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NBA Sloan's Soul Of Jazz February, 2001 National Basketball Association (NBA) Utah Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan inked a deal with the mountain franchise to stay on with the team for three more seasons after the 2000-2001 haul. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Jazz fans are at least certain Sloan will return. Utah forward Karl Malone said in summer 2000 that he did not think, Sloan, or point guard John Stockton would be with the Jazz after 2000-2001. "I'm going to back to work," Sloan said. "That's what I've always done." Sloan is the longest tenured head coach in the NBA and now will be with the Jazz through the 2003-2004 season. He joined on with the squad in 1988 and since then has compiled a 638-298 record. Besides the wins, Sloan took the Jazz to the NBA finals in 1997 and 1998.
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National Basketball Association (NBA) San Antonio Spurs guard Derek Anderson is starting to feel at home in San Antonio, Texas - and the Spurs, not coincidentally, are starting to heat up.
Against the Golden State Warriors Monday night at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, Anderson dropped 14 points in a 109-85 win and continued to be the smooth role player the Spurs require. With the loss, the Warriors dropped to 14-33 and the Spurs improved to 30-15 while winning their seventh straight. Anderson and the Spurs are only one-half game behind the Utah Jazz in the Midwest: they are starting to feel like it will only be a matter of time before they surpass superstar Jazz forward Karl Malone & Co.
"We're on the right track," said Spurs head coach Greg Popovich, "and we know what our bread and butter is. We're playing defense and limiting teams. Our role players are also developing and Derek has been a big part of that."
Anderson came over to the Spurs from the lowly Los Angeles Clippers. Besides spending time with the Clips, Anderson also handled the rock for the Cleveland Cavaliers. When he inked with the Spurs in summer 2000, it was for the one?year@$2.5 million exception. Anderson could have gleaned more loot elsewhere, but was enamored of winning. San Antonio center Tim Duncan also could have signed for money with another franchise, but he decided to stick it out with the Spurs and his running buddy, the veteran center David Robinson.
"We came here to win," Anderson said, "and we are all starting to put it together."
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When the National Basketball Association (NBA) Boston Celtics named Rick Pitino their head coach and el presidente in 1997, many thought Celtic forward Antoine Walker would thrive.
Pitino and Walker won a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship in 1996 at the University of Kentucky (UK), and Walker had been Pitino's primary prime time player. Walker left UK after his sophomore season in 1996. After spending a year in Beantown in the NBA, he was reunited with the Rickster.
When Pitino came to Beantown, he took over a young team and added fellow UK star forward Ron Mercer via the 1997 draft. He also added former UK forward Walter McCarty. For a short time it looked like a happy Wildcat reunion, but as Pitino tried to place college-like restrictions on his former Cats things got ugly. Walker never thrived and was not happy with his coach: as a result the Celtics got worse until Pitino stepped down in January 2001.
Fast-forward to February 2001 and things look a lot different at the FleetCenter.
Under new head coach Jim O'Brien, Walker is thriving and the Celts have won six straight games. The Cleveland Cavaliers were victim #6 as Walkers scored 36 points and grabbed 11 rebounds at the Fleet Sunday in Boston, Massachusetts, in their 103-82 win. The win bought the Celtics to 21-26 and dropped the Cavs to 20-26. More importantly for the Celts, is that the win put them into a tie for eight playoff spot with the Indiana Pacers.
"My goal is to make the playoffs," Walker said. "We are getting our team healthy and back together. I feel my game is improving and if I keep improving, I think the team will get better as well."
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National Basketball Association (NBA) New Jersey Nets point guard Stephon Marbury is one of the nicest ballers in the NBA, but he has yet to shake Philadelphia 76ers guard Allen Iverson as the top rock handler in the Eastern Conference.
Iverson has gotten the better of Marbury in most of their duels, but Sunday night at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey, it was Stephon's show. Marbury scored 34 points and hit key buckets down the stretch in his team's 96-89 win.
Iverson scored 32 points for the 76ers (35-13), but he bricked some shots down the stretch and had to step aside as the 15-34 Nets broke a seven-game losing streak.
"It's very big for us," Marbury said, "being that we've been playing bad. When I am hitting my shot and we have Kenyon [Martin] and Keith [Van Horn] make shots it's a different game."
Martin and Van Horn scored 20 points a piece and helped Marbury with some of the offensive load. Marbury at the tender age of 23 has been the Nets leader since he arrived from the Minnesota Timberwolves during the 1998-1999 season. The legendary hoop star from Coney Island, Brooklyn, has matured in 2000-2001: as a result, he was awarded a trip to the All-Star game. Now all he needs to do is overtake Iverson, a much tougher task.
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NEW YORK -- The National Basketball Association (NBA) New York Knicks entered the NBA record books Thursday night when they held the 18-17 Houston Rockets to under 100 points. For the Knicks it was their twenty-ninth straight game where they held their opponents under 100 points -- the Fort Wayne Pistons set the old record in 1954.
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The record was diminished a little bit by the fact that the Knicks lost the game 76-75 and ended their seven game winning streak. But after struggling early in the 2000-2001 season, the 22-13 Knicks are only three and half games behind the Philadelphia 76ers.
"Defense is the key," Latrell Sprewell told ISWire. "We haven't really let teams score on us. We've done an excellent job of keeping teams down and keeping them off the board. We've done a good job in rebounding. We've played better offensively too."
Forward Marcus Camby, who was unable to play in four of the previous games due to strained left groin, commended his team for its defense, but also said other crucial elements contributed to their streak.
"I think it's our intensity and focus," Camby told ISWire. "Our mental toughness has also been tested a lot. We're playing good basketball right now. I would have to say it's our poise, as well as our mental toughness. In the past few games, we've been down early-----like 14-15 points, but we've found a way to weather the storm."
The Knicks have the top-rated defense in the NBA, holding their opponents to 83.8 points per game.
Additionally, the Knicks are averaging 93.2 points per game, and are holding their opponents to .397 shooting from the field.
The Knicks have demonstrated the type of team that they are---even without the assistance of forward Glen Rice, who's on the injured list with left plantar fasciitis. Charlie Ward recently returned on January 7, 2000, when the Knicks hosted the Washington Wizards after missing nineteen games as a result of anthroscopic surgery on his right knee.
Now the Knicks must demonstrate that they can continue their streak and their determination to knock the Philadelphia 76ers out of their position.
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Living in Florida is all about silver linings. If you are a fan of the National Basketball Association (NBA) Orlando Magic, the nagging ankle injury to inbound free agent Grant Hill has produced a remarkable silver lining in the emergence of Tracy McGrady.
Most NBA purists felt McGrady would become a magnificent player once he left the shadow of quasi-cousing Vince Carter of the Toronto Raptors and became Magical. But the injury to Hill - he's expected to come back any day - has left the door open for McGrady to become the man.
He has not disappointed. Take the 36 points he put up Thursday night as the Magic nudged the Denver Nuggets 103-93. The 36 is the fifth time in the youngish 2000-2001 season that McGrady has crossed the 30-point threshold - and that might not even be the most impressive part of his performance.
"You try to play up on him and he goes to the basket," said Ryan Bowen of the Denver Nuggets. "You stay off him and he pulls up for the jumper. You've just got to
try to do your best when you're out there."
The Magic have won four in a row, and McGrady has scored at least 20 points in each of their last 12 games, averaging a nifty 32 over the last five tilts. Against Denver, he even threw in 12 rebounds and 4 assists in a Hill-like performance.
"We're very lucky," said Orlando head coach Doc Rivers. "First, we're on a
four-game winning streak. Second, we have three days to practice where [Hill] can really work on his conditioning. The next two days will be a training camp for him and the third day, we will probably limit him so he will be fresh going into his first game back."
"I feel good and my spirits are high," Hill said. "My ankle feels great, but we're
trying to be patient. I really look forward to getting back out there real soon. I'm really at peace now, really excited that we're getting close."
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National Basketball Association (NBA) Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant showed some polish Thursday night when he hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 2.3 seconds left in regulation and then hit the winning jumper with 24 seconds left to propel the Lakers to a 112-110 win over the Sacramento Kings.
"I just have a great time when I'm out there playing in an environment like this," Bryant said. "That [3-pointer] was the best look I had all night. I just waited for the chance."
Bryant dropped 31 points and also grabbed 10 rebounds. His sidekick, Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal had 33 to lead everyone as per usual. Sacramento controlled most of the game - an impressive feat, considering forward Chris Webber was out with a bum ankle. The tide started to turn when Kings point guard Jason Williams went down with his own ankle sprain in the third and did not return. Webber is due back next week and Williams is out pending an evaluation by team doctors.
"We had a chance if we kept coming back on them in the fourth quarter," said Lakers head coach Phil Jackson, "and we did and found our way in. We had to struggle behind some very good 3-point shooting, but they cooled off in the fourth quarter."
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The National Basketball Association (NBA) Philadelphia 76ers, 8-0, stayed perfect for the 2000-2001 NBA season as they beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 107-98. Forward George Lynch helped the 76ers to keep the only perfect record in the league as he scored 23 points and played tough defense all night.
"My shot opportunities were there," Lynch said. "I knew I had to come out of my shooting slump sometime. I always wanted to score, but my role is to be a defensive player. If you watched the way we played last year, other than Allen, someone else has to step up."
Allen Iverson scored 22 points for the 76ers and for the second straight night was not the team's leading scorer. Head coach Larry Brown said he thinks the 76ers are finding a balance on offense that they have not had since The Answer arrived.
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It had to be a nice night for National Basketball Association (NBA) Seattle SuperSonics center Patrick Ewing. Ewing played a solid game against his former team, the New York Knicks, in Seattle's 96-75 win and surpassed retired forward Charles Barkely on the all-time scoring list to move into thirteenth place with 23,760 points.
"He's not a go-to superstar that he once was," said Sonics coach Paul Westphal, "but he's still a very good center. We're all real happy for Patrick. You could see him smiling after the game. I'm sure it meant a lot to him."
Ewing scored 10 points and pulled down nine boards and helped the Sonics, 3-6, get a win. The Knicks, 5-3, came out flat and watched as the Sonics slowly pulled away. Sonics point guard Gary Payton was the game's top scorer with 25.
Ewing was outplayed by Knicks center Marcus Camby, who had 20 points and 17 rebounds, but Camby showed respect for the Knicks former big man.
"I was definitely emotional," Camby said. "I gave Patrick a hug and told him how much we miss him and stuff. Doing well against him meant nothing. If we would have gotten a win, it might have meant something."
As for Ewing, he gave no indications he missed Gotham.
"I'm real happy to get the game over," Ewing said. "I was tired of all the media hype and all the questions. I'm very relieved. Now all the New York media can go home."
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National Basketball Association (NBA) Seattle SuperSonics center Patrick Ewing will face off against his old team, the New York Knicks, Tuesday night in Seattle, Washington.
Ewing was the player the Knicks pinned their hopes and dreams on. He is the player that turned the franchise around when the Knicks won the lottery and drafted him in 1985, and he is also the player who never won a championship even as Gotham fans lived and died with him. For Ewing, though, it will just be another game.
"Playing the Knicks," Ewing said, "it really will be no big deal. It will just be another game for me. I want the team to get a win. That is really all I am hoping that will come of this."
The SuperSonics, 2-6, could use a win. Ewing left the Knicks, 5-2, partly because they were going with a younger team and Knicks guard Latrell Sprewell wants the new Knicks center, Marcus Camby, to dominate Ewing. But Ewing's old coach and Knicks pine baron Jeff Van Gundy has also said in coachspeak that this is just another game.
"It really is just another game," Van Gundy said. "He [Ewing] gave so much to the franchise and helped them. He also accomplished a lot more in his career. So this small meeting is not big deal."
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Now that National Basketball Association (NBA) commissioner David Stern has had his say and made sure forward Joe Smith will not re-ink a deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves, there are many teams that will be willing to pay Smith millions to come aboard.
"I know we are definitely interested in him," a Chicago Bulls spokesperson told ISWire. "I am sure there will be other teams that will also have interest."
Smith spent time with the Detroit Pistons Sunday and said he is leaning towards signing with the Motor City squad, but there are still other options available. Smith is set to meet with Dallas Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban, sometime this week. One option that is not available is the Timberwolves.
Smith can't sign with the Timberwolves because Stern busted him, his agent Eric Fleisher, and T'wolves owner, Glen Taylor for inking a secret multimillion deal that violated the salary cap - on top of a kosher one-year@$2.5 million deal in 2000. Arbitrator Kenneth Dam confirmed Smith had inked the secret deal.
Stern took away the T'wolves next five first round draft picks, fined the T'wolves $3.5 million, and voided all three one-year contracts Smith signed with the T'wolves. This took away Smith's Larry Bird rights, which allows a team to pay a player as much cash as they want if he plays on the squad for three years. The 2000 NBA season would have been Smith's third season with the T'wolves.
Smith, along with the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), tried to fight the decision, but this week Dam ruled that Stern had the right to take away Smith's Larry Bird rights and upheld his decision. Smith can now only ink a one-year $611,000 deal with the T'wolves under salary cap rules if he stays put.
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The National Basketball Association (NBA) Sacramento Kings and just about every other team in the NBA that hopes to ink Kings forward Chris Webber in 2001 must have gasped when Webber fell down tying to grab a board in the third quarter Sunday against the Dallas Mavericks.
"He's the man," Kings center Vlade Divac said, "our main guy, our leader. I got scared when I saw him go down. I did see the play and I didn't know what happened. I thought it might be a knee."
Before Webber went down and sat out the fourth quarter he had already scored 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the Kings to a 109-84 win over the Mavericks. The Kings are now 3-0 at the Arco Center in the city of Sacramento, California, but now may be without CWebb, listed as day-to-day.
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Center Alonzo Mourning visited his team, the National Basketball Association (NBA) Miami Heat, Tuesday after confirming he had a rare kidney disorder. Mourning stood strong and would not let his teammates mourn over his illness, despite the fact that he might face a kidney transplant.
"I'm going to tell you: Don't be having a long face around him," said Heat head coach Pat Riley. "He'll kick your rear. He's about attacking it and finding a plan, and he doesn't want to be around anybody who is feeling sorry for him.''
Mourning felt ill after his stint on the National Governing Body (NGB) USA men's basketball team that played in the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, in September 2000. After Mourning got tests taken he was hit with the news that he had trouble with his kidneys.
The prognosis on Mounring's kidneys has not been determined yet, and Riley said that treatment will begin next week. Mourning, for his part, has respectfully asked to be left alone by the scribes
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Retired National Basketball Association (NBA) immortal Michael Jordan - last seen matriculating as part-owner and president of basketball ops at the woeful Washington Wizards - had a "love of the game" clause in his contract that allowed him to play anywhere, any time.
But would His Airness allow his players under contract to do the same?
That is the question for Jordan's counterpart in The Meadowlands, New Jersey Nets president Rod Thorn, now that point guard Stephon Marbury wants to play street ball at the legendary Rucker tournament in Harlem, New York. The new president of the franchise says it's no big deal.
"You know Stephon is a player who plays constantly," Thorn said. "He comes over to the Nets offices and works out about four times a week. Am I nervous? No. Because he's going to play anyway. I think he's a player who's getting better every year and I think he's going to be one of the best, if not the best point guards in the NBA."
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Gotham wanted it and now they got it: the National Basketball Association (NBA) New York Knicks Wednesday traded center Patrick Ewing to the Seattle Super Sonics in a four-team, 12-player deal.
Coming to the Knicks will be the sharpshooting Los Angeles Lakers small forward Glen Rice. Da Bulls told ISWire last week that they were going to ink Rice to a one-year $8 million dollar deal, but that was not enough for Rice and his agent, SFX Entertainment Inc.'s David Falk.
Falk, who also represents Ewing, instead managed to have the Lakers sign Rice to a four-year $36 million deal and then sling him to the Knicks. The Knicks also picked up so-what Lakers center Travis Knight in the deal and a handful of other role players. The fourth team in the mix were the Phoenix Suns, who created some cap room by sending center Luc Longley to the Knicks for Gotham's 2001 first round draft pick.
The Lakers main acquisition in the blockbuster trade was Sonics forward Horace Grant and Knicks center Chris Dudley. Poobahs at the Lakers had been looking to obtain a power forward now that the Portland Trail Blazers have stacked their front like in the offseason with the likes of Dale Davis and Shawn Kemp. The deal reunites Grant with his old head coach from the Chicago Bulls, Phil Jackson.
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Former National Basketball Association (NBA) player Dennis Rodman is looking to find his niche on The Internet's World Wide Web. Rodman is launching a Web site that plans to give viewers 24-hour access to his digs in the city of Newport, California (RodmanTV.com). The technical part of the project will be handled by WickedOD, an entertainment company and once one of the world's largest porn producers. Rodman will ask his fans to fork over $29.95 a month for the chance to get live images of his house on the Web for all 24 hours of the day.
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Former National Basketball Association (NBA) Indiana Pacers point guard Mark Jackson says he has signed a 4-year $14 million deal with the Toronto Raptors.
"They stepped up to the plate," Jackson said. "That's what it boiled down to. It was a no-brainer."
Jackson, who made his fist NBA finals appearance in July 2000 when the Pacers lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in six games, said the Pacers had more character than any other squad he had ever played on, but his time with them is over.
Pacers general manager Donnie Walsh was able to lock up most of his championship team as Pacers Jalen Rose ($93 million), Austin Croshere ($51 million), Reggie Miller ($36 million), and Sam Perkins ($2.25 million) all received contract extensions. Walsh had said he wanted to sign Jackson, but it appears as if he ran out of ammunition when it came to signing one of the great assist guys in NBA history.
"I felt he got an unbelievable offer from Toronto and I understand why he had to take it," said Walsh. "I'll miss him a lot, and somewhere down the line I know he'll be a great NBA coach."
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B.J Armstrong is taking his baby face from the parquet to the National Basketball Association (NBA) Chicago Bulls front office. The former Bulls guard - the 'baby-faced assassin' on the early Chicago championship teams - will be the assistant to Bull's vice president of basketball operations Jerry Krause.
"We are extremely pleased to be able to add a person of B.J.'s experience and class to our front office," Krause said. "His duties will include a wide variety of scouting assignments as well as on-the-floor work during training camp. He will be involved in all aspects of scouting and player development."
Armstrong, an eleven-year veteran in the NBA, was an important backcourt cog in the first three championships that the Bulls won with the immortal Michael Jordan. After his time with the Bulls, Armstrong wanted a starring role but played anonymously for the Golden State Warriors and the Charlotte Hornets. His Airness often remarked that he did not like Armstrong because he was his children's favorite player.
"As a player, I developed great respect for the way the Bulls organization operates," Armstrong said." Now, as I start my post-playing career, I have a great opportunity to learn the other end of professional basketball from the best in the business. I'm thrilled and happy to begin my new job."
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Call it loyalty if you must, but in the world of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the young superstar who stays put stands to make the maximum $86 million over seven years, compared to the $67 million over six years for those who skedaddle to new cities.
Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs, who began his life as an athlete in a swimming pool in the Virgin Islands, announced Tuesday that he was going to stay in Texas, though perhaps not for the maximum seven years allowed under the collective bargaining agreement (CBA). His decision runs in sharp contrast to Grant Hill, the free agent Detroit Pistons superstar ready to move to the Orlando Magic for the mandated $67 million. Not even a visit to the Professional Golfer's Association (PGA) Tour phenom Eldrick "Tiger" Woods, a resident of Orlando, Florida, could sway Duncan from his chosen path.
"We tried to exhaust every opportunity," said Magic general manager John Gabriel. "We tried to change his mind and sway him. We made a battle out of it. We took the best shot that we could."
"Orlando had a lot to offer," Duncan said. "I went down there and had a good time. When it came down to it, I just liked what I had here [in Texas]."
Playing alongside center David Robinson, Duncan was the Most Valuable Player in the NBA Finals in 1999, his second year in the league and the first time San Antonio had ever won an NBA Championship. The Los Angeles Lakers came out of the Western Conference to win famously in 2000.
"I think we have a great opportunity with myself, and David Robinson at the core of the whole thing," Duncan opined, "and the fact that we have won it before."
At just 24 years of age, Duncan may opt to sign a shorter deal with the Spurs and to hence keep his options open. Lawyer Lon Babby, attorney for both Duncan and Hill, now has to hammer out the details of the San Antonio deal.
"He's got to this point," Babby blabbed. "Now, I have a lot of work to do."
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National Basketball Association (NBA) stars Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs and Grant Hill of the Detroit Pistons got game. But they also got injuries that might well keep them from competing for the United States men's national basketball team at the 2000 Olympic Summer Games in Sydney, Australia.
Duncan missed the postseason and succumbed to minor knee surgery once the Spurs were deep-sixed: he is expected to make the trip with Team Dream. But a bum foot forced Hill out of the playoffs mid-series and into surgery: he remains doubtful.
"I think there's a real chance that, unfortunately, he might not be able to play from what we're hearing," confirmed NBA deputy commissioner Russ Granik.
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Kobe Bryant, the #2 option in the National Basketball Association (NBA) Los Angeles Lakers triangle offense, is burning to play on a bum ankle. But teammate Glen Rice, the #3 option in gelatinous triple-post, is just burning up about a lack of playing time.
The disposition of the Bryant-Rice combo platter will have much to do with the outcome of Game Four Wedneday night against the Indiana Pacers at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. After losing Game Three without Bryant and with Rice enshrined on the bench in the fourth quarter, the Lakers still lead the first-to-four NBA Finals by 2-1.
Bryant says he will "probably" play on a sprained ankle that is not yet completely healed, but his effectiveness won't be known until he laces it up for Game Four at Conseco. He compared the ankle to feeling as if "your foot is locked."
"It will depend on if I can benefit the team," Bryant said. "A lot of my game
is based on speed and cutting and getting guys open shots, you know, kind of
penetrating the ball down guys' throats. But we'll see what happens."
Rice, meanwhile, must feel like he's in jail after Zen head coach Phil Jackson consigned him to the Lakers pine for the most meaningful minutes of Game Three. He ended the affair with just 7 points in 27 minutes - and no points at all in the second half.
"I'm not going to go to him," Rice said of his head coach. "I don't think anything's going to change. He's going to do what he's going to do. I've just got to be ready
when I'm out there�. I definitely think we would have had a better chance to win
with me on the floor. I really think I need to be in there for us to succeed.... I'm trying to be as positive as I can. I'm not trying to be negative or be the bad apple in the bunch. I'm just asking to be involved a little more."
"I have no comment for that,'' Jackson said. "That's the way he [Rice] saw the game."
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In keeping with his traditional what-me-worry? approach to rules changes, National Basketball Association (NBA) commissioner David Stern said the league has no plans to make rule changes that would prevent the odious Hack-A-Shaq practice - the strategy of fouling Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal intentionally away from the ball.
"We're not planning to rush out," Stern said, "and enact some Hack-a-Shaq
antidote."
Before the 1999-2000 regular season, the league finally enacted rules changes to limit the amount of contact impeding cutters and slashers to the basket, among other changes. But the rules changed only years after millions of fans felt a game once based on finesse, skill, and movement had all but ground to a halt. In the years before the changes, Stern also insisted no change in "our game" was needed.
The commish took the mike during his annual State of the League address before Game Four of the NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Indiana Pacers. L.A. leads the first-to-four series 2-1, with Game Four Wednesday night at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.
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The National Basketball Association (NBA) New York Knicks have been in this situation many times before and are not going down without a fight. The Knicks face a win-or-go-home tilt against the Indiana Pacers at Madison Square Garden in Gotham in Game Six of the Eastern Conference Finals.
The task will not be easy for the Knicks though as they face a foe that is hungry for revenge and can taste the chance to compete in the NBA finals for the first time in franchise history.
"I think it is now or never," opined Pacer guard Reggie Miller. "If we can't get it done now, there probably never will be another golden opportunity like there is now."
The Knicks are refusing to back down to the Indiana Pacers despite being down 3-2 in the first-to-four series. The Knicks are actually confident that they have the series in their hands.
"I'll guarantee we're going back to Indiana," Knicks point guard Chris Childs said.
Knicks center Patrick Ewing's statements were a little bit wiser but still full of confidence.
"We've never done anything the easy way," Ewing said. "It's going to have to be one of those series. We're going to win."
The Knicks have faced elimination twice in this year's playoffs so far, so this is familiar territory for them. The hobbled Knicks are expected to have their entire cast of characters set to play tonight at The Garden
"You've got to put the dagger in and make sure the heart isn't pumping any more," Miller said of the Pacers task. "If you give them any type of life, you never know what'll happen. You have to kill the dog."
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The hearts of the National Basketball Association (NBA) Portland Trailblazers are just a little heavier Friday as they prepare for the second round of the NBA Playoffs. Trailblazers assistant coach Bill Musselman died in the middle of the night, just one month after learning he had bone marrow cancer. The Trailblazers players had dedicated their first round win over the Minnesota Timberwolves to Musselman.
"We dedicated this series and this win to him," said Blazers forward Scottie Pippen.
Indeed, players on both teams had the 59-year-old coach on their thoughts. Prior to his work this season with the Blazers, Musselman had been the first-ever head coach in the history of the Timberwolves.
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Maybe the greatest money shooter in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA) pulled the trigger again Thursday night and now the upstart Milwaukee Bucks lay dead in their tracks.
With his team comatose in the fourth quarter, shootist Reggie Miller of the Indiana Pacers put up 18 points in the final stanza -- and a career NBA Playoffs-high of 41 for the game -- to send the Bucks back home for a beer. The #1 seed Pacers managed to win Game Five (and the opening round Eastern Conference series, 3-2) by just a slim point 96-95 on a Travis Best trifecta from the corner with but 16 ticks left in the tilt. Best had been horrendous from the floor at that point, going but 2 for 14, but he buried the biggest shot of the game to send Indiana into round two Saturday against the Philadelphia 76ers.
The turning point right before the final curtain came when point guard Sam Cassell of the Bucks fouled out and left the Bucks body without a head. Not even the heroics of Tim Thomas coming of age were enough to save #8 seed Milwaukee in what would have been a monumental upset. Thomas buried a perimeter jumper with 50 seconds remaining to give the Bucks a 94-93 before the Pacers got the best of them.
"I'm doing this for myself," said Miller, a free agent after the season. "This could have been my last game."
"He made it happen," Pacers head coach Larry Bird said of Miller. "He played a phenomenal game. Down the stretch Reggie, made all the shots."
Larry Legend will live to coach another day: Bird has made it clear for years that this will be his last season as a head coach in Indiana.
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For the National Basketball Association (NBA) Toronto Raptors, Vince Carter has been elevating his game to Jordanesque levels by winning the 2000 All-Star slam dunk competition and by trying to lead his team into the promised land of the postseason. But on the business side, Vinsanity has tanked -with the choice of William "Tank" Black, now under investigation, as his agent; and with an ill-fated sneaker deal that he is trying to pull out of. But Carter took a major step toward getting his affairs in order this week when he chose International Management Group (IMG) to represent his affairs. IMG agent Mark Steinberg - his other major client is the Professional Golfer's Association (PGA) Tour star Tiger Woods - will heretofore represent Carter, with lots of lucre likely for the high-flying phenom.
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Earvin "Magic" Johnson, the retired National Basketball Association (NBA) immortal who also delivered the first National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men's basketball championship to Michigan State University (MSU) had it just about right when it came to the second title, earned last night in a sweeping 89-76 State win over the University of Florida.
"He attacked that [Florida] trap like nobody else had," Johnson said of Spartans head coach Tom Izzo, "and he scored on it. That's what the difference was. He didn't pull the ball out like these other teams, because they wear you out if you do that. You can wear them down if you score, and that's what we did."
The "we" in question, of course, is Michigan State, and Johnson was resplendent in Spartan green last night at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana. But if the MSU 1979 victory over Indiana State and Larry Bird was all about Magic Johnson, then the 2000 victory over the Gators was largely the story of championship game Most Valuable Player Mateen Cleaves and his mates from Flint, Michigan.
While other contenders in the NCAA tournament have all looked like pretenders against the Florida press - like the likes of Duke University and the University of North Carolina - Cleaves, Charlie Bell, and Morris Peterson dismembered the pressure by taking the rock straightaway to the hole. With 19 points and 9 rebounds, the sharpshooting, surehanded forward A.J. Granger provided another level of stability in the face of the mayhem Florida hopes to manufacture.
Outbound senior Cleaves had 13 points in the first half on a perfect 3 for 3 from 3-point land to go with a series of slashing moves to the basket. Even a sprained ankle early in the second half didn't dissuade a gimpy Cleaves from keeping a steady hand on the tiller until the very end. He left the RCA Dome on crutches as a national champion.
"This is what I came back here for," Cleaves said.
"This is as storybook as it gets for Mateen," Izzo said. "He gave up a lot of money, a lot of things to be back here."
State dominated the first half and went into the locker room with a 43-32 margin that only begins to tell the story. The young Florida team, under the tutelage of 34-year-old Billy "The Kid" Donovan, abandoned their typical ten-man rotation from the get-go and never got their swagger back, with star Mike Miller finishing with a forgettable 10-point, 3-rebound game. Only paint powerhouse Udonis Haslem had a memorable game for Florida with a career-high 27 points, largely because Michigan State defenders refused to double-team in the post lest they leave Gator guards open on the perimeter.
"I knew they were going to win," Magic Johnson said, "especially when Mateen came back this year. It's been tough waiting these 21 years [since he won in 1979]. But they've been great the last couple of years, and I knew they were going to win it all."
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There's no stopping Vince Carter of the National Basketball Association (NBA) Toronto Raptors - not on the court, and not on the world stage now that National Governing Body (NGB) USA Basketball was able to digest enough crow to name the burgeoning 23-year-old skywalking superstar to the men's team that will defend the gold at the 2000 Olympic Summer Games in Sydney, Australia.
The NGB Team USA selection committee had been under fire since choosing shootist Ray Allen of the Milwaukee Bucks over Carter, the top vote-getting in fan All-Star balloting.
Befitting his status above the fray, Vinsanity said all the right things when the inevitable, ineffable moment finally came.
"I'm excited at the opportunity to play for my country," he said, "and [to] help this team win any way I can. "This has always been a dream for me."
After winning the slam dunk competition at the 2000 All-Star Game, Carter has gone on to merit even more comparisons to retired NBA immortal Michael Jordan. He replaces versatile forward Tom Gugliotta of the Phoenix Suns, who tore up his knee and is lost for the season.
"I think Vince is a great selection," opined USA Basketball men's head coach Rudy
Tomjanovich of the Houston Rockets. "He's a very talented player who will add versatility to our team."
"Vince really earned it," said Raptors head coach Butch Carter. "They said he wasn't good enough. When I talked to him about what it's going to feel like when he walks into the Olympic stadium during opening ceremonies, it brought a huge smile to his face."
Another question mark for USA Basketball is whether the Suns do-it-all point guard Jason Kidd can recover from a broken ankle in time to matriculate in Sydney.
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Many is the fan who thought new head coach Phil Jackson was just the man to lead the National Basketball Association (NBA) Los Angeles Lakers to the promised land with his wack-job creed of Zen, Native American, and Red Holtzman philosophies. But only Lakers owner Jerry Buss is ready to call him "The Messiah."
"I felt like we had all the ingredients," Buss opined. "I was just waiting for the Messiah to come and put them all together. And by luck or by crook or something, we were fortunate enough to get Phil, and that seems to be the right combination�. Suddenly, it seems like the good times are about to roll again."
After the Showtime era of Earvin "Magic" Johnson and head coach King Pat Riley - five NBA championships in ten years starting in 1979 - Buss has felt "kind of sad" about his franchise in the eleven years since. He was able to look back without anger Sunday after his league-leading team pounded the New York Knicks into submission at Madison Square Garden (MSG) in New York.
"I think anybody that watched the Lakers knew that something was missing," the principal owner said, "[but] we didn't know exactly what. But we made some small
personnel changes, and then the big addition was obviously the coach. I think everybody knew he was a very talented man, but I don't think anybody knew just how talented, because he had the great Michael Jordan with him all the time [for six championships together with the Chicago Bulls]. So, suddenly now they realize
that Phil, in himself, is a type of legend."
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WASHINGTON, D.C. - National Basketball Association (NBA) Milwaukee Bucks shootist Ray Allen lets little grass grow under his feet - a trait that has served him well for all 24 years of his young life.
Indeed, the rigors of an 82-game NBA season, covering stops in 29 cities around the United States and Canada, may have some NBA players seeking rest and relaxation during the offseason months, but not Allen, who caught the globetrotting bug early in life. Living with a family that kept the motor running on the moving van, Allen matriculated in such diverse locales as California, Oklahoma, South Carolina - and even overseas in Germany and Britain.
"My life presents many different situations at many different times" the former University of Connecticut Husky told ISWire when the Bucks made a pit stop here at MCI Center.
Now in his fourth year in the NBA, Allen is gaining a reputation as one of the best young players in the NBA. He participated in his first-ever NBA All-Star game in February 2000 at The Arena in Oakland, California, scoring 14 points and pilfering 3 passes for the Eastern Conference squad. Meanwhile, he was named in January 2000 as one of the final three picks on the National Governing Body (NGB) USA Basketball men's senior national team that will represent the United States at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia: a controversial selection that left Toronto Raptors high-flying NBA All-Star Slam Dunk champion Vince Carter on the sidelines.
But Allen is making waves more than just on the hardwood. One of his more prominent off-court projects was playing the lead role of Jesus Shuttlesworth in the movie "He Got Game," alongside star actor Danzel Washington, playing (so to speak) the father of Jesus. While he does not have any immediate plans to participate in another film, he is interested in pursuing the big screen in the future.
"I have the proper people taking care of that," Allen told ISWire, "but I'm a difficult client because they have to pick the right time for me."
With only three months in the offseason, Allen says the timing would have to be absolutely perfect. It would also have to be in a setting where he can work out on a daily basis to stay in shape for the NBA season.
But movies are not the only thing keeping Allen in motion. He keeps active in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, community with his Ray of Hope Foundation. Allen teamed with Bucks head coach George Karl in January 2000 to put together the King Holiday Hoopfest in both Milwaukee and in Karl's old NBA coaching home, Seattle, Washington. The collaboration brought together a number of prep school teams in those areas for a basketball tournament and celebration of the late civil rights leader of the Sixties.
"Ray is a first-class citizen," Karl told ISWire. "He cares and wants to give back to the community and back to the game of basketball. He does it with a lot of energy. He's very active. He speaks a lot. And the King holiday Hoopfest was kind of an idea he and I collaborated on to make Martin Luther King Day a real celebration of basketball. It was semi-successful and next year it could be really successful."
But just as Allen is active on the homefront, so too is the 6'5" guard active away from the home fires. Just like when he was young, he keeps his passport at the ready to explore the cultural horizons offered by exotic locales. For instance, a trip to Spain highlighted the Allen travel agenda during offseason 1999. He participated in the Nike Euro Camp in Barcelona, Spain, as a special guest coach. He also found time to enjoy the Spanish hospitality.
"When in Spain, do as the Spaniards do," Allen said of the best way to enjoy another country, "so you need to go there and blend in with the culture. That's how you find the best places to eat, that's how you really enjoy it."
That's also how you can impress your teammates come training camp in October.
"When the season starts all over again, you sit down and you think: 'Well, my summer vacation I did -'" Allen told ISWire in explanation of his desire to maintain a full schedule and try new things. "You know how you go to class at the beginning of the year, the teacher always asks you to write an essay on what you did during your summer vacation. I always like to have written the longest ten-page essay on what I did. And have everybody be so interested in the things I did over the summer rather than to sit back and say: 'Well, I didn't do anything.' It doesn't amount to anything when you just sit back."
Understanding Allen's fundamental curiosity about people and cultures different than his own goes a long way toward understanding Allen's core personality.
"You learn that a lot of places do things different and you have to learn to adapt," Allen said. "The travel part of my life is something I look forward to, because it's fun. In the NBA you do a lot of traveling and that's something I'm used to. I couldn't wait to move on sometimes [as a kid]. I knew that there was going to be another place with different things and different people. When I was in one place for two or three years, I would start to think about moving on. But the thing is, once you leave, you always miss the place you've been. I guess that's the lesson I've learned: enjoy where you are, because once you leave, you're going to miss it."
Allen told ISWire one of his favorite places is England.
"We used to always wait for the fish-and-chips truck at night time to come through the neighborhood," Allen told ISWire. "He used to wrap up little fish, little fried fish in newspapers and you'd get Cokes half the size of a real Coke. It was called a British Coke. That was something I experienced that I had never experienced anywhere else because it is something known only to the English culture."
Allen will be experiencing another new culture in summer 2000 with the eyes of the world focused on the 2000 Olympic Summer Games when he joins Kevin Garnett, Grant Hill, Tim Duncan, Gary Payton, Tom Gugliotta, Vin Baker, Alonzo Mourning, Steve Smith, Tim Hardaway, Allan Houston, and Jason Kidd in Sydney, Australia, to defend the gold medal.
"I've never been to Australia." Allen told ISWire. "It's one place I haven't been to so I'm really excited about being there because from TV, books , and all those great things, Australia is a great place to be - having the chance to just experience a different culture and be around Australians and Aborigines - it's going to be an experience."
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Now the truth can be told: the miserable shooting over the last week or so by Allen Iverson of the National Basketball Association (NBA) Philadelphia 76ers can now be attributed to a very good reason - a partially torn rotator cuff suffered in a game against the Los Angeles Lakers on national television. The Answer also came up empty in the second half of a national telecast Sunday against the New York Knicks. He will miss Tuesday night's tilt against the Dallas Mavericks.
Iverson underwent a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) procedure on the bum wing Monday after coming up too sore to practice. He leads The Show with 30.1 points per game.
"It wasn't hurting during the Lakers game," Iverson said. "It didn't start hurting until after the game. Somebody jumped up while I was still on the ground. When I was getting ready to jump, they were on their way down and hit me in the shoulder. But I didn't think it was anything, because I just caught a sharp pain and it went away. I'm not going to use it as an excuse for me missing shots. If that was the case, I shouldn't have been playing. I'm hurting, but that's no excuse for me missing shots."
Even at his best, Iverson's anything-goes shooting percentage hovers near 40 percent. Driving while impaired, his numbers have suffered accordingly, including an 0-for-11 in the second half of the Lakers game, and an 8-for-26 outing in a disheartening 89-88 loss to the Knickerbockers. Since February 16, 2000, The Answer is shooting but 33 percent and averaging 21.6 points, nearly 10 points below his league-leading average. That's the same day he began to play with Toni Kukoc after a trade brought him to Philly from the Chicago Bulls.
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The poster guys of the new new National Basketball Association (NBA) thing were all on view Sunday, with mixed albeit scintillating results. Vince Carter of the Toronto Raptors and Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers announced their arrival on national television as mainstream stars, while Allen Iverson of the Philadelphia 76ers - he of the killer-crossover - now has to answer questions about why he has twice died a slow death in the second half in back-to-back games on NBC.
First the worst: Iverson's stone-cold shooting was enough to waste a powerful performance by the Sixers on the road at Madison Square Garden (MSG) against the New York Knicks. Iverson scored 26 points and his disappearing act was so complete it obscured a tremendous afternoon (19 points, 20 rebounds) for power forward obscura Tyrone Hill.
Iverson's problem - the burden of being a one-man show - is no longer the concern of Kobe Bryant. Mellifluous in the flow of the fabled triangle offense that produced six championships for the Chicago Bulls, Bryant scored 18 points in the first 10 minutes of a blowout 101-85 win over the Houston Rockets without breaking sweat or stride. Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal helped out modestly with 6 dishes in the early going, an unheard of number for a player who used to define his game by touches and points. In the end, Bryant ended up with 31 points; O'Neal went home with 24 points, 13 rebounds, 8 assists, and 5 blocked shots at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
But Bryant's and O'Neal's performances, great as they were, were as nothing on a day when Vinsanity ruled. Television was again the catalyst. The tilt against the Suns was the first time Carter and the Raptors had ever made the cut for a national NBA on NBC telecast, and he wasted no time in taking over the event with 51 points - the most in a game in the NBA in the 1999-2000 season - on the way to a 103-102 win over Phoenix at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Carter buried 17 of 32 shots from the field to go with a perfect 13 of 13 from the free throw line. Carter also had 9 rebounds, 3 steals, and 1 assist.
"I was just playing, man," Carter said. "Nothing special. I didn't make a valiant effort to go out and try to get there [51 points]. I was just playing and luckily they [his shots] were falling. It's always good, and even better when it's on national TV."
"Vince carried us in the second half," said Raptors guard Tracy McGrady. "We got down and he stepped it up. He took it to another level and there was nothing they could do about it."
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WASHINGTON, D.C. - Just a few weeks ago, the National Basketball Association (NBA) Milwaukee Bucks were challenging the Indiana Pacers for the top spot in not only the Central Division, but also the entire Eastern Conference. Now, Bucks head coach George Karl's charges are just struggling to stay afloat tied for seventh spot in the East with the Detroit Pistons.
Featuring all-stars Glenn Robinson and Ray Allen, the Bucks, who Karl has compared to his early Seattle Supersonics teams that eventually went to an NBA Final in 1996 against the Chicago Bulls, have gone into a nosedive of late losing 10 of their last fifteen - and six of their last seven - to fall to 27-27 overall.
The struggles continued here at MCI Center Tuesday night as the Bucks looked completely out of rhythm in falling to the Atlantic Division cellar-dwelling Washington Wizards, who ended a seven-game losing streak of their own with a 126-101 thrashing of the Bucks behind 26 points from Mitch Richmond and 18 points each from Jahidi White and Tracy Murray.
"We've got to learn to keep moving forward," Bucks forward Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson told ISWire. "All year long we've had chances to create more space and get in better position for the playoffs, but we never take advantage of our opportunities. Now, it's a must because we only have twenty some game left."
"Right now, we're not playing with lot of passion," Karl said after the game that saw the Bucks down 30 points at the end of three quarters when Murray hit a buzzer-beating three-point shot, "and not a lot of believe. That happens in NBA seasons. Good teams stop the snow ball from rolling and right now we're searching. We're searching for each other and searching a little bit defensively too."
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Bad boy shooting guard Isaiah Rider, presently playing for the Atlanta Hawks, may find that he will be flying away to a new home before the looming National Basketball Association (NBA) trading deadline. In the final year of his deal, Rider would be nothing more than a hired gun for a team hoping to penetrate deep into the postseason.
"That's cool," Rider said of life on the trading block. "It's all about having fun and playing basketball and getting paid. If they ... do that, then I'll just get paid and be at it next year. Somebody wants the talent."
Somebody has always wanted Rider's talent, but his reliability off the floor has turned him into a 21-points-per-game liability. The Hawks got him from the Portland Trailblazers in hopes of shaking up a mediocre, almost moribund team. Instead they got a proven scorer on a 20-30 team that will probably cost head coach Lenny Wilkens his job after the 1999-2000 season.
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The city known for Soldier Field and Michael Jordan last night welcomed an old soldier back to a toddling town. Former National Basketball Association (NBA) Chicago Bulls head coach Phil Jackson, now in the same role with the Los Angeles Lakers, returned to the United Center to win yet again, albeit with a new team.
After eleven years as a head coach of the Bulls - and six titles with His Airness - Chicago, Illinois, fans showered the coach with a yen for Zen as he returned to the Second City last night for the first time since he left Da Bulls and dem titles behind.
The stars were in alignment at the United Center for Jackson's Lakers, who beat back the homestanding Bulls 88-76: center Shaquille O'Neal, who typically bricks his shots from the charity stripe like a member of a union - hit an unnerving 11 of 12 from the free throw line on the way to 29 points in the Windy City win for the team from Tinseltown.
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National Basketball Association (NBA) commissioner David Stern has copious compliments for Internet billionaire Mark Cuban, the new principal owner of the bottom-feeding Dallas Mavericks.
"He's enormously educated and proficient in the technology of the changes that are going on," the commish opined at his state of the league address, "and he's bringing the same kind of enthusiasm, and will bring to, I believe, his ownership of the Mavericks. He wants to make it fun."
Cyberspace aside, one thing Cuban will not be allowed to do is to provide free housing at his Dallas, Texas, manse for his new signee Dennis Rodman.
"[I]t clearly is a violation of the salary cap rules for an owner," said NBA deputy commissioner Russ Granik, "or even a prospective owner, on behalf of the team to be renting out any space or having any other kind of financial transaction with a player. I think in this case it was a fairly innocent error, and an assumption that as long as it was a fair rental, it wasn't a benefit under the salary cap. But the fact was, the way the agreement works, we don't want to get into having to decide in every case; 'Is it fair? Is it not fair? Is it the right value?' Those kind of arrangements are just prohibited. So I think in due course Mr. Rodman will be moving out."
"That's true," Stern said.
"But it's not a major crime that was committed," Granik said.
"It's a rookie mistake," the commish concluded.
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Nothing like a little national television time to get your mojo working. Shooting guard Allen Iverson of the National Basketball Association (NBA) Philadelphia 76ers used the impetus of broadcast news to put up a tidy 50 points in a 119-108 win Sunday over the dipping, road-tripping Sacramento Kings.
It was the second time in his career that The Answer scored 50: the first time, against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the third-year All-Star was but a rookie and the Sixers actually lost the game. In Sunday's tilt, Iverson went a palatable 20 for 40 from the field - the most shots and attempts he has ever hoisted in a game. The Sixers, however, are just 3-10 in games where Iverson scores in excess of 40 points.
"His shot selection was good," opined head coach Larry Brown. "I played with
Rick Barry, and a lot of guys would mumble about the number of shots he takes. And his remark was: 'Half you guys can't get 40 shots.' And I think it's justified. I think it's a remarkable thing that Allen can do that most nights and not look like he lost anything."
Iverson is now averaging 31.5 points per game after leading the league in scoring in 1999.
"It's a great accomplishment because not a lot of guys score 50 points," Iverson said. "It makes me feel real good because it lets me know that I can score the way I am
capable of scoring and we can win."
On the loser's side, Chris Webber of the Kings had another big game: 32 points and 15 rebounds before fouling out. Sacramento ended the longest road hegira of the entire NBA season - thirteen days of private jets and four-star hotels - with a 3-5 record, losing the last two.
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If Dennis Rodman ends up in a National Basketball Association (NBA) Dallas Mavericks uniform, it won't happen until after Sunday's National Football League (NFL) Super Bowl XXXIV at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia. Rodman met Tuesday with Internet billionaire Mark Cuban, the new eager-beaver owner of the Mavericks, but told him he had to go to the big football game before he could suit up.
"I didn't get into the details of his schedule," Cuban said after the meeting with Worm, "but he can't be back before Monday. Nothing's been signed on the dotted line yet, but we're really confident we can get to the point that we can work something out."
The best the Mavs could do is less than $500,000, half the so-called $1 million salary cap exception lathered out over the remaining regular season games. If all goes well for The Illustrated Man, Rodman could play as early as Tuesday night against the Philadelphia 76ers in a game at Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas.
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How good is Chris Webber of the National Basketball Association (NBA) Sacramento Kings. CWebb is good enough to put up 34 points and 19 rebounds Thursday to beat Tim Duncan and the NBA champion San Antonio Spurs 107-103. At one point, Webber scored ten points in a row to lead Sacramento to win #3 in a row. The Kings are only the second team this season to score more than 100 points against stingy San Antonio defense anchored by center David Robinson.
But Duncan was no slouch either, not with 33 points and 20 boards to effectively match Webber.
"It might have been fun to watch," said Vlade Divac of the Kings, "but it wasn't fun to play against them. Chris has been unbelievable lately. He amazed me early in the season, now I expect it."
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Could the pressure of a new owner be getting to Don Nelson, head coach and general manager of the National Basketball Association (NBA) Dallas Mavericks?
One day after a meeting with inbound owner and Internet billionaire Mark Cuban, the bumptious coach literally bumped up against Karl Malone of the Utah Jazz after a disputed call at Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas, in a tilt ultimately taken by Utah 105-92. The old bumperoo came after Nellie, 59, was dispatched by zebras for questioning a foul call against Dallas center Shawn Bradley.
"That's the first time a coach has bumped me in fifteen years," Malone said. "I was taught when I was little to respect my elders, but you're totally out of line when you get in a player's face. He crossed the line and I have no respect for that."
Nelson told Cuban this week that he did not want to stay on as head coach of the hapless Mavs next season. Cuban is ponying up $280 million for the worst non-expansion franchise in the NBA and part ownership of the aborning American Airlines Center in Dallas.
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