Washington Wizards Blog – Page 55 – NBA Blog

Actress who played Snoop on The Wire pleads guilty in drug case

Tricia Bishop of the Baltimore Sun reports:

Felicia “Snoop” Pearson, who overcame a troubled childhood and a murder conviction to launch an acting career as a drug-gang assassin on HBO’s “The Wire,” pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy to sell heroin.

She was sentenced to seven years in prison, with all of the time suspended except for the five months she has already served while awaiting trial, most of it spent at home, under electronic monitoring. She could be sent back to finish the term if she violates probation over the next three years.

“While I’m delighted to have you here, I don’t want to see you again,” Baltimore Circuit Judge Lawrence P. Fletcher-Hill told the actress, expressing a sentiment shared by her fans, many of whom were crushed by the news of her March arrest in an early-morning sting operation…

Pearson and several dozen others were arrested in a series of March raids on allegations that they ran a vast heroin conspiracy throughout the city. The scheme was discovered after authorities recorded key players discussing the alleged operation on a wiretap — a case of life imitating “The Wire,” which depicted Baltimore’s drug trade and law enforcement efforts to battle it.

Wizards forward Trevor Booker excited to play in Israel

Michael Lee of the Washington Post (blog) reports:

No one knows for sure when the next NBA season will begin, but Wizards forward Trevor Booker has already ensured that he will be playing professional basketball this fall. Booker signed a one-year deal on Thursday with Israeli Basketball League team Bnei HaSharon that has an opt-out clause that will allow him to return to the Wizards whenever the lockout ends.

Booker is the first member of the Wizards to sign with a team overseas since the lockout began on July 1. Booker’s agent, Andy Miller, said that Booker had been “getting an earful for about 40 days” about the possibility of playing overseas until the right deal came along with the team that plays in the top division of Israeli basketball. Wizards General Manager Ernie Grunfeld’s son, Dan, played for Bnei HaSharon last season.

Booker has traveled overseas to Turkey and Serbia and said he was “definitely open.” After speaking with his parents, Booker decided to take advantage of the opportunity. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“I’m real excited,” Booker said in a telephone interview on Thursday. “I get to play against some competition again. I think it will be a neat experience, so I’m definitely excited.”

Kobe Bryant to play in Celebrity Soccer Challenge at Kastles Stadium, Washington D.C.

Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Times (blog) reports:

Had he remained in Italy, Kobe Bryant may very well have been honing his footwork on the pitch instead of the hardwood.

He’ll have a chance to do that Sunday when he appears in the Celebrity Soccer Challenge at Kastles Stadium in Washington D.C., an event sponsored by former U.S. women’s soccer player Mia Hamm and her husband, ex-Dodger Nomar Garciaparra. But incidentally enough, Bryant may not have been making a token appearance on the soccer field had he seriously kept up with the sport.

Sure, it’s easy to imagine the uber competitive and athletic Bryant dazzling fans wearing an A.C. Milan uniform (his favorite childhood team) or an FC Barcelona jersey (his current favorite team). Bryant, however, sensed his skills kicking a soccer ball nowhere matched what he could do with a basketball, a sport he got serious about once his family moved to Philadelphia in 1991.

“I wasn’t anything spectacular,” Bryant once told the Chicago Tribune’s Luis Arroyave. “I would have moments of doing something crazy that really wasn’t done on purpose. I’d pull off a nice move that was unintentional.

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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.”

Billy Hunter tells InsideHoops that NBA lockout meetings may not resume until August

By Jeff Lenchiner

Wednesday evening in New York City I paid a visit to Dyckman Park for some streetball action. It was a big matchup of some top teams that has been anticipated for weeks, so the park was packed. Included in the crowd were rapper Jadakiss, Denver Nuggets forward Al Harrington, and the head of the NBA Players Union, Billy Hunter, among others.

Before the game, Hunter, bravely attempting to communicate as some top-notch rap music blasted from the park’s booming speakers at full volume, gave InsideHoops.com a very quick update on the current NBA lockout situation:

InsideHoops.com: What’s the latest?

Billy Hunter: We’re trying to find some way to re-open the negotiations. We’re not making very much progress. It looks like we’re going to be where we are, I would assume probably [until] August before we actually end up getting back together.

InsideHoops.com: How long might the lockout last?

Hunter: It’s unpredictable. It’s hard to say how long it’s going to go.

It sounds like NBA fans should not hold their breath waiting for positive developments just yet.

Union plans player meetings as NBA lockout drags on with no progress

Sam Amick of Sports Illustrated reports:

There will be labor-related meetings in the near future.

They just aren’t the kind that typically lead to collective bargaining progress.

According to sources close to the situation, the National Basketball Players Association is planning a series of player sessions in as many as six cities over “the next month or so,” as a way to help with its planning during the lockout and update players on the state of negotiations with the NBA. Unless things unexpectedly change, there won’t be much to report on that front.

While mid-level staffers from both sides met on Friday to finalize the numbers related to basketball-related income (BRI) for the 2010-11 season, no negotiating sessions involving commissioner David Stern or NBPA executive director Billy Hunter have been scheduled. Sources said the BRI numbers were not finalized Friday and more similar sessions are forthcoming to that end, but the union is focused on fortifying from within rather than exchanging proposals with the owners, who are pushing for a hard salary cap as part of a drastic overhaul to the current system.

InsideHoops.com editor says: Basically, the two sides are considering their various options and possible proposal changes, amongst themselves. There’s no way of knowing if either side plans to make any changes the next time they make offers to each other, when they do eventually meet again. I’m just guessing here but it sounds like the earliest the NBA lockout could even possibly end is early August. But that’s not expected, because it sounds like both sides remain pretty far apart.

NBA says NYTimes.com blog was based on inaccurate info

The following is an official release from the NBA:

The information from Forbes that serves as the basis for this article is inaccurate and we do not know how they do their calculations. Forbes does not have the financial data for our teams and the magazine’s estimates do not reflect reality.

Precisely to avoid this issue, the NBA and its teams shared their complete league and team audited financials as well as our state and Federal tax returns with the Players Union. Those financials demonstrate the substantial and indisputable losses the league has incurred over the past several years.

The analysis that was posted this afternoon has several significant factual inaccuracies, including:

“(The NBA) is a fundamentally healthy and profitable business”

• The league lost money every year of the just expiring CBA. During these years, the league has never had positive Net Income, EBITDA or Operating Income.

“Many of the purported losses result from an unusual accounting treatment related to depreciation and amortization when a team is sold.”

• We use the conventional and generally accepted accounting (GAAP) approach and include in our financial reporting the depreciation of the capital expenditures made in the normal course of business by the teams as they are a substantial and necessary cost of doing business.

We do not include purchase price amortization from when a team is sold or under any circumstances in any of our reported losses. Put simply, none of the league losses are related to team purchase or sale accounting.

“Another trick…moving income from the team’s balance sheet to that of a related business like a cable network…”

• All revenues included in Basketball Related Income (“BRI”) and reported in our financial statements have been audited by an accounting firm jointly engaged by the players’ union and the league. They include basketball revenues reported on related entities’ books.

“Ticket revenues… are up 22% compared to 1999-2000 season”

• Ticket revenues have increased 12% over the 10 year period, not the 22% reported.

“17 teams lost money according to Forbes … Most of these losses were small…”

• Forbes’ claim is inaccurate. In 2009-10, 23 teams had net income losses. The losses were in no way “small” as 11 teams lost more than $20M each on a net income basis.

“The profits made by the Knicks, Bulls and Lakers alone would be enough to cover the losses of all 17 unprofitable teams.”

• The Knicks, Bulls and Lakers combined net income for 2009-10 does not cover the losses of the 23 unprofitable teams. Our net loss for that year, including the gains from the seven profitable teams, was -$340 million.

“Forbes’s estimates — a $183 million profit for the NBA in 2009-10, and those issued by the league, which claim a $370M loss…”

• Forbes’s data is inaccurate. Our losses for 2009-10 were -$340 million, not -$370 million as the article states.

“The leaked financial statements for one team, the New Orleans Hornets, closely matched the Forbes data…”

• This is not an accurate statement as operating income in the latest Forbes data (2009-10) is $5M greater than what is reported in the Hornets audited financials.

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Isaiah Thomas interview after being drafted

Guard Isaiah Thomas, pride of the University of Washington, was drafted #60 overall in the 2011 NBA Draft by the Sacramento Kings. He was the last pick of the entire event. The kid has a bright future in life and basketball.

Here are Isaiah Thomas quotes from draft night:

On being drafted: “I’m very excited. You know me. That’s all I wanted. All I needed was a chance…and I got it. I’m going to take full advantage of it.”

How nerve-wracking was it to have to wait so long to hear your name called: “It was real nerve-wracking because I didn’t expect to go that late. Even my agent was a little surprised because we heard different things coming up into the draft. Other than that, it was just a blessing to get picked. I’m just glad. God has a plan for me and He chose for me to get picked by Sacramento. It’s a great organization and it’s a young team. I’m just ready to get after it.”

How did the draft process go with Sacramento and what do you know about them: “I know a little bit. I had two of my good friends Jon Brockman and Spencer Hawes play there in previous years, so I know a little bit. I had a great workout there. It was one of my first workouts and I shot the ball well and just competed at a high level. They liked that. I talked to Coach Paul Westphal today and one of the Maloof brothers after they selected me and they were surprised that I dropped that late, but they were also excited. They told me they can’t wait to meet me and can’t wait to get things going because they the type of player I am. I’m just happy because everybody doesn’t get this opportunity.”

Will being selected as the last pick add to the chip that is already on your shoulder?: “Yes. You know it will. I will be in the gym tomorrow. While I’m disappointed that some of the player got chosen ahead of me, at the same time, everything happens for a reason. I’m just ready to get after it and show the other 29 teams that they made a mistake.”

How did you spend the draft?: “I was on my own. I was just waiting for my agent to call. I didn’t watch the draft. I was looking at (the TV) every few minutes, but I was just on my own playing the waiting game until my time came.”

When did you know you were going to be selected?: “During the 58th pick I found out that Sacramento was going to take me. My agent called me and I was just excited. I shed a little tear with my family members. I got back home (to his Seattle apartment) right as my agent called. He called me right as I was walking up to my family members. It was just a blessing. It is a moment I will cherish for my life, but at the same time I got my foot in the door and now I’m going to knock it down.”

What were you doing prior to the draft?: “I was up at the UW all day. I was just chilling with my teammates…Scott Suggs, Darnell (Gant), Dez (Desmond Simmons). We were in the gym for like four hours. We were just chilling and talking. It was good. I had my UW shirt on when I was drafted…I’m in purple now…so you know I’m going to always stay true to my school.”

What’s your message to Husky and Kings fans?: “Husky fans, I hope you stay rooting for me and Kings’ fans, I’m going to bring a winner’s mentality and give 110 percent every chance I get.”

Otis Smith wants Gilbert Arenas to stay off the basketball court

Zach McCann of the Orlando Sentinel (blog) reports:

Gilbert Arenas needs to take some time away from basketball this summer. That’s what Orlando Magic GM Otis Smith says.

Smith, in an interview with Brian Fritz and Dante Marchitelli on the Open Mike radio show, said it’s important for Arenas to stop playing basketball and focus on improving his body.

Smith wants Arenas, who weighs about 225 pounds, to lose 10 to 15 pounds this summer. And he wants Arenas to continue strengthening his injured knee. Smith called both of those goals a “non-issue” and something he has no worries about.

What Smith does worry about, however, is Arenas playing basketball too much.

Washington Wizards exercise options and qualifying offers on 8 players

Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has picked up contract options on four players and extended qualifying offers to four restricted free agents.

The Wizards have picked up the third-year options on the rookie contracts of Trevor Booker, Jordan Crawford, Kevin Seraphin and John Wall.

In addition, the team has extended qualifying offers to restricted free agents Othyus Jeffers, Hamady Ndiaye, Larry Owens and Nick Young.