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Stephen Curry sat dejected in front of his locker Wednesday night, shirtless and with his right foot soaking in a tub of ice water. The unhappy look on his face wasn’t a product of the game’s result — a 106-104 victory for his Warriors over the Suns in Phoenix. It was due to the fact that he was bitten by the injury bug once again.
Curry suffered what the team is calling a strained tendon in his right foot during the first quarter. He came out of the game with a little more than two minutes remaining in the first, following an awkward landing off of a reverse layup attempt on a fast break.
“It’s just something different,” Curry said with a bit of disbelief, while trying to describe the injury afterward. “They haven’t figured out if it’s my tendon or my plantar fascia yet, but it’s on the other side so it’s not my ankle, which is good.”
Curry has struggled with a recurring ankle injury in his young career, and has already missed nine games this season because of it. He did try to come back in near the end of the first half to see if he could go, but he just wasn’t feeling it.
“I tried to make a cut, but it didn’t respond they way I thought it would,” Curry said. “Coach made the decision in the second half just to let it rest.”
Warriors head coach Mark Jackson said that he didn’t see the need to force the issue.
“I’m not an expert, but the right thing to do was to shut it down and make sure that he takes advantage of the rest that we have moving forward, and get the proper treatment or whatever the doctors say,” he said.
Curry is scheduled to participate in the Skills Challenge as part of the NBA’s All-Star weekend, an event he won last year in Los Angeles. But obviously, his health for the duration of the regular season grind will have to be considered first.
“I’m going to have a discussion on it, it’s unfamiliar territory for all of us,” he said. “We’ll figure out what we’re going to do with the break and getting treatment and all that. I haven’t made a decision yet.”
At this point, Curry’s status for All-Star weekend can be seen as questionable at best. And whether it turns out to be a plantar fascia issue or not, the league might want to start lining up a possible replacement.
Reuters
Here is our daily look around the NBA — links to stories worth reading and notes to check out (stuff that did not get its own post here at PBT).
When he dines out at a fine steak house, LeBron James apparently likes apple martinis, his steak well done and he wants it cut up for him. Not my drink of choice but I can live with the apple martini. Getting your steak cut up for you is a little juvenile, but fine. However, the wannabe foodie in me must complain — to have a good piece of steak cooked until it is well done is a crime against nature and the animal that gave its life for your meal. Medium at most. I’m medium rare to rare myself. Also, tip a lot. That’s how these people make a living. (Via Ball Don’t Lie)
On a serious note, Dwyane Wade is concerned that the Heat not peak too early.
Stephen Jackson got a DNP-CD from Bucks coach Scott Skiles Monday against the Magic. That situation is deteriorating fast.
Wilson Chandler hopes to have a deal with the Nuggets in the next week or so.
Kobe Bryant says his jumper is “sexier” than Dirk Nowitzki’s. I have no idea how to judge that. Nor do I want to.
What trouble in the Lakers organization? Metta World Peace gives his stamp of approval to Mitch Kupchak.
Dave Chappelle swung by the Warriors locker room and hung out.
Drew Gooden is getting a second opinion on his wrist.
Ty Lawson sprained his left ankle again Monday night. We don’t know the severity yet, but don’t expect to see him for a couple games.
Minnesota’s suddenly hot big man Nikola Pekovic also rolled his ankle but said after the game it was “not bad.”
The Kings are trying to use Tyreke Evans as a small forward, and that’s a big adjustment for him.
Expect Danilo Gallinari to return to the Nuggets after the All-Star break.
Andrea Bargnani will be out through the All-Star Game.
The Warriors picked up a good win Monday night, and Mark Jackson doesn’t want to go there, but if they fall too far out of the playoff picture look for the Warriors to start force-feeding the young players (Klay Thompson fantasy owners rejoice).
Quentin Richardson suffered a quad injury Monday night and did not return to the game. That’s not a huge blow to Orlando, however.
The Hornets are giving Donald Sloan a second 10-day contract.
AP
It’s been 14 years since Michael Jordan stepped on an NBA court (Washington? I choose not to remember that stop) and he is still the most valuable brand in basketball worldwide. By miles and miles and miles.
Which is why NBA legend and current Bobcats owner Jordan — along with — Nike has a team of lawyers that protect that brand. And they have turned their guns on a Chinese firm, Qiaodan, and sued the company that manufactures sports apparel and shoes.
You don’t know that name but that is the nickname Jordan has gone by in China since he first came to popularity nearly three decades ago. This is a clear attempt to profit off his name.
In a statement released through his spokeswoman, Jordan says he’s worked hard to establish his name and calls the issue “deeply disappointing to see a company build a business off my Chinese name without my permission, use the number 23 and even attempt to use the names of my children.”
Jordan says he’s “This complaint is not about money, it’s about principle and protecting my name.”
It’s about money.
It is about protecting his name — which when put on Nike shoes and apparel is worth a whole lot of money. Particularly in the emerging massive market that is China. (Most all of which is made in China anyway.)
This follows from the “any time someone says it’s not about the money, it’s about the money” principle. That doesn’t mean Jordan and his army of lawyers is wrong here. Enforcing it in China may not be so simple, however.
Reuters
UPDATE 4:13 pm: Rose is back and in the starting lineup.
Remember that while he was out for back spasms, he had played through a turf toe injury before that and this time off certainly will help a little with that as well.
3:50 pm: After missing five games due to a back injury, Derrick Rose is expected back in the Bulls lineup Monday afternoon against the Hawks.
The Bulls guard injury information like it’s the nuclear football, but Rose took contact in practice on Sunday then Monday K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune tweeted this:
DRose is gametime vs. ATL. Rip, CJ out. CJ has migraine. DRose has been cleared by trainers. So barring warmup setback, he’s in.
Rose has been battling back spasms and the only long-term answer was rest. He needed some games off and while the Bulls struggled a little (splitting a pair against Boston) they were able to maintain their hold on the top seed in the East (and get coach Tom Thibodeau that All-Star coaching gig he didn’t really want).
The only people happier to have him back than Bulls fans are a bunch of fantasy hoops owners.
Reuters
Dwight Howard heads to New Jersey Wednesday night to play the Nets in the building that team will not play in next season. The Nets are going to Brooklyn, and they want Howard to join them there.
So they are pulling out all the fireworks. Literally.
Here is the tweet from Andy Vasquez, the Nets beat writer for the Bergen Record (he has photo evidence).
Nets appear to be setting up a special pregame pyrotechnic show, with Dwight Howard in town. What a coincidence.
Yes, a fancy intro should do it. It will end the entire debate.
Okay, maybe not. It goes like this: First, will Orlando’s front office decide they have to move him at the deadline, or will they take the risk and keep him through the season. If the Magic keep Howard, he will opt out of the last year of his contract, at which point the question becomes does he think he stands a better chance of winning a ring in the future in Dallas, Brooklyn or Orlando. (And pretty much not Orlando, or he would have stayed already.) The Nets have Deron Williams, but does he trust that management to put a team of good role players around them? You know Dallas will spend, but Dirk Nowitzki is not young, do you think they can transition after he leaves?
Howard will get asked all those questions at All-Star Weekend, and he will dodge them all.
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In a lead up to All-Star Weekend, NBA Commissioner David Stern sat down with David Aldridge of TNT/NBA.com for an interview, one which covered everything from the level of play this season to Jeremy Lin. Because all NBA conversations must now by law include Jeremy Lin.
But maybe the most interesting quote was when Stern was asked about progress on the sale of the Hornets. (Transcription via At The Hive)
“We’re moving on dual tracks on a buyer, and with the state’s contribution under a new lease that will likely be complete, both of those, by March 1 or on or about March 1. The deal itself can’t close until the legislature confirms the role of the state, and the legislature convenes in March.”
I’m taking this with a few grains of salt — if you wanted to put pressure on a legislature to pass a more favorable lease during a down economy, saying they are holding up a sale of the team is a good way to do it. It’s the best card Stern could play here.
That said, Stern wouldn’t outright lie here and we hope this is true.
Stern said there was a one candidate “in the lead” and a second basically waiting in the wings to buy and take over the franchise, keeping it in the Crescent City. No names were revealed.
We’ll see how fast this actually happens (and what Stern says at his general press conference All-Star weekend) but it seems like there is a path to a new owner. Which is good. The league’s management of the Hornets has been at best and uncomfortable mess, and if you ask Mark Cuban much worse.
General Manager Dell Demps and coach Monty Williams deserve someone who will chart a direction for the franchise and give them a real chance to show what they can do.
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UPDATE 9:43 pm: Roburt Sallie spoke with Gary Parish of CBS Radio today and wanted to clarify a few things. As you thought he might. Here are the key parts, via Eye on Basketball.
Two things he attempted to clarify in this absolutely must-listen interview: 1) He did not take “Extends” but a male enchancement pill called “Black Ant.” The difference is that “Extends” is to enlarge your penis while “Black Ant” is just something to increase sexual potency….
2) Sallie says he disclosed that he took the enhancement pills and also says he has not been paid. He wasn’t “cut” as the team says, but actually released himself.
There are about 8 million jokes here, you can write them yourself. We are simply conduits of information in this case.
3:35 pm: I have always held a grudge against Roburt Sallie, but I wouldn’t have wished this on anyone.
If you’re a college basketball fan you may remember Roburt Sallie, who played for the Memphis Tigers. I remember his as the guy who dropped 35 on my alma mater in the first round of the NCAA tournament a few years back. Hence my issue with him.
He never played in the NBA but spent last year playing in Europe until he was cut from his Spanish team a couple months ago. What is interesting is why — via Draft Express, here is the story, translated by Google from the Spanish on Tubasket.com.
On November 18, his team won the ENIAC Knet & Rioja, 83-75, with 5 points in his 20 minutes of play. After the party had to pass the drugs test and was then was nailed. When asked if he was taking any medications, acknowledged that yes, some pills named ‘Extenze’, to lengthen the penis.
Nothing bad if not for the ‘small’ detail that can give doping test for testosterone, and worse, because no one knew at the club, with consequent damage to the Tarragona in case of receiving a sanction. It was then understood why the player, formed in college Memphis and graduated a year before finishing his basketball career in the NCAA, his poor relationship with peers, and almost never take a shower in the locker room, or after games or practice.
‘Extenze’? Oh, that is the hard way to get caught doping. So to speak.
Man, you know that is coming up in every locker room he steps in for the rest of his career.
It’s not a surprise — we told you yesterday it was coming — but now it is official.
Well, if you can believe J.R. Smith himself. Smith tweeted this Friday morning:
New York Knicks it is
Smith will join the Jeremy Lin show, along with Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire. Which is kind of the order it feels like in New York now.
Smith had interest from a number of teams — Orlando, Minnesota, Los Angeles Lakers — but had narrowed the choices down to the Clippers and Knicks. Both are good teams (the Clippers likely better) and both could offer a lot of minutes. But the Knicks could offer more money — the $2.5 million mini mid-level exception — and for a guy who went all the way to China for a paycheck during the lockout you had to figure money mattered a lot.
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The NBA is a business. First and foremost. If you ever forget that, think back to early November when we should have had the start of the NBA season and instead had lawyers in suits hammering out a labor agreement.
Jeremy Lin is the kind of player, the kind of story that can make you forget the NBA is all business.
But this is all tied to money, too.
The Madison Square Garden Company is making money, as reported by the New York Times.
On Monday, shares of Madison Square Garden Company, which owns the Knicks, the arena where they play and the cable network that broadcasts their games, hit a record high because of the sudden emergence of Jeremy Lin, the team’s previously unknown point guard.
Shares of MSG rose 3.8 percent Monday to a record-high $32.32, with three times the average number of shares being traded.
Jeremy Lin jerseys are suddenly a hot item, and more simply Knicks fans buy MSG stock when the team is good. Also, Madison Square Garden is also locked in a fee dispute with Time Warner Cable that has Time Warner not carrying MSG Network — and Knicks games — in large parts of New York City right now. Lin and his popularity give MSG leverage because ratings are up 66 percent in recent games.
Forbes broke down the Lin impact this way — and notes his personal brand is now worth a lot.
The Knicks had $226 million of revenue during the 2010-11 season, roughly equating to 20% of MSG’s overall revenue. Obviously, you cannot assign Lin one-fifth ($28 million) of MSG’s $139 million increase in market value since he began his magical run (in the past we have determined athlete brand values are the amount by which their endorsement income exceeds the average of the top peers in their sport, but that methodology can’t be applied to Lin, who was a no-name player until very recently).
But we can still get a reasonable estimate. The New York Times reports that Lin has helped push up television ratings for the Knicks 66% over last season. So if we give Lin credit for half of the $28 million, his brand weighs in at $14 million, which would place him tied with Bryant for sixth among the top athlete brands in the world.
But it’s more than the suits — Lin can make money, too. The American of Taiwanese descent can make more money off the court than on it, particularly in China where state-run television are showing his games already. Reuters looked into that.
“There’s no question brands will be interested in Jeremy Lin,” Jeremy Walker, head of sports marketing and branded entertainment for GolinHarris, told Reuters by telephone from Hong Kong on Monday.
“You only have to look at what Yao Ming has done not just for the NBA but for brands that he represents both in the States and in China. Every top Chinese star that comes out from the Olympic Games or wherever it might be, there’s always going to be an awful lot of interest for brands because all the major brands in the world are still looking to China for growth.
“A lot of brands want that positive ‘halo effect’ association they are going to get from being involved with a superstar.”
Yao made a lot of money endorsing Pepsi, Reebok shoes and more in China. You can bet at Harvard they taught Lin something about brand marketing and how to make money. He’s going to get an NBA raise next season, but soon that may be the smaller share of his income.
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UPDATE 7:03 pm: Alex Kennedy of Hoopsworld spoke with J.R. Smith himself and tweeted this:
I just spoke to J.R. Smith. He confirmed that he’s nearing a deal with the New York Knicks.
This echoes what we have been hearing all day, that it is just a matter of hammering out the contract details and Smith will be a Knick. The question for Mike D’Antoni is do you start him or keep Landry Fields as the starter and make Smith a deadly sixth man?
2:17 pm: This comes out of the New York media, so it should be consumed with a few grains of salt. That said, this is the outcome we all have been expecting.
J.R. Smith has chosen the Knicks and is close to a deal with them, reports Frank Isola of the New York Daily News.
Smith’s agent, Leon Rose, met with Garden Chairman James Dolan following Wednesday’s Knicks’ win over Sacramento to finalize a contract. It is believed that Smith, who has also attracted the interest of the Clippers, will receive the Knicks’ $2.5 million exception. Rose also represents Carmelo Anthony, who has lobbied the club to add Smith, an explosive scorer who can also be erratic at times. He has averaged 12.5 points per game over seven NBA seasons.
This deal is not finalized, but it is close. And it is a great pickup for the Knicks, who beat out the Clippers (and Chris Paul‘s recruiting efforts) for Smith’s services as he returns from a season in China.
The Knicks were considered the favorite because they could plug him into the starting lineup and give him big minutes — plus they could give him more money. It’s always about the money. New York can offer a pro-rated share of their $2.5 million mini-midlevel exception, plus they can give him a player option for a second year at that price. The best the Clippers can offer is the pro-rated share of the veteran’s minimum for only this season.
If and when Smith signs on the dotted line, Linsanity will have the ultimate test and opportunity. Anthony and Smith are unrepentant gunners who can fill it up but need to follow Jeremy Lin’s lead, stay within the offense and pick their spots. Run in transition, move off the ball, don’t just wait for a chance to go iso. With a starting five that includes Amare Stoudemire, ‘Melo, Smith and Tyson Chandler around Lin, the Knicks look like the third best team in the East. If D’Antoni and Lin can keep their gunners in line.
