Cavs laugh off Hood’s apology

INDEPENDENCE, OHIO » Rodney Hood got an unusual reaction when he apologized to his Cleveland teammates for refusing to check into Game 4 against Toronto. They laughed.

“They was like, ‘Hood, that’s not really a distraction’ because of everything that they’ve been through this year,’” he said. “So they all took light of it. They understand, so it wasn’t anything really.”

Hood added another distraction to a season full of them on Tuesday when he waved off coach Tyronn Lue’s request to replace LeBron James during the fourth quarter of the Cavs’ blowout win over the Raptors.

Hood said he told Lue to “just let Jose play” and then regretted his decision.

“I should have known because I didn’t play throughout the duration of the game that it was gonna look bad, but it wasn’t (as bad) as people was trying to make it,” Hood said. “I apologized to T-Lue for any confusion and stuff like that but that’s all it was . ... ”

Collison retiring 15 seasons after

OKLAHOMA CITY » Oklahoma City forward Nick Collison is retiring after 15 years in the NBA.

Collison, 37, announced his decision through the team. The Thunder said Collison is among five players to have spent the past 15 or more seasons all with one franchise.

Collison played in just 15 games this past season. His best season came in 200708, when he averaged 9.8 points and 9.4 rebounds in their last year in Seattle.