The Lakers could find themselves without Steve Blake, Steve Nash and Jodie Meeks in Game 3, from Sam Amick of USA Today: “Nash, who had just nine points (four of eight shooting) and six assists in 31 minutes, will have his third epidural in eight days on Thursday with the hopes of being able to play in Game Three in Los Angeles on Friday. Blake (16 points on six of 15 shooting) will have an ultrasound on Thursday to determine his condition as well. “Unfortunately I tweaked it in the first half and tried to keep going,” Nash said. “It got worse as the game went on, so I’m kind of back against it again. “I’m going to have a repeat epidural in the morning and see if I can get any improvement out of it and then we’ll see on Friday.” Jodie Meeks is unsure if he’ll play Friday as well, as the Lakers guard sat out with a sprained left ankle in Game Two and will have an MRI on Thursday.”
Dwyane Wade explained the difference between himself and Monta Ellis, from Charles F. Gardner of Journal Sentinel: “But Wade told the Miami Herald that he “chuckled in a sense” when he heard Ellis had said he was as good as Wade, just without the wins and the championships. “But if I’m a bar for somebody, I don’t mind that,” Wade said. “Monta is a talented, talented guard. But obviously I feel my game is a little bit different. I’m not just a scorer. I do everything on the floor; my whole career I’ve done it. That’s where I separate myself from others … “I look at what Kobe Bryant does. I know I need championships to be where he’s at, to even be in the category with him as a player.”
Phil Jackson is drawing plenty of interest from teams for a front office job, from RealGM: “Phil Jackson is interested in returning to work with an NBA team, only this time in a front office capacity. “I’ve had some talks with people and there are some interesting situations that are presenting themselves, but I really haven’t made up my mind yet what I’m going to do,” said Jackson. “None of it involves coaching. … There are three or four teams that have been interested.” Jackson last coached the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2011 NBA Playoffs. Jackson said he would be interested in a developing team “where you’d have the influence in (selecting the) coaching staff and the kind of culture that goes along with it. It goes all the way down to – not down to, but includes – trainers and the people who are doing the hands-on work with players, that have to be really embedded with how you put a team together.”
J.R. Smith’s dad explained the difference between Mike Woodson and George Karl in how they coached his son, from Marc Berman of New York Post: ““I noticed it from the first game,’’ Earl Smith added. “When you have all the potential in the world, there’s a certain way you have to approach him. There’s just different ways to approach different people. Woodson had the patience. The other coaches didn’t have the patience… Earl felt Karl had it in for Smith during their five seasons together in Denver. “The assistant coaches loved him there but they couldn’t say anything,’’ Earl Smith said. “There was negativity from Day 1. I was at the practice arena just sitting around and George comes by while J.R. is shooting. I heard George say to the assistants, ‘J.R. Smith, I’m going to bust his ass this year.’ ’’
Joakim Noah explained what plantar fasciitis feels like, from Aggrey Sam of CSN Chicago: “It really sucks. Plantar fasciitis sucks. It feels like you have needles underneath your foot while you’re playing. That’s what it feels like, so you can imagine. You need to jump, you need to run, you need to do a lot of things while you’re playing basketball, so you don’t want needles underneath your foot, right?” he went on to explain. “It’s not easy, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. These are the hands I’ve been given, so I’m just trying to stay focused on trying to get better every day and I’m just happy to be able to be on the court.”
