NBA Teams – Page 1328 – NBA Blog

Kevin Durant says he and LeBron James are good friends

Kevin Durant wanted to set the record straight once and for all about his relationship with LeBron James.

“I hate him,” he said before breaking into laughter.

Then he got serious.

“We’re actually really good friends,” he continued. “I think people want us to hate each other so bad just because we’re battling against each other.”

That doesn’t mean he has any good feelings toward him when they pair face each other.

“I like the friendly competition, but when we’re on the court we’re the furthest thing away from being friends,” he said. “We don’t take it easy on each other.”

That much was never more evident than when the two competed in last year’s NBA Finals, which the Heat won in five games. James led his team in scoring in each game, and Durant paced the Thunder in all but Game 4.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Joakim Noah gets treatment on right foot

Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah had platelet-rich plasma treatment on his right foot Thursday to help ease the pain of plantar fasciitis.

Noah, who will play in his first All-Star Game on Sunday, said the foot is feeling better. He missed almost a week of action recently because of ongoing issues with the foot.

“I’m happy that it’s not getting any worse,” Noah said. “I did the PRP thing on Thursday morning.

“It was very painful after the treatment. I can still feel it a little bit but I think it’s helpful, so I’m hoping with some rest today and some rest tomorrow I think I’ll be OK. I won’t do too much on Sunday. I won’t play 44 minutes, I’ll put it that way.”

Noah, who had the same treatment three years ago while battling plantar fasciitis in his left foot, appeared to be in good spirits as he spoke to the assembled media.

— Reported by Nick Friedell of ESPN Chicago

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist says he lost to Michael Jordan in 1-on-1

Even as he approaches his 50th birthday, Michael Jordan can still play. And the No. 2 pick in the draft will be the first to admit it.

Charlotte Bobcats rookie Michael Kidd-Gilchrist confessed Friday that Jordan beat him in a one-on-one game.

“It was hard for me,” Kidd-Gilchrist, almost 20, told USA Today before the Rising Stars Challenge rookie-sophomore game at All-Star Weekend. “I lost. I lost to a 50-year-old guy. … He’s the greatest man that ever played the game.

“Oh, yeah. He’s good.”

— Reported by ESPN.com

LeBron says championships are not only way to judge an NBA career

LeBron James respects his elders among the NBA’s greatest players of all time. Right now, he just doesn’t agree with two of them: Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson.

In a week dominated by league-wide debate and comparisons between James and Jordan (who will turn 50 on Sunday), James fired back again regarding Jordan’s claim he’d pick Kobe Bryant as the NBA’s best player.

Speaking with reporters during Friday’s All-Star media day, James said he doesn’t believe championships should always be the key factor in deciding comparative greatness.

“(Jordan) said he would take Kobe over me because … five rings are better than one, and the last time he checked, five is better than one,” James said. “At the end of the day, rings don’t always define someone’s career. If that’s the case, then I’d sit up here and say I would take (Bill) Russell over Jordan. But I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t take Russell over Jordan. Russell has 11 rings, Jordan has six. I wouldn’t do that.”

James won his first championship with the Heat last season while Bryant has won five with the Los Angeles Lakers. Friday’s response from James came after Jordan initially said during an interview with NBA TV that he’d have a tough time deciding between Bryant and James.

— Reported by Michael Wallace of ESPN.com

Lakers GM denies Dwight Howard for Rajon Rondo trade talks

Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak denied a CBSSports.com report that the Lakers and Celtics were in preliminary talks to trade Dwight Howard for Rajon Rondo.

“I haven’t talked to Danny Ainge in weeks,” Kupchak told ESPN The Magazine’s Chris Broussard. “I made the statement a week or two ago that we’re not going to trade Dwight Howard and that hasn’t changed.”

When asked if a possible Howard-for-Rondo trade was discussed when he spoke to the Celtics weeks ago, Kupchak again said no. He said at no point this season has a Howard-for-Rondo trade been discussed.

— Reported by ESPN.com

Thunder doing fine without James Harden

Through 53 games without Harden, the Thunder are 39-14. They were 40-13 at the same point last season.

Last year’s Thunder averaged 103.1 points per game and shot 47.1 percent from the field and 35.8 percent from 3-point range. This year’s squad is scoring 106 points on 48.2 percent shooting (38.9 from 3).

So, their points and percentages are up, and they’re only one game off last season’s more bearded pace.

“We’re different, but I think we’re just as good,” small forward Kevin Durant said. “James, don’t get me wrong, he’s a phenomenal player, but we lost him and we got Kevin Martin back, who’s a really good player as well.

“And I think for the passing ability that we lost with James, and his defense, we make up for it with Russell and myself, and the guys on the bench that help.”

Martin is doing his part as the Thunder’s new sixth man.

— Reported by Jason McDaniel of the Houston Chronicle (Blog)

Kris Humphries, Kim Kardashian divorce trial scheduled for early May

A judge says Kim Kardashian’s divorce trial should begin in early May.

Kardashian had been urging the judge to set the trial so her marriage to Kris Humphries can end before July, when her child with Kanye West is due to be born.

Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon set a May 6 trial date on Friday over the objections of an attorney for her estranged husband, an NBA player.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Kevin Garnett downplays talk of retirement

Boston Celtics center Kevin Garnett downplayed any talk that he’s pondering retirement after the season, suggesting comments earlier this week about this being his last All-Star Game were simply his nod to young talent in the league.

In an interview with ESPN Radio on Friday from All-Star festivities in Houston, the 36-year-old Garnett said some are reading too much into his words after declaring with certainty on Wednesday that this would be his final All-Star appearance.

“I did say that, didn’t I?” joked Garnett. “I’m just being honest. To think that, first off, not to take this for granted and I’m more than honored and flattered. But to think that two years left, who knows what the future’s going to hold for me. I can’t say that I’m going to be an All-Star next year at 37-38 years old. That’s ludicrous.

“I’m learning this new journalism these days, they don’t really put out the whole question, they just ask the parts at which they want. So I’ll explain it. The question kinda came off as whether next year and [Garnett] making the All-Star [game], I was like, ‘Woah, woah, woah. This is probably my last,’ then went into that way and spoke on it. But yeah, I don’t anticipate — I never said that I wasn’t going to anticipate playing like an All-Star next year, I didn’t say that. But to sit up here with all those young guys and up-and-coming talent, I can’t just that. I’m not that brash, that egotistical of a guy say nothing like that. I’m more than honored to be here, it’s not by coincidence, I’m working hard like the next man. But to sit up there and say that next year [he’d be an All-Star], I would never disrespect the game like that.”

— Reported by Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston

Chris Bosh named injury-replacement starter for 2013 NBA All-Star game

Taking the suspense out of the equation early, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has selected Chris Bosh as a replacement starter for the East team in Sunday’s All-Star Game.

Spoelstra hinted two weeks ago that he would remain loyal to the Heat regarding any decisions he had to make in his first assignment as an All-Star coach.

Bosh will replace injured guard Rajon Rondo, who is recovering from season-ending knee surgery.

All-Star starters are chosen through fan voting.

Bosh will start alongside Heat teammates Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, with Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Garnett.

— Reported by Michael Wallace of ESPN.com

Carmelo Anthony expects to play in NBA All-Star game

Carmelo Anthony arrived in Houston yesterday, and a league source said the NBA has been told the Knicks’ injured superstar is expecting to play in Sunday’s All-Star Game.

Anthony injured his right biceps during Wednesday’s 92-88 loss to Toronto during which he shot just 5-of-24. Anthony said he was bothered by the injury, though he finished the game and took 10 shots in the fourth quarter.

An NBA bylaw stipulates if a player shows up for the All-Star Game and does not play, the league has the power to forbid the player from competing in the next game after the break. That is designed as a deterrent to players who exaggerate injuries to get out of the game.

Anthony, who was voted to start in the Eastern Conference frontcourt with LeBron James and adversary Kevin Garnett, called the injury a “contusion.”

— Reported by Marc Berman and Tim Bontemps contributing, of the New York Post