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Charlotte Bobcats hire Dan Leibovitz and Brian Winters as assistant coaches

The Charlotte Bobcats today named Dan Leibovitz and Brian Winters as assistant coaches on the staff of new Head Coach Mike Dunlap. Leibovitz and Winters will join Stephen Silas and Rick Brunson, who officially signed with the team in July.

“It was important to me to put together a coaching staff that mirrors my coaching philosophy and one that will consistently challenge our players to get better each and every time they hit the basketball floor,” said Dunlap. “When I selected my staff I wanted to assemble a group that will care about the players, care about the team and love to teach the game of basketball.”

Brunson enters his fourth year as an NBA assistant coach after previously serving as a player development coach in Chicago (2010-12) and Denver (2006-07), where he first worked with Dunlap. Following his stint with the Nuggets, Brunson served as Director of Basketball Operations at the University of Virginia from 2007-09 before spending the 2009-10 season at the University of Hartford as an assistant coach under Leibovitz. A former standout player at Temple University under Naismith Hall of Fame coach John Chaney, Brunson played in the NBA for nine seasons, appearing in 337 games for eight different teams including Portland, New York, Boston, Chicago, Toronto, Houston, the Los Angeles Clippers and Seattle. His ties to Dunlap also extended overseas in 1996, when he played for Dunlap with the Adelaide 36ers in Australia’s NBL.

Leibovitz brings over 16 years of collegiate coaching experience to Charlotte, joining the Bobcats from the University of Pennsylvania, where he spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater. Prior to joining the Penn staff, he served as head coach at the University of Hartford from 2006-10. Leibovitz also served as an assistant coach at Temple University for 10 seasons under John Chaney (1996-2006) and was named Best Assistant Coach in the Atlantic 10 by Street & Smith’s magazine in 2005. Leibovitz played collegiately at Franklin & Marshall College.

Silas is entering his 12th season as an NBA assistant coach and is the lone holdover from the previous coaching staff. He initially joined the Bobcats on December 26, 2010, after spending the previous four and a half seasons as an assistant coach in Golden State. Prior to joining the Warriors, Silas served as an assistant coach with the Hornets (2000-03) and Cavaliers (2003-05) and as an advance scout with the Wizards (2005-06). Silas originally joined the Hornets in the summer of 1999 as an advance and college scout. Silas also played four seasons at Brown University.

Winters brings a wealth of experience to the Bobcats staff, having been an NBA head coach in Vancouver (1995-97) and Golden State (2001-02), in addition to serving as head coach of the WNBA’s Indiana Fever (2004-07). His coaching career also includes time in Atlanta, Cleveland, Denver and Golden State, as well as a stint at Princeton University. The 12th overall pick in the 1974 NBA Draft after a collegiate career at the University of South Carolina, Winters played nine seasons in the NBA, appearing in 650 career games for the Lakers and Bucks with averages of 16.2 points, 4.1 assists and 2.6 rebounds. He made two All-Star appearances and was selected to the NBA All-Rookie Team following the 1974-75 season.

NBA Rookie Transition Program includes talk of relationship problems

Kendall Marshall was in New Jersey from Aug. 16-20 to work on his life grip along with the rest of the 2011 and 2012 rookie classes. The NBA’s Rookie Transition Program hosted 110 players because last year’s lockout canceled the event.

From new women to old friends, from newfound riches to old stories of bankruptcies and from illegal drugs to social slugs, the program introduced rookies to problems that are more common than they imagined and more issues than they could master…

“It was a real eye-opener for us,” Marshall said. “You hear the financial stories about guys who go bankrupt and you hear about the relationship stories about guys that have things go wrong with their spouse or girlfriend. You always think that can’t happen to you but the odds are that it can happen. They’ve done a great job of preparing us for that and bringing it to realization and making us want to make the right decisions.” …

“The female species are a lot smarter than us so we have to realize maybe it’s not always that we’re the best-looking guy they’ve ever seen,” Marshall said. “Maybe there is some incentive behind it. At the same time, there are great cases where guys have happy marriages. They’ve shown us both cases. We just have to be smart (and realize) that people don’t always have our best interests in mind.”

— Reported by Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic

Dwyane Wade discusses LeBron vs Jordan

‘Michael is the greatest player I’ve ever seen play. I think LeBron is in that conversation of one day becoming. It’s all speculation, in a sense. He has a long way to go. He knows that. He has one championship. Michael has six! There’s a lot to say about that.

‘‘LeBron is a dominant player. . . . But Michael Jordan is the greatest of all time.’’

— Reported by Dan Cahill of the Chicago Sun-Times

Dirk Nowitzki expects to play at least two more NBA seasons

Dirk Nowitzki has racked up a lot of mileage on his body in 14 NBA seasons. He’s seen action in 1,055 games and played 38,314 minutes over his career, putting him 11th and sixth, respectively, among active players.

So how much longer will Nowitzki stick around? He answered that question — sort of — during a Q&A session with fans on Twitter Sunday afternoon.

Nowitzki, who uses the Twitter handle @swish41, told a fan that he’d play two more seasons “for sure” and then “see how I feel.” Nowitzki has two more years left on his current contract with the Mavs, which expires when he’ll be 36 years old.

— Reported by the Dallas Morning News

LeBron James would happily make Space Jam 2

LeBron James is constantly being compared to Michael Jordan.

And if James’ dreams come true, you’ll be able to compare their acting skills on top of everything else.

On Sunday, James was fielding questions from his Twitter followers, when one asked if the three-time MVP loved the movie, Space Jam.

James offered this reply: “I love that movie. Wish I could do Space Jam 2!”

— Reported by CSN Philly

Orlando Magic may have big targets in 2014

In the summer of 2014, the Magic will have roughly $36 million in cap space. The prospective free-agent class is stunning: Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Carmelo Anthony, Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce.

None of those stars (several aging) are expected to leave their teams, although Pierce might go exploring. The Heat trio has the option to terminate its contracts…not likely.

Other ’14 would-be free agents: Pau Gasol, Amar’e Stoudemire, Zach Randolph, Andrew Bogut, Danny Granger and Andrea Bargnani. None of them — other than Granger, a good but not great player — seemingly fit the Magic plan.

The Magic will have even more cap room in the 2015 offseason, depending on what they do the next two summers. And there are some free-agent jewels: Rajon Rondo, Marc Gasol, LaMarcus Aldridge and Kevin Love.

— Reported by Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel

Doug Collins downplays talk of becoming Olympic coach

Collins doesn’t seek the subject, but when asked during this weekend’s reunion of the ’72 team about whether he would like to be the Olympic coach, he showed typical candor while also professing a desire to stay with the Sixers long-term.

“It’s a tremendous honor that somebody would even throw my name out there,” Collins said. “It’s four years down the road and I understand in this business you hope you are an active coach at the time.”

Which means obviously with the Sixers.

“I am hoping that I am still active and I would like to coach four or five years in Philadelphia,” he said.

So much for the assumption that Collins was taking things in Philadelphia on a yearly basis.

“I feel good about our team and I love my staff, what we are doing and where we are headed,” Collins continued. “The ownership, Josh [Harris], has been so good to me, so I feel really good about that.”

— Reported by Marc Narducci of the Philadelphia Inquirer

Wade thinks Heat will keep evolving

To a degree, Wade said it is essential that he, James and Chris Bosh continue to evolve, that each add enough nuance to their games that it forces Spoelstra to reach the level of creativity he achieved last season.

“You never know what player is going to start off and be playing a certain way and you switch things up a little bit,” Wade said. “But we have that luxury, because we have not only three marquee players, but we have a lot of other players on our team that’s very capable, highly capable, and very good.”

And there will be decisions to be made, from how to maximize [Ray] Allen’s role in the rotation, as stressed during his recruitment, to where to play [Rashard] Lewis, with length suited for the power rotation but a frame more befitting a perimeter player.

“So our plan to come out,” Wade said, “is, let’s get together as a team, let’s get our team defensive concepts down, let’s get our offensive continuity down and we’ll see what comes out of that.”

— Reported by Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Clippers forward Blake Griffin now fully healthy

When Blake Griffin injured his knee on July 11 while training with Team USA, his chance to represent his country at the Olympics ended.

Griffin had surgery on July 16 to repair torn cartilage in his left knee and it has healed to the point where he is working out.

“I came back after surgery and started rehabbing and getting back into it. I’ve been shooting and lifting [weights] and all that for a while now,” Griffin told the Los Angeles Times on Friday. “So, I’m pretty much back at 100%, been back at 100% for a little bit. So I’m good.”

— Reported by CSN Philly

Confident Brooklyn Nets talking NBA title

The Nets have yet to play a single as a game as a Brooklyn franchise – or unveil their uniforms, for that matter – but they’re already targeting a championship in Year 1.

Cornerstones Brook Lopez and Joe Johnson set the lofty tone in recent interviews, buoyed by the Nets’ expensive offseason.

“Obviously our main goal is no question the NBA championship. I think it is realistic for us,” Lopez told the Philipine Star during his NBA goodwill tour of the Philippines. “We’re already a good playoff team so with the addition of other pieces, we can target the ring.”

Johnson echoed that sentiment to Sports Illustrated, continuing his confident evaluations of his new squad. During Johnson’s introductory press conference in July, he declared the Nets were “definitely” already better than the Knicks.

— Reported by Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News