakers for a season-long sabbatical.

“My wife talked me out of it.

“Cause I was asking myself: ‘Was I mentally prepared to play? If I didn’t play well, was I mentally prepared to help the team?’ I had thought, ‘Maybe I need a year.’ Because of the lockout, I thought, ‘Maybe somebody’s sending me a sign that I needed this time off.’

“(But) when I told some of my friends and my family that I was thinking about steppin’ back for a minute, I think the reaction from the closest people to me kind of gave me the energy to get back at it.”

— Reported by Marc Stein of ESPN.com

Vince Carter says fans were not sitting on Mavericks bench

Vince Carter wants to set the record straight.

Those two Detroit fans who appeared as though they were sitting on the Dallas Mavericks’ bench during Tuesday’s game against the Pistons were actually sitting in some expensive courtside seats. However, when TV cameras caught the pair sitting between Delonte West and Carter, it went viral — for all the wrong and laughable reasons.

Carter, though, tells another tale about what happened when he came out of the game and couldn’t find a seat on the Mavs’ bench.

“Everybody kept saying (the two fans) were sitting on our bench, but they weren’t sitting on our bench,’’ Carter said. “They were sitting courtside.

“So when I came out of the game there was nowhere to sit — but those seats right there on the end.’’

— Reported by Dwain Price of the Forth Worth Star-Telegram Blog.

VIDEO OF THE INCIDENT

Mark Aguirre dominating the cupcake world

During his 13-year NBA career, Mark Aguirre made a lot of sweet moves that dumbfound defenders.

Off the court, he said one of the sweetest moves he’s ever made was becoming co-owner of a Frisco cupcake company named Dimples.

Along with Frisco businessman Keith Fluellen, Aguirre became a proprietor of the cupcake business some nine months ago. Since then, the cupcakes have been flying off the shelves and revenue has soared through the roof.

“I really wasn’t thinking about going into a cupcake company at all, but I have a friend, Keith, who introduced it to me,” Aguirre said. “I said why not go see what he’s talking about.

“Once I got to him and I tasted the product, it was really good. Extremely good.”

These are not ordinary cupcakes Aguirre and Fluellen are selling. These cupcakes are so large that they are approximately the size of a piece of cake.

— Reported by Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram