Author: John Paulsen (Page 10 of 937)

Jordan Farmar, the Nets’ backup point guard, has reached agreement on a one-year contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv of the Israeli Premier League to play there during the NBA lockout. The deal includes a termination provision in the event the lockout is settled and the NBA season resumes.
“I’m very excited to play in Tel Aviv,” Farmar told the Star-Ledger. “I went there as a little kid. My stepdad is from Tel Aviv. I watched Tel Aviv play basketball and football — soccer.”
Farmar, 24, who is Jewish, will initially count as an American on Tel Aviv’s roster. Israeli teams are allowed to dress only four foreign players for league games. Farmar, though, said he will apply for Israeli citizenship “to give (the team) more flexibility, or whatever.”

As the NBA lockout drags on, more and more players are going to play elsewhere.

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Kobe: “People need to lay off” LeBron

August 2, 2011 / John Paulsen

In an interview with ESPN, Kobe was asked about LeBorn and the Heat and here is what he had to say:

George Smith: There was a lot of venom towards the Heat and, in particular, towards LeBron James What did you make of that?
Kobe Bryant: I think people need to lay off that kid. That’s what I think. I’ve gotten to know him pretty well playing with the Olympic team. I think people need to just back-off off him. Just let him play. Let him live his life. Let him make his decisions. Let him mature as a player. It’s tough to be under the microscope like that all the time. So, I would like everybody to just kind of back-off off him and let him play.

It would be a lot easier to “lay off” LeBron if he didn’t make such a spectacle of himself last summer with “The Decision” and then the ensuing championship celebration with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami.

It’s not like everyone started randomly hating LeBron and the Heat. You reap what you sow.

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Kobe Bryant LeBron James

More stars considering playing overseas

August 1, 2011 / John Paulsen

– Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh are pondering a jump to Europe during the lockout.

– Kevin Durant is “50/50” on playing overseas.

– Blake Griffin is “not opposed to” playing elsewhere during the lockout.

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NBA lockout

As the NBA and the Players sit down to meet…

August 1, 2011 / John Paulsen

…here is an overview of just how far apart the two sides are:

Among the economic issues that caused the lockout to go into place were the owners seeking a larger share of the basketball-related income (BRI). Player salaries took up 57 percent of the BRI in the last CBA. Owners wanted to lower that number to approximately 55-45 in their favor, while players offered to lower their take to 54.3 percent — giving up $500 million in total player salaries over five years, a concession that NBA commissioner David Stern characterized at the time as “modest.”
There were also disagreements over how long the next CBA should last — owners proposed a 10-year deal while the union started with a five-year proposal, later stretching it to six. There was also a fundamental disagreement between the union and owners over the $340 million the league claims to have lost during the 2009-10 season and whether revenue-sharing amongst owners would be a more appropriate means to recoup those losses in the future rather than slicing player salaries.