Michael Wilbon of The Washington Post: "First, scrapping the East vs. West format is a must. It's tired and unimaginative and doesn't promote any real competition. The whole thing has been reduced to how fancy a pass can you throw to that guy, and how many degrees can he turn before dunking. Been there, seen it for 20 years. Nobody's going to do it better than Jordan, 'Nique and Kobe have done it, so why keep at it? What I want to see is the best players in the world go at each other, to play not for show but for pride. U.S. vs. the World. That's the ticket. As recently as 10 years ago this wouldn't have fascinated anybody because there were just a handful of international players and the game would have been a U.S. walkover. But not now. Just like the basketball world championship and the Summer Olympics, the outcome would be in doubt."
Doug Haller of The Arizona Republic: "Not everyone liked the blockbuster trade that brought Shaquille O'Neal to the Suns -- especially Hall of Fame center Bill Walton. 'If this works out for Shaquille O'Neal, this will be a terrible indictment of him because he was doing absolutely nothing, saying he couldn't play at all, now he's saying he's going to win a championship?' Walton said on ESPN. 'What's up with this? Six weeks ago Shaquille O'Neal was on the verge of the all-time consecutive foul-out rule and (Heat coach) Pat Riley saved him. This is going to be very, very tough for Shaq to work his way through.' Tuesday, O'Neal shot back. 'I would like a little respect from this man,' he said. 'I've done everything right. Done everything in a positive way. So I would like a little respect. I don't understand where his comments are coming from, nor do I really care. But him being disrespectful towards me is like me being disrespectful towards Bill Russell.'"
Joanne C. Gerstner of The Detroit News: "Perhaps Charles Barkley said it best about Rasheed Wallace last month. Barkley, the former great-turned-TNT analyst, was asked about Wallace's potential. To paraphrase, Barkley said Wallace could be the greatest player in NBA history because of his size and range of game -- if he played every night with a killer instinct. Wallace gave a classic glimpse of everything he could do -- good and bad -- Tuesday night against the Hawks, helping the Pistons win 94-90 at Philips Arena. Wallace finished with 21 points, five steals and two blocks. Add in six fouls and one technical for the full picture. 'I was just taking what they were giving me out there,' Wallace said. 'Nothing more.'"
Krista Jahnke of the Detroit Free Press: "NBA coaches seem to agree that Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton are something special, that their individual games stand above those of most of their peers. Those coaches have voted the Piston guards as All-Star reserves three straight years, including Sunday's game in New Orleans. But what about the public? Are Billups and Hamilton stars in the fans' minds? Are they appreciated and revered as perennial All-Stars usually are? The answer seems to be a big N-O. 'Our fans in Detroit do' appreciate us, Billups said. 'But other than our fans, I don't think so. I think they kind of take us for granted.'"
Rick Noland of The Medina County Gazette: "It's too easy to pile it on Larry Hughes when he's struggling. That's why we're going to do so on the heels of his best game in three seasons with the Cavaliers. Hughes was sensational Monday night, scoring 40 points to lead the Cavaliers to a 118-111 victory in Orlando. ... He was great, terrific, awesome, efficient, exciting, creative and more at Amway Arena. In the locker room, he was humble, articulate, friendly and cooperative, just as he's always been since signing a five-year, $65 million deal in the summer of 2005. That said, area hoops fans should be hoping Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry was burning up the phone lines Tuesday, attempting to find someone willing to take the suddenly 'red-hot' Hughes off his hands prior to the Feb. 21 trade deadline."
Bill Livingston of the Cleveland Plain Dealer: "LeBron James complained Monday about missing his afternoon nap for the first time in his career because the Cavaliers' plane had mechanical problems and the team didn't get to Orlando until mid-afternoon. This struck some of us as just a bit outside the acceptable parameters of grumbling. I called my former Plain Dealer colleague Burt Graeff, who covered the Cavs in the same years as I covered the 76ers. 'Poor babies!' Graeff said. The players and coaches didn't complain then. It was the code."
Chris Perkins of The Palm Beach Post: "Heat coach Pat Riley said it's 'bizarre' going to work and not thinking about, or seeing center Shaquille O'Neal. 'It's weird not having him around, yeah,' Riley said. But O'Neal's absence has provided a sense of hope and relief to a battle-weary team. While the 'heaviness' Riley frequently mentioned in association with the Heat's mood still exists, there has been a slight upturn in attitude since last week's trade that sent O'Neal to Phoenix for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. It's not enough of a change to make the Heat forget it has the worst record in the league, but it's encouraging. 'And it's born out of anticipation, excitement, what's in front of us,' Riley said. 'Those kinds of things will change the mental state of a team.'"
Jonathan Abrams of the Los Angeles Times: "There is no charter flight for the Los Angeles D-Fenders, the Lakers' Development League team. Abdoulaye N'Diaye and Jelani McCoy, both nearly seven feet tall, stake out a couple added inches of space by claiming front-row seats on the flight headed here for a two-game trip. Their teammates scatter throughout the plane, most nodding to sleep as the sun seeps through the windows with no blinders. This is a dream on a budget -- or life in the NBA D-League. A budget that puts two players per hotel room, and offers a $30 per diem and salaries that top out at $26,000."
Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times: "More and more, Kobe Bryant feels like a kid locked in a toy store after closing hours. 'It's like Christmas every day,' Bryant said. 'We have so many weapons here. I really just use my abilities to be a bait, continue to create easy shots for my teammates and just move the ball and play well together.' Bryant continues to be complimentary of the Lakers and their recent success, which makes sense."
Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post: "In 2003, Anthony Carter's contract with the Heat was due to expire, unless he exercised a $4.1 million option that would have kept him with the team another season. Because of an error, his agent, Bill Duffy, failed to get the notification in time by the July 1 deadline. Carter's contract expired, the Heat unexpectedly went from roughly $7 million in cap space to $11 million, and Carter was a free agent. Taking responsibility for the error, Duffy sat down with Carter and worked out an agreement that paid the guard the full $4 million out of his own pocket. 'It just meant that he was a stand-up guy,' Carter said. 'He is well-known. He has almost 60-70 percent of the top guys in the league, and he always was truthful and got me deals and stuff like that. So when everything went down like that, I wasn't even looking to fire him or take him to court or nothing like that. He came up to me and said it was his fault, and just wanted to make everything right, and that's what he did.'"
Ross Siler of The Salt Lake Tribune: "With his own life uprooted by a December trade, Jazz forward Kyle Korver can sympathize with the Seattle SuperSonics players who don't know if they'll call the Pacific Northwest or Oklahoma City home next season. 'You know what?' Korver said. 'The NBA is great for a lot of reasons. Location and stability in those ways is not one of them. You can get traded at any time. Your team can just move, apparently. There's a lot of great things about playing professional basketball. Knowing where you're going to be tomorrow is not one of them. That's just the nature of the business.'"
Doug Haller of The Arizona Republic: "On the other end of the court, Steve Nash was just finishing media interviews. A reporter asked if he were surprised that O'Neal, a 14-time All-Star, would stay behind for such drills. 'I think that's why he's accomplished what he's accomplished,' Nash said. 'His hunger is still there. It wasn't fun for his team to be in last place (in Miami).'"
Bruce Arthur of the National Post: "Ask and you get misinformation, denials, obfuscation or outright lies. Delve and you get scraps of information, bits of truth. The whole truth will come out, of course, because it always does. But in the meantime we sit and we wait and we ponder the same mystery, over and over. What on earth will Jamario Moon do? 'He don't let nobody see it,' says Toronto Raptors teammate Juan Dixon. 'But Jamario knows how freaky he is.' 'I haven't seen anything,' says teammate Anthony Parker. 'I guess I'm outside the circle of trust.' 'You really think you're going to pull my dunks outta me?' says Moon, languorous and smiling. 'I'll tell you what I can't do: I can't jump from the three-point line.'"
Geoff Lepper of the Contra Costa Times: "So Mickael Pietrus came right out and said it at practice Tuesday afternoon. And said it, and said it, and said it& In seven minutes of talk with the media, Pietrus didn't go more than 20 seconds, on average, without using either the word 'trade' or 'move' to describe his fervent desire to play anywhere other than Oracle Arena."
Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: "The entire world is telling Dwight Howard yes, yes, yes. But there is one man who cares enough about him to tell him no, no, no. And that one man is Stan Van Gundy. We can only hope Dwight is willing to listen. If he's not, Van Gundy will soon be Van Gone-dy. Stan the Man will soon be relegated to Stan, Call the Moving Van. ... 'It's out there now for everybody to see,' Van Gundy says. 'So let's see what happens. I think Dwight can accept this, I honestly do.' Let's hope so. If not, it's only a matter of time before we hear the five most dreaded words in the history of NBA coaching searches: Larry Brown has expressed interest."
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