Posts Tagged ‘David Stern’

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Warriors Headed Back To San Francisco

May 22, 2012  ·  3:13PM





HANG TIME PLAYOFF HEADQUARTERS – One of the greatest cities on the planet and one of the greatest fan bases in all of sports moved one step closer to reuniting today with the unveiling of the Golden State Warriors’ plans to move back to San Francisco and into a new arena by 2017, when the team can maneuver out of its lease at Oakland’s Oracle Arena.

The new arena site is near the waterfront in downtown San Francisco on Piers 30-32 close to the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, a picturesque location that will provide some stunning views of the Bay Area. This is the latest effort by Warriors ownership, Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, to breathe new life into the franchise and give their fans hope for the future by diving back into their storied past.

Some of the greatest success the Warriors have experienced came during their time in San Francisco. In the nine seasons they called San Francisco home, from 1962-63 to 1970-71, the Warriors had five winning seasons, made the playoffs five times and went to The Finals twice.

This news didn’t shock the fervent fan base that has stuck with the team through the good and bad of the past 50 years, the last 41 in Oakland. When Lacob and Guber took over in 2010, they made it clear that they had plans to shake things up for an organization that has reached the playoffs just once since 1994, and that included a move back to the City by the Bay.

Not only will the new arena be the Warriors’ new home, they’ll be using private funds to build and complete the $500 million project. And it will bring a state of the art facility to downtown San Francisco when almost every other professional sports team in the area resides outside of the city limits.

“This is more than just a basketball arena,” Lacob said at the news conference attended by the likes of NBA Commissioner David Stern, California’s Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom and Warriors greats Al Attles and Nate Thurmond, among others. ”This is a live entertainment arena.”

Said Guber: “We had one mission today; a world-class venue.”

Warriors executive and the NBA logo himself, Jerry West, made sure to mention that he’d seen new arenas built in Los Angeles, twice.  There is an energy and excitement that’s associated with these sorts of projects, he said, one that attracts fans and also players that want to enjoy the latest and greatest facilities the game has to offer.

“If I were a player,” West said, making his best pitch while trying to avoid the wrath of the commissioner, “this would be my resting place if I were a free agent.”

If the final result looks anything like the artist renderings, there will be no need for a hard sell from any Warriors executives. The Warriors will have the most breathtaking venue in the league. And if Lacob and Guber have their way, they’ll also have a team to match up with that venue.

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Hawks Owner Calls Garnett “The Dirtiest Player In The League”

May 10, 2012  ·  8:59AM





HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – Not that this series needed any more fire, but those passionate fans the Hawks will see in Boston tonight got a little extra incentive from Atlanta.

When Hawks co-owner Michael Gearon called Celtics forward Kevin Garnett the “dirtiest player in the league” during a speech Wednesday, he tossed even more kindling onto an already raging fan fire.

It doesn’t matter that most of those fans in Boston wouldn’t be able to pick Gearon out of a lineup, or that his comments were supposedly made “off the record” during a luncheon sponsored by an Atlanta-based non-profit organization.

All anyone will know by tipoff of Game 6 tonight in Boston is that the other team’s owner called out the guy universally regarded as the emotional heart and soul of the Celtics the night before they have a chance to close out the Hawks and move on to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

And now that it’s all out there, courtesy of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution‘s D. Orlando Ledbetter, a NFL writer who happened to be in attendance at the luncheon, it gives the Hawks yet another mess to deal with on the day of what is no doubt the biggest game of their season. Check out exactly what the AJC reports that Gearon said and decide for yourself how big a mess this is:

On media coverage of Hawks’ playoff series against the Celtics

“Did you see what Al Horford did last night? The timeline for recovery for his injury is another three months. He’s not even supposed to be playing and Josh [Smith] should not be playing.Zaza [Pachulia] can’t stand up, but if we can get past this round there is a chance that we can get him back. So this is a team that is overcoming adversity. I wish . . . some of the national media or even some of the local media, more the paper than the TV guys, recognize how hard these guys are playing based on how injured they are.

“On top of all that, we don’t get any calls, which I know everybody always hears. But I’ll give you a stat. Last night, we are playing this old physical team. They are old. I know what happens when you play basketball, old guys foul. [Kevin] Garnett is the dirtiest guy in the league. We are playing Boston last night and they had two fouls the whole first half. We had five times that and we’re athletic.”

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Stern Visit From The Commissioner

May 1, 2012  ·  12:13AM



INDIANAPOLIS — Commissioner David Stern was in a foul mood after weather issues delayed his visit to Game 2 of the Pacers-Magic series. And then someone asked him about Derrick Rose and the insinuation that the lockout-shortened season somehow was to blame.

Let’s just say the commissioner’s day didn’t get any brighter.

“What we’re trying to do is get facts and so we asked doctors. Derrick Rose actually missed 27 games. But far be it for me to ask (the basketball pundits) to have some facts to support anything. It’s really shocking to me. I searched (ESPN’s NBA show) for a fact. All we got were opinions.

“I think we’ve averaged about five ACLs a year. Over this past weekend we had two. We’re not looking to average it out, believe me. Facts would be good, though. Information will free you. And I wish our broadcasters would use it.”

Stern is sensitive about any link between injuries and a season that has had teams play three games in three nights. When potential playoff teams rested starters the final two weeks of the season, the league didn’t frown upon it, as it normally would. Also, Stern’s league isn’t better off without Rose or any other star. The league thrives mainly because of those players.

“We care deeply about the health of our players,” Stern said.

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Posted in 2012 NBA Playoffs / Comments (5) /

Stern Calls Elbow ‘Reckless’

April 25, 2012  ·  5:50PM




Commissioner David Stern stopped short of saying that the elbow thrown by Metta World Peace to the head of James Harden that resulted in a seven-game suspension was a deliberate act.

“I believe that it was recklessly thrown,” said Wednesday afternoon during the NBA’s annual pre-playoff conference call with the media. “And I believe that looking at the replays again and again that he should have known that James was up against him. Some would argue that he had to have known. But I can’t be in his mind at that moment or what was overriding what. But the fact was under all the circumstances, it was reckless and dangerous.”

Harden suffered a concussion from the blow that was delivered during the second quarter of Sunday’s Thunder-Lakers game at Staple Center.

Stern added that many factors – including World Peace’s own track record for past incidents – went into his decision on the length of the suspension.

“Obviously all those things are considered,” he said. “In fact, if it had been somebody who got tangled up and threw an errant elbow, would that have been different than this? You bet it would have been…It’s really very serious stuff and it does take into account the fact that the perpetrator is who he is and has the record that he has and this called for in our view a very stiff penalty and we think that seven games, which only includes one regular season game, is such a stiff penalty.”

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Making Sense Of The World Peace Mess

April 25, 2012  ·  9:34AM





HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – The NBA’s deans of discipline handed down a most appropriate fine for Metta World Peace‘s elbow to James Harden‘s head that caused a concussion and 48 hours of on unnecessary pain and suffering for the game of basketball.

Lakers fans might not feel that way, but if they remove those purple-and-gold-colored glasses for just a minute, they’ll realize that justice was served in this instance.

Unlike some hardliners, we saw no reason for World Peace to suffer through a 10-game suspension or the lifetime ban some were calling for (yes, we’ve read all of your comments and emails on the subject). That would have been excessive, even for a player with as checkered a past as World Peace.

It’s clear the league took into account all of the good deeds he’s done and the way, up until Sunday at least, he’s conducted himself within the lines the past few seasons. NBA Commissioner David Stern could have dropped the hammer on World Peace this time and met with little resistance in the court of public opinion outside of Lakerland.

Unlike World Peace, someone took the time to consider all of the options instead of just reacting in the heat of the moment. Instead of listening to the tide of discontent surrounding this latest act and using his extensive history of running afoul of the league’s code of conduct for all players, someone at the league office decided not to make an example of World Peace when they so easily could have.

Seven games might seem harsh to some, but in this day and age of bounties in the NFL and the like, seven games seems more than appropriate. And the Lakers’ acceptance of the penalty (and their continued support of World Peace) would indicate that they recognize as much and ready to try to move on from this incident.

And to his credit, World Peace did the classy thing and apologized to the Thunder and their fans for what happened on his website. Despite suggestions to the contrary, he is fully aware of what went down and seems genuinely contrite for allowing his emotions to get the best of him yet again. We’re not here to condemn the man for that. In fact, we applaud him for recognizing that and handling himself the right way now.

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World Peace Suspended Seven Games

April 24, 2012  ·  9:10PM





HANG TIME WEST – The NBA on Tuesday suspended Metta World Peace seven games for the unprovoked elbow to the head of James Harden, a discipline that will cost the Lakers their starting small forward for at least the bulk of the first round of the playoffs.

World Peace will be sidelined for the regular-season finale Thursday at Sacramento and the next six games as a result of the dangerous blow to the back of Harden’s head when the Lakers and Thunder played Sunday in Los Angeles. If the Lakers advance out of the first round in less than six games, the suspension carries into the Western Conference semifinals. If they are eliminated in less than six games, it carries over to the start of next season.

The amount of money the former Ron Artest will lose depends on how much comes from his 2011-12 salary and how much, if any, is based on 2012-13 income.

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Saints Owner To Buy Hornets

April 13, 2012  ·  11:53AM



The NBA’s days as an owner of the New Orleans Hornets are drawing to a close. The league reached a tentative agreement early Friday morning with New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson to buy the team for $338 million, according to a source with knowledge of the discussions.

The league chose Benson, who will be purchasing the team by himself, over a group of investors including businessman Raj Bhathal and former NBA head coach and general manager Mike Dunleavy, and former minority owner Gary Chouest, who had tried unsuccessfully to buy the team from majority owner George Shinn three years ago. The Bhathal group also included Larry Benson, Tom Benson’s younger brother.

The New Orleans Times Picayune first reported the sale to Tom Benson on its website this morning.

Benson would be allowed under the NFL’s rules to buy the Hornets. That sport prohibits cross ownership, the rule that prompted the Denver Nuggets’ former primary owner, Stan Kroenke, to transfer ownership of the Nuggets to his son, Josh, when Stan Kroenke obtained a majority ownership stake of the NFL’s St. Louis Rams.

Because the Saints and Hornets both play in New Orleans, the NFL would have no objection to Tom Benson’s purchase of the Hornets.

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Future Of Kings, Hornets — And Stern’s Exit Plan — Among BOG Issues

April 13, 2012  ·  10:13AM





NEW YORK – With labor strife quelled for nearly the next five years — until the league’s hard-fought collective bargaining agreement can be reopened in 2017 — the business of this week’s Board of Governors meeting might seem less pressing than the sessions that preceded this post-lockout season.

But don’t tell that to the NBA fans in Sacramento and New Orleans.

The long-term viability of both franchises was in play as the owners met in midtown Manhattan Thursday and Friday. There also was expected to be discussion of a controversial marketing initiative — selling sponsorship space on game jerseys. And then there is the nagging matter of commissioner David Stern’s exit strategy, which could trigger in a matter of months or, more likely, the next few seasons. Stern has said repeatedly that he will retire before the next CBA gets negotiated.

For now, the commissioner probably would be happy just to shed his owner/CEO role with the Hornets, an arrangement that reached its peak awkwardness in December when he stepped in to reject a trade that would have sent All-Star point guard Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers. Paul eventually was sent to the other L.A. team, the Clippers, amid much clamor and the goal of finding new ownership for New Orleans gained a new urgency.

The NBA has owned and operated the Hornets since December 2010. But Stern said at All-Star Weekend that two possible buyers had emerged; a winner might be announced today, Jimmy Smith of the New Orleans Times-Picayune wrote:

It appears the league might be ready to choose between an offer from a group headed by California swimwear manufacturer Raj Bhathal that will include former Hornets minority owner Gary Chouest, and a bid from New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson.

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As the Kings Arena Saga Turns

March 30, 2012  ·  4:26PM





HANG TIME WEST – In summation: This is why it has taken about 10 years to get even this far on a new Sacramento arena.

Not money, though that has obviously been a factor in recent years. Not the NBA wanting the Kings to leave for a bigger market, despite how many people in Sacramento screeched such a claim in conjunction with the cries of big-market (Lakers! Lakers!) favoritism.

It’s that Kings management and local leaders can’t get out of their own way. As in the city offering a poorly written ballot measure in 2006 that could have closed the deal before the economy and the team went in the tank, as in the Kings owners contributing to the election defeat four years ago with an ill-timed burger commercial that flaunted their wealth at the same time taxpayers were being asked to dig deep, and now, as in the same Maloofs regurgitating much of the good will that had just been won. This is why.

Here they are, an agreement in place, funding under way, co-owner Gavin Maloof getting loud ovations at City Council meetings, mayor Kevin Johnson being cheered at Power Balance Pavilion… and stop the clock. Time for another layer of absurdity. (more…)

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Report: Bulls Chasing Gasol

March 13, 2012  ·  6:13PM





HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – Derrick Rose and Pau Gasol in the same uniform?

Apparently someone is trying to make it happen, according to ESPN’s Marc Stein, who is reporting that the Bulls are trying to find a way to land the Lakers’ power forward in advance of Thursday trade deadline.

It’s one of the more intriguing ideas to surface throughout this frenzied countdown to the trade deadline, a stretch of every season that is rife with rumors, speculation and flat-out lies.

The Bulls haven’t been mentioned previously with Gasol, but recent developments have placed them squarely in the middle of that conversation now, details courtesy of Stein:

The Bulls have long hoped to wedge themselves into the trade running for Orlando Magic star Dwight Howard, but sources told ESPN.com that Howard’s well-chronicled lack of interest in a trade to Chicago has prompted the Bulls to switch their focus to Gasol in advance of Thursday’s 3 p.m. ET deadline.

Sources say that the Lakers, however, have limited interest in the players Chicago would be offering, starting with Bulls forward Carlos Boozer.

So the Bulls would have to recruit at least one more team to the discussions to have any shot at Gasol, sources said, with the Lakers known to be insistent on getting back at least one certifiable star if they consent to trade the Spaniard.

Sources say that the Lakers, furthermore, are talking to other teams about Gasol in advance.

The Lakers’ longstanding preference, of course, is acquiring a top point guard if they agree to surrender Gasol. They included the 7-footer in the December deal with New Orleans and Houston that would have landed Chris Paul with the Lakers, only for NBA commissioner David Stern — acting as the final decision-maker for the league-owned Hornets — to tell New Orleans’ basketball people to cancel the deal after all three teams agreed to terms.

Gasol has been subjected to constant trade speculation ever since, and recently acknowledged to ESPN.com that “there’s no guarantees” he’ll be with the Lakers beyond the trade deadline, despite recent assurances from Lakers management that no deal was imminent.

Gasol would have no problem fitting in with a Bulls team that is all about defense and the strength of the unit overall as opposed to a sole focus on just one player (Rose gets tons of deserved attention, on and off the court, but they are not a one-man show). In fact, the way the Bulls operate would seem to be much more to the liking of Gasol, who has made clear his desire that the Lakers foster that same sort of environment.

But it’s like he said, there are no guarantees, and that goes for just about anyone and anything this close the trade deadline. But you can rest assured this won’t be the last trade rumor that Gasol is linked to. And it shouldn’t surprise you to see the Bulls mentioned with other prominent stars over the next couple of days.

Until that first domino falls, everyone is in play!

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Posted in 2012 Trade Deadline / Comments (90) /

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