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Over the All-Star break, news broke that longtime Los Angeles Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss had been hospitalized and was battling cancer.
Monday, Dr. Buss passed away.
[Heisler on Buss: As owners go, he stands alone]
Many NBA players (former and current), owners and personnel sent their regards via Twitter.
Week 10 of the NBA Season coincides with the New Year. The Los Angeles Clippers look to continue to roll with their 16 game win streak. They have done it against a pretty tough schedule and this week it doesn’t get any easier with four games in five nights including @DEN – the league’s best home record, home to LAL in a pseudo home game for both clubs and a home and away against the surprising Warriors, who have no one but the Clippers to prepare for this week.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, the Charlotte Bobcats are carrying an 18 game losing streak following a heartbreaker against New Orleans last night. Their best hope for a win this week is Friday against the equally lowly Cavaliers. They get three days of rest to prepare for Kyrie Irving and company.
One team has already gotten started on its New Year’s resolutions. Last week, we highlighted that the schedule favored the Brooklyn Nets with 3 very winnable games while the rest of their division was playing exclusively on the road. After losing the first one, they fired head coach Avery Johnson and gave P.J. Carlesimo the interim responsibilities. They won those last two winnable games and gained ground on everyone but the Raptors. They are so happy, there are rumours that Carlesimo will be offered the job full time. This week though the schedule gets a lot tougher and opinions are likely to change.
In an effort to close their gaping hole at small forward, the slumping Toronto Raptors on Friday signed veteran Mickael Pietrus.
No terms were disclosed. Pietrus spent last season with the Boston Celtics but was not re-signed. During the offseason, he was looking for either a multi-year deal or a one-year contract at more than the veteran’s minimum. The France native also contemplated playing in Europe.
Now that we are about a month into the NBA season, are you disappointed in the performance of a player or two on your favorite team?
Take a number and get in line.
There are dozens of players who are not coming close to meeting expectations this season. And when you factor in their salaries and how much they limit their team’s financial flexibility, it can be downright infuriating.
We all have a general idea of what Mike D’Antoni wants to do as the coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Get them to score a whole lot more, for one.
D’Antoni is a well-documented offensive wizard, so if anyone can figure out how to best utilize the endless amount of talent on the roster, it would be him, no matter what Magic Johnson wants to say about it.
We don’t know, however, of his plans in greater detail – mostly because we haven’t heard him say anything about it yet.
That changed on Thursday when he was officially introduced as the newest head coach of the team.
