SH Blog: Lakers may look to acquire LeBron in 2014, Love broke hand doing knuckle pushups

October 18, 2012 by James Park

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reported some good news about the status of Kevin Love, who apparently broke his hand while doing knuckle pushups: “After meeting with a specialist in New York on Thursday to examine his broken hand, Kevin Love could be cleared within a five-to-six-week window to return to the Minnesota Timberwolves, a league source told Yahoo! Sports. Love fractured two knuckles on his shooting hand while doing pushups Wednesday morning in his home. The Wolves issued a statement Thursday saying the rehab process remains six to eight weeks, but sources tell Y! there’s a possibility that estimate will ultimately be on the long end. “While doing various pushups, including knuckle pushups, which are part of my regular workout routine, I hurt my hand,” Love said in a statement. “I immediately knew something was wrong and called head athletic trainer Gregg Farnam.”

After having a much better performance against the Grizzlies than he did against the Spurs, Jeremy Lin deflected praise to teammates, from Adi Joseph of USA Today: “We were hitting shots today, not me personally, but everybody else,” Lin said (via Houston Chronicle). “They kind of had to stay out a little more and think twice about dropping all the way down. That opened things up to get in the middle. Once you get in the middle, it’s all about making quick decisions. You’ll probably get something good if you get to the heart of their defense. “Me and coach talked about making the easy, simple play with a high possibility to succeed. That’s what we try to focus on as a team, just swing, swing, find the open guy and let the ball find the person that’s supposed to take that shot.”

Lamar Odom did not keep himself in shape for the upcoming season, from Broderick Turner of Los Angeles Times: “For Odom, weight and poor conditioning are issues. Del Negro said Odom’s knees are bothering him and that playing the 6-10 forward against the Jazz probably would have set him back. “He’s got to work through some conditioning things and some health things right now, which he’s doing,” Del Negro said. “Yeah, I wish he was in a little bit better conditioning, and he wishes he was. But he’s just got to continue to work every day and I’m sure he’ll get there eventually.”

Marcus Camby looks to be ready to return to action by next week. He will certainly be ready by the season opener, according to Marc Berman of New York Post: “Marcus Camby is on the way back. Next week. In his first comments since going down on the third day of training camp with a calf strain, Camby Wednesday said he believes he will be back to practice Tuesday once the Knicks return from their three-game preseason road trip to Montreal-Albany-Syracuse. The 38-year-old backup center, one of their marquee offseason free-agent signings, also vowed he will be good for the season opener Nov. 1 in Brooklyn. The Knicks originally said he would be out 7-to-10 days, but it’s now likely going to be more than two weeks.”

Stephen Curry is doing his best to mentally conquer the fear of spraining his ankle again. He’s also very excited about the direction of the team as well as his own status as the unquestionable point guard of the team, from Sam Amick of SI: “As for Curry’s on-court status, he admitted that he’s just now getting through the mental hurdles that his incessant ankle injuries caused in his psyche. He’s well aware that everyone from Warriors owner Joe Lacob to general manager Bob Myers and the rest of the Golden State braintrust is watching every game closely, too, but seemed at ease and respectful of that reality. The goal is to play without fear of pain or re-injuring of the ankle, and he seems to have done that the last two preseason games. He dropped 25 points on the Nuggets on 10-of-15 shooting, then looked very good in spurts while scoring 19 points (8 of 14 shooting) against the Kings on Wednesday in 24 minutes. Like the team’s fans, Curry is bullish on the Warriors’ new-look roster and the fact that his own role is more clearly identified this season. Whereas he shared lead-guard duties with Monta Ellis before the deal that brought Andrew Bogut from Milwaukee last season, he’s the clear point guard of this team.”

Andrew Bogut will have his ankle examined next week and still hopes to be healthy enough to be ready by the season opener, from Marcus Thompson of Mercury News: “Warriors center Andew Bogut will have his troublesome left ankle examined Monday in Los Angeles. The Warriors play at the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday, giving Bogut an opportunity to visit Richard Ferkel, the doctor who performed arthroscopic surgery on the ankle in April. Bogut, who fractured the ankle in January while with Milwaukee, has yet to practice or play a preseason game. Before Wednesday’s exhibition game at Sacramento, Warriors coach Mark Jackson said Bogut is “still a ways away.” Bogut is still pushing to be ready for the Oct. 31 season opener. The plan was to get him in a couple exhibition games to prepare him, but the Warriors have just three exhibitions left — Friday at Portland, next Monday at the Clippers and next Tuesday at home against Phoenix. With Bogut scheduled for an exam Monday, only Tuesday seems possible — and not likely. According to one source, Bogut won’t play even if he checks out at 90 percent.”