Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald: "When he was dealing with his hip injury earlier this month, Shaquille O'Neal told The Miami Herald that there was no scenario in which he would walk away from the last two years of his five-year contract, which pays $20 million annually. He has expressed amazement to associates that the retirement issue has even been raised. Several NBA columnists have suggested in recent weeks that O'Neal might or should retire, partly because it would clear his salary off the Heat's cap. Meanwhile, O'Neal told Ramsay he would try to return this season from a hip and quadriceps injury that is expected to keep him out for at least two weeks."
Mike McGraw of the Daily Herald: "In the six games since serving his two-game suspension for mouthing off to assistant coach Ron Adams, Noah's playing time has nearly doubled while he averaged 8.8 rebounds and 6.5 points. During his first 27 games of the season, Noah averaged 3.1 rebounds and 4.2 points."
Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star: "Certainly on the basis of his astounding, league-leading 5.44 assists for every turnover and the value in victory of his added minutes since the injury to T.J. Ford, Jose Calderon has earned all-star status. But will the fabulous statistical first half add up to a nod from the coaches responsible for rounding out the East squad? 'We don't have familiar names, other than (Chris) Bosh,' coach Sam Mitchell said yesterday. 'There are 29 teams in the U.S. When people look at that and talk about it, they're not talking (Andrea) Bargnani. Nobody wants to see Calderon. Those are not the names they look for. Does it bother us? No. We don't even talk about it, because there's nothing we can do about it, anyway.'"
John Hollinger in The New York Sun: "As far as midterm report cards go, this one is a doozy. The Nets reached the halfway point of the season at 18-23, and that only tells part of the story. The real downer is not that they're 18-23 in their past 41 games, but that they have almost no chance of matching that in their next 41 games. New Jersey's six-game losing streak heading into Thursday's contest at Golden State only confirmed what a lot of people have suspected for a while -- this is a bad team, folks, and it's not going to get better."
Tom Knott of The Washington Times: "Dwight Howard's girlfriend gave birth to their illegitimate son in November, which would qualify as hanky-panky as usual in the NBA, except the Magic center considers himself a devout Christian who is on a mission to spread the word of the gospel. Predictably enough, news of the unplanned newborn has led to the conclusion that Howard is just another hypocritical Christian cut in the tradition of Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart. And that view is understandable enough, considering Howard's well-documented pronouncements on faith and his goal to have a cross affixed to the NBA logo of a silhouetted Jerry West. But it also is true that Howard is a 22-year-old man and potentially as flawed as anyone else, no matter how well-meaning and sincere he may be."
Michael Lev of the Orange County Register: "If Donald T. Sterling wants to blame Mike Dunleavy and Elgin Baylor for the Clippers flop of a follow-up -- out of the playoffs at 40-42 -- that's fine. It was an indisputably disappointing season with basically the same cast of characters. If Sterling wants to criticize Dunleavy for a perceived lack of effort by his players, that's the owner's prerogative too. But for Sterling to say he expects the Clippers to win now -- WITHOUT THEIR BEST PLAYER FOR THE ENTIRE SEASON, plus the point guard of the future/present -- is preposterous."
Joanne C. Gerstner of The Detroit News "Sometimes, the most mature thing to realize is making mistakes is not the end of the world. Pistons rookie Rodney Stuckey is learning that lesson every game and practice, while trying to channel his perfectionist tendencies into something more productive. Stuckey's play has been tentative the last few weeks. He seems to try to always make the right play. Pistons coach Flip Saunders and Joe Dumars have talked to Stuckey about letting go and being willing to be more aggressive -- no matter the consequences."
Tim Kawakami of The Mercury News: "Personally, I think [Baron] Davis, who made the East team as a reserve in 2002 and 2004, deserves a spot this year; he's one of the best four guards in the West, and yes, he can put on a show. But there are more than a few barriers to a Baron blessing at the Feb. 17 game in New Orleans. Remember, Davis feuded openly with Byron Scott when both were in New Orleans, and Davis and Denver's George Karl had zero relationship when Davis played (poorly) for Karl's Team USA in 2002. Remember, conference coaches pick the reserves and Scott and Karl make up 13 percent of the Western electorate. That's a huge thing."
Chandler Brown of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Reggie Roberts, 22, of Atlanta set up camp outside Walter's clothing store in downtown Atlanta at 9 a.m. Wednesday. By lunch time Thursday, he and two dozen others lined the sidewalk along Decatur Street waiting for Nike's new Air Jordans to go on sale Friday morning. 'It's cold out here, really cold,' said Roberts, who was at the front of the line. 'But I want these shoes. I gotta have these shoes. We're making history.' The theme here is 23. This is the 23rd edition of the wildy popular shoes. Only 23 pair will be sold at 23 stores nationwide -- Atlanta and Miami are the only cities in the Southeast -- and they cost $230. If you haven't guessed, Michael Jordan, the shoes' namesake, wore No. 23."
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