In an unfortunate story,the Miami Associated Press is reporting that thieves have stolen $340k in jewelry from Chris Bosh’s home in south beach: “While Miami Heat star Chris Bosh was out celebrating his birthday at a Morocco-themed party complete with live camels, police said Thursday that thieves made off with about $340,000 in jewelry and cash from the player’s nearby home. There was no sign of forced entry at the waterfront, 12,368-square-foot home, which Bosh purchased in 2010 for $12.3 million. Hernandez also said easily traceable items such as Bosh’s Heat championship ring from last year’s NBA title were left undisturbed.”
- Just three days after speaking at Staples Center for the retirement of Shaquille O’Neal’s number, Phil Jackson was back at Madison Square Garden as a Knick. While it may not be how Knicks fans would prefer it, Jackson was back to be honored as part of the 1973 Knicks championship team. Howard Beck of the New York Times has the full story: “Jackson, 67, has all but ruled out coaching again and is instead eyeing possible front-office roles with a handful of teams. The Nets have inquired, but Jackson is not interested. He seems unlikely to leave the West Coast after becoming engaged to Jeanie Buss, the Lakers’ executive vice president. The two live in Playa del Rey, Calif. The 1973 team will be honored at halftime of the Knicks-Bucks game. All of the living members are expected, including Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe, Bill Bradley, Dick Barnett, Henry Bibby, John Gianelli, Jerry Lucas, Dean Meminger and Harthorne Wingo.”
While the Knicks will be honoring their championship team of the 70’s, the Wizards, in the most bizarre story of the day, have been asking questions about theirs. Apparently, the 1978 Larry O’Brien Trophy, the lone championship of the Bullets/Wizards franchise, had been missing for some time: “Someone recalled someone else saying sometime awhile back that Smokey Bowie, the late building manager/head engineer/jack-of-all-trades who had been with the franchise since the old Capital Centre days until passing away a few years ago, had at some point taken it home with him for safekeeping. And sure enough, a carload of team employees dispatched to Bowie’s old house found the trophy — scuffed up, tarnished and dented — at the bottom of a closet.”
- More from Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post: “The trophy – which former owner Abe Pollin had famously paraded through Dulles International Airport the day after Game 7 of the NBA Finals, after the team’s flight home from Seattle was met by some 8,000 delirious fans – now resides in a setting worthy of its beauty and import: on a pedestal, in a glass case near the main entrance to the arena. It is spot-lit and surrounded by memorabilia from the greatest season in franchise history. The story of the 1978 championship trophy, in some ways, mirrors that of the 1977-78 Bullets championship team itself. In a town where the Redskins dominate the discourse, and where many fans can still recite the starting lineups of the 1982, 1987 and 1991 Super Bowl title teams, that Bullets team — which broke what was at the time a 36-year championship drought for the city’s sports franchises — has been buried for too long in D.C.’s figurative closet of history.”
While the Cleveland Cavaliers have struggled to compete over the last month of the season, questions have surfaced about coach Byron Scott’s future with the team. The Cavs were never expected to seriously compete this year, but fans have been disappointed with the teams progress and poor finish to the season. Mary Schmitt-Boyer of the Cleveland Plain Dealer has more: ““I don’t necessarily think I need to defend myself to the public or especially in the papers,” Scott said before the team left for Friday’s game at Boston. “I know what I’m doing here. I know what type of job I’m doing, I know what I’m given, I know what we’re working with, I know the situation that we’re under. So I don’t really feel that I need to defend myself. Simple as that.””
- More from Schmitt-Boyer: “The coach, who has been unable to field a full team for much of his three seasons because of an epidemic of injuries, said he wouldn’t know how to grade himself and admitted the rebuild in the wake of the departure of LeBron James has been tougher than he thought it was going to be. “I haven’t had all my pieces, so I don’t know [how to assess his performance],” said Scott, who signed on in the summer of 2010 before James made his decision. “I can’t even grade myself right now, and if I did I’d probably say a C or incomplete. That’s just being honest with you.”