Dallas Mavericks Blog – Page 79 – NBA Blog

Former NBA player Samaki Walker arrested on drug charges

Dave Hawkins of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports:

Arizona authorities allege former NBA basketball player Samaki Walker tried to eat marijuana as a Department of Public Safety officer approached his 2002 Mercedes-Benz following a routine traffic stop in Kingman on Thursday.

Officials said about 10 grams of marijuana was seized from the vehicle along with some prescription drugs and eight bottles of liquid steroids.

Police Sgt. Jamie Clark, the supervisor of a narcotics task force, said Walker was cooperative when interviewed by officers at the Mohave County Jail. He said Walker indicated that he uses the steroids to enhance his athletic ability as he still plays professionally in Syria.

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Houston Rockets hire Greg Buckner as player development coach

Houston Rockets Head Coach Kevin McHale announced today that he has officially added Greg Buckner as a player development coach on his staff.

“Greg is going to handle player development for us,” said McHale. “He came up the hard way, really worked his way around the league. Greg is just a really good, blue-collar guy who understands the league. We are excited to have him on the staff.”

Buckner joins the Rockets after a successful 10-year playing career in the NBA. Selected by Dallas in the second round (53rd overall) of the 1998 NBA Draft, Buckner averaged 5.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 570 career games (117 starts) with the Mavericks, Philadelphia 76ers, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves and Memphis Grizzlies. Buckner was also regarded as an outstanding defensive player over his career. His teams reached the postseason in six of his 10 NBA seasons. Overall, he averaged 4.1 points and 2.6 rebounds in 38 career playoff games.

InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner on this hire: “I think it’s a good move. Buckner has a good basketball IQ and should be decent as a teacher.”

As a collegian, Buckner was regarded as one of the top players in Clemson history. He was the first Tiger to ever lead his team in scoring four straight years (1994-98) and guided Clemson to three NCAA Tournament bids. Buckner started all 122 games of his career and never missed a contest, setting the school record for consecutive games started. He finished with 1,754 career points and was the third Tiger player to log career totals of at least 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 200 assists. Inducted into the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005, Buckner remains the lone Tiger to ever win the ACC Rookie of the Year award (1994-95).

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Caron Butler hopes to stay with Mavs

Generally, when a team wins an NBA championship, the players who were on the squad don’t mind returning. Such is the case with small forward Caron Butler, who unfortunately was hurt and unable to contribute on the court to his team’s playoff success.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News reports:

Caron Butler’s right knee has been diagnosed as good to go, agent Raymond Brothers confirmed Wednesday. Where he will be playing when the NBA returns from its lockout remains to be seen.

Brothers said Butler, a free agent, was cleared to play by the Mavericks’ medical staff several days ago. Butler ruptured his patellar tendon in a New Year’s Day loss at Milwaukee. He missed the rest of the Mavericks’ championship season.

“He would have been able to play in Game 7 against the Miami Heat,” Brothers said. “But now we have the official clearance.”

Game 7 of the NBA Finals wasn’t necessary as the Mavericks wrapped up the league title in six games.

Brothers said the 6-7 forward prefers to return to the Mavericks. Butler was the team’s third-leading scorer when his season ended.

The Mavs proved they can win in a big way without Butler’s help, but they still could have used his services. We’ll see how this plays out.

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NBA Rookie Transition Program postponed

The NBA Rookie Transition Program, scheduled for August 9-11, has been postponed. The program, which provides first-year players with the skills and information necessary for a successful transition to the NBA, is run jointly by the NBA and the Players Association.

“Without a new collective bargaining agreement between the league and the players’ union, we will be unable to hold RTP as originally scheduled,” NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver said. “This is an important educational program for our incoming players, and it will be rescheduled once the parties agree on a CBA.”

Jason Terry says Mavericks must keep Tyson Chandler

Richard Durrett of ESPN Dallas reports:

Terry, wearing a No. 31 Rangers jersey and holding a bat signed by Josh Hamilton to be used for an auction supporting Terry’s charity, said his top offseason priority if he were running the team would be to re-sign center Tyson Chandler.

“Chandler is No. 1 for me,” Terry said. “We want to get all our guys back, but especially what Chandler has meant to this organization. It was something we hadn’t had and once we got him, you could see what it did for us. So we got to get him back.”

Terry said he’s spent his offseason with his daughters, including coaching an AAU team and stopping by the ESPY Awards last week.

Terry also spent 48 hours with the Larry O’Brien Trophy and admitted that he slept with it one night.

“At 47 (hours), (Mavs owner Mark) Cuban was in my driveway knocking on the door,” Terry said. “It was fun. That’s where it soaked in what we had accomplished — seeing my daughters and how much it meant to my family. They took tons and tons of pictures.”

Some NBA players still receive paychecks during a lockout

Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today reports:

Los Angeles Clippers forward Al-Farouq Aminu wants to play basketball next season. But if he doesn’t, he isn’t overly concerned about his financial situation.

Aminu, a rookie last season, is one of four clients of agent Raymond Brothers who spread their 2010-11 NBA salaries over 18 or 24 months to continue receiving paychecks if the league-imposed lockout forces the cancellation of games.

Memphis Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph, Dallas Mavericks forward Caron Butler and Detroit Pistons guard Ben Gordon, all Brothers clients, have similar setups.

If games in 2011-12 are lost, “They will not know financially that they’re in a lockout,” Brothers said. “If there is a lockout, you’ll able to pay your bills. And you’re already used to a certain way of living because your paychecks will be consistent.”

Players normally receive bi-weekly paychecks from Nov. 15 to May 1, although some opt for a November to November schedule. But Aminu will receive payments from last season until Nov. 1, 2012. Randolph will be paid through May 1, 2012.

InsideHoops.com editor says: I am happy to announce that I will continue to pay myself during the lockout as well.

Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Kaman will play for German National Team

Sportando reports:

Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Kaman announced that they will play with German National Team at Eurobasket 2011 in Lithuania.

Both players will join soon the team coached by Dirk Bauermann.

TalkBasket.net reports:

Both players are expected to be ready to play for the Germany NT in the BEKO-Supercup tournament in Bamberg (together with Turkey, Greece, Belgium), during August 19-21.

Dirk was pleased with his decision and said: “The rest was short but I would like to help the young German NT to gain success in Eurobasket. I will do everything to keep fit and I’m looking forward to spending time with the guys”.

Chris Kaman stated: “Playing for Germany in 2008 was a lot of fun, I think I can help the team and we can achieve things”.

InsideHoops.com editor says: I’ve heard that Nowitzki and Kaman were a package deal for Team Germany. Meaning, they or their representatives were in touch with each other and either both were going to play, or neither one was. I haven’t actually confirmed this, though. But don’t be surprised if you read something about this in the near future.

Billy Hunter tells InsideHoops that NBA lockout meetings may not resume until August

By Jeff Lenchiner

Wednesday evening in New York City I paid a visit to Dyckman Park for some streetball action. It was a big matchup of some top teams that has been anticipated for weeks, so the park was packed. Included in the crowd were rapper Jadakiss, Denver Nuggets forward Al Harrington, and the head of the NBA Players Union, Billy Hunter, among others.

Before the game, Hunter, bravely attempting to communicate as some top-notch rap music blasted from the park’s booming speakers at full volume, gave InsideHoops.com a very quick update on the current NBA lockout situation:

InsideHoops.com: What’s the latest?

Billy Hunter: We’re trying to find some way to re-open the negotiations. We’re not making very much progress. It looks like we’re going to be where we are, I would assume probably [until] August before we actually end up getting back together.

InsideHoops.com: How long might the lockout last?

Hunter: It’s unpredictable. It’s hard to say how long it’s going to go.

It sounds like NBA fans should not hold their breath waiting for positive developments just yet.

J.J. Barea and former Miss Universe Zuleyka Rivera expecting a child

SportsDayDFW.com reports:

Mavericks guard J.J. Barea and his girlfriend, actress and model Zuleyka Rivera are expecting a child, according to a report from Primerahora.com.

Rivera, a former Miss Universe, will have to leave production of her new project called “Passionate Heart.”

“All this took me by surprise, but I feel very lucky,” she wrote to Primerahora.com, as translated from Spanish. “I come from a very close family and I understand that a baby is a blessing. I’m sorry I had to leave this soap opera, it was another opportunity for my growth as an actress and achieve my professional goals. However, both JJ and I are happy to start a family together and I know God will reward us with a healthy baby and many more opportunities for both.”

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Union plans player meetings as NBA lockout drags on with no progress

Sam Amick of Sports Illustrated reports:

There will be labor-related meetings in the near future.

They just aren’t the kind that typically lead to collective bargaining progress.

According to sources close to the situation, the National Basketball Players Association is planning a series of player sessions in as many as six cities over “the next month or so,” as a way to help with its planning during the lockout and update players on the state of negotiations with the NBA. Unless things unexpectedly change, there won’t be much to report on that front.

While mid-level staffers from both sides met on Friday to finalize the numbers related to basketball-related income (BRI) for the 2010-11 season, no negotiating sessions involving commissioner David Stern or NBPA executive director Billy Hunter have been scheduled. Sources said the BRI numbers were not finalized Friday and more similar sessions are forthcoming to that end, but the union is focused on fortifying from within rather than exchanging proposals with the owners, who are pushing for a hard salary cap as part of a drastic overhaul to the current system.

InsideHoops.com editor says: Basically, the two sides are considering their various options and possible proposal changes, amongst themselves. There’s no way of knowing if either side plans to make any changes the next time they make offers to each other, when they do eventually meet again. I’m just guessing here but it sounds like the earliest the NBA lockout could even possibly end is early August. But that’s not expected, because it sounds like both sides remain pretty far apart.