LeBron James sent Magic Johnson an ardent happy-birthday tweet last year. Then, LeBron eventually provided the best gift imaginable – signing with Johnson’s Lakers.
I think Johnson is having a good 59th birthday today. But I can’t say for certain – because the video he posted is pixelated and has distorted audio:
That prompted Lonzo Ball to tweet:
Ha!
That’d be a pretty nice gift. But I don’t think it’ll endear Ball over LeBron.
Richard Jefferson Sr., 65, the father of NBA veteran Richard Jefferson Jr., died on Wednesday when he was killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles.
The report comes to us from TMZ, who says that it is still unclear whether the elder Jefferson was the target of the attack or if it was something more random.
Via TMZ:
Richard Jefferson Sr. was in front of a liquor store in a primarily residential area around 6:52 PM when a vehicle rolled up and someone inside opened fire.
Jefferson Sr. was struck multiple times in the torso. He was transported to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Sources say Jefferson Sr. was with 2 other men at the time of the shooting. It’s unclear if Jefferson Sr. was the target.
The Los Angeles Police Department is still investigating the shooting, and we of course are hoping they will get to the bottom of this crime.
Thoughts are with Jefferson at this time, who according to ESPN grew closer to his father in recent years. Jefferson’s parents split when he was young and Junior grew up in Arizona with Senior residing in California.
NEW YORK (AP) — Kristaps Porzingis is back with his teammates, though the New York Knicks don’t know when he’ll be back on the court.
Joakim Noah won’t be back, though the terms of his departure still are being negotiated.
So while there are questions, the Knicks also feel they have certainty with the way they are building their team.
They insist their future first-round draft picks will be used to select players for their own team, not to be dangled in trades that could land them an established player.
“We’re committed to following a plan and not just shifting and pivoting because we see something that we think is attractive and might fast track something,” Knicks president Steve Mills said Thursday. “I’ve seen that happen and go wrong too many times and that’s not what we’re going to do.”
It’s happened in New York, where the Knicks traded young players and future assets in 2011 to acquire Carmelo Anthony, rather than sign him the following summer as a free agent with the cap space they had. This time, they say they will wait for the summer of 2019, when Kyrie Irving, Jimmy Butler, Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard could be among the free agents – even if one of them suddenly became available by trade now.
“We don’t want to jump at the shiny things,” coach David Fizdale said. “We want to make solid decisions and be patient with this process.”
They will be patient with Porzingis, their All-Star forward who is still recovering from a torn ACL in February. He is back in New York and working out with his teammates, but faces more testing and rehab before the Knicks know when he can play.
“As he meets certain milestones, we’ll continue his rehab process,” Mills said, “all toward the direction of when he feels 100 percent comfortable and we feel 100 percent comfortable that we’re not taking any risks with him, then he’ll be ready to come back.”
Not so for Noah, despite the two years left on the $72 million deal he signed in 2015. He has been away from the team since clashing with former coach Jeff Hornacek last season. The Knicks remain in discussions with Noah and his representation to determine how he’ll leave the club.
“The hope is that we can come to a resolution that is both advantageous to both Joakim and to the Knicks, and so that’s where it sits right now,” general manager Scott Perry said.
Porzingis is eligible for an extension this fall, but the Knicks seem prepared to wait until next summer. That would allow them to have more salary-cap space in July if they try to sign a player they won’t mortgage any of their future for now.
“We feel comfortable with our organization and where we’re going and what we’re developing here,” Mills said, “and we think that when it’s time for us to go after free agents, we’ll be a place to attract free agents and we shouldn’t use our draft picks like that.”
The sudden Jimmy Butler trade drama: Let me explain… No, there is too much. Let me sum up.
Monday Butler and coach/GM Tom Thibodeau were set to meet in Minneapolis but that got moved in Los Angeles last Monday, but that got moved to Tuesday, where Thibodeau thought he could patch up the Butler/Karl-Anthony Towns relationship enough to get them on the same page for training camp, but then Butler asked for a trade, specifically to the Clippers/Nets/Knicks (with Los Angeles in front), but Thibodeau doesn’t want to trade Butler and would rather quit than move him for a rebuilding package of picks.
Whew.
(And we didn’t even get into the Andrew Wiggins drama or the Towns’ girlfriend drama.)
This makes for a very interesting media day Monday in Minnesota (where everybody will deny everything), however, little has been resolved. Butler wants out and Thibodeau doesn’t want to trade him. Eventually, Thibodeau is going to have to come around on this (or be pushed out for someone who does) — Minnesota can’t afford to lose him for nothing in free agency considering all they gave up.
But the Timberwolves don’t have to trade him where he wants to go — they just need to get the best deal for themselves. From Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic:
We have seen this before, Oklahoma City taking a swing at Paul George (that worked out), Toronto rolling the dice with Kawhi Leonard.
I could see a team such as Miami putting together a veteran-heavy package (Thibodeau still wants to win) such as Josh Richardson and Kelly Olynyk, or Richardson with Justise Winslow and some other salary and picks, and seeing if that inspires Thibodeau. (The Clippers may well be able to put together the best veteran package, based around Tobias Harris.) The Suns have been big game hunting and could come in (Trevor Ariza can’t be traded until Dec. 15 but he could be a part of a deal). Philadelphia could roll the dice. There are others.
All of this is a while off — Thibodeau isn’t there yet. There’s a lot of drama between now and then.
Serge Ibaka has a cooking show on YouTube called “How Hungry Are You?” Seriously. You can see an episode above. That was much higher on the list of things I did not expect than Bert and Ernie possibly being gay.
New Spur DeMar DeRozan went on the show with his former teammate, presumably to learn how to make some Tex-Mex meals so he can blend in better in San Antonio, when the topic of when DeRozan playing the Raptors for the first time came up. DeRozan was joking around, but I think he meant this:
“Probably go for 50 (points). I’m gonna foul you out. I’m gonna foul (Jonas Valanciunas) out. I’m telling you.”
DeRozan wasn’t done with the cooking references, either.
While 50 is a big number, if DeRozan is on your fantasy team you want to play him the week of Jan. 3 when the Spurs play host to Toronto — he is going to go off on his former team. You can bet Gregg Popovich will have a few special plays in mind and his teammates will be getting DeRozan the rock all he wants.
DeRozan did not want to be traded from the city he loved and repped for his entire career, he wanted to stay and win there. It didn’t work out that way, Toronto rolled the dice on Kawhi Leonard (which was not a bad gamble for the franchise). That said, DeRozan landed with a great organization and a team that can win some games in the West. The fans in San Antonio will love him, too, he can be a leader there.
And leaders step up when motivated. For DeRozan, that will be Jan. 3, 2019.
