Mike D’Antoni said Dwight Howard’s departure from Los Angeles “mind-boggling”, from Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles: “It’s hard for me to sit here and criticize or even to understand why he left a place like L.A.,” D’Antoni told “ESPN L.A. Now” hosts Mark Willard and Mychal Thompson on ESPN LA 710 radio Tuesday. “That’s kind of mind-boggling a little bit, but that’s in his DNA and what he wants to do.” “Everybody has got to make that decision,” D’Antoni said. “You can debate it all you want. Only Dwight knows. Obviously he didn’t think he would be as happy here as he will be in Houston. That might be the case and he had to make that decision. There will be a lot of speculation, we tried it, it didn’t work out and we go forward. So be it. You hate it. Dwight’s one of the better centers in the league and it would have been a long-term thing, but I looked at it like, ‘OK, you don’t have Dwight but you got Pau [Gasol].’ So, we’ll see. In the short run, we’ll see what happens. In the long run, obviously 10 years from now Dwight might still be playing and maybe Pau is retired, but everybody has got to do [what’s best for them].”
- D’Antoni also said the Lakers will shoot plenty of 3-pointers next season – no surprise to anyone: “Do we want to shoot a lot of 3s? Yeah,” D’Antoni said. “That’s kind of where the league is going. If you look at it analytically, that’s a better shot than some of the traditional one [foot] inside the arc jumper. It just mathematically makes sense that you want to try to get 3s, layups and foul [shots] and we will try to get a system that maximizes our offense, at the same time, get better defensively.” D’Antoni, who believes the Lakers “can be better than a lot of people think,” added that his longtime point guard, Steve Nash, will be leading the way. “Just knowing [Nash] and watching him, he’s going to have as good of a year as he’s had in a while because he’s hell-bent on coming back and giving Los Angeles their money’s worth because that’s the type of person he is,” D’Antoni said.”
Carmelo Anthony shared his thoughts on the offseason of the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets, from Jeff Goodman of ESPN New York: ““I’ve been staying under the radar,” Anthony told ESPN.com while in Las Vegas coaching his Team Melo summer program. “I let them do what they do. We got [Metta World Peace], and I think [Andrea] Bargnani was really a steal for us. He’ll help us spread the floor. We got J.R. [Smith] back and we kept the core guys together.”… “We’ll see whether we have enough,” Anthony said. “We haven’t even stepped on the court yet. “It’s special what [Brooklyn] did,” he added. “J-Kidd will have four or five future Hall of Famers. I played with him for a year and also with USA Basketball and I know his mentality. He knows the game. It won’t be hard for him to deal with those guys because he’ll put them in position and only have to tell them things one time.”
- The Knicks are trying to convince Beno Udrih to come play in New York, according to Marc Stein of ESPN: “Hearing: Knicks can only offer minimum, but I’m told they’re trying hard to convince free-agent PG Beno Udrih to take it and come to NYC”
Pau Gasol believes he will be more like the player that helped the Lakers reach the finals three straight times with Howard out of the picture, from Joseph Wilson of The AP: ”I think I have the most uncertain period behind me,” Gasol told The Associated Press on Tuesday. ”The team has suffered a lot of changes, but as far as me, I am back in the position of a lot of responsibility, which I like, and I’m just going to focus on getting healthy. ”Now with Dwight gone I am the reference inside and I am more like I was a couple of years back when we made the finals three straight times and won two straight championships,” he added… D’Antoni ”had a tough position, I had a tough position,” Gasol said. ”I had a job to do, he had a job to do, so there really is no mystery. I know he had challenges. It was a very challenging season. Next season is a different one and a new chapter. So we’ll start out fresh and do our best.”… ”I have a great motivation,” he said. ”It’s the last year of my contract, so I want to get back to being one of the top players in the league.”
Terrence Jones of the Rockets may be in trouble with the law, from KATU: “Jones was charged with harassment and pleaded not guilty during a court appearance Wednesday afternoon. While watching a group of people walk away from a club called Tube, a Portland police sergeant saw Jones walk by a doorway where two homeless men were sleeping, according to police spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson. The sergeant said Jones yelled, “Wake up,” then raised his leg and stomped down on one of the man’s legs. The men were sleeping in the doorway of 114 Northwest 3rd Avenue. On his way into court Jones refused to comment, but his attorney said Jones didn’t stomp on the man and that “this isn’t a criminal matter.” The victim, 46-year-old Daniel John Kellerher, received a minor leg injury and did not require immediate medical attention, Simpson said.”
Dwyane Wade has been ordered to surrender his sons to his ex-wife, from Jose Lambiet of The Miami Herald: “Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade was ordered Tuesday by a family judge in Miami-Dade County to surrender his two boys to their mother, his ex-wife Siohvaughn Funches. Wade was supposed to make his sons Zaire and Zion available to Funches last week as part of their routine summer visitations. But instead, the ballplayer’s Miami lawyers filed an emergency motion to prevent the boys from visiting Funches and questioning her mental stability. Judge Antonio Marin also ordered Funches to undergo a psychiatric evaluation that appears to be limited to anger management issues.
Chris Bosh’s brother and mother are being sued by Dallas to stop illegal parties, from Matt Goodman of WFAA: “Dallas city attorneys have filed an injunction against NBA player Chris Bosh’s younger brother to get him to stop hosting illegal parties at his mother’s vacant Cedars area warehouse like the one that police allege led to a chaotic outburst of fights and gunfire last weekend. The five-story structure at S. 1401 Ervay St. was to be the location of the so-called #NotANormalParty on Saturday night, which promoters promised would have a different party on each of the floors. There was the ‘fun and wild party’ on the first floor, complete with a bounce house, mud wrestling, mechanical bull ride and a wet T-shirt contest.
James Park is the chief blogger of Sheridan Hoops. You can find him on twitter @SheridanBlog.