2015 NBA All-Star Game location may be New York City

The All-Star Game appears to be headed back to the Big Apple.

The Knicks and the Nets have both applied to host the All-Star Game, and deputy commissioner Adam Silver said last night that it’s likely that one or the other will be hosting the event in 2015, the next year that is available.

When Silver was asked if that was the case, he responded with a simple, “Yes.”

New Orleans is hosting the game next year.

Silver, who is set to take over for commissioner David Stern next February, said that the league would still have to make sure it could secure the proper logistics, including hotel space and availability at the Javits Center for its Jam Session.

— Reported by Tim Bontemps of the New York Post

David Stern discusses his favorite NBA All-Star memory

Presiding over his final state of the league news conference at All-Star weekend, Commissioner David Stern, who will step down on Feb. 1, 2014 for Adam Silver, was asked his favorite All-Star memory.

“This is my 37th All-Star (Game). The first was 1976 in Philadelphia,” said Stern, who assumed his current post on Feb. 1, 1984. “And I would have to say my favorite memory — actually compounded and grown to present day — is awarding Magic Johnson the MVP trophy in Orlando in 1992. Giving sweaty Magic Johnson a big hug right after he hit the last 3-pointer — and still being able to hug him because he’s alive every time I see him. That is at the top of the list. And it will not easily be dislodged. Even though I enjoy every All-Star (Game), that one will resonate for the rest of my life.”

— Reported by K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune

Kevin Garnett will not waive his no-trade clause

kevin garnett

The Boston Celtics can discuss a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers or any other NBA team all they want, but Kevin Garnett says it won’t matter. Asked Saturday if there was any circumstance or team that could entice him to give up his no-trade clause and leave Boston, Garnett said, “No.”

Even so, the Clippers still believe they can get Garnett to accept a trade if the Celtics tell him they want to make a deal, a source told Yahoo! Sports.

“If Boston came to him with the trade and he knew they wanted to do it, he would change his mind,” the source said.

Publicly, at least, Garnett was pretty clear about his desire to stay in Boston.

“If it’s up to me,” Garnett said, “I will live and die green all day.”

— Reported by Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports

Billy Hunter voted out as director of NBA Players Union

Billy Hunter was ousted unanimously as executive director of the union by NBA players, who said Saturday they will “no longer be divided, misled, misinformed.”

“This is our union and we have taken it back,” players’ association president Derek Fisher said.

Fisher said it was a day of change for the union, one which had seemed inevitable since a review of the union last month was critical of Hunter’s leadership and urged players to consider whether they wanted to keep him.

They didn’t.

“We want to make it clear that we are here to serve only the best interests of the players,” Fisher said. “No threats, no lies, no distractions will stop us from serving our memberships.”

In brief remarks, Fisher said a new executive committee was elected, and he will remain as president. The Spurs’ Matt Bonner is vice president, Miami’s James Jones is secretary-treasurer and the Nets’ Jerry Stackhouse is first vice president. The Clippers’ Chris Paul and Willie Green, Golden State’s Stephen Curry, Denver’s Andre Iguodala, and the Hornets’ Roger Mason, Jr. are vice presidents.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Derek Fisher, who has been at odds with Hunter, will remain president of the union, but was aggressively challenged in the meeting by Brooklyn Nets guard Jerry Stackhouse. Stackhouse criticized Fisher for his role in the union’s troubles.

Stackhouse was elected first-vice president. Miami Heat forward James Jones is treasurer. San Antonio Spurs forward Matt Bonner, Los Angeles Clippers guards Chris Paul and Willie Green, New Orleans Hornets guard Roger Mason and Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry will make up the union’s next executive committee.

Hunter’s dismissal will likely set up a legal battle between him and the union for the remaining $10.5 million on his contract.

— Reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports

LeBron James doubts he will ever participate in NBA Slam Dunk contest

lebron james

James has never competed in the slam-dunk contest on All-Star Weekend. Asked Friday if he ever will, James said he thinks his window of opportunity may have passed.

He’s only 28, but playing his 10th NBA season.

“I’m getting older,” he said. “It ain’t looking good.”

Dwight Howard, who competed multiple times and won a dunk contest, had another theory for why some players won’t give it a try.

“I think for us, the reason why a lot of us don’t participate is because we do so much during All-Star weekend, by the time we get to the dunk contest we have no legs,” he said. “When you do the dunk contest, you want to have your legs, you want to be ready to go because you want to put on a good show for our fans. So I think some guys, I think they don’t want to get embarrassed in the dunk contest, so they just choose not to do it.”

— Reported by the Associated Press

Kevin Durant says he and LeBron James are good friends

Kevin Durant

Kevin Durant wanted to set the record straight once and for all about his relationship with LeBron James.

“I hate him,” he said before breaking into laughter.

Then he got serious.

“We’re actually really good friends,” he continued. “I think people want us to hate each other so bad just because we’re battling against each other.”

That doesn’t mean he has any good feelings toward him when they pair face each other.

“I like the friendly competition, but when we’re on the court we’re the furthest thing away from being friends,” he said. “We don’t take it easy on each other.”

That much was never more evident than when the two competed in last year’s NBA Finals, which the Heat won in five games. James led his team in scoring in each game, and Durant paced the Thunder in all but Game 4.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Joakim Noah gets treatment on right foot

Joakim Noah

Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah had platelet-rich plasma treatment on his right foot Thursday to help ease the pain of plantar fasciitis.

Noah, who will play in his first All-Star Game on Sunday, said the foot is feeling better. He missed almost a week of action recently because of ongoing issues with the foot.

“I’m happy that it’s not getting any worse,” Noah said. “I did the PRP thing on Thursday morning.

“It was very painful after the treatment. I can still feel it a little bit but I think it’s helpful, so I’m hoping with some rest today and some rest tomorrow I think I’ll be OK. I won’t do too much on Sunday. I won’t play 44 minutes, I’ll put it that way.”

Noah, who had the same treatment three years ago while battling plantar fasciitis in his left foot, appeared to be in good spirits as he spoke to the assembled media.

— Reported by Nick Friedell of ESPN Chicago

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist says he lost to Michael Jordan in 1-on-1

michael jordan

Even as he approaches his 50th birthday, Michael Jordan can still play. And the No. 2 pick in the draft will be the first to admit it.

Charlotte Bobcats rookie Michael Kidd-Gilchrist confessed Friday that Jordan beat him in a one-on-one game.

“It was hard for me,” Kidd-Gilchrist, almost 20, told USA Today before the Rising Stars Challenge rookie-sophomore game at All-Star Weekend. “I lost. I lost to a 50-year-old guy. … He’s the greatest man that ever played the game.

“Oh, yeah. He’s good.”

— Reported by ESPN.com

LeBron says championships are not only way to judge an NBA career

lebron james

LeBron James respects his elders among the NBA’s greatest players of all time. Right now, he just doesn’t agree with two of them: Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson.

In a week dominated by league-wide debate and comparisons between James and Jordan (who will turn 50 on Sunday), James fired back again regarding Jordan’s claim he’d pick Kobe Bryant as the NBA’s best player.

Speaking with reporters during Friday’s All-Star media day, James said he doesn’t believe championships should always be the key factor in deciding comparative greatness.

“(Jordan) said he would take Kobe over me because … five rings are better than one, and the last time he checked, five is better than one,” James said. “At the end of the day, rings don’t always define someone’s career. If that’s the case, then I’d sit up here and say I would take (Bill) Russell over Jordan. But I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t take Russell over Jordan. Russell has 11 rings, Jordan has six. I wouldn’t do that.”

James won his first championship with the Heat last season while Bryant has won five with the Los Angeles Lakers. Friday’s response from James came after Jordan initially said during an interview with NBA TV that he’d have a tough time deciding between Bryant and James.

— Reported by Michael Wallace of ESPN.com

Lakers GM denies Dwight Howard for Rajon Rondo trade talks

Dwight Howard

Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak denied a CBSSports.com report that the Lakers and Celtics were in preliminary talks to trade Dwight Howard for Rajon Rondo.

“I haven’t talked to Danny Ainge in weeks,” Kupchak told ESPN The Magazine’s Chris Broussard. “I made the statement a week or two ago that we’re not going to trade Dwight Howard and that hasn’t changed.”

When asked if a possible Howard-for-Rondo trade was discussed when he spoke to the Celtics weeks ago, Kupchak again said no. He said at no point this season has a Howard-for-Rondo trade been discussed.

— Reported by ESPN.com