NBA Blog: The NBA basketball news blog section of Inside Hoops
DeMarcus Cousins has suffered a nasty injury that will end his season.
He’s on the Pelicans, a Western conference team.
So, his replacement on the Team LeBron 2018 NBA All-Star team has to be from the West as well.
Adam Silver has made his decision. It’ll be OKC Thunder forward Paul George.
For more info, read this: Paul George named NBA All-Star game injury replacement for DeMarcus Cousins
Here’s the South Florida Sun Sentinel with some very sad news:
Henry Thomas, arguably the most impactful player agent in the Miami Heat’s 30 seasons, died Saturday in Chicago, with Heat forward Udonis Haslem and former Heat guard Dwyane Wade among those who left their teams to travel to Chicago amid Thomas’ failing health.
Thomas, 64, represented Wade, Haslem, Chris Bosh, Tim Hardaway and several other Heat players, a particularly strong influence with the organization since the arrival of Pat Riley as Heat president in 1995.
The Heat paid tribute with a moment of silence before Saturday’s game against the Charlotte Hornets at AmericanAirlines Arena.
Thomas’ negotiations with the Heat included a unique conditioning-based contract for Hardaway that included regular weigh-ins after the two sides reached an impasse and then several concessions from Wade over the years to accommodate the contracts of other Heat players.
Thomas was a particularly influential presence in the Heat’s formation of the Big Three championship core in 2010, representing both Bosh and Wade at the time, while also part of the agency that represented LeBron James.
And here’s Cleveland.com with more:
Cleveland Cavaliers shooting guard Dwyane Wade stepped away from the team, missing Friday’s win against the Indiana Pacers, to mourn the death of his agent Henry Thomas — a man Wade viewed as a “father figure,” according to sources close to him.
Wade wrote a heartfelt Instagram message about Thomas on Saturday, complete with a picture of the two shortly after Wade was drafted by the Miami Heat in 2003.
“I’m writing this letter to you as I cry both tears of SADNESS and tears of JOY,” Wade said. “I know — i know — I can hear your voice saying, ‘Come on my man. You got this!’ I can picture your face and feel your hugs in so so many moments in my life. Whether it’s you hugging me and saying how proud you are of me or congrats on winning a NBA championship or you hugging me and saying everything’s gonna be alright — we will get thru this. I can’t thank you enough for these last 15 years.”
The Memphis Grizzlies are just 17-31 but are playing decent basketball lately, winning five of their last 10 games. But their journey this season will continue without point guard Mike Conley, who won’t play again until 2017-18.
The Grizzlies announced today that Conley will undergo surgery to smooth a small bone protrusion in his left heel that continues to cause pain and soreness. The team says they expect he’ll a full recovery prior to 2018-19 training camp.
Other Grizzlies Injury News
Chandler Parsons has made progress this week in alleviating soreness in his right knee after overcoming an illness that temporarily slowed his recovery. He remains day-to-day.
JaMychal Green continues to recover from a right ankle sprain and is expected to return within the next week.
James Ennis III continues to recover from a right calf strain and is expected to return within the next week.
The Spurs are 32-19 this season. An impressive record, especially taking into account their injuries, which have removed Rudy Gay from action for a big chunk of the season so far, and have limited Kawhi Leonard for the majority of play so far. Gay isn’t ready to return to action yet, but may finally do so in mid February, after the All-Star break. This according to the San Antonio Express-News (via the Houston Chronicle website):
League sources tell the Express-News Gay is expected to return to the lineup after the All-Star break as he continues to recover from right heel bursitis he suffered last month.
According to sources, Gay, who has missed the last 15 games due to the injury, was aiming to return next week, possibly against the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday. After consulting with doctors, a mutual decision was made to allow Gay more time to heal.
Being named to All Star weekend teams and events matters. To the players who make it, to those who don’t, and to their fans who support them. It’s great exposure, and for the bigger events, it’s a real honor. In this case, the Heat were rooting for their own, for Bam Adebayo not to make an All-Star team — he’s nowhere near that — but to be added to the Rising Stars game, which includes the rookies and sophomores worth watching. Here’s the Palm Beach Post reporting:
For the most part, the Heat brushed off the fact they won’t be represented in this year’s All-Star Game. But when rookie Bam Adebayo’s name was not on the list of players voted into the Rising Stars Challenge, the Heat were surprised.
“That’s crazy. I really didn’t see that coming,” Udonis Haslem said in advance of Thursday’s game against the Kings. “There was no doubt in my mind Bam was definitely going to have a chance to represent the Heat in the rookie game. That’s very unfortunate.
“It’s hard to understand what those things come down to. I don’t know how they pick it. I don’t know if it’s popularity. But the body of work that Bam has put in when [Hassan Whiteside] was out and even with the opportunity he gets when H is in, he’s had a heck of an impact on us and this run that we’ve made. We couldn’t have been able to do it without Bam.”
Russell Westbrook has been chosen as a reserve for this year’s NBA All-Star Game, the league announced Tuesday. With Paul George, Carmelo Anthony and Steven Adams falling short of making the team, Westbrook is the only Oklahoma City Thunder player to be named a reserve. No Thunder players will start.
This will be the seventh All-Star appearance of Westbrook’s career. The last time he missed out on the game, excluding his injury-ridden 2013-14, was during 2010, his second season.
Westbrook was averaging 24.8 points, 9.7 rebounds and a league-leading 10.1 assists heading into Tuesday night’s game against the Brooklyn Nets, bringing him close to a triple-double average for what would be a second consecutive season. He became the second player in NBA history to average a triple-double last year.
“If I make it, then that’ll be a blessing,” Westbrook said of All-Star last week. “If I don’t, then I’ll go on vacation with my family.”
Point guard Dejounte Murray made NBA history Tuesday night with an outstanding performance that helped the Spurs beat LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers 114-102 and also solidified his hold on the starting point guard job.
Murray finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds and seven steals in 30 minutes.
According to the Spurs, the second-year pro became just the second player in league history to record at least 19 points, 10 rebounds and seven steals in 30 minutes or less. Fat Lever was the first to do it with 21 points, 13 rebounds and eight steals in 28 minutes in 1987.
The Dallas Mavericks have signed guard Kyle Collinsworth to a second 10-day contract.
Collinsworth (6-6, 210) originally signed a two-way contract with Dallas on Dec. 19 but was waived by the team on Jan. 10 after appearing in four games. He then signed a 10-day contract with the club on Jan. 13.
The former BYU guard has appeared in six games for Dallas this season, averaging 1.8 points and 1.3 rebounds in 11.7 minutes per game. On the final day of his first 10-day contract (Jan. 22), he recorded four points (2-2 FGs), four rebounds, three assists and two steals in Dallas’ 98-75 win over Washington.
Collinsworth has also played in 55 games (34 starts) for the Mavericks’ G-League affiliate, the Texas Legends, over the past two seasons (2016-18). In 19 games (18 starts) for the Legends in 2017-18, he averaged 11.0 points, 8.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.7 steals in 35.7 minutes per game.
After going undrafted in the 2016 NBA Draft, Collinsworth competed for Dallas at the 2016 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. He spent the 2016 preseason with the Mavericks before being waived by the team on Oct. 22, 2016.
A native of Provo, Utah, Collinsworth played four years at BYU and averaged 12.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.6 steals and 30.9 minutes per game in 140 games. He was a three-time First Team All-WCC selection (2014-16) and set the NCAA career triple-double record with 12.
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Miami Heat guard Dion Waiters underwent surgery yesterday to fix instability in his left ankle. The Heat say that a preexisting navicular bone fracture was also repaired.
Waiters is done for the season.
Waiters this year played in 30 games, as a starter in all 30 games, averaging 14.3 points, 3.8 assists and 2.6 rebounds in 30.6 minutes per outing.
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The Minnesota Timberwolves will host “Flip Saunders Night” at home in Target Center on Thursday, February 15. The visiting team for that game is the Lakers.
That night, the Timberwolves will unveil a permanent banner in Target Center to honor the memory of Flip.
“Flip meant so much to our organization as a coach, but he meant so much more to all of us as a friend,” said Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor. “His impact on our organization and what he meant to the Minnesota basketball community is something that will always be with us. It is appropriate that we honor the man who meant so much to us with of a banner in our home arena that will forever fortify his memory.”
All fans in attendance will receive a Flip Saunders commemorative coin. The back story behind giving a coin is this: One of Flip’s trademarks during his tenure with the Wolves was to create a new team coin each season for players and front office staff, then randomly give them to people he would encounter as a way to include fans on that season’s journey.
“Minnesota has always been our family’s home”, said Debbie Saunders, widow of Flip Saunders. “Flip not only had a passion for the Timberwolves but for basketball in the State of Minnesota. We are incredibly grateful to the Timberwolves for memorializing Flip in such a moving way and having his memory live on inside Target Center forever.”
Saunders compiled an overall record of 427-392 (.521) in 12 seasons covering two different stints with the organization.