Rasheed Wallace is out for the season due to a fractured metatarsal, from Nate Taylor of The New York Times: “A nagging left foot injury never healed, and on Wednesday the Knicks announced that Wallace, one of the oldest Knicks on a team filled with veterans, would have season-ending surgery later in the week. A new X-ray examination found that Wallace had a fractured fifth metatarsal. He is expected to be out for eight weeks, the rest of the regular season. Although Wallace could return in the playoffs, it is unlikely he will play again after such a long layoff. Wallace sustained what was originally called a stress fracture in a win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Dec. 13, and he has not played since.
Roy Hibbert apparently can’t tell the difference between Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, from the AP: ”There were two or three guys coming after (Hibbert),” Pacers forward David West said. ”We preach and talk about togetherness, so that’s part of what we’re going to do. We’re going to defend one another. They came after him too many times.” West, who had 28 points and seven rebounds, also was called for a technical foul, along with the Warriors’ Lee, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, for the altercation. No players left the bench. Curry tried to push Hibbert away and was shoved twice to the court as the fight went from the key to the baseline. ”Seriously, I didn’t even feel him,” Hibbert said of Curry. ”I saw some light-skinned guy. I don’t know if it was Klay Thompson or Steph Curry, I just knew there was a light-skinned guy by me.”
Greg Oden will not decide which team he will join until the summer, from Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio: “Former NBA center Greg Oden will not decide on his next team until July, sources close to the situation told FOX Sports Ohio. The No. 1 overall draft pick in 2007 is making a comeback after three microfracture knee surgeries. Oden last played in the NBA in December 2009 with Portland. Oden’s agent, Mike Conley Sr., has said Oden is 100 percent and could become a future All-Star. Oden, 25, is currently taking classes at Ohio State — the school he led to the NCAA title game in 2007, when it lost to Florida. The Trail Blazers drafted the 7-footer one spot ahead of Oklahoma City star Kevin Durant. Sources told FSO earlier this month that Oden was leaning heavily toward signing with the Cavs. However, no commitment has been reached by other side.”
Although he doesn’t think about it, Tony Parker would welcome opportunity to win MVP, from Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports: “LeBron James is viewed as the front-runner for the MVP award because of his dominating all-around play for the reigning champion Miami Heat. But even with 12 straight wins entering Wednesday, the Heat still have four fewer wins than San Antonio. That’s good enough for NBA analyst and Hall of Famer Charles Barkley, who recently endorsed Parker for the MVP award. Parker was flattered by Barkley’s backing and believes some past MVP winners who weren’t viewed as the game’s top player give him hope. “LeBron is the best player in the NBA, by far. But if you want to give it to someone to change it, why not [me]?” Parker said with a laugh. “Charles Barkley had it one year [1992-93] even though M.J. [Michael Jordan] was the best player. Steve Nash got it [twice from 2004-06] even though Kobe [Bryant] was the best player in the NBA. But for me the most important thing is we win. “If it [the MVP] happens, it happens. If not, LeBron is unbelievable. But for me, I don’t think about it. It’s not in my hands.”
According to Shaun Powell of Sports on Earth, there may be discussion in Philadelphia about shutting down Bynum for the season: “There’s a debate simmering in Philly whether the Sixers would be better off shutting down Bynum for the entire season, even if he begs to play, but that doesn’t do any good for the team or player. Bynum’s free-agent status this summer changes everything. This is different than Derrick Rose, who’s signed long-term; if Rose skips the season then no big deal for the Bulls. Even if Bynum is limited to the final 15 or 20 games, the Sixers need to see something that’ll help them reach a decision about him in July. They need to know: Should they hand him a contract or simply bail and write off the whole frustrating experience as an expensive and regrettable mistake? The Sixers haven’t made any public commitment either way, which could indicate that they’re not sure.”
- How good of a season is LeBron James having, really? Alex Kennedy of Hoopsworld fills us in: “This season, James is averaging 27.3 points, 8.1 rebounds and 7.3 assists. He is shooting 56.8 percent from the field and 41.1 percent from three-point range. He shot 64.1 percent in February, becoming the first player since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in March of 1983 to shoot at least 64 percent from the field for an entire month with a minimum of 200 field goal attempts. He also became the first player in NBA history to record six consecutive games with 30 or more points and 60 percent shooting from the field. James is currently having the most productive season of any player in NBA history, according to Player Efficiency Rating, a stat that measures a player’s per-minute performance by weighing their positive and negative contributions. Michael Jordan holds the highest single-season PER after recording a rating of 31.89 in 1987-88. Wilt Chamberlain’s highest PER was approximately 31.84 in 1962-63, but it’s difficult to calculate since the league didn’t keep track of turnovers, blocks, steals or offensive rebounds. Legends like Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird never had a single-season PER higher than 30.
-Doug Collins rant sounds hilarious if you read it in Jim Mora’s voice.
-Out in L.A., they knew what they lucked out of when they let go of Bynum. I feel bad for the guy because we’ll probably never see what he was fully capable of and you never want to see someone go out due to an injury. I’m happy with Howard but on the other hand I appreciate Bynum’s game more. Bynum skillset with Howard’s body would be a beast.