Carmelo Anthony Comments on No-Trade Clause, Rumors and Knicks’ Front Office

January 20th, 2017 by Mike Chiari No comments »
With questions swirling regarding Carmelo Anthony's future with the New York Knicks, the nine-time All-Star has addressed his feelings on the matter.  According to Al Iannazzone of Newsday, Melo said this week he would consider waiving his no-trade clause if approached by management: "I think it will be more on the front office. I have the power, but still I would talk to them. We would be in communication if they feel like they want to go in a different direction, they want to start rebuilding for the future. If they tell me they want to scrap this whole thing, yeah, I have to consider it." Per ESPN.com's Ramona Shelburne, team president Phil Jackson reportedly met with Melo on Tuesday to ask him if he wanted to remain a member of the Knicks. Anthony acknowledged the conversation with Jackson and said he was "tired" of being asked about his relationship with the Zen Master, according to ...

Chris Bosh: Latest News, Rumors, Speculation on Heat PF’s Future

January 20th, 2017 by Tim Daniels No comments »
Although it's unclear whether Miami Heat power forward Chris Bosh will be able to resume his NBA career due to blood clots, front offices around the league are reportedly monitoring the situation in case the Heat decide to release him later in the season. Continue for updates. Bulls Keeping Tabs on Bosh's Uncertain Status Friday, Jan. 20 Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported Friday the Chicago Bulls headline the list of potentially interested teams, adding they would be "at the front of the line to try to sign him." He also noted the Heat could waive Bosh after March 1, which would make him ineligible to play for another organization in the playoffs. Bosh's stance concerning getting back on an NBA court has changed in recent months. In October, the 32-year-old Texas native spoke on UNINTERRUPTED (h/t John Hickey of the Mercury News) about trying to play again so he could show his kids he's "a fighter ...

NBA All-Star Game Rosters 2017: Voting Results for Starters, Predicting Reserves

January 20th, 2017 by Paul Kasabian No comments »
Although the player with the NBA's highest player efficiency rating (Russell Westbrook at 29.5, per ESPN.com) isn't starting the NBA All-Star Game this year, the starting lineups for the Eastern and Western Conferences, which were announced on Thursday night, are still loaded. Eastern Conference Starting Lineup: Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James, Chicago Bulls forward Jimmy Butler, Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan, Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving, Milwaukee Bucks Swiss army knife Giannis Antetokounmpo Western Conference Starting Lineup: Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, Houston Rockets guard James Harden, Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant, San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard, New Orleans Pelicans forward/center Anthony Davis This season, players and the media were added to the voting pool. Fans accounted for 50 percent of the vote, while players and media split the rest at 25 percent each. Players are broken into two categories: backourt and frontcourt. The top two players in each backcourt post-voting got starting nods, while the ...

Giannis Antetokounmpo: First Buck to Make an All-Star Team Since Michael Redd

January 20th, 2017 by Daily Facts No comments »
Fact: Giannis Antetokounmpo was announced as one of the All-Star starters on Thursday, becoming the first Buck to make an All-Star team since Michael Redd in 2004. Bleacher Report will be bringing sports fans the most interesting and engaging Cold Hard Facts of the day, presented by Coors Light. Source: B/R Insights Read more NBA news on BleacherReport.com

NBA All-Star Game 2017: Least-Deserving Starters, Top Snubs After Lineups Reveal

January 20th, 2017 by Jared Johnson No comments »
The NBA finally announced the 10 players who will start the 2017 NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans on Thursday. Fans, players and media members all had a say in the starters for the first time in the event's history. Overall, the results were pretty good. The new system helped weed out some clearly undeserving players, such as Zaza Pachulia of the Golden State Warriors and Dwyane Wade of the Chicago Bulls, assuring us a better on-court product for the Feb. 19 exhibition. But not all of the starters were the most deserving candidates in their respective conferences. Let's look at the results, decide which starters weren't the best choices and then come up with three snubs who were more deserving.            Results After a weighted vote that gave 50 percent of authority to the fans, 25 percent to the players and 25 percent to media members, here are the starters, according ...

Courtney Lee Says Wizards Assistant Coach Distracted Him on Final Sequence

January 20th, 2017 by Mike Chiari No comments »
After passing up a potential game-tying three-point attempt in Thursday's 113-110 loss to the Washington Wizards, New York Knicks guard Courtney Lee said a Wizards assistant coach distracted him by stepping on to the court. As seen in the following video courtesy of Turner Sports PR, Washington assistant Sidney Lowe stood in the playing area during the closing seconds, prompting Lee to pass the ball away: Al Iannazzone of Newsday reported the league is looking into Lee's claims.  According to ESPN.com's Ohm Youngmisuk, Lee believed Lowe was a player when he saw him out of the corner of his eye: I thought it was one of their players because I was getting ready to shoot and in my peripheral you see a body right there and he is saying, 'I am right here! I am right here! I got your stunt!' Usually in basketball terminology, that is a switch or I am going to jump out, so ...

Bleacher Report Staff Picks for 2017 NBA All-Star Game Reserves

January 20th, 2017 by Grant Hughes No comments »
The 2017 NBA All-Star Game will take place Feb. 19 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, and now we know who'll be on the floor for the opening tip. Kyrie Irving, DeMar DeRozan, Jimmy Butler, LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo have been named starters for the Eastern Conference based on votes from fans, media and the players themselves. Stephen Curry, James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis will represent the West. Fans controlled 50 percent of the vote this year, while input from media (25 percent) and the players themselves (25 percent) rounded out the electorate. You can see the full voting breakdowns here. Surprises included Butler, who ranked over 200,000 fan votes behind Joel Embiid and Kevin Love in the East frontcourt but got a boost into the starting unit when players and media weighed in. Perhaps even more shocking, players and media favored Russell Westbrook over both ...

Timberwolves vs. Clippers: Score, Highlights, Reaction from 2017 Regular Season

January 20th, 2017 by Scott Polacek No comments »
There was only one superstar on the floor during Thursday's game between the Los Angeles Clippers and Minnesota Timberwolves with Chris Paul and Blake Griffin dealing with injuries, and Karl-Anthony Towns lived up to the description. Towns led Minnesota to the 104-101 victory at Staples Center behind 37 points and 12 rebounds. He found the ball in his hands on nearly every crucial possession and delivered with nine straight points for his team to turn a 97-93 deficit into a 102-101 lead.  Minnesota snapped a two-game losing streak with the win and moved to 15-28, while the Clippers fell to 29-15 and saw their seven-game winning streak come to an end. Towns shot 17-of-24 from the field and also added five assists, but it was his ability to carry the offense in the second half that stood out, as ESPN Stats & Info illustrated: He received some help from Andrew Wiggins, who was the only ...

Thursday NBA Roundup: John Wall’s All-Star Snub Makes Red-Hot Wizards Dangerous

January 19th, 2017 by Adam Fromal No comments »
Take a look at John Wall's Twitter feed, and you'll see the same thing over and over again: The Washington Wizards point guard has spent the better part of January constantly retweeting messages that include his name and the all-important "#NBAVote" hashtag.  Of course, it didn't pay off. Wall was omitted from the Eastern Conference's starting lineup in favor of Kyrie Irving and DeMar DeRozan, and now the rest of the league is going to pay. The New York Knicks were the first to feel his wrath in a closer-than-it-should-have-been 113-110 defeat at Madison Square Garden.  According to NBA.com's official results, Wall somehow finished seventh in fan voting, trailing Irving, Dwyane Wade, DeRozan, Isaiah Thomas, Kyle Lowry and Derrick Rose. He fared better in the other sections—fourth in the player vote and fifth among the media panel—but it wasn't enough. And as this breakdown from NBA Math might indicate, his play should have merited stronger consideration:  Wall might ...

Wizards vs. Knicks: Score, Highlights, Reaction from 2017 Regular Season

January 19th, 2017 by Alec Nathan No comments »
The Washington Wizards (23-19) have been a mess away from the friendly confines of Verizon Center all season, but they snapped out of their road funk and captured a 113-110 victory over the New York Knicks (19-25) at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.  However, the win didn't come without some tense moments.  Although the Wizards led by 14 points after three quarters, the Knicks outscored them 24-13 in the fourth. Washington nearly coughed the game up when its offense suddenly stalled following a blistering first few frames.   But thanks to John Wall—who grabbed a defensive rebound and went coast-to-coast to put the Wizards up by three with 13.7 seconds remaining—Washington survived and captured its fourth straight win:  Wall put the Knicks in a blender from start to finish, and the clutch transition play illustrated his dominance on a night when he posted 29 points, 13 assists, five rebounds and three steals.  Wall was flanked by a ...