Around the NBA: There’s still only one Jordan, Gentry says
New Orleans Pelicans bench boss Alvin Gentry, after his team was decimated by Kawhi Leonard and the San Antonio Spurs, made a reference to Leonard’s multi-dimensional skills that included the name Michael Jordan. Gentry took some heat because a TV talking head went off on it and the Pelicans coach cleared the air before their game against Toronto on Wednesday.
“I didn’t say Kawhi Leonard was Michael Jordan, OK? I didn’t say he was Michael Jordan. (ESPN commentator) Stephen A. Smith (said that). I said that I don’t want to say Michael Jordan, but the guy is very good on both ends of the floor. He’s capable of getting 30 points and he can also control the game on the defensive end. I would never call anybody Michael Jordan . . . I would never compare anybody to Michael Jordan, OK? Not anyone who has ever played, is playing now or will be playing 50 years from now. So let’s get that completely straight.”
Speaking of cranky: We give you Memphis Grizzlies coach Dave Fizdale, under fire for some late-season roster machinations as his team tries to hang on to the sixth seed in the Western Conference.
“What am I supposed to do, settle for mediocrity or stay in a .500 mode and not do anything and just be OK with that?” he said. “That’s the problem, the whole image of this group is that, that’s been OK. And if we’re underdogs and we don’t win it, that’s OK? No, I won’t settle for that.
“I’ll continue to shuffle until I find something that works best to give us the best chance to hold the trophy. And if people don’t like it, they can kiss my a--.” One more for the cranky list: Pelicans big man DeMarcus Cousins,
who has already served two onegame suspensions for excessive technical fouls, was back in the NBA’s bad books on Thursday.
The volatile centre was fined a total of $50,000 for “directing inappropriate language towards fans” on two separate occasions.
He went off after a win over the Lakers at the Staples Center on Sunday and after a loss to the Jazz in Salt Lake City on Monday.
Triple-double trend: The proliferation of triple-doubles this NBA season has been astonishing with Russell Westbrook (30) chasing Oscar Robertson’s 1961 triple-double average for a season, and James Harden having 15 of his own.
But it’s more than just those two. When Minnesota’s Ricky Rubio post a triple-double last weekend, it was the 79th of the NBA season and it eclipsed the all-time league record of 78 set in the 1988-89 season.
Revolving door: The signing of Andrew Bogut didn’t work out too well for the Cleveland Cavaliers since the veteran centre broke his leg before playing half a game with his new team and he’s done for the season.
But worry not for the Cavs. Not only do they plan to waive Bogut and find someone else to fill the roster spot, guard J.R. Smith has been cleared to resume playing missing three months with a thumb injury.
Sharing the load: Things aren’t going too swimmingly for the Golden State Warriors, with Kevin Durant still out for weeks with a knee ligament injury and the San Antonio Spurs just a game-and-a-half behind them for first in the Western Conference going into games Thursday.
But one thing the Warriors do is share the ball. In 40 of their 64 games so far, they’ve had more than 30 assists, which is as many as the next four teams combined.