So far, so good.

Augustin scored a team-high 19 points in the Bobcats’ 96-95 win over the Bucks in Monday night’s season opener, including a driving layup that put his team ahead for good with 36.5 seconds left.

It was a quality win for the young and rebuilding Bobcats.

But the NBA can be a grind, even in a 66-game season, and Augustin and his teammates know they’ll face a much stiffer test when LeBron James and the Miami Heat come to town on Wednesday night.

“I watched them play on Christmas and they look like they have a chip on their shoulder,” Augustin said. “We know they have a great team, so we have to come in and play hard like we did (against the Bucks).”

Added coach Paul Silas of the Heat: “They’re just so talented it’s unbelievable.”

Silas said he expects to have Augustin available for the game.

Augustin sprained his left ankle in the final minute of Monday night’s game while chasing after a loose ball near midcourt. He’s had problems with the ankle before. He didn’t practice Tuesday but Silas said, “he thinks he might be able to make it (Wednesday) night.”

But the Bobcats have to be careful.

Even with backup Kemba Walker looking like the real deal, the Bobcats need Augustin for the long run.

After a rough start as a rookie, Augustin’s turnaround as a player coincided with the arrival Silas last December.

Under former coach Larry Brown, Augustin was timid and often afraid to shoot. Then Silas arrived.

“Playing for coach Brown, I was looking over my shoulder because I didn’t want to make a mistake,” Augustin said. “He’s still a great coach and taught me a lot of fundamentals. But with coach Silas, he gives you that chance to be free and make plays.”

That was never more evident than in a game last season against Minnesota.

Augustin was having a horrible night shooting from the field, and Silas noticed he was starting to pass up open shots.

So Silas called a timeout.

When Augustin got the sideline, Silas looked him in the eyes and gave the 6-foot point guard a lesson he’s never forgotten.

“I brought him over to the bench and I said, `Son, if you ever pass up another shot I’m going to take you out of the game and I’m not going to play you at all,’” Silas said. “I told him, `Listen, every time you get the ball, I want you to shoot it.’”

Augustin did just that, making his next couple of shots.

He’s not stopped shooting since.

“The fact that I had some confidence in him just seemed to open up a whole new world for him,” Silas said.

Augustin’s average went from 12.6 points to 14.4 at the end of the season.

“Paul gave me a lot of confidence,” Augustin said. “Paul is such a positive coach, such a positive person that he makes you believe in yourself. When you walk out on the court, you feel like every shot is going in. You’re able to learn from your mistakes. You’re not going to be perfect and he knows that.”

Augustin thinks there’s something about Silas’ laid-back demeanor that meshes with his personality.

“I think it is just how he talks and speaks to you,” Augustin said. “He shows everybody that same respect. He’s so positive. If you miss a shot, he’ll tell you, `Hey, it’s OK, keep shooting.’ That makes you want to keep shooting.”

That includes in big games against the Heat.

Silas said this game will serve as a measuring stick for the Bobcats and just how far they’ve come and how far they have to go.

“I’d like to see how we do against a team like that,” Silas said. “Can we stay competitive and not get blown away? I think if we do that we will have a chance to really improve. But it’s tough to keep a team like that down.”

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Gordon and Kaman both came over in the Dec. 14 trade that sent All-Star point guard Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers.

Quincy Pondexter had 14 points with 12 rebounds for New Orleans.

The Grizzlies started quickly, jumping to a 28-17 lead on 80 percent shooting, but the Hornets clamped down on defense and limited Memphis to 37.8 percent for the game.

Meanwhile, New Orleans picked up the tempo, going on an 18-3 run to take a 35-31 lead. The Hornets never trailed again.

Rudy Gay scored 20 points and Zach Randolph had 15 for Memphis.

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Former Boston forward Glen Davis and guard Von Wafer practiced for the first time Tuesday after coming over in a trade for Brandon Bass. They were joined by guard Jason Richardson, who officially re-signed with the Magic on Monday and also suited up for the first time.

Orlando opens the preseason at Miami on Sunday.

Coach Stan Van Gundy said that he didn’t use Richardson like he wanted to last season and said he thinks Davis’ addition will add toughness to the Magic’s lineup.

Van Gundy said when Davis isn’t playing alongside Howard, he is comfortable with him at center with Ryan Anderson at power forward.

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Walker and his lawyer declined to comment after his brief appearance before Clark County District Court Judge Valorie Vega.

Walker has repaid some of his Las Vegas casino debts since his arrest in July 2009 in Lake Tahoe, where he planned to play in a celebrity golf tournament.

The felony charge could be dismissed if Walker fully repays the remaining debts incurred in 2008 and 2009 at the Planet Hollywood, Red Rock Casino Resort and Caesars Palace casinos, prosecutor Samuel Bateman said. Walker faces a year in prison if he violates probation.

Walker, 35, starred on Kentucky’s 1996 NCAA national title team and was a three-time All-Star with the Boston Celtics before winning a 2006 NBA championship with the Miami Heat. He also played in the NBA for the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2008.

Walker filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation in 2010. He played last year with the Idaho Stampede of the NBA Development League.

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Zach Tomaselli of Lewiston said Monday that he sexually abused a 13-year-old boy he met at a camp where he was serving as a counselor. The boy is now 14.

Tomaselli has pleaded not guilty to 11 charges but told the AP he anticipates that he’ll plead guilty. He said he’s “sick of hiding behind” his attorney.

He said he abused the boy in the same way he claims he was abused by Fine and by his own father.

Both men deny those claims.

Tomaselli said the Maine teen has suffered from the way he abused and controlled him.

Two students claim that they were urged to play a game called “wet biscuit” in which the loser was forced to eat the semen soaked Oreos.

The Eagle Tribune reports:

Hoop Mountain has been tossed from the Stonehill College campus in Easton, Mass., where police are investigating claims two underclassmen were urged by older teammates — two in particular — into playing a game called “wet biscuit” at the camp in early July. The loser of the game was forced to eat an Oreo cookie covered in a bodily fluid.

Read More At The Eagle Tribune

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“At the direction of Chancellor Cantor, Bernie Fine’s employment with Syracuse University has been terminated, effective immediately,” Kevin Quinn, the school’s senior vice president for public affairs, said in a statement.

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The 65-year-old Fine was in his 36th season at his alma mater. He had the longest active streak of consecutive seasons at one school among assistant coaches in Division I.

Fine’s firing comes in the wake of new revelations Sunday, including a third accuser. Syracuse had placed Fine on paid administrative leave when accusations first surfaced.

Two former Syracuse ball boys were the first to accuse Fine, who has called the allegations “patently false.”

Zach Tomaselli, 23, of Lewiston, Maine, said Sunday that he told police that Fine molested him in 2002 in a Pittsburgh hotel room. He said Fine touched him “multiple” times in that one incident.

Tomaselli, who faces sexual assault charges in Maine involving a 14-year-old boy, said during a telephone interview with The Associated Press that he signed an affidavit accusing Fine following a meeting with Syracuse police last week in Albany.

Tomaselli’s father, meanwhile, maintains his son is lying.

Two former Syracuse ball boys were the first to accuse Fine, who has called the allegations “patently false.”

Bobby Davis, now 39, told ESPN that Fine molested him beginning in 1984 and that the sexual contact continued until he was around 27. A ball boy for six years, Davis told ESPN that the abuse occurred at Fine’s home, at Syracuse basketball facilities and on team road trips, including the 1987 Final Four.

Davis’ stepbrother, Mike Lang, 45, who also was a ball boy, told ESPN that Fine began molesting him while he was in fifth or sixth grade.

No one answered the door at the Fine home Sunday. Earlier in the day, his attorneys released a statement saying Fine would not comment beyond his initial statement.

“Any comment from him would only invite and perpetuate ancient and suspect claims,” attorneys Donald Martin and Karl Sleight said. “Mr. Fine remains hopeful of a credible and expeditious review of the relevant issues by law enforcement authorities.”

Pete Moore, director of athletic communications at the university, said head coach Jim Boeheim “is not commenting further on the subject at this time.”

When a reporter called Boeheim after Fine was fired, he hung up.

During his long career with Syracuse, Fine tutored the likes of Derrick Coleman, LeRon Ellis and John Wallace in his role of working with post players. Coleman was the top pick in the 1990 NBA draft, Ellis was the Clippers’ 22nd overall choice in 1991, and Wallace was picked 18th in 1996 by the New York Knicks.

Boeheim and Fine met at Syracuse University in 1963, when Fine was student manager of the basketball team. Fine graduated in 1967 with a degree in personal and industrial relations and went into business for himself.

In 1970, Fine was named basketball and football coach at Lincoln Junior High in Syracuse and went to Henninger High School the next year as the junior varsity basketball coach. He became varsity basketball coach in 1975. When Boeheim was chosen to succeed Roy Danforth at Syracuse in 1976 Boeheim offered Fine a job as an assistant.

Fine was an integral part of the staff that guided Syracuse to the national championship in 2003. During his tenure the Orange also made two other appearances in the NCAA title game, losing in 1987 to Indiana and in 1996 to Kentucky. He also guided the U.S. Maccabiah team to a silver medal at the 1993 World Maccabiah Games in Israel and has served as director of a successful basketball camp in the Northeast.

Tomaselli said the scandal at Penn State involving former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky prompted him to come forward. Sandusky is accused in a grand jury indictment of sexually abusing eight boys over a 15-year period.

“It was the Sandusky stuff that came out that really made me think about it,” Tomaselli said in the phone interview. “A lot of people were slamming ESPN and Bobby for saying anything. I wanted to come out. … It made me sick to see all that support for Fine at that point. I was positive he was guilty.”

Tomaselli told the Post-Standard that he didn’t ask Syracuse police or federal authorities for help in getting the criminal charges dismissed against him in Maine.

Tomaselli was arrested in April on 11 warrants charging gross sexual assault, tampering with a victim, two counts of unlawful sexual contact, five counts of visual sexual aggression against a child and unlawful sexual touching and unlawful sexual contact, Lewiston police said Sunday. They did not say what led to the charges. He has pleaded not guilty.

Tomaselli told the Post-Standard he met Fine after he and his father, Fred, attended a Syracuse autograph session on campus in late 2001.

The newspaper reported that Fine later called Tomaselli’s parents to arrange for Tomaselli to go to Pittsburgh with the athletic department staff on a chartered bus, spend the night in Fine’s hotel room and attend the team’s game on Jan. 22, 2002.

Tomaselli told the Post-Standard that he had dinner with the team, then returned to the hotel room where he accused Fine of putting porn on the TV and fondling him in bed.

Tomaselli attended the basketball game the next day, sitting several rows behind the bench, and rode the chartered bus back to Syracuse, the newspaper reported.

“The one time there was multiple incidents in that one night, but there was only one night that he ever sexually abused me,” Tomaselli told the AP.

However, during a phone interview with the AP, Fred Tomaselli said: “I’m 100 percent sure that Bernie Fine was never in contact with Zach. He never went to Pittsburgh to a game, never been to that arena.”

“I brought him to a couple of games in Syracuse. We always sat in the nosebleed section and left after the game. He never stayed for any overnighters and never even got within shouting distance of Bernie.”

The Post-Standard also reported that Zach Tomaselli was invited by Fine to a party at his home after the Syracuse-Pitt game on Feb. 1, 2003 – a game where Zach Tomaselli said Fine arranged seats for him and his father several rows behind the bench.

Tomaselli told the newspaper his father, who was unable to attend the party, allowed him to go to Fine’s house and stay the night.

While there, Tomaselli told the AP, Fine asked him to get into bed and that Fine’s wife, Laurie, was there when it happened.

“I told them (police) that Laurie was standing right there when Bernie asked me to sleep in a bed. Laurie knew all about it,” he said during the phone interview.

On Sunday, ESPN played an audiotape, obtained and recorded by Davis, of an October 2002 telephone conversation between him and Laurie Fine.

Davis told ESPN he made the recording, which also has been given to Syracuse police, without her knowledge because he knew he needed proof for the police to believe his accusations. ESPN said it hired a voice recognition expert to verify the voice on the tape and the network said it was determined to be that of Laurie Fine.

Davis also acknowledged in an interview with ESPN that he and Laurie Fine had a sexual relationship when he was 18, and that he eventually told Bernie Fine about it.

“I thought he was going to kill me, but I had to tell him,” Davis said. “It didn’t faze him one bit.”

During the call to the woman, Davis repeatedly asks her what she knew about the alleged molestation.

“Do you think I’m the only one that he’s ever done that to?” Davis asked.

“No … I think there might have been others but it was geared to … there was something about you,” the woman on the tape said.

On the tape, she also says she knew “everything that went on.”

“Bernie has issues, maybe that he’s not aware of, but he has issues. … And you trusted somebody you shouldn’t have trusted … ”

During the call, Davis tells her he asked her husband in the late 1990s for $5,000 to help pay off his student loans.

“When he gave you the money, what does he want for that?” she asked.

He tells her that Fine wanted to engage in sexual activity in several ways.

“… And I’d try to go away, and he’d put his arm on top of my chest. He goes, `If you want this money, you’ll stay right here,’” Davis said.

“Right. Right,” she said. “He just has a nasty attitude, because he didn’t get his money, nor did he get what he wanted.”

On Friday, federal authorities carried out a search at his Fine’s suburban Syracuse home but declined to comment on what they were looking for.

New York State Police spokesman Jack Keller said troopers were called to assist the U.S. attorney’s office at the search. At least six police vehicles were parked on the street during the search, which lasted around nine hours. Officers carted away three file cabinets and a computer for further examination.

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The original start date to the NBA season arrived Tuesday with progress still stalled in the negotiations to end the lockout. No further talks have been scheduled, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press.

Players and owners made progress on a number of issues related to the salary cap system over two days last week. But the negotiations fell apart again on the third day, when the sides decided to revisit the revenue sharing split.

Owners are insistent on a 50-50 split, while players have proposed reducing their guarantee from 57 percent down to 52.5, which they say would transfer more than $1.5 billion to owners over six years.

Three games had been scheduled for Tuesday. The Mavericks would have opened the defense of their first NBA title at home against Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls. Houston was at Utah, with Kevin Durant’s Thunder at Kobe Bryant’s Lakers. Most of league would have started Wednesday.

Instead, TNT was airing a “Bones” marathon Tuesday night.

Commissioner David Stern canceled games through the end of November on Friday. The first two weeks of the season already had been lost to the lockout, which began after the old collective bargaining agreement expired June 30.

With no NBA games to play, Durant was still finding ways to compete and challenge fellow hoops stars.

Durant tweeted Monday he was interested in playing flag football. When fans at Oklahoma State University offered an invitation, he showed up in Stillwater that night to play. He tweeted later that he threw four touchdown passes and had three interceptions in a victory.

Then on Tuesday, LeBron James sent a tweet to the Thunder star that he was interested in setting up a flag football showdown between Durant’s team and his own squad in Akron, Ohio. Durant answered that his team was ready and James should set it up.

Olamae Hardy, 45, who buried her son earlier this month at a funeral with over 2,000 attendees, promised that she would continue to seek justice for her son until the day she dies.

Hardy, 23, died shortly after undergoing surgery in a Bucharest hospital, Mediafax news agency said.

The American had sustained severe head injuries and was in a coma when he was admitted to hospital.

Hardy, who played for CSS Giurgiu, in southern Romania, was celebrating victory over rivals Dinamo Bucharest when several individuals are reported to have attacked him.

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If it’s not in the next few days, they can forget about playing 82 games.

Without an agreement by Monday, the beginning of the regular season will be canceled, and both sides will lose millions of dollars and perhaps countless fans.

“We’re ready to meet and discuss any subject anyone wants to talk about,” Commissioner David Stern said. “We’d like not to lose the first two weeks of the season, but it doesn’t look good.”

Though the financial gap closed slightly, once the players’ association said it wouldn’t entertain the idea of a 50-50 revenue split, the league canceled the remainder of the preseason Tuesday and will wipe out the first two weeks of the regular season if there is no labor agreement by Monday.

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“We were not able to make the progress that we hoped we could make and we were not able to continue the negotiations,” Stern said after nearly four hours of talks between owners and players ended without gaining ground on a new deal.

No further meetings are scheduled – union executive director Billy Hunter said it could be a month or two until the next one – making it even more likely the league will lose games to a work stoppage for the first time since 1998-99, when the season was reduced to 50 games.

Stern and Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver said owners offered players a 50-50 split of basketball-related income. That’s still well below the 57 percent that players were guaranteed under the previous collective bargaining agreement, but more than the 47 percent union officials said was formally proposed to them.

The only numbers that matter now, however, are the millions that stand to be lost when arenas go dark.

“The damage will be enormous,” Silver said.

Players had offered to reduce their BRI guarantee to 53 percent, which they said would have given owners back more than $1 billion over six years. They say they won’t cut it further, at least for now.

And they insist the 50-50 concept wasn’t an even split, because it would have come after the league had already deducted $350 million off the top.

“Today was not the day for us to get this done,” players’ association president Derek Fisher said. “We were not able to get close enough to close the gap.”

With superstars like Kobe Bryant, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett standing behind him, Hunter said the players’ proposal would have made up at least $200 million per season – a sizable chunk of the $300 million owners said they lost last season.

“Our guys have indicated a willingness to lose games,” Hunter said.

The sides are also still divided on the salary-cap structure.

Training camps were postponed and 43 preseason games scheduled for Oct. 9-15 were canceled on Sept. 24. Both sides said they felt pressure to work toward a deal with deadlines looming before more cancellations would be necessary.

Stern said the owners had removed their demand for a hard salary cap, were no longer insisting on salary rollbacks, and would have given players the right to opt out of a 10-year agreement after seven years. But the money split was always going to be the biggest hurdle in these negotiations, with owners insistent on the ability to turn a profit after the league said 22 of its 30 teams lost money last season.

“We want to and have been willing to negotiate, but we find ourselves at a point today where we in some ways anticipated or expected to be, faced with a lockout that may jeopardize portions if not all of our season,” Fisher said.

After hardly budging off their original proposal for 1 1/2 years, owners finally increased their offer to players from 46 to 47 percent of BRI. It was then that the top negotiators discussed the 50-50 concept, and while Stern sounded disappointed that it didn’t work, Silver was more frustrated.

“I am not going to get a good night sleep,” he said. “After this afternoon’s session, I would say I’m personally very disappointed. I thought that we should have continued negotiating today and I thought that there was potentially common ground on a 50-50 deal. I think it makes sense, it sounds like a partnership. There still would have been a lot of negotiating to do on the system elements, but I’m personally very disappointed.”

On what both sides stressed was an important day, the owners’ entire 11-man labor relations committee came to New York to meet with 11 players. They could still work something out before Monday’s deadline, but neither side sounded optimistic.

“Right now, we had our committees, we gave it a really good run, and it didn’t work,” Stern said.

Hunter said the union would hold regional meetings with its players, set up workout centers and help in other ways. And many players – including Bryant, who has been in talks with an Italian team – will have to decide if they want to explore playing overseas.

And without a deal, the battle could go to the courts. Hunter said the union would have to consider decertification, and on Tuesday a federal court judge scheduled a hearing for Nov. 2 to hear arguments in the league’s lawsuit against the players seeking a declaration that the lockout doesn’t violate antitrust laws.

All things both sides hoped to avoid Tuesday.

“It wasn’t to be, and we don’t have any plans right now,” Stern said.

Witnesses claim Tayshana Murphy was killed in the Grant housing projects after rival gang members from another project building misidentified her under her hooded sweatshirt.

The New York Daily News reports:

Murphy was ecstatic to be returning to the court this fall after being sidelined last year with a knee injury. “She wanted in the worst way to play,” said Ed Grezinsky, her coach at Bergtraum. “She definitely would have been the leader of the team.”

She never lost sight of her dream of becoming a WNBA star. “That’s my goal,” she told the Daily News last year. “I want to be great.”

Read More At The New York Daily News

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The fight between the Georgetown University men’s basketball team and the Bayi Rockets on Thursday night in Beijing forced the game to end early. Biden did not attend the game. However, on Wednesday he watched the Georgetown team beat the Shanxi Zhongyu Brave Dragons 98-81.

Georgetown Hoyas head coach John Thompson III said in an emailed statement that the team regretted the incident.

VIDEO:

“Tonight, two great teams played a very competitive game that unfortunately ended after heated exchanges with both teams,” he said. “We sincerely regret that this situation occurred.”

The brawl Thursday was the latest instance of on-court fighting by China, whose players have been fined tens of thousands of dollars by the world and Asian federations for scrapping with opponents.

Photos from the game circulating on China’s popular microblog Sina Weibo show players from both teams pushing one another.

The Washington Post said the melee broke out in the fourth quarter as members of both teams tackled and threw punches at one another. Chairs and water bottles were also thrown as the Georgetown players left the court with about nine-and-a-half minutes remaining.

The Georgetown Hoyas are in China on a 10-day goodwill trip which has been cited by the U.S. State Department as an example of sports diplomacy that strengthens ties between the two countries’ peoples. The team was briefed by the State Department ahead of its departure on what to expect during its trip to Beijing and Shanghai, according to news releases on the university’s website.

“We remain grateful for the opportunity our student-athletes are having to engage in a sport they love here in China, while strengthening their understanding of a nation we respect and admire at Georgetown University,” Thompson III said.

A U.S. Embassy official called it an “unfortunate” incident.

“We look to these types of exchanges to promote good sportsmanship and strengthen our people-to-people contact with China,” the official said.

Earlier in the day, some friction also arose as reporters covering Biden’s visit encountered some restrictions. During Biden’s meeting with Chinese officials, White House press handlers believed they had an agreement that reporters would be permitted to remain in the room until Biden had completed his opening remarks.

However, Chinese security officers began telling reporters to leave while Biden was speaking, leading to whispered objections and some reporters being led from the room.

Desmond was shot in the chest outside an apartment complex. He played basketball for the University of Kentucky from 1998 to 2000.

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Candice Wiggins has already made history with professional women’s basketball, but that’s only her half of her story.

In high school she was listed as the best shooting guard in the nation and won a scholarship to Stanford to play volleyball and basketball, an amazing feat, but not the whole story.

She chose Stanford over Duke. Now that’s the whole story. (Just kidding.)

She became the all-time leading scorer in Stanford women’s basketball history. And she continued to make history with her professional career with the WNBA team, the Minnesota Lynx.

But that’s still not the whole story.

What separates her from other athletes is her commitment to something bigger than herself. As a 3-year-old little girl, she didn’t understand why her father, Alan Wiggins, a professional baseball player for the Baltimore Orioles and then the San Diego Padres, had to be away from her so often. She later learned that her father was in the hospital, dying from a disease that in the early ‘90s, no one wanted to talk about. As a heavy drug user he had contracted AIDS during a time when medicine and awareness were scarce and stigma ran rampant. Some of the same issues prevail today concerning the disease.

Because of that enduring stigma, Wiggins works tirelessly telling her story around the world and being the face of the non-profit organization, Until There’s a Cure (www.until.org <http://www.until.org/> ). The organization raises awareness and funds to combat AIDS. To date, the organization has raised $9 million for vaccine development, care services, and youth education.

Wiggins took some time to speak to newsone.com before the WNBA season begins:

Q. How did you get started as an AIDS activist and what are you doing now with the organization now?

A. We’re working with a lot of non-profit organizations right now. There has been huge change since my father was alive with awareness of AIDS. The most recent thing I’ve done is with Greater than AIDS, the campaign I did with my mom. I do speaking engagements telling my story. Until There’s A Cure—a non-profit organization that sells bracelets to help fund education and prevention, I am working with them. My life is about eradicating the stigma of HIV/AIDS because to me that’s where the problem lies.

Q. During the time period your father contracted the disease there was a different perception about AIDS….

A. The thing that shocks me is that the face of AIDS has changed from the early ’90s. It used to be drug users, homosexual males, and now it’s the leading cause of death for African American women in a certain age range, I think 5-36-years-old. It shows how AIDS/HIV has spread to different communities and a lot of it has to do with a lack of awareness, a lack of education, and a stigma. I highly recommend watching the documentary produced by Sheila Johnson who owns the Mystics, The Other City, about the AIDS rate in Washington DC and how it rivals African countries. It’s eye-opening.

Q. Have you ever worked with her [Sheila Johnson] as an AIDS activist?

A. I met her at the screening of the The Other City in San Francisco, she’s happy about the work I am doing. And I’m happy she was able to make such a great documentary about what HIV/AIDS is about now. It’s not just an international issue, it’s also a domestic one targeting African American women.

Q. How old were you when you found out your father had contracted the disease?

A. I have a vague memory of it, the time of his death was the beginning of my life. I vaguely remember it being a tumultuous time, I was 6, 7, 8, and I was reading articles about my Dad and trying to figure out what AIDS was. It was a vague thing until 7th grade science class where we learned about AIDS and I starting learning about the technical aspects of the disease. In the 9th grade I participated in my first AIDS walk. I felt like I don’t have to be afraid of it, I felt a lot of comfort and solace to be with people who weren’t afraid to talk about it.

Q. What age were you when your dad died?

A. I was 3 about to turn 4. He was in and out of the hospital. I was sheltered from him, no one wanted his kids to see him like he was. He was 97 pounds when he died. At that time in the 90s, there wasn’t the medicine like they have now. It was scary, I remember being scared.

Q. Had Magic Johnson come out by then?

A. Magic Johnson had really saved our family’s optimism. He taught our family how to live. He came out with it after my father died. I remember seeing as a kid this campaign he was in with McDonalds. I saw it in a kid’s magazine. He was just so brave and so strong. We felt like we weren’t alone. I actually got a chance to speak to Magic at the NBA All-Star game. He knew who I was and he knew what I was doing, he gave me a big hug. It meant the world to me.

What I learned through my work is that a lot of people are living with HIV and that’s important for people to understand that too. In the ‘90s it wasn’t really a healthy time to have HIV, psychologically healthy, that is. Nowadays people need to know that it doesn’t make it a death sentence.

Q. But what about people that cant afford the medicine?

A. Yes, there are a lot of people who can’t afford it. But there’s also physical health and mental health—being strong-willed. I met a lot of people who are HIV positive and a lot of them have touched my life because they were so happy, they cherish life, every minute of it.

Q. Your father played professional sports?

A. Yeah, he played baseball for the San Diego Padres. In 1984, he led the Padres to their first World Series. He’s a legendary baseball player. He went to same high school as Jackie Robinson and that’s who he wanted to be like. My mom used to tell me he had been playing baseball since he was a little boy and growing up as an African American boy in the ‘60s and ‘70s he had a Jackie Robinson baseball card that was signed by him. My mom said that was his most prized possession. I think a lot of people don’t realize how much he was influenced by Jackie Robinson and even followed in his footsteps. He even got drafted to the Dodgers.

Q. Do they did tell you how he contracted the disease?

A. My father was a heavy drug user. He came from a poor background. When he grew up drug use was very prevalent. He ran with gangs and drugs and his upbringing was in the inner-city. He goes to play baseball and he’s making millions and all of these troubles befall him. I can see without having that support, that solid upbringing like I had, what could happen. I was very privileged–I live in the house that he bought in San Diego, I went to private school. I knew my Dad’s story. I wanted to go to Stanford. Unfortunately no one saved him because he didn’t save himself.

Q. How long did he live with the disease before he passed?

A. I don’t think very long, the needle use goes straight to the bloodstream. I think he deteriorated fast. It was like ‘89, ‘90, and not much was known about it except if you have it, you’re pretty much dead. So I think that was what happened.

Q. In your AIDS outreach do you deal with needle exchange?

A. I was actually invited to the White House in 2009–that was the first time they invited anyone to the White house to talk about HIV/AIDS in the country and that was about putting pressure on the government to allow for needle exchange programs in the DC area and trying to lift the ban because there was a government ban. The exchange program really helps to lower the numbers.

I am really terrified of drugs, but I do feel like I have to be brave. I’m always thinking a surrender/exhange program—that maybe that could have saved my father. I don’t know. I think a lot of people turn their backs on drug users. But that’s my father. You have to have some compassion to want someone to be better, to get help, rather than turn a blind eye, because that’s how the rates get higher.

Q. What is happening in June, that’s a pivotal month for AIDS awareness, right?

A. Yes, National Testing Day is June 25th. I want to do a video to show people about getting tested. I hope that more African American women come out since this is the leading cause of death for African American women.

Q. Was your father vocal about having AIDS?

A. From what I remember and what my mom told me, he didn’t come out. I read an article in 1992 in Reader’s Digest and that article really hurt, a lot of ugly things were said and I don’t think that helped the situation.

Q. What do you think he would say about your success as an athlete and your work as an AIDS activist if he were alive today?

A. I think he would feel proud that he didn’t die in vain. And I really feel like my father, he has all of his life in me. I feel like everything that was positive about him transferred into me. I look a lot like him, I play like him, I’m built him, I talk like him–everyone tells me this. I feel like he’s been reborn in me and I’m proud of that. I always wanted to say, if he could leave his mark on the world he left me. It shows that life does goes on. I hope he’s looking down on me and is proud and that he knows he actually served a bigger purpose.

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NBC sports reports:

According to the team of former NBA player Robert “Tractor” Traylor, Traylor has been found dead in his apartment in Isla Verde, Puerto Rico. He was 34 years old.

Traylor first gained national attention for his hulking physique and skill around the basket as a star forward at the University of Michigan, and was taken with the sixth overall pick (and swapped for Dirk Nowitzki on draft day) after averaging 16 points and 10 rebounds per game as a Michigan junior.

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EL SEGUNDO, Calif.– Lakers center Andrew Bynum has apologized profusely for his flagrant foul on Dallas guard J.J. Barea during Los Angeles’ final playoff game.

Bynum suspects he’ll be suspended to start next season.

Bynum was ejected for throwing a flying elbow at Barea during the fourth quarter of the Lakers’ 36-point loss in Game 4 of their second-round playoff series last Sunday. Barea landed hard on the ground, and Bynum took off his jersey while leaving the court.

Bynum said Tuesday he regrets his classless exit from the playoffs. He says his actions were terrible and unacceptable, and they don’t represent his upbringing or the Lakers’ values.

Bynum was suspended for two games in March for a similarly hard foul on Minnesota’s Michael Beasley.

Sacramento Kings fans will likely bid farewell to their beloved underdog basketball team as it heads to new digs in Anaheim. In what many speculate would be the team’s final game, the Kings refused to lay down quietly for the Los Angeles Lakers as the matchup went into overtime.

Though the Kings fell eight points short of a dramatic upset their fans, players, and staff remained seated in Arco Arena long after the buzzer concluded the game.

Each with over twenty seasons under their respective belts, veteran Kings announcers Grant Napear Jerry Reynolds issued teary goodbyes as the equally emotional crowd chanted their names in the background.

The NBA is set to hold a meeting today to discuss the move to Anaheim. A majority of owners must approve any team relocation and it is unlikely that Lakers and Clippers owners would want the Kings edging in on their turf.

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Adams scored 22 of her 30 points in a dominating second half and answered the Fighting Irish basket for basket Tuesday night to help Texas A&M bring a title to the former all-male military academy with a thrilling 76-70 victory in front of a pro-Notre Dame crowd.

“I knew they couldn’t stop me inside so that’s what I did, I took it inside,” Adams said.

No one was happier than Gary Blair, the outspoken A&M coach who hadn’t been in the Final Four since 1998 when he was with Arkansas. Blair bluntly said it was a good thing that top powers like Connecticut, Tennessee and Stanford weren’t in the title game.

“We don’t give up,” Blair said. “We might not play the prettiest game in the world but it’s good for women’s basketball to see a Texas A&M and a Notre Dame in this game.”

And then his Aggies went out and proved him right.

Tyra White added 18 points for A&M, including a huge 3-pointer as the shot clock buzzer sounded to put A&M up 73-68 with 1:07 left.

The Aggies are a national championship newcomer and bullied their way through the tournament to get to the top. Like Notre Dame, the Aggies vanquished their conference rival on the way, beating Baylor in the Dallas regional final after losing to the Lady Bears three times during the season.

Adams, who had a history of vanishing in big games, did no such thing on Tuesday night, scoring the second most points ever in a championship game (Sheryl Swoopes 47, 1993).

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The Notre Dame sophomore’s smooth playmaking skills, Madison Avenue smile and effortless charisma give her more crossover appeal than any other women’s college basketball player.

In the three weeks leading up to Tuesday’s national title game against second-seeded Texas A&M, Diggins has gone from 6,000 followers on Twitter to more than 45,000. Searches for her name on Yahoo spiked 2,700 percent on Sunday and went up another 17 percent on Monday.

Diggins is the subject of a new rap song inspired by her NCAA tournament performance. She has her own blog on ESPN.com. And in addition to her shout-out from Lil Wayne, singer Chris Brown also saluted her on Monday, telling her “congrats beautiful.”

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INDIANAPOLIS — Maya Moore is The Associated Press player of the year for the second time in three seasons after leading Connecticut to another spectacular year.

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The senior averaged 22.5 points and guided the Huskies to the Big East regular season and tournament championships. She has them back in the Final Four for the fourth straight year and is trying to lead them to a third straight national title.

The four-time All-American is the third player to win the award twice, joining Seimone Augustus of LSU and Chamique Holdsclaw of Tennessee. Moore won as a sophomore and finished second in the voting her freshman and junior years.

Moore received the award Saturday. She got 37 of the votes from the 39-member national media panel that selects the weekly Top 25. Baylor’s Brittney Griner received the other two votes.

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10. Pee Wee Kirkland Norfolk State University

Despite the fact that Kirkland never played an NBA game he is regarded as one of the best streetball players of all time and his legend still live on on streetball courts around the world.

9. Avery Johnson, Southern University

Avery Johnson was the point guard for the 1999 Championship, San Antonio Spurs and would later win coach of the year in 2006. Despite the fact that he never had any outstanding stats, his leadership ability and intelligence made him a factor on the court.

8. Darrell Armstrong, Fayetteville St.

Despite the fact that he wasn’t drafted, Armstrong would win both the NBA’s Six Man Of The Year and Most Improved Player in 1999 during a stellar career with the Orland Magic.

7. Earl Lloyd, West Va. St

Lloyd is the Jackie Robinson of basketball, the first African American NBA player to sign a contract in 1950. He would win one championship with Syracuse and later become the coach of the Detroit Pistons.

6. Rick Mahorn, Hampton

Rick Mahorn’s defense and rebounding were staples of the Detroit Piston “Bad Boy” days when they won two championships and would coach the WNBA’s Detorit Shock to a Championship as well.

5. Charles Oakley, Virginia Union

Though Oakley never won a championship he reached the finals once with the Knicks and dueled with friend and former teammate, Michael Jordan in the playoffs several times.

4. Ben Wallace, Virginia Union

Ben Wallace won a championship for the Pistons in 2004 with a style similar to Rick Mahorn’s with a focus on defense and rebounding.

3. Willis Reed, Grambling State

Reed won a championship with the New York Knicks in 1972, providing inspiration for the team with a historic return from a harsh injury in the Finals.

2. Earl “The Pearl” Monroe,

Otherwise known as “Black Jesus,” Monroe was a playground legend who transferred his skills to the NBA, winning a championship with fellow HBCU grad, Willis Reed.

1. Sam Jones, North Carolina Central University

Sam Jones won 10 championships with the Boston Celtics leading the team in scoring for 3 years.

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Fennville High School basketball player Wes Leonard, 16, died Thursday night, Holland Hospital spokeswoman Deb Patterson said. A cause of death has not yet been determined.

“It’s tough to take in,” Leonard’s teammate Shane Bale, told The Holland Sentinel. “It’s like somebody from your family, you know?”

Paramedics performed CPR on Leonard before he was pronounced dead at the hospital, Patterson said.

Leonard had scored the game-winning layup in a 57-55 win over Bridgman in overtime to cap Fennville’s 20-0 season. He fell to the ground after teammates and fans rushed the court.

“Obviously, in the midst of celebration, I think shocking is exactly the word,” Fennville Superintendent Dirk Weeldreyer told the paper before Leonard’s ambulance left the high school.

Leonard also was a quarterback for the high school football team.

He’s the second Fennville athlete to die in 14 months. Wrestler Nathaniel Hernandez died in January of 2010 after suffering a seizure at home following his participation in a high school wrestling match. He was 14.

In an interview with the Sentinel at Tuesday’s practice, Fennville coach Ryan Klingler talked about how Leonard had a great drive to succeed and that he saw the “bigger picture.”

VIDEO OF WES LEONARD

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Another 14-year-old Canadian is also being recognized for his athleticism despite his young age. Jamar Ergas, who is only 14 has been receiving a lot of media attention due to his dazzling 360 degree and between the legs dunks.

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The Nuggets acquired Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton and draft picks in exchange.

The Knicks beat out the rival New Jersey Nets to win the Anthony sweepstakes by agreeing to a trade with the Denver Nuggets on Monday, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press.

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The deal that would finish the season-long trade speculation involving Denver’s All-Star forward and send him to his desired destination can’t be finalized until Tuesday during a conference call with the NBA office. Assuming it goes through, it puts Anthony alongside Amare Stoudemire in a potentially explosive frontcourt — at a heavy cost to the Knicks, who hoped in July to sign two top stars but came away with only one.

All trades for coaches are sad, there’s happy and sad. I’m glad it’s over, I’m glad it’s an opportunity to reinvent,” Denver coach George Karl said as he got into his SUV outside the Pepsi Center on Monday night. “I think everybody handled it as classy as you can handle it. There’s some sadness to it, there always will be. In the same, it’s time to move on, reinvent.”

The Knicks would hope Anthony could be in uniform Wednesday when they host the Milwaukee Bucks.

Anthony led the Nuggets to the playoffs in each of his first seven seasons in Denver after winning a national title at Syracuse as a freshman and had them positioned for another playoff run this year. But Denver advanced out of the first round just once in that time.

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If the deal goes through, the Nuggets would receive rookie Derrick Favors, Devin Harris, Ben Uzoh, Troy Murphy and four first-round draft picks. In addition to Anthony, the Nets would get Chauncey Billups, Sheldon Williams, Melvin Ely and Renaldo Balkman.

The only part of the trade that needs to be figured out is just where the Nuggets will send Murphy, who they have no intention of keeping. Their plan is to take one of the picks they are getting from New Jersey and sending it along with Murphy to bring back more assets.

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Boston — Personal honors never meant much to Bill Russell, one of America’s most successful athletes, with 2 college titles, 1 Olympic gold medal and 11 — count ’em, 11 — N.B.A. championships with the Boston Celtics.

He has never visited the Basketball Hall of Fame, where he was the first black N.B.A. player enshrined, in 1975. He has his reasons; he always does.

Given his blast-from-the-past ’60s positions on race and just about anything, Russell is often asked about his reaction to the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which he will receive from President Obama on Tuesday, as will former President George H. W. Bush, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, Stan Musial and 11 others.

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“You’re never really cancer free and I should have known that,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “My cancer right now is at an absolute minimum.”

The 63-year-old Abdul-Jabbar, a six-time NBA Most Valuable Player, was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia in 2008. He spoke at Science Park High School, after the initial screening of his new full-length documentary, “On the Shoulders of Giants.”

“It’s not life-threatening,” he said, “at this point in my life.”

Abdul-Jabbar said when he was first diagnosed with leukemia, he feared the worst.

“I thought I might be dead in a few months,” he said. “I had a good friend (actor Bruno Kirby) who was diagnosed with leukemia and was dead within 30 days. I really had no understanding of what I was dealing with.”

With the help of a medication called Gleevec, CML can be monitored better, and the chances for recovery are now improved. What’s more, Abdul-Jabbar became a spokesman for Novartis, the company that produces Gleevec.

“Medical science has made great strides over the last 20 years,” he said. “People in my position are able to live their lives to the fullest. I’m very grateful for that. I’m lucky that they caught it in enough time, and I’ve responded well to the medication. If not for the success that medicine has made, I might be part of a much different story right now.”

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RICHMOND HEIGHTS, Ohio- Jason Popp, the coach of the Richmond Heights Boys Varsity Basketball has come under fire for racist comments and harassment. According to documents, Popp would use racial slurs against his players and insult them for being poor. Among the things he said were

“I”m going to need you to play like n—-ers, which you are”

According to Fox 8 in Richmond, several players are willing to boycott Popp:

Most players say they are willing to give up their undefeated season if the coach remains. Although some want to keep playing.

“I think as a team, we should still get our butts on the court because no matter what somebody says to you, we love basketball, all of us loves basketball and I think no matter what he says, we need to go for our goal and go 20-and-0,” said varsity player London Fulton, Jr.

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The show will debut this spring on YouTube as well as his website. Expect to see young LeBron, old LeBron, athletic LeBron and business LeBron on the series.

“I’m mostly a kid at heart,” James told the New York Times, “and I’m the athlete, of course, that everyone sees, but I also have a business side, a cool side and I love antique stuff and classical music. I guess that’s the old man side of me.”

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The two played hoops together 30 years ago as high school basketball stars in the Chicago area. They were in different leagues but played on the same summer team.

Then they went their separate ways, Ivankovich to medical school, stints as a disc jockey and blues guitarist, and finally a career as an orthopedic surgeon. Williams stuck with basketball and was a standout player at Bradley University in the mid ’80s. He made it to the NBA, with stints with the Atlanta Hawks and Sacramento Kings in 1989-90, and for several pro teams overseas.

Now, Ivankovich is helping Williams rebuild his life after a near fatal shooting last year. They’re hoping to outfit Williams with robot-like legs that used to be the stuff of science fiction, but now are being made by a handful of biotech companies, and they say Williams could serve as a symbol – not only of senseless violence but of resilience and determination.

The bionic devices are sort of like strap-on leg braces with sensors and input devices to help orchestrate a walking stride. It sounds cool, but could be humbling for a guy whose real legs once put him up against NBA legends but now barely function.

“Going against Michael Jordan was tough. Larry Bird, Dominique Wilkins, that whole crew was tough,” Williams said. But, he added, “that was gravy” compared to what he’s going through now.

Williams, 47, had been working as a bodyguard and security guard since he retired from basketball in 2000. Shortly after midnight on Nov. 29, 2009, he was working security inside a suburban Atlanta nightclub when a gunfight broke out and he was shot four times, in the jaw and shoulder.

He was rushed to a hospital, underwent hours of surgery, then slipped into a coma for two months. He lost a kidney and part of his liver and jaw, and bullet fragments lodged in his lower spine left him mostly paralyzed from the waist down.

He went home to live with his mom on Chicago’s far South Side, in the crime-plagued Roseland neighborhood where he grew up. He figured he’d be stuck in a wheelchair forever.

Then, last summer, Williams was watching TV when he saw a news report about a nearly 7-foot-tall Chicago doctor helping a paralyzed Haitian earthquake victim relearn to walk.

“It hit me about an hour later – `That’s Big Dan!’” Williams said, thinking his old friend might be able to help him, too. He got Ivankovich’s e-mail address from the TV station.

Ivankovich didn’t recognize the name at first, nor the man he knew as “Massive Mike,” now 100 pounds lighter. But Ivankovich signed him up for Medicaid insurance and got him admitted to Chicago’s Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital for six weeks of physical therapy. By about the third week, Ivankovich watched as Williams stood up with assistance and took a few halting steps with a walker.

“I cried, he cried,” Ivankovich said. “He still hadn’t totally processed the extent of all the loss.”

Ivankovich checked in on a recent session at Glencrest Nursing and Rehabilitation Centre on Chicago’s far northwest side, where Williams was on his back on a workout table, struggling to toss a 16-pound exercise ball with a therapist and complaining of nerve pain. The former teammates engaged in some trash-talking, just like the old days, but it masked the tough obstacles both men know Williams faces.

“Mentally, the hardest part is looking in that mirror,” Williams said, “and looking at what I am now.”

Though he has regained some feeling in his legs, and can take about 30 steps with braces and a walker before tiring, Williams knows his dream to walk again unassisted is a long shot. For that reason, he’s interested in the bionic legs, which would let him walk without holding a walker or crutches.

The devices cost six figures, and ones made by Berkeley Bionics, eLEGS, likely won’t be sold commercially until 2013, after scientific testing is finished. An Israeli company, Argo Medical Technologies Ltd., makes a similar version called ReWalk; its devices are set to go on sale in January to rehabilitation centers worldwide.

Ivankovich and Williams both think and dream big. Williams would like to become a role model for young kids, using his battered body to show them consequences of guns and senseless violence. Ivankovich has been in talks with the Chicago Bulls and a local radio station to get Williams a stint as an anti-violence ambassador. The doctor is also trying to persuade Berkeley Bionics to create and donate a set of bionic legs for Williams, who could provide free advertising for their brand.

“We’re excited to work with someone like Mike and test the boundaries,” said Berkeley Bionics CEO Eythor Bender. “Wheelchairs have been around for 500 years. We’re kind of breaking into a new chapter.”

He said the talks with Ivankovich and Williams are in the very early stages. Williams is about half a foot taller and more than 50 pounds heavier than eLEGS are designed for, so they’d have to be customized, Bender noted.

But used to getting his way, Ivankovich is thinking of flying out to Berkeley with Williams, figuring a personal visit with the company would be persuasive and “expedite the process.”

Williams “is an extreme, which is the best way to make your device better,” Ivankovich said.

HONOLULU — Two players from Mississippi State’s basketball team fought in the stands Thursday night between games at the Diamond Head Classic

Sophomore forward Renardo Sidney and junior forward Elgin Bailey got into the altercation about 10 minutes before the tipoff of the game between tournament host Hawaii and Utah at the Stan Sheriff Center. Punches were thrown in the fight that lasted several minutes and was broken up by teammates.

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Kenneth Ziegler, the father of NBA player O.J. Mayo was charged with attempted murder, possession, obstructing and fleeing in a vehicle and on foot after police officers attempted to accost him. WOWKTV reports:

Huntington police arrested Kenneth Ziegler early Thursday morning after a brief chase. Chief Skip Holbrook said Ziegler was observed in a vehicle in the 2200 Block of 10th Avenue.

When confronted by officers, the driver allegedly put the car in gear and drove off, dragging the officer several feet.

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New York — A 2007 study on race and refereeing  in the NBA has resurfaced in a respected journal. ESPN Reports:

Basically, the more black referees on the court, the better the calls for black players. And the reverse is true for white players. The entire combined effect is fairly limited, around 4 percent, but the pattern is certainly there.

All of this means not all that much about NBA referees, other than that they’re human. The research was about human decision making in the workplace, and the referees were just a handy group to study.

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Los Angeles — In an interview with Yahoo Sports, Kobe Bryant credited Michael Jackson with giving him the discipline and work ethic that has allowed him to become the world championship basketball player he is today:

“It sounds weird, I guess, but it’s true: I was really mentored by the preparation of Michael Jackson,” Bryant told Yahoo! Sports.

“We would always talk about how he prepared to make his music, how he prepared for concerts,” Bryant said. “He would teach me what he did: How to make a ‘Thriller’ album, a ‘Bad’ album, all the details that went into it. It was all the validation that I needed – to know that I had to focus on my craft and never waver. Because what he did – and how he did it – was psychotic. He helped me get to a level where I was able to win three titles playing with Shaq because of my preparation, my study. And it’s only all grown.

“That’s the mentality that I have – it’s not an athletic one. It’s not from [Michael] Jordan. It’s not from other athletes.

“It’s from Michael Jackson.”

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MIAMI (AP) — If the Miami Heat changing room was polled, LeBron James would not have unanimous support in the race for Time’s Person of the Year.

James wouldn’t even vote for himself.

Calling it “crazy” just to be on the list of finalists for the award, the NBA’s reigning two-time MVP seemed almost a bit embarrassed on Monday when he learned that he was one of the final 25 names under consideration. The winner of the award, bestowed since 1927 on a person or group who “has done the most to influence the events of the year,” is expected to be revealed next month.

“I am who I am and I think I’m in a position of my life where I’m going to get better every day,” James said after Miami wrapped up its practice Monday. “But it’s too much.”

Other finalists this year include President Barack Obama (the 2008 winner), Lady Gaga, Sarah Palin, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, conservative commentator Glenn Beck, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Also on the list: The trapped Chilean miners who spent more than two months underground before finally being reached and rescued in a gripping story that was covered worldwide.

“That’s just crazy,” James said. “What those guys did, the courage and what they stood for, I should be nowhere near that list. Nowhere near it.”

Charles Lindbergh was the first winner of the award. President Franklin D. Roosevelt is the only three-time winner, and most recent winners include Vladimir Putin in 2007, Obama in 2008 and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke in 2009.

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By Michael Tapia

This past summer, Amar’e Stoudemire parted ways with the team that welcomed him into the league wishing to pair up with LeBron James in New York. Knicks GM Donnie Walsh lured the 6’10 big man as part of their efforts to create an attractive team to get James and perhaps another superstar to come to the Big Apple. Unfortunately, the Knicks’ master plan did not materialize the way they expected it to; James opted to play in Miami and Stoudemire’s numbers have declined.

It’s evident that when you’re a big man in the NBA – you will greatly depend on your playmaker to create plays for you – and when you leave the best passer in the game, a dip in your productivity is inevitable.

Steve Nash’s court vision makes him a basketball architect to say the least; and Raymond Felton and Toney Douglas don’t even come close. By leaving Nash, Stoudemire also surrendered the luxury of getting the ball fed in the best of situations.

Stoudemire’s numbers have dipped from .557 FG%, .771 FT%, and 23.1 PPG last year to .457 FG%, .757 FT%, and 20.8 PPG. It’s evident by his field goal percentage dropping a whopping .100 points and averaging 2.3 points less per game, that he is not as lethal on the offensive end. With Stoudemire’s field goal percentage dropping so much, it’s also clear that Felton and Douglas (both PG’s) do not feed him the ball in spots as favorable as Nash.

These are factors Stoudemire should have considered more thoroughly when leaving Phoenix — the effect leaving such a great playmaker like Steve Nash would have on his career.

After leaving Nash and not landing LeBron, is it safe to say that Amar’e took a double loss and virtually jumped off a cliff by going to New York? Will Amar’e ever replicate his Phoenix numbers? Even worse, will he be the next thing that the Knicks touch that breaks?

Time will only tell, but as of now, the Florida native seems to be regretting leaving the valley of the sun. All Amar’e can hope for now is that the Knicks land Carmelo Anthony, and that the move consequently leads to Chris Paul wanting to play for New York in the future. As we all know, Chris Paul and Deron Williams are the future of the league at PG and if Amar’e can pair up with one of those two, then he can hope for a future as bright as his past.

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Center Joakim Noah

Noah is not only biracial but bi-cultural as well. He is the son of African French tennis player, Yannick Noah and Swedish model, Cecilia Rodhe. He was born in France but learned to play basketball at an elite private school in New York and the playgrounds of Harlem.

Power Forward Blake Griffin

Griffin is born to Black father and white mother in Oaklahoma, where he played high school and college ball. He was drafted with the number one pick in the 2009 draft. After sitting out his first season, he has started the 2010 season with a lot promise.

Small Forward Shane Battier

Shane Battier was born to a Black father and white mother in Birmingham, Michigan. As a child he was treated as Black by the white kids at his private school and as white by the Black kids on his AAU team. Battier would win an NCAA championship with Duke and become on of the NBA’s premier defensive players.

Shooting Guard Tony Parker

Tony Parker was born to a Black, American father who played professional Basketball and a white french mother was a model. Tony Parker already has three championships with the San Antonio Spurs and averaged 28.6 points a game during the 2009 playoffs.

Point Guard Deron Williams

Deron Williams is on of the five best point guards in the league. He played college ball at Illinois and has a stellar career in with the Utah Jazz, averaging 10 assists a game for the past three seasons.

The sad news was spread all over Facebook and Twitter by different members of the city’s streetball community, by which Strickland is revered. They shared stories like him dancing with the crowd at Dyckman and his words of wisdom, including his signature phrase, “finish your breakfast”, which meant schooling and scoring on your man off the dribble.

Strickland’s reach goes so far that even Miami Heat star Lebron James mourned his passing on his Twitter account saying: “R.I.P to homie Strick.”Finish Your Breakfast”. Roc Boyz in the building.” Strickland was mentioned in Jay-Z’s hit song Public Service Announcement in the line: “No one can do it better. I check cheddar like a food inspector. My homey Strick told me, ‘Dude, finish your breakfast.’”

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