After a subpar performance in his redebut with the Cavaliers, Lebron James wanted to redeem himself, and he did, with a 36 point performance as the Cavaliers picked up their first win of the Lebron James era in a 114-108 overtime win over the Chicago Bulls. “It was an opportunity to go out and redeem ourselves, and I was happy with the outcome,” James said. Tristan Thompson was a beast on the boards with 13 rebounds. “It’s a true testament to how hard Tristan works,” Kyrie Irving said. “That’s something that he gives us. He gives us energy, and that’s what we want him to do every single night. I know he’s capable of doing it. For us, it just adds another dimension for our team to get more possessions.”
Category: NBA
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KNICKS SPOIL LEBRON’S HOMECOMING
Lebron James shot 5 of 15 and scored only 17 points while committing 8 turnovers in his homecoming game to Cleveland. “I didn’t press,” James said, “I didn’t do much.” Lebron returned to Cleveland after winning 2 NBA titles and 4 Eastern titles in his 4 years with the Miami Heat. “It was a special night,” he said. “I’m glad it was great, but I’m also glad it’s over.” Carmelo Anthony scored 25 points and Iman Shumpert and Jason Smith had 12 points each as the Knicks won 95-90. “It was pretty incredible,” Knicks forward Amar’e Stoudemire said, describing the atmosphere during James’ return. “I haven’t seen anything like that before. The city was on fire. It was great to kind of spoil the excitement — great for us.” So the journey starts, to bring a championship to Ohio. “It was one game,” James said, “and we’ve got to learn from it.”
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NBA PREVIEW PART 2: AWARDS
Defensive Player of the Year
1 Joakim Noah
2 Anthony Davis
3 Serge “Iblaka” Ibaka
Most Improved Player
1 G Antetokounmpo
2 Andre Drummond
3 Jared Sullinger
Sixth Man of the Year
1 Isaiah Thomas
2 Jamal Crawford
3 Taj Gibson
Coach of the Year
1 David Blatt
2 Steve Kerr
3 Rick Carlisle
Rookie of the Year
1 Jabari Parker
2 Nerlens Noel
3 Marcus Smart
MVP
1 Lebron James
2 Chris Paul
3 Kevin Durant
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NBA PREVIEW PART 1: CHAMPIONS
West
Pacific
1 Clippers
2 Warriors
Northwest
1 Thunder
2 Trailblazers
Southwest
1 Spurs
2 Grizzlies
East
Central
1 Heat
2 Bulls
Southeast
1 Wizards
2 Hornets
Atlantic
1 Raptors
2 Nets
1 Cavaliers
PROJECTED CHAMPION: CAVS OVER SPURS
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BLOCKBUSTER 3-TEAM TRADE CONFIRMED
76ERS GET: 2015 1st round pick, Luc Mbah A Moute, Alexey Shved
76ERS LOSE: Thaddeus YoungCAVALIERS GET: Kevin Love
CAVALIERS LOSE: Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett, 2015 1st round pickTIMBERWOLVES GET: Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett, Thaddeus Young
TIMBERWOLVES LOSE: Kevin Love, Luc Mbah A Moute, Alexey Shved -
PAUL GEORGE FRACTURES LEG
Indiana Pacers star Paul George gruesomely fractured his lower right leg during the USA national team’s intrasquad scrimmage at UNLV on Friday and underwent successful surgery later that evening. In a statement USA Basketball confirmed it was a open tibia-fibula fracture and he will have to remain hospitalized for three days. Doctors believe he will miss the entire NBA season although no official timeframe has been released to this point. George’s leg landed and buckled on the basket stanchion. Medics, US coach Mike Krzyzewski and George’s family members immediately ran to his side, his leg was put in a cast and was taken to a Las Vegas hospital. George later tweeted: Thanks everybody for the love and support.. I’ll be ok and be back better than ever!!! Love y’all!! #YoungTrece.
The Pacers issued a statement on the situation about George’s injury: “It is way too early to speculate on his return as the No. 1 priority for everyone will be his recovery. Our initial discussions with our doctors and the doctors in Las Vegas have us very optimistic,” President of Basketball Operations Larry Bird said. “There is no question about the impact on our team but our goal is to be as strong-willed and determined as Paul will be in coming back. … Any discussion regarding the future of our team would be inappropriate at this time. Our focus is solely on Paul and doing whatever we can to help.”
“This is a tough blow, not only for USA basketball but for the Indiana Pacers,” USA basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said. “And so as an organization we’re just going to let a little time go by here before we address rosters. … It seems so unimportant in the scheme of things. When you have something like this, it puts things in perspective.”
The game was cancelled right after the injury “Everything’s on hold, and it should be,” Krzyzewski said. “It would be so inappropriate for us to talk about anything else when there is an injury like this.”
TWEETS FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE
@KingJames: Man just landed and got a message about @Paul_George24. Made me immediately sick to my stomach!! Praying for u a speedy recovery homie!!!
@DwayneWade: Praying for @Paul_George24 for not only the player he is but the person he is. Injuries are thee toughest part of sports
@JHarden13: Prayers go out to @Paul_George24 and his family! Keep ya head up G!
@KDTrey5: God bless u my brother @Paul_George24. Im hurt, praying for you. Praying for peace. Praying that God heals you in a supernatural way.
@swish41: Just saw the terrible news on Paul George. Such a great young player. Hope to see him back on the court soon….
George, a 2-time all-star averaged 22 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals per game last year “It was difficult to watch the injury that Paul George sustained tonight while representing his country,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “The thoughts and prayers of all of us at the NBA are with Paul and his family.”
Meanwhile, Team USA has lost many key assets already including Forwards Kevin Love, Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge and NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard. “Anything can happen anywhere, a lot of things happen,” said Krzyzewski, who was coaching Duke against Louisville when the Kevin Ware broke his leg and the bone popped out 6 inches. “Tonight it happened during a basketball game. We need to take care of that. It doesn’t mean it’ll happen again and again and again; it means that it happened right now. And we need to take care of right now appropriately and then move on.”
Larry Bird agrees: “We still support USA Basketball and believe in the NBA’s goals of exposing our game, our teams and players worldwide,” Bird said. “This is an extremely unfortunate injury that occurred on a highly visible stage, but could also have occurred anytime, anywhere.”
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LAKERS HIRE BYRON SCOTT
The Lakers have agreed to a contract with Byron Scott to be their next head coach for 4 years and $17,000,000 with a team option on the 4th year. “It feels fantastic,” he told KCBS-TV. “This is a dream come true. I always wanted to coach the Lakers, especially when I got to coaching. It’s so unreal. I have to thank Mitch, Jeanie and Jim Buss to give me this opportunity.” Scott has been the leading candidate from the get-go, he won three championships with the team as a player, his friendship with Kobe, and his in-depth knowledge of the roster after being an analyst for the team. The Lakers also considered Mike Dunleavy, Kurt Rambis, Alvin Gentry, Lionel Hollins and George Karl but Hollins went to Brooklyn, Gentry to Golden State and Rambis fled to NYC narrowing LA’s options.
Kobe said of his relationship with Scott: “He was my rookie mentor when I first came into the league, so I had to do things like get his doughnuts and run errands for him and things like that. We’ve had a tremendously close relationship throughout the years. So, obviously, I know him extremely well. He knows me extremely well. I’ve always been a fan of his.”
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STERLING FILES NEW LAWSUIT AGAINST NBA, HIS WIFE, NBA COMMISH ADAM SILVER, AND LA CLIPPERS
Donald Sterling filed a lawsuit against the NBA, it’s commissioner Adam Silver, and his wife Shelly Sterling on Tuesday, claiming they defrauded him and violated corporate law by attempting to sell his team, the LA Clippers to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer for 2 billion dollars. He asked for them to freze the sale, claiming that his wife had no right to sell the franchise because he is the sole owner and shareholder of the corporation that owns the Clips after revoking the Sterling Family Trust on June 9th. “The new lawsuit states the seller of the team is not Donald, and it’s not Shelly — the seller of the team is the corporation that owns the team, and that’s LAC Basketball Club Inc.,” Sterling’s attorney Bobby Samini said “When Donald bought the team, the shares of the corporation are only in Donald’s name. They were only issued to Donald, so Donald owns the shares of the corporation. He’s the sole shareholder. He put the shares up into the trust in 1989, and when we revoked the trust, the shares go back down to him.” Shelly Sterling’s attorney Pierce O’Donnell, called the lawsuit “a frivolous, last-ditch act of desperation by a delusional, bitter man” who is “obsessed with ruining a record-setting $2 billion sale of the Los Angeles Clippers — a sale that would solve the problems his racist rant started three months ago.” Sterling has already sued the NBA for 1 billion dollars. When asked about the time frame the lawsuit would be resolved Samini said “I think you’re looking at some time into the future, could you get to trial in six to eight months? In a perfect world, it’s possible, but you’re looking at a year or so before you have a trial on that issue. … We’re not working on deadlines.” When asked if she thought Sterling was being greedy Samini said “He’s worth more than $2.5 billion without the team, if he was greedy, he would take the money and run. It’s not about the money. It’s not even about wanting the team. It’s showing everybody: If I have a conversation in my living room that’s inappropriate, that’s not a good thing. I shouldn’t be awarded the man of the year award, but at the same time, my private conversation, and on top of that my medical records, shouldn’t be OK to release that to the world and use that to hang me with.”
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STEPHENSON SIGNS WITH HORNETS
Lance Stephenson has signed with the Charlotte Hornets early today for 3 years and 27 million dollars sources tell me. The Pacers offered him 5 years and 44 million dollars and Stephenson felt the deal undervalued him.
“Lance is forever grateful for all the love he’s received from Pacers fans. He is especially grateful to his teammates, [Pacers coach] Frank Vogel, [owner] Herb Simon, the Pacers management and most of all, Larry Bird,” Stephenson’s agent, Alberto Ebanks, said in a statement. “While we tried our best to come to the best possible terms for both sides, there was not sufficient flexibility in the terms of the contract, particularly the length of the contract. Reports throughout the negotiation process with Indiana have often strayed from the truth but suffice it to say that it was less about the money. Lance will miss the city, the team and the mentor who helped transform him into the dynamic player he has become. He looks forward to making a strong contribution and beginning a new chapter with the Charlotte Hornets.”
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WHERE DID BOSH,MELO,LEBRON, AND GASOL SIGN?
CHRIS BOSH
Chris Bosh was reportedly seriously considering Houston and Miami’s max contract offers. So where did he sign? I am here to report BREAKING NEWS! Chris Bosh is returning to the Miami Heat after agreeing to a 5-year, $23,600,000 per year.
CARMELO ANTHONY
Carmelo Anthony was considering multiple teams including the Mavs, Lakers, Bulls, Heat, and Knicks and in the end he signed with… THE KNICKS! Yes Melo is going back to New York and Phil Jackson for 5 years and roughly $26,000,000 a year.
PAU GASOL
Gasol, who was considering a TON of different teams signed with the Bulls for 3 years and $7,333,333 per year
LEBRON JAMES
The King, the greatest player in basketball, who EVERY team wanted is going back home to Cleveland, Ohio and his home state. Yes Lebron is a Cav, the team that drafted him No. 1 overall for 2 years and 42.2 million dollars.