In what comes as no surprise at all, the defending champion Miami Heat and the loaded Los Angeles Lakers are favored to reach the NBA Finals. Gaming site Bovada.lv released its odds for winning the championship and has the Heat at 11-5 and the Lakers slightly higher at 5-2. Miami has reached the Finals each of the last two years, defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder in five games last season. Los Angeles has not reached the conference finals since it last won
Commissioner David Stern is overseas, helping sell the NBA brand with its annual round of exhibition games in Europe and Asia. On Sunday, he was in Milan, Italy, watching the Boston Celtics – one of the few NBA teams that are a brand unto themselves – take apart Italian club EA7 Emporio Armani Milano. EA7 Emporio Armani is an apparel and accessory company and the primary sponsor of Milano of Lega A in Italy. The company logo is plastered across the front
We’ve had a number of political posts on our site recently, and this is another one. So if you think Raptors-Thunder is the big matchup on Nov. 6, you might not find this interesting. But we do. Both President Barack Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney have found support among the NBA family and have put it to work in recent TV ads. Obama’s ad is entitled, “The Greatest” and runs 60 seconds. It features Alonzo Mourning, Vince Carter, Dahntay Jones, Etan
The NBA plans to stop the flop, or at least curtail it. The league announced Wednesday it will institute an anti-flopping rule this season with progressive fines growing as high as $30,000 before a possible suspension kicks in. Before you say “Hallelujah!” keep in mind that a player would have to be found guilty of flopping six times to get to that point. Here is the progression: First violation: Warning Second violation: $5,000 fine Third violation: $10,000 fine Fourth violation: $15,000 fine Fifth violation: $30,000 fine Sixth violation: larger
UNDER CONTRACT: G Derrick Rose, F Carlos Boozer, F Luol Deng, C Joakim Noah, G Richard Hamilton, G Kirk Hinrich, F Taj Gibson, G Jimmy Butler, F Vladimir Radmanovic, C Nazr Mohammed, G Marco Belinelli, G Nate Robinson, C Kyrylo Fesenko DRAFT PICKS: G Marquis Teague FREE AGENTS: G Mike James, F Brian Scalabrine MOVES: For the first time in franchise history, the Bulls are going to have to pay the luxury tax – and really don’t have much to show for it. GM Gar
UNDER CONTRACT: F-C Emeka Okafor, C Nene, F Trevor Ariza, G John Wall, F Jan Vesely, F Kevin Seraphin, F Chris Singleton, F Trevor Booker, G Jordan Crawford, G Shelvin Mack, G A.J. Price, G-F Martell Webster, G Jannero Pargo DRAFT PICKS: G Bradley Beal, F Tomas Satoransky FREE AGENTS: G Morris Almond, F Brian Cook, F Maurice Evans MOVES: Before the draft, the Wizards found a taker for the one year and $24 million left on Rashard Lewis’ contract, shipping him to
UNDER CONTRACT: C Al Jefferson, F Marvin Williams, F Paul Millsap, G Mo Williams, F Derrick Favors, F-C Enes Kanter, G Randy Foye, G-F Gordon Hayward, G Alec Burks, G Earl Watson, G DeMarre Carroll, G Jamaal Tinsley, F Jeremy Evans, G Raja Bell DRAFT PICKS: G Kevin Murphy FREE AGENTS: F Josh Howard MOVES: The Jazz were active before July 1, jumping in on Dallas’ desire to dump Lamar Odom and taking Mo Williams off the hands of the Clippers while moving a
All-Star Andrew Bynum, the centerpiece in the Philadelphia 76ers’ end of the Dwight Howard trade, will not take the court for three weeks as a precaution for his surgically repaired right knee. Last month, Bynum went to Germany to undergo a non-invasive strengthening procedure on his right knee known as Orthokine/Regenokine. The procedure – not performed in the United States – takes a person’s blood and spins it until it is rich in healing platelets. The blood is then re-injected into