Bobcats will reportedly sign Kwame Brown

NBA free agent Kwame Brown has reportedly found a new home.

Bobcats will reportedly sign Kwame Brown

According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, the center has agreed to a one-year, minimum-salary deal with the Charlotte Bobcats.

Michael Jordan, who recently purchased the Bobcats, drafted Brown as the #1 overall pick into the NBA back when Jordan was an executive on the Washington Wizards. Brown turned out to just be a bench player, however, and has had little impact in the league thus far.

For his career, Brown averages 6.7 points and 5.4 rebounds in 22.0 minutes per game.

Jose Calderon hurts leg, will miss Worlds

The AP reports:

Jose Calderon hurts leg, will miss Worlds

Spain point guard Jose Manuel Calderon will miss the basketball world championships after hurting his leg in an exhibition against the United States.

Tests Monday revealed the Toronto Raptors player tore a muscle in his left leg in Sunday’s 86-85 loss. Calderon had headed to the locker room late in the game. He went scoreless with three assists.

The Spanish federation says Calderon needs four weeks to recover.

Former Pistons PR director Matt Dobek dies

Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press reports:

Matt Dobek, 51, died unexpectedly at his Rochester Hills home on Saturday.

Dobek spent 29 years with the Pistons organization before he was fired in May as the team’s vice president of public relations.

Hired by former Pistons executive Tom Wilson, Dobek was a confidant to many of the players during the Bad Boys era of Pistons basketball, including Isiah Thomas, Rick Mahorn and Joe Dumars.

Earl Boykins discusses Bucks role

Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports:

Earl Boykins discusses his role on Bucks

“My role is to be ready when I’m needed,” Boykins said. “I’ve had this role my entire NBA career so it’s nothing new. Throughout the course of the year, everybody is going to have an opportunity to play and produce and help the team win. It’s how you approach it.

“If you remain professional, when your opportunity comes, you’ll take advantage of it.”

Boykins has encountered plenty of doubters due to his size, but he never was one of them.

“When I think back, 12 years in the NBA is very humbling,” he said. “I’ve been blessed with a unique skill to play the game of basketball.

“It’s hard to explain, but even at this level, the game has never been hard for me.”

Boykins said his height actually is “a huge advantage.”

“Everyone who plays against me, they have to make an adjustment,” he said. “When you’re 5-5, you don’t change the way you play. Most guys either don’t know how to do it (adjust) or they just don’t want to do it.”

Billups hopes for four more years

Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post reports (via blog):

Chauncey Billups hopes to play four more years

Billups wants to finish his career in Denver, his hometown. But if the team deteriorates around him, he’ll think about ending it somewhere where the wins will potentially be more plentiful.

“I have hopefully four years left of playing,” Billups said, “and I’m not the kind of person to just ride it out. I want to win. I want to go out on top; I want to go out winning. …I want to get out there, get after it and play. And I want to win as a Nugget the rest of my years. In a perfect world that’s what I would want, that’s what I would hope for.”

InsideHoops.com editor says:

Tough to say how what Billups does affects the Carmelo Anthony situation. On the one hand, Melo knows he needs a guy like Billups next to him to win, but on the other, if Melo is thinking about his future a few years down the road, he’d rather be next to a young Chris Paul (or young anybody) than an elderly Billups.

NBA suspends Delonte West 10 games

NBA suspends Delonte West 10 games

Delonte West, who played last season for the Cleveland Cavaliers, has been suspended without pay for ten games for pleading guilty to carrying a concealed weapon and wearing, carrying, and transporting a handgun, in violation of the law of the State of Maryland, the NBA announced today.

West is currently a free agent.  If he signs a contract to play again in the NBA, West’s suspension will begin with the first game of the NBA regular season for which he is eligible and physically able to play.

InsideHoops.com editor says: Despite his personal issues, I still think West eventually will get signed, though probably to a short and possibly non-guaranteed contract. He’s too good a player to fall out of the league.

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.


MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - AUGUST 16: Hells Angels bikies leave after the funeral for Melbourne crime figure Macchour Chaouk at Preston Mosque on August 16, 2010 in Melbourne, Australia. 61-year old Chaouk was gunned down in the backyard of his Melbourne home on Friday. A man from the rival Haddara family has been questioned by police over the shooting but released without charge. Chaouk will be buried next to his son Mohammed Ali Chaouk who was shot dead by police in a home raid in 2005. (Photo by Getty Images/Getty Images)

Bucks sign Earl Boykins

Bucks sign Earl Boykins

The Milwaukee Bucks have signed guard Earl Boykins (5-5, 133) to a contract, General Manager John Hammond announced today.

An 11-year NBA veteran, Boykins played 35 games for Milwaukee during the 2006-07 campaign after a mid-season trade with the Denver Nuggets.  He enjoyed his best statistical season in 2006-07 when he combined to average 14.6 points, 4.4 assists and 2.1 rebounds over 66 games with the two teams.

Last season, Boykins played in 67 games (one start) for the Washington Wizards and averaged 6.6 points, 2.6 assists and 1.1 rebounds in 16.7 minutes.

Not drafted out of Eastern Michigan in 1998, Boykins began his NBA career with the New Jersey Nets in the 1998-99 season.  He has also played with Cleveland (1999, 2000), Orlando (1999-2000), Los Angeles Clippers (2000-02), Golden State (2002-03), Denver (2003-07) and Charlotte (2007-08).  In 2008-09, Boykins played 14 games for La Fortezza Bologna in Italy and averaged 14.4 points, 5.5 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 33.1 minutes per game.

Boykins, 34, has played in 587 career NBA games (34 starts) and holds averages of 9.1 points, 3.3 assists and 1.4 rebounds per contest.

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.


March 03, 2010 Milwaukee, WI. Bradley Center..Washington Wizards Earl Boykins brings the ball up the court, Boykins had 8 points coming off the Wizards bench..Milwaukee Buck won over the Washington Wizards 100-87. Mike McGinnis/CSM.

Skittles makes Derrick Rose a custom candy machine

Darren Rovell of CNBC reports:

Skittles makes Derrick Rose a custom candy machine

Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose is known to eat a lot of candy. So when the folks at Wrigley found out that he likes to down their Skittles brand, they decided to do something a little special for the hometown boy.

Earlier this month, they brought a custom, tricked-out Skittles vending machine to his house and promised to keep it stocked with Skittles for at least three years.

Rose gets the machine and the Skittles for free; the Skittles brand has a chance of getting more love from Rose; and the Bulls, I guess, hope Rose’s sugar highs peak at the right time.

InsideHoops.com editor says:

I wonder if the machine has 22-inch rims and a booming sound system.

2010 FIBA Hall of Fame Class announced

A total of 17 outstanding basketball personalities from 12 different countries will be inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame on 12th September during the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Istanbul (Turkey), the International Basketball Federation announced today.

National icons Oscar Schmidt (Brazil), Arvydas Sabonis (Lithuania), Dino Meneghin (Italy) and Vlade Divac and Dragan Kićanović (both from Serbia) are among the inductees for the 2010 Class of the FIBA Hall of Fame.

Two of the best female players of all time, Cheryl Miller (USA) and Natalia Zassoulskaya (Russia), complete the list of players.

A combined 14 Olympic medals and 15 FIBA World Championship medals underline the prominence of the seven players and three coaches inducted.

The selected referees and contributors were at the top of the game for decades and belong to the most decorated in their field.

“The 2010 Class has stardom, character and countless merits for the promotion of our game,” said FIBA President Bob Elphinston.

“The inductees were and still are brilliant on and off the court. We are very proud to host the 2010 ceremony in the presence of all these great women and men during the FIBA World Championship and give them the public platform they deserve.”

Here is the full list of the 2010 Class:

PLAYERS:

Vlade Divac Serbia
Dragan KiĆanoviĆ Serbia
Dino Meneghin Italia
Cheryl Miller U.S.A.
Arvydas Sabonis Lithuania
Oscar Schmidt Brazil
Natalia Zassoulskaya Russia

COACHES:

Lindsay Gaze Australia
Evgeny GomelskY Russia
Mirko Novosel Croatia

TECHNICAL OFFICIALS:

Jim Bain U.S.A.
Konstantinos Dimou Greece

CONTRIBUTORS:

George Killian U.S.A.
Hans-Joachim Otto Germany
Ernesto Segura de Luna (posthumously) Spain
Abdoulaye Seye Moreau Senegal
Al RAMSAY * Australia

* Al Ramsay was selected for the 2009 Class, but will officially be enshrined in 2010.

Wade reacts to idea of surpassing 72 wins

Kyle Koster of the Chicago Sun-Times reports:

Wade discusses the idea of surpassing 72 wins

Winning, and winning with historic regularity, is something this Heat squad is expected to do. NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy recently predicted the Wade-James-Bosh triumvirate could surpass the NBA-record 72 wins notched by the 1995-96 Bulls.

While Wade isn’t discounting the possibility, he said it’s not the Heat’s top priority.

”I don’t think about it, and I don’t think the guys are really worried about it. At the end of the day, we have to go out and play the game. People can say whatever they want, but you’ve got to go out there and play. We’ve got a lot of work to do.

”I look at it, and I can’t believe [the Bulls that year] only lost 10 games. That’s unbelievable. I’m sure that’s one of the hardest feats that’s ever happened in sports. It’s nothing that I’m looking at, though. We’re going to go out there and be the best team we can be. If it isn’t 70 wins and we have a great season and win the championship, I don’t think anyone’s going to be mad.”

InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner says:

I don’t think it’ll happen. Maybe in the future, but not in 2010-11. Building chemistry takes time, and while winning will come easy quite often for the Heat, there are plenty of very talented NBA teams who can and will beat these guys. But as the supporting cast presumably improves in the future, so will the possibility of winning 70 or more regular season games.


Apr. 25, 2010 - Miami, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES - epa02131631 Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade (L) drives the ball past Boston Celtics guard Tony Allen (R) during the first half of their conference quarterfinals round game at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida USA 25 April 2010. The NBA playoffs begin 17 April and end with the NBA Finals in mid-June.