Morning Wrap: Tobias Harris With Buzzer Beater to Snap Hawks Streak

For those of us not home in front of TV's Saturday night, we missed a pretty good basketball game between two NBA Southeastern Division basketball teams.

The Orlando Magic pulled out a 100-99 win over the Atlanta Hawks after Tobias Harris drilled a 13-foot fadeaway jumper as the buzzer sounded in Orlando.

The Hawks, who were on a 9 game winning streak, thought they might have pulled out the win when Kyle Korver drained a 3-pointer with just 3 seconds to go, giving them a 99-98 lead.

But the Magic was with Orlando on Saturday, Harris led his team with 20 points giving his team their 10th win of the season.

Your highlights from NBA.com:

Morning Wrap: Monta Ellis With Crazy Buzzer Beater Win for Mavs

Even the NBA sometimes has some crazy looking buzzer beaters.

Wednesday night, Monta Ellis of the Dallas Mavericks dropped a running, twisting, fadeaway 3 pointer as the buzzer rang in Milwaukee giving the Mavs a 108-105 win vs the Milwaukee Bucks.

Ellis sort of, may have travelled on the shot...he appears to have taken several steps before launching it. But traveling is rarely called in the NBA.

Still the play was reviewed as all shots at the buzzer in the NBA are and the refs called it good.

Game over...

Here's the shot, make the call for yourself:

Morning Wrap: 76ers Beat Timberwolves to Break 17 Game Losing Streak

Sixteen seconds into Wednesday night's Phildelphia 76ers game versus the Minnesota Timberwolves, the game was stopped because both teams were playing to the wrong baskets.



Which is when the world knew something strange was happening.

A couple hours later, it ended, and something strange did happen. The Sixers won a game. After starting the season 0-17, the Sixers finally got the proverbial monkey off their back and walked away with the 85-77 win, a mere one game from tying an NBA record for futility.

The win moved the Sixers, widely regarded as the worst team in the NBA to 1-17, and keeps them as worthy challengers to the all-time worst season record in NBA history, also held by the Sixers at 9-73.

Michael Carter-Williams did his job for Philly, scoring 20 points with 9 rebounds and 9 assists while Robert Covington chipped in 17 in support.

The Timberwolves, chasing the Sixers for worst record at 4-13, had 4 guys in double figures, but all in the teens.

Your highlights from NBA.com:



And post game sound from Michael Carter-Williams from CSN Philly.

Morning Wrap: GA Police Reopen Child Abuse Investigation of Dwight Howard

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Cobb County (GA) Police are reopening a child abuse complaint lodged against Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard. Howard is from the Atlanta area.

The original complaint was investigated by Florida's DCF. We are assuming it's because that is where Royce Reed, the child's mother lives. Reed says Howard's  the 6-11 Rockets center went too far in disciplining the 7-year old child while visiting friends in Cobb County, just north of Atlanta.

Police told Atlanta TV station WSB they reopened the case that had been closed after an investigation in early October because some new information had been discovered. They did not tell the station what the information was.

The station also says the investigation is likely to be fast and not require Howard to show up and be interviewed.

Interesting. We wonder if this is being brought to light due to the Adrian Peterson situation. It does not sound, at least on the surface quite that serious. But it's very hard to tell.

Howard's attorney makes it sound like the mother, Royce Reed is seeking attention and trying to make Howard's life difficult. But if police are at least devoting resources and following up their initial investigation, they must feel like the possibility of there being something to the allegations may actually exist.

Your TV story from wsbtv.com:

Hulk Hogan and The Lukewarm Golden State Warriors Intro

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Oh Hulk Hogan, in the days of yore, you could tear the roof off a WWE arena with your mere presence.

But as you've aged into your 60's, the crowd pop just isn't quite the same.

Thursday night, the Hulkster was called upon to get the crowd revved up for the intros before the New Jersey Nets-Golden State Warriors game in Oakland.

Complete with his circa 1980's intro music (Real American),  the Hulkster came down and spoke the wisdom of the epic Nets vs. Warriors matchup.

The crowd...well, at least based on the sound, wasn't quite so into it...

Morning Wrap: Gordon Heyward at The Buzzer For The Win

Lost in the overhype about LeBron James and the coverage of the crappy New York Knicks has been a pretty good start to a well-balanced NBA.

And one of the better games so far happened Wednesday night in Utah when the Jazz squared off with the Cleveland LeBrons.

Thanks to a game winning jumper by Utah's Gordon Heyward, the Jazz sank the LeBron's 102-100.

It wasn't due to lack of effort on either part. LeBron James dropped a falling away 3-point shot with 3.4 seconds left and got fouled by Derrick Favors. The free throw tied the game at 100.

The Jazz got the ball, got it to Heyward, who calmly dropped a 21-footer as the horn sounded.

The win got Utah to 2-3 on the season, the LeBron's fell to 1-3 and have totally perplexed the drooling national media who just assumed they'd dominate the world.

Your highlights from NBA.com:

Former NBA Star Blaylock Gets 15-Year Jail Sentence for Vehicular Homicide

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Former NBA All-Star Mookie Blaylock pleaded guilty to Vehicular Homicide and other minor charges in a metro Atlanta area courtroom Monday afternoon.

The charges stem from a May 2013 traffic accident south of Atlanta when he crashed into a car driven by Monica Murphy who died on the scene. Blaylock, who was also seriously injured in the crash, agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors that calls for 7-years of jail time and 8-years of probation, though he'd be eligible to have the prison term suspended after 3-years.

While Blaylock, who admitted he had an alcohol problem, was apparently not intoxicated at the time of the crash, he was under orders not to be driving due to a seizure disorder attributed to his alcoholism.

Read more from AJC.com RIGHT HERE

Blaylock played for 13-years in the NBA and retired in 2002. He was drafted in 1989 by the New Jersey Nets and played for the Atlanta Hawks and Golden State Warriors.

Here is some video of Blaylock with the Hawks:

Adam Sandler Tells Conan O'Brien About Meeting Shaquille O'Neal's Penis

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Yeah, sorry this may or may not be family friendly depending on your perspective about things.

But it's really, really funny.

Check out this interview/joke from Conan O'Brien's show. O'Brien is talking to Adam Sandler about former NBA star Shaquille O'Neal. And Conan's people decided to animate the conversation.

For real. It's actually done as a cartoon.

Sandler goes on to talk about how funny O'Neal is and how he and his fellow comedians are amazed at this.

But what Sandler wanted to know only one thing....

How big was the Shaq diesel junk? (he didn't say it like that)...

Watch, listen and laugh--it's really funny....and dirty only in a PG way...

Awesome: A Minnesota Timberwolves 90210 Mashup

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This is absolutely one of the funniest things you will see all day. Though we are not yet sure if that's intentional or not.

Check out this really well edited video that combines the Minnesota Timberwolves media day and highlights mixed with highlights from the early 1990's TV Show Beverley Hills 90210.

And yeah, in case you are wondering, most of the guys featured in the video, were either not born yet or just a couple years old when the TV show debuted.

Nice work YouTube user Marcos Lopez, nice work:

Suns Owner Apologizes to Fans For Spurs

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Wonder how well this will go over in sports motivation land?

Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver apparently felt the San Antonio Spurs short changed his fans Thursday night during an exhibition game by not bringing or playing most of their starters. Coach Greg Popovich stayed home sick and Tim Duncan along with a couple other starters didn't make the trip.

So he took to the P.A system late in the 4th quarter to apologize to them for having to pay for a "Lopsided" game.

Hmmm...

While we sort of understand the sentiment, it WAS an exhibition game. And much like in football and other sports it isn't always about letting your starters play like it's the regular season.

For that very reason, we don't watch NFL preseason football and if the Hawks had their preseason games televised here at the OSG Global HQ (Atlanta), we wouldn't watch that either.

Here's video of Sarver talking to the huddled masses:

No Really: Dirk Nowitizki Plays a David Hasselhoff Song on TV

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We feel compelled to share this but to be totally honest, we aren't sure why.

Maybe because it perpetuates a stereotype that Germans are the only people still fascinated with David Hasselhoff? Heck, I don't know.

Anyway, check out what happens when Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, a German, made an appearance on a German TV Talk show today called "My Spass".

No, really, that's the name of the show.

And the host of the show brought out a guitar for Dirk to play. The two then broke into a rendition of a  famous Hoff song from 1989 called "Looking for Freedom".

Okay, supposedly famous.

Or famous in Germany...

Anyway, the musical entertainment begins at about the 1:40 mark...



Here's the original for the sake if comparison from ZDF

More Hawks Mess: Ferry Takes Leave of Absence as Copy of Report Gets Out

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Oy! This keeps getting worse and there are far more layers to the story of the Atlanta Hawks, owner Bruce Levinson, G.M Danny Ferry and others than anyone knew.

The latest is Friday's revalation: Ferry is taking an indefinite leave of absence from his job. And he is taking it on the heels of the disputed scouting report that got him in trouble in the 1st place was leaked to Atlanta TV Station WSB.

You can read the report in question RIGHT HERE (bottom of pg 2 is interesting stuff)

Sigh---

We are pretty sure the report, which is heavily redacted, came from bitter minority owner Michael Gearon Jr, who has been the source of most of the leaks coming out in this story. It's common knowledge in the Atlanta sports community that you could get info from him about the Atlanta Spirit that the others won't release.

That doesn't excuse what was said in the report, which is a very offensive characterization of Luol Deng. Though the rest of the report apparently speaks pretty highly of him. Deng, who was being recruited to join the Hawks, eventually spurned their interest and signed with the Miami Heat.

Ferry likely does not have a future in Atlanta. Agree, disagree or otherwise with what he said and how it got released, there's no excuse for it being put out there. None.

If you aren't from Atlanta, this is perhaps the worst place ever for something like this to happen. He (Ferry) will never escape this as long as he stays. It won't be forgotten.

Our guess is by October the Hawks have a new G.M, by next year a new owner. And by the end of the season a similar result to the past 7 or 8 seasons, good--not great, out in the first round of the playoffs.

UPDATE:

Ferry released a statement Friday afternoon through via the Hawks website:

"No words can adequately describe my remorse for the hurt that I have caused many people through the statements I repeated, most importantly Luol Deng.

Luol is a good man who I have known for many years and he has done a tremendous amount of good for his country and around the world.  I apologize to Luol and I apologize to all that I have offended. As I have said, while these were not my words, I deeply regret repeating them.  Almost all the background information I provided during the lengthy presentation regarding Luol was positive and my personal and professional recommendation during the call was very much in favor of adding Luol to our team but I never should have uttered those offensive remarks and for that I apologize.

My focus moving forward is to tirelessly work to rebuild trust with this community and with our fans. I realize that my words may ring hollow now and my future actions must speak for me.  I will maximize my time during this leave to meet with community leaders and further educate myself and others on the extremely sensitive issues surrounding race, diversity, and inclusion. I will find a way to make a positive difference in this area, and further learn from the sensitivity training that I will go through.”

UPDATE: Steve Ballmer Owns The L.A Clippers

It's done....

Ok, at least the sale, in the minds of the NBA, Shelley Sterling and Steve Ballmer is done. The league announced that Shelley Sterling and the Sterling trust has closed the sale of the Los Angeles Clippers to former Microsoft magnate Steve Ballmer.

Ballmer already had the O.K of the league to purchase the team, but the sale was contingent on a written order by a California court confirming Shelley had the power to complete the sale.

That happened right about noon eastern time.

Oh, did we mention that Ballmer is paying $2 billion for the team?

Yes, $2 billion.....

We should also note that now former owner and crazy guy Donald Sterling is expected to appeal the judges ruling and the sale, but nobody expects that to derail the proceedings at this point.

Meanwhile, the NBA, according to the Los Angeles Times has filed a countersuit vs. Mr. Sterling claiming he owes them for "devastating and incalculable" harm to the league". We aren't sure what that means, but Donald Sterling already has filed suit against them, so we're guessing this is the part where lawyers make a lot of money.

For the Clippers, it means a chance to move forward and an opportunity to put the mess in the rear view mirror. Coach Doc Rivers and several players had mumbled privately they were considering not playing or boycotting should the sale not go through.

Instead, they are celebrating their good fortune. They get a rich owner, they get...at least eventually some stability. And they get a chance to get ready for yet another NBA season right on the horizon....

KCBS gives us the early TV story:

Eerily Fascinating: Video Shows Kobe Bryant and Micheal Jordan Similarities

Okay, this is incredibly cool, but really creepy at the same time.

Someone took the time to comb through and compare highlights of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant and edit them together.

That editor found that the similarities between the two was to say the least startling....

And quite honestly, we find it amazing. But it really does explain several things. If you are of a certain age and loved basketball like Kobe does, you probably modeled a lot of the things you did after the G.O.A.T...

This video proves it--

So...Michael Jordan Sinks 11 Shots in a Row at Hoops Camp....

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At the risk of making a joke out of this, ESPN.com is showing video of NBA legend Michael Jordan hitting 11 straight shots at his basketball camp in North Carolina.

Which is great for him...as long as you add some perspective...

Watch the 50+year old Jordan start with a layup and bunny bank shot and work out to the 3-point line.

Yes, he makes those too....standing by himself.

And while this is all entertaining and great, we can already see the SportsCenter lead story forming in front of our eyes---"Could Michael Jordan return to the NBA"?

Um...based on what we see here, we'd say NO!

Anyone wanna bet on tonight and tomorrow's story?

Brian Scalabrine: NBA Player and Comedy Genius

Look Familiar

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This folks, is one of the best pieces of Sports satire we may ever have read.

Brian Scalabrine, career 12th man for numerous NBA teams is returning to one of the teams he played for in years gone by: The Boston Celtics. Only this time it's as a broadcaster.

Ever the comedian and good-natured guy, Scalabrine decided to sit down with a writer--(ok, himself) and write a letter to the good people of Boston to explain his decision to come "home"....

Quoth the Scalabrine:

"I've learned a great deal in my time spent with four franchises...actually five if you count my stint in Italy because of the lockout. What was the purpose of the lockout again? I will always think of Chicago as my third home and Oakland probably as my fourth home...but not like downtown Oakland, more like the suburbs"

And yes, if you read the letter, which is too lengthy to post in it's entirety, you'll understand exactly who he is spoofing.

The "White Mamba" comes home--courtesy CSNNew England is RIGHT HERE\

Yes, he did...

We have nothing but respect for guys like this. Guys who are thankful for the opportunity to live out a dream and self-aware enough to have fun with it.

Can't wait to hear him call a game...

Check out the "Scallenge" a segment from a couple years ago when the "Mamba" took on the challenge of some smack talking fans:

Pistons Center Andre Drummond Doesn't Like Bowling

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Haha!

Give Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond some points for creativity in his most recent Vine Post.

The Video shows Drummond at the bowling alley with friends.

And Drummond decided to, well, act like a center during the fun and frivolity, blocking shots, making a steal and trying to pass to the guy near him. (that didn't go so well)

Check out his little short Video:

New York Times Says A Lot by Saying A Little About LeBron

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You know the old saying "A picture is worth 1,000 words"? Never has it been more appropriate than the editors of the New York Times put together the front page of their sports section for Saturday's paper.

Rather than the breathless, "OMG!", "Biggest story ever" headlines that other web sites and papers chose for the announcement, they went with the photo on your right.

And never was more said that by the blank page and small mention in the transactions section.

We at OSG Sports...well, OK, me have some of our own opinions on the whole commotion and it appears they jibe with some but not with some others. (mostly the cynics of the world)

Obviously, the story of James going back to Cleveland was a humungous thing to the "Worldwide Leader". They are the network of celebrity and headliners and treated the story as such.

We don't fault them for that, it's what they do.

And Sports Illustrated found themselves with what was perhaps one of the biggest "Scoops" they've ever had.

LeBron's "Letter to Cleveland" as penned by Lee Jenkins is a fascinating read. It describes a man who has moved on from being a teenager trapped in a man's body to becoming an adult who is considered the best basketball player on the planet.

It's contrite, almost apologetic and describes a man who realizes there may be more to life than basketball.

If you haven't read it, you should. Click on the link RIGHT HERE

There are a LOT of cynics and smart-asses on the Internet who don't seem to respect the decision. Somehow they define a person by what they've done in the past and can't seem to move forward from that.

But that's what the Internet often does.

For us, we'll take the man at his word. He has the time and the opportunity to do everything he says he wants to.

If the man wants to secure his legacy and his place among the greatest athletes of all-time, then he needs to show that the words describe the man rather than just be a creation of a smart P.R department.

Andrew or Mitchell: The Cavs Introduce the Wrong Wiggins at their Draft Presser

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Zoinks!

A bit of an oopsie by Cleveland Cavaliers play-by-play guy Fred McLeod Friday afternoon at a press conference introducing their latest 1st pick of the draft Andrew Wiggins now formerly of Kansas.

Listen to the beginning of the statement as McLeod introduces Andrew's dad Mitchell (former NBA/college star) instead of him.

NBA Finals: AC in San Antonio Fixed, Now Please Stop Whining

Ok, enough already. Yeah, great, sure, we get it. The air conditioner didn't work for Game 1 of the NBA Finals causing discomfort for fans and players alike.

And yeah, we know, in part, it caused Miami Heat star LeBron James to cramp up and rendered him unable to play down the stretch as the San Antonio Spurs won game 1 of the series 110-95.

It's fixed.

Can we please stop talking about it like some sort of Greek Tragedy?

All we've heard for the past 48 hours is how hot it was and that James is a lesser basketball god because he cramped up. And a large group---mostly of judgmental, idiot fans who keep saying "He should have played through the cramps" and "How could that happen to a star?".

It happens. A lot.

For those of you with short term memories (That includes a lot of sportswriters), it wasn't so long ago that the Boston Garden, home of the Celtics during their epic battles with the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1980's, would routinely be 90 or 100 degrees with no air circulating during the game.

You didn't hear people whining and crying about it then.

((NOTE---I'm not talking about the players. Because if you listened to the post game interviews Thursday, none of them complained about it. Just said it was part of the game.))



So...game 2 will be played Sunday night. In a fully air conditioned arena. It will still be warm. Heck, it's Southern Texas, in June with 18,000 people inside a building.

But no, it won't be 90+ in the building. Everyone will play. Including Mr. James. Who, and I can't believe I'm saying this...doesn't deserve the grief he's getting.

Think about it for a second. IF...any of you have been an elite level athlete and cramped up. (It happens in football all the time). Just try to run or do...well, anything. Or look at it this way: Have you ever been asleep and suddenly had your calf cramp up on you? Yes? You've probably jumped out of bed like you've been shot to try and stretch it out. But you weren't functional for awhile after it happened.

That's what it's like.

For what it's worth, we here at the OSG. Okay, at least the part of us who enjoy basketball, are looking forward to the rest of the Spurs/Heat series. These are your 2 best teams playing at a level others can't compete with right now. This series may, before it ends...go down as being an all-time classic.

For those who missed it, here's the video of LeBron after he locked up...