LOS ANGELES — I didn’t set out to major in Kobe Bryant, having long since graduated when he showed up here at 17. Things just led that way. I covered his father, Joe, whom he called Jellybean, as a 76ers rookie in the 1970s. I knew the family from Baker League games, where I met Joe’s gregarious father, Big Joe. After not having seen Joe for decades, I ran into him at the 1995 Adidas camp at Fairleigh Dickinson where his
Four point guards, including Jeremy Lin of the New York Knicks, were chosen as divisional winners for the annual NBA Sportsmanship Award. Lin, whose emergence from benchwarmer to star transcended the game for more than a month, is the finalist for the Atlantic Division. He is currently sidelined with a knee injury. Other point guard finalists are Jason Kidd of the Dallas Mavericks (Southwest), Luke Ridnour of the Minnesota Timberwolves (Northwest) and Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers (Pacific). The other two
Cleveland Cavaliers rookie guard Kyrie Irving, the likely Rookie of the Year, will miss a week to 10 days – and maybe the rest of the season – with an aggravated shoulder injury, the team announced Wednesday. Irving suffered a sprained and bruised shoulder Friday vs. Milwaukee and sat out Saturday’s loss to New York. He returned to action Tuesday vs. San Antonio and had 13 points and five assists but took another shot to the shoulder. On Wednesday, Irving did not travel
Kyrie Irving of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Isaiah Thomas of the Sacramento Kings maintained the point guard stranglehold on the NBA Rookie of the Month award. Irving won for the Eastern Conference for the fourth straight month and Thomas earned his second straight Western Conference honor, the league announced Monday. There have been eight monthly rookie awards this season, and point guards have won them all. Irving has swept the East honors and Ricky Rubio of the Minnesota Timberwolves won the first
When both the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks got off to sputtering starts to their seasons, the Philadelphia 76ers gladly assumed the void at the top of the Atlantic Division, which simultaneously is the worst and most valuable division in the NBA. Despite opening with a five-game road trip, the 76ers grabbed first place before arriving home and held onto it like it was a winning lottery ticket. Since Dec. 28, Philadelphia has not been out of the top spot
Mehmet Okur will soon be on the open market as he was released Wednesday by the Portland Trail Blazers, who signed J.J. Hickson. Okur was acquired last week in the deal that sent Gerald Wallace to the New Jersey Nets. He never took the court for Portland. Okur can be claimed on waivers, but the claiming team must honor his contract. If he clears waivers, he becomes a free agent. A 7-footer with 3-point range who can rebound a little, Okur would be
Another big man is on the market, although he isn’t all that good. Ryan Hollins was waived today by the cleveland Cavaliers, who apparently saw enough good things out of rookie Tristan Thompson in his two starts at center to deem the 7-foot Hollins expendable. Hollins is the second player waived by the Cavs in the past few days. They also released shooter Jason Kapono, who was acquired from the Los Angles Lakers in the Ramon Sessions deal. Players now dangling on the
A year ago, J.J. Hickson was in the running for the NBA’s Most Improved Player. Now he’s not even an NBA player. Hickson, 23, was waived Monday by the Sacramento Kings, the team announced. Yahoo! Sports reported that Hickson received a buyout. The 6-9 Hickson was a 2008 first-round pick of the Cleveland Cavaliers and was primarily a starter in the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons. He was one of the few bright spots in Cleveland’s dismal campaign a year ago, averaging career