Sacramento Kings Blog – Page 67 – NBA Blog

Mayor Kevin Johnson says Sacramento arena effort will proceed as planned

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson said Thursday his effort to build a sports and entertainment complex downtown will move forward despite today’s announcement that the National Basketball Association and its players’ union have broken off contract talks.

The league earlier this month canceled the first two weeks of the season. Further cancellations are expected as a result of today’s negotiations breakdown.

Johnson issued a statement reiterating his intention to build an arena for sports, concerts and other events, regardless of whether the Sacramento Kings play in it this year, or at any time.

— Reported by Tony Bizjak of the Sacramento Bee

Billy Hunter thinks an extended lockout could result in forced NBA contraction

Billy Hunter said earlier Friday that he fears much worse than canceled games if the lockout drags on.

“If everybody begins to dig into their respective positions, then I think the league will be decimated. It took us five years to recover from the 1998 lockout and there’s probability that we may never recover [from this lockout],” Hunter told ESPN before Friday’s sit-down with players. “I think there will be some teams that won’t survive. Particularly if the season gets shut down, there will be teams that will not be around next year.”

Hunter singled out the Sacramento Kings as a franchise that may fall victim to “forced contraction.”

If negotiations with the federal mediator next week fail to warrant any movement toward a deal, the players association hopes it has an ace up its sleeve as it awaits the National Labor Relations Board’s action on the unfair labor practices claim that the union filed back in May.

“It has been prolonged and I believe it has been prolonged because I believe they have taken this case serious,” union vice president Maurice Evans told ESPNLosAngeles.com. “The ruling could weigh heavily on these negotiations as it is the only legal verdict that could in fact end the lockout. We do expect to hear from them within the next two weeks.”

— Reported by J.A. Adande and Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com

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Vitaly Potapenko named assistant coach of Dakota Wizards

The Dakota Wizards have hired Vitaly (vee-TAH-lee) Potapenko (poe-TAH-pen-koe) as the team’s assistant coach, the team announced today. Potapenko will serve under newly hired Head Coach Nate Bjorkgren for the 2011-12 season.

Potapenko brings two years of coaching experience to the Wizards, having most recently served as an assistant coach for the Indiana Pacers this past season. In Indiana, under Head Coach Jim O’Brien and Interim Head Coach Frank Vogel, Potapenko helped lead the Pacers to a 37-45 record and a trip to the 2011 NBA Playoffs.

Prior to joining the Pacers, Potapenko served as an assistant coach for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA Development League under Head Coach Joey Meyer during the 2009-10 season.

Potapenko was selected 12th overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 1996 NBA Draft. Nicknamed “The Ukraine Train”, he averaged 6.5 points and 4.5 rebounds over 11 seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, Seattle SuperSonics and the Sacramento Kings. His most productive season came in 1998-99 after being traded by the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Boston Celtics on March 11, 1999. He averaged 10.8 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 33 games (32 starts) for the Celtics.

Prior to joining the NBA, Potapenko played for Budivelnyk (Ukraine) from 1992-1994 and finished his career playing for MMT Estudiantes in the Spanish ACB during the 2007-2008 season.

Potapenko, 36, was born in Kiev, USSR.

Joey Dorsey signs in Spain

Euroleague.net reports:

Caja Laboral continued to build its frontline ahead of the new season and its latest signing is big man Joey Dorsey, who penned a one-year deal. Dorsey (2.03 meters, 25 years old) spent the past three seasons in the NBA, where he played in a total of 61 games for Houston, Sacramento and Toronto. Last year he appeared in 43 games for Toronto, for whom he averaged 3.1 points and 1.8 rebounds in 12 minutes. Dorsey is considered an undersized center with tremendous rebounding skills and a solid low-post game.

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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Jimmer Fredette Utah exhibition games consolidated into one Provo game

Brian T. Smith of the Salt Lake Tribune blog reports:

A two-game exhibition series hosted by former Brigham Young standout Jimmer Fredette has been consolidated into a single contest scheduled Sept. 22 at the Marriott Center in Provo. As a result, a previously announced game Sept. 21 at the Maverik Center in Salt Lake City has been cancelled. Tickets purchased for the SLC event can either be refunded or exchanged for a comparable Provo ticket.

Fredette (Sacramento), Kemba Walker (Charlotte), Kawhi Leonard (San Antonio), Nolan Smith (Portland) and Jackson Emery (ex-BYU) are still scheduled to appear at the Provo game. More athletes will be announced Monday, but no Jazz players are expected.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson gets married

The AP reports:

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson and former Washington, D.C., schools chancellor Michelle Rhee were married over the weekend in a private ceremony in Tennessee.

The wedding came almost a year to the day after the couple’s originally scheduled wedding date. Johnson’s office announced Tuesday that the ceremony was held Saturday at Blackberry Farm near Knoxville.

“We had a small ceremony with an intimate group of family and friends and are thrilled to be starting our lives together,” Johnson said in a statement.

The former NBA star and the education reform advocate had planned to marry on Sept. 4, 2010, in a much larger ceremony in Sacramento, but they rescheduled the nuptials after a wave of intense public interest.

Omri Casspi out of EuroBasket 2011

Israel have suffered a major blow ahead of the EuroBasket with confirmation that Omri Casspi will be unable to play in Lithuania with a knee injury.

The Cleveland Cavaliers forward, the only Israeli ever to play in the NBA, was hurt in practice two weeks ago but had hoped to recover in time with the initial diagnosis suggesting he could be back on court within a fortnight of sustaining the injury.

However, that has not proved to be the case and he has now left the squad with only one week left until tip off.

— Reported by FIBA Europe

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.

NBA Rookie Transition Program postponed

The NBA Rookie Transition Program, scheduled for August 9-11, has been postponed. The program, which provides first-year players with the skills and information necessary for a successful transition to the NBA, is run jointly by the NBA and the Players Association.

“Without a new collective bargaining agreement between the league and the players’ union, we will be unable to hold RTP as originally scheduled,” NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver said. “This is an important educational program for our incoming players, and it will be rescheduled once the parties agree on a CBA.”