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The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have assigned Ricky Ledo to the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League.
Ledo (6-7, 200) has seen action in six games for the Mavericks and holds averages of 1.2 points and 2.6 minutes per game.
Ledo will join the Legends and be available for tonight’s game when they take on the Tulsa 66ers at 7:00 pm CT at the Dr. Pepper Arena in Frisco.
Here is Charlotte Bobcats guard Gerald Henderson throwing a great pass if the intent was for the basketball to hit a female fan in the head. This video is a Vine from Cardboard Gerald and hosted by Vine, not InsideHoops:
The Los Angeles Lakers have waived forward Elias Harris, it was announced today.
Harris appeared in two games for the Lakers this season, tallying a rebound, an assist and a steal in 11 minutes. The two-time All-West Coast Conference Team selection out of Gonzaga University started all five games for the Lakers’ 2013 Summer League team in Las Vegas, averaging 10.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 27.0 minutes.
The Lakers roster now stands at 14 players.
The Brooklyn Nets haven’t learned to win just yet this NBA season, but at least new head coach Jason Kidd has found a new way to keep things interesting. Here’s the New York Post reporting:
Not only did “Cupgate” fail to get the Nets a win, it’s also going to cost Jason Kidd some cash.
The NBA announced Thursday night it had fined Kidd $50,000 for intentionally spilling his cup of soda late in Wednesday’s 99-94 loss to the Lakers in Brooklyn.
Because Kidd was caught on camera telling Tyshawn Taylor to “hit me” just before the player bumped into him, it isn’t surprising the league would choose to crack down on the Nets coach.
Kidd’s antics came with 8.2 seconds remaining in Wednesday’s loss, and as Lakers guard Jodie Meeks was preparing to shoot the second of two free throws with the Lakers leading 96-94.
As Taylor exited the court as part of an offense-defense substitution with Mirza Teletovic, Kidd — who was holding a cup of soda with ice in it — clearly said “hit me” as Taylor walked toward him.
Standard scene around NBA superstars: A media crowd packed like sardines, squeezed together to hear the words of LeBron James.
I like the mic stand Channel 19 uses (bottom right):
There are all sorts of basketball struggles going on right now in New York City. Here’s the New York Post with the latest on the Knicks:
The Knicks were presented a gift and said no thanks.
Clippers superstar point guard Chris Paul left the game with 3:39 left in the third quarter and eventually hobbled to the locker room, grabbing his strained right hamstring. He never returned. Nor did the Knicks’ offense.
The break was there for the Knicks to snatch, but this isn’t an opportunistic bunch.
With a sickening late offensive display, the Knicks fell for the seventh straight time despite Raymond Felton’s solid return from a hip injury. The Paul-less Clippers held off the Knicks in the final quarter to post a 93-80 victory Wednesday night at Staples Center as the Knicks dropped their seventh straight and fell to a miserable 3-11.
“It’s mindboggling,’’ Felton said after the Knicks shot 38.6 percent. “It hurts. We’re not used to it.’’
Photo from the NBA of LeBron James arriving in the Cleveland visiting locker room for tonight’s Miami Heat at Cavs game:
Here’s the Miami Herald reporting on LeBron James heading home for to Akron for Thanksgiving, but with a stop in Cleveland to play the Cavs first:
Two days before Thanksgiving, LeBron James sat in his old high school gymnasium in Akron, Ohio, and reminisced. Off to the side, while St. Vincent-St. Mary practiced, James’ sons shot hoops on the same rims that helped turn their father into the best basketball player on the planet.
These Heat road trips to his hometown for games against his old team have been memorable for James ever since he signed with the Heat, and this latest visit to Northeast Ohio will be another emotional exercise in balancing his appreciation for the place that made him and his love for what now defines him.
On Wednesday, James’ Heat plays the Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena and before the game a grassroots movement called “Come Home LeBron” will hold a rally outside the arena. After the game, the Heat is spending the night in the area instead of immediately boarding a plane to Toronto. On Thursday, James is hosting a Thanksgiving feast for the Heat at his home in Akron.
“I am happy that I’m able to do something for the team for Thanksgiving,” James said.
In describing James’ house, Chris Bosh mused that if the Heat’s players had to be away from their families, “it might as well be the biggest house in the world.” Dwyane Wade joked that he would make sure to wear “the right socks” because the house is too fancy for shoes.
The Brooklyn Nets are struggling, and injuries are making things even worse. Any win lately is a big one. Here’s the New York Daily News on results from Tuesday:
They nearly blew it, but the Nets will take a win any way they can get one.
Despite an awful start to the season in which they’ve been without four key players for long stretches, have crumbled in third quarters and been left searching for answers, they entered their first division game of the season Tuesday night somehow only three games behind their opponent, the Atlantic Division-leading Raptors.
Thanks to an effort in which they were better defensively in transition, won the rebounding battle and actually looked competent in the third quarter, the Nets pulled to within two games of first place with a 102-100 win at the Air Canada Centre, averting disaster by holding off a late Raptors run to snap a five-game skid and win for the second time in 10 games.
“Those guys in that locker room found that they had enough,” coach Jason Kidd said after his team nearly blew all of a 15-point lead in the final 5:22. “You’ve got a bunch of guys in there with pride and they knew what they had to do tonight against the division-leading Raptors and got a big win on the road.” …
Andray Blatche carried the offensive load for Brooklyn early, scoring 15 first-half points on 7-for-10 shooting in a variety of ways: easy points in the paint, difficult drives to the hoop and 20-foot jumpers. He finished with a team-high 24 points.
DeMar DeRozan scored 27 points for Toronto (6-8) and Kyle Lowry had 24 points and six assists.
Here’s the Bay Area News Group via the San Jose Mercury News on veteran big man Jermaine O’Neal stepping up for the Golden State Warriors Tuesday:
There is Denzel Washington’s speech in “Remember the Titans” and Gene Hackman’s talk to his squad in “Hoosiers.”
And then there’s the postgame oration Jermaine O’Neal gave Tuesday after his improbable performance to lift the Warriors to a much-needed 102-101 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.
“I keep telling these guys that trials and tribulations will build character for a true championship team,” O’Neal said. “It may not look good all the time, but we keep fighting, we keep fighting. It doesn’t matter who’s on the court in a Warriors uniform, we always feel like we have enough. Hopefully these lessons we’re learning early, all the injuries … is teaching us a lesson. I truly believe at the end of the year, we’re going to be rewarded for these lessons that we’ve learned.”
Leave it to the 35-year-old, 18th-year veteran to lift the Warriors when they needed it most. The Warriors were without Andrew Bogut, suspended for a game for his role in the altercation with Portland on Saturday. Swingman Andre Iguodala (strained left hamstring) didn’t make the trip. But O’Neal, a former All-Star turned backup center, pulled off a timely throwback performance.
He finished with 18 points and eight rebounds in his first game back after missing the previous four. He was out with a bruised right knee and strained right groin. O’Neal revealed Tuesday that he also had a sore wrist and a viral infection that left him barely able to speak Sunday.