LeBron James wants NBA players to give up their No. 23s to honor Michael Jordan. The Cavaliers superstar, who has worn 23 since he was a high school sophomore, believes players should pay tribute to Jordan for the Hall of Famer's impact on the game. "I just think what Michael Jordan has done for the game has to be recognized in some way — soon," James said.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is being treated for a rare form of leukemia, and the basketball great said his prognosis is encouraging. The NBA's all-time leading scorer was diagnosed last December with chronic myeloid leukemia, he told The Associated Press on Monday. The 62-year-old Abdul-Jabbar said his doctor didn't give any guarantees, but informed him: "You have a very good chance to live…
LeBron James celebrated with the Yankees and toyed with the Knicks. No wonder he's bummed about the NBA schedule: only one Garden party this season. James scored 33 points in his lone visit to New York, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 100-91 victory over the Knicks on Friday night. One night after managing just 42 second-half points in an ugly home loss to Chicago, the Cavaliers rang up 40…
Paul Westphal has been involved in hundreds of wins in the NBA as a coach and a player. That didn't take away from his excitement after his first with the Sacramento Kings. Kevin Martin scored 48 points and Beno Udrih hit a game-tying layup in the closing seconds of regulation to give the Kings a 127-116 overtime victory over the Memphis Grizzlies in their home opener Monday night.
After a taste of playoff success, Carmelo Anthony has a voracious appetite for more. He's polished up his game and is averaging 37.6 points in the Denver Nuggets' 3-0 start after leading the NBA with a 23.6 average in the preseason. The Nuggets outlasted the Memphis Grizzlies in a 133-123 shootout Sunday night because Anthony extended his torrid start with 42 points, negating a career-best…
The Dallas Mavericks surprised themselves in a bad way with a season-opening loss at home. Then they hit the road and stunned the defending NBA champions. Dirk Nowitzki scored 21 points and the Mavs were 25 of 32 from the free throw line, snapping a six-game losing streak against the Los Angeles Lakers with a 94-80 victory Friday night.
Seven years in the NBA has taught LeBron James the importance of patience. It is being tested after Cleveland started its new season with two straight losses. Andrea Bargnani scored 28 points, Chris Bosh had 21 points and 16 rebounds, and the Toronto Raptors overcame James' 25th career triple-double to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 101-91 on Wednesday night.
Kobe Bryant slipped the ring on in the locker room, his finger weighed down by the 14 brilliant white diamonds set in yellow and white gold. Then he took it off and returned it to the custom box that would soon end up stored for years to come in a vault at home. "I never wear them except for the night that I get them," he said Tuesday after the Lakers opened defense of their NBA…
Shaquille O'Neal has learned the ropes in his 17 NBA seasons. There's one lesson that has endured since he was a raw rookie. "You can't win a championship in the first game," he said. Boston's Big Three — plus Rasheed — spoiled Cleveland's overhyped season opener on Tuesday night with a 95-89 win over the new-look Cavaliers, who may have LeBron James and Shaq but…
Blake Griffin's NBA debut has been pushed back indefinitely after the Los Angeles Clippers revealed late Monday night that their No. 1 overall draft pick has a broken left kneecap. The stress fracture could sideline the Oklahoma star for six weeks, the team announced, promising further information Tuesday.
The regular referees made the call. They're coming back to work. The referees union and the NBA agreed on a two-year contract Friday, ending a lockout of more than a month and saving the league from using replacements when the regular season starts. The officials voted to ratify the deal that was reached earlier this week.
Hall of Fame players Isiah Thomas and Magic Johnson famously kissed each other's cheek moments before tip-off of Game 1 of the 1988 NBA finals. Today, the relationship clearly isn't anywhere near as close. In Thomas' mind, a 17-year-old wound has been reopened in a new book that Johnson and Larry Bird wrote with author Jackie MacMullan.
The NBA's locked-out referees could be back on the floor in time for the regular season. The league has made a new proposal, and a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press it will be recommended for approval to the referees on Friday. The person, who requested anonymity because the negotiations are ongoing, said it's "highly likely" they'll be on the…
NBA or Europe, regular referees or replacements, the rules are the same: Two technical fouls is an automatic ejection, and anyone ejected must leave the floor. Maccabi Tel Aviv wanted a pass on that rule Sunday. The New York Knicks' 106-91 victory over the Euroleague team featured a bizarre delay in the third quarter when the visiting coach refused to leave after he was ejected.
Kevin Love went up for a rebound as he always does but this time he banged his left hand. Now, the Minnesota Timberwolves' second-year forward will be watching from the bench for awhile. Love broke a bone in his hand and the NBA's leading rookie rebounder last season hopes to return in late November or early December.
Larry Brown became the first major target in the NBA's zero-tolerance policy toward criticizing its replacement referees. The Bobcats coach was hit with $60,000 in fines on Wednesday and the Charlotte organization was fined another $60,000 after Brown's ejection from an exhibition game. Memphis Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins was also fined $25,000 for criticism after a game Monday, as the…
The NBA is making Gilbert Arenas — and the Washington Wizards — pay for his silence. Arenas and his team were fined $25,000 apiece Tuesday by the league because he has not been talking to the media during the preseason, including before and after exhibition games. The three-time All-Star point guard became one of the NBA's most popular players thanks in part to his engaging personality and a…
So much for getting to know each other. The LeBron and Shaq Show is off and running. NBA icons, All-Stars and A-plus-list celebrities LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal made their debut as Cleveland teammates on Tuesday night and had immediate chemistry in the Cavaliers' 92-87 preseason-opening victory over the Charlotte Bobcats.
The NBA's replacement referees were a non-issue in the preseason opener, just as the league wanted. The Utah Jazz beat the Denver Nuggets 103-87 on Thursday night in an exhibition game that featured 69 fouls and very little objection to any of them. Whether it was preseason indifference or players and coaches heeding to the league warning to be nice to the new officials, there wasn't much…
The NBA is instituting a policy regarding Twitter and other social media sites, banning players from using them during games. The league sent a memo to teams on Wednesday telling them that cell phones and other communication devices can't be used from 45 minutes before game time until after players have finished their responsibilities after games.
Mike Brown still can't believe he is coaching two superstars. Mo Williams called it destiny. The Cavaliers don't care if destiny equals dynasty — they'd be happy to win that first NBA championship. LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal have practiced together for only two days. Despite the small sample size, Williams has seen enough to expect the 7-foot-1 O'Neal will blend nicely…
The NBA has told teams it's going ahead with replacement referees, days after the league thought a deal had been reached with locked-out officials. The league sent a memo Tuesday informing teams it had "no expectation of concluding a timely labor contract." The memo, obtained by The Associated Press, follows the latest failure in negotiations.
The lead negotiator for the locked-out NBA referees removed himself from the talks Monday in hopes of resolving a dispute that threatens to have replacements on the floor this week. Lamell McMorris released a statement saying the negotiations with the NBA would be handled by general counsel Brian Lam and the executive board of the National Basketball Referees Association.
Could the New Jersey Nets become the Nyets? The basketball team once known as the New Jersey Americans is a step closer to being owned by Russia's richest man, Mikhail Prokhorov, who on Wednesday said he has a deal to buy 80 percent of the NBA team and nearly half of a project to build a new arena in Brooklyn.
The NBA's president of basketball operations is confident replacement officials would perform well if they are needed when games begin. The players aren't so sure. The NBA and its referees union have failed to reach an agreement on a new contract, so the league will begin training replacements this week.
Because of his size, many teams will always try to be physical with Chris Paul. Yet the All-Star guard isn't worried about play getting out of hand if his games are being called by replacement officials. "No, no," Paul said Monday. "I don't worry about replacement referees. End of the day, you're reffing the game." The NBA and its referees union have failed to reach…
A referee who was previously fired by the NBA is among the group of replacements who have agreed to participate in training camp next week. Michael Henderson is one of 44 who was sent an e-mail from the NBA's referees operations department on Friday. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the e-mail, which provides the replacements with details about the meetings, scheduled to begin Thursday…