Re: NBA News
I'm sure someone would buy it because it's Micheal Jordan's
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Re: NBA News
It's not that fast... not even one of the fastest. He'll probably end up having to live in it in the future, nobody in their right mind would pay that much for a used one. Then again there are lots of people who aren't in their right mind.Originally posted by PepsiAddict View PostLeave a comment:
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Re: NBA News
For Sale: Michael Jordan's $430,000 Mercedes McLaren
Michael Jordan bought a 2007 Mercedes McLaren SLR 722? That's one of the best cars ever made. Nice move, M.J.
Wait, he's selling it after only driving it 962 miles? Seriously? You give me hope, Michael, and then you take it all away.
So, the McLaren can be yours for $430,000, which is a little dear for that brand even if the wheels were spun for fewer than a thousand miles (considering it cost around $475,000 new). The sellers are clearly factoring in the whole "Michael Jordan owned this car" addition.
The specs? Even three years later, this is one of the fastest things in the world. It has a 5 1/2-liter V8, it'll go from zero to just over 60 mph in 3.6 seconds, it runs with 640 horsepower and it will reach 209 miles an hour; and the rear-wheel driven monster is loaded with all sorts of carbon fiber bits so it's light as a feather in comparison to other supercars.
Also, Michael Jordan drove it. For a few hundred miles, at least.Leave a comment:
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Re: NBA News
Magic Johnson sells ownership stake in Lakers
LOS ANGELES (AP)—Magic Johnson sold his small ownership stake in the Los Angeles Lakers to Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong on Monday, possibly clearing the way for the Hall of Famer to own a bigger portion of another NBA team in the future.
Johnson bought shares representing about 4.5 percent of the Lakers in June 1994 for a reported $10 million. Johnson said the sale was strictly a “bittersweet business decision,” but the five-time league champion has long been interested in taking a larger ownership role in an NBA franchise.
“I thank Dr. (Jerry) Buss from the deepest part of my heart and soul for allowing me such an incredible opportunity,” Johnson said in a statement. “I will continue to work alongside Dr. Buss, Jeanie Buss and (general manager) Mitch Kupchak in their efforts to continually build and maintain the best NBA franchise in the league.”
Johnson spent his entire 13-year playing career with Los Angeles, including a 32-game comeback in 1996 nearly five years after his retirement. He has been a successful businessman since leaving the sport, excelling in commercial real estate ventures including movie theaters, restaurants and health clubs.
“The sale of Earvin’s share of the team is a business decision which will not change our relationship,” Buss said. “Our friendship goes well beyond business. Patrick is a longtime and passionate Lakers fan, and we are delighted to have him as a partner.”
Johnson, who also briefly coached the Lakers, has been a regular presence around the Lakers in recent years when he isn’t working as a broadcaster.
“I want to assure all the wonderful and loyal Lakers fans that my decision will in no way affect my dedication and support for the Los Angeles Lakers,” Johnson said. “I am and will always be a Laker for life.”
Yet Johnson has ambitions that go beyond a 4.5 percent stake in a team, and realizing those ambitions would require him to sell his stake in the Lakers.
The Michigan native expressed interest last month in taking a significant role in a group attempting to buy the Detroit Pistons led by Mike Ilitch, who also owns the Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Tigers. Ilitch’s group hasn’t publicly made any connection with Johnson.
Soon-Shiong is an innovative physician, a businessman, a philanthropist, a UCLA professor and a 25-year Lakers season ticket holder. He founded two lucrative pharmaceutical companies: Abraxis BioScience, which was purchased by Celgene Corp. for $2.9 billion last week, and American Pharma Partners.
“Our family looks forward to a future filled with the excitement this team brings to the city and the nation,” Soon-Shiong said. “Earvin Johnson is a shining example of excellence on and off the court, and it is a privilege to have acquired his ownership
position.”
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Re: NBA News
NBA Season is starting soon
What players will shine this year?
Who will be the team/teams 2 beat?Leave a comment:
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Re: NBA News
Riley takes exception to way some have ripped Heat
MIAMI (AP)—Pat Riley and LeBron James(notes) already have one thing in common. They’re keeping track of what’s been said about how this Miami Heat team got put together this summer.
It seems to be fueling both of them.
Speaking at length with reporters for the first time since the Heat acquired James and Chris Bosh(notes) to play alongside Dwyane Wade(notes) this summer, Riley revealed he thought some critics of Miami’s roster moves should “get a life.” He is also certain it’ll be a motivating point for his team throughout the season.
“I know one thing,” Riley said. “We will show up and we will play games. And our team will be ready. And I think that’s the way we can answer all the critics.”
Riley specifically cited Orlando Magic general manager Otis Smith and former NBA star turned analyst Charles Barkley as examples of people who took what the Heat president thought were unwarranted shots at the way the Heat went about business this summer. He also mentioned Magic coach Stan Van Gundy—Riley’s former protege in Miami—as well.
On the day after Miami signed James to a six-year contract that lured him away from the Cleveland Cavaliers, Smith said, “I thought he was, I guess, more of a competitor.”
Riley responded to that Friday, saying Smith made, “an absolutely stupid remark. He never made any kind of comment like that when he signed Rashard Lewis(notes) and he brought him down from Seattle with an $128 million contract.”
Barkley went a step farther, saying James “is never going to be the guy” in Miami because he’ll have to share the spotlight with Wade and Bosh. James responded a month later on Twitter, saying “Don’t think for one (minute) that I haven’t been taking mental notes of everyone taking shots at me this summer. And I mean everyone!”
Riley said he thought Barkley allowed his remarks to become personal attacks.
There have been countless other critics of James, Wade, Bosh and the rest of the Heat in recent weeks, and Riley said he’s having trouble understanding the need for venom.
“I take a little bit of umbrage to some of the things that came from people in our game that all of a sudden have become the moral conscience or moral authority on the decisions that every team or some individual might make concerning his life or his career,” Riley said.
Riley reiterated that he does not plan to hover over Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. Yes, Spoelstra and Riley will continue talking and strategizing, but even with the talent he assembled this summer, Riley doesn’t envision becoming a teacher again on the practice floor.
For his part, Wade isn’t surprised by that.
“I think he’s going to sit back and watch,” Wade said. “I think he has the coaches he believes in. I think he has the team he believes can do it. I think he’s going to sit back and watch it unfold.”
There are more pressing matters for the Heat to deal with before the Sept. 28 start of training camp, namely figuring out how all the new pieces like James, Bosh, Mike Miller(notes), Zydrunas Ilgauskas(notes) and Juwan Howard(notes) all fit into place.
Point guard is perhaps the biggest point of intrigue for Miami, with Riley suggesting there will be time when the Heat play without a true one on the court — no surprise there, considering Wade, James and Miller are all fine ballhandlers. Miami re-signed last year’s point guard starter in Carlos Arroyo(notes), and has former starter Mario Chalmers(notes) still recovering from an offseason ankle sprain.
“It wouldn’t be something that would be a stretch for anybody,” Riley said. “Wouldn’t be a stretch for Dwyane to play that position. It would not be a stretch for LeBron. LeBron was basically a natural point guard until he was 15, 16 years old. … So it isn’t something that he has to learn.”
Riley said last season that Miami’s plan for the long-awaited offseason of 2010 was “to build a dynasty.” Step one in that process was convincing Wade to re-sign, something that wouldn’t have happened unless either James or Bosh decided to join the Heat.
“We were ready for the worst-case scenario,” Riley said, “and the best-case scenario happened for us.”
That being said, his job isn’t done.
Riley will shift his focus back to talent evaluating now, working on finding hidden gems out there, while continuing to figure out how to make the current Heat lineup better.
The summer has been about talking. Riley’s longing for games.
“I’m actually bored stiff,” Riley said. “I can’t wait for it to start.”
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Re: NBA News
Cavaliers still hold playoffs as a goal
Certainly by the time the Cavaliers were eliminated from the playoffs by the Celtics in six games last year’s East semifinals, it was clear that as much talent as Cleveland had, the team lacked chemistry. The pregame dancing antics were entertaining, and whenever asked, the players in the locker room said the right things. But as soon as the Cavaliers were given a body blow by Boston, the team crumpled.
Now, players are reflecting on last year’s flop, and it’s the chemistry that’s being blamed. Over the weekend, Shaquille O’Neal(notes) took a swipe at guard Mo Williams(notes), saying that, “guys who couldn’t even play were worried about shots,” and that Williams should not have been taking 15 shots while O’Neal was taking just four.
And forward Antawn Jamison(notes), who came to the Cavs after a trade-deadline deal, told the website Hoopsnotes.com he tried to adapt to his new team, but after being eliminated by the Celtics, there was a realization that team chemistry was not good. He also described the season as one "with a lot of ups and downs."
All of this is not a bad thing for coach Byron Scott, who is taking over the Cavaliers with much lower expectations now that O’Neal and star player LeBron James(notes) are elsewhere. Everything that went wrong chemistry-wise in the playoffs with last year’s 61-win team shouldn’t go wrong this year. That’s because, as Scott told SN this summer, the current Cavaliers may not have the talent that last year’s team had, but the one thing this team is sure to have is great chemistry.
“The guys who are still here are going to be stronger for everything they saw and went through last year,” Scott said. “They’re really banded together now, it is a good thing for us. People haven’t given us much of a chance, but we have good players here and we are going to be greater than the sum of our parts. The more things people say, the tighter the bond we will have.”
Scott’s message was clear—don’t give up on this team just yet. The Cavaliers may be undermanned compared with last year’s bunch, but they will be more together and they will play more as a cohesive unit, start to finish. They still have a massive trade exception they got from the departure of LeBron James which remains untouched and could be used to add a player at the trading deadline. And, considering the middle rungs of the Eastern Conference are still fairly open, the playoffs are not out of the question.
“That’s still the goal,” Scott said.
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Re: NBA News
LeBron tells GQ he isn’t sure Gilbert ever cared
MIAMI (AP)—Adding a new layer to the rift between LeBron James and Dan Gilbert, the NBA’s two-time reigning MVP and new Miami Heat forward has told GQ magazine that he isn’t sure the Cleveland Cavaliers owner “ever cared” about him during their time together.
In an article released Tuesday, James spoke of how widespread criticism of his decision—and how he chose to make it a television event—is fueling him this offseason, plus reiterated how Ohio will always remain his home.
But perhaps his sharpest words were reserved for Gilbert, the owner who lashed out at him shortly after James announced that he would be joining the Heat.
“I don’t think he ever cared about LeBron,” James is quoted as saying. “My mother always told me: ‘You will see the light of people when they hit adversity. You’ll get a good sense of their character.’ Me and my family have seen the character of that man.”
Gilbert did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
James made similar remarks on the night Miami signed him to a six-year contract, doing so while sitting alongside the other two legs of the Heat superstar triangle, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
Gilbert was clearly scorned by James’ choice, firing off a now-infamous letter to Cleveland fans describing it all as “a shameful display of selfishness and betrayal.” He called James “narcissistic” and “self-promotional” and vowed the Cavaliers would win a championship before “the self-titled former king.”
Further, in an interview the same night with The Associated Press, Gilbert said he felt James quit on Cleveland during the 2009 and 2010 playoffs. Gilbert was ultimately fined $100,000 by the NBA for what commissioner David Stern said were comments that fell into the category of being “a little extreme.”
In the GQ article, James took exception to the “quitter” tag.
“Every night on the court I give my all, and if I’m not giving 100 percent, I criticize myself,” James said.
He added that he’s looking forward to seeing the Cavaliers as opponents this season.
“I do have motivation,” James told GQ. “A lot of motivation.”
Among other highlights from the article:
— James said he wouldn’t change any part of “The Decision,” the made-for-TV event in Greenwich, Conn. where he announced his playing plans to an audience of about 10 million viewers. The hourlong show made $2.5 million for Boys & Girls Clubs. “When I found out I had an opportunity to do that for those kids, it was a no-brainer,” James said.
— Despite his feuding with Gilbert, James thinks that if he could ever play for the Cavaliers again someday, it would be “a great story.”
— James explained he’s always had an uneasy relationship with Cleveland because he’s from Akron, a half-hour away. “It’s not far, but it is far,” James said. “And Clevelanders, because they were the bigger-city kids when we were growing up, looked down on us. … So we didn’t actually like Cleveland. We hated Cleveland growing up. There’s a lot of people in Cleveland we still hate to this day.”
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Re: NBA News
Nuggets waive Karl's son
DENVER(AP) -- The Denver Nuggets have waived guard Coby Karl, the son of coach George Karl, along with center Brian Butch.
Both players were signed on April 11 but didn't appear in any games in the regular season or playoffs.
Karl averaged 14 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists in four games with Denver's summer league team in Las Vegas. Butch appeared in two summer-league games, averaging seven points and six boards.
George Karl is on vacation as he prepares to return to courtside next month after fighting throat cancer since the spring.
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Re: NBA News
180-year sentence in death of NBA player’s brother
CHICAGO (AP)—A judge in Chicago has handed down a 180-year prison sentence for a man convicted of killing the brother of NBA player Quentin Richardson.
Thirty-one-year-old Lee Richardson Jr. was shot to death during a robbery in December 2005.
Authorities say 34-year-old Ishmael Clark and two co-defendants were robbing Richardson and his father when the shooting happened. Lee Richardson Sr. survived.
Cook County Judge Joseph Kazmierski sentenced Clark on Wednesday to 180 years for murder and the attempted murder of three police officers after the shooting.
The Orlando Magic signed Quentin Richardson as a free agent last month.
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