NEW YORK — A couple of weeks ago, we posed the rhetorical question: Where will Adam Silver be hated first? And now we have our answer: In the Eastern European country of Slovenia, and in the American city of Phoenix. Silver on Friday chose New Orleans Pelicans forward/center Anthony Davis to replace injured West All-Star Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2014 NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans. Davis, who will make his first All-Star Game appearance, is averaging 20.5
Goran Dragic ended up getting snubbed. Or left off — depending on your point of view. The surging Memphis Grizzlies got left out of the All-Star party, too. As did the NBA leader in triple-doubles, Lance Stephenson. NBA All-Star reserves were announced tonight, and you knew somebody was going to get squeezed. Especially in the West. The coaches cast the votes, and the reserves in the West are Dirk Nowitzki (Mavs), Dwight Howard (Houston Rockets), LaMarcus Aldridge (Portland Trail Blazers), James Harden (Houston Rockets),
Back from Vegas, I took in the Lakers-Knicks game at Madison Square Garden on Sunday and listened to a dejected Pau Gasol lament a lack of effort and espouse his frustrations over a lost Lakers season. You can be damn well sure he is looking forward to the trade deadline, waiting to find out if he’ll play a single meaningful basketball game before summer arrives. But once summer does arrive, the big Spaniard is going to have a lot left in the
The month of February is right around the corner, and with it comes the Super Bowl, the All-Star Game and the trading deadline. Predictions for all three: Gonna be a ton of empty seats at the Meadowlands. Too damn cold. You think the folks who attend that game are fans? Yes, they are fans of luxury, warmth and freebies. Real fans will be able to get into the game for $100 on the secondary ticket market. All-Star Game: “We are looking at
NEW YORK — The Atlanta Hawks’ Paul Millsap and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant today were named NBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, Jan. 20, through Sunday, Jan. 26. Millsap led the Hawks to a 3-1 week behind averages of 21.3 points (ninth in the conference) on .508 shooting from the field, 7.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 2.5 steals (fifth in the conference) and 2.0 blocks (fourth in the conference). Millsap collected five blocks
Kevin Love is more popular than Dwight Howard … but just barely. In one of the closest votes in the history of All-Star balloting, Love edged out Howard for the third frontcourt spot on the Western Conference team. Love received 661,246 votes, while Howard received 653,318. The starters for the West are Love, Kevin Durant and Blake Griffin in the frontcourt, and Stephen Curry and Kobe Bryant in the backcourt. If Bryant is unable to play because of his knee injury, the
Of the pool of 28 Team USA players announced earlier today, three have made verbal commitments to play this summer at the World Cup (formerly called the World Championship) in Spain. They are Kevin Durant, Kevin Love and LaMarcus Aldridge. Additionally, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul will definitely NOT play in Spain … although all three should be considered locks to play at the 2016 Rio Olympics. (James and Anthony will become the first American players to appear in
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Highlighted by 14 players who were members of the gold medalist 2012 U.S. Olympic and/or the 2010 USA World Championship teams, USA Basketball announced today 28 players have been selected for the 2014-2016 USA Men’s National Team pool, from which the 2014 USA World Championship Team and, if the U.S. qualifies, the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team will be selected. The USA National Team pool will be fluid; USA Basketball Chairman and National Team Managing Director Jerry Colangelo