- Jason Quick of the Oregonian: "In a game that was never really competitive, the Blazers lost some of their luster, some of their pride, and for a half at least their prized center in Oden. The former No. 1 pick who missed all of last season recovering from right knee surgery, suffered what the team is calling a mid-foot sprain in his right foot. X-rays were inconclusive and the 20-year-old is scheduled for magnetic resonance imaging today in Portland. Oden, who wore a protective black boot after the game, said he landed on the foot of Lakers guard Derek Fisher on the games third possession. However, replays showed he rolled his right foot while attempting a shot under the basket with about 9:20 left in the first quarter. Oden continued to play, albeit with a pronounced limp. After leaving the game two minutes later with his second foul, Oden returned in the second quarter and appeared to move freely, but he did not return to the court after halftime. Coach Nate McMillan said Oden initially wanted to start the second half, but after being instructed to run in the Staples Center hallways, he experienced pain and was held out. Oden played 12:51 and did not score, finishing 0 for 4 from the field with five rebounds, two turn overs and one block. 'I was taped. I was trying to run,' Oden said of his halftime jaunt. 'But it wasn't happening.'"
- Chris McCosky of The Detroit News: "The NBA marketing machine does not miss a trick. OK, the season opener -- pitting LeBron James against the defending champion Celtics on Tuesday -- that was a no-brainer, almost a cliché. But their full-court press to expose Portland's second-year rookie Greg Oden to NBA Nation is inspired. On Tuesday, Oden was set to play his first NBA game, against another rising big man -- a nationally-televised clash with the Lakers' Andrew Bynum. That was just the appetizer. On Friday, Oden faces Tim Duncan and San Antonio. On Saturday, he gets Shaquille O'Neal and Phoenix. Next Thursday, say hello to Yao Ming and Houston, capped the following Monday with Dwight Howard and Orlando. Welcome to the league, kid. 'Look what the league has done to him,' coach Nate McMillan told longtime Blazers chronicler Dwight Jaynes. 'It's a marketing thing. He goes up against the best right away. But he's ready. He's healthy. Big guys, big expectations.' Ridiculous expectations."
- Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee: "Greg Oden leaves with a sprained right foot a mere 13 minutes into his NBA regular-season debut Tuesday night, and what are we all thinking? The dreaded miccrofracture surgery. I completely agree with Geoff Petrie about this. Lighter is better. Players who undergo the controversial procedure that is designed to develop a protective buffer between the joints -- much as cartilage functions -- seem to fare better with slimmer frames, rather than heavier and more muscular physiques. I know the Blazers urged Oden to lose weight after his rehab, but he still looks too heavy to me. That's one reason I like what the Kings are doing with Spencer Hawes. They are urging him to become more flexible and stronger in his core, not simply asking him to add upper body muscle mass."
- T.J. Simers of the Los Angeles Times: "I just watched the Lakers play and I'm already worried about next season's opening night. You know there are going to be questions about how hungry the guys are after winning the 2008-09 NBA championship, Lamar Odom named the sixth man of the year and Sasha Vujacic the Finals' MVP. DJ Mbenga and Josh Powell will be fresh off their appearance on Letterman, and there's going to be a ring ceremony, and you know what a distraction that can be. Boston's Paul Pierce broke down crying when he received his ring Tuesday night. And you can just imagine what a mess Vic the Brick is going to be after the Champs' banner is unveiled to begin next season. Phil Jackson will have moved past Red Auerbach in championships won, and by then for all we know he might be married to Jeanie and coming off his honeymoon. As good as the Lakers looked after just two quarters, I don't think anyone is going to quibble if public-address announcer Lawrence Tanter starts referring to the Lakers the rest of the season as Champs."
- Bob Kravitz of The Indianapolis Star: "It has been four years now, and finally, finally all the remnants of The Brawl have been swept into the dustbin. Ron Artest is gone. Stephen Jackson is gone. David Harrison is gone. Jermaine O'Neal is gone. And Jamaal Tinsley is virtually gone. There is only one player left from that November night in 2004 -- Jeff Foster -- and he was a relative non-participant in The Brawl. Everybody else? History. Can I get a hallelujah? 'One of the things we talked about this past summer was getting beyond The Brawl, getting it out of here,' Indiana Pacers president Larry Bird said. 'We wanted to start fresh with guys who want to play here and guys who will do the necessary things in the community.'"
- Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer: "He can still be the 'stache, just no longer 'stache-and-ponytail. Most of Adam Morrison's hair ended up on some barber's floor. He flipped off the hood of his sweatshirt Tuesday to reveal a brush-cut to teammates. After the surprise wore off, the needling ensued. Teammate Jared Dudley said Morrison now looks like Jim Carrey in 'Cable Guy.' Assistant coach Dave Hanners theatrically fell off a chair in feigned shock. Matt Carroll told Morrison that without all that hair, 'you're not a bad-looking guy, believe it or not.' But the best reaction might have been from assistant Jeff Capel. He glanced Morrison's way and assumed this must be the new guy, forward Linton Johnson, before remembering Johnson isn't Caucasian."
- Mark Bradley of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "There should be a buzz. A team makes the playoffs for the first time this century and returns all the starters who pushed the NBA champ-to-be to the limit in Round 1, and there has to be a buzz. But do you hear one? 'To be honest, not really,' Hawks forward Al Horford said. 'I'm sure people are looking forward to the season, but I know this is the South. It's still football season.' Well, yes. But over two careening spring weeks, something seemed to happen in our fair city. When the Hawks beat the Celtics three times in a frenzied Philips Arena, it felt as if this was becoming an NBA town. Back then there was a real roar. Today there's no buzz. There's barely a murmur. So what happened? Josh Childress happened. Josh Childress left to play in Greece. As harmful as his departure was to the Hawks in terms of talent, its symbolism was far more debilitating. It was the first time the organization had to act to keep its prized young core intact, and for some reason Childress was allowed to bolt. Talk about your comedowns."
- Chris Perkins of the Palm Beach Post: "How far can a healthy, revitalized Dwyane Wade carry the Heat? 'If he plays like
he did in the Olympics, I think he's got a chance to put Miami back on the map,' Memphis coach Marc Iavaroni said. But if the season unravels as it did last year, Wade expects to be the main target of critics. 'Some people are going to say, 'He needs to do more,' Wade said. 'Some will say, 'With LeBron (James) or Kobe (Bryant), they'd be a playoff team. They're going to say whatever they want to say.' Doesn't matter to Wade. He's not listening. He's back on the court. Back in his element. Back in control. 'That's been my main thing -- be in the gym a lot more,' he said. 'Because this is my place of sanity where I don't have to deal with other things.'" - Mike Wise of The Washington Post: "There's a reason America's inpatient team feels forever trapped in first-round NBA playoff purgatory. The Wizards don't underachieve; they simply can't build any connections until they mend their disconnected cartilage. Instead, they've settled into their now-familiar role of holding down the fort, whereby Eddie Jordan waits for reinforcements while somehow siphoning a .500 or better record out of a 35-47 roster. 'It's basically, 'Ride the ship until the wind starts coming again,'' Antawn Jamison said. 'It's what we do. It's why we get paid. You know, I don't like it that we're not at full strength. Because when we're at full strength, we have great potential to really, really make some noise. Not at full strength, people are saying, 'Well, maybe .500 or above .500.' We'll see.'"
- Marc Berman of the New York Post: "Reacting to the Knicks deciding against giving him a contract extension, David Lee said, 'I'm planning to have a big year if I'm signed for the next 50 years or if I was told I'd be here two months.'"
- Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: "Sports teams with rare stability talk about their 'window of opportunity' to contend or win a title. This is Orlando's. Anchored by Dwight Howard, the Magic managed to open the window last season, finally letting in a little fresh air. They recorded their best season since the Shaq years of the mid-'90s, winning 52 games and a first-round playoff series. 'I think the window is just cracked open for our team,' General Manager Otis Smith said."
- Steve Luhm of The Salt Lake Tribune: "Fairly or not, the eyes of Jazz Nation are on Carlos Boozer. After struggling during an abbreviated playoff run last spring -- especially in the second round against the athletic, swarming Los Angeles Lakers -- Boozer enters his fifth season in Utah with much to prove. To the fans. To the rest of the NBA. Maybe even to himself. 'I didn't play my best basketball in the playoffs,' Boozer said. 'But I'm looking forward to people seeing the real Booz again -- the guy you know and the guy I know.'"
- Ramona Shelburne of the Los Angeles Daily News: "Baron Davis is back in his hometown, a newly-minted 65 million-dollar-man, and yes, he will most likely play in tonight's season opener against the Lakers after missing nearly three weeks with a finger injury. But he wants all the hoopla put on ice for a while. 'I want to establish myself and set my mark. I just want to get to the season and see what I got to offer, then let the city get a glimpse of what we have in store in the years to come,' the former Crossroads High of Santa Monica and UCLA star said Tuesday after going through a complete practice for the first time in nearly three weeks. 'I ain't throwing any parties or welcome home dinners. There's a certain way to do this. I want to do the work first before I take credit for anything. I haven't done anything yet but just come to the Clippers.'"
- Ann Killion of the San Jose Mercury News: "A year ago, the Warriors' season opener generated excitement, anticipation and belief. Now? Try: uncertainty, anxiety and foreboding."
- Jeff Eisenberg of The Press-Enterrpise: "If Andrew Bynum is worried he won't get the contract extension he's seeking, you'd never know it from video of his 21st birthday party circulating on the Web. Bynum was caught standing on the balcony of a Hollywood club Saturday night throwing a wad of dollar bills to the crowd below as Lil Wayne's 'Got Money' blares in the background. Asked if he'd seen the video, Coach Phil Jackson said he stumbled onto it when a friend sent him a YouTube clip. Jackson downplayed Bynum's outlandish behavior, suggesting it was just a 'kid coming out of his teens and coming into adulthood.'"
- John Rohde of The Oklahoman: "Truthfully, there isn't much pressure on the Thunder this season. The franchise won 20 games a year ago, and we'll probably throw a parade if it wins 30 games this year. No matter how many games the Thunder loses, all will be forgiven. The pressure actually is on the Thunder fans. Are they truly as good as advertised? ... In a good pro atmosphere, much of the noise is piped in from loudspeakers. In a good college atmosphere, much of the noise is au natural. Thunder players have stuck their necks out bragging about their new fans. Starting tonight, it's time for those fans to live up to the hype."
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