Jordan Hill

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Hill, who is in his third year in the league, was a Houston Rocket at the time of the incident and was part of a trade that sent veteran Derek Fisher to his former team.

Jordan,24, who is currently in Los Angeles, has to answer the charge in Houston where the alleged assault took place. Luna reportedly told police investigators that after she threw his cell phones on the floor during a February 29 argument, he “punched her in the legs, grabbed her, pulled her off the couch and dragged her to where the phones were, and threw her against the wall,” according to KTRK-TV. After she refused to pick up the phone, the she said that Hill grabbed her from behind and put her in a chokehold that cut off her breathing

According to the district attorney, Hill is facing a punishment of two to ten years in prison and a $10,000 fine, if convicted. A warrant for Hill’s arrest is expected. Luna has also been granted a restraining order against Hill.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Lakers organization has issued a statement on Monday about Jordan Hill’s case, reports ESPN:

“We are aware of the media reports alleging an incident involving Jordan Hill from two months ago when he was a member of the Houston Rockets,” the statement read. “We do not have any details regarding these reports and therefore, as well as due to the personal and legal aspects, it would not be appropriate for us to comment. Any further inquiries regarding this should be directed to Jordan’s representative.”

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The road for redemption is a rocky one for the Bobcats, including a home game Wednesday night against the team Jordan gained all of his glory from, the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls are one of four playoff-bound teams they have to face for the duration of the season.

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Even upcoming pushover teams, such as the Washington Wizards, have crushed the Bobcats this season, making the reality of the team breaking the record even more tangible. However, the players are aware of their fortunes and are rallying themselves for a win.

“We are desperate to get a win,” said Bobcats guard Matt Carroll. “No one wants to be known as the worst team in NBA history. I’ve been talking about this with guys on the team for [the] last two weeks, telling them we at least need to get one more win. I think guys at first heard it but weren’t thinking it was going to happen.”

Fans shouldn’t expect Jordan to lace up the Nikes and hit the court. The last time his Airness left the office and hit the courts during a stint as an executive for the Washington Wizards, though, the results were less than desirable.

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Along with his various accolades and still-prominent stature in the game, Russell also holds the honorable distinction of being the first African-American coach in the NBA 46 years ago today.

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Surly Celtics Coach Red Auerbach, who also broke racial barriers in drafting the first Black NBA player in Chuck Cooper in 1950 and introducing an all-Black starting lineup in 1964, sought out other White players on his team to coach after his abrupt retirement before the 1966-67 season. After they refused, he asked Russell, who was still an active player, to coach the team. Russell accepted the position and signed the contract, saying to reporters in a famous quote, “”I wasn’t offered the job because I am a Negro, I was offered it because Red figured I could do it.”

That season, Russell’s biggest rival was fellow big man Wilt Chamberlain who then played for the Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers were on a tear that year, winning a record 68 games and vanquished the Celtics four games to one in the Eastern Conference Finals. Russell was said to have visited Chamberlain after the game and congratulated him on the win. It was also the year when Russell became first Black coach in the NBA. Given the racial tensions of the time, this act was easily among the top racial coups of the decade.

As player-coach, Russell would get his revenge against Chamberlain by defeating the Sixers in the 1967-68 Eastern Division finals, even though Black players on both sides of the ball struggled with the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Facing the Jerry West-led Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals, Russell would win title number 10 in over 12 years of playing. Russell would also win Sports Illlustrated’s Sportsman Of The Year award as well, cementing his name firmly in the annals of basketball history.

The 1968-69 season would be Russell’s last, and he capped it by winning his 11^th championship title, defeating Jerry West and familiar rival Wilt Chamberlain in thrilling fashion. Never comfortable in the spotlight or with the media, Russell would skip the victory parade and abruptly ended his career, saying he owed the Celtics or the adoring public nothing. It was reported that Russell internalized a lot of events such as the JFK assassination, the loss of Dr. King, his failing marriage and other factors. Although many see Russell as the grandfatherly man who hugged Kevin Garnett at the end of the 2008 NBA championship, Russell was not a gracious media presence. Unlike the flashier Chamberlain, who relished the spotlight, Russell preferred to let his game speak for him.

After mending the fences with Boston, his number 6 jersey was retired in 1972 and he was inducted into the NBA Hall Of Fame in 1975, although he wasn’t present to accept the award. Much like his playing days, Russell believed the game was bigger than him and kept away from the fanfare that seemed to follow him.

Russell led the way for other Black coaches such as Lenny Wilkens and his Boston teammate K.C. Jones. Beyond his contribution to the game on the playing end, Russell’s coaching job ushered in a new wave of African-American prominence in a game that was largely dominated by Whites at one time. For that, the game owes Bill Russell a great debt.

Thank you, Bill Russell.

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The Mavericks and I have mutually agreed that it’s in the best interest of both parties for me to step away from the team,” Odom said in a statement to ESPN.com. “I’m sorry that things didn’t work out better for both of us, but I wish the Mavs’ organization, my teammates and Dallas fans nothing but continued success in the defense of their championship.”

Odom kicked off his stint with the Mavs by taking a 10-day leave of absence to take care of some personal business.  Upon his return, it was announced that the 6-10 “Khloe and Lamar” star would join the D-League’s Texas Legends for one game against the Austin Toros. The move was allegedly to recondition his body after a long absence, but in a last second decision — designed to bolster the organization against a pivotal game against the Utah Jazz — Odom instead reported directly back to the Dallas Mavericks and had one of his best games to date.

Although Odom was acquired by the Mavs before the season started last year, the NBA’s “Sixth Man of the Year” never seem to really fit in with the team.  On his reality show, Odom made no secret of the fact that the love he has for the L.A. Lakers would forever remain in his heart.

During his stint with the Mavs, Odom critics viewed the player as not giving the game any effort and accused him of being lazy.  Matters got out of hand when on March 21, he was booed by irate fans in Dallas when he had to play against Lakers.

It was evident that Coach Rick Carlisle was nearing the end of his rope with Odom when he refused to talk about him to reporters.   Yet Odom’s struggles on the court reportedly stemmed from his personal pains which seemed to pose a distraction for him.

As previously reported by Newsone, last July a close cousin was shot and killed which left Odom devastated.  Not long after, Odom was faced with still another tragedy.  An SUV that he was riding in struck a motorcycle, which then plowed down a 15-year-old teen who was killed.  Reportedly, both tragedies nearly caused Odom to quit the sport that he loves.

In his final game last Saturday against the Grizzlies, Odom played a mere four minutes and managed only a single rebound.  Frustrated with his performance, teammate Dirk Nowitzki refused to answer any questions about Odom.

Odom averaged career lows of 6.6 points and 4.2 rebounds during his 50-game stint. He also shot a career-low 35.2 percent from the field.

For at least another season that remains a possibility.

Howard signed papers Thursday agreeing to waive the early termination option in his contract, guaranteeing he will be with the Magic at the beginning of the 2012-13 season. His decision that ends the season-long drama on whether he would be dealt prior to the trade deadline and before the Magic risked losing him in free agency.

The Magic center had the option of ending his five-year deal in July and entering the open market.

“I’m glad this is finally over,” Howard said at a press conference to announce the new pact with the Magic. “…It’s not as easy as some people think. It’s been very hard. We’re talking a career-changing event. Most people don’t see that.

“I’m very loyal and I’ve always put loyalty above anything.”

Howard requested a trade in the preseason and maintained that stance all regular season until changing his mind this week and expressing a desire to remain in Orlando this season.

The move ends what can only be characterized as a tense regular season for the Magic. Howard had requested to be traded and gave team officials a list of three teams — the New Jersey Nets, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks — that he wanted his agent, to be allowed to talk to.

At the time Howard expressed frustration with the Magic’s management and what he felt was an unwillingness to include him in personnel decisions and to improve the roster pieces around him. He went as far as to praise the relationship he felt All-Star Dirk Nowitzki has with Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban.

Following those December revelations a daily drama began trailing the Magic and upset a fan base that lived through Shaquille O’Neal leaving town to join the Lakers in 1996.

The soap opera included a very awkward All-Star weekend for all parties in Orlando last month which centered on Howard and his plans for the summer of 2012. The 26-year-old center repeatedly stated his affinity for the only city he has played for during his eight NBA seasons.

He kept that posture until a surprise statement following the Magic’s home victory over the Miami Heat Tuesday in which he went back on his trade request and said that he wished to remain in Orlando throughout the season.

The decision was in part, he said, to give the Magic a chance to win a NBA title.

Now he said “he’s all in” and ready to give the organization a full season to improve the roster going forward.

“Now we can get back to playing basketball and having some peace and trying to win a championship,” said Howard, who said he went back and forth with his decision until as late as after the Magic’s loss to San Antonio Wednesday night.

Magic general manager Otis Smith said the team was fully ready to trade their six-time All-Star before Thursday’s deadline before he signed the waiver.”

“It was real,” Smith said of the possibility of dealing Howard. “We weren’t rolling the dice.”

Provisions in the league’s new collective bargaining agreement give the Magic the ability to offer Howard $30 million more than any other team if he becomes a free agent. Orlando can offer him a five-year contract extension with 7.5 percent annual raises, while other teams are capped at offering a four-year pact with only 4.5 percent raises.

The Magic are 28-16 this season and seven games behind first-place Chicago. Howard is averaging 21.2 points and a career-best 15.2 rebounds. He passed Nick Anderson earlier this season as the Magic’s all-time leader in points scored.

“They know how I feel about the city,” Howard said after Spurs game. “I’ve sat down with them on numerous occasions and talked about what we can do together, but I can’t do it all by myself,” Howard said about his teammates. “You know, I want them to help. I want them to be involved with changing Orlando. That’s always been my goal.”

Howard said that he was asking for trust from the Magic.

“They took a chance on me at 18. And what did I do? I gave them everything I had for eight years,” Howard said. “Take a chance again. I go out every night and play hard. If I didn’t want to win, I would have dogged it. But that’s not who I am. And look where we are. We’re in a great position.”

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Stu Jackson, the NBA’s executive vice president of basketball operations, announced the punishment on Saturday.

Smith appears to have eventually deleted the post but that didn’t stop the photo from being passed around the Internet on Friday, earning significant attention that included a mention on the sports website Deadspin.

Smith later posted a message directed to the woman, saying, “Things are being taken (too) far sorry (at)therealtahiry.” Referring to model Tahiri, ex-girlfriend of rapper, Joe Budden, the woman whose picture he posted.

Smith said following the Knicks’ 119-114 loss at Milwaukee on Friday that he regretted posting the picture. He said: “I just have to be smarter in my decisions.”

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The people at sportsgrid have made a compilation of over 50 photos of NBA players with their children, including Chris Paul, Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, Derron Williams and several others.

Wade who has custody of his two children and is a single father recently took place in a round table discussion about the importance of fatherhood during all-star weekend in Orlando.

See All The Pictures At SportsGrid

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According to police, who reported the arrest Wednesday, the 6’9″ former NBA sensational dunker was cuffed on February 24 and then released after posting a $2,000 bail.  The stolen piping was valued at $1,500.

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Beginning in 1981, Woolridge played for the Bulls for five seasons. During 1984-85, Woolridge, who averaged 22.9 points a game, was paired with then-rookie Michael Jordan and was deemed unstoppable on the courts.  After he played for the Bulls, Woolridge moved on to the New Jersey Nets, and during the 1986-87 season, his high-scoring average dropped. The following season, the baller found himself suspended for being in violation of the league’s strict substance abuse policy.

In 1988, the towering forward admitted to a drug dependency on cocaine.  He had scheduled games at the time and missed two, which raised a red flag for NBA.  When a player disappears without notice, the league automatically investigates the situation.  Woolridge, who was 28 years old at the time, had inked a multi-year contract for $500,000 as a free agent with the Los Angeles Lakers and voluntarily admitted himself to a drug-treatment facility just a few months before to get help for his out-of-control drug habit.

After retiring from the NBA in 1994, Woolridge went on to coach female players in the WNBA, the Los Angeles Sparks from 1998-99.  He now coaches the Arizona Rhinos of the American Basketball Association whose motto it is to “bring integrity and tradition back to the court with on-and-off court policies that mirror Christian values.”

Hmmm…wonder how his team will take this latest fall from grace?

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Several other former and current NBA players paid the $30,000 fee to attend the fundraiser along with Carter and Obama, including Magic Johnson, Chris Paul, and Alonzo Mourning. NBA commissioner David Stern and Dallas Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban.

USA Today reports:

“Alonzo (Mourning) and Tracy have been there for me every time I’ve come to Florida,” Obama said. “I could not be more grateful for that. Magic (Johnson) and Cookie, wherever I go in California they’re there for us. Chris (Paul) is helping out on our Fitness Council and allowed me to cross over on him when we played during my birthday.

“He insists that he could have stolen the ball at any time,” Obama said. “But I’m going to still claim it.”

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Obama, who roots regularly for the Chicago Bulls in his adopted home town, will congratulate the Mavericks for winning the 2011 championship title. He also will recognize the team’s support for the men and women of the U.S. military forces.

Obama’s East Room tribute for the Mavericks follows a private meeting he’ll have earlier in the day with his senior advisers at the White House.

In the evening, the president will attend a campaign event in the nation’s capital.

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Jason Richardson added 16 points for the Magic – including 15 in the first half – and J.J. Redick scored 15 points off the bench.

It was the 49th career 20-rebound game for Howard, who neared his career high of 26 rebounds.

Rookie forward MarShon Brooks led the Nets with 17 points. Deron Williams missed his first six shots and finished 2 of 12 from the field with only 10 points.

New Jersey cut Orlando’s lead to seven points in the fourth quarter, but a balanced attack led by Hedo Turkoglu put the game away for the Magic. Turkoglu finished with 11 points, seven assists and six boards.

The Nets came into the game wanting to get off to a better start – and they didn’t succeed. The Magic jumped out to a double-digit lead in the first quarter thanks to a 14-2 run, and they led by as many as 20 points in the second quarter.

But the Nets fought back with a 14-3 run in the final 3:04 of the half, including eight points from Brooks, to cut the lead to six points at the break.

Richardson led the Magic with 15 points at halftime, and Howard had 11 rebounds. Brooks was the only Nets player in double figures after 24 minutes with 10 points.

Notes: Jameer Nelson left the game early in the third quarter with a neck spasm and didn’t return. . In an effort to improve their first-quarter play, the Nets adjusted their starting lineup by inserting Sundiata Gaines and Mehmet Okur in place of Anthony Morrow and Johan Petro. It didn’t help as the Magic jumped out to an early lead. “We’re still in the experimental stages,” Nets coach Avery Johnson said. . Williams, who can opt out of his contract and become an unrestricted free agent this summer, declined to comment when asked if he would consider joining the Magic in free agency. . Howard and Williams had dinner together on Thursday night. . The Nets were without Brook Lopez, who is expected to miss several weeks with a broken foot. . It was referee Dick Bavetta’s 2,500th consecutive game.

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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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Chris Paul’s Clippers debut in the nightcap against the Warriors earned a 2.3 overnight, up 77 percent over last year’s Portland-Golden State telecast. It was ESPN’s highest-rated Christmas prime-time game.

The earlier night game on ESPN – Magic-Thunder – drew a 1.9 overnight, up 36 percent from to last year’s Denver-Oklahoma City matchup. The afternoon’s finals rematch on ABC, the Heat’s rout of the Mavericks, earned a 5.6 overnight, up 6 percent from Boston-Orlando last year.

The Celtics-Knicks game on TNT to open the day drew a 4.1 overnight. The early game on ESPN last year, Bulls-Knicks, had a 2.7 on ESPN.

Ratings represent the percentage of all homes with televisions tuned to a program. Overnight ratings measure the country’s largest markets.

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The NBA sought competitive balance. What it got was schedule imbalance.

One of the many consequences of the lockout, besides hundreds of lost games and hundreds of millions of lost dollars, was the tradition that every team plays in every NBA city at least once per season. That’s not the case this year.

While teams will visit every other team in their own conference, they will only make trips to play nine clubs from the other side of the league instead of the usual 15.

It’s one of many quirks of a 66-game schedule that, in a variety of ways, is not like any other in NBA history.

“In some cases, the team business-type might complain that they didn’t get (to host) the Heat or the Lakers,” NBA Commissioner David Stern said. “While in the background, the coach is doing cartwheels. So it’s kind of an interesting dynamic.”

There’s no shortage of those.

Reigning scoring king Kevin Durant dropped 66 points in New York earlier this year – alas, at Rucker Park, the fabled outdoor court and not Madison Square Garden. He and Oklahoma City won’t be going to play the Knicks this season.

The NBA champion Dallas Mavericks won’t be going to Charlotte, nor will Durant’s Thunder, Bryant’s Lakers or the Spurs, and that will keep ticket dollars from finding Bobcats owner Michael Jordan’s pockets.

Teams won’t be playing the same number of divisional games, so get ready for complaining should tiebreakers come into play when determining playoff seeding. And many small market teams will be miss out on some guaranteed sellouts against some elite clubs that might hurt in the standings but help with the bottom line.

“That’s what happens when you have a lockout,” Durant said.

When Magic coach Stan Van Gundy heard the league was putting together a 66-game slate instead of the usual 82-game run, he figured the breakdown was simple: Play every team in your division four times, then face every other team home and away.

That seemed easy enough.

Instead, it’s complicated.

“I’m not being critical of it,” Van Gundy said. “They’ve got a short period of time to play 66 games and there were a lot of factors they had to consider and I’m sure that they did it the best way that they could.”

True, but there is some zaniness.

Atlanta takes a trip that has the Hawks going north, then south, then north, then west, then east, then west and then home again, all in the span of nine days. Cleveland has a nine-game February homestand. San Antonio goes nearly four weeks without a home game. The Kings close the first half of their schedule with 20 of 28 away from Sacramento, daunting for a team desperate to keep fans engaged while trying to get a new arena. Denver plays nine in a row at home in one stretch, then immediately hits the road for seven straight.

But there’s no Anthony homecoming in Denver.

“Did it bother me? Not really,” said Anthony, now with the Knicks. “I mean, I would love to go back and play there. The reaction I would get, who knows? I might get some boos, I might get some claps, but it’d have been fun.”

Minnesota coach Rick Adelman was thrilled to see his club opens with six of seven at home. And then he looked who those early opponents are – the first four clubs to visit the Timberwolves are Oklahoma City, Miami, Dallas and San Antonio.

“It’s a challenge for us,” Adelman said. “If we come out and we’re ready to go, and we can knock some of these people off, it’s just going to be better for us.”

The Wolves don’t host Atlanta, Milwaukee, New Jersey, Orlando, Toronto and Washington, teams that perhaps don’t inspire the casual fan to run down on game night to check them out, but could be winnable games. They also don’t travel to Boston, Chicago, Miami or New York. From a competitive standpoint, not having to play those teams on the road is great for the Wolves. But from a player experience standpoint, the Wolves don’t sound thrilled.

“I think we don’t go to Miami and Chicago. … That’s a little sad,” eagerly anticipated guard Ricky Rubio said.

With this kind of schedule, youth might be served. Washington is expected to open the year with 10 players on the team age 25 or younger. So on those back-to-back-to-back nights, the Wizards might have a touch more spring in their collective step than some other clubs.

“It reminds me of an AAU season – playing five games in one day,” Wizards guard John Wall said. “It can be tough at times, but I think it can help us.”

In past years, playing four games in five nights would be considered the worst of the schedule grind.

It’s worse this year.

Not only will every team have at least one stretch of playing three games in three nights, but there will also be times when teams play eight games in 11 days. If a key player rolls an ankle, certainly a common issue in the NBA, at a particularly busy time in the schedule, a team could find itself without a key player for maybe 20 percent of the season. And with all those games in such a short span, this much is guaranteed: There will be nights when some teams will know the odds are stacked very, very highly against them, when they’re the weary-legged club against a team that’s had a couple of days off to freshen up.

“There will be nights when you’ll be like, `OK, well, let’s just go try and see what happens,’” Wade said. “It’s not going to be easy. For anyone.”

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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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Warren Glover, 50, filed a lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court Thursday morning accusing senior N.B.A. security officials of creating a hostile environment and being denied promotions because of his willingness to speak out.

In one instance, Glover said a senior security official made sexual advances toward a female colleague, then demeaned her publicly when she rejected his advances. In another, a different security official proposed using sexually inappropriate material as part of a presentation to N.B.A. players.

Read more at the New York Times.

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The Hornets traded Paul to the Clippers for guard Eric Gordon, forward Al-Farouq Aminu, center Chris Kaman and a first-round draft choice.

The deal required the approval of NBA Commissioner David Stern because the Hornets are owned by the league.

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For Paul, Wednesday night’s trade means no more lame-duck practices — or ducking questions — in New Orleans.

It also ended a tortured week in which the Hornets’ season sat in limbo, while the NBA took a public relations beating over everything from potential conflicts of interest to hampering the team’s pursuit of free agents to disrespecting the New Orleans fan base.

“I knew we were doing the best thing for New Orleans and that was my job,” Stern said. “You have to stick with what you think was right. I must confess it wasn’t a lot of fun, but I don’t get paid to have fun.”

Stern said he never allowed other owners’ opinions or considerations of large and small markets to determine where Paul, one of the NBA’s biggest stars, would end up. He said his only focus was on getting the best deal for the Hornets.

That may take time to determine. But for now, the Hornets at last have a measure of certainty about the roster they’ll have when the regular season begins in less than two weeks.

Paul, already a star with international appeal, gets to play in one of the NBA’s biggest markets, even if his new team plays in the shadow of the Lakers. That’s the club Paul was almost traded to last week, only to have Stern nix the deal and unleash a torrent of bad publicity on his league just as it was trying to generate good will following a nearly five-month labor dispute that has already caused a shortening of the season.

Then again, maybe there is no such thing as bad publicity — or as Stern called it, “a frenzy.” Even with the NFL’s Saints on a five-game winning streak and wrapping up a playoff spot, the Hornets-and-Paul saga was the talk of New Orleans for a change.

“Our sole focus was and will remain, until we sell this team, hopefully which will be in the first half of 2012, how best to maintain the Hornets, make them as attractive and as competitive as we can and ensure we have a buyer who can keep them in New Orleans,” Stern said.

Stern said the team is in negotiations with several potential ownership groups, who, if all goes to plan, will have to accept a new long-term lease in the state-owned New Orleans Arena in order to buy the team.

“The future of the Hornets in New Orleans is brighter than it’s ever been,” Stern said.

Meanwhile, the Clippers have plenty of reason for optimism themselves.

The 26-year-old Paul is a four-time All-Star who averaged 18.7 points and 9.8 assists last season, his sixth in the NBA. His move to the Clippers means he’ll now be able to lob alley-oop passes to one of the best finishers in the game — one who’s famous for dunking over a car. That would be forward Blake Griffin, who averaged 22.5 points and 12.1 rebounds last season, his first as a pro.

Paul will earn $16.4 million this year and has a player option for the 2012-13 season — in which he is due $17.8 million.

The Hornets get a prolific young shooting guard in Gordon, who turns 23 on Christmas Day and averaged 22.3 points last season. Gordon would be a restricted free agent after this season unless he signs an extension with New Orleans. Hornets general manager Dell Demps said those talks haven’t yet started.

The 6-foot-9 Aminu is a second-year pro who averaged 5.6 points and 3.3 rebounds as a rookie.

The 7-foot Kaman, 29, is an eight-year veteran who averaged 12.4 points and seven rebounds last season, but played in only 32 games because of a left ankle injury. He’s in the last year of his contract, which will pay him $12.2 million this season.

“With this trade, we now have three additional players who were among the top eight draft picks in their respective drafts as well as our own first-round pick and (another) first-round pick,” Demps said. “Aminu is a young talent with a bright future, Gordon is a big-time scorer and one of the best (shooting) guards in the league and Kaman is a proven center and former All-Star.”

ESPN, citing anonymous sources, first reported the trade, which also involves New Orleans sending two 2015 second-round draft picks to the Clippers.

“We wanted to make sure that we got the best possible deal for a player of Chris’ caliber, and we feel great about the outcome,” said Jac Sperling, who Stern appointed as the Hornets’ governor after the league bought the team in December 2010.

The Hornets can only hope the deal will sit well with fans and area businesspeople, who bought more than 10,000 season tickets despite the lockout in an effort to show the NBA that their community could make the franchise viable for whatever ownership group eventually buys the club.

Paul, whom the Hornets drafted fourth overall in 2005, told New Orleans earlier this month that he was not going to sign an extension, and Demps had been trying to trade him since to avoid losing him in free agency with no compensation after this season.

Demps came close to making a three-team deal last Thursday that would have sent Paul to the Lakers. The Lakers would have sent Lamar Odom to the Hornets and Pau Gasol to Houston, while the Rockets would have sent Luis Scola, Kevin Martin, Goran Dragic, and a first-round draft choice to New Orleans.

Stern, however, told Demps to take that deal off the table because he thought the Hornets could do better, both in terms of personnel and salary obligations.

While the move caused speculation that Stern was acting against Demps’ better judgment, Demps said he and Stern were acting “hand in hand,” while Stern said people who anonymously leaked details of the proposed Lakers trade did so because they “were trying to force him to make that deal.”

Paul showed up for Hornets training camp last Friday but has not spoken to reporters since. He was excused from a normally mandatory media event on Wednesday, hours before the trade went through, in which players pose for photos in uniform and talk about the upcoming season.

For the Hornets, the urgency to make a deal appeared to be growing, though Demps insisted earlier Wednesday that the Hornets had no timeline and would not be rushed into a “rash decision.”

Still, Demps acknowledged it was hard for the Hornets to pursue free agents and further build their roster while Paul’s status was in limbo. If trade talks had dragged on much longer, the Hornets could have gone into Friday night’s preseason opener at Memphis with little idea of what their roster would look like in their first regular-season game at Phoenix on Dec. 26.

Other than Paul, the Hornets had only five returning veterans under contract: center Emeka Okafor, forward Trevor Ariza, point guard Jarrett Jack, second-year swingman Quincy Pondexter and shooting guard Marco Belinelli.

The additions of Gordon, Aminu and Kaman give New Orleans desperately needed depth, while opening the way for the franchise to further strengthen its roster through free agency.

Meanwhile, the Hornets also could look forward to an additional first-round draft choice next summer. The pick originally belonged to Minnesota, meaning it will be tied to where the Timberwolves finish in the standings this season.

“For the long-term future of the New Orleans Hornets, this is the best deal,” Demps said.

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Jordan says he opposed the Chris Paul trade to the Los Angeles Lakers because “as a small market (owner) I’m very supportive of being able to keep your star player.”

Still, Jordan says he would be interested in signing the New Orleans guard if Paul becomes a free agent next year.

The Bobcats owner believes the new CBA will help level the playing field because of increased luxury tax implications for big-market teams that go over the salary cap to sign free agents.

Jordan says the new deal is “good for our market,” but adds, it is “not where we ultimately want it to be.”

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Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Shalina Kumar also sentenced Wallace to fines, court costs and 30 hours of community service.

“We want to treat Mr. Wallace as if his name is Ben Smith,” assistant prosecutor Robert Novy told Kumar. “We’re not asking for jail time, but give Mr. Wallace a period of probation with a period of community service.”

Novy said having Wallace hold basketball clinics at an area Boys and Girls Club would suffice. Kumar agreed.

“You have all the resources in the world. This should not happen again,” she told Wallace, who is allowed to travel out of state and out of the country for work-related reasons while on probation.

Wallace did not speak Tuesday with reporters.

“I compliment both the prosecutor’s office and Judge Kumar for treating Ben Wallace exactly the same way they would have treated him had he not been a basketball player,” defense attorney Steve Fishman said.

Wallace was arrested at about 3 a.m. on Sept. 24 in Bloomfield Township after officers spotted him driving a Cadillac Escalade erratically. An unloaded pistol was in a backpack.

A breath test put Wallace’s blood-alcohol content at 0.14 percent, which is well above Michigan’s legal limit of 0.08 percent.

He pleaded guilty Nov. 1 to misdemeanor charges of drunken driving and possessing a firearm while under the influence of alcohol. The maximum penalty would have been 93 days in jail.

Wallace had no prior record and was cooperative with authorities.

“Plea bargains and sentences are supposed to be based on the facts of the case and the background of the individual defendant,” Fishman said. “To everyone’s credit that is exactly what happened in this case.”

Wallace helped the Pistons win the 2004 NBA title and has played for five NBA teams since 1996.

He fared better in court than former NBA player and University of Michigan star Jalen Rose who spent 16 days in jail this summer on a drunken driving charge.

Rose rolled over his sport utility vehicle in March on a snowy West Bloomfield Township road. He pleaded guilty in May to driving while intoxicated and apologized for his actions.

But 48th District Court Judge Kimberly Small, who is known for being tough on drunken drivers, lectured Rose for 15 minutes before delivering her sentence. She told him that jail time was the “right punishment” in his case.

Rose’s attorney, James Burdick, has said his client shouldn’t have been sent to jail.

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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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The NBA asked that The Clippers include leading scorer, Eric Gordon to a package that already included former All-Star center Chris Kaman, Al-Farouq Aminu and Eric Bledsoe and a first round draft pick, but the Clippers were not ready to give up Gordon.

ESPN reports:

The Clippers found the demands “too steep,” according to one source close to the process, even after Paul told the Clippers he would invoke the 2012-13 option in his contract as part of the trade, ensuring that L.A. would have him next to Blake Griffin for at least two seasons.

If the deal isn’t revisited, the Clippers could try to sign Gordon to an extension and pursue other moves to build around Griffin.

Read More At ESPN

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A previous trade that would have sent Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers was nullified by the NBA, which owns the New Orleans Hornets.

ESPN reports:

The New Orleans Hornets and Los Angeles Clippers have submitted a multiplayer blockbuster deal to the NBA that would send All-Star point guard Chris Paul to Los Angeles, a source with knowledge of the discussions said Monday.

But the trade as presented has at least one stumbling block: The league, which owns the Hornets, wants the Clippers to add Eric Bledsoe to a package that already includes guard Eric Gordon, center Chris Kaman, forward Al-Farouq Aminu and Minnesota’s unprotected 2012 first-round pick.

Read More At ESPN

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According to sources, the three-team deal that also involved the Houston Rockets was vetoed by Stern, who has the authority since the league purchased the Hornets from former owner George Shinn in 2010.

The league did not immediately explain the decision, other than to issue a terse statement through a spokesman, saying, “League office declined to make the trade for basketball reasons.”

Read more at the New York Times.

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A new collective bargaining agreement, saving owners more than $1 billion in player salary costs?

Definitely.

An expanded revenue sharing plan that would perhaps quadruple the money shared by teams?

Of course.

A trade that would send Chris Paul from the league-owned, small-market Hornets to the Los Angeles Lakers?

Absolutely not.

Stern announced the ratification of the deal that ends the lockout, but shortly afterward the league had to deny reports that he was pressured by owners into rejecting a previously agreed upon trade that would have put Paul in the same backcourt as Kobe Bryant.

“It’s not true that the owners killed the deal, the deal was never discussed at the Board of Governors meeting and the league office declined to make the trade for basketball reasons,” league spokesman Mike Bass said.

So Paul stays in New Orleans – for now – but that does little to calm fans in small markets such as New Orleans and Orlando who worry about losing their superstars. In time, Stern said, the “tortured journey” of this 161-day lockout will have been worth it.

“We think it’s a very good deal, and it’s going to withstand the test of time,” he said.

Thus ends the lockout, with training camps and free agency to open Friday. But not before one more chaotic day in this wacky offseason that guarantees the status quo remains for now.

Besides an expanded revenue sharing program, Stern said teams and fans will see an improved league in coming years.

“It’s a new beginning in a way,” he said. “It’s going to take a couple of years to work its way out, but we’re very excited about its prospects.”

The 10-year deal promises owners savings of perhaps a quarter billion dollars a year in player compensation, but largely leaves intact the soft salary cap system that the players fought hard to maintain.

Stern and Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver announced the deal during a news conference, putting an end to nearly two years of difficult negotiations that resulted in the second shortened season in NBA history. A 66-game schedule will begin on Christmas and run through April 26, forcing every team to play on three straight nights at least once.

Owners approved the deal, which allows either side to opt out after six years, by a 25-5 vote. The players’ association said 86 percent of the more than 200 players who voted electronically approved the deal.

Union executive director Billy Hunter did not attend the news conference and no union officials were quoted in their statement, issued just as Stern began speaking.

Owners also agreed to an expanded revenue sharing plan, and Stern called both agreements “a watershed moment” for the league. The plan, which will begin in 2013-14, more than quadruples the revenue currently shared by teams, with Stern saying some could now receive more than $20 million and at least six teams could pay $50 million into the plan.

Stern said the current net transfer among teams of about $40 million annually would exceed $160 million. But that’s of little help now to a team such as the NBA-owned Hornets, the latest small-market club to face a future without its franchise player.

The framework was in place Thursday on a three-team deal that also involved Houston and would have sent Paul to the Lakers to join Kobe Bryant in the backcourt of the league’s biggest revenue team, people with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press. But the deal fell through amid reports owners pressured Stern to stop it.

Yet even if Paul bolts, or Dwight Howard leaves Orlando this summer, Stern said the new labor deal can’t be judged by that, or anything else that may happen right away.

“I believe in free agency,” he said. “We have a deal where a player who has completed his time at a team under a contract has a right to go someplace else. And then there are potential judgments to be made by teams about whether there’s a time when they want to consider getting something more for that player in the event he will leave than if he stays. So nothing has changed about that. That dynamic is the same. But, yes, this is going to be a more competitive league over time.”

Saying they lost hundreds of millions a year under the old collective bargaining agreement that owners believed favored large-market teams, the league sought significant changes in these negotiations. Owners refused an option to let the CBA run another year and opened negotiations in January 2010 with a proposal that called for a hard cap, the elimination of guaranteed contracts, rollbacks of current salaries and a massive reduction in the players’ share of basketball-related income.

After locking out players on July 1, the two sides reached a tentative deal around 3 a.m. Nov. 26, heading off the potential disaster of a canceled season and avoiding a possibly costly and lengthy court battle had players proceeded with an antitrust lawsuit.

The remaining issues finally were agreed to late Thursday morning, after players already had begun voting electronically.

Though owners insisted they wanted competitive balance just as much as a chance for profit, there’s no proof yet they achieved it. Stern knows the owners, particularly in the small markets, didn’t get everything they wanted after watching the big-spending Celtics, Lakers and Mavericks claim the last four championships.

“While it’s not perfect, the deal addresses significant issues on both sides in a very productive way, we believe,” he said.

Player salaries were reduced by 12 percent, and Stern emphasized new provisions such as the amnesty clause will allow teams to more easily escape difficult contracts and become competitive more quickly.

But with the revenue split and system issues taking so much time, there was little opportunity to change the non-economic issues. The draft age limit will remain 19 years at least through the 2012 draft – the league would have liked to go to 20, the players would like to abolish it entirely – and blood testing for human growth hormone won’t be implemented this season.

Stern and the owners have been criticized for taking so long to come to an agreement, with no noticeable proof that the small-market teams who so badly needed relief are getting it. And the lockout comes with damage to the legacy of the 69-year-old Stern in his last CBA negotiations.

But he dismissed fears of that, believing he did what’s best for his owners and league.

“I think most importantly we’re back to basketball,” Silver said. “I think legacies aside, it would have been terrible for the players, for the teams, our fans, concessionaires, everyone involved if we had lost more games than we had, so I think that’s what’s most important.”

Training camps will open at 2 p.m. Friday, with the salary cap staying at $58 million. Having free agency the same day will be a challenge, but Stern said everyone was ready to go.

“We considered it, but on balance, our teams, our players and our fans were just saying let’s get it on,” he said. “So even though you could make a logical argument that we could have gained a day one place or the other, it was the overwhelming sentiment that we should just get going and we decided to do that.”

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While speculation of the deal sounds great for New York sports fans, the Daily News says it is not the likely since the Knicks would have to trade either Amar’e Stoudemire or Carmelo Anthony to secure Paul.

The New york Daily News reports:

Hornets general manager Dell Demps, a former Knicks scout, wants to meet with Paul to gauge whether he wants to be traded, Yahoo! Sports said.

Read more at the New York Daily News.

Hazzard’s family said he had been recuperating for a long time from complications following heart surgery. The school said Hazzard died at UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center.

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He had a stroke in March 1996 and made a strong recovery, but became less publicly active. He made occasional appearances at UCLA games in recent years.

Hazzard was co-captain of the 1964 national title team that went 30-0 under coach John Wooden. He averaged a career-high 18.6 points as a senior playmaking guard. He was chosen college basketball’s player of the year, having averaged 19.8 points in the NCAA tournament, where he was selected as the most valuable player.

As a junior, Hazzard led the Bruins with a 16.3 scoring average and they won 20 games for the first time since 1957. In his sophomore season, he averaged 13.2 points and the Bruins reached the Final Four for the first time in school history, losing by two points to eventual national champion Cincinnati in the semifinals.

Hazzard transferred to UCLA after spending one season at Santa Monica College.

In 1996, UCLA retired his No. 42 jersey.

“Walt was one of the pillars of UCLA’s first championship team in men’s basketball,” current coach Ben Howland said. “He was a great player and an outstanding coach at UCLA. He is a huge part of the Bruin legacy, and he left life-long memories for the Bruin faithful.”

Hazzard helped the U.S. win a gold medal at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and played 10 years in the NBA, including a stint with the Los Angeles Lakers, who made him the No. 1 overall pick.

Hazzard averaged 12.6 points and 4.9 assists during his career with the Lakers, Seattle, Atlanta, Buffalo and Golden State. He ranked among the league’s top 10 in assists during six of his seasons. In 1968, he averaged 23.9 points and 6.2 assists, culminating in an appearance in the All-Star game.

During his four years as UCLA coach, the Bruins had a 77-47 record. In 1985, he led them to the school’s first NIT championship. In 1987, UCLA won the Pac-10 title and the league’s first postseason tournament with future NBA star Reggie Miller in the lineup. They finished with a 25-7 mark, losing in the second round of the NCAA tournament, with Hazzard selected league coach of the year.

“Thoughts and prayers go out to the Hazzard family on your loss,” Miller tweeted Friday night. “Coach Hazzard was not only a STUD point guard at UCLA under Coach Wooden…But a great Coach as well. He helped shaped me into the ball player I was, thanks so much Coach..”

The Bruins slumped to a 16-14 record the following year, and Hazzard was replaced by Jim Harrick for the 1988-89 season.

“This is a sad day for the UCLA basketball family,” Bruins athletic director Dan Guerrero said.

“Walt was the catalyst for Coach John Wooden’s first championship team and played the game with a style that excited Bruin basketball fans everywhere. He contributed to his alma mater in numerous ways, including as a student-athlete, coach and honored alum, and he will be greatly missed by all of us knew him.”

Before taking over at his alma mater, Hazzard coached two seasons each at Compton College near Los Angeles and Chapman College in Orange County.

In 1994, Hazzard re-joined the Lakers as a West Coast advance scout. After his stroke, he served as a special consultant to the team for another 15 years.

Lakers owner Jerry Buss said, “Walt was a man of extremely high character.”

Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said, “Not only was Walt an outstanding player, but his knowledge of the game was extremely valuable to our front office as well over the past 17 years. In the years since his stroke, he has been an inspiration to many of us with his perseverance and his passion for the game.”

Hazzard, a native of Wilmington, Del., starred at Philadelphia’s Overbrook High, where Wilt Chamberlain had played years earlier. During his three-year varsity basketball career, Hazzard led the school to an 89-3 record and two city titles. He also played baseball and ran track, and was student body president.

Hazzard is survived by wife Jaleesa, a Bruins song girl during the 1964 NCAA title season, and sons Yakub, Jalal, Khalil and Rasheed. During his NBA career, Hazzard converted to Islam and changed his name to Mahdi Abdul-Rahman. He felt the change was poorly received and cost him professional opportunities so he returned to using his given name professionally while remaining a devout Muslim.

While NBA players rarely fight when they do, it is usually entertaining due to their lack of coordination and size.

Check out the 5 greatest NBA fights of all-time.

5. Robert Parish Vs. Bill Laimbeer.

Bill Laimbeer was the Detroit Pistons ultimate agitiator, angering and frustrating his opponents. Laimbeer would anger the wrong man when he fouled Boston Celtics center, Robert Parish, who proceeded to give him two tomahawk chops to the head.

4. Shaquille O’Neal vs Charles Barkley

Shaquille O’Neal will join Charles Barkley as a host on TNT’s “Inside The NBA” as soon as the season starts. But when Barkley was playing with the Rockets, he got into a big fight with Shaq that included ball throwing and tackling.

3. Heat vs Knicks

After Alonzo mourning began brawling with Larry Johnson, both teams joined in and it ended up with Knicks coach, Jeff Van Gundy, grabbing Alonzo’s leg and being dragged around.

2. Kobe Bryant Vs. Chris Childs.

Kobe Bryant will go down as one of the best basketball players of all time and Chris Childs will go down in history as the player who punched one the best basketball players of all time in the face.

1. Ron Artest Vs. Pistons Fans

Ron Artest showed a lot of restraint by not retaliating for a hard foul and just laying down on a table. But when a fan threw a beer on him he went into the stands looking for a fight. After that chaos erupted with several Pacer players fighting Piston fans.

Johnson was responding to comments made by attorney Jeffrey Kessler, representing the NBA players’ association, who told the Washington Post that owners are treating players like “plantation workers” during the ongoing lockout.

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That was similar to the comments Bryant Gumbel made last month on his HBO show, when he said Stern “always seemed eager to be viewed as some kind of modern plantation overseer treating NBA men as if they were his boys.”

But Johnson said Stern has always done right by players, noting the number of blacks such himself, Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas who have followed their Hall of Fame playing careers by going into management or ownership positions.

“This league is more diverse than any other league and has more minorities in powerful positions than any other league,” Johnson said during a phone interview. “That’s all about David Stern and his vision and what he wanted to do. He make sure minorities had high-ranking positions from the league office all the way down to coaches and front office people.”

Stern did not comment, though told the Washington Post that Kessler’s conduct “is routinely despicable.”

However, players such as Johnson and Bill Russell called the league office to support Stern, who is leading owners in a bitter dispute with the players but who has not lost their support, according to Johnson.

“It was David Stern who took this league worldwide. And so those guys know it was because of David Stern and what he was able to do,” Johnson said.

Johnson recalled it was Stern who offered him a place in the 1992 NBA All-Star game, even over some players’ wishes after he had retired the previous November because of HIV. And it was Stern who included Johnson that summer on the Dream Team that won the Olympic gold medal.

And it was Stern, he said, who called him after Johnson’s comments about Thomas in his book ignited a public feud between the longtime friends, urging Johnson to work it out.

“He has always done what’s right for both the players and owners. I’m going to have to say this personally, David, he didn’t have to do that. That’s the type of commissioner he is.

“He always is looking out for the players and what’s best for the league and I disagree with anybody who says he’s trying to be a plantation owner. It’s ridiculous we’re even talking about it.”

Stern, 69, is likely nearing his final years on the job after becoming commissioner on Feb. 1, 1984, just as Johnson and Larry Bird were renewing the longtime rivalry between the Lakers and Boston Celtics. Johnson said he’s “tired of people taking shots” at Stern, especially because so many of them have jobs connected to the NBA that Stern created.

So Johnson urged those criticizing Stern during the lockout to “not go to the gutter.”

“We should be saluting him, he shouldn’t be torn down, especially something that he’s not,” Johnson said.

“He’s a tough business man and a smart business man. That’s what he’s supposed to be.”

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.

Lloyd is remembered for being a trail-blazer for African-Americans in the NBA. What other contributions did he give to the world?

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Here’s a list of things you may not have known about Earl Loyd:

1. Not Exactly First?

Lloyd considers himself the second Black player in the NBA, given that Chuck Cooper had been drafted in the second round while he had been picked in the ninth. His status as the first Black player on the court, he said, was only due to a “scheduling quirk” that meant his team played before the others. [BleacherReport.com]

2. College All-Star

Lloyd was a two-time All-American selection at West Virginia State where he helped lead his school to an undefeated 30-0 season in 1947-48, a conference championship and an unofficial “national champions” status as voted by several Black newspapers. [HoopHall.com]

3. Benched By Racism

Lloyd said he was rarely allowed to go into restaurants or hotels with his white teammates. While playing for Syracuse during the 1952-53 season, he wasn’t allowed to play at a preseason game at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, because he was Black. The Nationals still played the game, and to this day it pains Lloyd that none of his teammates showed any remorse. [NYTimes.com]

4.  Player-Turned-Coach

In 1968, Lloyd became the NBA’s first Black assistant coach with Detroit. [NYTimes.com]

5. Army Man

After seven games with the Capitols, Lloyd was drafted into the military and sent to Korea for two years. When he returned to the United States, the Capitols had gone out of business, and so he went to play for the Syracuse Nationals (who later became the Philadelphia 76ers).