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The injury-ravaged Minnesota Timberwolves signed forward Josh Howard on Friday in an effort to strengthen their depleted roster.
No terms were disclosed, although it is likely Howard – beginning his 10th season – received the veteran’s minimum. He will be in uniform when the Timberwolves host the Golden State Warriors on Friday night.
If you are Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander or GM Daryl Morey, how much more rope are you giving 
Royce White?
Apparently, not much more. The Rockets are now fining White for every day he is not with the team or does not attend therapy sessions arranged by the team, according to the Houston Chronicle.
By all accounts, White is an immensely talented 21-year-old rookie power forward. (I don’t watch much college basketball, so I’ve never seen him play.) He also has an anxiety disorder that often manifests itself in a fear of flying, which makes it kind of hard to be an NBA player.
White missed training camp and the early portion of preseason while he and the Rockets developed a two-pronged plan of travel and treatment, arranging for him to be driven to games whenever feasible and scheduling therapy sessions with Dr. Aaron Fink of the Baylor College of Medicine.
But White has been blowing off those sessions. He also has been blowing off games and practices since Sunday. He also has used a press release and his Twitter account to blast the Rockets, saying the team used his condition against him to deny him the ability to earn playing time, leading to a D-League assignment he has ignored.
Last week’s edition of The Bernucca List was correctly answered by reader Cory, who determined the five players listed all have been teammates of Michael Jordan. So congrats to Cory. Nice job, and please keep reading.
Our first list of the season was up for less than 10 minutes before the right answer was posted. Our second list had been posted for less than an hour before Cory nailed the answer. So this week, we have come up with what we believe is a tougher list.
You can vote for Omri Casspi on the NBA All-Star ballot. But you have to write in – or text in – Damian Lillard. 
The NBA released its ballot for the 2013 All-Star Game on Tuesday. Voting began this afternoon.
As it announced earlier, the center position no longer exists on the ballot. There are still 60 players from each conference, but instead of 24 guards, 24 forwards and 12 centers, there are 24 guards and 36 frontcourt players.
However, by our count there are 12 legitimate centers in the Eastern Conference frontcourt section: Andrew Bynum, Tyson Chandler, Samuel Dalembert, Spencer Hawes, Roy Hibbert, Al Horford, Brook Lopez, Greg Monroe, Nene, Joakim Noah, Emeka Okafor and Anderson Varejao.
Phil Jackson released a statement Monday that said he was awakened at midnight Sunday by a phone call from Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak and told that Mike D’Antoni had been hired as coach.
Jackson said he met with Kupchak and Lakers executive Jim Buss for 90 minutes on Saturday, during which no contract issues were discussed. His statement implies that his next contact with the team was Kupchak’s call.
From Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times: “Saturday morning, Jim Buss called to ask if he could come and visit. I didn’t solicit or ask for the opportunity but I welcomed both him and Mitch Kupchak into my home to discuss the possibility of my return to the Lakers as head coach. We talked for over an hour and a half. No contractual terms were discussed and we concluded with a handshake and an understanding that I would have until Monday to come back to them with my decision. I did convey to them that I did have the confidence that I could do the job.
