- Shannon J. Owens of the Orlando Sentinel: "NBA stars ruminating over the option to bolt overseas this fall if the lockout persists are in for a nice check. Make that a reality check. I can't help but laugh when hearing stories about Dwight Howard possibly competing in China next season and Deron Williams agreeing to play in Turkey. Can you imagine Howard or Williams, who are accustomed to private jets and five-star hotels, stuffing their long legs behind a coach seat on a flight in China? And someone needs to remind Williams there isn't a Ruth's Chris in Istanbul. Don't get me wrong. China and Turkey are beautiful countries and wonderful vacation spots. But this isn't a leisure trip or a two-week Olympics run. Professional basketball players who work overseas compete just as hard as their NBA counterparts without the lavish perks, eight-figure paydays and unrelenting media attention. I haven't picked a side in this NBA lockout mess yet, but it's funny to think some NBA stars are willing to take less pay and perks overseas in the fight to get more at home. Equally interesting is the fact that multi-millionaires like Williams want the structure of their jobs protected, but see nothing wrong with jeopardizing the jobs of current overseas American players."
- Shandel Richardson of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: "Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade is used to double-doubles and facing double-teams. But how would he do with a Double Down? There's a chance we may find out if Wade accepts a job offer from a Chicago-area KFC, where he worked as a teenager. Because of the NBA lockout, the fast-food, fried chicken restaurant said it will make a $250,000 donation to the company's Colonel Scholars program in Wade's name if he agrees to work at a local KFC drive-thru window. The idea originated when Wade tweeted 'Any1 hiring?' once the lockout became official. KFC general manager John Cywinski then wrote a letter to Wade saying he could be of assistance. 'We couldn't help but notice your recent tweet about looking for a new line of work in light of the lockout,' the letter said. 'We're always looking for folks with precisely your qualifications -- initiative, teamwork and the ability to make buckets in a hurry.' "
- Michael Lee of The Washington Post: "I tried to get a reaction about Yao’s retirement from Yi Jianlian, but he withheld comment through one of his representatives since he had yet to speak with Yao. Yi was upset last December when Yao was forced to miss the rest of last season with a stress fracture in his left foot.
He apparently isn’t ready to believe that Yao is done and is still quietly hoping that the man who helped opened the door for him to play in the NBA will give it one more go. With the Wizards not giving Yi his qualifiying offer, there aren’t any Chinese players under contract next season in the NBA. I rarely had the chance to speak with Yao without being surrounded by a media horde, but I’ll always remember an instance when I actually got to speak with him one-on-one. I was working on a story about the second matchup between Yao and Yi, a game that arrived only a few days before the Lunar New Year and was dubbed 'the Chinese Christmas game' by longtime Chinese basketball analyst Xu Jicheng. During our conversation, Yao said something that truly gave me some perspective on the immense burden that he carried every time he stepped on the court. I asked Yao to compare his rookie season to Yi’s and he said, 'My first year, I had a lot of pressure. Sometimes, the only two places I felt comfortable was basketball court and home.' It’s no wonder that his feet were too feeble to handle so much weight upon the shoulders of a 7-foot-6 man. Yao will go into the Hall of Fame because of the bridge that he created between the world’s most populous nation and the United States." - John Rohde of The Oklahoman: "Oklahoma City Thunder reserve guard Nate Robinson, who originally attended the University of Washington on a football scholarship and played cornerback for one season with the Huskies, told SLAM Magazine on Monday he might try out with an NFL team if the NBA lockout lingers too long. 'I might go play football,' the 5-foot-9 Robinson said. 'Do something that nobody's tried to do. If I can, I would love to play football a little bit. I've been doing a little bit of training. Why wouldn't you want to have an NBA player that can play football try out? That's a lot of publicity for your organization.' Robinson is guaranteed $4.5 million in the final year of his contract with the Thunder next season."
- Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: "According to a report by SI.com, Aaron Goodwin is exploring playing opportunities overseas for Durant, the NBA's reign two-time scoring champion. 'If the opportunity presents itself and the lockout persists, he's going to have to consider it just as other players are considering it,' Goodwin told SI.com. “Kevin has shown some interest to know what the situation is and we'll reach out to the players' association and make sure that they're aligned with the guys in case they do take an offer. But I think what you're going to see happening is a lot of players are going to look at the opportunity if the lockout prolongs that they can go somewhere and play basketball.' Durant is currently in China as part of a four-city tour with Nike Basketball. It's the third straight summer that Durant has journeyed to China. ... Durant is the second Thunder player that has expressed interest in playing overseas in the event of a drawn out lockout. Forward Serge Ibaka recently said he would like to play in Spain."
- Marlon W. Morgan of The Commercial-Appeal: "Last week's decision by Sonny Weems to leave the NBA for a season to play in Lithuania wasn't difficult at all. In fact, it was a rather easy one for the West Memphis native. Weems' one-year deal with Zalgiris Kaunas of Lithuania will keep him in Europe for the entire season, regardless of how long the lockout lasts. 'It was very easy because I want to play basketball,' Weems said Monday. 'I can't sit around and wait and see what the NBA is going to do. You never know. They may lock out the whole season and a lot of players will be scrambling, trying to go overseas. I went ahead and took the deal.' Weems just completed his third year in the NBA and second with the Toronto Raptors, averaging 9.2 points in 59 games. He would have been a restricted free agent after the Raptors offered him a qualifying offer of $1,091,100 last month. But with the NBA owners and players union so far apart on a new collective bargaining agreement, Weems and his agent, Roger Montgomery, felt like a deal before the scheduled start of the season was unlikely. ... 'It's something me and my agent talked about for weeks,' Weems said. 'It's going to help me a lot. I've had a lot of GMs contact my agent and say it's a great move for me.' "
- Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune: "Last time we checked, Kurt Rambis still is Timberwolves' coach but that isn't stopping Davis Kahn from continuing his pursuit of a new coach apparently. On Monday, the Oregonian newspaper in Portland reported that the Wolves late last week asked the Trail Blazers for permission to talk to Blazers assistant coach Bernie Bickerstaff about the team's still-filled head coaching job. Bickerstaff's contract with the Blazers expired on July 1 -- which is also when the current labor lockout began -- but he has been negotiating with the Blazers about a new one. The idea with hiring Bickerstaff -- 67 and a head coach with four different NBA teams during his long career when he also was a president and GM -- would be to sign him for a year or two while his son J.B. is groomed to take over the job when he's ready. J.B. is a young up-and-comer and the players like him. If that's the direction they decide to go, why not just hire him now as head coach and bring his dad in as his top assistant? There's a couple other reasons this makes sense: J.B. would work cheap and he'll take the job in an instant. And with the way this debacle has played out, that latter quality might be getting harder and harder to come by. The Wolves' insistence at dragging this out presumably to save money just makes the franchise from around the league look even more mismanged, if that's possible."
- Mike Wells of The Indianapolis Star: "The eight-team league consists of local NBA players, athletes playing overseas and collegians from area schools such as Indiana, Butler and IUPUI. Games are played Tuesday and Thursday nights from 6-10 p.m. Admission is free. Crowds averaging about 650 have attended the first couple of weeks. Players try to sign autographs, time permitting, after games. 'My ultimate goal is for this to become an NBA-sanctioned league where we are housing the majority of the NBA players taking part,' Carlos Knox said. The league was supposed to conclude in early August. But the plan now is to extend it as long as possible so players have an avenue to find competitive games. Games are played with NBA rules, including a 24-second shot clock and 3-point line. 'I'll probably get in a lot of games here this summer,' Shelvin Mack said. 'This is a great league Knox has put on, so I'm going to take advantage of it and be ready for when the lockout ends.' Stephenson barely played during his rookie season with the Indiana Pacers. He'll work out with a personal trainer in Indianapolis most of the summer because he can't use the facilities at Conseco Fieldhouse. The rest of his time will be spent at the Pro Am. 'I'm just trying to get into game shape after not getting a lot of minutes last season and now having all this time off,' said Stephenson, one of the best players in the league. 'I'm just going to keep working hard and get my body ready for the season for whenever it starts.' "
- Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic: "Suns coach Alvin Gentry picked the man who he nearly worked for to now work for him. Gentry confirmed his selection of Elston Turner, a head coach finalist for Phoenix in 2008, as his new defensive assistant coach, a choice that became apparent last week with Jim Boylan re-signing with Milwaukee, Don Newman opting to stay in San Antonio and Pete Myers taking a job with Golden State. No other candidate had been offered the "defensive coordinator" job, although talks with Boylan also had progressed. Turner was favored all along for how well he would fit with the Suns on two fronts -- as a defensive coach on offensively driven teams and with a personality that will not ruffle a coaching staff that already has Bill Cartwright, Dan Majerle, Igor Kokoskov and Noel Gillespie in place. The Suns are not commenting on the hire until Turner's contract is done, which should be Tuesday or Wednesday."
- Michael Lee of The Washington Post: "For the first time in many years, the Wizards/Bullets will not have someone named Wes Unseld working for the organization. Longtime assistant Wes Unseld Jr., son of the Bullets legend, is expected to leave the franchise to become an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors, according to multiple sources. Unseld Jr., has been with the organization since he graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 1997. He worked his way up from advance scout and later he joined former coach Eddie Jordan’s staff as an assistant. Ed Tapscott retained Unseld Jr. when Jordan was dismissed and Coach Flip Saunders also kept him when he took over in the summer of 2009. ... According to a league source, the Wizards have offered or intend to offer contracts to the remaining members of Saunders’s staff --Wittman, Cassell, Zierden, Ryan Saunders and Gene Banks."
- Perry A. Farrell of the Detroit Free Press: "Steve Smith has found his niche as an NBA analyst for NBA-TV. He lives in Atlanta, but keeps an eye on Detroit and his beloved Spartans. Smith ventured to Ann Arbor for the first Jalen Rose Leadership Academy golf outing at Barton Hills Country Club on Monday. Smith's charitable work is evident every time he returns to East Lansing, where the athletic program's academic center, the Clara Bell Smith Center, is named after his mother. Smith put $2.5 million of his money to fund the project. 'It was something that I wanted to do and something that was on my heart,' Smith said. 'In conjunction with the state of Michigan, the city of Detroit and Michigan State University, the project all came together. It's something I'm proud of. Every time I go back on campus I get a chance to see my mom's face and see what the center is doing for student-athletes. It's one of my proudest moments as an athlete and as a human being.' "
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