LeBron admitted that he was fatigued at the end of Game 2 in part because with Chris Bosh out he’s had to play a lot more power forward. Here is the exact quote via the Miami Herald.

“It’s a lot more taxing being in there with bigger guys,” James said. Defensively “is the biggest difference. When you’re on the perimeter, there’s more space. The interior is more cramped and physical. … But I’m ready for the challenge.”

LeBron did a solid defensive job on David West in Game 2 (he was 5-13 overall), but that is a big strong man and covering him no doubt wears you down.

Which ties into the second key issue here — without Bosh LeBron played the entire second half. During the regular season LeBron had the second best PER in the league in the fourth quarter (behind Chris Paul) but with the Heat’s rotations he usually sat to start the fourth and came back in around the seven-minute mark. He was rested and more aggressive

Not any more.

Now LeBron has to power through. Literally.

And if the Heat are going to win Game 3 and this series, he is going to have to find the energy not to physically fade, not to settle for jumpers late in the game. He needs to attack.

Source probasketballtalk

The head of USA Basketball, Jerry Colangelo, said Popovich is a leading candidate for the head coaching spot.

"You have to be able to adapt. Coach K came in and we changed the infrastructure, the culture, the program. After London, we'll sit down and look at everything. Pop would certainly be a leading candidate if it's going to be a pro coach."

Of course there was some reported ill-will between Pop and Colangelo when Coach K was chosen over Pop but according to Colangelo, it was simply a case of misunderstanding.

"If you recall, Mike and Pop were my two choices in 2005," Colangelo said in a phone interview. "When I talked to Coach K, he almost jumped through the phone. I didn't sense that same enthusiasm in my conversation with 'Pop.' Afterward, he sent me a letter and said I misinterpreted what he said. He felt I had misjudged him, and maybe I did. But that was a long time ago. How can anyone argue with his record, his performance? With him as a great coach?"

It is hard to argue against Pop taking over the reigns as head coach of Team USA but you have to wonder if Pop is willing to still coach in 2016. That's four years from now and who knows if he will have stepped aside as Spurs head coach or simply just be done with the game of basketball as he sips wine in retirement.

However, a chance to coach on the international level could be appealing to Pop. He pretty much has been coaching international teams in San Antonio and has experience with Team USA as an assistant coach in 2004 in Athens.

If Pop takes the job, there is no doubt Team USA will be gaining one of the greatest coaches in NBA history.

What do you have to say Spurs fans? Can you see Pop guiding Team USA for the 2016 Olympic games?

Source projectspurs

Sources mavsmoneyball

Bynum on the last two minutes: “Oh my goodness, we’re better than Santa Claus. Gave them a gift”

“Man that was crazy. We’re better than Santa Claus, we like giving out gifts. We give out games, contracts and rings.”

Last night presented the Lakers with their best chance to make this series a truly competitive one, but they instead let victory slip through their hands, as the Thunder woke up in crunch time and scored the game’s final 9 points.

Sources Instagram | slamonline

According to Philadelphia 76ers coach Doug Collins it is because they see a vulnerable potential impending opponent in the Miami Heat.

In the wake of Wednesday's 107-91 home loss to the Celtics that lifted Boston to a 2-1 lead in that best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series, Collins said Boston appears to be revived amid the Heat's loss of All-Star power forward Chris Bosh with a lower-abdominal strain.

Bosh was injured in Game 1 of the Heat's Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Indiana Pacers, with that series tied 1-1 heading into Thursday's 7 p.m. Game 3 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

The winner of Celtics-76ers faces the winner of Heat-Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals.

"I think they are looking at that other series a little bit," Collins said of the Celtics during his Wednesday postgame interview. "I think they see Chris Bosh being out. They see a tremendous opportunity for themselves."

The Heat defeated the 76ers 4-1 in the first round of last season's playoffs and then did the same against the Celtics in last season's second round.

Wednesday was the first time the 76ers and Celtics played since the Heat went a full game without Bosh, falling in that Tuesday Game 2 78-75 to the Pacers at AmericanAirlines Arena.

"This was a much different team than what we saw in Boston," Collins said.

Bosh is listed as being out indefinitely by the Heat, with the possibility still open that he could miss all or part of a potential Eastern Conference finals series.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers denied his team was looking ahead to a possible series against a depleted Heat roster.

"Well that's not true, obviously," he said.

Source suntsentinel

Sports Illustrated's May 21 issue features Parker on the cover and an impressive spread on the inside, with a story proclaiming Parker the "best high school basketball player since LeBron James" whose faith is more important to him than instant NBA stardom.

But we're not those dolts from Metropolis, who never could spot the resemblance between Superman and Clark. We knew it was Russell Westbrook.

Westbrook wore his mask, those giant red nerdy eyeglass frames that are lens free because, Westbrook simply said, “I see better without 'em.”

Westbrook calls those glasses — and his $115 fishing shirt from LaCoste — a fashion statement, and who can argue, after everyone from the TNT crew to his own teammates chimed in. A sampling:

Charles Barkley: “Well, at least we know they got a TJ Maxx in Oklahoma City.”

Kobe Bryant: “He wears weird s----. It's a generational thing. I'm glad I didn't grow up in his generation.”

Thabo Sefolosha: “Hopefully we're not going to see it again this year. I don't know where he got it from, but it was, uh, fun.”

Ernie Johnson: “Is this Sally Jessy Raphael?”

Lazar Hayward: “Sometimes I think he'll wear something just to see what guys will say about it.”

Shaquille O'Neal: “It's Toys R Us. I've got one word for you — Garanimals.”

Scotty Brooks: “Obviously, he didn't get dressed with the lights on.”

Funny stuff, and even Westbrook chuckled at some of the critiques. But he refused to step down. “I've been knowing how to dress for awhile,” he said.

I don't know if Westbrook's look is fashion statement or faux pas. But I do know this. It's a disguise. Camouflage. A mask designed to make us think Superman really is mild-mannered Clark Kent. Or maybe to offer a clue that Westbrook, a dragonslayer of a ballplayer, really does have an alter ego. A clue that there's a little bit of Urkel in him.

Source newsok

While [Ray] Allen talks openly about the floating bone spurs that leave him in excruciating pain and Mickael Pietrus reveals that he will need offseason surgery to repair his tattered knee, Pierce refuses to discuss his own personal injury battle. He ditched his knee brace for Game 2, then suffered through a 2-for-9 outing that included no baskets in the final quarter, a time frame that so often belongs to him. As he walked out of the Garden on Monday night, I saddled up next to him and offered, ‘It’s got to be frustrating.’ ‘I don’t know what you mean,’ he said, in uncharacteristically brusque fashion. ‘Your knee,’ I said. ‘It’s limiting you … ‘ ‘There’s nothing wrong with my knee,’ he said. Former Celtic Tony Battie, now a veteran bench player for the Sixers, has been friends with Pierce for over 10 years.

‘I know he’s hurt,’ Battie said, ‘but Paul’s definitely not going to ever admit that to anyone. You can see it. His shot is a little flat. His knee is bothering him, and he’s had some foot problems, and his lift isn’t 100 percent. But he’s still the heart and soul of that team. We know Paul. We know he can get it going. I don’t put it past him to come out with a Willis Reed-type Herculean effort in the next game.

Source slamonline

That’s if he returns. The doctor who performed the successful surgery to repair Rose’s isolated ACL tear and a meniscus tear Saturday morning at Rush University Medical Center said some athletes take longer to recover for reasons that can be physiological as well as psychological.

“There’s no question that happens,” Dr. Brian Cole said. “People ask why don’t you get back to pre-injury level. In some cases, there’s just a level of confidence that they just don’t get, which is why we emphasize it so much during rehab, to help train an individual that it’s safe to do this.”

The Bulls aren’t counting on Rose returning next season. They aren’t even planning for it. But general manager Gar Forman said he will keep the core of a team that had the league’s best regular-season record in consecutive seasons together with an eye toward the future.

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In the report released Tuesday, UT San Diego says Seau’s girlfriend told police she last saw him alive that day at 7:45 a.m.

At about 9:35 a.m., two officers responded to the home and were led to a bedroom where Seau was found with a gunshot wound in the upper chest. He did not have a pulse.

The report says two Oceanside lifeguards arrived and attempted to revive Seau before paramedics arrived and pronounced him dead at 9:43 a.m.

The death has been ruled a suicide. A final autopsy report is pending

Source cbssacramento

I think all season long everybody in basketball thought Oklahoma City was the best team in the west, but were they mature enough to show that? I think last night, I think everybody right now, I think it’s going to be a San Antonio-Oklahoma City thing.

San Antonio is playing with so much flow and rhythm and rhythmatic offense and their defense is not great but it is solid. It’s still a pretty good defensive team. Their offense is so in flow right now I love watching San Antonio play. And this is the time of year where there’s a separation and I’m not ready to sign the contract but I’m pretty sure Oklahoma City is a higher degree than everybody else right now, along with, probably, San Antonio. ...

I’m very prejudiced toward the west. I’ll be honest with you, I think there’s four or five teams in the West that can beat Miami.

But that’s just me.

And especially if Bosh is injured, that might be five or six teams in the West [that can beat the Heat] if Bosh is hurt. And unfortunately I think people are conceding that Miami, even without Bosh, is going to win. And I don’t think that’s true

Source truehoop

"Um, thanks, but no thanks, Darren."

"Why not? Weatherman said it's gonna hit triple digits by noon, and isn't your air conditioner busted?"

"Yeah, I gotta call the guy."

"OK, so come by!"

"I can't, Darren. In like two months I'll have enough for Scottie, but until then, I ... I just can't."

When Bird chooses Kobe Bryant over LeBron James as the modern-day player he would like to have had as a teammate — as the Indiana Pacers team president did on ESPN.com in March — the choice resonates.

“Well, probably Kobe,” Bird told Bill Simmons at the time. “Because of the fact that … well, of course he wouldn’t have been shooting as much as he does now … but his desire to win, his dedication to always get better, and he’s just, he’s just tough. He’s just a tough cat.”

Bird added that “if you want to have fun, like I did with Bill Walton, [you] play with LeBron. It would have probably been more fun to play with LeBron, but if you want to win and win and win, it’s Kobe. Not that LeBron’s not a winner, just that [Kobe's] mindset is to go into every practice, every game, to get better.”

In light of all the shots and slights LeBron has absorbed since relocating to Miami two summers ago, I asked Bird about those comments on Monday.

“I’ve been a Kobe fan since he was a little kid,” Bird told me. ”I coached against Kobe [in the 2000 NBA Finals]. They made a lot out of that. I said if you want to have fun, you play with Bill Walton. Me and Bill Walton won the most games we ever played. We had a blast doing it. We knew we were going to win a championship. That’s just the way it is.

“But Kobe has always been my favorite, ever since he was a little kid coming into this league. I played against his dad. But LeBron is just spectacular.”

And how would things have gone if Bird and LeBron had matched up against each other in some Tupac Hologram Time Traveler’s Association?

“I would have loved to have played against all these guys,” Bird said with a wry smile. “That’s what competitors do. They like to play against the best. I played with some great ones and obviously LeBron is great. I had an opportunity to play against great players. I enjoyed it.”

Source sunsentinel

NBA legends Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson and Scottie Pippen will be featured on Sunkist, 7UP, A&W root beer, Canada Dry and Sun Drop soft drink cans, respectively, during a summer-long promotion cheering on the USA Men’s National Team.

Basketball fans will love these limited-edition cans as they toast this year’s team and celebrate the original 1992 Dream Team,” said Dave Falk, director of marketing for Sunkist soda — Still to this day, the greatest Basketball Team Ever Assembled

Source terezowens

Smith has a one-year option with the Knicks for next year at just a shade under $2.5 million. Conventional wisdom is that Smith would opt out of that deal because he could make more and get a longer-term deal, either with the Knicks (who can give him a 20 percent raise off that deal) or elsewhere.

But ESPN is reporting Smith’s father is pushing him to stay in New York because Smith has some serious financial issues, reports ESPNNewYork.com (via IamaGM).

A source told ESPN New York that Smith’s father, Earl, is going to make a strong case for his son to stay in New York, but “it’s very clear that the money is the biggest factor with him.”

In fact, when Smith chose the Knicks over the Clippers in mid-February after coming back from China, a source said the Knicks’ higher offer ($2.443 million to the Clippers’ $1.4 million veteran’s minimum) was the deciding factor because he was financially broke. Therefore, Smith will likely opt out and ask for the 20 percent raise. At that point, the ball will be in the Knicks’ court to re-sign Smith, who’s already said publicly that he wants to return next season.

Smith has earned $25.7 million in salary over his eight year NBA career, plus picked up a reported $3 million playing in China during the lockout.

I imagine we will hear a denial to the report soon, but it would explain the decision to play for guaranteed money during the lockout when the NBA was no sure thing.

This also means you can bet Smith opts out and if another team steps forward with $3 million a year or more they can get him. Smith runs a bit hot and cold on the court, but at that price is still a bargain. Either way, expect him to opt out.

Source probasketballtalk

When I train in the summer I train for a lack of, and when I say that, I mean rest. I program my body to recover as quickly as it can. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. I’m a cerebral player these days and I know how to buy myself time on pick and rolls and stuff like that, things that you don’t see when you’re in your seat and it helps me.’

‘I have no life at this point. I go home, get treatment, come back in here, study tape, film. No life at all. This is what it is.’ … ‘When we win I’m having a lot of fun. When we lose it’s a tough day.’”.

Source slamonline

But a new documentary about the 20th anniversary of that team (to air on NBA TV June 13) also talks about and has footage of the game they lost.

It wasn’t a game so much as a scrimmage in La Jolla, Calif., against a group of college stars featuring Grant Hill, Chris Webber and Bobby Hurley, among others. The footage shows the speedy little point guard Hurley slicing into the teeth of the USA defense and carving the dream team up pretty good. However, USA head coach Chuck Daly had the scoreboard turned off before reporters were allowed in the gym.

Current Team USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski said he thinks Daly threw the game with a purpose. From the AP:

“He threw the game. You know, Chuck threw the game,” Krzyzewski, then a U.S. assistant and the current head coach, said on the documentary. “If you look how much Jordan played and how he subbed guys in, not picking up, not making any adjustments, he knew what he was doing.”

The reason — to let the Dream Team know they could be beaten. To let them know they were not invincible. But Daly would have had to throw it because no other team on the planet at that time could have beaten the dream team. They were as invincible as a team may ever have been.

I wouldn’t be nearly as confident that the Team USA heading to London this summer, 20 years later, will be as invincible. Thanks in part to the worldwide phenomenon of the Dream Team, the rest of the world is starting to catch up to us in basketball.

Source probasketballtalk

After being the overwhelming favorite for much of the lockout-shortened season, Kyrie Irving will reportedly win the award this Tuesday.

From the AP and Plain Dealer:

Kyrie Irving began his first pro season as the top pick and ended it as the top rookie. Cleveland’s smooth, playmaking point guard has been chosen as the NBA”s Rookie of the Year, a person familiar with the voting said. Irving’s selection is hardly a surprise since the 20-year-old led all first-year players in scoring – 18.5 points per game – and renewed hope for Cleveland’s franchise. He’ll receive the award on Tuesday, said the person who spoke on condition of anonymity because the league has not yet announced the winner.

“This season has been a special one for me,” Irving said on April 27, a day after the Cavs finished with a 21-45 record. “We overcame a lot of obstacles during the lockout-shortened season. It’s been a learning experience. I grew as a player from the mental standpoint, getting used to the NBA grind.” [...] Irving becomes just the second Cavs’ recipient of the NBA honor. LeBron James, who like Irving was a top overall pick, won the award in 2004.

Kyrie Irving blew away other rookies by posting numbers of 18.5 points, 5.4 assists and 3.7 boards in 51 games. He also shot 46.9% from the field, 39.9% from the 3-point line and 87.2% from the free-throw line.

Cleveland Cavaliers fans will be expecting even bigger things (in terms of numbers and wins) from the 20-year old next season.

Source slamonline

Ira says he belives that Bosh will be out the entire Pacer series, and possibly out of the next round as well. Ira goes on to explain that what's being reported, is Bosh has an abdominal strain which would be a good thing, but if he has abdominal tear he will be shelved until the NBA finals or the rest of the season.

Source joe rose show

Sunday, the statue was officially unveiled on the lawn of the MasterCard Center, aka Wukesong, where the Beijing Ducks clinched their first-ever CBA championship a month and a half ago. Marbury attended the ceremony with many of his teammates.

Starbury would go on to tweet many things—on varied subjects—including how blessed his life is, how all things are possible through Christ, the implications of his statue on world history and, of course, the debt the United States owes to China. Oh, and Dennis Rodman was there to give some sort of speech. We've cultivated a few of the greater hits.

Source deadspin

The victim, 66-year-old Gary Dederichs, died from apparent head trauma after one in a series of separate attacks in which a perpetrator snuck up on unsuspecting people and hit them on the head with a hammer. Michael Davis was already being held on charges of assault with intent to kill as a result of two other attacks. After one of those incidents, cops found a claw hammer in a backpack Davis had tossed aside as he was being chased on foot.

Source deadspin

Source terezowens

"I look at the series like this – if it goes six games, Indiana’s going to win,'' he said Wednesday night on TNT. "If it goes seven, Miami's going to win. I don't think (the Pacers) can win going to Miami. But if they can win (the series) in Game 6, they’re going to win it."

Most people see Indiana being a harder series from a degree-of-difficulty standpoint for the Heat. Few see them losing. But it's good to have a different perspective. Charles is one of the few voices on TV who's entertaining -- though going back to last year his predictions on the Heat haven't followed reality too often.

2. Steve LeBow Stat of the Knicks-Heat series: LeBron James and Dwyane Wade each had 43 field goals. That's balance a Wallenda could love. LeBron was 43-of-90 (47.8 percent). That was five more field-goal attempts than Wade (50.6 percent shooting). Seven of LeBron's shots were 3-pointers (in 20 attempts) compared to Wade's two 3-pointers in nine attempts. The big differential was at the foul line. LeBron made 46 of 57 (80.7 percent). Wade go there about half the time and shot worse (17 of 30 for 56.7 percent).

3. Managing the tempo of the game will be a key to Heat-Pacers. The more athletic Heat want to run. The bigger Pacers want to plod. As TNT"s Kenny Smith said: "(Roy Hibbert's) body can be negated if he's moving from foul line to foul line" and can't keep up with the pace of play. If that game slows down, you've got Roy Hibbert, David West and Danny Granger who can play very well in the half court."

4. Center Ronny Turiaf can be expected to play this series. He's been out nursing a hamstring issue, but he looks active on the bench doing his M.L. Carr cheerleading thing and Erik Spoelstra says is ready to go. The Heat probably will need some big bodies to bang against the Pacers' front line. Turiaf presented a better option than Joel Anthony because he can score a little. The Heat will need him ready against whomever they meet in the Finals, too.

5. Spoelstra had a good line, saying this series will, "feel like it's played more in a cave than on a basketball court," because of how physical Indiana can be. As I wrote in my column today, though, I see the Heat winning in five games.

Source sun-sentinel

Harden has been widely projected for months to be the runaway winner of this year’s award. His selection by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada now validates his standing as the league’s best player in a reserve role.

Harden led all bench players with a career-high 16.8-point average, along with 4.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.0 steals in 31.4 minutes per game. He helped lead the Thunder to a 47-19 record, good for second place in the Western Conference standings, and the team’s second consecutive Northwest Division title. In a win at Phoenix on April 18, Harden registered a career-high 40 points in 36 minutes.

Harden would succeed former Los Angeles Lakers forward Lamar Odom as the winner of the Sixth Man of the Year award. Harden finished a distant seventh in voting last year, garnering just three second-place votes and 10 third-place votes.

Harden would become the 26th player to receive the Sixth Man Award since its inception in 1982-83. He would be the first player in Thunder/Sonics history to win the award.

Source newsok

Heading into this summer the Magic’s top priority is to get Dwight Howard to sign a long-term extension with the team, but CEO Alex Martins — the guy who worked hard to buddy up to Howard last season — sounded more definitive than he has in the past.

Here is what he said after the Magic were eliminated from the playoffs by the Indiana Pacers Tuesday, via tweets from David Baumann of BHSN & News 13 in Orlando:

I asked #Magic CEO Martins if he’ll trade #dwighthoward: “We’ll cross that bridge when it comes to it…#1 goal is to get him to sign ext.”

Magic CEO Martins told me on camera #dwighthoward needs to sign long term extension or “necessary decisions will be made.”

Magic CEO Martins wants long term extension from #dwighthoward” so we don’t go thru a season like we went thru this year,” he told me.

Last season was a disaster. That despite stretches on the court when Orlando played well and looked like the third best team in the East.

But that calm surface belied what was really going on below — Howard had asked for a trade and listed the teams he would go to (Lakers, Mavericks, Nets). But the Magic (and CEO Martin) worked hard to change his mind, to sell Howard on how much he was part of the Magic family. Eventually Howard did change and say he wanted to stay. Then he reversed and asked for a trade again. Then he reversed again and eventually decided to sign a paper waiving his right to opt out this summer and he stayed with the Magic. In all that, Howard asked the Magic to fire coach Stan Van Gundy, which Van Gundy got word of and made public.

It was a train wreck that would have derailed the Magic season even if Howard had not ended up needing back surgery for a herniated disc and missing the end of the season and the playoffs.

For Howard, it sounded like he wanted to find a way to make it work out in Orlando but those around him were pushing him to opt out this summer and test the market. Howard was not in control of his own people.

For Orlando, they bent over so far backward to try and keep Howard happy and in house that they allowed the situation to spiral out of control.

Read More probasketballtalk

Even though it was a necessity, Kobe regularly was cursing the mask for trapping the heat and sweat and making it difficult to see at times. So after healing up it was no surprise Kobe quickly shed the mask. But why let such a rare piece of sports paraphenalia go to waste? Kobe listed the mask on eBay and 100% of the profits from the sale are set to go to the Kobe and Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation (KVBFF). Well the mask sold today for a whopping $67,000 after 15 solid bids.

Source thehoopdoctors