Dwyane Wade’s loss is Atlanta’s gain, as they now have four NBA All-Stars.
KORVER TO REPLACE D-WADE IN ASG
Atlanta Hawks’ Kyle Korver will replace Dwyane Wade in this year’s NBA All-Star Game.
Wade was ruled out on Tuesday due to a hamstring injury.
Korver beat out other candidates like Brandon Knight, Derrick Rose and Nikola Vucevic.
The @ATLHawks' @KyleKorver to replace injured Dwyane Wade on Eastern Conference at #NBAAllStarNYC! pic.twitter.com/ZTK4B447H2
— 2018 NBA All-Star (@NBAAllStar) February 11, 2015
BYRON SCOTT FINES SWAGGY P
Los Angeles Lakers’ Nick Young was fined $1,500 Tuesday night by head coach Byron Scott for showing up late to a game against the visiting Denver Nuggets.
This isn’t Swaggy P’s first tardiness infraction this season according to Scott.
Young is shooting a horrid 32% from the field this month for the (13-39) Lakers; he scored 12 points on 4-of-13 shooting in the 106-96 loss to Denver.
Via the LA Daily News:
Back when he led the Lakers in scoring and his infectious personality became a bright spot in an otherwise dour season, Nick Young confidently sported black sunglasses in the locker room. A Lakers official warned him to take off his glasses to prevent the NBA from fining him for breaking the league’s mandated dress code during post-game interviews. […] “Swaggy P don’t get fined,” Young said with laughter.But a year after saying those words, Young has gotten fined. Plenty of times. He already has sparked $2,000 NBA-imposed fines each of his five technical fouls he accumulated through this season. Lakers coach Byron Scott also will fine Young around $1,500 for arriving to Staples Center about 68 minutes before tipoff of the Lakers’ eventual 106-96 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday at Staples Center.
“He was late,” Scott said afterwards. “Simple as that.” […] Young looked upset and sounded annoyed when Scott called him out during a pre-game interview with several reporters that entailed touching on the trivial (a dolphin apparently nearly killed Young) and the significant (Young invited 60 kids to the game as part of Brotherhood Crusade).
MAGIC: KOBE SHOULD TELL BUSS TO UPGRADE
Via ESPN:
Former Los Angeles Lakers star Magic Johnson said he has serious questions about whether Jim Buss can turn around the team, which is mired in the worst period in franchise history.
“Jim is trying to do it himself and trying to prove to everybody that this was the right decision that [his] dad gave [him] the reins,” Johnson said Tuesday on ESPN’s “First Take.” “He’s not consulting anybody that can help him achieve his goals and dreams to win an NBA championship.”
Buss became the Lakers’ executive vice president of basketball operations — the top person on the basketball decision-making side — after his father, legendary owner Jerry Buss, died in February 2013.
However, the past two Lakers seasons have been filled with tumult. The team posted a franchise-high 55 losses last season and, at 13-39 after Tuesday night’s loss to the Denver Nuggets, is on pace to lose even more games this season.
Johnson believes Buss should give general manager Mitch Kupchak more control.
“If Jim would say, ‘OK, Mitch. You run the show,’ I think it would be a lot better for the Lakers, too. Mitch Kupchak knows what he’s doing. He’s great. He’s smart. He’s hard-working. He’s at every practice. I think the fans would feel good [if he ran the team] as well,” Johnson said.
Johnson, who has been an outspoken critic of Jim Buss since the Lakers hired Mike D’Antoni as coach over Phil Jackson in 2012, called this upcoming offseason the “biggest” of Buss’ life.
“If he doesn’t have a big summer with a free agent,” Johnson said, “it looks like they’ll have a good draft pick. Put that together with a good free agent, you can be right back into the mix. If this summer, that doesn’t happen where they can sign a great player, it’s over for us.”
