Zach Randolph wasn’t happy about the officiating in Thursday’s Grizzlies-Rockets game. The NBA wasn’t happy about Randolph’s opinion of the officiating. Randolph was fined $25,000 by the NBA on Friday for his postgame comments about the referees, whom he called “horrible” and “awful.”
The NBA admitted Thursday that Blake Griffin should not have been ejected from Wednesday’s LA Clippers-Golden State game. “After a league review of the Clippers-Warriors game, we have come to the conclusion that Blake Griffin should not have been ejected from the game,” NBA president of basketball operations Rod Thorn said in a statement. “A common foul should have been called on Griffin for initially attempting to dislodge the Warriors’ Andrew Bogut and a technical foul should have been assessed to Bogut
It was kind of hard to figure out what the Milwaukee Bucks were doing this offseason. Allowing their entire backcourt rotation of Monta Ellis, Brandon Jennings and J.J. Redick to leave via free agency seemed to indicate a rebuilding project was about to begin. Jennings and Redick brought youngsters and draft picks in sign-and-trades, reinforcing that premise. Then GM John Hammond used his newfound cap space on middle-tier free agents O.J. Mayo, Zaza Pachulia and Carlos Delfino before dropping a big contract
The worst night of Paul Pierce’s career had a hangover. It wasn’t enough that the future Hall of Famer was held scoreless Monday for the first time since 1999, when he was a rookie. It also wasn’t enough that the Brooklyn Nets forward’s scoreless night ended with an ejection for a flagrant-2 foul on Pacers guard George Hill. On Tuesday, NBA president of basketball operations Rod Thorn – apparently not in any sort of holiday spirit – fined Pierce $15,000 for his clothesline
In his stated effort to upstage Knicks owner James Dolan, Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov has become him. Like Dolan, Prokhorov desperately wants an NBA championship. Like Dolan, he has pursued that desperation with financial abandon, giving his GM an open checkbook. Like Dolan, he has overspent on overvalued big names. Like Dolan, he has mortgaged his team’s future by giving away multiple draft picks. And like Dolan, he appears headed down the abyss. In two months, the Nets have gone from contenders with
The San Antonio Spurs are resting both Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili for Thursday night’s nationally televised road game vs. the Golden State Warriors, initially putting themselves at risk of another six-figure fine from the NBA. A release from Spurs media relations Thursday afternoon – titled an “injury report” – said both players were being held out of the game on TNT due to rest. It made no mention of injuries to either player. The release also said guard Tony Parker would
Back in October, our editor-in-chief asked the staff to make 10 fearless predictions for the 2013-14 season. One of the predictions I made was that Utah Jazz guard Trey Burke would win Rookie of the Year. Just as Damian Lillard was a season ago, Burke was ideally positioned to win the award. The Jazz acquired him with the express purpose of giving him the keys to the offense. They didn’t care how many times he wrecked it.
Remember back in October, when the handicappers in Vegas said the Philadelphia 76ers would win about 16 or 17 games? And remember in November, when the 76ers started their season with three straight wins, beating the Miami Heat, Washington Wizards and Chicago Bulls with Derrick Rose? How are those 17 wins looking now? Without the Hubble telescope, the Sixers can’t see them. The small sample size of the season’s first week – three surprising wins, a rookie as Player of the Week – is