- LeBron James, however, told Carmelo Anthony that he was really hurt. Berman has more: “At halftime, while the Knicks were taking warm-up shots, Anthony and James chatted. James came over to the Knicks bench in his gray suit and white sneakers to schmooze. If it was meant to distract the Knicks, it didn’t work as Anthony hit his first four shots of the second half. “He’s hurt,’’ Anthony said of his buddy. “I don’t think he sat out for no reason. He told me he was hurt.’’ Anthony said he was going to try to light up South Beach — ploy or no ploy. “My mindset was the same whether they played or not,’’ Anthony said. “My mindset was come out and attack early in the game, get something going, get off to a good start and try to win a basketball game.’’
- John Wall apparently thinks there are eight point guards better than him, from David Aldridge of NBA.com: “Even Wall acknowledges those four are better than he is. “You’ve got Chris Paul, Russell,” he said Sunday night. “Derrick right now. I’d say Kyrie [Irving]’s up there, doing pretty good. I like [Portland’s] Damian Lillard. I’d say he’s up there in that category. He’s playing out of his mind, to play like he’s a rookie. I feel like those years in college really helped him. I feel like they’d be the top.” He agrees, when Rajon Rondo’s name is mentioned, that Rondo is better. He goes along with Denver’s Ty Lawson, and volunteers Golden State’s Stephen Curry. And that’s the list. Eight better.”
- James Dolan briefly fired a security guard for not knowing who he is, from Larry Celona of New York Post: “A Madison Square Garden spokesperson said last night: “The MSG Arena has executive offices and suites and, like any other company, we have security for those areas. Security personnel in those areas need to know who executives are from the company and, in an effort to assist them, we provide photos and bios.” On Sunday, Dolan became enraged after security guard Fiordaliza Hernandez asked for his ID outside of the Delta Sky 360 club, sources said. “Do you know who I am?” Dolan said to the guard. Hernandez admitted she didn’t and refused to let him through. The MSG chief got so mad at the snub, he fired Hernandez on the spot — though overnight he had a change of heart and reinstated the woman on Monday, sources said.”
- Here’s what coach Rick Adelman had to say about the year he has had, from Sam Amick of USA Today: “I’ve never had a year like this — ever — off the court and on the court,” Adelman told USA TODAY Sports. “It’s like the longest year in the world. The last two years with this team, I thought we had a chance to be pretty good and make some strides. But the injuries have just destroyed anything we wanted to do. And it’s hard to get guys to keep coming when you don’t have the firepower that you need. So it’s been a long year and a half. “I’m just taking each day as it comes and will make a decision (about his future) somewhere down the road. The biggest concern is to try and keep these guys going — and my wife, obviously.”
- Shaquille O’Neal saw great potential in Dwight Howard when he saw what the young center could do in the dunk contest, from Ramona Shelburne of ESPN Los Angeles: “I look what he did at the dunk contest, when he dunked 15 feet,” O’Neal said of Howard. “That’s incredible. I don’t think Wilt [Chamberlain] would have been able to. I know I definitely wouldn’t have been able to do that. I just look at stuff like that, he has potential to be one of the greatest big men ever. “But he has to want it.” It was a compliment and another challenge. In years past it sounded petty, but on the night O’Neal ascended to the rafters of Staples Center, it felt more like advice.”
- Ray Allen was livid after seeing what Mike Rice did to his players, from Ethan J. Skolnick of The Palm Beach Post: “I mean, it was just despicable,” Allen said. “Not only as a parent, but I think about where I went, the places I’ve gone in my career, my parents kind of lent me to all these other people. I’ve been raised not only by Mom and Dad, but by several coaches, AAU coaches, high school coaches and then my college coach, and all of them had a hand in getting me to who I am today. And not to mention the teachers that I grew up under, learning, so we trust in the people we lend our kids off to, to help them grow. And I only hope when I let my kids go, there’s somebody watching them and growing and making sure they do that.” “What I’ve seen in that video was despicable. It made me want to fight, it made me want to fight this guy, watching him throw the ball at those players. Because that’s me, wanting to learn, you make mistakes, you’re not doing it on purpose, you’re trying to learn. And that’s what coaches should do, you teach. Yelling at kids and throwing balls at them, there’s no place for that.”
matt says
I think the best possible scenario for the Nugget’s season would be a ruin to the finals; the subsequent shift in the NBA “Superstar” concept would be huge, and would hopefully lead more clubs to redirect their thinking back to more of a “team” concept, than that of a “primadonna” culture. I love the Nuggets and love the way they all rely on each other; I’ve been turning on my iPad after my shifts at DISH end and watching the games live on the bus ride home. They are actually an inspiring team, rather than a bunch of bloated, overpaid attention-junkies. My DISH Anywhere app lets me take my TV and DVR wherever I go, and there’s nothing I like better, after working all day, than turning on the tablet and watching my TEAM dominate.
James Park says
It’s a real shame that Gallo will miss the remainder of the season. It really hurts what they had going.
Daniel says
It’s always so easy to throw guys under the bus once they’re gone. If it weren’t for Karl’s valiant fight with cancer, I’d totally put him on blast right now.
If JR Smith and Carmelo Anthony had unmanageable egos then, and were so uncoachable, how do you explain Mike Woodson’s success with both? I have a hard time imagining it’s simply because of time and maturity. I think A LOT of it can be traced back to Karl’s own personality.
All of these Larry Brown-taskmasters ultimately become tiresome for a player.