Pretty specific, and therefore a little tough to read, description of the accident that landed J.R. Smith, his passenger, and another driver in the hospital over the weekend. Police say Smith will be charged. His passenger is in critical condition. Smith was also the driver in an accident in February. The same article points out that, in a seperate incident, Nugget benchwarmer DerMarr Johnson, who will be a free agent July 1, was tasered by police in an an incident outside a nightclub.
TrueHoop reader Steve points out that more than a sixth of all players drafted in 1996 have played for the Knicks. That's weird. UPDATE: Matt Watson of Detroit Bad Boys emails: "I saw your note in the Bullets about how the Knicks had more than a 1/6 of the guys from the 1996 draft play for them at some point. I actually noticed the same thing about the Pistons from the 1995 draft about a year ago: they had 10 guys from that draft, including all of the first four players drafted (Joe Smith, Antonio McDyess, Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace). They also have had Corliss Williamson, Bob Sura, Theo Ratliff, Randolph Childress, Lou Roe, and Don Reid." Wonder what the record is ... UPDATE: Even more amazing, eight of the top nine 1992 draftees, and even a few more later in the draft, have played for the Heat.
This is not new, but as people in Phoenix ponder how they'll trim their payroll in keeping with Robert Sarver's reported desires, you have to ask: Amare Stoudemire, how did you sleep through the last team meeting of the year? It just leaves a funny taste in everybody's mouth, doesn't it? Especially now that Shawn Marion is getting this kind of press.
Tragicomic quote from Raja Bell, in the current issue of ESPN the magazine, about his time in the Finals with the Sixers in 2001: "The Finals against the Lakers was my first trip to LA. On the bus to Staples, I waved out the window to the fans. Then I noticed a guy throwing gang signs, and I realized I was being a little naive. This was something deeper than I'd expected. I put on my headphones and looked straight ahead." The same issue also reveals that Jason Terry's six-year-old daughter considers herself Mrs. Dirk Nowitzki, and, according to Jet, she writes Nowitzki notes telling him to play well and to call her after the game.
When Damon Jones was on the floor last night, the Cavaliers outscored the Spurs by 19 (Tim Duncan was on the bench for the first several minutes of that). Also, everyone wants more Daniel Gibson, but when he first checked into the game for LeBron James, the Cavaliers were instantly outscored by five over a minute and a half. Then Eric Snow came in for Gibson, and everything calmed down. UPDATE: To clarify, I'm not saying I know how Mike Brown should substitute, but it's worth noting that Snow's first stint on the court was without James, and was one of the better stretches of the game for the Cavaliers. The Spurs won that seven-and-a-half minutes by just one point with NO LEBRON JAMES! One game plus/minus proves nothing, and one stint plus/minus proves even less. Of course you'd rather have Daniel Gibson and LeBron James on the floor (they both ended up with slightly better plus/minus than snow for the game). But this is not the first time in the playoffs I've noticed the Cavaliers do surprisingly well with Snow on the floor.
Brian Windhorst on ESPN: "When LeBron James had to go to the bench with fouls in the first quarter Sunday, it was twice because he was covering for Ilgauskas' defensive mistakes, one in transition and one off a mishandled pick-and-roll."
Hardcore Hornet Ron Hitley of Hornets 247: "The Finals are in full swing and I couldn't care less. I worry sometimes that if the Hornets didn't exist, I might not watch any basketball at all. The other night I had this dream where I met two Cavaliers in my hallway: LeBron James and David Wesley. LeBron was dressed in a sharp suit, if I remember correctly. Wesley was wearing some kinda futuristic outfit, like a cross between a baseball catcher and a Starship Trooper. This seemed completely normal at the time. Now you'd assume that I, like any other basketball fan, would be psyched to be meeting LeBron, seeing as how he's already a legend of the game and all that. But no, all my attention and questions were directed at Wesley, because this dude once played for the Hornets. I can't remember what exactly I was asking him (although Bobby Phills' name did come up), but after a few minutes LeBron got sick of playing second fiddle and split."
For those of you who need a Gilbert Arenas fix. He has actually been in the media a lot, which might have something to do with this reality, as reported by John N. Mitchell in the Washington Times: "Arenas, who said Saturday he will act as his own agent, already has ruled out signing a extension with the Wizards this summer that would add three years to his original deal, a six-year, $64 million contract he signed in the summer of 2003. If Arenas opts out next summer, he will be eligible to sign a maximum deal that would provide a first-year salary of between $14 million and $16 million with any team. Arenas is expected to make about $12 million next season. The Wizards, however, could trump any offer because they would be able to sign Arenas to a six-year deal. Any other team would be able to give him only a five-year contract. Arenas told The Washington Times on Saturday he was 'not opting out to leave' Washington but rather to test his value on the free agent market. 'I'm opting out to sign,' Arenas said." Own agent? The first thing he had said that strikes me as truly eccentric. You know you can hire a lawyer by the hour ...
There are things to criticize about Zach Randolph. But one of them is not, from everything I have heard, that he does not practice hard. That's what he was just accused of in the Chicago media, and the Oregonlive Blazer Blog is setting the record straight. Scottie Pippen once told me that Randolph works harder than any teammate he has ever had. Think about that, Chicago!
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