SH Blog: Bryant still a few weeks away from fully running, how Kerr received a black eye from Jordan

Jeanie Buss wrote in her book that the Lakers not hiring Phil Jackson was betrayal, from ESPN: “Jeanie Buss, the chief of the Los Angeles Lakers’ business operations and fiancee of Hall of Famer Phil Jackson, wrote in an upcoming update to her “Laker Girl” memoir that she felt the hiring of Mike D’Antoni as head coach last year instead of Jackson was “a betrayal.” Buss, in an excerpt published Sunday in the Los Angeles Times, wrote she felt she “got played,” referring to the decision ultimately made by her brother Jim, which she has said took her and Jackson by surprise and had been an unsettling experience. “Why did they have to do that?” Jeanie Buss wrote in the November edition of the book first published in 2010. “Why did Jim pull Phil back into the mix if he wasn’t sincere about it? … “Phil wasn’t looking for the job, and then he wasted 36 hours of his life preparing for it when they were never in a million years going to hire him anyway. “How do you do that to your sister? How do you do that to Phil Jackson?”

DeMarcus Cousins is nearing an extension with the Kings, from Marc Stein of ESPN: “Sacramento Kings big man DeMarcus Cousins is on course to see his contract extended before the Oct. 31 extension deadline for 2010 first-round picks, according to sources with knowledge of the talks. Two sources told ESPN.com that Cousins could actually have a deal wrapped up before the Kings open training camp next week in Santa Barbara, Calif. But even if it takes longer, sources say Cousins will indeed join John Wall, Larry Sanders and Paul George on the list of 2010 draftees to receive contract extensions before the Halloween buzzer. New Kings general manager Pete D’Alessandro, who has been scouting the EuroBasket tournament in Slovenia, is scheduled to return to Sacramento early this week and resume negotiations that sources say are well underway. Cousins is said to be seeking a five-year max deal in the $80 million range that teams can award their designated franchise players, as already seen with Wall in Washington and soon to be repeated this week with George in Indiana.”

Here is an interesting story on how Steve Kerr once got into a fist fight with Michael Jordan, from James Herbert of ESPN: “I don’t know what the hell I was thinking,” TNT analyst Steve Kerr says, laughing as he recalls his scrap with the Chicago Bulls legend in the fall of 1995 at Bulls training camp. “It’s Michael Jordan, it’s the greatest player ever, but I was pretty competitive and I kind of played with a chip on my shoulder. I had to or I wouldn’t have made it.” The two guards were matched up in a scrimmage. It was intense. Jordan had heard the critics after the Bulls’ playoff loss to the Orlando Magic and intended to silence them. He averaged 26.9 points in the final 17 regular-season games after coming out of retirement, but shot only 41 percent from the field. The postseason defeat to the Magic in the conference semifinals, his first series loss since 1990, had some suggesting his best years were behind him. At 32 years old, Jordan was hell-bent on proving otherwise. It was palpable in every drill, every time down the floor. He and Kerr talked trash on a couple of possessions, and then it escalated. The 6-foot-3, 175-pound Kerr wound up with a black eye. He threw some punches before it was broken up, too. “I took exception to something he said,” Kerr says. “So I was talking back and I don’t think Michael appreciated that … and we got in the lane and he gave me a forearm shiver to the chest and I pushed him back. And next thing you know, our teammates were pulling him off of me.”

Here’s an explanation on why giving Paul George the designated contract means the end of Danny Granger or Lance Stephenson in a Pacers uniform, from Tim Donahue of eightpointsnineseconds: “George’s contract leaves Indiana between $6.0 and $8.9 million below a luxury tax threshold with only 11 players under contract. The Pacers have repeatedly said they would not exceed the tax threshold, and it’s a warning that should be taken at face value… Given those strictures, Indiana will only be able to re-sign one, but not both, of Lance Stephenson and Danny Granger. As it stands today, Lance Stephenson seems to be the overwhelming choice based on (a) youth and (b) affordability. Additionally, there are very few positive scenarios that I can come up with where Granger ends up being more affordable than Stephenson.”