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The AP reports: Pau Gasol sprained his left ankle and needed help limping off the court in the first quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers’ game against the New Orleans Hornets on Friday night.
Gasol was running into the lane looking for a potential offensive rebound when he appeared to step on teammate Vladimir Radmanovic’s foot.
The Los Angeles Clippers today signed free agent guard William “Smush” Parker. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not released.
Parker appeared in nine games for the Miami Heat in 2007-08, averaging 4.8 points, 1.7 assists and 2.1 rebounds per game before he was waived by the Heat on March 10. Parker has played in 255 career NBA games and has career averages of 9.2 points, 2.8 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game.
The former Fordham University star joins the Clippers after appearing in all 82 games for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2005-06 and 2006-07. A four-year NBA veteran, Parker has had stints with the Cleveland Cavaliers (66 games in 2002-03), Detroit Pistons (11 games in 2004-05), Phoenix Suns (5 games in 2004-05) and Lakers (164 games in 2005-2007).
Parker was not drafted in the 2002 NBA Draft after leaving Fordham University following his sophomore year. The Newark, New Jersey native originally signed with Cleveland in 2002-03, and also played with Aris Thessaloniki in the FIBA Europe League before splitting the 2004-05 campaign with Detroit and Phoenix. The Lakers signed Parker prior to 2005-06, and he proceeded to enjoy his finest season, becoming the only Lakers player to start all 82 games while averaging 11.5 points and 3.7 assists, and finishing ninth in the NBA in total steals (140). The next year Parker started 80 of 82 games for the Lakers, averaging 11.1 points and 2.8 assists while ranking eighth in the NBA in steals-to-turnovers ratio (0.78).
The Miami HEAT announced today that they have requested waivers on guard Smush Parker.
No word yet on the exact buyout agreement, but we’ll post it here and on our rumors page when it’s known.
There is no guarantee Parker gets signed by another team. Not after such public disagreements with Pat Riley and Lakers coach Phil Jackson, two of the game’s most respected coaches.
Parker, who was signed as a free agent by the HEAT on July 27, 2007, appeared in nine games for Miami this season, averaging 4.8 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 20.3 minutes per game.
The HEAT roster currently stands at 14 players.
A random fan posting on message boards claims he gave Shaquille O’Neal a ride in a parking lot to where Shaq’s car was parked. And he has the photos to back up his story.
Check it out here.
I was with Baron Davis in Miami after Friday’s Warriors-Heat game for an exclusive InsideHoops mini-interview, and here’s part of what was said:
InsideHoops.com: What’s the official Baron Davis vote for the league’s MVP? Other than you or anyone on your team, of course.
Baron Davis: LeBron and Kobe. I mean, Kobe and LeBron, in that order. Kobe and LeBron… you talk about the most valuable players. That’s how I look at it.
InsideHoops.com: How about LeBron’s game the other day? Insane; 50 points, 8 assists, 10 rebounds.
Baron Davis: Yeah. He’s a monster. He makes monster music. He’s a monster. He’s a beast and he’s only 23, so imagine what he’s going to be when he hits his prime.
The rest of the mini-interview is here.
The Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant today were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Month for games played in February.
James, who wins the award for the second consecutive month, led the league in scoring in February, averaging 30.2 points and adding 8.9 rebounds and an Eastern Conference-best 8.5 assists. Cleveland was 8-6 mark on the month as James became the first player since Magic Johnson (1988) to post triple-doubles on consecutive days twice in the same season (Feb. 19-20 and Nov. 24-25). James became the youngest player to reach 10,000 points with his 19th point at Boston on Feb. 27
Bryant led the Lakers to a 13-2 mark, averaging team highs in points (27.2 ppg), assists (5.9 apg) and steals (2.07 spg). Bryant, who shot .507 from the field, scored at least 30 points on eight occasions and netted more than 40 points twice.
Other nominees for Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were Detroit’s Chauncey Billups, Golden State’s Monta Ellis, Houston Tracy McGrady, the Los Angeles Clippers’ Corey Maggette, Orlando’s Dwight Howard, Philadelphia’s Andre Miller and San Antonio’s Manu Ginobili.
Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy did not accompany the team to Los Angeles, and will sit out Tuesday’s game at the L.A. Lakers and Wednesday’s game at the L.A. Clippers with a right ankle sprain.
The injury, which originally occurred Feb. 13 at Dallas, was aggravated during Sunday’s game vs. Boston. Roy left the Celtics game in the third quarter and did not return.
He is listed as day-to-day for Friday’s home game vs. the Lakers.
The Los Angeles Lakers have recalled guard Coby Karl from the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA Development League, it was announced today.
Karl, who became the 11th NBA player assigned to a D-League affiliate earlier this season on November 28, was re-assigned to the D-Fenders February 14.
During his first assignment, Karl played in 10 games with the D-Fenders from November 29 – December 22, averaging 18.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 38.4 minutes while shooting .435 from three-point range and .492 from the field.
In three games during his second stint with the D-Fenders from February 14 – February 19, Karl averaged 14.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists in 37.2 minutes.
In 13 total games with the D-Fenders this season, Karl is averaging 17.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.7 assists in 38.1 minutes.
Should Karl play in tonight’s game versus Atlanta, he would join Lakers second-year guard Jordan Famar as the only other player in league history to see action in same-day D-League and NBA games. Farmar, who first did so on April 1, 2007 by playing in the D-Fender’s 2:30 pm contest versus Anaheim and then logging time in the Lakers 7:30 pm game versus Sacramento, also played in D-League/NBA double-headers April 3 and April 12, 2007.
Signed by the Lakers as an undrafted rookie free agent on July 30, 2007, Karl has appeared in 11 games this season, averaging 1.3 points and 0.9 rebounds in 3.7 minutes.
Last season, the 6’5” guard averaged 14.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.0 assists as a senior at Boise State and was named First Team All-WAC. Karl, who left Boise State as the all-time leader in games played (127) and three-point field goals made (266), ranks third on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,698 career points.
Team San Antonio, with Tim Duncan, David Robinson and Becky Hammon, won the 2008 NBA All-Star Weekend Shooting Stars competition Saturday night. After the team got through the regular shots, Tim Duncan quickly hit the half-court shot.
The other team in the Shooting Stars second and final round was Team Chicago, with Chris Duhon, Candice Dupree and B.J. Armstrong. They did well with the regular shots and easily could have won, but took forever to hit the half-court shot, losing it for that reason.
Team Los Angeles wasn’t too hot. And Team Phoenix had potential, but Eddie Johnson struggled.
The New York Post (Marc Berman) reports: Kobe Bryant has said he doesn’t want to play in tomorrow’s All-Star Game because of a pinkie injury, but likely will be forced to make a cameo, according to a league source. An NBA rule says a player can’t skip the All-Star Game if he plays the game before and the game after. That would subject him to a suspension. “I’m not going to play,” Bryant said. “The important thing is for me to get as healthy as I possibly can within the rules of the NBA and get ready for Tuesday.” The Lakers and league officials have been in negotiations for two days to figure out how to handle this. Having Bryant miss the game entirely would be a massive blow to the event, as he’s the leading candidate for MVP this season and the league’s most electrifying and best-known player.