Around the NBA: LeBron’s Lakers finally finding their groove
Suddenly, the Los Angeles Lakers are in a bit of a groove.
LeBron James passed Wilt Chamberlain and moved into fifth place on the all-time scoring list when James had 44 points — his first 40-plus game of the season — in a 126-117 win over Portland on Wednesday night.
It was the fourth straight victory for the Lakers and it’s all well and good to see what James is doing, but maybe there’s another reason the team is on the rebound? The Lakers haven’t lost since they signed Tyson Chandler after he got his release from the Phoenix Suns last week. So James or Chandler? Which one is it?
MELO-ED OUT: Carmelo Anthony is done in Houston.
Rockets general manager Daryl Morey released a statement Thursday saying the team is “parting ways” with Anthony and “working toward a resolution.” Anthony played just 10 games for the Rockets after signing a one-year, $2.4 million (U.S.) deal during the off-season.
Eight of Anthony’s 10 appearances for the Rockets came off the bench after he had started all 1,054 games he’d played in his first 15 NBA seasons.
Morey added that: “Carmelo had a tremendous approach during his time with the Rockets and accepted every role head coach Mike D’Antoni gave him. The fit we envisioned when Carmelo chose to sign with the Rockets has not materialized, therefore we thought it was best to move on as any other outcome would have been unfair to him.”
LOOKING SHARP: The NBA relaxed its rules concerning the shoes players can wear this season. They no longer have to be primarily of the team’s colours or the colour of the uniforms, and it’s led to some wild looks so far, and some unique ones night to night. Brooklyn guard Spence Dinwiddie is designing his own a new pair of shoes for every game and they are being auctioned off for youth charities. This week, Dinwiddie did double-duty, as he designed shoes to raise money for a charity and also designed them to pay tribute to the late Stan Lee, the superhero creator who died this week at 95.
HOTTEST OF TAKE: No one in their right mind is going to judge the big trade between the Philadelphia 76ers and Minnesota Timberwolves yet. But … Jimmy Butler did make his debut with the Sixers on Wednesday and they lost in Orlando, and Robert Covington and Dario Saric debuted for Minnesota on Wednesday and they won, so there’s that. But perhaps the most telling aspect is what Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor pointed out to Minneapolis-area newspapers, that Butler “had an agenda” and there was a “negative environment” around his team.
“It just appeared that they weren’t working together as a team or as a unit the way that they should’ve,” Taylor said.