Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman: "Love the new name or hate the new name, know this. Within six months, maybe less, you will embrace Thunder. You won't even remember the summer when we rode through the desert on a team with no name."
Brian Windhorst of the Akron Beacon-Journal: "More than six years later, after lots of editing, reshooting and dozens of meetings and sleepless nights as Kristopher Belman wrangled with how to best use the footage, it has become a finished product. Belman will debut the film, More Than A Game, on Saturday at the Toronto International Film Festival. LeBron James and the movie's other stars -- seniors from the 2002 team, Willie McGee, Dru Joyce III, Sian Cotton and Romeo Travis -- will be there for the premiere and a slam-dunk charity event. The future of the film is uncertain. It will depend on how well it is received by movie-industry executives in Toronto. There are tentative plans for a release in Northeast Ohio at an undetermined date."
Matt Steinmetz of The Examiner: "We're going to find out an awful lot about Marcus Williams on the first day of training camp. Like on media day. That's when the Warriors introduce their players to the media for the 2008-09 season. It will be sometime late in September. The players show up, read promos, get photographed, conduct interviews, etc., and do it all in their game unis. If Williams doesn't look like he's in good shape on that day, it's going to be wholly disappointing and a very bad omen for the Warriors heading into training camp. And it's already been a long, hot offseason summer. Now that Monta Ellis will be missing the first portion of the season because of who knows what, Williams has a point guard's dream scenario in front of him."
Martin Frank of The News Journal: "Until now, Donyell Marshall felt like he couldn't go home again. Marshall grew up in Reading, Pa., a self-described 76ers fan who basked in the team's championship run in 1983 as a kid. But Marshall is 35. He's entering his 15th season in the NBA. He knows his playing days are numbered. That's why Marshall said Wednesday he wants to end his career with the Sixers, whom he signed with Tuesday. 'It gives my family a chance to see me play more, playing for a team on the up and coming,' Marshall said. 'Early in my career, I'm not sure if I could have handled playing for the Sixers, being so close to my family. Now, being a seasoned vet, I'm ready for it.'"
Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press: "Dick Vitale was gone after only 94 games as the Pistons' head coach, his team and his health crumbling at an equally accelerating pace. Vitale understood Bill Davidson had no alternative following a 34-60 record, but that didn't ease the catastrophic sense of failure that sent Vitale into a sullen funk. 'Little did I know then that day would change my life,' Vitale recalled this week. 'Mr. Davidson probably saved my life that day. I would have been dead by 50 if I stayed in coaching because of my bleeding ulcers.' Neither man realized their parting of ways that November morning would lead to diverging paths of excellence that will bring them together once again Friday. That's when, in Springfield, Mass., they will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame."
Dave D'Alessandro of The Star-Ledger: "You're a 7-footer who has made his reputation as a beast on the low box, and now your coach is asking you to abandon your comfort zone and move over on the weak side, away from the ball, with nary a touch on the block. This is the dubious offensive role the Nets have given to Brook Lopez, whom they claim is the big guy they plan to build around for the foreseeable future. Counterintuitive, you might say. Makes perfect sense, Lopez replies. Especially when you were practically raised by the guy who invented the offensive system they're going to run. 'My brother and I have been running this offense practically my entire life -- not at Stanford, but every year before that,' Lopez said yesterday. 'It's a great system. It teaches you how to play basketball, and how to make decisions. It'll work really well for us.'"
Kerry Eggers of The Portland Tribune: "Charles Linwood Williams' No. 52 has been retired by the New Jersey Nets, but his heart is in Portland. 'I consider myself a Trail Blazer, quite frankly,' says the man NBA fans knew as Buck. 'Even though my jersey hangs in the rafters in New Jersey, I had some wonderful years in Portland. & The Blazers will always hold a special place for me and my family.' ... Since his retirement in 1998, Williams and his family -- wife Mimi, and sons Julian, 19, and Malek, 16 -- have lived in Potomac, where Buck runs a construction firm. He says business has remained good despite the economic slowdown, 'but my real goal is to make my way back to the NBA.' Williams, 48, isn't planning a comeback as a player. 'I'm trying to get my foot in the door in the management side, or even in coaching,' he says. 'But I haven't been able to make a connection yet.'"
Mike Jones of The Washington Times: "Washington Wizards All-Star forward Caron Butler is one of four NBA players visiting Johannesburg, South Africa, from Sept. 3-7 as part of the Basketball Without Borders Africa Camp. Wizards vice president of player personnel Milt Newton also is traveling with Butler. More than 100 or Africa's top teenage basketball players are at the five-day event, working on improving their skills through instruction from Butler, Matt Bonner of the Spurs, Thabo Sefolosha of the Bulls and Charlie Bell of the Bucks. 'Basketball without Borders Africa is a powerful program and something I'm proud to be a part of,' Butler said in a statement. 'I'm very excited to be working with these young basketball players and teaching them about the importance of education, healthy living and HIV/AIDS awareness. This is a great opportunity to pass on the positive values that basketball instilled in me as a young man.'"
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