THE STREET STOPS HERE is a portrait of the nation’s best high school basketball coach, Bob Hurley, Sr. and his lifelong commitment to save the lives of inner city kids and the poor Catholic school that gives them hope.
Airs on PBS Wednesday, March 31, 2010, 10 pm ET
Marc Da Cunha Lopes
NBA sources say Allen Iverson is facing alcohol and gambling issues that have derailed his career and threaten his post-basketball well-being, Stephen A. Smith of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports in a column published Monday.According to multiple NBA sources, there is widespread concern that the four-time NBA scoring champion, who left the Philadelphia 76ers in February to deal with his daughter’s illness and will not return this season, “will either drink himself into oblivion or gamble his life away,” Smith reported. Iverson’s gambling problem is serious enough that he has been banished from casinos in Detroit (that one casino) and Atlantic City, N.J., according to Smith.
The report comes as Iverson is dealing with significant personal problems. Iverson’s wife Tawana filed for divorce on March 4, the same day the Philadelphia 76ers announced that the All-Star guard would not return for the rest of the season. In the divorce filing, made at Fulton County Superior Court in Atlanta, Tawana Iverson said the couple’s 8½-year marriage is “irretrievably broken” and sought full custody of the family’s five children, child support and alimony. Iverson, who played 25 games for the Sixers this season, returned to Atlanta in February to be with his family and deal with an undisclosed illness affecting his 4-year-old daughter, Messiah. Smith, who has covered Iverson closely for years, wrote in Monday’s column that Iverson needs someone with “the ideal combination of compassion and toughness” in his life. And former Temple coach John Chaney said that person is John Thompson, Iverson’s former college coach at Georgetown. ”[Thompson] is the one guy who’ll have a chance of slowing this train wreck down, who could wrap his arms around Iverson and have an impact, because clearly it has not been done,” Chaney said, according to Smith. “But there’s still this one question: Will [Iverson] listen?” (we hope so)
Iverson posted four messages Monday night on his Twitter account telling fans he expected to overcome the most recent obstacles in his life.
“To my fans: You all know that my life isn’t perfect. I am going through some very tough times right now, like I am sure that we all do from time to time,” Iverson wrote. “However, I will stand tall like always with ‘rhino’ thick skin.”
Allen Iverson said on Twitter it hurt to hear stories about his personal life that aren’t true.
“Even though I have become used to hearing people say things about me that aren’t true, it still hurts,” Iverson wrote. “I encourage you to continue your ongoing support and I want you to trust that this is another obstacle in my life that, with God’s help I will overcome.”
We wish Iverson all the best in whatever struggle he is going through. He has millions of fans that all understand playing basketball is what he loved to do. Now in his “second life” he must find a constructive way to live. Iverson said doing his press conference upon his return with the 76ers that he was put on this Earth to play basketball and be a good father. Now is that time to be that good father, and if he needs any help along the way we (thetruthsports) are there for him.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
When playing in the NBA and being a millionaire are not enough.....
We all seek out attention from time to time. Even the most introverted person accepts a notice here, and there. But when it comes to Ron Artest the ability to be noticed is at an all-time low. Why else would Artest color his hair blonde , and write defense all over in Japanese, Hindi, and Hebrew? Some would boast that he is crazy, or trying to be like Dennis Rodman. I think Ron is just bored, rich, and simply reminding Lakers fans that he is committed to defense, which the Lakers have had little of during this 3-game road trip.
After a loss to Miami, and Charlotte, the Lakers rolled into Amway Arena trying to avoid the first 3-game losing streak since Pau Gasol was traded to the team. Ron Artest didnt want to talk about his hair(why dye it blonde then?) and instead let his game do the talking finishing with 8 points on 2-10 shooting. Way to get noticed!
Lakers 94, Magic 96
I do hold Artests’ hair responsible for the referee whistle war. Both Andrew Bynum, and Pau Gasol had 5 fouls for the Lakers, and Dwight Howard and Vince Carter had 5 for Orlando.
But stealing the show from Dennis…I mean Ron, was the defensive play by Matt Barnes on Kobe Bryant. Barnes did about everything in the “piss of the superstar handbook”. For the most part Kobe didn’t really seem affected by Barnes until he missed the game winner, that he would have usually made with his eyes closed.
The Lakers are 32-4 when they score a 100 points. They are 14-14 when they don’t. Kobe Bryant made 12-of-30 FGA (40.0 pct) Sunday against the Magic. The Lakers have lost seven straight games in which Bryant has attemtpted at least 30 FGA and made 40.0 pct of his attempts or fewer. Vince Carter had 25 points, Howard finished with 15 points and 16 rebounds.
Wizards 83, Celtics 86
The Celtics are 21 games from the playoffs, and they cant wait. The entire Celtics season has been covered in fog, or leg braces, and arm sleeves,..and what the hell happened to Rasheed Wallace? Wallace and Kevin Garnett were a combined 1 for 10 from the floor. If the Wizards were still playing to make the playoffs this would have been a blowout win for them. The Wiz were up 13 with 6:11 remaining Boston responded with a 20-4 run to close out the game with eight points from Ray Allen and six from guard Rajon Rondo. Allen finished with a game-high 25 points.
A Penny for your thoughts Mr. Roy?? Photo by Garrett W. Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images
Brandon Roy shot 3 for 14 and finished with 12 points. Carmelo Anthony shot 11 for 19 and finished with 30 points. Now guess who won…..Trail Blazers 106, Nuggets 118
Also Saturdays highlights:
As part of the NBA’s first fully-integrated Hispanic marketing campaign, éne•bé•a, on Wednesday the NBA announced the schedule of this season’s Noche Latina (Latin Night) program, which celebrates the league’s Hispanic heritage with special telecasts and in-arena festivities, including distinctive NBA team uniforms.
This year, Noche Latina celebrations will begin on March 3 and take place in Los Angeles, Miami, Phoenix, San Antonio, Dallas, Chicago, Houston, New York, and Orlando, and highlight the impact of the league’s Hispanic players — including 18 players from six Latin American countries — while paying tribute to the more than 16 million Hispanic NBA fans across the country.
“With Hispanics comprising 15 percent of our fan base, we have a responsibility to connect with them in meaningful ways,” said Saskia Sorrosa, NBA Senior Director of Hispanic Marketing. “Noche Latina is an opportunity for us to thank the Hispanic community for their support and showcase how their pride and passion impact our teams and players.”
Noche Latina, first launched during the 2006-07 NBA season, features uniforms that display the team name as spoken by the Latin population. The Miami Heat, for example, is called “El Heat”; the San Antonio Spurs are referred to as “Los Spurs.”
To further honor Hispanic fans and players during Noche Latina games, participating teams will host in-arena Latin-themed activities, including music, performances, and giveaways. Noche Latina events will be supported with television and radio advertising on both English- and Spanish-language media across the country as well as on the league’s Spanish-language Web site. Noche Latina merchandise, including the special game jerseys produced by adidas, will be available at the NBA Store on Fifth Avenue in New York City, Champs Sports retail stores, online at NBAStore.com, and at in-arena stores for participating teams.
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About éne•bé•a
éne•bé•a (eh-nay-bay-ah) is the NBA’s comprehensive initiative to grow the game of basketball throughout the expanding U.S. Hispanic market. The NBA brings initiatives focused exclusively towards Hispanic fans under a platform that includes media, events, grassroots, and merchandising programs. Fifteen percent of the NBA’s total fanbase is Hispanic. Five U.S.-born Latino players and 18 players from Spain and Latin America are on 2009-10 season rosters. The NBA has played 25 preseason games and one regular-season game in Latin America.
Design by:thetruthsports
James told The Plain Dealer on Monday that he’s filed the paperwork with the NBA office to switch his jersey number from No. 23 to No. 6 next season. He had to make the decision this week, the deadline to make the request to the NBA is Wednesday.
The NBA does not have to fulfill the request, players who don’t change teams have to apply to change their number in March before the previous season. However, the wave of new jersey sales the switch promises to trigger would likely be too enticing for the league to turn down. In 2006, Kobe Bryant requested his number to be changed from No. 8 to No. 24. The NBA approved the move and Bryant’s jerseys quickly shot to No. 1 in sales across the world. James has been in the top three in jersey sales in the U.S., China and Europe in recent years but hasn’t enjoyed the top spot for several years. Player do not directly benefit from merchandise sales, however. It goes into a league-wide pool that is distributed to teams and then players based on seniority.
Lebron James has wore the #23 since his sophomore year of high school, but next season he wants to change to #6 to honor NBA Legend Michael Jordan. #6 is the number he wore in the Olympics and during Cavaliers practice.
Back in November LeBron went as far to say that he wanted to start a petition to get everyone in the league to follow suit. Lucky for LeBron their are only 9 players in the league that wear #23, Tony Douglas, Stephen Graham, Wes Matthews, Jodie Meeks, Jason Richardson, C.J. Watson, Martell Webster, and Lou Williams.
Many will think LeBron is copying Kobe Bryant when he changed from #8 to #24. The interesting thing to remember is Kobe changed numbers while still on the Lakers, whereas Lebron could be #6 on any team next year…..like the team that has a retired #23, the Chicago Bulls. Major League Baseball retired Jackie Robinson’s #42, and putting MJ in that company is a little off course but at least the notion from LeBron for the 12 players to take part is respectable.
Good for LeBron James paying respect to his elders. Oh and this is hilarious by the way: 
I grew up watching the NBA in the mid-80s and 90s, a time when the league’s popularity was at an all-time high.
You had Magic and the Showtime Lakers, Larry Legend and the Celtics, the Bad Boy Pistons, and of course, his Airness and the UnbeataBULLS.
Taking a trip down memory lane, here are some of things I miss most about that golden age in NBA history.
NBA on NBC theme song
This song used to get me amped for weekend regular season and playoff games. Best pre-game theme music in sports history. I was happy when they brought it back for the 2008 Olympics Men’s basketball games.
Bill Cartwright’s awkward free-throw shooting form
Nothing was more awkward and ugly. He used to bring the ball from his waist to high above his head in a weird motion. But hey, he was a career 77% free throw shooter, which isn’t bad, especially for a center.
Jordan-era Chicago Bulls starting lineup music
No other home game intro struck more fear in opponents than that “Sirius” instrumental by the Alan Parsons Project. I can just here the public address announcer yelling, “And at guard, 6’6”, from North Carolina…”!
Cool nicknames
In today’s NBA there are nicknames like “King James”, “CP3”, ”Superman”, and “Melo”. These are boring! Back in the day, you had cool names like “The Microwave”, “Hot Rod”, “X-Man”, “Reign Man”, “The Glove”, “The Mailman”, “The Glide”, “Spiderman”, “The Plastic Man”, and “Chief”.
Hard Fouls
Eastern conference teams like the Knicks, Heat, and Pistons mastered the art of the hard foul, leading to altercations, bruised bodies, and ridiculously low scoring games like 67-63. Many of the fouls committed by maulers like Bill Laimbeer, Anthony Mason, and Rick Mahorn would easily be flagrant two fouls in today’s game. Current players like Tony Parker and Allen Iverson wouldn’t have lasted more than two seasons without the league crackdown of these type of offenses.
Battle of the Bigs
The 80s and early 90s featured great centers and the game revolved around them. Some of the era’s bests were Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Robert Parrish, Brad Daugherty, and powerhouses Benoit Benjamin and Alton Lister! Lol…
The Larry Johnson Part
Grandma Ma set a hair-style trend, shifting the typical location of the hair part from its normal location to directly down the middle. I remember guys in school used to sport that cut until the fad flamed out, along with Larry Johnson’s career.
Michael Cage’s Jheri Curl
At a time when players like Patrick Ewing and Alonzo Mourning were sporting the hip and trendy high-top fade look, Michael Cage said NO! He stood by his greasy jheri curl and showed his independence.
What were some of your favorite memories of this time period?
The Southwest Division of the NBA is comprised of 3 Texas teams( San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets), a team from Louisiana(New Orleans Hornets) and a team in Tennessee (Memphis Grizzlies). None of these teams are located southwest geographically, but they are all close enough to each other…sort of. The last three years the SW division has had the best combined record out of all the division in the NBA. This year the SW division is currently the only division with all .500 teams. On Wednesday night all 5 teams played. Two of the teams played without key players and lost (Hornets, Rockets), while the other 3 had convincing wins. Lets start with the BIG news.
Hi Beyonce! (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Lakers 96, Mavericks 101:
Caron Butler sat out Wednesday’s game due to a negative reaction he had to medication. The loss provided an opportunity for DeShawn Stevenson to start. DeShawn only saw 24 minutes on the court, because 6th man since forever Jason Terry provided 30 points on 10-20 shooting in 33 minutes. As Clark Kellogg would say “Thats efficient as a heat pump”(lame). The Mavs also got 31 from Dirk Nowitzki, and Jason Kidd had 14 points and 13 dimes. He also made 4-9 from deep. The Lakers were playing the second of a back-to-back following the win in Memphis(SW). Lakers leading scorer was lamar Odom with 21 and thats a good sign normally. Derek Fisher shot 3-13, mostly bombs that would have broken a playground courts rim. Kobe finished with 20 points and moved into 13th place on the career scoring list. Bryant, who passed Reggie Miller, has 25,298 points.
Grizzlies 99, Wizards 94:
The Grizzlies were coming off a tough 99-98 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers Tuesday night and had lost nine of their previous 12 games. After missing the game-winner against the Lakers O.J.Mayo scored 17 points, 10 in the fourth quarter, to help Memphis win its third straight road game. Before Mayo found his legs on offense, the Grizzlies’ big men carried the load. Zach Randolph scored 22 points, and Rudy Gay and Marc Gasol each scored 20. Marc Gasol, who scored all of his 20 points in the first three quarters, made his first 10 shots and finished 10 of 11 from the field.”It’s coming back,” Randolph said. “It’s not there yet. We’ve got to keep working, pushing it out. (Tuesday) was a big game, it hurt us. But we bounced back today and played hard against a scrappy young team.” Andray Blatche who has been BALLING since the trade led the Wizards with 24 points. Al Thornton, making his first start for Washington, had 16 points and a season-high 11 rebounds. It was the Wizards’ first game without forward Josh Howard, who was ruled out for the season because of an ACL tear just four games after joining the team in a trade.
AP Photo/Bahram Mark Sobhani
Thunder 87, Spurs 95
The Spurs are old, they have young players like George Hill, and Dejuan Blair, but the core remains the same. The trio of Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, and Tim Duncan showed the Oklahoma City Thunder and there superstar Kevin Durant how to win a tough basketball game. Tony Parker returned to the starting lineup but had another rough game, scoring four points in 26 minutes. With Parker back, the Spurs unveiled their 19th different starting lineup this season while searching for a rotation that works. Absent from the lineup was Richard Jefferson whose 12 points per game are his lowest since his rookie year. Manu Ginobili led the Spurs with 26 points. His last field goal was a big 3-pointer a minute after he made the defensive play of the game and maybe the season for the Spurs. Kevin Durant collected the ball after a Spurs miss and took off to the basket. Little did he know Manu was trailing and just as he was about to drop the ball in the basket, Manu got his hand on the ball swatting it away. That block won the game for the Spurs and halted Kevin Durants 25+ points game streak. Durant finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds. He missed all four shots he took in the fourth, including a 3-pointer in the final minute that ended any hope of a comeback. Durant’s streak of 25-plus point games is a franchise record and was the longest since Michael Jordan’s 40 in a row in 1986-87.
Magic 110, Rockets 92:
The Rockets were without Trevor Ariza, and defensively his lost was noticeable. Orlando had 60 at halftime and Dwight Howard finished with 30 points and 16 rebounds. The Rockets aka “The Littles” played Hilton Armstrong for the first time since being traded from Sacramento. He did next to nothing. The Rockets bright spot was Aaron Brooks 24 points and Kevin Martin finding his touch after losing it on way to Houston.
Seize the Day! AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps
Hornets 95, Bucks 115:
Every game the Hornets play without Chris Paul is a tough one. Odds are they will probably lose. But the play of rookies Marcus Thorton, and Darren Collison have been encouraging. They combined for 47 points and were the majority of the offense for the Hornets, aside from 19 points and 9 boards by David West. The Bucks are playing solid ball lately, and are .500, which is a big deal to Milwaukee. Andrew Bogut had 26 points and 13 rebounds.John Salmons added 18 points for the Bucks. Salmons has reached double figures in all four games since being traded at the deadline from Chicago and in his last eight overall. ”We’ve played pretty well in this stretch,” said Bogut, who had his fourth straight double-double in Milwaukee’s fourth straight win. “We’ve got to stay grounded, though. We’re at .500, that’s nothing to be proud about.
Boston Celtics guard Marquis Daniels went T-Pain crazy and got a piece that is a replica of his face. Forged in the fires of Mordor from 1,300 grams (or 2.9 pounds) of 14-karat gold, this head is an exact replica of Daniels or possibly Whoopi Goldberg. Either way, it’s both amazing and terrifying.
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Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images
On Sunday Kevin Durant extended his streak of games with at least 25 points to 28 games. No active player in the NBA has had more consecutive games with at least 25 points in their career than Durant’s current streak. LeBron James, the NBA’s leading scorer, did it 21 games in a row in 2008. Allen Iverson also did it in 27 in a row from Jan. 12-March 9, 2001. Durant’s current streak is the longest since Michael Jordan had 40 straight games of 25 or more points in the 1986-87 season. His Oklahoma City Thunder have won 9 straight and are 20-8 during Durant’s streak. “It’s just me being aggressive,” Durant said. “It’s cool, but I’m glad we got nine in a row. That’s a first for me in my career and I’d rather have that.”
The Thunder host the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday. The last time the Thunder played them, Durant led all scores with 38 points(on 12-20 shooting/ 11-14 from the free throw line) and the Thunder won. In order for Kevin Durant to win the MVP, he must accomplish something that LeBron James, or any other NBA player hasn’t done in recent history. That accomplishment is going 41 games straight with 25 or more points. The Thunder must also win the majority of these games or all of this will be worthless.
Durant has scored 25 or more against the next 13 opponents the Thunder face except for the Toronto Raptors who the Thunder have yet to play this season. The 13 games are attainable and with Russell Westbrook, stepping up his game, it makes it that much easier for Durant to score 25. There isnt a player in the NBA that could “shut-down” Durant. His height and quickness are a rare mix, like Tracy McGrady when he was young, but two inches taller.
Sure LeBron and Kobe are the front-runners for the MVP, but they have solid veteran players surrounding them. Durant is coached by Scott Brooks….enough said. Kevin Durant for MVP!
The Truth Sports!
