NBA FanHouse

Jeremy Tyler's European Detour Isn't Going Too Well

Tom Ziller — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:15:00 EST

And now for the flip side of the smiley Brandon Jennings narrative. Jeremy Tyler, a stand-out big man from San Diego, followed Jennings's European plan with a twist: Tyler decided to not just spend one post-high school season overseas before entering the NBA draft, but to spend his senior season of high school there as well. Tyler signed on with Israeli club Haifa.

Experts agreed that Tyler lacked the maturity or social structure to make it work in a foreign land. And lo! Pete Thamel of the New York Times, after a visit to Tyler's team, writes that the worst fears are being realized.

This is a pretty tidy summary:

His coach calls him lazy and out of shape. The team captain says he is soft. His teammates say he needs to learn to shut up and show up on time. He has no friends on the team. In extensive interviews with Tyler, his teammates, coaches, his father and advisers, the consensus is that he is so naïve and immature that he has no idea how naïve and immature he is.

Tyler has played little, has been fined for team violations, has fought with the coach and teammates ... all in a couple months. Thamel ends his long piece by quoting Tyler as telling the reporter that he wishes he were returning to the United States with him. Not a great sign ... especially considering Tyler has the better part of two years to go.

But of course, the Jennings experiment didn't go just as planned. The difference was that Jennings had family in tow, and less choice in the matter. (There were rumors -- never refuted -- that Jennings would not meet NCAA academic eligibility requirements. There have been no such concerns with Tyler.) Jennings had to make it work for a year. Tyler, a pioneer in his own rite, one who would instead be dominating 6'5 opponents and doing advanced geometry (or something), has the burden of regret.

Jennings has been a success so far -- an early leader in the Rookie of the Year race, a player Knicks boss Donnie Walsh has already cited as a player he missed on. But right now, Tyler is proving there's another way things can go. As with all things, there is no magic solution.

Jeremy Tyler's European Detour Isn't Going Too Well originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:15:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One NBA GM and Bill Simmons Want to Give Hope to the Hopeless

Rob Peterson — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: NBA Draft, NBA Rumors

Bill Simmons is everywhere.

As an provocateur, he's burrowed under the skin of old-media types such as Mike Francesa, who don't get him.

But most new-media types -- especially handsome and talented interns -- do get him. He's the 700-pound sportswriting gorilla touting a 700-page tome, The Book of Basketball, and tweeting the tour.

Yet, more than refusing to get off the virtual lawn of curmudgeons or fomenting a fervent fan base or getting this, the third post to feature him today at the 'House, Simmons has often expressed his desire to be an NBA GM. (OK, so not every new-media type finds this endearing.)

Then, it must thrill Simmons that one NBA GM has submitted a plan that would radically alter the NBA postseason in order to prevent teams from tanking. A plan that is very similar to one Simmons proposed in an ESPN the Magazine column in 2007.

As reported today by the always spot-on Ian Thomsen of Sports Illustrated, Denver GM Mark Warkentien -- the reigning NBA Executive of the Year -- has sent a letter to the other 29 teams and the league office to hold a mini-tournament to earn the No. 8 seed in each conference.

"Under the proposal, nothing would change for the playoff teams that earn the top seven playoff spots. The No. 8 spot, however, would be up for grabs. No. 8 would play a home game against No. 15, No. 9 would play at home against No. 14 and so on.

The loser of each game would be eliminated, while each winner would advance to the next round. At the conclusion of the mini-tournament, the playoffs would revert to the traditional format, with the winner of the No. 8 seed opposing the team with the best record in the conference."

That sounds quite good; and quite familiar. In addition to contraction and changing the Lottery back to a one-team, one-chance at No. 1, Simmons floated the idea of the League's Lottery-bound losers fighting in a mini-tourney. Instead of battling for one seed in a single elimination tourney, Simmons would have teams in a double-elimination tourney fighting for the final two spots in each conference.

"Shorten the regular season by four games, guarantee the top six seeds in each conference, then have a double-elimination tourney for the seventh and eighth seeds between the remaining 15 teams. I suggest this for five reasons. First, it would be entertaining as hell. In fact, that's what we'll call it: the Entertaining-as-Hell Tournament. Second, I'm pretty sure we could get it sponsored. Third, the top 12 teams get a reward: two weeks of rest while the tournament plays out. Fourth, a Cinderella squad could pull off some upsets, grab an eighth seed and win fans along the way. And fifth, with the Entertaining-as-Hell Tournament giving everyone a chance, no team could tank down the stretch without insulting paying customers beyond repair."

Hmmm, intriguing both, though one could be persuaded to go with the Warkentien proposal considering it would have the excitement of an April Madness (April Anxiousness!) single-elimination tourney.

There's a flip side to this, of course. Do you want to chance rewarding a 19-63 team with a spot in the Playoffs? Doesn't that render the whole regular season meaningless as opposed to just the last few weeks?

Regardless, both proposals (save the contraction -- What cruel bastard would like to see a city lose its team? Besides Clay Bennett, I mean.) have merits. Then again, after the institution of the re-weighted Lottery system in 1994, tanking never made sense anyway. Sure the worst team gets a 25 percent chance of winning the Lottery, but it also means they have a 75 percent chance of not winning it either. Only twice since the new system was instituted has the worst team won the Lottery: Cleveland in 2003 (they tabbed LeBron James) and Orlando in 2004 (they nabbed Dwight Howard).

Still, all of this must make Simmons smile. It's now on the record that one NBA GM thinks a lot like him.

One NBA GM and Bill Simmons Want to Give Hope to the Hopeless originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tip-Off Timer: 60th Pick in Draft Wins Rookie of the Year

Tom Ziller — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: NBA Awards, NBA Draft

Tip-Off Timer counts down the days until the first game of the 2009-10 season. On Friday, there are 60 days remaining.

In 1957, the NBA draft sprawled some 14 rounds, with each of the league's eight teams picking out a handful of additions. Most of the 83 players selected never played a second of NBA basketball, especially those taken in later rounds.

But there was one diamond in the rough. The Philadelphia Warriors spent their eighth round pick -- No. 60 overall -- on forward Woody Sauldsberry of Texas Southern. And Sauldsberry turned out to be the best pick of all, winning the 1957-58 Rookie of the Year award.

Sauldsberry is by far the R.O.Y. drafted lowest. Don Meineke, the league's inaugural R.O.Y. in 1952-53, had been drafted No. 35. Since Sauldsberry, the lowest a R.O.Y. has been drafted is No. 18 -- where 1987-88 R.O.Y. Mark Jackson was picked by the Knicks. Since Jackson's win, no player drafted outside the top 10 has won Rookie of the Year.

Sauldsberry stuck in the league for seven seasons. Only Sam Jones (picked No. 8) ended up with a fuller playing career out of all '57 picks, though Hot Rod Hundley (the top pick) and Jim Krebs turned out decent terms. Sauldsberry actually walked away from the game in 1963 after a dispute with his St. Louis Hawks coach Harry Galatin. Bill Russell, who years earlier had been convinced by Sauldsberry not to join the Harlem Globetrotters and instead go to the NBA, convinced Red Auerbach to sign Sauldsberry (who took a job selling plane tickets for TWA) for the 1965-66 season. The Celtics won another title, and Sauldsberry retired for good.

Tip-Off Timer: 60th Pick in Draft Wins Rookie of the Year originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Fri, 28 Aug 2009 09:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Would Beasley Be Better Off in College?

Tom Ziller — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:12:00 EST

Filed under: Heat, NBA Draft

If the NBA's age minimum were raised to 20 or 21, would incoming players be less likely to fall victim to depression or substance abuse? As Michael Beasley begins his apparently (and hopefully) earnest journey toward getting right, is there a case to be made for keeping kids in college another year?

Unfortunately, college life is no cure for depression or dependency. In fact, it's quite the opposite: Beasley might be in a worse situation if the NBA mandated two years of post-high school activity before league admission. Unravel the gilded dressing on our idyllic portrait of the campus life and you'll actually find that college can be a really stressful and unforgiving place ... even for a basketball prodigy.

In the American College Health Association's 2008 survey, 11% of the nation's college students reported having suffered from clinical depression within the previous year. Some 47% said they had experienced feelings of hopelessness. Nearly 60% reported feeling "very lonely." More than 30% said they had felt so depressed they could not function. Schoolwork, new environs, the pressures of work or what could effectively be considered work (such as near-pro basketball), physiological and psychological reasons. And let's not even get into drugs ...

Actually, yes, let's get into drugs. The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University reported that, as of 2005, some 23% of college students met the medical criteria for substance abuse. That's more than triple the rate in the general population.

College ... some treatment center. While the majority of NCAA coaches clearly care about their students, a few bad apples spoil the bunch. The apples don't get worse than, say, Rick Pitino, who can win games like few others but hardly seems like an appropriate rode model for anyone.

David Stern has said that the age rule is "not a social program." The league does not force its prospective players into a year of college, European, or D-League ball in order to bolster the players' mental stability -- it is a business decision to allow NBA teams to cull more informed talent assessments before committing high draft picks and large contracts to kids with limited competitive oeuvres. To Stern's thinking, we could just as easily rename the age rule the "DeAndre Jordan Rule" -- a year of mediocre play at Texas A&M dropped D.J. from top-5 to second round.

Why isn't the age rule billed a social program? Because Stern isn't stupid. He has to know the NCAA is rife with bad-intentioned hustlers (in sky-box booster and street-runner forms). Colleges, including Kansas State, offer counseling services, and I bet the professionals there are fantastic. But accepting that help is hardly compulsory for someone like Beasley, whereas in the NBA players are forced to get help. That's what Beasley is undergoing right now.

My best guess is that Stern knows that arguing for a higher age minimum on the basis of NCAA basketball's track record of success in shaping young men to fit our preconceived notions of the assimilated American superstar -- the Tim Duncan model, I suppose -- is absurd, and that he'd be laughed off the front page. I happen to disagree that the age rule works as a business decision -- there were far more high school-to-pro successes than failures -- but that's irrelevant here. Let's not invent a social benefit where one will clearly never exist.

There's no denying that the events of last summer's rookie transition program -- in which Beasley and two fellow players were caught in a room with weed and women -- were unfortunate, and bespoke a need for guidance. Where do you think that guidance can be found more readily? At K-State, where he could have been booted from the team for one season by testing positive for pot or getting caught with alcohol? Or in the NBA, where the league decreed a rehab program as a result of the rookie program incident? Undergoing this struggle in college could have resulted in further isolation or deeper darkness -- he was only at K-State for basketball, after all, and that would have been taken from him under NCAA regulation. In the NBA, he has a support system (Alonzo Mourning, John Lucas) in place to try to help him.

The reality of the situation is that some people are troubled -- athletes, yes, but also med-school students, investment bankers, politicians, sportswriters. Beasley is not the first human to immaturely challenge authority figures (or to wear pajamas to school, for that matter). And if bouncing around and alienating folks is a crime, plenty of my peers belong in the slammer.

The problem of equating Beasley's personal issues with the need for neo-colonialist expansion of the NBA's exclusion rule says more about the state of writing about mental health more than anything else. We tag those suffering from depression and substance abuse with the "problem child" moniker before we attribute the issues to a real and widespread illness. We can never have an honest discussion about mental health so long as we get no deeper than using such cases as props in the sports debates of our times.

Would Beasley Be Better Off in College? originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:12:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Ricky Rubio to Spend Two More Seasons in Spain

Tom Ziller — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:17:00 EST

Filed under: Timberwolves, Euroleague, NBA Draft, NBA Rumors

UPDATE: Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! and Chris Mannix of SI both tweet that a deal is not in place. I recommend Ben Golliver's reaction.

Spanish newspaper Marca is reporting (via RealGM/Skeets) that Ricky Rubio has sorted out his plans for next season. The paper reports that Regal FC Barcelona has worked out a deal with Rubio and his former team, DKV Joventut.

Joventut will receive more than $5 million (or 3.7 million Euros) for the rights to Ricky. There's no word on how much Barcelona will pay Rubio, though I imagine it will be more than the rookie scale contract La Pistola would have earned with Minnesota ($5.6 million over two years). For reference, Juan Carlos Navarro became the richest player in FC Barcelona history last summer when he inked a five-year, $23 million deal. I would hazard a guess Rubio's pay will be even more.

Marca has Rubio's Barcelona contract at six years in length, with a decreasing buy-out amount after each season. The thinking has been that if Rubio did stay in Europe, he would make his move across the Atlantic after the 2010-11 season; Minnesota GM David Kahn has even referenced getting Ricky in two years as a worst-case scenario.

In the mean time, supposing this report is accurate, Jonny Flynn has won the never-begun point guard battle in Minneapolis. He'll be a contender for Rookie of the Year by virtue of all the minutes he'll play, and he basically has two years to prove he deserves to be the team's Point Guard of the Future more than Ricky does.

Report: Ricky Rubio to Spend Two More Seasons in Spain originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:17:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Brandon Jennings Talks About Playing in Italy, His Jersey Number and More

Elie Seckbach — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Bucks, NBA Draft, NBA Videos, Interviews

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

Brandon Jennings, drafted 10th overall by the Milwaukee Bucks, is poised to make a splash in the NBA. His numbers in high school were very impressive, but he made headlines last summer when he skipped college and signed with Lottomatica Roma of the Italian league. In this exclusive video, we talk to Brandon about his upcoming season, why he decided to go play in Italy and more.

Check out the video after the jump.

Brandon Jennings Talks About Playing in Italy, His Jersey Number and More originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Mon, 24 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Without the NBA Age Minimum, Is Derrick Rose a Cheater?

Tom Ziller — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Bulls, Grizzlies, NBA Draft

I don't aim to defend the practice of cheating on your SAT, as Bulls star Derrick Rose is alleged to have done prior to enrolling at the University of Memphis in 2007. Even at age 17, Rose should know better. His brother Reggie Rose should have known better. Any other advisers potentially involved in the alleged fake-out should have known better. No excuse erases that.

But humor me for a second. We're told by David Stern that the NBA age minimum is a business decision, that the league's owners benefit from being able to see these bucks play for a year elsewhere (college, Europe, D-League). That the league benefits from being able to remove its scouts from high school gyms and AAU tournaments. That, in the end, the players benefit from the softer transition from amateur to pro.

Rose, one of the league's brightest young stars, saw his reputation take a massive hit Wednesday, all for a violation that never would have occurred if he didn't have to wait a year to join the league. The age minimum rule essentially paved the way for the criminalization of Rose's image. And Rose isn't the only one.

O.J. Mayo's image problems have also stemmed from the age minimum. If not for the rule, USC runners wouldn't have paid Mayo to attend the university, he would have been a lottery pick in 2007, and we'd be a lot more concerned about his shot selection than his legal docket. Can we really believe LeBron James wouldn't have found his way into a negative headline if he'd been forced to attend Ohio State? In high school he faced allegations of impropriety. The magnifying glass at Columbus would have been blinding.

And these are the stories we hear about. Certain university programs (USC, Memphis, now Kentucky, thanks to John Calipari) just ooze scandal. Other programs are very obviously dirty -- it's more difficult to point out ones which are not -- and the NBA is forcing their prospects into this system. Through the age rule, the NBA condones the way the NCAA has run things (which I would describe as "poorly," given that it took the NCAA two years to figure out an SAT test Rose "took" four hours away in the home base of one of the most notorious handlers in the basketball realm, a man who had already been connected to Rose's family and the University of Memphis).

The NBA isn't forcing prospects to fake their SATs or take money from runners. But David Stern knows as well as anyone how deep the pitfalls of modern high-stakes college basketball have become. And if the age rule is at least in part an antidote for the league's image problems ... well, it's not working. Derrick Rose is an alleged cheater today only because he was forced to chase a sham college education for seven months before being allowed to earn a living doing what he does best. Once again, the age minimum rule is not working.

Without the NBA Age Minimum, Is Derrick Rose a Cheater? originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Fri, 21 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tip-Off Timer: How '69 Coin Flip Cursed The Phoenix Suns

Tim Povtak — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 09:05:00 EST

Filed under: Bucks, Suns, NBA Draft

Tip-Off Timer counts down the days until the first game of the 2009-10 season. On Wednesday, there are 69 days remaining.

It's been 40 years since Phoenix Suns executive Jerry Colangelo last called "heads" in a coin flip. And it still haunts the franchise today.

When that Kennedy half-dollar landed on "tails" in the NBA office that spring day, it meant that the Milwaukee Bucks - and not the Suns - would get the No. 1 pick in the 1969 NBA Draft.

The Bucks selected celebrated UCLA center Lew Alcindor, who won a championship in his second season, changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and won five more titles with the Los Angeles Lakers. He became the NBA's all-time leading scorer and won six Most Valuable Player Awards before his induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

The Suns got the No. 2 pick, which became center Neal Walk of Florida.

It was the most costly lost coin flip in sports history. Some say it produced the curse that has dogged the Suns ever since.

Under Colangelo's leadership, Phoenix became a very successful, well-run franchise -- winning at least 50 games 19 times, including three seasons of more than 60 wins -- but it never has won a championship.

"We were shell-shocked,'' Colangelo said earlier this year when reflecting back on losing the coin flip. "I just felt like we were going to win the flip. We had taken a group of young guys in the expansion draft who would have fit perfectly with him (Alcindor). We would have been in prime position to have a good long run.''

Instead the Suns got Walk, who became the symbol of the franchise's frustration - often referred to as a booby prize -- although he didn't deserve that tag. He became a reliable and better-than-average NBA center. In five seasons with the Suns, he missed only two games combined. In his fourth season, he averaged 20.2 points and 12.4 rebounds. The Suns reached the playoffs only once with him at center.

Lost in the loss of the '69 coin flip for Alcindor was the fact that the Suns won another coin flip two months later with Seattle when they were awarded the rights to Connie Hawkins, who had sued the league to gain entry after being banned. Hawkins, the New York City playground legend, became a four-time All-Star with the Suns.

Walk was traded to New Orleans in 1974, then played three more seasons with the Jazz and the New York Knicks before finishing his basketball career unceremoniously in Europe.

Walk today works in the Suns community relations department. He has been a paraplegic since 1988 after surgery to remove a tumor surrounding his spine. He went on to play wheelchair basketball and in 1990 was honored by President George H.W. Bush as the Wheelchair Athlete of the Year.

Abdul-Jabbar works today in player development with the Lakers, still hoping to become a head coach in the NBA.

Tip-Off Timer: How '69 Coin Flip Cursed The Phoenix Suns originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 09:05:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sports Greats Past and Present Get Together for a Great Cause

Elie Seckbach — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Bucks, Celtics, Clippers, Hornets, Lakers, Suns, NBA Awards, NBA Draft, NBA Videos, Interviews, NBA Twitter, FanHouse Exclusive, NBA Coaches

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

For the past nine years the Harold Pump Foundation, created by David and Dana Pump (known as the gurus of high school and college basketball) has raised over $3.5 million dollars to fight cancer. The foundation's efforts have not gone unnoticed. Major stars such as Magic Johnson, Paul Pierce, Sugar Ray Leonard, Pete Sampras and Denzel Washington have all joined the Pump brothers. In this report we also hear from young NBA stars like Kevin Love, Brandon Jennings, and Blake Griffin.

Check out the video after the jump.

Sports Greats Past and Present Get Together for a Great Cause originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Tue, 18 Aug 2009 11:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tyler Being Exploited on His Way to Israel

Tim Povtak — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:25:00 EST

Filed under: Euroleague, NBA Draft

Sonny Vaccaro and B.J. Armstrong aren't advising Jeremy Tyler. They are exploiting him for their own gain.

Tyler is the 18-year-old San Diego youngster who is trying to become the first American-born student to leave high school early to play professional basketball overseas. He signed a one-year contract worth $140,000 Wednesday to play with Maccabi Haifa of the Israeli Premier League.

While everyone else in his class is getting ready to start his senior year of high school, Tyler is being led down a path to a nightmare.

For all the talk that colleges take advantage of these soon-to-be-pro athletes, this exercise of sending him to a foreign land without the necessary maturity level to handle it is considerably worse.

The whole affair sounds - and is - dirty, although Vaccaro and Armstrong are trying to justify encouraging him to become a high school dropout. Boy, that sounds like really good advice there.

How about telling him to go to summer school so he can actually graduate and live a normal life when his basketball playing days are over?

"I don't care how big and strong he is, this doesn't make sense for the kid,'' said one former NBA head coach on Thursday. "Even mature players go to Europe and 10 days later, they want to come home.''

Tyler, a 6-foot-11, 260-pound man-child won't be eligible for the NBA Draft until 2011. He told the Associated Press that high school basketball was boring, and that he needed another challenge.

How about studying for the SAT?

Although the Israeli Premier League is not on the level of the best basketball in Spain, Italy or Greece, it's still better than what he would find in the NCAA, which means he'll be overwhelmed at first.

There is no reason for Maccabi Haifa to try and develop him, knowing that if he is as good as he thinks, he won't be there for more than two years. It's sink or swim from the start. And it's more likely, he'll sink, not so much from his play on the court, but from what he finds when the games and the practices end.

It's tough enough for immature kids to remain level-headed on a college campus. What's it going to be like thousands of miles away from home, where the culture gap between San Diego and Israel is considerable.

The ultra-talented kids now like Dwight Howard and LeBron James who go directly from high school to the NBA are carefully advised and groomed and protected by their teams because so much money is invested in the players. He won't get that with Maccabi Haifa because they have very little invested and already have reaped a ton of publicity from the signing. How long do you think Armstrong and Vaccaro will be in Israel with Tyler? Not very long.

We tell kids all the time to slow down, quit rushing to grow up, but with talented young athletes and the potential of really big money involved, they get the opposite advice from people who stand to gain from the process.

"If it was my kid, I certainly wouldn't let him go play there,'' said the former NBA coach. "This is not a good thing for anyone.''

Tyler Being Exploited on His Way to Israel originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:25:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Tip-Off Timer: '84 Draft Stands Alone

Tim Povtak — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: NBA Draft

Tip-Off Timer counts down the days until the first game of the 2009-10 NBA season. On Tuesday, there are exactly 84 days left.

We've already talked about the most disastrous draft in NBA history (1986) and the calamity it caused, but if you backtrack two years, you can make a good case for just the opposite, the finest class of players ever to enter the league at one time.

The '84 NBA Draft stands alone.

This is the Draft that produced four future Hall of Famers, three others that played in at least one All-Star Game, and a handful of guys who had long and productive NBA careers.

Hakeem Olajuwon (pictured above shortly after being selected first overall), one of the best centers in league history; Michael Jordan (No. 3) the greatest player of our generation; Charles Barkley (No. 5), whose freakish skills made him a game-changing power forward; and John Stockton (No. 16), among the all-time great point guards, each was voted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Alvin Robertson (No. 7), Otis Thorpe (No. 9) and Kevin Willis (No. 11) all became NBA All-Stars. Jay Humphries (No. 13), Michael Cage (No. 14), Jeff Turner (No. 17), Vern Fleming (No. 18), Tony Campbell (No. 20) and Jerome Kersey (No. 46) became good role players in the league.

Also in that 1984 Draft was track and field star Carl Lewis (No. 208), the Olympic Gold Medalist who never played in the NBA. Still, he was an intriguing pick in the final year before the league instituted the Draft Lottery.

The Draft also will be remembered for the decision by the Portland Trail Blazers to pass up Jordan with the No. 2 pick and take center Sam Bowie instead. Although everyone loved Jordan, the Blazers already had shooting guard Clyde Drexler, a star to be, and they needed a center. Even Bowie, who never lived up to expectations, played 10 years in the league.

The Hall of Fame Four accumulated seven Most Valuable Player Awards, 23 All-NBA first-team mentions and played in 45 NBA All-Star Games, setting themselves apart from all other classes.

The 1996 Draft class had its share of superstars with Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash - all headed to the Hall of Fame -- while 2003 boosts LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade.

Yet it's still going to be tough to beat the Famed Class of '84.

Tip-Off Timer: '84 Draft Stands Alone originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Tue, 04 Aug 2009 10:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tip-Off Timer: '85 Lottery Still the Best

Tim Povtak — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 10:30:00 EST

Filed under: Knicks, NBA Draft

Tip-Off Timer counts down the days until the first game of the 2009-10 NBA season. On Monday, there are exactly 85 days left.

Even today, 24 years after the fact, the debate still rages over the 1985 NBA Draft Lottery. Was it predetermined to ensure the high-profile New York Knicks got the No. 1 pick and franchise center Patrick Ewing, the most heralded college player in several years?

Or is that just another wild-eyed conspiracy theory? People still argue it, while Commissioner David Stern grew tired of the talk long ago.

"I've heard the theories,'' said longtime NBA executive Pat Williams. "And they're just bogus.''

There is no debate that winning that first Lottery changed the course of the Knicks, the league's pet franchise that had been mired in mediocrity the previous 11 years. After Ewing's arrival and his two-year breaking-in period, the Knicks reached the playoffs for 13 consecutive seasons with him as the starting center.

The debate is whether Stern knew what he was doing when he reached into the tumbler and -- with a one-in-seven-chance -- pulled out the envelope with the Knicks logo inside.

There is one theory that he knew which envelope to pull because it was put in a freezer to make it colder to the touch. The other theory is that one envelope had a bent corner for him to feel as he reached inside.

The video lends little credibility to either theory.

While the Draft Lottery was rushed into use to end a controversy caused by the Houston Rockets, it only started another one because the system proved to be flawed.

For such a dramatic change in the way the NBA did business, there was very little debate among the owners when the league decided it needed a Draft Lottery for '85.

The Houston Rockets made the decision easy. They had gained too much from tanking games. There was too much reward for being so bad.

After watching the Rockets get the No. 1 pick in back-to-back years to take Ralph Sampson and Hakeem Olajuwon -- by virtually quitting on the court -- the NBA owners knew that with Ewing waiting in the next draft, there was the potential for an outbreak of teams trying too hard not to win.

"Usually, owners want to study these kind of things. But there was no committee formed, no anything except an attitude that 'we need to fix what we had,'" said Williams. "After the Rockets went into the tank the way they did, it was automatic.''

Instead of a two-team coin flip between the worst team from the East and the worst team from the West -- a 50-50 chance at the No. 1 pick -- the NBA went to a lottery system for all the teams that didn't make the playoffs (only a one in seven chance) for the chance at No. 1.

When the worst team in the league, the Warriors, ended up with the No. 7 pick, there obviously needed more tweaking in the system. In 1987, it was changed so only the top three picks were determined by the lottery. The rest followed by reverse order of regular season record.

By 1990, it was adjusted again with a weighted system, giving the worst teams a better chance of winning one of the top three picks. Through the '90s, the lottery became in incredibly popular event for the NBA, getting tweaked even more.

As good as they've been, and the surprises they produced, only the '85 Lottery still evokes a debate.

Tip-Off Timer: '85 Lottery Still the Best originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Mon, 03 Aug 2009 10:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tip-Off Timer: '86, the Most Bizarre Draft in NBA History

Tim Povtak — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 05:00:00 EST

Filed under: 76ers, Cavaliers, Celtics, Knicks, Magic, Mavericks, Pistons, Warriors, NBA Draft

Tip-Off Timer counts down the days until the first game of the 2009-10 NBA season. On Sunday, there are exactly 86 days left.

When you talk about the NBA in 1986, it's not the Boston Celtics winning their third and final championship in the Larry Bird era that history will remember most.

It's that '86 NBA Draft class, the most flawed, notorious, bizarre class in league history, that will be remembered -- for all the wrong reasons.

It's just so tough to forget. It wasn't a draft. It was a disaster, ranging from tragic to terribly unfortunate, turning sour so quickly that it was stunning.

"It's a draft that you hope could never happen again,'' said longtime NBA executive Pat Williams, who traded away the top pick that year as the GM of the Philadelphia 76ers. "It will go down in history as the most scarred draft we've ever had. It was haunted.''

It started with Len Bias of Maryland, who died of a cocaine overdose two days after being chosen with the No. 2 pick by the world champion Celtics.

It continued with Chris Washburn of North Carolina State, William Bedford of Memphis State and Roy Tarpley of Michigan, all big and strong, taken third, sixth and seventh respectively, who washed out of the league quickly because of drug and alcohol problems. Seven of the top 14 picks in '86 eventually were linked to drug use that scarred their careers.

It was 23 years ago that the NBA received a wake-up call like never before, changing the way it does business, a horrible reminder of everything that can go wrong in the annual race to uncover the most athletic basketball players in the world. We learned in '86 that it's not always the biggest and strongest athletes who succeed.

"It was the drug draft,'' Williams said. "Going in, there were some things that made us uncomfortable with it, so we just got out.''

Of the top nine picks that year, only two (Chuck Person at No. 4 and Ron Harper at No. 8) lasted 10 years in the league. No. 1 pick Brad Daugherty became the only All-Star from the first round of that class, but his career was shortened significantly by injuries.

"Some of the stories that came out of that draft were scary,'' Daugherty said eight years ago. "So many different people had so many different bad things happen to them. It was almost like a curse. I feel fortunate that nothing bad happened to me.''

There were some wonderful success stories in that upside-down draft, but they were unexpected. Mark Price, Dennis Rodman, Nate McMillan, Jeff Hornacek, Johnny Newman -- all second-round picks -- carved out great careers.

"There wasn't much hoopla for the guys in the second round, but I've always thought that drafting is not a science,'' said Magic general manager Otis Smith, a second-round pick in '86 whose career was cut short by knee problems. "It still is kind of amazing how that draft fell out.''

It wasn't just drugs that cursed that '86 draft. Many others picked high in that first round just failed to live up to expectations, either from a lack of talent, desire or good judgment.

Kenny Walker of Kentucky went fifth to New York, but he averaged only seven points and four rebound in his seven seasons. John Williams of LSU went No. 12 to Washington, but he ate his way out of the league. Dwayne Washington (No. 13 to New Jersey) and Walter Berry (No. 14 to Portland) were great college players who just couldn't survive in the NBA.

Washburn (Golden State), Bedford (Phoenix) and Tarpley (Dallas) combined to start just 89 NBA games, fewer than Anthony Bowie, a journeyman who wasn't picked until the third round.

Dell Curry, whose son Stephen Curry was drafted No. 7 last month by Golden State, was one of the lucky first-round picks. He was taken 15th by Utah in '86, and he played 16 years in the NBA, earning a reputation as one of the greatest 3-point shooters in history.

Williams had the rights to the No. 1 pick in '86, but he thought Daugherty was too soft to play in the NBA, and he didn't like the whispers he was hearing about so many of other top talents. He traded the pick to Cleveland for proven veteran Roy Hinson, whose career then nosedived.

"It was a different world then,'' Williams said. "You didn't know everything about players like they do now. Mistakes were made. And once you did, you didn't get a second chance.''

Tip-Off Timer: '86, the Most Bizarre Draft in NBA History originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Sun, 02 Aug 2009 05:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jeremy Tyler to Slovenia?

Tom Ziller — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 09:23:00 EST

Filed under: Euroleague, NBA Draft, D-League

Jeremy Tyler, the San Diego prospect who dropped out of high school as a junior to pursue a professional career in Europe, has been looking for a team since April. The issue is not that there is no interest from the Old World, it's that handler Sonny Vaccaro wants the right fit (and the best deal).

In May, concerns were raised that Vaccaro aimed too high, that if Tyler landed on too good a team, he'd spend two years wallowing on the bench. Coaches in Europe can't afford to allow their top teams to suffer growing pains for the benefit of an American who will leave at first chance.

Well, Tyler reportedly has a team -- Olimpija Ljubljana in Slovenia -- and DraftExpress's Jonathan Givony thinks it's a bad idea.

Givony tweeted the news and his instant reaction Friday night.

Mixed reactions on Jeremy Tyler to Olimpija news. Unstable club financially many say, extremely difficult to find Americans who succeeded[.] My prediction? Tyler will be back in States by the new year, likely to play in the D-League. Adriatic League is no place for a high schooler[.]

The Adriatic League is business, having served as the farm system for many Slavic players of NBA note. The club league is well-stocked. Never mind the Euroleague, where Jennings barely got a taste last season, and where Tyler will open his pro career in October against teams like CSKA Moscow and Maccabi Tel Aviv.

This isn't to say Tyler isn't ready: perhaps he will do fine in Slovenia. Height is an asset you can't ignore. But the difference between Olimpija and, say, Louisville or the Clippers, is that there is no incentive for Olimpija to develop Tyler (unless you think he'll be bringing a club title home to Ljubljana at age 18) whereas Rick Pitino and Mike Dunleavy depend on developing their young players for future success. This is where the European flight experiment breaks down.

Givony reports Tyler will make $150,000 per year for three seasons, with a $400,000 buy-out available after the 2010-11 season. (Tyler is eligible for the 2011 NBA draft.) Assuming Tyler could have signed a smaller, two-year contract to avoid the buy-out situation, that reeks of Vaccaro attempting to stick it to the NBA. Teams can pay up to $500,000 of an acquired player's buy-out; that $400,000 buy-out conveniently falls under that level, and equates to what is effectively a raise on the rookie salary scale.

As for the D-League, if things truly go to seed in Ljubljana: I hope there's a condition of the contract not yet reported, because the top D-League salary isn't quite $30,000. Not exactly what Tyler had in mind, I'm sure.

Jeremy Tyler to Slovenia? originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Sat, 01 Aug 2009 09:23:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NBA Age Limit Isn't Fair, Doesn't Work

Tom Ziller — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: NBA Draft

On Tuesday, my FanHouse colleague Tim Povtak argued that the NBA's age minimum is good for everyone and should be raised to 20 years old. He chastised Congressman Steve Cohen of Tennessee for raising concerns with the NBA, and recanted the league's rationale on the issue. Plenty of discussion points in there ...

... but, in my opinion, a real lack of nuance and compassion. The NBA age limit helps two groups, and two groups only: NBA executives and the NCAA oligarchy. Supporters of the age limit may claim some greater interest in the sanctity of basketball as a key tenet, but come on. This is about money. Not education, not better basketball, not the salvation of misguided youth. It's about money, the elimination of some small slice of financial risk for NBA owners and the enrichment of the high-powered athletic programs of American college sports.

And who bears the burden of this policy? Kids like DeMar DeRozan.

DeRozan, one of the top prospects in the high school class of 2008, would have been a lottery pick in that 2008 draft if not for David Stern's age minimum. Instead, he spent a year at USC. Of course, as an amateur, he didn't pull a salary. (Given what we now know about Tim Floyd, I'll hesitate to definitively say he didn't make any money at Southern Cal.)

Meanwhile, Diane DeRozan, DeMar's mother, continued to suffer from lupus, a painful and destructive disease which causes the victim's immune system to attack the body's healthy cells, muscles, tissues and organs. It's treatable, but terrible. And expensive. Something that, hmm, a multi-million dollar NBA contract might help with. DeRozan, a newly minted Raptor, said as much during his 2009 draft conversation with ESPN's Stu Scott.

Of course, families shouldn't have to rely on NBA contracts to pay for lupus treatments, but that's an argument for another website. The point is that Diane DeRozan shouldn't have had to wait until June 2009 to get the best health care possible. If not for the age minimum, DeMar would have been an NBA player drawing more than $1 million in salary in 2008. She had to wait a whole year for better health care solely because of an arbitrary rule.

Go ahead, tell me, "Well, that's how it's got to be. For the good of the game." Now go tell that to this year's Diane DeRozan. And for what? So UCLA can build a nicer gym? So CBS can sell ads for a higher price in March? So Donald Sterling or Michael Heisley or Clay Bennett can avoid blowing $2 million on an unproductive player if their evaluation systems fail? Those things are more important than the perfectly sensible and, frankly, American right to earn a living in a suitable profession?

The track record that Povtak discards is not ignorable. Three of the five players voted to the All-NBA first team this season (LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard) were drafted at age 18. Six of this season's All-Stars jumped to the NBA straight out of high school. And to say LeBron or Kobe weren't "fun to watch" as 18-year-old rookies? LeBron, who average 20/5/6 and finished ninth in MVP voting his rookie season? Kobe, who was a rotation player for a 56-win team? Dwight, who finished in the top 10 in rebounding and field goal percentage as an 18-year-old rookie, wasn't good enough for our Holy league? Give me a break!

Povtak lists the infamous straight outta high school busts: Kwame and Darius leading the way, with Darko Milicic thrown in for good measure. (As if another season of Adriatic League performance would have discouraged some team from picking Milicic top five.) The age minimum has not eliminated the bust, however.

Heck, in the first draft consummated after the age minimum was instituted, we were treated to selections including junior swingman Adam Morrison at No. 3, senior big man Shelden Williams at No. 5, senior guard Randy Foye at No. 6, sophomore center Patrick O'Bryant at No. 9, 20-year-old center Mohammed Sene at No. 10, senior guard J.J. Redick at No. 11 and senior center Hilton Armstrong at No. 12. Clearly, the age minimum did not fix the draft! You think those lottery teams might have been better off with the opportunity to select from the graduating high school class of that season, guys like Kevin Durant, Greg Oden, Mike Conley and Thaddeus Young? I think Charlotte might have been better off with Durant instead of Morrison. That seems fairly safe to say.

Michael McCann of Sports Law Blog has written a great deal on the age limit, and he has one particular line I think about often when discussing the issue: "[The draft] is not about age and it's never been about age; it's about talent, and scouts' ability to assess it." Don't blame 18-year-olds for the failures of retired ballplayers masquerading as talent evaluators. And please, don't argue the arbitrary age minimum protects the game by keeping woeful talents like John Wall out for an extra year.

And please don't say it's somehow in the players' best interest to live a lie in college for a year. It wasn't in DeMar DeRozan's best interest. There will be a story like his every year so long as the age minimum exists. And if the league gets its way and extends the minimum to age 20 ... families like the DeRozans will have to wait another whole year to earn that salary. All so the Donald Sterlings of the world can avoid a little bit of risk. Great system, y'all.

NBA Age Limit Isn't Fair, Doesn't Work originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Wed, 22 Jul 2009 09:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NBA Age Limit Rule Should Be Raised, Not Eliminated

Tim Povtak — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: NBA Draft

Don't you just love it when the politicians put their noses where they don't belong, knowing they'll probably screw up things?

The NBA has been defending its age-requirement rule -- a good rule that would be even better if another year was added -- after Congressman Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) strongly urged the league to scrap it.

The fact that the rule was collectively bargained five years ago doesn't seem to matter to Cohen. Nor does it matter that it's good for the league, good for the fans who watch the league, and good for players currently in the league.

It's a win-win rule, yet Cohen said he will consider congressional hearings and legislation if the requirement isn't dropped from the next CBA.

The Associated Press obtained a letter Monday sent from NBA President Joel Litvin to the Congressman's office in which the league explained the reasoning behind the rule.

It's not hard to figure out what was in the letter. It's just common sense, something Congress has struggled with for years when it intervenes in matters where it doesn't belong.

Instead of letting players come directly from high school -- which was stopped after the 2004 Draft -- the league now requires both a year out of high school and a 19-year-old minimum age requirement before a player can be drafted.

It means a little less baby-sitting that the NBA coaches must do. It means players will come with a little more maturity, and a little higher skill level if they attend college or play overseas or in the Development League for a year. It means a better product.

Yes, the best players in the league today -- Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, Dwight Howard, etc. -- came directly from high school, but if you remember, three of those four weren't much fun to watch that first season because their fundamentals were poor. It would have been better to have them learning the game at Kentucky, North Carolina or Duke.

James doesn't count in this argument because he's a once-in-a-lifetime athlete. He was great from the start. The lack of an age limit worked fine for a number of guys, but it hurt the quality of basketball. It produced too many mistakes, either players who could have benefited from a year or two or three in school, or teams that would have benefited from another year evaluating the skill level.

The fact is that the league executives haven't made as many mistakes evaluating talent since the rule took effect in 2005.

If there was an age limit, Kwame Brown (No. 1 in 2001), Darius Miles (No. 3 in 2000) and Darko Milicic (No. 2 in 2003) would not be considered such disasters because their flaws would have been exposed before they got to the NBA. They would not have been taken in spots so high.

Although the NBA Players Association will act like it wants the age-limit eliminated when negotiations begin, that's only to bargain something else in return. Even it knows the idea is a good one. Raising the age to 20 would be even better.

Too bad a politician can't figure it out.

NBA Age Limit Rule Should Be Raised, Not Eliminated originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Tue, 21 Jul 2009 19:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Summers Making Pistons Look Good

Gary Washburn — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:11:00 EST

Filed under: Pistons, NBA Draft, Summer League

LAS VEGAS -- After watching DaJuan Summers, who curiously fell to 35th in last month's NBA Draft, score 24 points with seven rebounds in 33 minutes in a Summer League win over Sacramento, assistant coach Darrell Walker made a declaration.

"Summers is a player and I don't know how he goes 35 in the draft," Walker said after Detroit's 86-77 win Friday at Cox Pavilion. "Things happen in the NBA Draft. I ain't crazy, I understand that but he's a legitimate NBA player. And I think he's going to get some legitimate minutes."

Summers was by far the best player on the court. He played on the perimeter and in the paint. He distributed the ball. He committed one turnover and stuck his hand to deflect passes. Georgetown players generally make solid NBA players because of their all-around skills and Summers resembles Oklahoma City forward Jeff Green.

Summers opted to leave Georgetown and slid to the second round like a couple of other notable early entries. The Pistons, who have fared well with late-first round and second-round picks in recent years -- Tayshaun Prince, Jason Maxiell, Carlos Delfino, Mehmet Okur -- may have another future standout

"To me it's a luxury to have a guy who can play both positions," Walker said. "Some nights he's going to be able to play the [power forward] and he's definitely a [small forward], no doubt about that . And what he brings is another big who can shoot the basketball."

Walker continued with his adulation.

"I am going to say this one more time: I never seen him play in college. I never saw his workouts. He's NBA ready. I'm sure he's going to going to have some knocks and ups and downs, but he's NBA ready. He's a player."

Summers Making Pistons Look Good originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:11:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Eyes on John Wall at LeBron's Camp?

Matt Steinmetz — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 14:10:00 EST

Filed under: NBA Draft, Summer League

Don't expect much of a slowdown with free agency this week, but there will be plenty of NBA executives out of their offices for the next several days.

Many NBA teams will have front-office personnel in Akron, Ohio, where the LeBron James Skills Academy got underway on Sunday afternoon. Getting most of the attention is certain to be point guard John Wall, who could be the No. 1 overall selection in the 2010 NBA draft.

However, Wall wasn't present for Sunday's mid-afternoon start to the camp. And as it turns out, Wall is not on either the college or high school roster.

Wall, who will attend the University of Kentucky in the fall, was considering challenging the NBA's age requirement before this season's draft. Wall, who will turn 19 later this year, may have gone as high as No. 2 in last June's draft.

The rosters for the camp aren't published until Monday, but Wall, who was an attendee last year, figured to be there.

James' skills camp features the top 80 high school players as well as a number of college players who have attended the camp in years past. One of the most interesting aspects of the camp is that it allows players to compete against James, who sometimes plays in games, as well as other pros.

Most NBA teams figure to be in attendance at the camp, although each franchise is limited to just one representative.

James' camp isn't the only thing going on this week. The Orlando Pro Summer League, featuring six teams, starts on Monday and the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas begins on Friday.

Eyes on John Wall at LeBron's Camp? originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Sun, 05 Jul 2009 14:10:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Blake Griffin: The Clippers Are Going to Be Explosive

Elie Seckbach — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:04:00 EST

Filed under: Clippers, NBA Draft, NBA Videos, Interviews, FanHouse Exclusive

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

The Los Angeles Clippers and their fans could not presently be any happier. Last week, they added an outstanding player in Blake Griffin, who was, of course, the first overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. In this FanHouse exclusive, we talk to Blake about his new team and his expectations. We also hear from Eric Gordon, former NBA stars Sean Rooks and Michael Cage, and Clippers assistant general manager Neil Olshey.

Check out the video after the jump.

Blake Griffin: The Clippers Are Going to Be Explosive originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:04:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Brandon Jennings Acting Up Again?

Gary Washburn — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 02:30:00 EST

Filed under: Bucks, Knicks, NBA Draft

If his late appearance at the NBA Draft wasn't enough, freshly minted Milwaukee Bucks guard Brandon Jennings continued his personal attack of Ricky Rubio and then added the New York Knicks to his hit list. Perhaps it's time for Jennings to keep quiet until he achieves something in the NBA.

Apparently talking with rapper Joe Budden on a blog cam following the draft, a recorded Jennings ripped the Knicks for passing him up in the draft, predicted the Bucks would not re-sign Ramon Sessions, instead spending their money on Charlie Villanueva, and finally that Luke Ridnour would eventually be his backup.

The video was posted on YouTube but quickly taken off when Budden requested on his Web site that it be removed. Jennings, 19, has drawn controversy because he skipped college to play a year in Europe and then entered the draft following an uneven year for Lottomatica Virtus Roma, averaging 6.3 points in 43 games. Jennings then criticized the hoopla over Spanish point guard Rubio, claiming he was the best point guard in the draft.

The video conversation continued with Jennings explaining why he wasn't in the green room when the draft pick was announced. Jennings did not have a lottery guarantee and wasn't going to show up and then become the second coming of Rashard Lewis. According to SportingNews.com, this is what he told Budden: "No, I was at the hotel. This is what happened right. My agent is like 'Well, we ain't hear nothing. We ain't have no guarantee.' So we makin' phone calls and (expletive) and (expletive) is saying like 'The workouts is great and everything and he's the best point guard but we don't know yet, we just don't know.' "

He continued: "No, (expletive), I came out there and made my appearance (expletive) and I had the best appearance out of all them (expletives). And I was the best dressed, they said, by the way. I was the best dressed."

And finally, when asked about the Knicks passing on him to take Arizona's Jordan Hill, he said, "(Expletive) the Knicks, them (expletives) skipped out on me. (Expletive) the Knicks, them (expletives) is always going to be weak."

Jennings is expected to make his NBA debut July 10 in the NBA Summer League against the Dallas Mavericks, and perhaps the youngster would do himself justice by remaining silent for the next few weeks. It is uncertain whether Jennings knew he was being recorded, but it sounded like a personal conversation that became
very public.

Brandon Jennings Acting Up Again? originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Sun, 28 Jun 2009 02:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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