Boston Celtics center Kevin Garnett was fined $25,000 by the NBA on Wednesday for not making himself available to the media following the team’s Game 7 loss at Miami on Saturday. The Celtics lost, 101-88, and were eliminated from the postseason, one win shy of the NBA Finals. Obviously upset with the loss, Garnett left the locker room without speaking with reporters. Garnett just completed his 17th season and is said to be considering retirement despite a renaissance in which he averaged
Right now, the Oklahoma City Thunder are trying to figure out how to get three more wins over the Miami Heat and claim the NBA championship. Whether they can do that remains to be seen. But once the Finals are over, the Thunder will have another issue on their hands – putting a coach in place for next season. Thunder coach Scott Brooks does not have a contract for next season. And while a trip to the NBA Finals makes it seem
// All eyes were supposed to be on LeBron James as the NBA Finals began Tuesday night. Would James continue his spectacular postseason? Would he put his disappearing acts in last year’s Finals behind him? Would he finally break through and win his first championship? Those aren’t the questions fans are asking anymore. In fact, after one game, the focus is no longer on James. It is on Kevin Durant, whose 36 points and eight rebounds lifted the Oklahoma City Thunder to
csprtContainer(); The Oklahoma City Thunder are one of the youngest teams in history to reach the NBA Finals, where historically young teams do not do very well. Hall of Fame NBA writer Mark Heisler references the 1995 Orlando Magic, who knocked off Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls to reach the NBA Finals, only to be swept by the older Houston Rockets – who just happened to have the experience of being defending champions. Does Heisler believe the Thunder will crash and burn
Tonight is Game 1 of the NBA Finals, and the buzz is palpable. Can the Heat draw on last year’s disappointment as motivation? Is the stage too big and bright for the youth of the Thunder? Which team will get its vaunted transition game going? And if it is a one-possession game in the final minute, will LeBron James again become a shrinking violet or impose his newly indomitable will? We all want to see a competitive series with no shortage of spectacular
Michael Heisley, who moved the Grizzlies from Vancouver to Memphis over 10 years ago, is selling the team to a group owned by communications technology executive Robert J. Pera. The team announced the sale agreement Monday in a news release that did not disclose financial terms, although ESPN.com reported the price to be $350 million. The sale is pending the approval of the NBA Board of Governors, antitrust clearance and other conditions. Heisley, 75, bought the Grizzlies in 2000, when the franchise
The 12 referees who work the NBA Finals will wear No. 57 on their jerseys as a show of recognition to colleague Greg Willard, who has pancreatic cancer. A 24-year veteran, Willard is one of the NBA’s top officials, having worked the last two NBA Finals, the pinnacle of officiating. He was still working in the early rounds of this postseason before pulling out with an undisclosed illness. The gesture was arranged by the National Basketball Referees Association with the NBA’s cooperation. “Greg’s
It is Chris Bosh’s lot in life to be the third member of the “Big Three.” In the Heat heirarchy, he always is placed behind LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, whose games are more captivating and awe-inspiring. He was mocked last season for crying after a string of tough losses. In this postseason, his nine-game absence due to an abdominal strain was somewhat minimized when James and Wade snapped out of their doldrums and put together an awesome two-pronged attack that obliterated