The story behind Jason Collins' story: How it happened: I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay.....

posted by BornIcon to basketball at 11:13 AM - 20 comments

Russell Westbrook to have meniscus repair.: Westbrook injured his knee during the second quarter of the Thunder's Game 2 win over the Rockets Wednesday night but continued to play in that game. No timetable is set for his return. To date, Westbrook has never missed a game in his professional, college, or high school career.

posted by Ufez Jones to basketball at 01:09 PM - 0 comments

Golden State Warriors' David Lee shaken by timing of injury: Sunday morning, MRI results revealed exactly what Lee feared when he felt a pop in his right hip in the fourth quarter of Game 1 Saturday. He sustained a complete tear of his right hip flexor, ending his first trip to the playoffs in eight NBA seasons.

posted by BornIcon to basketball at 08:48 AM - 0 comments

Was the Flu Game a Poisoning?: Michael Jordan's "flu game" in the 1997 NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz, one of the most iconic moments in his career, was caused by intentional food poisoning, his trainer Tim Grover alleges. Jordan was the only player to eat a pizza that had been delivered to their hotel, he said. "Five guys came to deliver this pizza," Grover said. "I take the pizza, and I tell them: 'I've got a bad feeling about this.' ... Out of everybody in the room, [Jordan] was the only one who ate. Nobody else had it. And then, at 2 o'clock in the morning, I get a call to my room. I come to the room, and he's curled up in the fetal position."

posted by rcade to basketball at 05:10 PM - 3 comments

UConn wins NCAA Women's Championship: A dominant UConn team wins its 8th national championship with a 33 point margin of victory. Coach Geno Auriemma tied legendary Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt for most titles. Freshman Breanna Stewart looks like a force to be reckoned with for years to come.

posted by Joey Michaels to basketball at 02:32 AM - 0 comments

Louisville Wins NCAA Championship: Louisville rallied from a 12-point deficit to beat Michigan 82-76 in the NCAA championship basketball game Monday night. Luke Hancock scored 22 off the bench to lead the scoring for the Cardinals. Rick Pitino becomes the first coach to win the title with two schools. He also won it with Kentucky in 1996. Kevin Ware, the guard who broke his leg in gruesome fashion in the regional final, watched from his seat at the end of the bench.

posted by rcade to basketball at 10:25 AM - 5 comments

Spencer Haywood finds out he was elected to Hall of Fame ... then not: On Friday, Fox Sports Florida reported Spencer Haywood had been elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. One problem. Turns out it wasn't true

posted by BornIcon to basketball at 01:29 PM - 5 comments

The man behind One Shining Moment: One Shining Moment

posted by gfinsf to basketball at 12:54 PM - 0 comments

There Is No Leo G. Hershberger: Forty years ago, the National Association of Collegiate Basketball Writers released their All-America team naming the top 15 rookie players in the nation. All 15 received certificates congratulating them on winning the Leo G. Hershberger award, named for a sportswriter, and the achievement was noted by Associated Press and several major newspapers. The whole thing was a hoax concocted by four William & Mary alumni to ensure that their school's guard Mike Arizin was somebody's All-American.

posted by rcade to basketball at 02:50 PM - 4 comments

Rutgers' coach Mike Rice Berates Players at Practice: In several dozen hours of video of Rutgers men's basketball practices obtained by "Outside the Lines," coach Mike Rice is seen hurling basketballs from close range at his players' heads, legs and feet; shoving and grabbing his players; feigning punching them; kicking them; and screaming obscenities and homophobic slurs.

posted by phaedon to basketball at 04:57 PM - 16 comments

USC Hires Andy Enfield Away from Florida Gulf Coast: Andy Enfield, fresh off taking 15-seed Florida Gulf Coast to the sweet 16, has been hired to coach USC. FGCU played an up-tempo style that averaged 73.5 points a game this season, but it was in the Atlantic Sun. He's a former NBA and Florida State assistant known for his "shot doctor" videos who also owns a stake in a medical software company worth millions and is married to former model Amanda Marcum. "Andy has been successful in every area of his life," said USC athletic director Pat Haden.

posted by rcade to basketball at 10:06 AM - 6 comments

Money & March Madness: In 2011, PBS Frontline asked, "If everyone else is profiting from the multibillion dollar college sports business, why shouldn't the athletes?"

posted by phaedon to basketball at 10:11 PM - 14 comments

Louisville's Kevin Ware Suffers Broken Leg: Louisville sophomore Kevin Ware suffered a horrendous broken leg injury in the first half of a regional college basketball tournament final on Sunday, his bone protruding visibly from his skin as his teammates recoiled in horror at the sight. Duke's Tyler Thornton shot a 3-pointer from the wing and Ware ran out to defend and landed awkwardly on his right leg.

posted by grum@work to basketball at 08:23 PM - 12 comments

9-Seed Wichita State Reaches Final Four: The Wichita State Shockers have become only the fifth team seeded ninth or higher to reach the Final Four, knocking off the Ohio State Buckeyes 70-66. The preceding overachieving underdogs were Penn (9 in 1979), LSU (11 in 1986), George Mason (11 in 2006) and Virginia Commonwealth (11 in 2011). The Shockers had a 20-point lead in the second half and outlasted a furious Buckeyes comeback.

posted by rcade to basketball at 08:01 AM - 4 comments

Sacramento OKs Arena Deal to Hold Onto Kings: The Sacramento city council has approved a $448 million public-private deal to build a new 18,500-seat arena in a last-ditch effort to keep the Sacramento Kings from leaving for Seattle. City Mayor Kevin Johnson, a former NBA player, will appear before the NBA Board of Governors hoping to persuade them to reject the move. The city would own the arena and fork over $258 million of the cost. "We want the folks of Seattle to get a team, we wish them well, but we want to keep what's ours," Johnson said.

posted by rcade to basketball at 09:34 AM - 3 comments

Florida Gulf Coast Makes 15-Seed History: Florida Gulf Coast has become the first 15 seed in NCAA basketball tournament history to advance to the Sweet 16, defeating San Diego State 81-71. "They play with a swagger, and they have a right to do that," said San Diego State coach Steve Fisher. Nate Silver's statistical model has increased Florida Gulf Coast's chances to win the tournament from 0.001 percent up to 0.02 percent.

posted by rcade to basketball at 10:53 AM - 4 comments

There are buzzer beaters and then there are BUZZER BEATERS: In the New York Section 1 AA championship game New Rochelle was on a 9-1 run but still behind by 2 points. Only 2.9 seconds left on the clock and they have to take out the ball on the opposite side of the court. The long lob down the floor was picked off by the opposing Mount Vernon, things didn't look good until Khalil Edney had something to say about it.

posted by jeremias to basketball at 06:54 AM - 10 comments

Ref Argues with Play-by-Play Announcer During Game: While Bob Ramsey was calling play-by-play Tuesday for the Saint Louis University Billikens, his characterization of a foul as "cheap" prompted referee Bo Borowski to come over and try to argue with him on the air. "Stay away from me," Ramsey said.

posted by rcade to basketball at 11:33 AM - 2 comments

Lakers owner Jerry Buss dies at 80: Jerry Buss, the longtime owner of the Lakers whose penchant for showmanship helped turn the game of basketball into “Showtime” and who led the team to 10 NBA championships, died Monday. He was 80.

posted by BornIcon to basketball at 11:08 AM - 6 comments

Jay Williams, 10 Years After the Motorcycle Accident: Ten years ago, Chicago Bulls rookie guard and former Duke standout Jay Williams crashed his motorcycle and nearly lost his life, severely damaging his leg and ending a promising NBA career. A long profile in today's New York Times describes how Williams rebuilt his life and got past his reputation as someone who had it all and stupidly threw it away. "I hope people remind me of my accident every day of my life," said Williams. "Because that means I'm a prime example of somebody who had it and lost everything and may not have gotten it back in the same capacity but still reinvented myself." Williams allowed the Times to be the first media outlet to photograph his leg.

posted by rcade to basketball at 06:05 PM - 4 comments

Rajon Rondo Tears ACL, Out for Season: Boston Celtics All-Star guard Rajon Rondo has a torn right ACL and will miss the rest of the NBA season. Rondo injured his knee in Friday's loss to the Atlanta Hawks. He was averaging 13.7 points and 11.1 assists this season.

posted by rcade to basketball at 04:31 PM - 10 comments

N.C. State Player Saves Wheelchair-Bound Fan: After N.C. State upset No. 1-ranked Duke Saturday and fans stormed the court, Will Privette got a friend to push him onto the court in his wheelchair but quickly was knocked down among the celebratory mob. Wolfpack player C.J. Leslie saw the fallen fan, cleared a path and picked him up. After he fell, Privette said he thought, "OK, this is not going to end well at all."

posted by rcade to basketball at 10:34 AM - 4 comments

Russian oligarch fires well-regarded coach mid-season: P.J. Carlesimo will replace Rafa Benitez Avery Johnson for now.

posted by yerfatma to basketball at 02:28 PM - 2 comments

Winthrop Coach Addresses Newtown Shooting: After his team's loss to No. 4-ranked Ohio State Tuesday night, Winthrop coach Pat Kelsey ended his post-game press conference with some impassioned remarks about the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School that claimed the lives of 20 first graders and six adults. "I'm not going to have a microphone like this the rest of the year, maybe the rest of my life," said Kelsey, the father of four- and five-year-old daughters. "When I walked into the press conference, I had never been in a chair with a microphone in front of me with that many cameras. Something came over me," the first-year coach said later.

posted by rcade to basketball at 08:29 PM - 5 comments

NBA Ref Won't Let Amir Johnson Rub the Ball: Amir Johnson of the Toronto Raptors was ejected last night after tussling with a ref who wouldn't let him rub the basketball after a free throw. Johnson was tossed by referee David Jones and was being restrained when he threw his mouthpiece at Jones, hitting him in the back. "Every free throw I always go and rub the ball and give it right back to the ref," Johnson said. "I guess the ref didn't let me have the ball, so we kind of got into a tug-of-war. No words were said and he ejected me out of the game. I kind of lost my cool from there."

posted by rcade to basketball at 11:10 AM - 5 comments

Stern Would Like to Eliminate Hack-a-Howard: "I would have liked to have seen the rule changed to make the last-two-minute rule the whole rule,” he said. “It was getting to a point last year where, [in the] first period, they were just grabbing players. I think that’s ludicrous."

posted by DudeDykstra to basketball at 12:06 AM - 8 comments

The New Orleans Hornets are changing their names to the Pelicans: Look at the Pelican fly, come on Pelican!

posted by phaedon to basketball at 07:56 PM - 13 comments

College Coach Rick Majerus Dies: St Louis University basketball coach Rick Majerus died Saturday while awaiting a heart transplant. He was 64. Majerus was 517-216 in his 25-year career coaching Marquette, Ball State, Utah and St. Louis and took Utah to the 1998 NCAA tournament final, which Kentucky won 78-69. Majerus played freshman basketball at Marquette but couldn't make Al McGuire's varsity roster, but he went on to serve as his assistant for 12 seasons. He was known for being a great quote, such as when asked about becoming coach at Notre Dame: "I don't wear socks. ... I think those guys have socks with all kinds of logos on them. I think everybody at Notre Dame has a tie rack in their wardrobe, and I don't even have a tie in my wardrobe."

posted by rcade to basketball at 08:50 AM - 5 comments

The San Antonio Spurs send some players home: Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich elects to send home Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili to rest them from a long road stretch. This rendered them unavailable for Thursday night's game against the Miami Heat. NBA Commissioner David Stern took note of this and promised "substantial sanctions will be forthcoming." The Heat won 105-100.

posted by NerfballPro to basketball at 11:45 AM - 51 comments

Grizzlies Off to Hottest Start Ever: With Friday night's 106-98 win over the Los Angeles Lakers, the Memphis Grizzlies climbed to 9-2 and reclaimed the NBA's best record. This is the best start ever for the 18-year-old franchise, which reached the Western Conference playoffs the past two seasons. A TrueHoop post from earlier this month describes how they're winning.

posted by rcade to basketball at 01:07 PM - 1 comment

College Player Scores 138 Points In A Game: Jack Taylor of Grinnell College (D-III) scored 138 points in a 179-104 win over Faith Baptist. He was 27-of-71 in three-pointers and 52-of-108 from the field overall, plus 7-for-10 on free throws.

posted by TheQatarian to basketball at 12:13 AM - 33 comments

Lakers Fire Mike Brown: Dream Team, Nightmare, etc.

posted by yerfatma to basketball at 01:37 PM - 18 comments

NCAA Calls Bumper-Sticker Buyer a Booster: Two Indiana freshmen will be suspended for nine games this season because the wife of Mark Adams, their former AAU coach and legal guardian, bought $185 in bumper stickers from the school from 1986 to 1992. That makes Adams a booster in the NCAA's eyes and his money spent supporting Peter Jurkin and Hanner Mosquera-Parea an improper expense. The NCAA wrote in a letter to the school, "Despite the minimal nature of Mr. Adams' donations, and the fact that the last donation he made was more than 15 years before he provided expenses to a prospective student-athlete who enrolled at the institution, Mr. Adams must be considered a representative of the institution's athletics interests."

posted by rcade to basketball at 11:36 AM - 15 comments

Thunder, Rockets swap big names.: Unable to agree on a contract extension with James Harden, OKC sends him to Houston along with Cole Aldrich, Daequan Cook and Lazar Haywood. In return, the Thunder acquire Kevin Martin, rookie and 12th overall draft pick Jeremy Lamb, and three future draft picks. The Rockets have already announced plans to offer Harden a 4-year, $60 million extension.

posted by Ufez Jones to basketball at 11:44 AM - 21 comments

Sixth Man Infraction Spotted, 19 Years Later: In 1993, in the waning seconds of overtime in game 7 of a second-round playoff series between the Houston Rockets and Seattle Supersonics (sigh), Hakeem Olajuwon had five different players he could pass to. Not four. Backup Winston Garland stood up and walked onto the court, ready to bury a three from the corner. "Garland moved so quickly, so decisively that you would assume he belonged in the play," writes Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN.Com.

posted by rcade to basketball at 09:57 AM - 8 comments

Dwight Howard to Shaq: 'Your Time is Up': After ignoring criticism by Shaquille O'Neal for years, new Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard responded with anger after O'Neal recently compared him unfavorably to Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez. "Shaq played the game and he is done," Howard told reporters Thursday. "It's time to move on. He hated the fact when he played that older guys were talking about him and how he played. Now he's doing the exact same thing. Just let it go. There's no sense for him to be talking trash to me. He did his thing in the league. Sit back and relax. Your time is up."

posted by rcade to basketball at 11:58 AM - 3 comments

Stop The Flop: The NBA officially adopts an anti-flopping policy, announcing a new rule that will fine repeat offenders this season.

posted by tron7 to basketball at 02:13 PM - 10 comments

The Best Deal Ever Is Not Good Enough: We discussed the Silna brothers six years ago, but there's a new wrinkle in the saga of the biggest money giveaway in sports history. Ozzie and Daniel Silna, owners of the ABA's St. Louis Spirits, negotiated a deal when the NBA absorbed four other ABA teams in 1976 -- one-seventh of TV revenues from those four ABA teams, forever. This has made them somewhere between $240 and $300 million, but they're suing for a chunk of international broadcasts and the NBA TV network, ideas no one had thought of 36 years ago.

posted by Etrigan to basketball at 09:57 PM - 2 comments

Lakers to Get Howard, Lose Bynum in Four-Team Trade: The Los Angeles Lakers, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers and Denver Nuggets are finalizing a deal today that sends Dwight Howard (Orlando), Earl Clark (Orlando) and Chris Duhon (Orlando) to the Lakers; Andrew Bynum (LA) and Jason Richardson (Orlando) to the 76ers; Andre Iguodala (Philly) to the Nuggets; and Arron Afflalo (Denver), Al Harrington (Denver), Nikola Vucevic (Philly), Moe Harkless (Philly), three lottery-protected first-round draft picks (LA, Philly, Denver) and a 2013 second-round pick (Denver) to the Magic.

posted by rcade to basketball at 08:44 AM - 24 comments

SLYT: helluva dunk: I saw this, and I thought you should see it (etc.)

posted by nthdegx to basketball at 06:54 PM - 5 comments