nba
Scottie Pippen prepared to enter NBA Hall of Fame
Aug 13th
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — With his family and friends looking on, former Bulls star Scottie Pippen sat on a stage at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame with his fellow 2010 inductees Friday morning, talking eloquently about his humbling honor.
“For all these Hall of Famers here today, thank you for paving the road for me to have something to challenge myself every day,” Pippen said at a news conference. “It’s an honor.”
Pippen formally enters the Hall of Fame at a Friday night ceremony at this city’s Symphony Hall. Michael Jordan will serve as his presenter.
Cavaliers Owner Blasts LeBron James in Open Letter to Fans
Jul 9th
In a scathing open letter to LeBron James’ onetime diehard fans, the majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers is blasting the NBA superstar, calling his decision to play for the Miami Heat a “bitterly disappointing” blow and a “shocking act of disloyalty from our home grown ‘chosen one.’”
Dan Gilbert also personally guaranteed that the Cavaliers will win an NBA championship before the “self-titled former ‘King’ wins one” with the Heat.
“You can take it to the bank,” reads Gilbert’s letter, which has been posted on the team’s Web page on nba.com. “If you thought we were motivated before [Thursday] to bring the hardware
to Cleveland, I can tell you that this shameful display of selfishness and betrayal by one of our very own has shifted our ‘motivation’ to previously unknown and previously never experienced levels.”
Gilbert said James’ decision to leave Cleveland after seven seasons — and without a coveted NBA title — sent the “exact opposite lesson of what we would want our children to learn.”
“The self-declared former ‘King’ will be taking the ‘curse’ with him down south,” Gilbert wrote of Cleveland’s so-called curse against winning sports championships. “And until he does ‘right’ by Cleveland and Ohio, James (and the town where he plays) will unfortunately own this dreaded spell and bad karma.”
Cleveland fans “simply don’t deserve this kind of cowardly betrayal,” Gilbert’s letter continued.
Dwight Howard’s “puppies” get revenge on Kobe Bryant’s Lakers
Mar 8th
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP)—Dwight Howard was barking in the locker room, mocking some Lakers he claimed called his Orlando Magic team “puppies.”
Out on the court, the Magic showed they can bite.
Vince Carter had 25 points, Howard finished with 15 points and 16 rebounds and the Magic beat the Lakers 96-94 on Sunday to hand Los Angeles its first three-game losing streak of the Pau Gasol-Kobe Bryant Era.
“Alpha dogs usually have the big bark,” Howard said afterward. “But since we’re so-called puppies, we won’t bark as loud.”
Bryant played through a minor stomach illness to score 34 points, and Gasol added 20 for the Lakers. But they all walked to the locker room distraught and dejected after Bryant missed a 20-footer at the buzzer to seal their latest loss.
ESPN Reports LeBron James changing jersey to No. 6
Mar 2nd
ESPN reports that LeBron James could reportedly have a new number next season, but Cleveland Cavaliers fans hope the words remain the same.
James filed paperwork to switch from No. 23 to No. 6, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported on Monday. He beat a Wednesday deadline to make the request.
The All-Star said in November that he was thinking of giving up 23 out of respect for his hero Michael Jordan, but at that time he was “50-50,” according to the newspaper.
“I’ve done it,” James told the Plain Dealer. “I already sent it in. I’m going to be No. 6.”
Six is James’ jersey number on the Olympic team, but the NBA does not have to grant his request. If James switches teams, he can choose any number he wishes. The change only applies if he stays with the Cavaliers.
James will be part of the vaunted 2010 free-agent class that includes Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. While Bulls fans would like to see him try to make No. 6 as legendary as No. 23 in Chicago, New York has also maneuvered to have enough cap space to sign James.
Cleveland can sign James to a longer, more lucrative deal, however.
Watch Vince Carter swish an 87-foot shot… while seated
Feb 23rd
Vince Carter on Tuesday smashed Dwight Howard’s world record for the longest basketball shot made while seated on a court.
As you’ll recall, Howard made a shot from 52 feet, 6 inches from his butt over All-Star Weekend. The folks from Guinness World Records were there in Dallas to certify Howard’s shot as a record.
After the Magic’s practice on Tuesday at RDV Sportsplex, Carter and Howard tried some more shots while seated, and Carter made a shot from approximately 87 feet. No one from Guinness World Records was there.
Orlando Magic still have Cavs’ and LeBron James’ number
Feb 21st
Dwight Howard’s Magic pulled away for another psychologically powerful win over LeBron James’ Cavs on Sunday 101-95.
Howard had 22 points and 16 rebounds while James scored 33 points with 9 rebounds. Shaquille O’Neal added 20 points and 5 boards for Cleveland.
The Magic appear to still have the Cavs’ number for the time being.
Kevin Durant spoils Tracy McGrady’s Knicks’ debut
Feb 21st
Tracy McGrady puts up 26 points in his first game since being acquired by the New York Knicks but it wasn’t enough to stop Kevin Durant and the soaring Oklahoma City Thunder.
Durant scored 36 points and made the go-ahead jumper with 16 seconds left in overtime, and the Thunder beat New York 121-118 Saturday night for their eighth straight victory.
“We knew there was going to be a lot of energy in the building with Tracy McGrady coming in,” Durant said. “He played phenomenal. He’s back. He played well, but I’ll take the win.”
NBA All-Star Game 2010 Preview
Feb 14th
The NBA All-Star Game 2010 starts tonight at 8 p.m. on TNT. All the NBA all-stars will be on display as the Western Conference takes on the East. The NBA all-star game is the main event of NBA All-Star Weekend in Dallas.
The Western All-stars starting line up features Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns, forward Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks, center Amare Stoudemire of the Suns,power forward Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs, and small forward Carmelo Anthony of the Denver Nuggets. Nowitzki is taking the place of injured Laker Kobe Bryant.
The East squad is made up of Lebron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers at small forward, Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics at power forward, Dwayne Wade of the Miami Heat at point guard, Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic at center, and one other player yet to be announced. Starter Allen Iverson will be missing the game due to a family issue.
The game will be played at Cowboys Stadium, and will feature the most fans in attendence in NBA history, drawing as many as 80,000 fans.
Favorites for MVP are hometown hero Dirk Nowitzki, who has flown his family from Germany in for the game, and Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder, who’s playing in his first ever all-star game and is looking to make his mark.
Last year the Western All-stars, powered by the duo of Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, took down the East 146-119.
LeBron’s Cavs send message to Bryant and Lakers
Dec 26th
The Cleveland Cavaliers ripped apart Kobe Bryant and the Lakers on Christmas day, 102-87. The Lakers were rattled as were their fans, pelting the floor with debris in the closing minutes of the contest.
“It wasn’t about sending messages to them, it was about sending messages to ourselves,” said LeBron James, who had 26 points, four rebounds, nine assists and two steals in the win. “We want to see how we matched up against the best team in the NBA to this point. It was a good road win for us because of the caliber of team and the caliber of players they have.”
LeBron and gang may have sent themselves a message of confidence, but the Lakers have been served notice: the Cavs are a much stronger team than last year.
These two teams will meet again on Jan. 21 in Cleveland for another intense battle. Will the Lakers send a message of their own? We will find out in January.
Kobe Bryant captures fourth NBA title
Jun 15th
Kobe Bryant got his first “Shaq-less” championship on Sunday night after his Lakers defeated the Orlando Magic in the NBA Finals four games to one.
“Now they won’t see us as losers. L.A. is brutal man, I won’t have to go to Disneyland or someplace like that and hear, ‘What happened to you guys?’” Kobe Bryant said afterward.
Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson were both graceful in the loss and optimistic about the future of their team.
“It hurts right now, it hurts,” Nelson was saying in Orlando’s locker room. “But we had a great season, and nobody can take away the things we did this season and say anything negative about us, one of only two teams left.”
“It does hurt, but I’d rather sit there and watch it than go in the locker room and feel sorry for myself. It hurts, it hurts a lot, but you can learn a lot from losing. Sometimes you’ve got to lose to win,” Howard said.
