Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: “According to the real estate blog at ChicagoMag.com, Wade recently purchased a $1.4 million townhouse in the Kinzie Park area of Chicago. Granted, for most (all?) of us, that pretty much is the price tag on a fulltime residence, and there certainly is something to be said about a four-story residence on the riverfront. But also understand that NBA players own multiple homes, often keeping ties with their hometowns. Still, that didn’t stop friend, nemesis and now Bulls.com scribe Sam Smith from postulating whether the real estate deal could be a ‘prelude to signing a free agent contract with the Bulls next summer.’ Understand, when Sam was still at the Chicago Tribune, he had Dwyane going to the Bulls in numerous permutations. He apparently likes Dwyane very much, a big fan we suppose.”
Kelly Dwyer of Yahoo! Sports: “What rarely happens is the continued presence of the game’s best player, playing on the team closest to his hometown, delivering on all the hype and dominating the league in a style unseen since Michael Jordan’s prime. Not his early years. His prime. It’s a good problem to have. And, as stacked as the Cavaliers are, and as promising as 2009-10 will be, anything can happen. I don’t want to go down the whole ‘[so-and-so] could be hit by a bus’ route, but so-and-so could be hit by a bus. Someone could tear a ligament, or break a wrist, or revert back to the poor coaching ways that left LeBron working on one of the more inefficient and unimaginative offensive teams in the NBA from 2003-2008. That last bit, it’s a tricky one. That could happen. And until LeBron actually sees what happens, he’s going to hold off on committing to a team – any team – for what will be the duration of his basketball prime.”
Art Garcia of NBA.com: “The safe bet is that AI will lace up the sneakers for a 14th season, with a fourth team in less than three years. Still, the majority of franchises don’t seem to have more than a passing curiosity in a former franchise player. The list of reasons range from his demands and expectations, to his attitude and perception as a divisive force, to his age. Iverson turned 34 earlier this summer. ‘As a GM, it would be interesting to find out how many GMs with playoff-caliber teams would be willing to even give the veteran’s minimum, where the league picks up a large percentage of the salary,’ the same executive said. ‘Even at the minimum, you’re going to go through training camp and one or two months of the season trying to get the experiment to be successful. I would venture to say that 30 percent or less of playoff GMs would have him for the minimum.’”
Frank Zicarelli of the Toronto Sun: “As the NBA’s dog days of summer continue with teams making minor moves to address minor needs, the Raptors find themselves in a holding pattern. The team, essentially, is in place, even though one roster spot remains. A jump-shooting team such as the Raptors can always use a rebounder and defender, but then again which team, regardless of its skill set, can’t. Last week, Hedo Turkoglu told a Turkish publication that his stated goal for the coming season was to make the all-star team. It’s a noble objective, but Turkoglu must aim higher. If you’re a fan of the Raptors, you’re hoping he does. When you look at the composition of the team, Turkoglu is by far the Raptors’ most accomplished player. For the Raptors to excel, it is up to the team to make sure that the ball ends up in Turkoglu’s hands when it crosses mid-court. For the Raptors to compete for home-court advantage in the post-season, it would be wise that every decision is made by Turkoglu.”
Sekou Smith of the Atlanta Journal Constitution: “Hawks center Al Horford is living proof of the NBA’s global impact on the game of basketball. Dominican-born and the son of former NBA player Tito Horford, he grew up admiring the game from afar. That’s why Horford said was so eager to be a part of the Basketball Without Borders Americas program that wrapped up Sunday night in Mexico City. It was his chance to give back to children who are growing up the same way. A joint venture by the NBA and the international basketball federation FIBA, the developmental program uses the sport to create positive social change in education, health and awareness around the globe. ‘I always wanted to be able to help out, anything I could do with the NBA, as far as helping to spread the word internationally,’ Horford said. ‘The game has truly gone global. And it’s important to go out and spend time with kids and make a difference. When they asked me if I was interested, I was in right away.’”
Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post: “Nuggets big man Chris Andersen played and talked with the kids Tuesday. He was every bit the player — and the man — with whom fans fell head over heels last season. ‘By far this has been the best camp for my kid,’ said Shannon Scott, parent of 8-year-old Joey, who this summer has been to an Air Force camp, as well as Carmelo Anthony’s camp. ‘I’m totally impressed. He’s here every day. He’s just an amazing person. For his first camp, he’s fantastic.’ The camp was made possible in large part by Andersen re-signing with the Nuggets in July for a five-year contract worth up to $26 million. Andersen was the Nuggets’ top-priority free agent. As a reserve center, he was the NBA’s second-leading shot blocker at 2.46 per game. ‘I was hoping and praying that they signed me back,’ Andersen said. ‘I knew they were going to do the right thing. . . . I tried not to worry about it too much. I went up and took some time for myself.’ Andersen spent time at Yellowstone National Park with his fiancee, Brandy Newman, and some high school friends. He sports a thickening beard now, and insists he’s not going to shave it until he gets married next June. ‘I’m the grizzly bird,’ he quipped. He says his body is healed and that he feels good. He has even taken up Pilates as a means of getting stronger.”
Tom Povtak of FanHouse: “There is a good reason the Orlando Magic don’t seem too concerned over losing Rashard Lewis for the first 10 games of the regular season because of his suspension for violating the NBA’s Anti-Drug Agreement. They won’t need him. Of those 10 games, only two will be against teams with a record last season that was better than .500. Yes, it would have been great to have your best shooter in the lineup for that one ESPN game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, but they could beat New Jersey and Oklahoma City with Dwight Howard and four Summer League players. Another interesting note in their schedule is that they are on national television 32 times in an 82-game regular season. Yet they were scheduled for national TV just once in those first 10, which makes you think the television decision makers were warned ahead of time that the suspension was coming last week.”
Steve Aschburner of SI.com: “This is a franchise whose ambition at the moment is to lead the NBA in ‘player development,’ which is like a blind date determined to lead the league in personality. It’s a modest goal, maybe even a reachable goal, dispatching assistant coaches and trainers hither and yon through the offseason to put players through their workout paces. But it stirs neither the adrenaline nor the imagination and, with training camp for 2009-10 barely seven weeks away, suggests a lot more squish than sizzle. ‘I have this idea in my head that I hope that a year from now we can become recognized around the league as the leaders in player development,’ Wolves president David Kahn said Monday. ‘And player development starts with the head coach — not necessarily with the head coach telling an assistant coach, ‘You go deal with it. You go deal with them and let me know how it goes.’ … I wanted a head coach who understood player development is a paramount issue in our league right now, especially with the age of our team.’”
Jeff Eisenberg of the Riverside Press-Enterprise: “Jackson has one more season left on the three-year contract he signed in 2007, but last month his agent said he hasn’t ruled out coaching beyond next season. He had to take time before committing to return next year, confirming he’d be back for a 10th season only after a battery of medical tests came back problem-free. Pain and swelling in Jackson’s lower right leg kept him from traveling to a road game in Portland late last season. Jackson has had both hips replaced and underwent an angioplasty in 2003. ‘There’s no doubt he could coach beyond this season,’ Rambis said. ‘I don’t think it has anything to do with his competitive desire or his willingness to coach. There might be some health issues that creep up that prevent him from doing it, but otherwise I see him fully capable of coaching for another five or six years.’”
Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com: “When asked by a reporter if he regretted not shaking hands since it gave him his first ‘black eye’ in the court of public opinion, James said: ‘I still haven’t had a black eye, for one. Two, I don’t regret anything that I do. The only thing I apologize for that night is not doing the media [session, after the game]. The media, your … job don’t start until ours’ finish. You guys can’t report and write you guys’ story until we take a shower, until we come out and sit on the podium. That’s the only thing I apologize for. As far as shaking hands, it’s something that is not done in the NBA. If it was something like tennis, after tennis, you play, you win, you lose, you go to the center and shake hands, it happens every game in tennis.’ James is convinced the reason the story drew so much attention over the past few months was due to the fact he blew off the obligatory media session after the Game 6 loss in Orlando. ‘In basketball, you look at 82 regular-season games, it’s easy, guys are gonna shake hands, the fact that [I didn't] do the media [session], I think that’s why [the story] was all blown up, and I apologize for that, but I will not apologize for shaking nobody’s hand,’ he said. ‘You never accept losing, ever.’ When the reporter reminded James that most players usually shake hands at the end of a playoff series, James bristled again. ‘No you don’t, no you don’t,’ he responded.”
