NEW YORK — See ya after the All-Star break, Rajon. The NBA suspended Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics for two games Monday for throwing a ball at a referee and striking him in the chest. NBA VP of violence Stu Jackson announced the suspension, which will be served tonight when the Celtics play a home game against Dallas and Wednesday when they visit Oklahoma City. The incident occurred with 3 minutes remaining in the third quarter of the Celtics’ 96-81 loss to
NEW YORK – Howard Eisley made millions and millions of dollars playing in the NBA, first as the backup to John Stockton in Utah and then as one of the many forgettable floor generals for the New York Knicks over the past decade. He is still in the league, now working as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers. And he is going to have to dip into his bank account (or, more likely, receive a paycheck with a large involuntary
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 — Busy morning in Stu Jackson’s office, with another suspension announced in addition to the one given to Lakers coach Mike Brown. Kevin Love of the Minnesota Timberwolves won’t have a double-double Tuesday night or Wednesday night when the Wolves play a back-to-back set against Sacramento and Memphis. The Timberwolves forward was hit with a two-game suspension Monday by NBA vice president Stu Jackson “for driving his foot into the upper body and face of the Houston Rockets’ Luis Scola
NEW YORK — I alluded to this in yesterday’s power rankings: Coaches need to set examples, and coaches need to impart upon their players that the worst time to get a technical foul is in the fourth quarter. Mike Brown picked up two of them in rapid succession Saturday night in the fourth quarter of the Lakers-Jazz game, and today he is paying the price. NBA vie president of violence Stu Jackson announced that Brown has been suspended one game without pay and fined
On Jan. 31, Derrick Favors will have an extra deduction from his paycheck. Late in the third quarter of Thursday’s loss to Dallas, the forward of the Utah Jazz threw a ball into the stands in disagreement with an offensive foul call. His immediate punishment was ejection from referee Matt Boland. On Saturday, the NBA decided Favors needed further discipline and fined him $25,000. The fine came from NBA VP of Violence Stu Jackson, who has been remarkably inactive this season. Gotta love
If you punch an opposing player, you get an automatic suspension. If you smack an opposing player in the neck, do you incur the wrath of Stu Jackson? Kevin Garnett will find out soon enough after he hit Knicks forward Bill Walker in the neck with an open-handed smack after missing the potential game-tying jumper in Boston’s season-opening loss to the New York Knicks. Walker had to be restrained from going after Garnett, who may have been fouled on the final attempt. Television
By Chris Bernucca This NBA lockout is a 12-inch stupid sandwich. The owners have been stupid in believing they could get back in one negotiation everything they have given away over the last 12 years. The players have been stupid in underestimating the backlash from a fickle fan base hit hard by a nationwide economic malaise. And both sides have been extremely stupid in coming close enough to shake hands, then refusing to with the childish insistence of “You first!” It is another in