Lakers hiring Mike D`Antoni, not Phil Jackson, as new head coach

Lakers to hire Mike D`Antoni as new head coach

The Los Angeles Lakers have hired Mike D’Antoni, signing the former coach of the Suns and Knicks to a four-year contract to replace Mike Brown.

The Lakers and D’Antoni’s agent, Warren LeGarie, confirmed the deal late Sunday night, two days after the Lakers fired Brown five games into the season.

D’Antoni got the high-profile job running the 16-time NBA champions after negotiations broke down with former Lakers coach Phil Jackson. The 11-time NBA champion coach spoke to the club’s top brass Saturday about a return.

Lakers owners Jerry and Jim Buss instead went with D’Antoni, who spent five seasons coaching Lakers point guard Steve Nash in Phoenix. Nash won two MVP awards while running D’Antoni’s signature up-tempo offense, and they won at least 54 games in each of D’Antoni’s last four seasons.

— Reported by Greg Beacham of the Associated Press 

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Timberwolves forward Chase Budinger injures knee, needs surgery

Chase Budinger injures knee, needs surgery

The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced that forward Chase Budinger suffered a lateral meniscus tear of his left knee during yesterday’s game at Chicago. Budinger suffered the injury at the 6:00 mark of the fourth quarter in Minnesota’s 87-80 loss to the Bulls. Surgery will be scheduled later this week. A timetable for his return will be determined after the surgery.

Budinger is averaging 11.8 points and 3.5 rebounds in six games for the Wolves this season. He was acquired by Minnesota in a trade with Houston on June 26, 2012.

Nets finish home-and-home sweep of Magic

Brook Lopez

The Brooklyn Nets knew it wouldn’t stay this easy, even if five quarters of evidence said otherwise.

The game did get close, and unlike last Monday’s meltdown, this time the Nets handled it.

Brook Lopez scored 20 points, Kris Humphries added 14 points and 21 rebounds, and the Nets beat the Orlando Magic 82-74 on Sunday to complete a home-and-home sweep.

Deron Williams finished with 17 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and a couple key plays down the stretch after what once appeared to be another blowout got tight. The Nets beat the Magic 107-68 at Orlando on Friday and jumped out to an early 20-point lead in this one.

But after losing a 22-point lead at home against Minnesota on Monday, Brooklyn almost coughed up another huge cushion, letting Orlando get within five in the final 2 minutes…

Glen Davis had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Magic, who have dropped four in a row after opening with two wins in their first season since trading Dwight Howard.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

NBA suspends DeMarcus Cousins two games for confronting announcer

The Sacramento Kings’ DeMarcus Cousins has been suspended two games without pay for confronting Spurs announcer Sean Elliot in a hostile manner following San Antonio’s 97-86 over Sacramento November 9 at Sleep Train Arena, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President Basketball Operations.

Cousins will serve his suspension tonight when the Kings play the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center and Tuesday against Portland at Sleep Train Arena.

According to the San Antonio Express-News blog, “Apparently informed postgame of Elliott’s remarks, Cousins appeared on the court in his uniform and confronted Elliott after he and broadcaster Bill Land completed their postgame show. “I was wondering why Cousins was out there in his uniform waiting for them to finish his postgame show,” said Bill Schoening, who does the play-by-play call on radio broadcasts of Spurs games. “Then I saw them in an animated conversation out on the court. “I observed Sean walk away from Cousins and Cousins continue to talk to Sean as he left the scene, but I couldn’t hear what was being said.”

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DeMarcus Cousins reportedly confronted broadcaster Sean Elliott

Elliot criticized Cousins, who heard about it and didn’t like it

DeMarcus Cousins confronts broadcaster Sean Elliott

Apparently informed postgame of Elliott’s remarks, Cousins appeared on the court in his uniform and confronted Elliott after he and broadcaster Bill Land completed their postgame show.

“I was wondering why Cousins was out there in his uniform waiting for them to finish his postgame show,” said Bill Schoening, who does the play-by-play call on radio broadcasts of Spurs games. “Then I saw them in an animated conversation out on the court.

“I observed Sean walk away from Cousins and Cousins continue to talk to Sean as he left the scene, but I couldn’t hear what was being said.”

An NBA spokesperson said the league is aware of, and reviewing, the incident.

— Reported by Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News (Blog)

Lakers assign guard Darius Johnson-Odom to D-League

The Los Angeles Lakers have assigned guard Darius Johnson-Odom to the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA Development League, it was announced today by General Manager Mitch Kupchak.

Johnson-Odom, the 55th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, was acquired by the Lakers from Dallas on draft night. The 6-2 guard out of Marquette averaged 15.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 105 career collegiate games. As a senior, the Raleigh, North Carolina native led his team in scoring (18.3 ppg) and earned First Team All-Big East honors in addition to being named an Honorable Mention All-American by the Associated Press.

Johnson-Odom appeared in his first career NBA game last night against Golden State.  In three preseason games with the Lakers, Johnson-Odom averaged 2.0 points in 4.7 minutes.

Houston Rockets coach Kevin McHale taking personal leave of absence

Houston Rockets Head Coach Kevin McHale will be taking an immediate leave of absence from the team to attend to a personal family matter. Assistant Coach Kelvin Sampson will handle head coaching duties during McHale’s time away. No return date has been set for McHale at this time.

“Kevin is a devoted family man who is needed back home in Minnesota at the moment,” said Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey. “The Rockets organization will keep Kevin and his family in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.”

A decade later, Camby takes floor as Knick

A decade later, Camby takes floor as Knick

On Friday night against the Mavericks, Marcus Camby made his Knicks season debut, entering the game at the start of the second quarter.

It had been more than 10 years since Camby took the floor as a Knick — since Feb. 1, 2002, to be exact. Reflecting on when he first checked in, he said after the game, “The crowd was great. The moment was great.”

Camby only played eight minutes, but in the short time he was on the court, he said he wanted to make an impact with what he’s always been known for: defense and rebounding. He finished with two points and four rebounds, and he was able to provide some solid pressure on Elton Brand and Chris Kaman.

— Reported by Jared Zwerling of ESPN New York

Lakers hope to bring Phil Jackson back as coach

Lakers hope to bring Phil Jackson back as head coach

The Lakers are moving quickly toward hiring Phil Jackson as their next coach, with one person in the organization calling it a “95%” chance he will return for a third tour with the team.

The Lakers plan on meeting with Jackson on Saturday morning to make sure he is interested in the job. The unknown 5% in their equation is the chance Jackson doesn’t want to fill the vacancy created by the Friday firing of Mike Brown, either because of health reasons or other unknown issues.

The team realized a slew of things stemming from the 101-77 Lakers’ victory Friday over Golden State, primarily that the players wanted Jackson and fans wanted him too, in case their second-half chants of his name weren’t enough of a tipoff.

— Reported by  Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times

Lakers forward Devin Ebanks arrested on suspicion of DUI

Devin Ebanks

Lakers forward Deven Ebanks was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor DUI in Los Angeles early Friday morning, according to law enforcement sources and booking records.

Ebanks, 23, was pulled over at 2:49 a.m. in the Hollywood area by California Highway Patrol officers and booked at 3:44 a.m.

Ebanks was released later Friday morning after posting $5,000 bail. A post on his Twitter account Thursday afternoon encouraged his followers to celebrate a woman’s birthday Thursday night at Roxbury night club near Hollywood.

Ebanks’ next scheduled court date is Dec. 7, according to booking records.

— Reported by Mike Bresnahan and Andrew Blankstein of the Los Angeles Times