ESPN NBA

• Trailer for a very cool-looking documentary on New York City pick-up basketball. Kenny Anderson, Fly Williams, God Shammgod, Homicide, Kenny Smith, Smush Parker, Headache, Julius Erving, Pee Wee Kirkland and others. What you might already be thinking.
• A very rough scene, including multiple shootings, in Oklahoma City after the Thunder win. Royce Young of Daily Thunder: "There were an estimated 10,000 people outside the arena Monday watching the game in Thunder Alley. It’s a question now as to if Thunder Alley will continue after this incident."
• John Hollinger (Insider) on JaVale McGee: "Turns out he's not just a punch line. McGee showed more development in two months in Denver than he had in four years in Washington, particularly on the offensive end where he showed some refinement with a sweeping hook shot. McGee still takes ridiculous chances on blocking shots he has no hope of reaching and leaves his feet constantly on the defensive end. On the other hand, he went for 21-14 against an elite frontcourt to key a close playoff road win, rejected a phenomenal 22 shots in 181 minutes, and had three 14-rebound efforts in seven games. In other words, while he's still something of a project, he's a productive project. Which makes him one of the league's most interesting names in restricted free agency. We know he's an athletic freak who probably has the highest leaping reach in basketball, so if he can just get halfway decent on the mental aspects he'll be a star. That tantalizing possibility, as the first round made clear, may cost Denver a lot more now that he's shown signs of possibly achieving it."
• Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register on the Lakers' season: "All the meanings could be seen in the final game: The Lakers were too slow, failed to defend consistently, had virtually no bench help, didn't get a team game from Bryant, couldn't depend fully on Bynum and had to accept excuses afterward from Gasol about what a tough year it was. 'He always wants me to be aggressive,' Gasol said of Bryant, 'but it's been tough for me. I've been in a facilitating role most of the year, pretty much the third option most of the year.' Then one of the last things Gasol said for the season was simply this: 'A lot going on this year.' Yes, more than enough to keep the Lakers from making that leap they've made look so seamless before ... from talented players to championship team. 'We just weren't doing it together,' Bynum said."
• This is turning into another one of those years ... if the NBA is rigged to favor big markets, they are terrible at rigging things. Out: New York, both Los Angeles teams, Chicago. In: Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Indianapolis, Boston (bear with me), Philadelphia (likely not for long) and Miami.
• Jazz GM Kevin O'Connor on KFAN, when asked about the "one and done" rule that allows players to join the NBA after one year of college or equivalent: "My wife writes the checks. And she would not like to write a check if I told you what I thought about the whole thing. Because the NBA would calling up ... and saying to send a check."
• Idea from a Blazer fan's active imagination. How about hiring both Van Gundys in Portland, to take over jobs as coach and GM as they see fit? Would eliminate trust issues, dramatically improve the defense and create one hell of a sitcom.
• The owner of the Warriors and mayor of San Francisco making very strong comments, loaded with certainty, about the Warriors moving to San Francisco.
• Kevin Garnett has some thoughts about Philadelphia fans.
• Heat superstars wonder aloud what Danny Granger is up to with his tough talk, which is probably a decent sign Granger's tactics have been effective.
• Is Shaquille O'Neal in position to make fun of Metta World Peace for having too many names?
• Time lapse video of Staples Center's busy weekend, with a thumpin' rock beat.
• Kevin McHale gets a C+ for his coaching.
• Holy Italian league playoff buzzer beaters.
• A while ago, I got very excited about Ian Levy's pretty charts showing team's offensive plays and how often they use them. Now he has them for all 30 teams. There is a lot to glean from them. But also ... the lines of the charts, like clouds in the sky, luck into recognizable shapes at times. Can't help but notice that the chart of the Lakers' offense looks like a dead bird. The Heat's looks like a little singing cartoon dude. The Thunder's is a fighter jet. The Hawks (work with me on this) resembles the head of a Great Dane.
• Russell Westbrook had four turnovers in the whole series.

A friend who was horrified by Ian Parker's story in the New Yorker about the suicide of a gay Rutgers student asked me last week whether I had any kind of prescription to address bullying. I told my friend that most teenagers were congenitally insufferable people until they grew up, and barring a treatment that made them less so, any hope of getting them to stop preying on others' sensitivities was probably futile.

My response was flip, not constructive and, more likely than not, inaccurate. Chances are that if you're 18 and sitting in homeroom this morning, you and the kid next to you are far less likely to torment someone for being different. Cultural critics like to discuss the relative impact of the factors that underpin that phenomenon, but the progress is very real -- and it didn't happen by accident.

The vast amount of diverse content piped into our worlds has been vital. Everything from the early seasons of "The Real World" to smart people debunking pseudo-science on larger-than-ever platforms have done their part. Still, one read through Parker's piece and it's clear we've got a lot of ground to cover, and sculpting a message for maximum impact isn't easy.

When I first saw GLSEN's Public Service Announcement starring Grant Hill and Jared Dudley last spring, I experienced a full range of thoughts, anxieties and feelings. First, there was an intense satisfaction. Two NBA players felt deeply enough about an issue as peripheral as not using gay as a pejorative and now the entire basketball-watching nation was being educated. I'm generally not a tribal person, but I was doubly proud, perhaps more so for the basketball world than for gay people. An ad like this one wasn't conceivable even a decade ago, but now -- during the heart of the NBA playoffs -- it was inescapable, not to mention exceptionally well-produced.

But after that, I started to worry. Messaging can be so tricky, and what if this ad missed the mark? It was destined to be a hit among the choir, but what about the kids they were actually trying to educate, the ones who were most likely to say, "Your moves are so gay," on the playground? The're a certain hazard that comes with confronting a cynical generation with an earnest message. Anyone who grew up in the cable/internet era has been bombarded with carefully crafted ads, campaigns and public-service announcements during his entire waking life, and it's not difficult to imagine they'd look at a spot like this one and react the way I did when I first saw "Reefer Madness" as a teen.

Apart from anecdotal testimony, it's hard to glean approximately how effective the ad has been, but nine months after it first aired, I was very curious. That's why I went to Hill and Dudley to see what kind of responses they'd gotten since last May.

Both Hill and Dudley said the largest volume of feedback they've gotten has come on social media platforms.

"I can tell when it's been aired," Hill said because his Twitter mentions stream will fill up. "You get folks. Some appreciate, some negative stuff, too."

Dudley, who spends a lot more time on Twitter than Hill, says he'll inevitably get the "Hey, Jared, that commercial is gay," when the spot airs.

Neither Hill nor Dudley has heard from gay teens who feel affirmed by the ad, or received any Atta Boys from players around the league.

"It’s not one of those things that’s discussed," Hill said. "It’s not one of those things that’s, ‘Hey, what was it like doing that?' Or, ‘What prompted you to do it?’ Or, ‘It was courageous for you to be a part of that.’ I haven’t gotten any of that."

"No one ever said they were with me, but no one said they were against me either," Dudley said.

Hill, in particular, said he participated not so much to change attitudes around the league. In fact, he's not all that convinced that there's much players can do to influence each other on the issue.

"In mens’ basketball, it’s still one of those things that’s taboo," Hill said. "Maybe because I’ve done this, guys are reluctant to say it around me. I don’t know."

Hill isn't self-congratulatory, but he uses proud and courageous as characterizations, markers that say less about Hill's self-regard and more about how far the NBA still has to travel on the issue.

"Maybe if I were younger, I might not have had the courage to do it," Hill said. "But as a parent, as an example for my kids and their friends, I’m not afraid to do that and I was honored they asked me to be a part of it. And I respect Jared, because he is a young guy."

I've always maintained that teams and leagues, rather than individuals, would lead on this issue. It's not a coincidence that a single organization produced the first out gay executive, provided the league with the two athletes who'd star in the first gay-positive PSA that would air incessantly during NBA broadcasts for the better part of a year, and have another, Steve Nash, who'd cut an ad for marriage equality.

"As a player, [the Suns] are an organization with a lot of freedom," Dudley said. "How you talk, freedom of speech. The organization is supportive."

It's impossible to measure whether an ad like this one has changed behavior on basketball courts across the country -- or even if behavior on basketball courts actually influences attitudes outside the lines. Until there's an out gay basketball player, whether it's one who comes out during his career or comes up through the amateur ranks as a self-identified gay kid (an outcome I think that's more likely for reasons Hill has essentially outlined), we probably won't see anything like a breakthrough.

But I do know one thing: If that day came tomorrow, there's one locker room and organization in the league where he'd feel most comfortable. Tolerance is a cultural matter but, for the guy who has to make history as the first openly gay ballplayer, it's fundamentally a workplace issue.

Thousands of tears have been shed as a result of the Soviet annexation of Lithuania, most of which will never be redeemed.

But of the little redemption there has been ... a lot of it comes from basketball. Specifically, the 1992 Lithuanian national team, as portrayed in a powerful documentary, "The Other Dream Team" (you can see a bit here). Alan Bacchus of Daily Film Dose writes:

Filmmaker Marius Markevicius charts a 50-year odyssey of the small Baltic country with 3 million people from pre-war prosperity to annexation and poverty under the then Soviets to their violent revolution in 1991. All the while we learn about the county's mad obsession with basketball, which birthed superstars Sarunas Marciulionis and Arvydas Sabonis. The film charts their success in the Soviet league in the ‘80s to their courtship by the NBA and all the political and cultural conflicts they encountered.

Interviews with Marciulionis, Sabonis and other players confirm all the preconceived notions of poverty behind the Iron Curtain. But the biggest tragedy is not the absence of bread or blue jeans, but their lack of freedom to express their culture, language and identity as Lithuanians. Even the seasoned journalist Jim Lampley tears up when recounting the pain of these players during this period.

The players’ stories are so rich that Markevicius doesn't even get to the 1992 Olympics until the final act, which feels like a bonus track on a masterpiece album.

The coda to this story comes after the liberation of the country and the fall of the Iron Curtain. But once we get embroiled in the drama of the Olympics it becomes a film within a film. The involvement of The Grateful Dead in funding the basketball team's trip to the Olympics is zany enough to make up its own documentary. Same with the awesome sight of other marginalized peoples competing under new or old flags (e.g., South Africa and Estonia). We're also treated to some astonishing footage of the US Dream Team demolishing opponents. But the dramatic climax to the picture comes in the form of a storybook match between the former Soviet Union and Lithuania, which is so emotional and moving it didn't leave a dry eye in the house.

The Other Dream Team debuted this weekend at Sundance.

• The Cleveland Clinic spent a day with Chuck Hayes and declared his heart perfectly sound. Meanwhile, the Kings doctors had nearly a week with the guy and thought his heart was such a big worry his contract would have be voided, which it was. Now that he is back in a Kings uniform, with an extra million or so dollars in his pocket for his troubles, one big question is: will he ever be able to trust those team doctors again?
• The other day Nicholas K. Peart wrote a powerful story of the fear and hassles of getting stopped and frisked, again and again, merely for, essentially, walking while black in New York City. At the end, he mentioned working with a group called the Brotherhood/Sister Sol which educates young black people about their rights. And today I learned that Amare Stoudemire is involved, too. So many players are so "safe" with their charitable efforts. This has a little edge to it. Don't know much about that organization, but I like that Stoudemire isn't sticking to the old script, and this is a no-brainer of a cause.
• Exactly what it is Brook Lopez injured, and how that has worked out for other players.
• Rob Mahoney for The New York Times says the Lakers picked a fine time to ditch Phil Jackson's favorite offense: "The triangle was designed to maximize marginal talent through smart cuts and purposeful ball movement, and the Lakers -– who will play Metta World Peace, Matt Barnes, Derek Fisher, Jason Kapono, Steve Blake, and Troy Murphy plenty this season –- could benefit from a system that maximized their talents."
• The Pistons are now working with the magical powers one enormous new ottoman.
• Notice how the Thunder are such a popular pick to make the Finals? Front-running is a new kind of stress and challenge. I suspect they'll handle it well, but it's real and it's new.
• Muggsy Bogues, still feeling the love.
• Rick Reilly's wallet honors Jimmer Fredette.
• One of the worst things Samuel Dalembert could do for the Rockets' long-term development is help them squeak into the playoffs. The NBA is such a strange place.
• In reaction to a thousand articles: A trade that everyone has agreed to except the owner is no trade at all. Unless there's new information out there, the Lakers didn't have Chris Paul but for a little hitch. They had an agreement that failed before it passed the big hurdle. That's precisely where most trades fail.
• Holy cow, Gani Lawal was wide open under the basket. Check out the particulars of Kawhi Leanard's game-winner over Houston.
• Pau Gasol found some stuff in his parents' closet that you might not want your kids to know about.
• Matt Scribbins of Magic Basketball says that if he ran the Magic, he would not trade Dwight Howard, content to live with the cap relief if he walks. But if the team does trade him, Scribbins much prefers the Lakers, for several reasons, including this: "There used to be (still is?) a show on MTV called 'Is She Really Going Out With Him?' ... I can stomach Dwight wanting to leave the Magic for the Lakers. The Lakers have more history, media coverage, fans, etc. Whatever. I get it. Conversely, I would not be able to justify him wanting to leave the Magic to play for the Nets. The Nets may be moving to Brooklyn and are under the direction of a rock star owner, but they are not a better franchise than Orlando. Magic fans would constantly be saying 'did he really leave us for the Nets?'"
• Warriors players discuss their Coach Mark Jackson's religious convictions. Monta Ellis as quoted by Marc Emmons in the Mercury News: "I've heard that he hasn't sworn in 25 years. That's good. I could learn from that."
• J.E. Skeets puts the cold in cold-eyed realism.
• Very little consensus about who's going to win the Southwest.
• You can get bone spurs in your back?
• First Father Time comes for your hops. Then your lateral movement. And eventually, he goes after your bank shot.
• The geeky road map for Brandon Jennings to "arrive."

This time of year there are all kinds of events where NBA players hang out with kids, sign autographs and hand out gifts. There's usually some corporate sponsor and some media and the worry that the whole thing is as much about making them look good as helping the kids.

But read Jesse Blanchard of 48 Minutes of Hell writing about the event some Spurs recently attended on behalf of St Peter-St. Joseph's children's home (in the words of the non-profit's website, it's "a home to children who have suffered as victims of sexual and emotional abuse, neglect, poverty and broken homes.")

Director of development Connie Thomas says some of the kids they care for have never even been to school, and almost all of them are behind educationally. Blanchard writes:

There were games, a dinner, presents, and of course, the opportunity to meet Spurs players.

“I know it’s corny, but this is a big deal. These kids haven’t had much of a Christmas before,” Thomas said. “We’ve had times where we’ve given kids stuff to decorate a tree, and they’ve never decorated a tree before.”

“I’ve had children sit there and stare at the gifts, not believing it’s for them,” she added. “I’ve seen kids cry because they couldn’t believe it was really theirs to have.”

• Ronald Tillery of The Commercial-Appeal: "With the goal of trying to save an NBA season that would start on Christmas Day, representatives for the league and its locked-out players will meet today to resume negotiations that secretly began Monday. Whenever a deal is struck, Grizzlies free agent forward Shane Battier is convinced that both sides share blame for the league's work stoppage. 'It's disappointing on all sides,' Battier told USA Today this week. 'When we look back at this, there's blood on everybody's hands. I don't think there's one group to blame. In the information age we live in, the communication is the issue which I think is ironic. Communications between owners and players, players and players, owners and owners. I believe there could've been clearer channels of communication to cut off some of the miscommunications that seem to occur. ... Both sides were dealing with things that could've been addressed earlier in the process, but there's a whole new set of rules with the litigation.' "
• Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: "Unlike during the 1998-'99 season, Sam Perkins believes this year's group of NBA players are more together than the crew from 13 years ago. Now an assistant coach with the NBA Development League's Texas Legends, the 50-year old Perkins averaged 11.9 points and 6.0 rebounds during a 17-year career that ended in 2001. He also won an NCAA title at North Carolina in 1982, and was the co-captain of the 1984 USA Olympic gold-medal winning squad. Perkins shared his opinions with on several topics, including the NBA lockout, which has put the season in jeopardy. (Q): You were involved in the NBA lockout during the 1998-'99 season. What do you think is the difference in that lockout and this year's lockout? (A): I think it's now in the hands of the players, because they stood firm and collectively as opposed to '99, where agents were involved and we separated a little bit. So we had disparity in some cases. But I think this year you don't have that. So you have a lot of guys inclined to stick together."
• Deron Snyder of the Washington Times: "The NBA lockout is hurting a lot of 'little people' right now, from ushers and vendors to bartenders and waiters to bellhops and drivers. But if the labor dispute continues much longer, some tall people might be hurting, too. It could happen next week when the 'Homecoming Tour' tips off in Akron, Ohio. Or during the 'Obama Classic' on Dec. 12. Or another of the myriad charity/exhibition/pickup games NBA players have staged since summer. I’m concerned about some participants in the fundraiser for President Obama’s re-election campaign. Among the confirmed players are Magic Johnson, Doc Rivers, Patrick Ewing and Dikembe Mutombo. Maybe they’ve forgotten, but the NBA used to stage an old-timers game during All-Star weekend. It’s no longer part of the festivities (replaced by the Rookie Challenge) and for good reason: Retired All-Stars David Thompson and Norm Nixon suffered major injuries during the 1992 Legends Classic, a ruptured patella tendon and a ruptured quadricep tendon, respectively. Thompson at 37 and Nixon at 36 were the youngest players in the game. The aforementioned geriatrics will be the oldest players in Obama’s fundraiser. ... The threat of injury goes hand-in-hand with another reason these games are risky propositions for the players. Watching too much freestyle basketball dulls the fans’ senses and makes the games dull. There’s a limit on our tolerance for get-out-the-way defense, streetball dribbling tricks, unstructured play and monotonous one-on-ones. We can only take it in small doses, specifically, once a year each February. But if every game is like the All-Star Game, no thanks."
• Wendell Maxey for The Oregonian: "It's been seven months since the 6-foot-8 Batum departed Portland for France after a season in which he averaged a career best 12.4 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. While the NBA lockout jeopardizes the 2011-12 regular season and Batum's return to the Rose Garden, he's undergone a transformation beyond what his 22-years shows. It began in September playing with the French National team at the 2011 European Championships in Lithuania. It continues today where Batum stars for reigning French League champion SLUC Nancy, which also competes in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague. No longer is Batum the 20-year old shy kid who arrived in Portland in 2008 as the 25th overall selection in the NBA Draft. He has matured from a boy to a man and into a team leader for Nancy. 'I grew up,' Batum said when asked how he's changed since last season in Portland, his words reverberating with confidence. 'People have shown me respect -- the coaches, the players, the refs. I've gone through some great experiences this summer with the national team and now here. When the game is on the line I want the ball. The game is in my hands. That is very good for me. This is different because this is my team.' ... Batum may have grown up on and off the court the last few months in France, but Portland is never far from his mind, or his game. In a matter of seconds, Batum jogs down the hall and into the locker room and retrieves one of his size 16 red and white adidas basketball shoes. There it is -- the Blazers pinwheel logo screen printed onto the shoes' tongue with 'Batman 15' scrolled on the side. 'I don't forget,' Batum said with a smile. 'I don't forget Portland.' "
• Brian T. Smith of The Salt Lake Tribune: "John Stockton drives left, hurriedly pulls up while the clock races downward and drills a 3-pointer with no time remaining to send the Jazz to their first-ever NBA Finals. Jerry Sloan rushes the court like a madman, waving his arms and beaming as he races along the hardwood. Karl Malone delivers, time after time after time. Thanks to the magic of television, the Jazz have been one of the premier teams in the league during the 147-day lockout. While modern stars such as LeBron James have become faceless during the work stoppage, relegated to random charity exhibition games and promotional appearances, the NBA has lived through its storied past. Some say the best way to live life is not to look back. But that’s often all the lockout-out league has been able to do, as days have turned into months and a work stoppage that began July 1 pushes toward December."
• Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun: "Like many professional athletes, coaches and executives, Jay Triano quietly gives back to his community. The former Raptors head coach, now the special assistant to GM Bryan Colangelo, was recognized recently for his good work. Triano was given the first Humanitarian of the Year Award by the Angel Foundation for Learning, which has worked for the past 25 years to assist underprivileged students in the Toronto Catholic District school system. Triano told QMI Agency he had good mentors growing up and likes to help out where he can. 'It goes back to (his friend) Terry Fox, he tried to make a difference,' Triano said."

• Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune: "Hired-gun lawyer David Boies late in the day on Monday announced the players were withdrawing that lawsuit filed in Northern California last week and consolidating it with the one they filed in Minneapolis at the same time. So the lawsuit filed here that had Anthony Tolliver, Derrick Williams, Caron Butler and Ben Gordon named as plantiffs now also gets many other names added to it, most notably Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, Steve Nash and Chauncey Billups. So why here? Simply timing. Boies said the move was made for expediancy's sake, which means he thinks they'll get a court date set faster in Minnesota than the March date set by the Northern California court. All of this, of course, is intended never to get that far."
• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: "The crucial moment occurred as the clock approached midnight on Nov. 10. After another marathon negotiating session, NBA Commissioner David Stern announced that the owners had put an offer on the table. Players either could accept it or instead face a much worse deal. Players viewed that statement as an ultimatum. Minutes after Stern completed his press conference, Magic player representative Chris Duhon told me, 'This ultimatum is just going to make most players angry and go the distance.' That’s exactly what happened. The players rejected the deal. Their elected leaders decided to dissolve their own union and take their battle to the court system. What intrigues me is how Stern, and the owners he works for, could’ve made such a drastic miscalculation (assuming, of course, that they wanted a deal in the first place). They should have known that the union never would’ve accepted an offer under that level of public duress. If the union had agreed to the deal, the union’s leaders would’ve looked like weaklings."
• Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: "For all the shots Shaquille O’Neal has taken in print and in promotion at Pat Riley’s expense when it has come to his new autobiography, 'Shaq Uncut: My Story,' one somewhat leaps off the page. That would be Page 180, when he talks about Riley’s 'Gestapo conditioning.' Monday, at a Miami Heat Thanksgiving event at the Miami Rescue Mission, Riley took a moment from assisting to address some of what recently has come his way from his former star center. 'He’s marketing. He’s a marketer. He’s just marketing right now,' Riley told the Sun Sentinel with a dismissive laugh. 'That’s all he’s doing.' Riley then was asked specifically about the use of the term 'Gestapo.' 'I’m trying to figure out whether or not Hannibal Lecter, the Gestapo or John Gotti, I don’t know which one is worse,' Riley said of the characterizations he’s received from O’Neal over the years. 'They’re all equally insulting.' ... Riley joked to the assembled media at Monday’s event that they should wish O’Neal a happy Thanksgiving. And then he said he has moved past the friction that led to O’Neal’s trade to the Phoenix Suns in 2008. 'He’ll use anybody and say anything to market whatever it is he has to market,' the Heat president said. 'So right now he’s marketing his book.' "
• Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee: "The quality of play in these charity games is pretty dreadful – and not worth the risks. Blow out a knee. Sprain an ankle. Fracture a cheekbone. Under normal circumstances, when a player sustains a significant injury during the offseason, he has access to the team's medical staff and some of the most advanced orthopedic care in the world. But that doesn't happen during a lockout. Players are locked out of team premises, barred from contacting team officials and, more importantly, precluded from consulting members of the medical staff. 'Do I worry about getting hurt?' DeMarcus Cousins repeated, pausing thoughtfully, after Sunday's Goon Squad exhibition at UC Davis. 'I fell last night while I was walking down the street. You can get hurt doing anything. You don't let yourself think about it.' It's probably time to think about it, which might explain the no-shows at these events and why the players at the Pavilion didn't get close enough to each another to catch a cold."
• Tim Griffin of the San Antonio Express-News: "Spurs guard Tony Parker is sounding more like a businessman the longer he stays with ASVEL Villeurbonne. Parker told Basketactu.com that he will remain playing with his French team for the rest of the season if the NBA is canceled because of the lockout. And he also plans to make a bid for French forward Boris Diaw if the lockout continues. Diaw hasn’t chosen to go overseas, but has hinted he might join Parker if the season is wiped out. Parker has been successful since beginning with his team. His team is playing in the 2011 Eurocup as he’s won MVP of the month and week since joining the team. As the lockout continues, Parker is becoming more engrossed with his French team. He will return to the Spurs as soon as the lockout ends, but it sounds like he’s busy with his own team."
• Marcus Thompson II of The Oakland Tribune: "It is common practice for rookies -- especially first-rounders, millionaires-in-waiting -- to get a loan from their financial adviser. Some, like Thompson, however, don't want to accumulate debt. So he's 'living like a broke college student' while staying at home with his parents. Tyler is living with his brother in Cupertino. The hard part about the waiting, they say, is they have no idea when it will end. Eventually, they'll get paid, get to play on the big stage. Until then, their time is filled trying not to go insane. 'They need to work out,' Oakland-based agent Aaron Goodwin said. 'Take a class or two online. Do some work towards finishing their degree.' Both Warriors rookies said they work out daily. Preparing for camp, whenever it starts. Training for their debut, whenever it comes. Tyler, who's been training at Cal, said he is embracing the center position. He's trying to get in the best shape possible and work on his low-post game. Thompson trains at various spots in Southern California and plays pick-up with various NBA players in the area. Still, he acknowledged the monotony of it all. 'It's de-motivating,' Thompson said. 'Not knowing when the season is starting. Not knowing how long this will go on. We're doing the same thing every day. I'm not going to lie. It's hard to stay motivated.' "
• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: "Dwight Howard will not be playing in President Barack Obama's basketball-themed campaign fundraiser next month, after all. The online flyer for The Obama Classic Basketball Game on Dec. 12 in Washington, D.C., no longer lists Howard as one of the players 'confirmed to play.' Howard was listed on the same flyer over the weekend, and the Orlando Magic superstar himself indicated on Twitter on Saturday that he was going to play in the game."
• Michael Lee of The Washington Post: "Andray Blatche may have missed out on his first NBA paycheck of the season last week – and might lose out on $6.4 million if the NBA lockout wipes out the 2011-12 campaign – but that hasn’t stopped him from trying to make Thanksgiving special for some families in need. Blatche plans to join Roger Mason Jr. and the National Basketball Players Association on Tuesday to hand out 100 turkeys on a first-come-first-serve basis at the Laurel Boys and Girls Club from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. I can’t do this, so I’ll give out some turkeys. (Alex Brandon - AP) Blatche has given away turkeys through his charity foundation in the past, but he rarely had the opportunity to connect with people since he was busy playing for the Wizards. But already this year, Blatche has given turkeys to single-parent mothers, breast cancer survivors and battered woman in his hometown of Syracuse, in South Carolina and Florida. He also volunteered over the weekend at a round-robin basketball challenge sponsored by the Maryland-National Capital Park Police."
• Peter Vecsey of the New York Post: "One of the countless calamitous consequences of the negotiating impasse between NBA owners and players is the unavailability, because of the lockout, of game footage for anybody who might be facing a documentary deadline ... for example, Joyce Sharman. Forty seasons ago, her husband, Bill, guided the Lakers to professional sports’ longest winning streak, 33 straight. Joyce is co-producing the documentary. But the way things are going, by the time it’s finished it’s not going to be all that timely. Considering Bill Sharman is 85, and two stars from that team (Wilt Chamberlain, Happy Hairston) are deceased, while two others (LeRoy Ellis, Flynn Robinson) are battling cancer — and taking into account the team’s impressive imprint — you would think David Stern would have headed lickety-split to the appropriate location and personally unlocked the league’s film archives."
• Kevin Ding of The Orange County Register: "Lamar Odom stood in front of his locker in Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center one night and did his best to explain to me what it is he feels he gets out of those Power Balance bracelets. Odom, a minority investor in the company that has its roots in Laguna Niguel in Orange County, now has to deal with word via the Sacramento Bee that Power Balance has declared bankruptcy and via TMZ that Power Balance is closing up shop after a $57 million class-action lawsuit settlement. ... UPDATE: Power Balance’s Jason Damata reached out to the New York Daily News to say the settlement was $1 million and the company isn’t going out of business but has filed for bankruptcy."
• Tom Reed of The Plain Dealer: "The Cavaliers are losing one of their most valuable game-night contributors, a highlight maker whose work is respected throughout the NBA. Jonny Greco, the video production director renown for the team's pre-game introductions and spoofs, is leaving the organization to take a job with World Wrestling Entertainment. Greco, 32 and his staff have won three regional Emmys and three national industry-insider awards. Not a bad haul for someone who worked just seven seasons for The Q. Although fans might not know his name or face, almost any regular to The Q for Cavaliers or Lake Erie Monsters games would recognize his scoreboard productions that included mock interventions for Boston Celtics fans and Candid Camera parodies featuring 'Puff' Dog."
• Rich Hofmann of the Philadelphia Daily News: "Hip Hop is no more. Seeing as how there is no actual basketball to talk about during the NBA lockout, this qualifies as big Sixers news. After receiving hundreds of communications from fans, nearly all of them advocating the end of a symbol of a different era, the team's new ownership will announce today that the never-beloved mascot has been put out to pasture, literally. To spare the sensibilities of the one or two children who weren't scared to death by the rabbit, the team will say that Hip Hop fell in love, married and moved away to start a family. Apparently, it either was that or announce that they were going to boil him in a pot on a really big stove in a remake of 'Fatal Attraction.' ... The task of coming up with a replacement for Hip Hop will fall to two firms specializing in the business. One is Jim Henson's Creature Shop, which began as the workshop of the late creator of the Muppets. The other is Raymond Entertainment Group, whose founder is Dave Raymond, the original Phillie Phanatic."

The Plain Dealer's Bill Lubinger profiles a Cleveland-area team that has defied all odds: Every player is 80 or older. They call themselves the Oldies but Goodies:

The Oldies' 10-man roster is mainly players from Greater Cleveland, Toledo and Michigan. Teams in the 80-and-over division may cross state lines for players because the pool is limited. Some Oldies played in high school and college. Others never played beyond pick-up games.

Hammeren, who sat out last season with two knee operations, has been on Cutler's team the longest, 17 years. He's 6-3 and still plays full-court a few times a week "with a bunch of young guys in their 60s."

Hammeren drove the lane but missed the layup.

"Oh, [expletive]," he muttered, "like an old man."

Dick Lane, 82, of Livonia, Mich., took a pass, dribbled, tripped and rolled.

"First down!" mocked a teammate.

On his next possession, Lane drove left and banked a beautiful running shot.

The Oldies, by design, are resilient -- and unconventional. In the middle of a play, Hugh Ressler, 85, who showed good ball-handling skills, called timeout when his upper bridge was loose.

"Gotta get rid of my teeth," he said. "About fell out."

In an opening scene of the documentary "Elevate," in the simple SEEDS Academy schoolhouse in Senegal, 25 of West Africa's finest teenaged basketball players are getting a lecture from the driving force behind the academy, former Mavericks and current NBA executive Amadou Fall:

I'm not someone who likes to waste his time, because I don't have a lot of it.

I want to make sure that our objectives are without ambiguity.

You are here to educate yourselves in all capacities. Sports is a tool. We don't accept excuses here. I don't want to hear that you are tired.

As Africans, the rest of the world views us as lazy, without ambition and waiting for handouts.

Understand that you have to be our ambassadors.

Honoring that assignment is the major theme of the hour-and-a-half of Anne Buford's (sister of Spurs GM R.C.) film, which follows four of the 25 as they move to America to play high school basketball.

Anyone who has ever been homesick will relate to the inherent tension of Assane Sene's first days at Connecticut's South Kent School. It's a dream come true, in many ways. This is a route to a college education. This is a way to make a better life for his family, and to test his basketball skills against the best in the world, with a shot at the NBA.

Had his visa been revoked he would have likely balled up on the floor in tears, as one of his friends back home in Senegal did.

But getting what you want is not the same as getting it easy. Sene's first words upon stepping outside of JFK Airport in the middle of winter are: "so cold." Buford's cameras had captured Sene as a riot of warm smiles among his friends at home. In the Northeast, it's all winter. Putting a single crisp white sheet on his boarding school is about all there is in the way of making things "homey."

There he is filing out of chapel. He's not just the new kid at school, all alone. He's also a foot taller and far less white than everyone else, speaking English as a second language, wearing a tie for the first time, and a practicing Muslim at a Christian private school to boot.

A significant anxiety of the film is the various players' worries about what might contain pork. Eventually the word gets out that sweet things on the menu almost never do, so they order sweet things.

Once he lands in the U.S. Sene's happiest on-camera moment comes grasping his own face, on the brink of both laughing and crying, watching a video made for him by his friends at home. "Don't forget you left some girls behind, you know what I mean?" one chides. "Don't forget to take a shower once in a while," shouts another. They close with a message straight from the SEEDS brochure: "One, two, three, KEEP WORKING HARD!"

Eventually, of course, Sene settles in, somewhat. (Now he has become the starting center at the University of Virginia.) Before long he's showing another SEEDS student the ropes at South Kent: "Sometimes you'll get to the cafeteria before me. If you have any doubts about the meat, ask the chef," he explains. "Chapel, that's the church. Even if you're Muslim you have to go. It's a nice gesture to just go and sit down. If I see you struggling with the same problems I had, then I'll help you deal with them."

Gone are a lot of the smiles, and his coach -- who quits in mid-season to take a job at Nike. Throughout the movie, there's a tenuous reality: Those players are at those fine schools to bolster the basketball team. When NBA prospect Aziz N'Diaye, now starting for the University of Washington goes down with a knee injury early in his high-school season, quickly I found myself stressed on his behalf: If that knee doesn't get better, will this school keep educating him? Thankfully he heals, and blossoms as a player, and the film never has to dig into that cold issue.

A lot of the warmth lost from the film's opening scenes in Africa never returns. But it is replaced by the real opportunities borne of globalization. Is that more valuable? That's just one of the important questions this nicely told tale inspires.

• Alan Hahn of Newsday: "The NBA and its players union will go back to the negotiating table Wednesday for yet another attempt to resolve their differences in collective bargaining and end the four-month lockout. A person with knowledge of the situation told Newsday that the sides will get together in Manhattan to resume talks that broke down last Thursday after three days of mediation. It is not known if the NBA has dropped its precondition that the union agree to a 50-50 split of league revenue, which was what union executive director Billy Hunter said led to the owners abruptly ending what had been viewed as constructive talks presided over by federal mediator George Cohen. The source said Cohen , who issued a terse statement of surrender after mediation failed last week, will not re-join the parties Wednesday."
• Jody Genessy of the Deseret News: "The NBA could soon hurt Utah Jazz fans who dig Jimmermania. Barring a negotiating miracle, the Jazz's first game against Sacramento in the Jimmer Fredette era — Nov. 23 at ex-Arco Arena — will be added to the NBA lockout casualty scrap pile. That contest against the former BYU star/rookie-in-limbo was among six Jazz games that were to be canceled Tuesday along with most of the November schedule, according to the New York Daily News. Though it hasn't yet officially happened, the report claimed the league is about to chop off its second two-week block of games, prolonging the NBA-less period through Nov. 28."
• Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News: "Matt Bonner heard the unsubstantiated rumor, proffered on Twitter after Thursday’s blowup, that Spurs owner Peter Holt told the players they hadn’t yet endured enough pain. Re-tweeted so often that it took on a life of its own, the quote was attributed only to an unnamed source but gained traction for a few hours, a veritable lifetime in cyberspace. 'I never heard Peter say anything like that,' Bonner said. 'Peter’s a really good guy, and he never loses his cool, and he’s always respectful.' The Spurs are often cited as proof a small-market team can thrive if managed well, but it was no rumor that Holt refuted the contention last week. The Spurs managing general partner, who is chairman of the owners’ labor relations committee, used the post-blowup news conference to say his franchise lost money each of the last two seasons. Then he asserted the Spurs would have joined the list of money losers earlier without some luck. 'We just got there a little later because, fortunately, a fellow named Tim Duncan showed up and David Robinson before that, and we won some championships,' Holt said. 'So we were able to go deep into the playoffs.' Holt has been lumped among hawkish owners intent on a lopsided win in the talks, but it is hard to imagine he favors canceling the season, given that his luck with Duncan is near its end."
• Joe Freeman of The Oregonian: "According to source with knowledge of the talks, LaMarcus Aldridge and the University of Portland are ironing out 'contractual details' to hold an exhibition game Nov. 6 at 7:30 p.m. at the Chiles Center. Although the source cautioned that 'nothing is certain at this point,' it appears the sides are close to finalizing the deal that Aldridge teased Monday afternoon on Twitter."
• Woody Paige of The Denver Post: "The owners and the commissioner seek to restructure almost entirely the collective bargaining agreement — reducing player revenues significantly, eliminating long-term contracts and protecting franchises from losing stars such as Carmelo and LeBron James?. So, Karl should be worried. 'The most important area I wanted to concentrate on this season,' Karl told me, 'was becoming even more aggressive on defense because we have all these young players who are . . .' He hesitated because he can't talk about players. 'Eager to play defense?' I suggested. 'That's a good way of putting it.' "
• Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News: "Pistons first-year coach Lawrence Frank can't go over the intricacies of his philosophy to his players, but he's still teaching — albeit to a younger audience. The Pistons, in partnership with Sprite, refurbished a basketball court at Highland Park High, and dedicated the court Tuesday. After the dedication, Frank put on a mini-clinic for the Highland Park boys and girls basketball teams. He drilled players on the pick-and-roll and displayed a glimpse of his quick-witted persona, telling one player who took an ill-advised shot, 'If you were playing for me, there's a word I'd use: Sub!' which prompted laughs from the crowd. 'Days like this are really special where we can be a small part of being able to impact others,' Frank said. With the lockout preventing Frank from doing what he was hired to do, he's taken time to learn about Detroit."
• Fred Kerber of the New York Post: "Under original plans, MarShon Brooks would play his fifth preseason game tonight, running with Deron Williams and continuing his NBA rookie education with the Nets. Guess what? Original plans were scrapped. So instead, Brooks will continue working out at Providence College, where he also is working toward his college diploma. The lockout may have made the NBA world an imperfect place, but Brooks found a positive. He went back to school, signed up for four courses (he only needed three) and hopes to have his degree in Social Science by lockout’s end. It certainly beats the frustration of labor strife keeping you from your NBA dream. 'It’s getting frustrating,' said Brooks, selected 25th by the Celtics and acquired on draft night by the Nets. 'There’s never been a point in my life where I didn’t play basketball. Honestly, it was a lifelong dream. I want to see what the hype is all about. I want to get out there and play. Working out and playing with the fellas over at school, it gets old. Especially when they’re starting their season. Like today, they have a game. I can’t play pickup. They have two-a-days, I can’t play pickup.' "
• Ronald Tillery of The Commercial-Appeal: "Grizzlies guard Tony Allen will play in a two-day professional basketball tournament hosted by Allen Iverson next month in Las Vegas. Iverson is working with the Justice Entertainment Group on the four-team Las Vegas Superstar Challenge slated for Nov. 12-13 at the Thomas and Mack Center. Iverson, who signed a contract with the Griz for the 2009-10 season, will announce the event Wednesday in Las Vegas. Confirmed players include: Amare Stoudemire (New York Knicks), Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder), Paul Pierce (Boston Celtics), Tyreke Evans (Sacramento Kings), Lou Williams (Philadelphia 76ers), Hakim Warrick (Phoenix Suns), Chauncey Billups (New York Knicks), Al Harrington (Denver Nuggets), Stephen Jackson (Golden State Warriors), Monte Ellis (Golden State Warriors), Corey Maggette (Charlotte Bobcats), Matt Barnes (Los Angeles Lakers), David Lee (Golden State Warriors), James Harden (Oklahoma City Thunder), Ryan Hollins (Cleveland Cavaliers), Kyrie Irving (Cleveland Cavaliers), Kemba Walker (Charlotte Bobcats), Derrick Williams (Minnesota Timberwolves) and Marcus Morris (Houston Rockets)."
• Alexis Stevens of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Basketball legend Julius Erving owes more than $200,000 on a loan with Georgia Primary Bank, according to a lawsuit filed in Fulton Superior Court. The bank filed a lawsuit Oct. 18 against Erving, 61, and his corporation, The Erving Group Inc. of Atlanta. Erving's company was given a $1 million line of credit in April 2009, which was due the following April, according to the lawsuit obtained by the AJC. Erving used a Gwinnett County home as collateral to secure the loan, the lawsuit states. In August 2010, the line of credit was reduced to $750,000 and the maturity date extended to July 24, the bank stated in the suit. But, an outstanding balance of $205,277.84 has not been paid, despite a demand letter for payment sent Sept. 29. Erving, better known by his nickname Dr. J, moved to the Atlanta area in 2008, about two years after purchasing the Heritage Golf Club, near the Gwinnett-DeKalb county line. The AJC reported in April 2010 that the golf club was in foreclosure."
• Dei Lynam of CSNPhilly.com : "Julius Erving never made the kind of money current NBA players make and are arguing to keep making during the NBA's lockout. However, Erving did play professionally for 16 years, including the 1983 World Championship Philadelphia 76ers. Tuesday afternoon an interesting e-mail caught my attention because the heading read “Dr. J's Personal Memorabilia at Auction." I could not open the email fast enough. To my surprise here was the list of items Dr. J is parting ways with: Dr. J’s 1974 and 1976 New York Nets ABA World Championship ring; 1983 Philadelphia 76ers World Championship ring; 1996 NBA’s 50 Greatest Players ring; MVP trophies from 1975-76 (ABA) and 1980-81 (NBA); 1977 and 1983 NBA All-Star game MVP trophies; 1979, 1981 and 1985 Eastern Conference All-Star game-worn uniforms; 1982-83 Philadelphia 76ers game-worn road uniform; His final game-worn jersey from Game 5 of the 1987 Eastern Conference playoffs. Erving is working with SCP Auctions, which will open the items to bidding Friday Oct. 28 on their website scpauctions.com. The auction will remain open through Nov. 19."

• Frank Isola and Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News: "The NBA will be cancelling at least two more weeks of its season, according to a person familiar with the league's plans. The source told the Daily News that the announcement will be made by the league on Tuesday. With talks broken off between the owners and players, and the two sides far apart on major 'system' issues, the cancellations are expected to total at least 102 more games, through Nov. 28. No further talks are in the works. The league made its first cancellations, totalling 100 games and running from the Nov. 1 season opener through Nov. 14, on Oct. 10. Commissioner David Stern had said last week on WFAN that he thought that the league’s showcase Christmas Day games would be cancelled if a deal had not been reached by last Tuesday."
• K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune: "Last month, Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose said he had one concrete offer from a European team but that the NBA lockout would have to last deep into the season for him to consider it. In an interview at Mondo.rs, the sports director of Croatian team KK Zagreb claims to be that team. 'We reached an economic agreement, but we could not find an agreement about the games,' KK Zagreb's Hrvoje Ciketiae said in the interview. 'Rose for sponsor obligations would have missed three Euroleague games. And we could not allow that.' The team said it wanted to sign Rose for 22 games."
• Marlon W. Morgan of The Commercial-Appeal: "Shane Battier said he is not surprised the owners and players are at an impasse that has already seen the first two weeks of the season canceled. With both sides entrenched in their position, Battier believes it will come down to which side begins missing their paychecks the most. 'It'll get signed,' he said. 'It's not a question of if, it's a question of when. That's what we have to remember. I've been encouraged that we've taken so many meetings. It seems like most of the meetings have ended poorly, but there's dialogue, compared to 1999 at the last lockout. There was very little dialogue. There's always a chance when there's dialogue to make a deal.' Aside from attending a union meeting in June, Battier has kept up with the proceedings from afar, stating that it's hard to have the necessary frame of reference if you're not able to attend every meeting. However, he has managed to stay in contact with members of the executive committee."
• Kate Fagan of The Philadelphia Inquirer: "If the next collective bargaining agreement includes an amnesty clause, what does that specifically mean, and would the Sixers use it on Elton Brand? ... Brand has approximately $35 million remaining through the 2012-13 season. Brand is owed approximately $17 million for the 2011-12 season and approximately $18 million for the 2012-13 season. My answer? Absolutely not. I just don't believe it makes any sense for the Sixers to use such an amnesty clause on Brand. ... The Sixers have no other player under contract who would even be under consideration for the amnesty clause. Everyone else's contract is either too low or their production is too great."
• Guillermo X. Garcia of the San Antonio Express-News: "While billionaire NBA owners and multimillionaire players haggle over salary caps and the redistribution of tens of millions of dollars, Mary Saenz worries about paying her daughters’ dental bills. The single mother, a patrol deputy with the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, was counting on the extra money — $500 to $800 a month — that she made working security at Spurs home games to pay those bills. Now she is left wondering how much will be lost to the ongoing owners’ lockout. Saenz is like hundreds of porters, food servers and others who rely on part-time contract work at the AT&T Center during Spurs games. She says she and her daughters, a Palo Alto College student and a Jay High School junior, are feeling the squeeze on their budget. So far, the preseason and the first two weeks of the regular season are gone, and a report out of New York on Monday night said another two weeks also had been canceled. Concerns are rising that much of the rest of the season might be in jeopardy."
• Joe Freeman of The Oregonian: "LaMarcus Aldridge offered a small dose of good news for downtrodden Portland-area basketball fans Monday afternoon. The Trail Blazers forward announced on Twitter that he will host an exhibition basketball game Nov. 6 at 7:30 p.m. at an undisclosed Portland location. 'Rip City is having a basketball game!' Aldridge said, via twitter. Neither Aldridge nor his agent returned phone calls from The Oregonian Monday, but the Blazers' star forward said on Twitter that he would reveal the venue and ticket information later this week. Presumably, rosters also will be announced in the coming days."
• Janis Carr of The Orange County Register: " 'See, the fans are the ones who miss out (because of the impasse between the league and players union)," Matt Barnes said Saturday. ]The economy is terrible, but they still are coming out, supporting us and buying tickets every night. I feel worse for the fans because despite all what they are going through in their lives, they still want to support us.' And that's why the Lakers forward, along with several other NBA stars, was at Washington Park in Los Angeles on Saturday for 'The Big Assist.' He wanted to give back to the fans that have supported him throughout his nine years in the NBA and continue to support the players during the lockout. 'The Big Assist' was a one-day food giveaway, hosted by New Orleans' Trevor Ariza and Milwaukee's Keyon Dooling and his Gametyme Foundation. Approximately 265 underprivileged families received care packages that included food, hygiene products, school supplies, canned food and other essential products. The idea for the giveaway was Dooling's, who has done four such stops over the past week."
• Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times: "The Buss family considered moving the D-Fenders to Ontario this season to play in a relatively new 10,000-seat arena operated by AEG, the empire that also owns Staples Center and a minority share of the Lakers. San Diego was also considered before the Buss clan settled on El Segundo to cut costs. So Lakers executives will merely have to walk down a staircase to see the D-Fenders' home games. ... The D-Fenders are a hard sell because their team changes drastically from season to season like many minor league affiliates. They are typically a collection of little-known players whose rights are not even held by the Lakers, this season possibly more so than ever. The Lakers didn't have a first-round pick in last June's NBA draft, and none of their three second-round picks would be allowed to play for the D-Fenders unless the NBA lockout were lifted. It's not simple being a little fish so close to the Pacific Ocean, but the D-Fenders are certainly trying to market the previously unmarketable."

• Mac Engel of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: "To all NBA players who stand unified against the godless owners, read these words of warning from a former NHL player about the reality of losing an entire season: 'It’s not worth it. Get a deal done,' former Dallas Stars forward Bill Guerin said during a phone call last week. There was not a single NHL player during the Great Lockout of 2004-05 who was a bigger proponent of the union’s fight than this man. No one believed in the cause more than Guerin, and to hear him admit this is a bit stunning. 'I learned a big lesson: It’s not a partnership. It’s their league, and you are going to play when they want,' he said. Today, Guerin has hindsight and his experience serves as a giant caution to any player who thinks losing a game, much less an entire season, to this lockout is a good idea. His message is simple: Get what you can; start playing; you are not going to win what you think. 'It is not worth it to any of them to burn games or to burn an entire year. Burning a year was ridiculous,' Guerin said."
• Bob Ford of The Philadelphia Inquirer: "As is the case with the NBA, the NHL players were being asked to pay for some really stupid moves by their league and didn't want to do so, but they also got terrible advice and failed to grasp the resolve of the owners. It turned out that the world could go on without them for a while, much to their surprise. The NBA players would be smart to study that lesson. They are going to lose this one, and probably lose it really badly. The league will get healthier for the owners, even if they can't fix the real problem, which is that there is no Johnson, Bird, and Jordan to save it this time. The golden age has been tarnished by a generation that believes one-on-one isolation play is the pinnacle of the sport and - at least compared to the thriving college game - the NBA has become an inferior spectacle manned by superior players. That's a tough exacta to hit, but the NBA has managed it somehow."
• John Canzano of The Oregonian: To recap: Everyone agrees Paul Allen was present. Everyone agrees he said nothing. And so we have our first official point of undisputed agreement in 114 days of insidious bickering between the league and its players. Allen was wallpaper. And man, how long can this lockout last with all this agreement going on? Peculiar development, though, as the NBA sought out The Oregonian on Friday, and scrambled to arrange an interview with Silver to make sure everyone knew the billionaire was silent. Again, no one disputed this fact. Still, the NBA went into damage control and planted its message on the doorsteps of the very fans who know Allen's heavy-handed billionaire schtick best. Also, Blazers president Larry Miller offered that the team is not for sale. Do these cats know what they're trying to sell? ... I don't dislike Allen. He's become a cartoon character, though. I don't think this NBA franchise can win a championship with Allen calling the shots. And when I see Allen walking the hallways at the arena, I don't see a guy with passion for his hobby anymore. I'd love to listen and believe as Allen explained to us all how in love he is with the NBA and the Blazers. How dedicated he is. How he wants badly, still, to win a title. If Allen wants to say so, we're all ears. I know. I know. Allen didn't say a word."
• Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe: "Something is becoming very clear through all of the rhetoric, however: The lockout is being fueled by small-market owners who feel powerless in a league of big cities, mammoth television contracts, and state-of-the-art arenas. After Thursday’s talks produced nothing, Players Association executive director Billy Hunter pointed out that the larger-market owners have tended to stay away from the sessions, while owners such as Dan Gilbert of Cleveland, Peter Holt of San Antonio, and Paul Allen of Portland are the front men, making a deal nearly impossible with their hard-line stances."
• Tim Griffin of the San Antonio Express-News: "It seems that Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert and Phoenix owner Robert Sarver aren’t alone in feeling the wrath of players for some of their anti-union comments during negotiations. Spurs owner Peter Holt is being roasted for comments he reportedly made during a recent bargaining session. Several media sources, including ESPN.com, Hoops World.com and Hoops Hype.com have reported that Holt said that players haven’t felt enough discomfort during the lockout to end it. Those words are a marked contrast for Holt, who has steered clear of controversy during his tenure as the Spurs majority owner. But his reported comments have certainly caught the attention of the NBPA this time."
• Tom Reed of The Plain Dealer: "Pro sports rarely elicit public support during work stoppages. But while fans are not on the side of these multi-billion-dollar enterprises, history is. tatistical analysis compiled from the last seven major American labor disputes -- ones that forced cancellation of regular-season games -- shows fans eventually return to the arenas and stadiums. Although talk shows and Internet message boards roil with anger and invective as games are being lost, supporters rarely stay mad forever. They come back to their couches, their PSLs, their fantasy leagues. If their teams are winners, as was the case with the 1995 Indians, they often rejoin the cause in record numbers. 'It might take a season or two, but fans usually forgive and forget,' said David Carter, executive director of the USC Sports Business Institute and author of Money Games: Profiting From the Convergence of Sports and Entertainment. 'Sports still play a vital role in our society. A lot of people see them as a pleasant diversion, a respite from the grind.' "
• John Rohde of The Oklahoman: "For the first 47 minutes, Sunday night's US Fleet Tracking Basketball Invitational hosted by Kevin Durant was an NBA exhibition game during which little defense was exhibited. In the 48th minute, however, the crowd rose to its feet, and a lighthearted competition suddenly turned serious. A closing flurry in regulation forced overtime, and the end result was Durant's White Team posting a 176-171 victory over the Blue Team before a near-sellout crowd of 13,000 inside the Cox Convention Center. Though the NBA lockout was in Day 115, on this night there were no catcalls directed toward players. Fans screamed for autographs. Cellphone cameras were all the rage. No one left early and the players left to a standing ovation."
• Dei Lynam of CSNPhilly.com: "In early August, Adam Aron decided he wanted a new career challenge. Aron was a long-time successful business man in the travel industry, who had worked with Joshua Harris for 15 years. Harris was the honcho of a group buying the Philadelphia 76ers and Aron, a Philadelphia native, wanted to run the team. Aron walked into Harris’ office and said just that. We can assume the conversation went well because this past week Aron was extremely busy fulfilling his duties as CEO of the Sixers – his first week wearing that hat in an official capacity. Aron, who is also an investor, couldn’t be happier spending many hours designing ways to improve the experience for fans who attend Sixers games, whenever those games come to fruition. The NBA has been in a lockout for 114 days and counting."
• Colin Stephenson of The Star-Ledger: "Nets point guard Deron Williams, who is playing in Turkey for Besiktas during the NBA lockout, tweeted that he and his family are all right after the magnitude 7.2 earthquake that struck Turkey today. 'Thanks everyone for checking on me I'm OK the quake was very far from Istanbul,' Williams wrote on his Twitter account a few minutes ago. The quake occurred in Eastern Turkey, hundreds of miles away from Istanbul, where Williams' team is based. Fears are that as many as 1,000 people may be dead after several buildings collapsed in the area. Besides Williams, Nets second round draft pick Bojan Bogdanovic also plays in Istanbul, for Fenerbahce, as does former Net Sasha Vujacic, who plays for Anadolu Efes."
• Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: "Is Dwight Howard outta here, Orlando? Take it for what it’s worth, but that’s what the writer who conducted the recent Esquire interview with Dwight believes. He believes the Orlando Magic big man is unequivocally headed for brighter lights and a bigger city. In an interview the other day on our Open Mike radio show, Scott Raab, the writer who recently conducted a 2-hour interview with Howard for Esquire said: 'My honest feeling is that there’s no question in mind that he’s gone — none,' Raab said. Of course, Raab is only guessing and going on a gut feeling just like the rest of us, but you can certainly understand why he feels this way. Howard did, after all, make some comments in the Esquire interview that have caused Magic fans much angst over the last week."
• Brian T. Smith of The Salt Lake Tribune: "[Jazz President Rand] Rigby has watched the Jazz evolve. He worked his way up through the organization while Karl Malone and John Stockton ruled the hardwood and a still-elusive NBA championship was within Utah’s grasp. He was behind closed doors during a dramatic 2010-11 season, when the Jazz fractured and fell apart, Sloan resigned and Williams was traded away. Rigby has also watched the Salt Lake City region change. Once, the Jazz were enough. Now, Real Salt Lake is rising, the University of Utah has grabbed the spotlight in the Pac-12 and Brigham Young is as popular as ever. All while the NBA is fighting a labor war, with owners and players battling for revenue and power, and small-market teams struggling for their existence. Rigby’s seen almost everything during his 25 years with LHM. But his answers to the challenges the Jazz face remain the same: keep evolving, keep changing and, most importantly, keep making money. 'You can’t always stay on top of the mountain. That’s sports,' said Rigby, during an exclusive interview with The Salt Lake Tribune. “But to keep showing that we’re relevant … to build loyalty — that’s one of the important things that we try to keep doing.' "
• Mike Wells of The Indianapolis Star: "One of the concerns with the Pacers – and every other team in the NBA – is what kind of shape the players will be in when they report to training camp once the lockout ends. Training camp will likely be condensed from a month to a couple of weeks if there’s a 2011-12 season. Players don’t want to be labeled the Shawn Kemp of the 2011 lockout. I don’t think conditioning will be a problem for the Pacers because their rotation players are spread around the country working out on their own or playing with other NBA players in cities like Los Angeles and New York. Center Roy Hibbert plans to head back to San Antonio and work with future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan again. Their issue could be familiarity with each other. The Pacers are expected to make at least one substantial move once free agency starts."
• Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel: "Kevin Durant said Milwaukee Bucks guard Brandon Jennings might be 'overdosing' on lockout basketball. Not that Oklahoma City's Durant has been shy about seeking games from coast to coast while the owner-imposed lockout drags on, now nearly into November. But Jennings, who just turned 22 last month, has been 'hooping' up a storm from Rowley Park in south Los Angeles to Atlanta to New York City to Baltimore to Washington, D.C. In an interview Friday, the Bucks guard said he has slowed his pace just a bit but will still be tweeting to find games and staying close with his L.A. friends, a group dubbed AIS (Alwayz Into Something). 'I'm still working out, still finding places to play,' Jennings said. 'This is our first time to have a summer like this since high school. I just keep hoopin'. Everywhere I went there was a large crowd. It's letting fans get a chance to see us up close.' Sports Illustrated recently profiled Jennings and detailed his willingness to take on all comers, at any place at any time."
• Michael Lee of The Washington Post: "While explaining his decision to participate in Chris Paul’s charity game in his home town of Winston-Salem, N.C., earlier this month, Wizards free agent forward Josh Howard joked that “people still want to see me play.” But being around that thrilling, high-flying environment convinced Howard that he should organize his own event in Dallas, the city he still considers home since being traded to the Wizards in the deal that shipped Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson to the Mavericks at the trade deadline in 2010. With the lockout wiping out the first two weeks of the regular season and more cancellations expected to follow after failed negotiations last week, Howard is taking advantage of the opening to host a charity game on Nov. 12. Players expected to participate include Howard’s Wizards teammates John Wall, Andray Blatche and Nick Young; his former Mavericks teammates Jason Terry, Marquis Daniels, DeSagana Diop and Quinton Ross; Portland Trail Blazers forward and Dallas native LaMarcus Aldridge; New Orleans Hornets guard Jarrett Jack; Mavericks guard Corey Brewer; Minnesota forward Anthony Randolph; Toronto forward Reggie Evans; Sacramento Kings draft pick Isaiah Thomas; and former NBA player Damon Jones."
• Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic: "Remember the NBA? No, not the current NBA. That NBA is the one nobody likes. The lockout goes down like a Spalding through the esophagus. Try remembering Tom Ambrose's NBA if you want to muster a smile beyond NBA TV's reel of classics. In his book Notes from the WACKO! File And Tales from the Madhouse on McDowell, Ambrose, who ended a 37-year career in the Suns' front office last year, will walk you from the franchise's inception to the last game played at the Coliseum as an insider. He is like the uncle with the best family stories. Ambrose was there for nearly all of it, from simpler times when the Suns played exhibitions at high schools, postgame locker rooms were filled with smokers and the thump of a dribble was audible at Veterans Memorial Coliseum. He assembled his anecdotes, from hilarious to historical, in the 276-page book, which will be followed by a sequel to chronicle the US Airways Center years."

• Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle: "NBPA President Derek Fisher and executive director Billy Hunter were by then kindling, ready to burn with the slightest match strike. They were angry over the way talks ended and the position of the owners they believed had been intentionally intractable, designed not to reach a common ground agreement, but break the union until it had to accept the owners’ every wish. Then Silver said something about the players being unwilling to continue negotiations if the owners did not come up from their offer to split basketball related income evenly and the kindling caught fire. By the time Fisher Hunter were through with their retort press conference, they left scorched Earth behind. Talks had more than ended with the even the mediator announcing there was no point in continuing. It got personal and ugly. No talks are scheduled. No reason for hope could be found. After a few words in sympathy for fans and communities, Fisher said Silver and Holt were liars. ... Hunter went even further, saying that the whole thing has been an NBA lie. He described negotiations as no more than an act with the real NBA goal to extend the lockout long enough to cancel games until the union gives in. ... As he and Fisher made their charges, one can imagine Stern’s flu-driven temperature rising. But they were not speaking to him. They were not really trying to sway the public. Mostly, they were angry. They were tired and disappointed and frustrated. But more than anything, they were angry. NBA players were no doubt watching, or if not, will hear every charge repeated as word spreads why the union believes negotiations ended on Thursday. They will soon be as angry and determined as Hunter and Fisher. If the league is, as Hunter charged, trying to break the union, that display solidified it."
• Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News: "Hunter was more pointed, naming names, good and bad.Good: James Dolan, Mark Cuban, Mickey Arison and Jerry Buss, big market owners he said wanted to make a deal. Bad: Mostly Dan Gilbert. Hunter said Gilbert, the Cavs owner who behaved like a spoiled brat after LeBron James decided to take his talents to South Beach last summer, wanted his trust. Agree to a 50-50 split, a giveback of roughly $300 million next season, and we’ll make sure there will be a system you can live with. Oh, sure. That Hunter would have revealed this after two days of gag orders issued by Cohen spoke volumes about the nastiness of the emotions, so raw they need to be numbed. How numb will you feel without an entire NBA season? Because that’s where this dispute between billionaires and millionaires is headed."
• Alan Hahn of Newsday: "No, the real fireworks involved an alleged attitude the owners brought into Thursday's meeting in Manhattan after what Silver called a 'robust' Board of Governors meeting in the morning, which involved heated discussions about improving the revenue-sharing plan. 'Something happened in that Board of Governors meeting,' Kessler said. Without Stern in the room -- though he was said to be in constant communication with the owners' side via conference call -- Silver was joined by Spurs owner Peter Holt, chairman of the labor relations committee. But there was a surprise guest, Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen . Said Kessler: 'We were told Paul Allen was here to express the views of the other Board of Governors and that view was, 'It's our way or the highway.' ' Hunter said the union had prepared to present a formal proposal but was halted before it could begin. Holt then allegedly said the owners did not want to discuss other aspects of collective bargaining unless the union agreed on a 50-50 split."
• Howard Beck of The New York Times: "The earlier board of governors meeting was mostly spent discussing a more generous revenue-sharing plan. Silver reiterated that the revenue-sharing pool would be tripled, to at least $150 million per year, and quadrupled in later seasons. Although the details remained confidential, the league’s poorest franchises could receive up to $15 million a year under the new formula, according to a person who has seen the plan. The two biggest payers would be the Los Angeles Lakers, who are expected to contribute $50 million a year, and the Knicks, who are expected to contribute $30 million a year."
• Tom Powers of the Pioneer Press: "The NBA situation is particularly ludicrous. The owners are holding out for the right to tax the hell out of each other. Unable to control their own spending, they want to implement an ultra-hefty 'luxury tax' that penalizes anyone whose payroll exceeds a certain level. This is the equivalent of a serial killer scrawling on the wall of his latest victim: 'Somebody stop me before I do it again.' Meanwhile, the players say they are all about free enterprise and the good old American way. Yet one of their demands is that the owners agree to more revenue sharing as a way of propping up ailing franchises. It doesn't quite seem consistent."
• Mike Tokito of The Oregonian: "Portland Mayor Sam Adams is hoping for a "speedy resolution" to the NBA lockout, his spokesperson, Amy Ruiz said this week. And it isn't just because Adams is a fan. A prolonged lockout and the loss of home Trail Blazers game could put a serious dent in the fund the city uses to pay off debts on its major sports facilities, as well as to maintain and upgrade them. Blazers games provide much of the revenue for the city's spectator fund -- a self-sustaining account that the city started so it would not have to dip into the general fund to pay bills for its sports facilities. The city collects about $77,000 per Blazers game through a 6 percent ticket tax and from parking fees collected at the city-owned parking facilities at the Rose Quarter -- the East and West Garages, and the Benton surface lot."
• Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Times: "Eager to catch a glimpse of Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, hundreds of Loyola Marymount University students Thursday afternoon surrounded the entrance gate toward the Gersten Pavilion. Soon enough, Bryant emerged from the gym, wearing a sweatshirt, Nike shorts and shoes and a black hat while clutching his cellphone. Laker fans shouted his name, but he didn't look up until minutes later when he hung up his phone. He then flashed a smile and waved toward the onlookers before quickly hopping in the passenger seat of a sport utility vehicle with two other unidentified people. Once the entrance gate opened, a few fans caught up to Bryant's passenger window, yelled his name and high-fived each other before the car quickly drove away. Attempts to enter the facility were unsuccessful, and one official said Bryant made specific orders to deny media access. Still, judging on the players exiting the building, it appeared Bryant played an unspecified number of scrimmages from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. with Laker teammates Metta World Peace and Darius Morris as well as Oklahoma City's James Harden and Toronto's DeMar DeRozan, both L.A. natives."
• Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune: "Kevin Love isn't coming, but Michael Beasley added Wolves teammates Anthony Randolph, Wayne Ellington and Lazar Hayward along with Wes Johnson for Friday's game in Osseo. Derrick Williams has been listed all along, too, but he just tweeted back to Tolliver late tonight that he'll be in Arizona and not Minnesota Friday night. Whoever does show to play...this may be the only NBA ball you're going to see for quite awhile longer after owners and players abruptly ended their negotiations in New York City tonight and promptly busted the gag order put forth by the federal mediator. And boy, did they bust it with a pair of separate news conference that included the players, led by Derek Fisher, calling the owners a bunch of liars."
• Marc Berman of the New York Post: "Carmelo Anthony’s plans for his barnstorming all-star game in the New York area keeps getting bigger. During an appearance in Greenwich Village on Thursday, the Knicks forward said he’d like to house the all-star charity event at an 18,000-seat arena, with Izod Center in the Meadowlands being considered. Anthony said the event, which he hopes will include at least nine All-Stars, will take place around Thanksgiving, unless the NBA lockout is settled."
• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: "Dwight Howard is asking for your help. Howard is asking for Orlando Magic fans’ input about a possible exhibition game. ... It’s unclear how far along Howard is in his thought process on a possible exhibition game. It’s possible that he was wondering out loud. But it’s also possible that this has been an idea he’s been kicking around for some time. Either way, Howard has been absent from the spate of exhibition games that have taken place during the NBA lockout. As stars such as LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Kevin Durant, as well as many others, have played in charity games across the country, Howard has mostly spent his summer working out on his own, spending time with his new shooting coach or traveling overseas on various adidas tours."
• Michael Lee of The Washington Post: "John Wall has already declared that he’s back to displaying the explosiveness he had before battling injuries as a rookie, and now he might attempt to go after Los Angeles Clippers all-star forward Blake Griffin’s crown as the reigning slam dunk champion. At the launch for his new Reebok Zig Encore shoe and apparel line on Wednesday at a Foot Locker in New York, Wall said he is considering entering the slam dunk contest during All-Star Weekend. 'Yeah I’m thinking about it,' Wall said during a question and answer session hosted by famed DJ and radio host Funkmaster Flex and transcribed by the Web site IamGM.com. 'Maybe this year or next year I’ll probably enter the dunk contest.' Of course, the NBA would have to have a season before it has an All-Star Game, and the labor dispute remains unsolved in the 112th day of the lockout."
• Mike Wells of The Indianapolis Star: "Indiana Pacers forward Danny Granger wants to give back to the Conseco Fieldhouse employees affected financially by the NBA lockout. His idea is to treat fieldhouse employees who get paid by the game to dinner, and possibly donate proceeds from a benefit basketball game to them as well. Granger, who made $11 million last season, has floated the plan on his Twitter account. Fellow Pacers Dahntay Jones, Paul George, Brandon Rush and James Posey want to help Granger put the event together. Details are still being finalized."
• Tony Bizjak of The Sacramento Bee: " Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson said Thursday his effort to build a sports and entertainment complex downtown will move forward despite today's announcement that the National Basketball Association and its players' union have broken off contract talks. The league earlier this month canceled the first two weeks of the season. Further cancellations are expected as a result of today's negotiations breakdown. Johnson issued a statement reiterating his intention to build an arena for sports, concerts and other events, regardless of whether the Sacramento Kings play in it this year, or at any time."
• Staff of the Detroit Free Press: "Pistons great and team president Joe Dumars put his handprints in cement last week as part of the Detroit Legends Plaza project launched by the Detroit Historical Society. Dumars is one of many Detroit celebrities who will have a concrete cement square — which also features a signature — installed in the ground at the plaza in front of the Detroit Historical Museum. The museum is located at the corner of Woodward and Kirby. ... The plaza project is part of the Past>Forward campaign, an effort to raise $20.1?million for the Detroit Historical Society to go to new and expanded exhibits, technology upgrades, educational offerings and enhancements."

• Marc Berman of the New York Post: "Amar'e Stoudemire said last night if the NBA lockout wipes out the season, he believes the players will form their own league instead of trying to catch on in Europe. 'If we don't go to Europe, we're going to start our own league, that's how I see it,' the Knicks forward said. 'It's very serious. It's a matter of us strategically coming up with a plan, a blueprint and putting it together. So we'll see how this lockout goes. If it goes one or two years, we've got to start our own league.' Stoudemire, who spoke at the 34th street Foot Locker where he debuted his new Nike Air Max shoe, declined to say if there's financial backing in place."
• Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: "Tuesday, on his Twitter account, LeBron James posted a query to ESPN NFL analyst John Clayton, 'When is the deadline for a team to sign a free agent?' Clayton responded on his Twitter account, 'LeBron, sorry to get back to you so late. Trade deadline next Tuesday 4 p.m. Free agency goes until last team is eliminated. Game on.' Clayton followed with two more posts. First, 'LeBron, because you have some time and you were a WR, the 49ers just signed Brett Swain. You might check with Buffalo.' And then, 'LeBron, don't look at the Philadelphia Eagles. You're already on a Dream Team.' James' Twitter post came a week after he worked out in full pads but without contact with the St. Vincent-St. Mary football team in Akron, Ohio, where he had starred as a prep football and basketball standout."
• Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times: "On Monday the first two weeks of the season were canceled, and more games could be killed soon, making this an abbreviated season at best. A shorter season might actually help the Lakers. Why wouldn't they want it for Derek Fisher (37 years old), Kobe Bryant (33), Pau Gasol (31), Steve Blake (31), Matt Barnes (31) and Luke Walton (31)? Oh, and Odom will be 32 in a few weeks, followed a week later by Metta World Peace's first birthday after the first 31 were celebrated by Ron Artest. Rest during the lockout should be embraced by the Lakers the same way dancing lessons should be bought in bulk by World Peace, who somehow fared worse on 'Dancing With the Stars' than his team had on the basketball stage a few months earlier. Regardless, there's a slim line between a shortened season and an uncomfortably truncated one. The Lakers don't want the lockout to drag on too long."
• Ronald Tillery of The Commercial-Appeal: "The growing anti-player sentiment among fans doesn't sit well with Grizzlies guard Tony Allen, who unleashed his grit and grind Tuesday afternoon with a defensive rant on Twitter. 'If I see 1 more person on my timeline thinkn! The players want more money -im gone go crazy!!' Allen wrote, using his handle, @aa000G9. Allen pointed out that the owners are 'the 1s who locked us out for more (bri_) please know the facts we play the game fans love 2 watch so why do they want 2 cut us short!!' ... Allen appeared to take offense to his Twitter followers who are against the players. 'So for now on don't @ me! About the players locking out cause it aint me and my crew!! S/o 2 the grizzlies!! On that amazing season! We had!' Allen wrote. Allen cautioned fans not to panic because the situation boils down to negotiations. 'So there is no hate!! Its just unfortunate! That the fans get left out of the loop!!' Allen wrote."
• Lynn Zinser of The New York Times: "This being a brand-awareness age, the players are obviously conscious of being tagged greedy millionaires depriving fans of professional basketball. Their very large, and largely guaranteed, contracts make that a tougher sell than N.F.L. players had in their lockout. But the interesting part is, they are clearly aware they need to do the selling and social media gives them an outlet. But, as the public image specialist Mike Paul warns, the longer the lockout goes, the more likely that polished social media front will crack. ... Paul said he believes both the players and teams would help themselves by doing more than just managing their messages. He said he would counsel them to reach out actively to fans, create events they can attend and engender some goodwill while the lockout costs them games. 'I think they are missing a huge opportunity,' Paul said."
• Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald: "Speaking with agents yesterday, there is the belief that the NBA has in its possession a 50-game template it can unveil if it takes a couple of more months to achieve labor peace. Also, league sources have confided now and in the past that it becomes critical to have the NBA up and running when the NFL regular season wanes. Last season was an anomaly of sorts when, after the Summer of LeBron, there was real pro basketball interest in the months of November and December, and it was reflected in the television ratings. Now, with college football and the NFL bleeding all over the weeknight lineup, the NBA won’t mind waiting until it has a less crowded stage. Particularly when it means getting the deal it wants."
• Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun: "Sometime down the line the owners are going to win. We just don’t know by how much. Still, will they really be victors? With the goodwill of a Dallas Mavericks win over hated — but eyeball-grabbing Miami — a faded memory? With a distracting NCAA season for the ages set to tip? With many former fans having abandoned ship due to anger, or, even worse, apathy? And what about in Toronto, a city where home attendance dropped from ninth in the league in 2008 (19,435 per game) and 10th in 2009 to 14th in 2010 and just 19th (16,566 per) last season? Sitting through a 60-loss campaign was tough for Raptors fans last season, but at least they got to know the young core. The longer they go without being reminded that DeMar DeRozan, Ed Davis, Jerryd Bayless, Andrea Bargnani and the rest still exist, the harder it will be to fill the stands whenever NBA ball resumes. That’s the risk. But David Stern et al don’t seem too worried. Maybe they should be."
• Tom Reed of The Plain Dealer: "Anthony Parker can play small forward, shooting guard, and, in a pinch, point guard. These days, the Cavaliers' veteran finds himself in an unfamiliar position – stay-at-home dad. ... 'These are not good financial times,' Parker said. 'There are a lot of families hurting and there are lot of families that depend on the industry of the NBA: ushers, parking garage attendants, people who work in restaurants near the arenas. This is not lost on us.' It's believed the Cavaliers have not laid off or furloughed any of their employees during a lockout that began on July 1. Cavaliers guard Baron Davis apologized to fans Tuesday for the work stoppage. Parker and Davis are two team members who have attended union meetings. Davis also was involved in a negotiating session two weeks ago with the league in New York. 'The issues are complex, everyone wants a deal that is fair for them,' Davis told The Plain Dealer via email. 'We as players are united in our belief that we have to do what is best for the long term, not just for the short term of the league and its players.' "
• Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press: "Ben Gordon wasn't surprised when NBA commissioner David Stern announced Monday that the league was canceling the first two weeks of the season because of the ongoing lockout of players. ... 'I think there will be more games missed,' Gordon said when reached by phone as he was driving to Chicago. 'I expect it might be a year or two. I realized that when I was listening to both sides during the negotiations. I think there will be a lot of games missed and more money is going to go down the drain. I'm preparing for the worst, but hoping for the best.' ... 'It just seemed scripted, and they were going through the motions,' said Gordon, calling it a valuable learning experience. 'Sitting there in front of them you could tell they weren't focused on getting a deal. I still don't know the purpose of those meetings.' "
• Jeff Schultz of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Front office employees of the Hawks have yet to hear from either impending new owner Alex Meruelo or impending lame duck majority owners from the Atlanta Spirit about whether there will be a payroll reduction — be it in the form of layoffs, furloughs or salary cuts. But at the very least, about 300-plus game-day employees — concessionaires, ushers, ticket-takers, stat crew members, security, etc. — are out of jobs. Restaurants at CNN Center and around Philips Arena already took a hit when the Thrashers were sold and moved to Winnipeg. This lockout will last as long as it takes for players to cave. The owners created this mess by giving out stupid contracts. But the economics of this league can’t support the current CBA and the players need to realize that. Until then, regular people with regular jobs will take the hit."
• Brian T. Smith of The Salt Lake Tribune: "For now, the work stoppage will continue. As will the $4-billion chess match. And the feeling that, now that owners and players have shown their willingness to miss regular-season games to achieve their goals, the road is wide open and the ultimate destination of the 2011 lockout is totally unknown."
• Fred Kerber of the New York Post: "As Nets coach Avery Johnson said during several appearances in the past month, coaches around the league pretty much are in review mode. 'I'm watching video. Everything for me is about last year, what happened in games, what happened in practice, how did we have shootarounds,' Johnson said recently. 'You just continue to grind and grind about how to make what we do travel-wise, practice-wise, shootaround-wise, game-wise much more efficient, even not knowing parts.' Assuming there is a season, getting those parts in place will be as hectic as 1999, when the last lockout ended. In a normal year, there is a moratorium when teams can speak to free agents. Team execs doubt there will be any such period if a deal is reached. 'If there's a new CBA,' another team GM said, 'it'll take two weeks to write it up so the guidelines are set. There won't be a moratorium after that.' One of the other execs summed it up, saying, 'No matter what, you're going to have a lesser time to sign so there will be a priority on getting things done in a really short period. Some teams only have five, six guys under contract. They are going to be in a rough way. But that's down the road. I'm really concerned because of the systemic issues. It seemed like they were getting close, then ..."
• Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: "Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant is making good on his promise to put on a charity exhibition game featuring his fellow NBA superstars. Details of the event are expected to be announced at a news conference Wednesday afternoon. According to numerous sources with knowledge of the event, the game will pit two star-studded squads against each other, with one side being Durant's team and the other being former Oklahoma star Blake Griffin's team. Miami Heat star LeBron James is one of several players who have been confirmed for the event. New Orleans guard Chris Paul and Heat guard Dwyane Wade also are expected to show. The game is tentatively scheduled to be played Thursday, Oct. 27, inside the Cox Convention Center, which holds just shy of 14,000 for basketball."
• Bob Finnan of The News-Herald: "The Cavaliers dipped into the Division I college ranks on Tuesday when they hired Alex Jensen to be Canton's coach in the National Basketball Association Development League. Jensen, 35, was an assistant coach at St. Louis University under Rick Majerus. 'Alex is a great fit for our team and organization and what we want to develop and accomplish in Canton,' Canton general manager Wes Wilcox said in a prepared statement. ... Jensen will be introduced at a news conference next week in Canton. The Canton team, which has yet to be named, will open its D-League season on Nov. 25 vs. Iowa."