Why isn’t Josh Smith in the All-Star Game? Smith has been the best and most consistent player this season on the Atlanta Hawks, who have the same record (20-14) as the Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets and deserve to have an All-Star. But the Hawks probably don’t deserve two All-Stars. At least that’s what the Eastern Conference coaches felt, picking Joe Johnson and snubbing Smith, whose numbers are considerably better. When Johnson had to bow out with an injury earlier
// ORLANDO — Shall we call him “Daffy,” “Donald,” or “Floyd Mayweather?” Which “duck” moniker is most fitting? Because NBA commissioner David Stern, asked a fair question tonight by yours truly at his annual All-Star news conference, did the finest bob-and-weave in NBA history while refusing to answer whether squashing the trade that would have sent Chris Paul to the Lakers was the right thing to do. Here is a transcript of the back-and-forth: Q. It’s been two months now since you vetoed the
ORLANDO — We’ll begin this morning by offering our congratulations to Sam Smith for receiving the Curt Gowdy Media Award, which means he gets to join our own Mark Heisler and former AP colleague Jim O’Connell in the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. Smith, like Heisler a victim of the Tribune company’s talent purge, now writes unfiltered for Bulls.com. You should read his column every Monday. He gets to write without being edited, which can be a blessing and
NBA commissioner David Stern said the field of potential buyers of the league-owned New Orleans Hornets as been whitted down to 2 or 3, and a sale could be imminent. “I’m optimistic and hopeful that we will complete the sale by the end of the month,” stern told USA Today in an intewview at NBA headquarters in Manhattan. “We’re talking with multiple perspective buyers, but we’re anticipating the ability to close by the end of the month,” Stern said. “We’ve had offers
Rajon Rondo is in; Joe Johnson is out. In a compressed season where the injuries have come one after another, it was nothing short of miraculous that all of the chosen 24 All-Stars were relatively healthy and would be in action Sunday. Until now. Johnson, a reserve on the Eastern Conference, will skip the weekend festivities to rest a sore left knee, the Atlanta Hawks announced Wednesday. The Hawks had already Johnson would sit out Wednesday’s game at New York and Thursday’s contest vs.
Did David Stern unintentionally direct Jeremy Lin to the New York Knicks? The commissioner vetoed the first Chris Paul trade, which would have sent Houston Rockets point guard Goran Dragic to the New Orleans Hornets. The Rockets had five point guards in training camp – Lin, Dragic, Kyle Lowry, Jonny Flynn and Bulgarian combo guard Ibrahim Jabeer, who did not play in either preseason game. Lin didn’t exactly burn, either, getting eight total minutes. Lowry, Dragic and Flynn had guaranteed contracts, so the
When it comes to running franchises, David Stern is doing a great impersonation of Ted Stepien. Stepien owned the Cleveland Cavaliers in the early 1980s and spent most of his time firing coaches, overpaying mediocre players and trading away so many draft picks that the NBA instituted the “Ted Stepien Rule,” which now prevents teams from trading first-round picks in consecutive years. Stepien’s mismanagement of the Cavaliers had to be fixed by the NBA. But the NBA – led by Stern –
NEW YORK — Don’t make contact with the refs. Not even a little. That was the message that came down from league headquarters today when Robin Lopez of the Phoenix Suns was suspended one game for brushing up against an official with 8:14 remaining in the second quarter of the Suns’ 99-96 loss to the Toronto Raptors in Phoenix, Ariz. on Jan. 24. Lopez will serve his suspension Friday when the Suns visit the Portland Trail Blazers. To view the play click on the