NBA Thread

[GM Franchise]

Pelicans will play in the Smoothie King Center

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/10410881/new-orleans-pelicans-play-smoothie-king-center

The New Orleans Pelicans will announce on Thursday a 10-year naming rights deal that will result in their home being called the Smoothie King Center.

Financial terms of the deal with franchisor Smoothie King, which has 675 stores in the U.S., South Korea and Singapore, were not being disclosed. The company has about 75 employees working at its New Orleans headquarters.

"Our mission is to invest locally, regionally, nationally and internationally," said Tom O'Keefe, Smoothie King's president and COO. "This deal satisfies all those goals."

Smoothie King will get its logo all over the arena and have two kiosks that will serve smoothies at the venue's events. O'Keefe said the areas will not only serve as a retail experience, but also hope to lure new franchisees.

The entrance will feature two 20-foot high Smoothie King cups that will be in place in time for next weekend's NBA All-Star Game. The company's logo will also be on the roof of the arena.

O'Keefe said the deal took a long time to put together because the company wanted to be seen as athlete friendly. To pass muster, the company tested all of its ingredients to make sure it was compliant with what athletes in all leagues could ingest. O'Keefe said a few ingredients, which made up less than 1 percent of Smoothie King's $160 million in systemwide sales last year, were eliminated from the companies menu.

Although the state of Louisiana owns both this arena and the Superdome, whose naming rights were sold to Mercedes-Benz, the marketing teams of Pelicans and Saints owner Tom Benson consummated both deals.

[Hondo]

So did anyone catch the ending of the Lakers/Cavs game last night?

Apparently, when Robert Sacre fouled out with three minutes to go in the fourth quarter, that put the Lakers at only four eligible players, since there were numerous injuries and other issues. Thing is, there's a rule in the NBA that a team must have five players on the floor at all times. So Sacre, despite having fouled out, remained in the game. Los Angeles was assessed a mandatory Technical Foul and was told that any additional fouls by Sacre would result in automatic Technical Fouls.

So in essence, a player who fouled out was able to stay in the game. I had never heard of that rule myself.

[GM Franchise]

Terrence Ross to defend dunk title

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/10413823/paul-george-john-wall-damian-lillard-harrison-barnes-ben-mclemore-terrence-ross-compete-dunk-contest-all-star-weekend

The six-man field for the dunk contest at All-Star Weekend in New Orleans will feature three big names from the actual All-Star Game, according to sources close to the process.

Sources told ESPN.com that Indiana's Paul George, Washington's John Wall and Portland's Damian Lillard are confirmed entrants in the dunk field that will be officially announced later Thursday on TNT.

ESPN.com reported Wednesday night that George, Wall and Lillard were poised to join defending champion Terrence Ross of the Toronto Raptors in the competition.

Sources confirmed Thursday that Golden State's Harrison Barnes and Sacramento rookie Ben McLemore are the other two participants in the contest, which has met with lukewarm reviews the past several years, partly due to a lack of star power on display.

The All-Star Game is Sunday, Feb. 16, at New Orleans Arena.

[J-Reb]

The Dunk Contest died the day Vince Carter destroyed the field back in 2000.  There hasn't been a contest worth watching since.

[Justin]

So did anyone catch the ending of the Lakers/Cavs game last night?

Apparently, when Robert Sacre fouled out with three minutes to go in the fourth quarter, that put the Lakers at only four eligible players, since there were numerous injuries and other issues. Thing is, there's a rule in the NBA that a team must have five players on the floor at all times. So Sacre, despite having fouled out, remained in the game. Los Angeles was assessed a mandatory Technical Foul and was told that any additional fouls by Sacre would result in automatic Technical Fouls.

So in essence, a player who fouled out was able to stay in the game. I had never heard of that rule myself.

I saw it.  I believed it happened with either the Mavs or Warriors when Don Nelson was coach if my memory serves me correctly.

[Justin]

The Dunk Contest died the day Vince Carter destroyed the field back in 2000.  There hasn't been a contest worth watching since.

This.

[GM Franchise]

I saw it.  I believed it happened with either the Mavs or Warriors when Don Nelson was coach if my memory serves me correctly.

Found this article about it.

http://nba.si.com/2014/02/05/lakers-technical-foul-rule-cavaliers-injuries-disqualifications/

Thanks to a host of injuries and multiple disqualifications due to fouls, the Lakers triggered a rarely-used NBA rule for failing to have five eligible players during their 119-108 victory over the Cavaliers in Cleveland on Wednesday.


Let's unpack the carnage piece by piece.

Although L.A. has 14 players on its roster, coach Mike D'Antoni had only eight players available on Wednesday because Kobe Bryant (knee), Pau Gasol (groin), Jodie Meeks (ankle), Jordan Hill (neck) and Xavier Henry (knee) were all out injured, and Steve Nash (back/nerves) was being held out for rest because the Lakers were on the second night of a back-to-back. The Lakers did have a 15th man on their roster earlier this week, but the team opted to part ways with Manny Harris after his second 10-day contract expired.

D'Antoni's rotation kept dwindling from there, shrinking from eight men down to seven when Nick Young suffered a knee injury during the second quarter and did not return. The number of available Lakers was then reduced from seven to five when Chris Kaman fouled out early in the fourth quarter and Jordan Farmar suffered a leg cramp later in the period. Then, disaster struck. With no available reserve players, Robert Sacre picked up his sixth foul, which would usually trigger a disqualification, at the 3:31 mark of the fourth quarter.

Time for four-on-five, right? Not quite. NBA teams are not allowed to take the court with less than five players, so a little-known rule came into effect.

Rule No. 3, Section I of the league's rulebook states: "No team may be reduced to less than five players. If a player in the game receives his sixth personal foul and all substitutes have already been disqualified, said player shall remain in the game and shall be charged with a personal and team foul. A technical foul also shall be assessed against his team. All subsequent personal fouls, including offensive fouls, shall be treated similarly. All players who have six or more personal fouls and remain in the game shall be treated similarly."

The referees therefore allowed Sacre to remain in the game and correctly assessed a technical foul to the Lakers and awarded a free throw to the Cavaliers following his sixth foul. The second-year big man managed to play the rest of the game without picking up another foul so no further damage was done by L.A.'s lack of eligible bodies. The Lakers were leading 111-101 at the time of Sacre's final foul and were able to hang on for their first victory since Jan. 19, snapping a seven-game losing streak.

"I've never seen this situation before," Gasol wrote on Twitter. "Did anybody know about this rule!?"

At one point late in the third quarter, Kaman could be seen fully stretched out on the Lakers' otherwise empty bench.

Kamans couch pic.twitter.com/GeZ3GLxdnN

— Artem (@nbarocksstc) February 6, 2014

During the game's closing minutes, Nash briefly looked like he would enter the game, despite the plan to sit him out. Instead, D'Antoni stayed the course by continuing to play Sacre.

"It was interesting to say the least," D'Antoni said of his late-game predicament, according to Lakers.com.

Making the Lakers' victory all the more remarkable? Steve Blake registered a triple-double  (11 points on 2-for-7 shooting, 10 rebounds and 15 assists) even though he was suffering from a ruptured ear drum during L.A.'s loss to Minnesota on Tuesday.

Ryan Kelly scored a career-high 26 points (on 8-for-16 shooting) and added six rebounds in 42 minutes for the Lakers, who led by as many as 29 points before their second half war of attrition. Wesley Johnson added 20 points (on 8-for-15 shooting) and nine rebounds.

C.J. Miles led the Cavaliers with a game-high 27 points (on 7-for-15 shooting), three rebounds and three assists. Anderson Varejao chipped in 15 points (on 7-for-16 shooting), 13 rebounds and five assists in a losing effort. Cleveland finished the game with starters Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson and Luol Deng on the bench.

L.A. improved to 17-32 with the win and will have one day off before they visit Philadelphia to play the Sixers on Friday. Cleveland dropped to 16-33 with the loss.

Bottom image via @NBArocksstc

[GM Franchise]

It's NBA All Star Weekend and one of my favorite events the NBA Slam Dunk Contest is happening in less than 24 hours so I thought I'd share some videos of my favorite dunk contest moments.

Vince Carter Slam Dunk Contest

Vince Carter Slam Dunk Contest 2000 (Every Dunk) - GQ

Blake Griffin Slam Dunk Contest

Blake Griffin in the Slam Dunk Contest

1988 Slam Dunk Contest - Michael Jordan vs. Dominique Wilkins

NBA Slam Dunk Contest 1988. Michael Jordan vs. Dominique Wilkins

Kobe Bryant Slam Dunk Contest

Kobe Bryant - 1997 NBA Slam Dunk Contest (Champion)

Spud Webb Slam Dunk Contest

Spud Webb - 1986 NBA Slam Dunk Contest (Champion)

Michael Jordan 1987 Slam Dunk Contest

Michael Jordan | All Dunks in ''1987 Dunk Contest''

2003 Slam Dunk Contest - Richardson vs. Mason

NBA Slam Dunk Contest 2003 Mason Vs Richardson (Every Dunk)

1984 NBA Slam Dunk Contest - first one in the NBA

1984 NBA Slam Dunk Competition

[GM Franchise]

Found this video on Youtube last night. This is one of the wildest NBA brawls I've ever seen. It's from a 1993 game between the Knicks and the Suns in Phoenix.

Knicks v Suns 1993 Doc v KJ Fight

[MattWard]

do you guys think the Chicago Bulls could still make the playoffs out of the east?

[GM Franchise]

They're on pace to make it as of now. But then again so are the Bobcats who are the 8th seed currently out East...

[GM Franchise]

Ranking the 25 Greatest Dunks in Recent NBA Dunk Contest History

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1957002-ranking-the-25-greatest-dunks-in-recent-nba-dunk-contest-history?utm_source=facebookcom&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=programming-national

When six dunkers take the stage in New Orleans, they'll be competing for more than the team competition and the individual award that will be presented at the end of the contest on Saturday, Feb. 15.

Paul George, John Wall, Damian Lillard, Terrence Ross, Harrison Barnes and Ben McLemore will try to throw down slam dunks that leave a lasting memory. They'll try to complete plays that will be replayed on YouTube for years.

Decades even.

Throughout recent history—which we're defining as 1994 through the present—many memorable dunks have been completed during the Slam Dunk Contest. Vince Carter, Jason Richardson, Dwight Howard and plenty of other players have filled our memories with remarkable feats of athleticism.

Will any of the six competitors move into these rankings—which feature the 25 greatest slams in recent history—after the 2014 festivities?

That remains to be seen, as these are all some pretty epic throwdowns. Here's hoping at least one of the six completes a dunk for the ages.

[Justin]

Shitty dunk contest.

[Gravedigger]

Wall's dunk over the mascot was pretty legit, and George's would have been better if he made it the first time.

This used to be so much cooler back in the day, and I mean the 80s when 'Nique got robbed against Jordan in 88...

[GM Franchise]

Just let them dunk. That's all they had to do and they didn't do that right.