The reason there was an end of game for LeBron to take over was that Dwyane Wade took over early in Game 5 for the Heat Wednesday.
Wade was everywhere, seeming to hit everything. Including the impossible.
Like this shot below. That’s a H-O-R-S-E shot. When that is going in you know you are on.
Joel Embiid left the 76ers’ loss to the Cavaliers last night with a shoulder injury.
How much time will he miss?
Serena Winters of NBC Sports Philadelphia:
Joel Embiid is OUT tonight (left shoulder sprain).
I’m told he is undergoing further evaluation today.
Norvel Pelle (who missed last 2 games with respiratory illness) is available. #Sixers
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) February 27, 2020
With Ben Simmons already sidelined, Philadelphia faces a talent deficit against many teams. Maybe not the Knicks. But many teams.
Of course, after getting routed by Cleveland yesterday, the 76ers can’t take any victory for granted.
More than anything, Philadelphia needs time for its somewhat-ill-fitting players to gain chemistry together ahead of the playoffs. That can’t happen with Embiid and Simmons sidelined. It’s getting late, but it’s not too late – depending on Embiid’s and Simmons’ eventual diagnoses.
Even if Al Horford plays better at center without Embiid and Tobias Harris plays better at power forward, the 76ers will face disruption when Embiid and Simmons return to full strength. Or, worse, Embiid and Simmons won’t return to full strength this season.
Even as marijuana becomes increasingly legalized around the country, the NBA still bans the drug.
Why hasn’t the players’ union fought harder to eliminate draconian penalties for weed?
Maybe because so many of its members just use marijuana, anyway.
Tom Haberstroh and Monte Poole of NBC Sports:
Six different NBA players, who did not want to be identified, estimated that the percentage of active players using marijuana in some form – buds, edibles, concentrates, CBD oils, lotions, patches – was at least 50 percent and as high as 85 percent.
We don’t know how often players get caught violating the NBA’s marijuana program. The first (no penalty) and second ($25,000 fine) violations aren’t announced. The third violation (five-game suspension) is announced but not as specific to marijuana. I found just five suspensions in the last three years that match a marijuana violation.
Any discussion of the NBA’s marijuana policy ought to include a question: Why ban the drug?
Some want to present a clean image to fans. Some want to set a trap for players who are irresponsible enough to get caught.
But it’s hard to make the case this is about actually keeping players off marijuana. If so, the policy is drastically failing.
That survey was part of Haberstroh’s and Poole’s deep dive into marijuana in the NBA. I recommend reading it in full. The story of the one time Stephen Jackson – who said he smoked marijuana his whole NBA career – tried pain pills is particularly memorable.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Celtics reportedly suspended assistant coach Jerome Allen about two weeks after he pleaded guilty to accepting a bribe while at Penn.
Now, Allen will have a tougher time if he ever wants to return to college basketball.
Allen was hit a 15-year show-cause penalty after he accepted $300,000 in bribes to get a wealthy Florida businessman’s son into the University of Pennsylvania.
The Quakers, out of the Ivy League, also were slapped by the NCAA with two years of probation, fined $5,000 and given recruiting punishments. Allen’s show-cause penalty is meant to limit a coach’s ability to work in college sports after breaking NCAA rules.
“While Penn Athletics and its men’s basketball program accept the penalties handed down by the NCAA, it is unfortunate that this process did not fully differentiate wrongdoing for personal gain versus wrongdoing for competitive gain in penalizing the institution in addition to the involved individual,” Penn said in a statement. “he University of Pennsylvania was harmed by the actions of its former head coach and the men’s basketball program received no competitive advantage. We are hopeful that this case will lead to changes in how the NCAA processes similar situations moving forward.”
Allen played for the Quakers between 1992–95 and coached the team from 2009–15. He went 66-104 with the Quakers. He was hired by the Boston Celtics in 2015 and remains on the coaching staff.
Allen was sentenced to probation and ordered to pay a fine last July in the college bribery case. Allen received a lenient sentence after testifying for prosecutors against Philip Esformes in a $1 billion Medicare fraud trial. Esformes was convicted in April of 20 counts including money laundering and obstruction of justice and awaits sentencing.
Allen testified that he accepted Esformes’ money to help the businessman’s son, Morris, gain acceptance as a “recruited” basketball player at Penn.
The Lakers were interested in trading for Derrick Rose.
Why didn’t the Lakers land the Pistons guard?
From what I understand, when the Lakers called the Pistons and expressed an interest in trading for Derrick Rose, the Pistons said, “Hey, we appreciate you calling. But we’re not trading him. Dwane Casey likes him. We think he’s going to be important for us next year.” It’s not even about what the Lakers offered, it wasn’t enough. He wasn’t available.
The Pistons definitely had a high asking price for Rose, who’s locked up for a reasonable $7,682,926 next season. Rose is Detroit’s biggest draw and has a strong bond with Pistons executive Arn Tellem.
If the Pistons absolutely refused to trade Rose, that was an error on their part. They’re going nowhere this year, and it’s far from certain Rose will maintain his production at age 32 next season. Even if he does, the lacking rest of the roster probably won’t create a winner. The trade deadline might have been the time for Detroit to maximize its return from Rose. At the very minimum, it was worth seriously exploring.
But there are several possibilities that should stop you from blindly accepting this report at face value: