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06-15-2009, 12:50 AM
Magic’s Nelson says finals didn’t deter rehab
By ANTONIO GONZALEZ, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 3 minutes ago
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP)—Orlando Magic All-Star point guard Jameer Nelson(notes) had no regrets about returning earlier than expected for the NBA finals and said it won’t affect his rehabilitation.
Nelson had what was then-called season-ending surgery in February and was supposed to be out another two months. He was still rusty and recovering from shoulder surgery in the finals, which the Magic lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in five game, and starter Rafer Alston(notes) complained about minutes after two games in the series.
“I don’t regret coming back,” Nelson said. “I regret some of the plays I made, but I don’t regret coming back. Now I just have to listen to the training staff and get ready to play next season. I’ll be fine.”
Alston had been the team’s starting point guard since he was acquired from the Houston Rockets at the trade deadline, a move made after Nelson was hurt.
Alston expressed displeasure with his minutes after the Magic lost Games 1 and 4. But he said Sunday night Nelson wasn’t the reason they lost.
“There’s a lot of other things we could take away from the series,” Alston said. “There’s a lot of things we could have done differently. So we don’t need to worry about my minutes or anything like that.”
Alston averaged 15.4 points and had 11 assists in the series, while Nelson averaged 3.8 points and had 14 assists.
REMEMBERING RED: Phil Jackson planned to honor the man who he passed for most NBA championships.
The Lakers’ 99-86 win over the Orlando Magic in Game 5 on Sunday night gave Jackson 10 NBA titles—four with Los Angeles and six with Chicago.
The late Red Auerbach won nine titles, all with the Boston Celtics.
“I’ll smoke a cigar tonight in memory of Red,” Jackson said. “He was a great guy.”
Stories about Auerbach circulated all week like the smoke from one of his famous victory cigars.
Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was a 14-year-old hoops prodigy when he first met Auerbach. When the Celtics played in New York, they would practice at Abdul-Jabbar’s high school, Power Memorial, which was about 12 blocks from Madison Square Garden.
“I would watch Bill Russell practice and I tried to learn as much as I could,” he said. “Any time I got a chance to watch Wilt (Chamberlain) or Russell play, I would. I never missed a chance.”
Auerbach took a liking to Abdul-Jabbar, for obvious reasons. The ninth-grader was on his way to becoming one of the game’s greatest players, and Auerbach recognized talent as well as anyone.
Abdul-Jabbar was asked if Auerbach ever gave him any advice when he was a youngster.
“Yeah,” the NBA’s all-time scoring leader said. “He said I should come play for the Celtics.”
REF READING: Bob Delaney didn’t officiate in the NBA finals for the first time in nine years, sidelined by a late-season injury.
The veteran referee got some news to cheer him up during his recovery.
Delaney’s book, “Covert: My Years Infiltrating the Mob” was recently released in paperback, and the motion picture rights to the book were optioned by Appledown Films and Scott-Burns Productions.
Delaney has been an NBA referee for 22 years. His book tells the story of his years as a New Jersey state trooper working undercover to infiltrate organized crime.
CELEBRITY WATCH: R&B singer Chris Brown and former girlfriend Rihanna were among those in attendance in the deciding game of the NBA finals.
Brown is accused of beating then-girlfriend Rihanna after a pre-Grammy party in February in Los Angeles. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 22. A judge will decide whether there is enough evidence to continue the case. Rihanna could be called as a witness during that hearing.
The two were sitting on opposite ends of the court in the same row for Game 4 on Thursday night at Amway Arena.
Other celebrities spotted at Game 5 were rapper Lil Wayne and tennis star Serena Williams.
WORTH THE PRICE: Lakers coach Phil Jackson said team owner Jerry Buss doesn’t usually come down on him when he draws a fine for criticizing officials.
“Sometimes he just says, ‘It’s money well spent,”’ Jackson said Sunday.
The NBA fined Jackson $25,000 for criticizing the officials during Game 4 of the finals. The league also penalized the Lakers $25,000 on Saturday for comments Jackson made during an interview with ABC between the first and second quarters of their 99-91 overtime victory Thursday.
Jackson said there were some “bogus” calls after the Lakers’ Pau Gasol(notes), Lamar Odom(notes) and Andrew Bynum(notes) each picked up two fouls in the first quarter.
AP Sports Writer Tom Withers and AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney contributed to this story.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=Ak.apu8PG9FKz68u7q70J9K8vLYF?slug=ap-nbafinals-notebook&prov=ap&type=lgns
There is going to be so much pressure on Jameer to lead the Magic back to the Finals next season. Although Jameer is probably the superior player, Alston took this team with only about half a season under his belt, to lead the Magic to the finals.
By ANTONIO GONZALEZ, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 3 minutes ago
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP)—Orlando Magic All-Star point guard Jameer Nelson(notes) had no regrets about returning earlier than expected for the NBA finals and said it won’t affect his rehabilitation.
Nelson had what was then-called season-ending surgery in February and was supposed to be out another two months. He was still rusty and recovering from shoulder surgery in the finals, which the Magic lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in five game, and starter Rafer Alston(notes) complained about minutes after two games in the series.
“I don’t regret coming back,” Nelson said. “I regret some of the plays I made, but I don’t regret coming back. Now I just have to listen to the training staff and get ready to play next season. I’ll be fine.”
Alston had been the team’s starting point guard since he was acquired from the Houston Rockets at the trade deadline, a move made after Nelson was hurt.
Alston expressed displeasure with his minutes after the Magic lost Games 1 and 4. But he said Sunday night Nelson wasn’t the reason they lost.
“There’s a lot of other things we could take away from the series,” Alston said. “There’s a lot of things we could have done differently. So we don’t need to worry about my minutes or anything like that.”
Alston averaged 15.4 points and had 11 assists in the series, while Nelson averaged 3.8 points and had 14 assists.
REMEMBERING RED: Phil Jackson planned to honor the man who he passed for most NBA championships.
The Lakers’ 99-86 win over the Orlando Magic in Game 5 on Sunday night gave Jackson 10 NBA titles—four with Los Angeles and six with Chicago.
The late Red Auerbach won nine titles, all with the Boston Celtics.
“I’ll smoke a cigar tonight in memory of Red,” Jackson said. “He was a great guy.”
Stories about Auerbach circulated all week like the smoke from one of his famous victory cigars.
Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was a 14-year-old hoops prodigy when he first met Auerbach. When the Celtics played in New York, they would practice at Abdul-Jabbar’s high school, Power Memorial, which was about 12 blocks from Madison Square Garden.
“I would watch Bill Russell practice and I tried to learn as much as I could,” he said. “Any time I got a chance to watch Wilt (Chamberlain) or Russell play, I would. I never missed a chance.”
Auerbach took a liking to Abdul-Jabbar, for obvious reasons. The ninth-grader was on his way to becoming one of the game’s greatest players, and Auerbach recognized talent as well as anyone.
Abdul-Jabbar was asked if Auerbach ever gave him any advice when he was a youngster.
“Yeah,” the NBA’s all-time scoring leader said. “He said I should come play for the Celtics.”
REF READING: Bob Delaney didn’t officiate in the NBA finals for the first time in nine years, sidelined by a late-season injury.
The veteran referee got some news to cheer him up during his recovery.
Delaney’s book, “Covert: My Years Infiltrating the Mob” was recently released in paperback, and the motion picture rights to the book were optioned by Appledown Films and Scott-Burns Productions.
Delaney has been an NBA referee for 22 years. His book tells the story of his years as a New Jersey state trooper working undercover to infiltrate organized crime.
CELEBRITY WATCH: R&B singer Chris Brown and former girlfriend Rihanna were among those in attendance in the deciding game of the NBA finals.
Brown is accused of beating then-girlfriend Rihanna after a pre-Grammy party in February in Los Angeles. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 22. A judge will decide whether there is enough evidence to continue the case. Rihanna could be called as a witness during that hearing.
The two were sitting on opposite ends of the court in the same row for Game 4 on Thursday night at Amway Arena.
Other celebrities spotted at Game 5 were rapper Lil Wayne and tennis star Serena Williams.
WORTH THE PRICE: Lakers coach Phil Jackson said team owner Jerry Buss doesn’t usually come down on him when he draws a fine for criticizing officials.
“Sometimes he just says, ‘It’s money well spent,”’ Jackson said Sunday.
The NBA fined Jackson $25,000 for criticizing the officials during Game 4 of the finals. The league also penalized the Lakers $25,000 on Saturday for comments Jackson made during an interview with ABC between the first and second quarters of their 99-91 overtime victory Thursday.
Jackson said there were some “bogus” calls after the Lakers’ Pau Gasol(notes), Lamar Odom(notes) and Andrew Bynum(notes) each picked up two fouls in the first quarter.
AP Sports Writer Tom Withers and AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney contributed to this story.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=Ak.apu8PG9FKz68u7q70J9K8vLYF?slug=ap-nbafinals-notebook&prov=ap&type=lgns
There is going to be so much pressure on Jameer to lead the Magic back to the Finals next season. Although Jameer is probably the superior player, Alston took this team with only about half a season under his belt, to lead the Magic to the finals.