Dwyane Wade discussed how maturity allowed him to swallow his pride for the greater good. Tzvi Twersky of SLAM Online has the story: “As much as everyone says that the teaming up of Dwyane, LeBron and Chrish Bosh was years in the making—and as much as it was—Wade is quick to point out that at 22 or even 25 he would not have been mature enough to swallow his pride and play with those guys. “It’s all evolution; it’s all growth,” says Wade. “When I was young there’s no way I could’ve played with these guys. I was in competition with Bron and Melo (Anthony) and those guys. You get to a point where that doesn’t matter the same. We all competitors, but that same ‘I’ve got to make a name for myself thing’ goes away after a while. You understand there’s a bigger picture.”… “I mean, if you put greatness on scoring, than that’s just you don’t know sports,” say Wade. “I could go out there and shoot enough shots where I could average 26-plus a game, but that’s just not the [recipe] for winning, especially with the team I have. If I didn’t have this team and I’m the only individual on this team, I could go out there and be top-three in the League in scoring—and go home early. It’s just not what I want.”
Jamal Crawford predicted he’d have a career-year, and explained why his game has been off over the past couple of seasons, from Alex Kennedy of Hoopsworld: “Over the summer, after signing with the Clippers, he predicted that he’d have a career-year. Prior to the start of the season, Crawford described himself as “not young but not old” and insisted that his best basketball was ahead of him. “People have been shocked for the most part, but I knew that I hadn’t lost a step or anything,” Crawford told HOOPSWORLD. “I’ll be the first to tell you when I’ve lost a step. I watch a lot of basketball and I play every single day so I’ll be the first to tell you when that happens. That wasn’t it at all. It was just that the last two years were tough. In Atlanta, I was going through the contract situation. In Portland, both sides knew that it was going to be kind of short-lived and the fit may not have been the best. I knew it wasn’t anything that was going on with me physically. I knew it was situational.”
- The Mavericks had to waive someone to make room for Derek Fisher. Here is the victim, from Sam Amick of USA Today:
Wesley Matthews and Jared Jeffries played motivators for the Blazers after losing to the Wizards, from Joe Freeman of The Oregonian: “In essence, he took the reigns and said, ‘Look, we have to fight for each other, fight for this team and make a stand and prove who we really are,’” rookie center Meyers Leonard said, recalling Matthews’ message. “He said we’ve got to keep battling and decide who we really want to be. When we play up to our potential and play hard, we can compete with anyone in the league. Obviously, when we don’t, we can lose to a team that hadn’t won a game.” As Matthews told the Blazers to keep the faith, Blazers sage Jared Jeffries added his own pointed message. The Blazers have approached a crossroads and they have one of two paths to take. “Games like this define your season,” Jeffries said. “Because after this game, either you bounce back and you say, ‘This is who we are, this is who we’re going to be.’ Or you let this loss linger and you look up and you are one of these teams that can lose 11 in a row, 12 in a row. I don’t think we have that kind of character. I think we’re better than that.”
Doc Rivers blasted his team for being soft after its latest loss to the Nets, from A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE: “This team, as talented as they might be on paper and on the floor some nights, lacks a certain toughness that can no longer be ignored. “If I’m Brooklyn and the league, you’ve got to think we’re pretty soft the way we’re playing,” Rivers said. “We’re a soft team right now; we have no toughness.” And for those who want to throw Rajon Rondo’s incident — lead official James Capers referred to it as a fight — with Kris Humphries into the category of exuded toughness, Rivers isn’t trying to hear that. Especially when he knows that there’s a chance that it will likely cost Rondo at least one game via suspension. “That stuff’s not toughness,” Rivers said. “All that stuff, that’s not toughness.”
Andrew Bynum continues to make news for the wrong reasons. He is suing and getting counter-sued by his next door neighbors, from TMZ: “According to his lawsuit, filed in L.A. County Superior Court, Bynum says … the Becketts have objected to his “profession, his race, his friends, his cars and his taste in music.” Bynum claims the Becketts have behaved like petulant children — throwing coins at his Ferrari (which chipped the paint), screaming at him about his music, and even banging the side of his house with “a long stick.” But the Becketts quickly responded to the lawsuit with a countersuiit of their own — TRASHING Bynum as the neighbor from hell who only sued them to preemptively strike against the lawsuit they had been planning. In their legal docs, the Becketts UNLOAD on the NBA star — claiming he’s guilty of the following misdeeds:
— brandishing FIREARMS in an attempt to intimidate the Becketts — “apparently” using drugs and allowing weed smoke to drift next door — blasting loud, profane rap music (including the song “Currency” by Trina) — blasting his video games at “window-shaking volumes” — letting his dogs run loose through the neighborhood — constantly racing his luxury cars at dangerous speeds.”
Here is the latest update on Ricky Rubio and how much he’ll play when he initially returns, from Mark Remme of NBA.com: “Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations David Kahn said the timetable on Rubio’s return to game action is still to be determined in order to not add pressure for a specific target date. He said each step in Rubio’s recovery has been handled sensibly in that regard—keeping a focus on what’s best for Rubio’s long-term health. Kahn said when Rubio does return, Rubio will likely be targeting about 16-18 minutes per game as he gets re-adjusted to live NBA basketball. “He’ll be eased in,” Kahn said. “The likelihood is he’ll play his first game around 16-18 minutes and then from there the medical staff and Ricky will determine on a game-by-game basis what to do next.” Kahn said he’s felt good about Rubio’s progress in the last several weeks just watching him at practice and before games. He’s been starting to move really well, Kahn said, and he’s been pleased with the diligence Rubio showed throughout the process.”
- Check out DeAndre Jordan scaring people with a horse mask:
- Charles Barkley interviewed Gregg Popovich, but asked one question too many:
D’Antoni regrets leaving Phoenix, Jason Terry rips Kris Humphries
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