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The Minnesota Timberwolves won’t be hiring any of new coach Rick Adelman’s assistants until the NBA lockout is resolved. But when it is, former Wolves guard Terry Porter will be among them.
Porter, 48, who coached the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns, played for Adelman for six seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers. He also interviewed for the Wolves’ head coaching job.
— Reported by Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press
One week after suffering a heart attack, Sabonis was released from a Lithuania hospital, according to several international news reports.
The towering 7-foot-3 Sabonis apparently left in good spirits after his health scare.
“The doctors told me, ‘You can’t smoke, you can’t drink, you can’t play basketball.’ So of the things I like, only sex is left,” Sabonis told reporters Tuesday outside the hospital where he was treated in Kaunas, his hometown.
— Reported by Joe Freeman of The Oregonian
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The marijuana possession charges against Trail Blazers center Marcus Camby have been dropped by the Brazoria County (Texas) district attorney’s office and his criminal record has been cleared.
Camby and Kendal Johnson were arrested last month after police discovered a small amount of marijuana in Camby’s car during a traffic stop in Pearland, Texas. But after weighing evidence — and accepting a guilty plea from Johnson — Camby has been cleared of any criminal wrongdoing.
“For the record, Marcus Camby did not get charged with a crime and Marcus Camby did not possess any marijuana,” Randall Novak, Camby’s Houston-based attorney, said.
— Reported by Joe Freeman of The Oregonian
It’s possible some, perhaps even all, of the 82-game regular season schedule will be eliminated. And though it’s difficult to forecast the exact economic impact a prolonged lockout would have on the Portland area, the hit would be substantial, according to local businesses.
“The value of the Blazers team to this community is measured in the millions,” said Drew Mahalic, CEO of the Oregon Sports Authority. “Their absence will, quite frankly, be devastating to the Portland regional community in that it impacts so many different businesses when they play.”
A lot of the revenue generated from Blazers games — gate receipts, parking dollars, food and concession funds — pads the wallet of billionaire owner Paul Allen and helps pay for the multimillion-dollar operation of running the team.
But Blazers home games also funnel money throughout the community. TriMet ridership increases on game nights. Business booms at local restaurants and bars. Hotels house visiting NBA teams.
Also, to help host a Blazers game, the Rose Garden contracts with up to four vendors, including Ovations Food Services, which oversees the food and beverage operations for the Rose Quarter and employs 900 people every game night.
— Reported by Joe Freeman of the Oregonian
Sean Meagher of OregonLive.com reports:
Former Portland Trail Blazers center and recent Basketball Hall of fame inductee Arvydas Sabonis suffered a heart attack playing a game of pick-up basketball Tuesday and was rushed to the hospital, according to reports from Delfi Sportas and Simonas Baranauskas of lithuaniabasketball.com.
Adds Baranauskas via Twitter: An update on Sabonis: apparently, there is no threat to the Lithuanian legend’s life. Of course, he will still spend the night in hospital.
Eurosport reports: The 46-year-old, a former NBA star with the Portland Trailblazers, survived the incident and is “out of danger”, according to a Tweet from his agent.
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.”
Read NBA fan reaction or share your views in this basketball forum topic.
The AP reports:
Former Knicks forward Marcus Camby is free on bond after police in suburban Houston arrested him on a charge of marijuana possession.
Camby was in a Porsche pulled over Monday for what police called an equipment violation. Pearland police Lt. Onesimo Lopez says an officer detected the odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle and they found less than two ounces of the drug inside.
Camby and another person inside, Kendal Johnson, were arrested and charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana in a drug-free zone because the arrest occurred near a school. Both were released on individual $2,000 bonds.
The AP reports:
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Dallas Mavericks forward Rudy Fernandez has signed with Real Madrid’s basketball team during the NBA lockout.
Madrid says Fernandez has agreed to play in Spain during the labor negotiations. The deal includes an option for Fernandez to play with Madrid once his contract with the NBA champions ends.
Dallas acquired Fernandez in June after three seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Melbourne Tigers will confirm one of the NBL’s greatest recruiting coups with the signing of Boomers guard Patty Mills.
Coming off two seasons with the Portland Trailblazers, free-agent Mills is available to the Tigers because of the NBA lockout that could cancel the season.
While Mills has an offer on the table from Portland and likely will return to the NBA if the lockout ends, the Tigers are keen meanwhile to cash in on the availability of the lightning fast guard.
No official comment was available from the Tigers, but they have scheduled a media conference for a significant announcement at 11am today.
— Reported by the Herald Sun
A man who went to the Oregon home of Memphis Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph to sell marijuana said he was beaten with a pool cue in a dispute over the price of pot.
The man told sheriff’s deputies at least three men assaulted him but Randolph was not among them. No arrests have been made, and authorities said none were expected on Monday.
Police identified the victim as 26-year-old James Beasley of Portland.
Clackamas County Sheriff’s Sgt. James Rhodes said Randolph was in his home outside Portland when the beating occurred early Saturday. Beasley was treated for head and face injuries and released from a hospital later that afternoon, when he called police, Rhodes said.
Officers served a search warrant early Sunday. They spoke with 10 people in the home at the time and recovered pool cues and blood evidence. They did not find drugs in the home.
Rhodes said the evidence “was consistent with the victim’s statement about where and how he was assaulted,” and authorities were trying to figure out who was involved in the assault.
— Reported by the Associated Press