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Sports icon Michael Jordan is facing a legal battle with a woman who claims he is the father of her 16-year-old son.
The basketball legend has been sued by Pamela Smith, who filed documents in Georgia on Feb. 6 alleging she fell pregnant with Jordan’s child in 1995, and gave birth to a son, Grant, in 1996.
— Reported by the Toronto Sun
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Rasheed Wallace’s surgery in which a screw was inserted into his left foot Thursday at the Hospital for Special Surgery was done with his goal of returning sometime during the playoffs.
Wallace could have just called it a career, placed a cast on the foot for 12 weeks and been done with basketball. According to a source, he contemplated that possibility the last several days.
The Knicks, however, announced an eight-week timetable that could put him back on the court in the middle of the first round. But one leading medical expert said Wallace will not be at 100 percent healed after just eight weeks from surgery to repair a Jones fracture of his fifth metatarsal.
Dr. Anish Kadakia, assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at Northwestern University who specializes in Jones fractures, told The Post Wallace could be running in six weeks. Nevertheless, he wouldn’t be 100 percent for 12 weeks.
— Reported by Marc Berman of the New York Post
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The Chicago Bulls are in talks with Louis Amundson about signing the veteran power forward, according to league sources.
A decision is expected Friday, sources told ESPN.com, with the Bulls and Amundson’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, scheduled to talk about specifics.
The Bulls are looking for an extra big man with Taj Gibson sidelined by a sprained left knee. And Chicago has just enough room under its hard salary cap of $74.307 million to sign Amundson, who is eligible to play for the Bulls in the postseason because he was waived by Minnesota before Friday’s 11:59 p.m. ET deadline.
— Reported by Marc Stein of ESPN.com
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How the Pistons act this summer, with more than $20 million in cap space, will be a great factor in whether their curve for contending speeds up or regresses. Falk, having represented a who’s who of the biggest names (Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning), isn’t sure about the perception about Detroit not being an attractive destination for free agents.
“In my career, when Juwan Howard was a free agent (in 1996), we had serious talks with Detroit. Same with (Dikembe) Mutombo (in 1996),” Falk said. “You go to play, it’s your job. You have a finite amount of time to win. When Detroit was good, it was a very attractive place to play, guys wanted to go there.
“I can’t speak for every player, if they want to be actors and have commercials. Don’t you want to win? Who cares about that other stuff?”
As for Monroe’s future, contract talks with the Pistons could begin after his third year, which would be this summer, but Falk said the sides will put things off until July 2014, when Monroe will become a restricted free agent.
— Reported by Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News
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Starting with Kobe Bryant’s soaring dunk over Nikola Pekovic on their second possession, the Los Angeles Lakers jumped to a big lead against a woeful opponent and never fumbled it away while moving to the brink of a .500 record.
After the Lakers’ tumultuous season, such simple achievements qualify as serious progress toward a playoff spot.
Bryant scored 33 points and Antawn Jamison added 17 in the Lakers’ 21st consecutive victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves, 116-94 on Thursday night.
The Lakers (29-30) have won 12 of 17 and five of seven while moving within two games of Houston for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with their longest stretch of solid play this year. They’re getting steady leadership from Bryant, who has reasserted himself as a scorer after working as a setup man for several weeks.
”I’ve been in attack mode since the break. It’s go time,” Bryant said. ”We’re getting a little closer, and we’re starting to get in more of a striking distance where you start watching (the playoff race).”
Bryant and Jodie Meeks each hit four of Los Angeles’ 16 3-pointers, and Meeks finished with 16 points. Bryant had 22 points in a strong first half for the Lakers, focused on scoring while the Timberwolves overcompensated defensively for the low-post absence of Andrei Kirilenko, who has a strained right calf, and Pekovic, who left early with an abdominal strain…
J.J. Barea scored 20 points and Luke Ridnour added 19 for the short-handed Timberwolves, who have lost four straight and 20 of 24. Ricky Rubio had 13 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds, but thanks to its latest injury woes, Minnesota never threated to get its first road win over the Lakers since Dec. 2, 2005.
— Reported by Greg Beacham of the Associated Press
The Lakers moved within two games of Houston for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West. … Bryant had two steals to become the 15th NBA player with at least 18,000 for his career. … Bryant is 8-for-14 from 3-point range in the last three games after shooting 9-for-49 in his previous 18. … Dante Cunningham started in place of Kirilenko and finished with five points and three rebounds in 33 minutes.
— Reported by NBA.com
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The NBA has retroactively given Metta World Peace a flagrant foul for a play in Denver against the Nuggets on Monday.
In the final seconds of the third quarter, World Peace connected with an elbow to what looks like the face of Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried. No foul was called live by the officials (which would have meant an ejection), but the league upgraded the call on review.
World Peace now leads the league in flagrant foul points with five, tied with teammate Dwight Howard.
— Reported by Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times (Blog)
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Guards Jeremy Lin and James Harden sat out Thursday’s practice, and Rockets coach Kevin McHale said he had “no idea” if they will be able to play in Orlando on Friday. McHale said both were “banged up.”
Harden knocked knees with Milwaukee’s Monta Ellis on Wednesday, but after a time out remained in the game. Lin turned his right ankle, but also played his usual minutes. Lin went through post-practice shooting drills, offering an indication he would be able to play.
— Reported by Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle
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Bobcats owner Michael Jordan has bought his second Charlotte area property in three years – this time on the shores of Lake Norman.
First Community Bank sold the 12,310-square-foot home in the Peninsula Club in Cornelius to The Jordan Family Gift Trust for $2.8 million, according to property records. It closed Feb. 19 after more than 460 days on the market.
In 2010, the former University of North Carolina star and six-time NBA champion invested $3.15 million in two combined top-floor penthouses at The Trust condos in uptown Charlotte.
Jordan also recently built a $12.4 million mansion with 11 bedrooms and 28,000 square feet on a 3-acre property in Jupiter, Fla., according to the Chicago Tribune.
— Reported by Elisabeth Arriero of the Charlotte Observer
The Brooklyn Nets have re-assigned forward Tornike Shengelia to the Springfield Armor of the NBA Development League, it was announced today by General Manager Billy King.
This will be the third time this season Shengelia has been assigned to the Armor. In his three appearances, the 6’8’’ Georgia native is averaging 28.3 points, 13.7 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 3.0 steals and 1.7 blocks on 64.6% shooting. Shengelia recorded a triple-double in his NBA D-League debut 12/21 vs. Erie, and followed that showing with a 39-point outburst 1/24 vs. Maine, tied for the second-most points scored in the NBA D-League this season on 17 field goals (league-best).
Shengelia, acquired from the Philadelphia 76ers after being drafted 54th overall in the 2012 NBA Draft, has appeared in 13 games for the Nets this season, averaging 1.4 points, 1.0 assists and 0.7 rebounds per game.
Shengelia will be in uniform when the Armor take on the Fort Wayne Mad Ants on Friday March 1st at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne.
The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have recalled guard Cory Joseph from the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League. The team also announced that it has assigned center Aron Baynes to the Toros.
Joseph has appeared in 26 games in five stints with the Toros this season, averaging a team-high 19.4 points, 5.5 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.92 steals in 38.5 minutes, while shooting .458 (175-382) from the field, .479 (35-73) from three-point range and .804 (119-148) from the free throw line. The University of Texas product ranks fourth in the D-League in both points and steals while ranking second in three-point field goal percentage.
Joseph has appeared in 10 games this season for the Spurs, averaging 1.9 points, 1.3 assists and 1.0 rebounds in 6.8 minutes.
This will mark Baynes’ second stint with the Toros this season. Assigned to Austin on Feb. 1, the Australian native played in two games and averaged 18.0 points and 9.0 rebounds in 27.5 minutes.
Baynes has appeared in eight games with the Spurs this season, averaging 1.9 points and 1.6 rebounds in 5.6 minutes.