Hello and welcome to the Evening News. (Apologies to those of you in Oz).
As the NBA regular season dies down and the playoff races heat up, we’ll keep you updated every evening. What’s happening today?
Here’s the latest news around the league:
Rasheed Wallace retires from NBA. Knicks sign Earl Barron.
Today’s top story came out of New York where it was announced that Rasheed Wallace has retired from the NBA for a second time. To replace Wallace on the roster, the Knicks have signed veteran center Earl Barron. For more on Wallace’s retirement, read our feature about it from earlier. The list of late-seaspon playoff signings also has included Tracy McGrady by the San Antonio Spurs, and Keyon Dooling, Done Greene and Willie Reed by Memphis and Dwyane Jones by Golden State.
Somewhere in China, Yi Jianlian is saying to himself: “Why not me?
Phil Jackson itching to come back.
According to ESPN.com’s Ramona Shelburne and Marc Stein, Phil Jackson is itching to return to the NBA.
In January, Jackson told our own Charley Rosen that he “has no intention of ever coaching again.”
While Jackson has been retired from coaching for nearly two seasons and does not seem interested in returning to the sidelines, sources say that Jackson would be very open to the idea of joining a team’s front office in a patriarchal position. Jackson has seen the success that Pat Riley has had in Miami and has interest in making a team’s personnel decisions. 
Jackson is 67-years-old and is the winningest coach in NBA history with 11 championship rings.
While Jackson is engaged to Lakers’ owner Jeannie Buss, it does not look like a Laker-Jackson reunion is in the works. Sources close to the situation insist that the Lakers plan to bring Mike D’Antoni back next season to give him a second chance to succeed with a full training camp to work with. Meanwhile, between Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss, the Lakers do not appear to have room for Jackson to make organizational decisions in their front office.
Some intriguing possible destinations for Jackson include Brooklyn and Sacramento. Nets’ Owner Mikhail Prokhorov certainly has the money to lure Jackson in and the Nets’ have a competitive roster to work with. For Jackson, Sacramento’s possible move to Seattle would be intriguing as it could give him freedom to leave his imprint on a new team immediately.
Kevin Durant will sit tonight; Carmelo Anthony will win scoring title.
On Wednesday afternoon, Kevin Durant posted a note on his Instagram account that read “SITTING OUT TONIGHT’S GAME, if you disappointed I didn’t try to go for the scoring title, oh well!!”
By sitting out tonight, Durant is conceding the NBA’s scoring title to Carmelo Anthony. Anthony is averaging 28.7 points per game and would edge Durant’s 28.1 average even if he failed to score tonight. Durant came awfully close to becoming the third player to win three consecutive scoring titles (Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan were the others).
For the season, Durant has actually scored the NBA’s highest cumulative point total as he played in 14 more games than Anthony.
If Durant played tonight, he would have to score 70 points to take the scoring title from Anthony. Even before Durant acknowledged that he would not play tonight, Scott Brooks told the Oklahoman that Durant would be playing in limited minutes tonight. “He has no shot [to take the lead],” said Brooks. “I guarantee you he won’t get it.” 
At the start of April, Durant led the scoring race by a safe margin. However, since April 1st Anthony has been on a scoring tear and has averaged 36.9 points in an eight game stretch.
Mike Woodson expressed happiness for his superstar’s accomplishment but also acknowledged that both he and Anthony have bigger aspirations for the season.
“I think it’s great. Again, it’s a nice individual award, but I know Melo’s thinking bigger than the scoring title. His whole thought process this year has been trying to get to the Finals.”
Marcus Smart returning to Oklahoma State.
Despite being a certain lock for the lottery in the upcoming NBA Draft, Big 12 Player of the Year Marcus Smart will return for his sophomore season. Smart announced his decision at a press conference citing that he’s a “Cowboy at heart.” 
Smart was all but certain to be selected in the top five in June and was considered to be one of the few players in the draft pool with superstar potential. At 6’4″ and with elite athleticism, Smart drew comparisons to a raw Russell Westbrook. We had him going second in our mock draft.
In his freshman season, Smart averaged 15.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game. He guided Oklahoma State to a five-seed in the tournament in which they were upset by Oregon in the first round. Oklahoma State will have its top three scorers from last season returning.
