New Orleans Pelicans Blog – Page 60 – NBA Blog

David West cleared to return from knee injury

After six months of rehabilitation on his surgically repaired left knee, New Orleans Hornets forward David West has been fully cleared to return to basketball, his agent told Yahoo! Sports.

West, who will be one of the top free agents once the NBA negotiates a new labor agreement with the players, was given complete clearance after an exam with Dr. David Altchek at the Hospital for Special Surgeries on Thursday…

West, 31, opted out of the final year and $7.5 million on his contract in New Orleans to become an unrestricted free agent.

— Reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports

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NBA postpones training camps, cancels October 9-15 preseason games

The NBA announced today that player training camps for the 2011-12 season have been postponed indefinitely because a new collective bargaining agreement has not been reached with the National Basketball Players Association. Training camps were scheduled to open on October 3.

In addition, the league canceled all preseason games scheduled from October 9 through October 15.

“We have regretfully reached the point on the calendar where we are not able to open training camps on time and need to cancel the first week of preseason games,” said NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver. “We will make further decisions as warranted.”

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Chris Paul marries longtime girlfriend

John Reid of the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports:

Hornets point guard Chris Paul married his longtime girlfriend, Jada Crawley, this past Saturday in Charlotte, N.C.

A number of teammates and celebrities attended the wedding, including the Miami Heat’s LeBron James and his girlfriend, Savannah Brinson, New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony and his wife, LaLa, and Heat star Dwyane Wade and his girlfriend, Gabrielle Union.

Hornets General Manager Dell Demps and Coach Monty Williams also attended — with league permission.

Movie starring Kevin Durant will be filmed in Baton Rouge

It appears the NBA lockout has cost Oklahoma City a date with Hollywood.

The bulk of filming for the feature-length Warner Bros. film that Thunder forward Kevin Durant has agreed to star in will be filmed in Baton Rouge, La. rather than OKC.

It’s likely that the final few days of filming will be shot in Oklahoma City. But by losing the majority of the project, both Oklahoma City’s economy and its growing status as a bustling city on the rise has been dealt a blow.

The entire project couldn’t be shot in Oklahoma City because of a snag with state incentives for film production. The state of Louisiana offers a tax credit of 85 cents on the dollar, making the state a premier destination for filming. Oklahoma offers a 37 percent rebate for companies filming in the state, but the Oklahoma Film & Music Office had already run out of funding for this fiscal year.

— Reported by Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman.

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Basketball referee Troy Raymond commits suicide

College basketball and former NBA referee Troy Raymond committed suicide in a New Orleans hotel room late last week just hours after police found his wife’s body in their Houston-area home.

Police found his wife, Leslie Anderson Raymond, 41, deceased at their home in Spring, Texas, at 2:08 p.m. on Friday.

Constable Tim Holifield of Montgomery County Precinct Three told CBSSports.com that the medical examiner ruled the cause of death a homicide caused by asphyxiation due to manual strangulation.

“We’re not prepared to tell you who’s responsible,” Holified said. “But certainly Mr. Raymond is a person of interest — and his death brings about more questions than answers.”

Holified said that during the course of the investigation while at the residence on Friday, investigators were notified that Troy Raymond had been found dead in a hotel in New Orleans due to a single gunshot wound to the head.

— Reported by Jeff Goodman of CBS Sports.

Hornets continue drive for sponsorships, ticket sales despite NBA lockout

The NBA’s current lockout has not hindered the Hornets’ push to solicit more support from area businesses and fans.

Entergy, the lone Fortune 500 company in the metro area, agreed Monday to become the Hornets’ fourth major Crescent City Champions sponsor, joining Cox Communications, 7-UP and Ochsner Health System.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but each Crescent City sponsorship deal is estimated to be about $1 million, sources said.

“Building strong corporate support for the Hornets in New Orleans is fundamental to our mission to keep the team in this great city and to ultimately find local ownership,’’ Hornets president Hugh Weber said.

— Report by John Reid of the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

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Houston lands 2013 NBA All-Star Game

Mark Berman of My Fox Houston reports:

NBA sources told FOX 26 Sports the Houston Rockets and the City of Houston landed the NBA All-Star Game in 2013. The game will be played at Toyota Center on Feb. 17, 2013. NBA All-Star week will be Feb. 15-17. The Rockets and Toyota Center also hosted the game in 2006.

Click2Houston reports:

The entire NBA All-Star Weekend will be in the Bayou City from February 15-17, 2013. Hilton Americas Marketing Director Janice O’Neill-Cox spoke with Local 2 Sports Wednesday afternoon, saying, “We played a key role in working with the league to make sure availability was in place. It’s a big boost for our city to land the game, and we’re excited about it.”

InsideHoops.com editor says: I don’t get why Houston is getting the game again. They just had it in 2006. Meanwhile, other teams haven’t hosted it in a long time. Also, Madison Square Garden renovations will be mostly complete in time. And the new Brooklyn Nets arena will exist by mid 2012. Unusual call to send the big weekend back to Houston so soon.

Tasmin Mitchell signs in Israel

Sportando reports:

Hapoel Holon announced a triple signing for the coming season: Bryant Dunston, Tasmin Mitchell and Patrick Sullivan. Dunston started last season in Greece with Aris Thessaloniki and then moved to Israel where he averaged 7.7 ppg and 5 rpg with Bnei Hasharon. Patrick Sullivan had his first season as pro in NBDL with Rio Grande Valley Vipers scoring 9.6 ppg, grabbing 5.3 rpg and dishing 1.1 apg in 58 games.

New Orleans Hornets hire Dave Hanners as assistant coach

The New Orleans Hornets announced the hiring of assistant coach Dave Hanners to the coaching staff. Per team policy, terms of the contract were not released.

“Dave is an experienced coach both on the collegiate and professional level who has won a championship on each level,” said Hornets Head Coach Monty Williams. “He brings many tools that will help strengthen our coaching staff and help grow our players. Dave has learned from two of the best coaches in the game, Larry Brown and Dean Smith, and will be a valuable resource to our organization.”

Hanners spent the last two and a half seasons with the Charlotte Bobcats as the lead assistant coach under Larry Brown. He also served as an assistant coach with Brown for six prior seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers (2000-03), Detroit Pistons (2003-05) and New York Knicks (2005-06). Hanners spent two additional seasons on the Knicks bench (2006-2008), was an assistant coach for Detroit’s 2003-04 NBA Championship team, as well as the 2000-01 76ers and 2004-05 Pistons teams that won Eastern Conference titles. He also served as video coordinator and advance scout for the 2004 U.S. Olympic team that won a Bronze Medal in Athens and was an assistant coach for the East squad at NBA All-Star 2001 in Washington.

“I am extremely happy to be a part of the Hornets organization,” Hanners said. “Monty is a gifted, young coach in this league who is a tireless worker and always strives to be better. I was fortunate enough to coach him for a season and now will be fortunate to work with him as he continues to build the Hornets into a consistent, winning organization.”

In New Orleans, Hanners reunites with lead assistant coach Randy Ayers, with whom he coached alongside as a fellow assistant for three years between 2000-03 with the Philadelphia 76ers under Brown. The 2002-03 76ers squad featured Hornets Head Coach Monty Williams playing his final professional season as well.

Prior to his NBA career, Hanners spent 11 seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater, the University of North Carolina. During Hanners’ tenure under Hall of Fame Coach Dean Smith and Bill Guthridge from 1989-2000, the Tar Heels won the 1993 NCAA Championship and four ACC titles, while appearing in six Final Fours.

Hanners played guard at UNC under Smith from 1972-76. He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant for the Tar Heels from 1976-78, then spent three seasons as an assistant coach at UNC-Wilmington, two seasons at Furman and four seasons at East Tennessee State before returning to UNC in 1989 as an assistant coach. Hanners also served as head coach of UNC’s junior varsity team three different times – 1976-78, 1994-96 and 1999-2000.

Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony open to playing basketball in China

We all hope that the NBA lockout ends in August or September, or perhaps sometime in early October, so that no regular season games are lost.

No one really expects a mass exodus of top NBA talent in the near future. But if the entire regular season is to be lost? That’s another story.

The AP reports:

Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony say they will consider offers to play professional basketball in China if there is no resolution to the NBA lockout.

Both players are on a promotional tour of China while monitoring news from home about the NBA’s labor impasse.

With Kobe Bryant reportedly negotiating a deal to play in Turkey, New Orleans Hornets’ Paul and New York Knicks forward Anthony said they were also considering overseas moves.

Asked by SNTV where they would go, Anthony replied “China.” Paul said “Same, no question.”

The answers may have been designed to compliment their hosts, but Anthony added “it’s a lot of history here, the fans are great; why not, why not try it out?”

Again, it’s smart for players to simply declare that they will keep all their options open, rather than ruling stuff out. So if an NBA star is asked if China interests him as a basketball destination, the obvious answer is to say yes. But this stuff will become more believable in the coming months.

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