It didn’t take long after the news of Shaq filing for divorce from his wife broke before the rumor mill careened out of control. We’re not trying to get ourselves in trouble so we’re not gonna repeat some of what we heard, but here’s a taste. Safe to say this whole thing could get very soap-opera before it’s all said and done … On more of a basketball note, we got this from a pretty reliable source yesterday: Late last season, an assistant coach on a Lottery-bound NBA team approached said team’s superstar and asked if he’d be willing to take two fewer shots per game. The assistant explained that it’d help the team in the long run if the All-Star would give up some of his looks for the team’s youngsters to get some work in. “No,” was the star’s reply. The assistant reiterated that it wasn’t a big change, just a few plays per game being run for the youngsters. “No,” was the star’s answer again. And that, people, is why some teams stay in the Lottery … There were a few upsets at the FIBA Europe Championship yesterday: Defending world champs Spain lost to Croatia despite 26 points from Pau Gasol; Tony Parker scored 25 (with zero assists) in France’s loss to Slovenia; Russia knocked off Greece behind Andrei Kirilenko’s 12 points and 17 boards; Serbia was eliminated by Israel, but Darko didn’t go out quietly. He put up 18 points, 13 boards and 4 blocks in the loss; Dirk’s 28 and 9 boards wasn’t enough to get Germany past Lithuania, who got solid nights from Sarunas Jasikevicius (15 pts, 10 asts), Darius Songaila and Linas Kleiza. Not exactly an upset there, though … If you were wondering why Ed Najera and Earl Watson didn’t play for Team Mexico at the FIBA Americas tourney, according to Najera, neither of them were invited. “It’s a pity that we couldn’t invite all the players,” Najera told a local paper. “This summer I was in touch with Earl Watson and we were ready to play for Mexico, but nobody invited us. There are things that have to be done in order to play but they didn’t do anything.” … The D-League had an expansion draft for its four new teams: the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Utah Flash, the Iowa Energy and the Fort Wayne Mad Ants (our favorite pro team name of the moment). Ex-George Washington and Lakers guard J.R. Pinnock was the No. 1 pick by Rio Grande. Will Conroy went 4th to Iowa, Anthony Roberson went 6th to Fort Wayne, Jackie Manuel (isn’t he supposed to be on the Celtics?) went 8th to Iowa, and Team Canada’s Olu Famutimi went 10th to Fort Wayne to highlight the first three rounds. Other notables included Curtis Stinson (Utah), Kevin Burleson (Utah), Denham Brown (Iowa), Matt Haryasz (Iowa), John Gilchrist (Rio Grande), and the final pick, Luke Schenscher to Iowa … All day our resident gadget-freaks were talking about the new 3rd-gen iPod nano. Looks crazy … We’re out like Darko …
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MITCHELL & NESS PROMO
September 6th, 2007 at 2:55 am
interesting... says:
So any of you trivia buffs know who have been like the top 3 divorcees (former nba wives) to get the most money and the type of coin we are talking about?
Or shortest nba marriages?
Wonder if they then hook up with broke guys. Imagine that then if the broke guy eventually divorced them…….
I have no idea.
September 6th, 2007 at 4:48 am
kowtz says:
Easy…
his “Airness” gave $150M to his ex-wife…
and “The Worm” divorced Carmen Electra 4 days after getting married…
and I think the ex-wives are crafty enough to get pre-nups…
and all love to KB24… but down the line, he’s gonna regret not signing a pre-nup, when everyone else told him to do so…
September 6th, 2007 at 6:04 am
Milan says:
Parker had two free throws with 1.8 seconds left to send the game into OT, made the first, bricked the second.
September 6th, 2007 at 8:22 am
Celts Fan says:
anyone have any idea who that superstar that wouldn’t give up 2 shots was? Maybe Mike Bibby?
September 6th, 2007 at 8:44 am
alex says:
‘and I think the ex-wives are crafty enough to get pre-nups…’ Its funny how they become crafty AFTER they get their money…
‘anyone have any idea who that superstar that wouldn’t give up 2 shots was?’
maybe Starbury? or Z-Bo? (lots of youngsters on that team)
September 6th, 2007 at 9:12 am
Bust Jlaze says:
Here’s how I think that convo SHOULD have gone down…
“Hey Superstar, just so you know, we’ve written some plays for our young guys this time around”
“No.”
“Uh, no WHAT?…I didn’t ask a question. Did someone ask a question? Anyway, see you at training camp!”
…and yeah, as soon as those kids get just a little older, Vanessa Bryant is OUUUUT
September 6th, 2007 at 9:46 am
Ironballs Mcginty says:
On the ‘anyone have any idea who that superstar that wouldn’t give up 2 shots was?’
Bibby or Marbury don’t seem likely. Zebo, based on character, is almost a no brainer , but I vaguely recall him benched at (injuries) a lot in the second half of the year, though I could be wrong.
A couple of other possibilites, Mike Redd (but he was injured also), Ray Allen or Rashard (leaning more toward Rashard), or my choice Joe Johnson.
September 6th, 2007 at 11:07 am
Amar says:
best pro team name? Kyrylo Fesenko’s old club in the Ukraine. The Violent Apelords.
September 6th, 2007 at 11:08 am
heavy d says:
I really doubt it was Joe Johnson. Joe was out like the last 20 games with injuries, so it shouldn’t have been an issue. Even before he went down, Josh Smith and Marvin Williams routinely got double-digit shots per night.
Randolph sounds like a good candidate, but he missed a lot of the last 2 months also. Furthermore, he was already on a long term contract.
Rashard Lewis seems likely to me because he was entering free agency and wouldn’t want a dip in production potentially affecting market value.
September 6th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
PJ says:
Did y’all hear about Darko’s profanity filled tirade?
Check it out
http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2007/09/05/darkos-venemous-tirade/
September 6th, 2007 at 9:42 pm
interesting... says:
thanks kowtz!
1. 4 days for with Carmen = better than 3
2. 150 million. Wonder how many girls want to be an nba player’s divorcee when they grow up…….hah
3. Highest divorce settlement ever (searched) was a whopping $1.4 BILLION DOLLARS for the former Mrs Murdoch INCLUDING $110 MILLION CASH………………..
What can you say.
4. Dime said an ALL STAR was approached.
Randolph and Lewis were not all stars this year.
All stars on non playoff teams last year were:
Joe Johnson
Jermaine Oneal
Ray Allen
Take your pick………….
September 7th, 2007 at 12:26 am
josh says:
This is hilarious!!!!
pick up allstars……….
http://www.break.com/index/11-guys-at-the-playground.html
September 7th, 2007 at 2:12 am
Willis says:
couldn’t have been Bibby. Kings weren’t even running plays for him the last half of the season. Artest maybe? Paul Pierce? Jermaine O’Neal?