(Chris Bernucca’s usual Thursday column ran on Tuesday of this week. Click here to give it a read. It is about how the post-lockout basketball in 2011-12 will be better than it was in 1999. Bernucca is also now going to start running a list of names each week, a puzzle of sorts. If you figure out the common denominator, send him a tweet. He is @ChrisBernucca – CS) The Bernucca List Kobe Bryant Nick Collison Tim Duncan Jeff Foster Manu Ginobili Chris Kaman Andrei Kirilenko Dirk Nowitzki Tony Parker Paul Pierce Tayshaun
Talking ’bout Rajon Rondo, the Mavs and Team USA
I don’t think the Celtics should trade Rajon Rondo. I think the NBA champion Dallas Mavericks are going to have to overpay to keep both Tyson Chandler and J.J. Barea. And I also foresee an epic gold medal game between the United States and Spain at the 2012 London Olympics next summer. (From our archives is this piece I wrote in September regarding the Spanish team’s chances in the Olympics after covering EuroBasket 2011 in Lithuania, along with this piece on
The Dwight Howard situation is fluid
NBA Photos; Retouch by @stevesolis
Amnesty for Brandon Roy? Not so fast
I went on the radio in Portland yesterday morning with Chad Doing on KXTG 750 The Game to discuss whether the Trail Blazers should waive Brandon Roy, and my opinion was : What’s the hurry? (Click here to listen to the interview). You only get to use the amnesty clause once during the 10-year collective bargaining agreement, and it is becoming clear that several teams, such as Washington with Rashard Lewis, would prefer to keep it in their back pocket for use sometime
Rookie of the Year: Could it be the Knicks’ Jordan?
Breaking sports news video. MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL highlights and more. NEW YORK — What if I told you there is an incoming NBA rookie currently playing in Slovenia who absolutely schooled Jonas Valanciunas a couple weeks ago in a EuroCup game (20 points and 8 rebounds to Valanciunas’ 5 points and 8 rebounds). He is the same guy who had 11 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks last night against BC Akovmas of Ukraine. He is also the same guy who was
Weijia Column: Chandler: “I’ll stay here in China”
BEIJING — When the NBA’s nuclear winter ended, Wilson Chandler was sitting in his bed, playing video games by himself. He opened his Twitter account and saw someone tweeting “the lockout ended!” But he didn’t believe it at first, “because there were rumors every day about it, I thought it just another one.” A phone call from his agent Chris Luchey came in later, Luchey told Chandler, “This time it’s true, the lockout ended. The NBA season will begin on Christmas day.” Chandler
Chris Paul: “My heart is in New Orleans”
Breaking sports news video. MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL highlights and more. By Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog NEW YORK — Two years ago, LeBron James teased Knicks fans for an entire season before “The Decision” ultimately brought him to South Beach. Last year the Carmelo Anthony Sweepstakes dominated the New York headlines until he ultimately landed with the Knicks at the trade deadline. Now it’s Chris Paul’s turn. The New Orleans Hornets point guard becomes a free agent next summer, and until then he will continue to answer
Hubbard column: Did players really lose? You mean like they did in 1999?
Less than two decades after James Naismith invented basketball, he attended a game between Kansas and Missouri and was appalled when he saw Rule No. 5 of his Thirteen Original Rules of Basketball being violated. That rule calls for, “No shouldering, holding, pushing, tripping or striking,” because the premise of basketball was that it would be a non-contact sport. Even by 1910, however, players were doing what comes natural, gleefully banging into each other like a bunch of early-day Charles Oakleys