NBA coaching changes 2013

8/12/13 - Philadelphia hires Brett Brown as head coach
7/29/13 - Kurt Rambis returns to Lakers as assistant, Johnny Davis also hired as assistant
7/8/13 - Alvin Gentry returns to Clippers as assistant coach
7/8/13 - Rasheed Wallace to join Pistons staff as assistant coach
7/3/13 - Celtics hire Brad Stevens as new head coach
7/1/13 - Pacers hire Nate McMillen as assistant coach
6/28/13 - Lawrence Frank returns to Nets as assistant under Jason Kidd
6/28/13 - Cleveland hires Bernie Bickerstaff as assistant (rejoining Mike Brown)
6/25/13 - Kings hire head coach's father as (Brendan Malone) as assistant
6/25/13 - Grizzlies promote Dave Joerger to take over for Lionel Hollins
6/24/13 - Denver hires Brian Shaw as head coach
6/23/13 - Boston trades Doc Rivers to Clippers for 2015 first round pick
6/19/13 - Jerry Sloan returns to Jazz as consultant
6/13/13 - Nets hire Jason Kidd Kidd as head coach (replacing P.J. Carlesemo)
6/10/13 - Thibodeau and Williams replace D'Antoni and McMillan on Team USA staff
6/10/13 - Lionel Hollins out as Memphis head coach
6/10/13 - Maurice Cheeks named as Pistons head coach (replacing Lawrence Frank)
6/6/13 - Denver fires George Karl (NBA coach of the year)
6/3/13 - Sacramento names Mike Malone head coach (replacing Keith Smart)
5/31/13 - Milwaukee to hire Larry Drew as head coach (from Atlanta)
5/30/13 - The NBA coaching carousel, part 1
5/29/13 - Mike Budenholzer hired as Atlanta head coach (replacing Larry Drew)
5/28/13 - Jeff Hornacek hired as Phoenix head coach (replacing Lindsey Hunter)
5/27/13 - Steve Clifford hired as Charlotte head coach (replacing Mike Dunlap)
5/21/13 - Vinnie Del Negro out as Clippers coach
4/25/13 - Mike Brown returns to Cleveland (replacing Byron Scott)

2013 NBA prospects / NBA draft

[5/21/13] The top 10 prospects at every position.

DA's Big Board

[6/13/13] Scott Howard-Cooper's Mock Draft 2.0

[6/24/13] Ten players to watch for: C.J. McCollum

[6/24/13] Mock Draft 3.0 by DraftExpress.

[6/25/13] David Aldridge's mock draft (McLemore no. 1?)

[6/27/13] Down to the final hours, and Scott Howard-Cooper is still sticking to Nerlens Noel.

[6/27/13] Here we go...  Apparently there is no consensus no. 1 with the candidates now appearing to be Noel, McLemore, Alex Len.  And even mention of Olidipo.

nbadraft.net has it Len, Oladipo, Porter, Noel, McLemore.
Draft Express has it Noel, Oladipo, Porter, Len, McLemore.
USA Today has it: Len, Noel, Porter, McLemore, Oladipo.
TheSportingNews has it: Len, Noel, Porter, Oladipo, McLemore.
CBS Sports has it: Porter/Noel, McLemore/Burke, Noel/Porter, Len/Len, Oladipo/Oladipo.
Sports Illustrated has it: Noel, McLemore, Porter, Len, Oladipo.
Bleacher Report has it: Len, Oladipo, Porter, Noel, McLemore.
SBNation has it: Noel, McLemore, Porter, Bennett, Oladipo,
HoopsWorld consensus: Noel, Oladipo, Porter, Len, McLemore.

And with the first pick, the Cleveland Cavaliers take Anthony Bennett!  (What?)
With the second pick, the Orlando Magic select Victor Oladipo
With the third pick, the Washington Wizards select Otto Porter
With the fourth pick, the Charlotte Bobcats select Cody Zeller (?)

So the consensus number 1 pick which was Noel or Len has yet to be picked.

With the fifth pick, the Phoenix Suns select Alex Len.
With the sixth pick, the New Orleans Pelicans select Nerlens Noel.
With the seventh pick, the Sacramento King select Ben McLemore.  (they're happy)

OK, that makes the consensus top five, along with Bennett and Zeller.  Who's next?  Trey Burke maybe?

Hey I'm seeing the picks several minutes faster at CBS Sports?  Is it delayed on ESPN?

According to CBS, the Pistons select Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.  (A surprise to him.)

Shane Battier is interviewing all the draft selections.  I'm surprised how tall he looks.  He's quite a bit taller than Caldwell-Pope and not much shorter than Alexn Len.  Maybe he's wearing thick shoes.

What?  Noel to be traded from New Orleans to Philadelphia for Jrue Holiday and a first round pick?  Wait, Philadelphia gets the pick??

With the ninth pick, the Minnesota Timberwolves select Trey Burke.  Despite having Rubio.  Maybe trade bait.  Maybe to Philadelphia?

With the tenth pick, the Portland Trailblazers select C.J. McCollum.

Report now that Burke traded to Utah for the 14th and 21st picks.

With the 11th pick, the Philadelphia 76ers select Michael Carter-Williams.

With the 12th pick, the Oklahoma City Thunder select Steven Adams (pick acquired in the Harden deal)

With the 13th pick, the Dallas Mavericks select Kelly Olynyk.

who is immediately headed to Boston for two second round picks (to not raise their salary cap to go after Dwight Howard).

With the 14th pick, Utah takes (for Minnesota): Shabazz Muhammad.

That's the end of the lottery picks.

With the 15th pick, the Milwaukee Bucks select Giannis Adetokunbo (project from Greece, highlights)

Now they're talking about Andrew Wiggins for next season

With the 16th pick, the Boston Celtics select Lucas Nogueira (7-footer from Brazil with large hair).

With the 17th pick, the Alanta Hawks select Dennis Schroeder (Germany)

With the 18th pick (from the Joe Johnson trade), the Atlanta Hawks Shane Larkin (from Miami)

Mavericks are saying they're getting Shane Larkin and Nogueira to Atlanta.

Cleveland with their second pick of the first round selects Sergey Karasev

Chicago selects Tony Snell, who's not here, but Shabazz Muhammad finally shows up and is interviewed by Battier.  Battier is noticeably taller.

With the 21st pick, Utah selects (unofficially for Minnesota): Gorgui Dieng

With the 22nd pick, the hometown Brooklyn Nets (with reports that Garnett and Pierce may be coming) select Mason Plumlee.

Jason Kidd now being interviewed by the panel (Jalen Rose, Bill Simmons, Jay Bilas, Rece Davis)

With the 23rd pick, the Indiana Pacers select Solomon Hill.

Now for the Knicks.  Tim Hardaway, Jr. (to cheers of the crowd including Spike Lee).

With the 25th pick, the Clippers select Reggie Bullock.

Minnesota on the clock with the 26th pick, moving the pick to Golden State, who choose ...

wait, a trade to announce.  The Boston Celtics trade the 16th pick to Dallas, Nogueira, for the rights for Kelly Olynyk, the 13th pick.

And Andre Roberson is the pick for Golden State.

Nuggets on the clock when we come back.

another trade to announce.  Minnesota trades rights to Trey Burke for (rights to) Shabazz Muhammad and Dieng.

Denver selects Rudy Gobert from France (7'2" with a 7'9" wing span the longest ever).

And now for the Spurs at #28: Livio Jean-Charles (French Guiana).  This season he averaged 3.3 points and 2.7 rebounds (so a project).  However he was the MVP at the Nike Hoop Summit going 27 and 13.

OKC now picks (in a long complicated trade just announced going to Phoenix): Archie Goodwin.

And now for David Stern's final NBA announcement of a pick

Golden State takes Nemanja Nedovic.

Applause for David Stern.  And now for the next commissioner of the NBA: Adam Silver (who immediately gets boos)

But first David Stern's very first announced draft pick Hakeem Olajuwon.

That's enough.

***

Garnett waives no-trade clause clearing way for Celtics to trade (in principle) Garnett, Pierce, Terry to Nets for three first round picks, Keith Bogans, Kris Humphries, Gerald Wallace, Reggie Evans.

draft day trades

team-by-team report cards

pick-by-pick analysis

the most entertaining draft of all time?

The 2003 draft.  Where are they now?

2014 mock draft already

[1/24/13]  Anthony Bennett, the worst no. 1 pick ever

the Ed O'Bannon case

At first it was just a friend’s son playing a video game, but as he looked closer, Ed O’Bannon took increasing notice of a figure on the screen.

One that O’Bannon said he thought looked remarkably like him.

In fact, it was, from jersey No. 31 to the trademark smooth left-handed jump shot in EA Sports’ “NCAA Basketball” game.

Nearly 14 years after he led UCLA to the 1995 NCAA basketball championship as the most outstanding player of the Final Four, O’Bannon said, “I was flattered initially. My first thought was, ‘That’s pretty cool. I’m on the video game.’ ”

Then, O’Bannon said his friend observed, “‘What’s funny about this whole thing is we paid X amount of dollars for it and you didn’t see one penny of it.’ ” And O’Bannon recalled in a phone interview Tuesday, “My thoughts went from flattery to being upset.”

O’Bannon’s ire eventually took the form of a potentially ground-altering lawsuit against the NCAA, video game giant Electronic Arts and the marketing firm Collegiate Licensing Inc., that goes before federal Judge Claudia Wilken on Thursday in U.S. District Court in Oakland, Calif.

It frames the long overdue question of whether the often heavy-handed NCAA owns the rights to player likenesses and names on game jerseys and other items beyond their college eligibility and into perpetuity.

But it has also come to raise the broader, potentially more explosive issue of whether current players should share in the billions of dollars they help make for the NCAA and member institutions.

O’Bannon, who was joined in the suit by several other former athletes such as NBA Hall of Famers Bill Russell and Oscar Robertson, alleges their names and likenesses were used illegally in video games and other products the NCAA has profited from. The NCAA has denied it has acted illegally.

But the judge, who has so far refused motions to toss the case, has stirred visions of the NCAA’s worst nightmare in January by saying she would hear arguments Thursday whether to allow the case to be rolled into a class action suit. One that could, should a jury find in the plaintiffs’ favor, allow current athletes a share of NCAA revenue, including lucrative TV rights fees, for the first time in the organization’s century-old history.

San Antonio vs. Miami game 6

Miami escapes elimination in overtime
LeBron loses his headband
Ray Allen hits a three with 5 seconds left
The Spurs snuck Tim Duncan back in.
Did Ginobili get fouled?
Did Danny Green get fouled?
Gregg Popovich substitutions second-guessed
Heat fans left early
They brought out the yellow tape

And now for game 7

Bosh says to "fans," don't come back
Duncan being Duncan.
Moment of truth for LeBron

LeBron couldn't sleep
Wade's knee swollen on Wednesday
Suit up Juwan?
Spurs on Heat on their reserve tank
Spurs stick together
Kids keep it in perspective
7 Questions
Relish the moment

***

Two straight for Miami
The road to the title
Five things of note
Basketball gods shine on Battier
LeBron adds another MVP
Duncan devastated / Spurs lament
24-Second Thoughts

***

15 players that could beat LeBron 1-on-1 (some of the time)

Chad Johnson butt pat = jail

Johnson, known as Chad Ochocinco for his jersey number in Spanish during his playing days, had reached a deal with prosecutors calling for community service and counseling instead of jail. Broward County Circuit Judge Kathleen McHugh said she would tack on an additional three months' probation because Johnson had failed to meet with his probation officer during three previous months.

It was all set until Johnson, when asked by McHugh if he was satisfied with his lawyer Adam Swickle, gave the attorney a light swat on the rear -- as football players routinely do to each other on the field. The courtroom erupted in laughter and at that McHugh said she wouldn't accept the deal.

"I don't know that you're taking this whole thing seriously. I just saw you slap your attorney on the backside. Is there something funny about this?" McHugh said, slapping the plea deal document down on her desk. "The whole courtroom was laughing. I'm not going to accept these plea negotiations. This isn't a joke."

Johnson, 35, tried to apologize and insisted he meant no disrespect. Johnson was on probation after pleading no contest to head-butting his then-wife, TV reality star Evelyn Lozada, during an altercation last August. She quickly filed for divorce after barely a month of marriage and Johnson, a six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver, was immediately released by the Miami Dolphins. He didn't play at all last season.

***

Johnson apologizes and is released after seven days

Tim Tebow to Patriots

The New England Patriots are expected to sign quarterback Tim Tebow, according to multiple reports.

ESPN first reported the news, and The Associated Press has confirmed, citing sources, that Tebow will join the Patriots' minicamp on Tuesday and sign with the team, pending a medical exam.

Tebow spent last season with the New York Jets, but only saw limited action. He finished the season with just eight passing attempts for 39 yards and zero touchdowns, and the Jets cut him on April 29.

As weeks went by with Tebow still unemployed, it seemed possible he may never play in the NFL again. Yahoo! Sports reported in May that New England head coach Bill Belichick did not like Tebow and that he said there was "no chance" of Tebow coming to the Patriots.

Belichick later refuted that report, and told ESPNBoston.com that he wouldn't rule out the team signing Tebow.

"I wouldn't get into the probability of us pursuing any free agent," Belichick said. "Every single player has strengths and weaknesses but regardless of that, for anyone to have represented that is the way I feel about Tim Tebow is completely untrue, baseless and irresponsible. It is unfortunate that something so inaccurate was reported."

The Patriots' signing of Tebow will reunite him with Josh McDaniels, New England's offensive coordinator and former head coach of Tebow with the Denver Broncos.

McDaniels and the Broncos drafted Tebow in the first round of the 2010 NFL draft, and made him the full-time starter in 2011. Tebow led the Broncos to the playoffs and a first-round upset of the Pittsburgh Steelers after an 80-yard game-winning touchdown pass in overtime.

Despite the Broncos' playoff run, he was traded to New York the following offseason when Denver signed Peyton Manning. Tebow threw only eight passes for the Jets, completing six, ran 32 times for 102 yards and was used mostly to protect the punter.

''Unfortunately,'' coach Rex Ryan said in a statement when Tebow was released, ''things did not work out the way we all had hoped.''

***

[8/31/13] Tebow cut by Patriots, future in limbo.  Hasn't given up.

Deacon Jones

David "Deacon" Jones, the Hall of Fame defensive end credited with terming the word "sack" for how he knocked down quarterbacks, has died. The Washington Redskins said that Jones died of natural causes at his home in Southern California on Monday night. He was 74.

"Deacon Jones was one of the greatest players in NFL history. Off the field, he was a true giant," said Redskins general manager Bruce Allen, whose father, George, coached Jones with the Los Angeles Rams. "His passion and spirit will continue to inspire those who knew him. He was a cherished member of the Allen family and I will always consider him my big brother."

Because sacks didn't become an official statistic until 1982, Jones' total is uncertain. His impact as a premier pass rusher and team leader is not.

"Even with his fellow Hall of Famers, Deacon Jones held a special status. He was an icon among the icons," commissioner Roger Goodell tweeted Tuesday. "He is warmly regarded by his peers not only as one of the greatest players in history but also for his influence & sense of humor."

Jones was the leader of the Rams' Fearsome Foursome unit from 1961-71 and then played for San Diego for two seasons before finishing his career with the Redskins in 1974. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980 and made the league's 75th anniversary all-time squad.

"Deacon Jones has been the most inspirational person in my football career," said former teammate and fellow Hall of Famer Jack Youngblood.

Jones made the Pro Bowl every year from 1964-70 and played in eight overall. He combined with fellow Hall of Famer Merlin Olsen, Rosey Grier and Lamar Lundy on a defensive line that at times was unblockable.

Olsen died in March 2010 at age 69 and Lundy died in February 2007 at 71. Grier, who is 80, is the only surviving member of the Fearsome Foursome.

George Allen, who coached the Fearsome Foursome, called Jones the "greatest defensive end of modern football." The Allen family had Jones present George Allen for his Hall of Fame induction in 2002.