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On the heels of Monday night’s 91-94 loss to the Charlotte Bobcats, the Boston Celtics have been hit with more bad news.
Backup guard Leandro Barbosa injured his knee in the third quarter and had to be carried off of the court.
An MRI on Tuesday revealed that he did, in fact, tear his ACL, and will now miss the rest of the season.
Jared Sullinger, whose season ended recently after undergoing surgery on his back, tweeted words of encouragement to his teammate.
Fans of the game and teammates alike have always taken a liking to Brian Scalabrine. He’s embraced his place in the game, and people respect that.
Whether it was fans yelling for the coach to put him in the game or just being featured through NBA Meme’s on Facebook, Brian Scalabrine has long been an entertaining figure.
Today around noon, Scal decided to officially join Twitter.
It has been a couple of days now since the Thunder traded away a big part of their future in James Harden, but that hardly stopped anyone from still buzzing about it all.
Who won the trade? Did the Thunder give up on their chance to contend after making it to the Finals last season over money? What does it mean for the Rockets, who suddenly look a whole lot more interesting?
Our columnist Chris Bernucca was far from thrilled with the idea of the Thunder being content with keeping a sustainable team. Sheridan shared similar sentiments in this video, but fellow blogger Jeremy Bauman thought only time can tell who really won in this deal.
Plenty of others shared their thoughts about it all. See them below along with news you should know heading into the season opener:
James Harden talked about his initial reaction to being traded, from Ben Golliver of SI: “James Harden’s “Welcome to Houston” media tour continued throughout Sunday, and after getting out in front of the biggest question — whether he will sign with the Rockets long term — he did double back to admit that he was caught by surprise when the Oklahoma City Thunder abruptly traded him late Saturday night. “I was actually at dinner with my family,” Harden told CSNHouston’s Kelli Johnson. “Enjoying dinner, nice and quiet. I got a text from my general manager, Sam Presti. I called him. He told me that he loved me and that things didn’t work out and that I was going to be coming to Houston. I was kind of stunned, but as I thought about it, it could be a good thing for me.” The next morning, Harden was on his way to Houston, jumping through the necessary hoops that go with being moved. “A whirlwind,” he said. “Having to pack my things, get as much as possible, having physicals, getting to meet the team and the front office here, it’s been great. It’s kind of a loss for words.”
Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman has the inside scoop on the discussion that went on between Sam Presti and Harden and his agent in the final hour before the trade: “But Sam Presti told him. Presti’s lips now are sealed, but sources from both parties said that the Thunder appealed one final time to Harden on Friday. Upped its offer to $53 million over four years but told Harden if he didn’t take it, he would be traded to Houston. Presti didn’t use that as a warning. He used it as a plea. He desperately wanted to keep Harden, but this was the last best offer. And the Thunder gave Harden an hour to accept. It wasn’t that Presti was trying to play hardball, necessarily. He was on the clock. That deal with the Rockets wouldn’t last forever; Houston wanted Harden early enough to sign him to a contract extension by the Halloween deadline. Presti had decided that if Harden wouldn’t sign an extension with OKC, a preseason deal offered the Thunder its best leverage. Harden, through his agent, said he needed three days. Presti stood firm on one hour. And 60 minutes later, Presti called the Rockets and consummated a rare NBA October blockbuster trade.”
Shaquille O’Neal and Allen Iverson were, once upon a time, some of the most dominant players the league had ever seen at their respective positions. When you’re that good, sometimes it’s hard to let it all go no matter how old you become. This appears to be the case with O’Neal and Iverson, as both are in talks to play somewhere outside of the NBA in the near future. See the latest update on their situations, along with other relevant items from Thursday:
Shaquille O’Neal may come out of retirement to play basketball again. It just won’t be in the NBA, from Xavier Cabello of ESPN Deportes: “Shaquille O’Neal is in talks to play a few games in the Mexican league, Sergio Ganem, president of the Fuerza Regia team, said Wednesday. The 15-time NBA All-Star would play a couple of games this October. The 40-year-old retired NBA center received the invitation this past August during a visit to Monterrey, where he did some social work at a community center for youth in wheelchairs. No deal is in place, but Ganem spoke with O’Neal by phone in an attempt to convince him to return to action, and the team expects a response from O’Neal next week. Ganem noted that O’Neal’s availability will depend, in large part, upon his schedule as analyst for TNT’s Inside the NBA.”
Bill Ingram of Hoopsworld explains why exciting times are ahead for the Suns despite the loss of Steve Nash and Grant Hill. Goran Dragic is one reason: “Rest assured, there are equally exciting times ahead for the Suns. To start with, while Goran Dragic is no Nash, he is also not the same player he was when Suns fans last saw him. He is a much more controlled player, who often exhibits the court vision he learned while mentoring under Nash. A Kyle Lowry injury forced Dragic into a starting role with Houston last season, and during his 28 starts he averaged 18 points and 8.4 assists while shooting 84% from the foul line, 38% from three-point range and 49 percent overall. As a starter last season, Dragic was more efficient than Chris Paul, to put those numbers into perspective. The Suns will miss Nash, but Dragic is more than ready to lead his own team.”
Dionte Christmas described the work ethic and the greatness of Jason Terry, from Jessica Camerato of CSNNE: “This guy’s coming in at nighttime when nobody’s in the gym. [Tuesday] it was just like me, him, and the janitor in the gym just getting it in for a good hour, working hard. He does it when nobody’s looking. That’s the stuff that gives me motivation because I like to get work in during the day and rest at night, but I see what it takes to be successful in the league. He’s a champion, he has been very successful over his career, so watching him and talking to him, I know what it takes.”… “Usually when I walk in the gym with someone, I’m usually the best shooter in the gym,” Christmas said. “Flat out, like I know I can shoot better than all these guys. But when I’m in the gym with Jason, I get to really test how good of a shooter I really am . . . Jason is a great shooter and for me to shoot the ball as well as I am with him shows that I really can shoot the ball well at this level.”
The newest Hall of Fame member Reggie Miller won’t rule out a front-office job in the future with the Pacers, according to Mike Wells of Indianapolis Star: “Reggie Miller spent his entire professional playing career with the Indiana Pacers. Now he does not rule out returning to the franchise if the right front-office position becomes available. ”I never close any doors,” Miller said. “I listen to everything. (Owner) Herb Simon and I have had this conversation before. So yes, if something presented itself, I would definitely look at it and go from there.” The Pacers have been led by either Donnie Walsh or Larry Bird for nearly the past 30 years.”
Dwyane Wade has been making several guest appearances on television shows over the past few days. Dan Devine of Ball Don’t Lie has the video of Wade’s latest appearance on “Good Afternoon America”: “On Wednesday, Wade’s whirlwind TV tour took him to ABC’s “Good Afternoon America” for a sit-down with hosts Josh Elliott and Lana Spencer, where the two-time NBA champion took part in a word association game called “What’s the Word?,” in which the hosts showed the guest a picture and he had to say the first thing that came to his mind. First up: The flip-up sunglasses that Wade wore to his postgame press conference after Game 4 of the 2012 NBA finals, which elicited a one-word reply: “Swag.” The second picture: Noted thespian and, apparently, young Wade role model David Hasselhoff.”
Don Nelson played “Nellie Ball” only when his teams weren’t good enough to play any other way, from Henry Abbott of True Hoop: “What’s your reaction when you hear people talking about Nellie Ball? How would you define it? I suppose it means small ball, fast and exciting, point forward, players playing out of position … all those kinds of things. It’s kind of funny to me when people talk about stuff like that. I don’t necessarily think it’s accurate. You only play Nellie Ball when you don’t have a very good team, or when you have a bunch of good small players and not many good big players. When you have bad teams, you’ve got to be creative to win games you’re not supposed to win. I was innovative when I had to be, but I wasn’t innovative when I didn’t have to be. When I had good teams and big teams, I didn’t play small ball. When I was in Milwaukee and we had Bob Lanier, we went inside. What I did really was evaluate the team and play the way that I thought we had to play to be the most competitive. If I had a big center, I wouldn’t have played so fast. I would have waited for Lanier to get down [the court] like I did in Milwaukee. Those teams were defensive-oriented and those were my best teams, too, by the way.”
Dwight Howard wanted his fans to roast him on twitter on Wednesday. He decided to roast some of them back, from IAMAGM: “Dwight Howard engaged in a twitter roast late Wednesday night with his social media fans. A lot of jokes and comedy, all very light-hearted. A few unique comments we were able to find has Dwight Howard yapping about Jermaine O’Neal, Kwame Brown and Derrick Rose. Twitter’s new structure makes it very hard to find when confirmed accounts interact directly with their users.”
If you are a Lakers fan, you are going to enjoy today’s news because there will be plenty to read about, from Kobe Bryant’s role on the new team, Dwight Howard’s injury status, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s statue, what Steve Nash does to be such a great shooter and more. Also, see what Rajon Rondo wants to remembered as when his career is over, and why Mario Chalmers doesn’t think Rondo is the best point guard in the league:
How great does Rajon Rondo want to be for the Boston Celtics? Only the greatest of all time, from Rey Joble of InterAKTV: “Barely four hours after landing in Manila, NBA all-star guard Rajon Rondo took time to unwind at the Titan 22 barber shop at The Fort. He then went straight to scheduled business, talking to local media about, among other things, his place in Boston Celtics lore. “I hope I can end my career as the greatest point guard in the history of the Boston Celtics,” he said. He doesn’t know where he ranks just yet on the list of top lead guards in the history of the green and white, a lineup that includes all-time greats such as Bob Cousy, Jo Jo White, Nate Archibald, and Dennis Johnson, among others.”
Mario Chalmers stated that it was bold of Rondo to say he is the best point guard in the league, then went on to call himself “in the front end of the top 10″ in an interview with Peter Emerick of Bleacher Report: “Peter Emerick: ”Rajon Rondo recently said that he’s the NBA’s top point guard. What are your thoughts on that, and where do you think you rank among all the point guards in the NBA?” Mario Chalmers: ”He’s not the best, but he’s in the top five. There are a lot of great point guards in the league, Deron Williams, Chris Paul and Steve Nash. There are a lot of great guards in the NBA so for him to say he’s the best is a pretty bold statement. I’d say that I [Mario Chalmers] am in the front end of the top 10.”
Many things will have to go right for the Lakers to be title favorites, and Kobe Bryant will be in the center of it all. Good thing he is great at cutting and moving without the ball, according to Zach Lowe of SI: “All of us have been fretting, to some degree, about Bryant’s willingness to play nice within a new ecosystem that will feature the Princeton offense, an elite point guard and a pick-and-roll beast of a center. The concern is justified. But in all of this collective anxiety, we’ve sort of buried a very basic fact about Kobe Bryant: He is a fantastic off-ball cutter. Bryant is renowned for both his work ethic and his basketball intelligence. If you asked 100 players to name the smartest “basketball” guy in the league, I’d wager Kobe would finish among the top three or four vote-getters. (Nash would certainly give him a run.) Bryant’s footwork in the post is legend. That same nimble footwork, plus a heady sense of anticipation and space, makes Bryant a genius off-ball player when he wants to be.”
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won’t have to complain about a lack of statue of himself soon enough, by Kelly Dwyer of Ball Don’t Lie: “Kareem can moan no more, probably, because the Lakers very definitely have decided to give the man a statue. Even though Laker spokesman John Black rightfully pointed out that the team wasn’t in the business of tossing up a statue “every year,” the team has announced that Abdul-Jabbar will get his very own massive stone ideal. It will be unveiled during the 2012-13 season, though no date has been set in stone. Perhaps now the Kareem and the Lakers’ relationship will be off the rocks.”
There is no timetable for Dwight Howard to return to basketball activities as of now, according to Mike Trudell of NBA.com: “Dwight Howard is currently doing his therapy/rehabilitation from back surgery at a facility in the Westwood/Century City area of L.A. At some point, he will transition over to working with Lakers head athletic trainer Gary Vitti, the team’s head physical therapist Dr. Judy Seto and the rest of Vitti’s staff (a time has not yet been set). Lakers spokesman John Black said Howard will not be doing any basketball/weight workouts until he’s cleared medically, and that there is no target date for any of that at this point.”
Andrew Bynum of the Philadelphia 76ers
Kenny Smith shared some thoughts about Andrew Bynum’s development and his inability to better communicate with his coach, from Mark Medina of Los Angeles Times: “With Bynum joining Philadelphia, what do you see as his next step in continuing his development? I think he’ll realize he’s playing with some talented young kids. He’s not coming in to be a savior. He’s coming in to score, rebound and do the same things he was doing in L.A. The only difference is he will have even more minutes at it. How concerned were you with his inconsistent performances? I always thought he had a full effort. I just thought there were statements made that you could ask the guy who is 10 feet away from you. I’m from a different era. I never had a problem talking to a coach. I didn’t need to go to the papers. The guy is sitting 10 feet away from you, so have a conversation with him. I just felt a lot of times his conversations became public.”
Lang Whitaker of Slam Online has the story on why Ricky Rubio signed with Adidas instead of Nike: “On a rainy Portland morning, as the NBA Conference Finals are winding down, Ricky Rubio limps up a concrete stairway on the adidas campus following a controlled workout. Rubio had ACL surgery just weeks ago, and he’s in the early stages of rehab, on his way back to where he left off for the Minnesota Timberwolves pre-injury, as arguably the most exciting rookie in the NBA. Rubio has worn Nikes his entire career, at least up until today, when he is officially joining the team at adidas. “My Nike contract was finished last season,” Ricky, who averaged 10.6 ppg and 8.2 apg as a first-year NBA PG, explains, “and we were talking about re-signing, but they weren’t that interested, as much as other brands like adidas. Making my own shoe over here is a big deal.”
Sean Sweeney of Dime Magazine shared an old Steve Nash shooting workout video that goes over 20 minutes long. It’s still worth watching if you’ve never seen it: “Ever wanted to know how Steve Nash became such an unreal shooter? Well here he shows off a simple 20-minute workout that he uses to get loose and get his groove. Amazingly, he misses a bunch of shots throughout the first three or four minutes before turning it up. Eventually, he can’t miss, and hits the listeners with, “This is getting boring. I’m making every shot.” Nash can even make a shooting video funny.”Kobe Bryant predicted that Dwight Howard would become a Laker
