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Friday, January 1

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Michael Lee: I grabbed Arenas after practice. He told me he is considering filing a lawsuit against the NY Post. "That's not the real story," he said. Twitter.com

The NBA and its players' union will investigate whether a firearms possession probe of Washington Wizards star Gilbert Arenas stemmed from a dispute with teammate Javaris Crittenton, two sources told CBSSports.com Friday. CBSSports.com

An investigation by league security will expand after the New York Post and Yahoo! Sports reported Friday that Arenas' possession of firearms in the Verizon Center locker room in the days before Christmas Eve was related to an argument with Crittenton, a high-level source with knowledge of the probe said. The Post reported that the players pulled guns on each other during the argument on a practice day, while Yahoo! reported that the focus of the probe was whether Arenas had accessed his firearms during the argument. CBSSports.com

"There's no question the whole thing is going to be looked at," one of the sources with knowledge of the probe said. League authorities became aware of the matter in the days before CBSSports.com's Christmas Eve report that Arenas allegedly had possessed firearms in the locker room. Wizards officials scheduled a meeting with Washington, D.C., authorities for Dec. 23 to come clean about the matter, given the District's stringent gun-control laws. The meeting couldn't be arranged that day, so the team rescheduled for Dec. 24, several hours before CBSSports.com's story was published online, one of the sources said. CBSSports.com

Wallace Prather, listed in the NBPA directory as Crittenton's agent, said Friday he resigned from representing the player on Dec. 10 and has no knowledge of the allegations against his former client. Arenas, who signed a six-year, $111 million contract with the Wizards in July 2008, has no agent listed in the NBPA directory. CBSSports.com

Michael Lee: "That's ludicrous. Gil did not pull a gun on anybody." -- Gilbert Arenas Sr. Twitter.com

Gilbert Arenas: i hav media outside my house...sumone tell them its to cold to be sittin out there they might get frost bite...it is winter still... when u become a great blogger u need great stories and a little drama ...for sum reason i stay with drama and i dont even leave my house. Twitter.com

Gilbert Arenas: first the SHAQ drama..which im sorry to say wasnt true but it was great drama ..girls was throwin them panties Lt and rt 2 pay her bac if u read the dates on the text on dec 23 we were gettn ready to celeb my daughter 3rd bday and march 5 the diesel was in houston playin and she ws at hm..unless she knows how to teleport its hard to be in 2 places at one time..and if she can teleport i hope she does in the summer so i can throw a killer pool party...just like the movie harold and kumar..its gonna be bottomless. Twitter.com

Adrian Wojnarowski: As Wiz move to demolish roster, front office is seriously exploring a deal for T-Mac's expiring deal, sources say. Butler likely bait. Twitter.com

Alan Hahn: FYI: Iguodala for McGrady is pretty much not happening, but the fact it was even discussed is stunning. Twitter.com

Rival team executives expect the Houston Rockets to be patient in their attempt to trade Tracy McGrady and his $23 million expiring contract. “Never say never, but I will be a little surprised if they get any kind of a reasonable deal,” one general manager said. Another executive even speculated on the possibility of McGrady not playing the rest of this season and being used in a sign-and-trade during the summer. Yahoo! Sports

Bill Simmons: FYI: if Gilbert is convicted of a felony, the Wiz can void his horrific contract ASAP. No wonder they reported it so quickly! Twitter.com

Gilbert Arenas: i wake up this morning and seen i was the new JOHN WAYNE..lmao media is too funny. Twitter.com

Gilbert Arenas: remember people if u cant laugh at urself ur stuck hatin on everybody else..new years resolution dont take everything so serious laugh more. Twitter.com

Josh Childress: Gil Zero pulled a gun on J. Crittenton in the locker room for some gambling debt??? Wtf!! Then JC pulls one too?? Burners to the gym?? Wtf? Twitter.com

The Wizards released a statement that Arenas had unloaded guns and no ammunition in a lock box in his locker. The statement did not mention Crittenton. Both Crittenton and his agent, Mark Bartlestein, declined comment when reached by telephone. Arenas was asked if he brandished the weapons, and he answered, despite attempts by the Wizards public relations staff to keep him quiet. "Yes, I showed them to someone, I showed them to team security when I handed them to them and said give them to the police," he said. "Yes, I took them out of this locker room. I had to take them out to get them out of here to give to security. You see they didn't take the whole locker out of here." Washington Post

Gilbert Arenas has denied that he pulled a gun on Javaris Crittenton; a man named Kendrick “Bookie Ball” Long, a friend of Crittenton says the story of a showdown in the locker room is true. “Bookie Ball” is a schoolyard friend of Javaris Crittenton. Now how could you not believe a guy named “Bookie Ball?” The Admonition

If Caron Butler really did have to take on Flip Saunders 1-v-1, he'd have a plan. "I know he can’t go left, so I’m going to sit on his right. But at 54, he probably would get a bucket or two, but he ain’t going to be out there doing what he wants to do. We understood where he was coming from when he made the statement. But he jumped out there on that one." Washington Examiner

A smile accompanied the reference to Saunders's assertion that he could've played better defense than the Wizards did against Oklahoma City on Tuesday, but Butler said it wasn't a joking matter. "I’m a man first," he said. "I got pride. I take pride in everything I do, particularly in the court. To see that, just to see him, and we exchanged words. He told me that he expected more from me, in particular, some of the things he wanted. I just said, don’t worry about it. I got the message. I’m pretty sure everybody else did too, but hone in on it and try to set the standard in practice." Washington Examiner

"The time that you're on the floor,'' Saunders continued, "you can use those minutes to be productive and show that you know how to play within a system, or you can go out there and play without a purpose and show that you're not ready to step up to the prime-time level where you'd get major minutes. It's tough for young players because sometimes they don't understand that.'' NBA.com

According to a league source, Celtics center Kendrick Perkins and NBA president of basketball operations Stu Jackson did not meet Thursday about rescinding his two previous technical fouls. Perkins wants to have two technicals rescinded because he said he did nothing to earn them. He was whistled by Zach Zarba for yelling at Monte McCutcheon during Wednesday's loss to Phoenix and was given a technical Monday against Golden State for elbowing Rony Turiaf. Boston Globe

“Retirement was the best for me,” said Iverson, whose official retirement lasted about a week. “[Philadelphia] is the only thing that could have brought me back, to play in this situation right here. I felt like I was having the time of my life. Yahoo! Sports

“I always thought that once I gave the game up that it would be miserable for me and I thought about how I would miss it. But at the time that I was out, I didn’t miss it because my family took over all of that. Just being there with my family every day, being able to see my kids and my wife whenever I felt like it, it was a great feeling to me. “No obligations. No media. None of that type of stuff. It was a good feeling, man.” Yahoo! Sports

“I don’t chase no championship,” Iverson said. “I’ve said that from Day One. I have of lot of respect for the talent [God] gave me and I respect my game and what I do on the basketball court, and I wouldn’t do something like that. A championship like that wouldn’t mean much to me. I’d have to be an intricate part in what we are trying to do in winning a championship.” Yahoo! Sports

“It was a real tough time personally for him,” said Leon Rose, Iverson’s agent. “If this situation didn’t arrive, I don’t know what direction it would have gone. This was something that he dreamed of happening. It was like it was meant to be.” Said Iverson: “I felt I would be accepted coming back and the fans wanted me back in Philly.” Yahoo! Sports

Iverson will be part of this summer’s deep free-agent class, and he hasn’t ruled out playing elsewhere. The Sixers have two young guards – Williams and Jrue Holiday– they are trying to develop. So far, Iverson’s positive return to Philadelphia has him less inclined to try retirement again. “We will see,” Iverson said. “I might change my mind once we get to that point. I’ll talk to my wife and we will figure out what we will do. But it has to be a situation to which I will be happy like this situation here. We are not championship favorites or anything like that. We don’t have a great record. I go to practice, I go to games, I’m happy. “I’m happy with my situation and I love playing with these guys. And that’s the most important thing for me – just to be happy.” Yahoo! Sports

"There are a lot of guys who will say, 'Aw, we're down 15 or 20,' and they'll hoist up some shots to try to get theirs,'' Minnesota forward Kevin Love said. "Some guys -- I take pride in this too -- will try to get an offensive rebound, play defense, get defensive rebounds, take the right shots, hit the right guy ... When you see a guy who's not taking the right shot, it's humorous sometimes. At the same time, it's not funny.'' NBA.com

Brian T. Smith: Update: #Blazers' Aldridge walked with a crutch and boot Thursday. He was out of the boot today, but could possibly miss more than one game. Twitter.com

Portland Trail Blazers guard Steve Blake has been hospitalized with pneumonia, the team said Friday. Blake, who was admitted to a local-area hospital, is expected to miss at least a few days and is out indefinitely. The 6-foot-3, 172-pound Blake is averaging 7.6 points, 3.6 assists and 2.4 rebounds in 34 games (25) starts for the Blazers this season. Columbian

Marc Berman: Nate Robinson might play tonight in Atlanta, D'Antoni says at shootaround. Twitter.com

After a brief meeting with LeBron James in Phoenix on Dec. 2, USA Basketball senior managing director Jerry Colangelo told Yahoo! Sports he is confident the Cleveland Cavaliers forward will be playing in the 2010 FIBA World Championship even though he will be a free agent this summer. Colangelo also has meetings scheduled soon with two other impending free agents: Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade and Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh. He’s confident both will also want to play for the U.S. team in the international tournament. Yahoo! Sports

Considering that most marquee free agents are typically signed by the middle of July, Colangelo is hopeful the worst-case scenario for James, Wade and Bosh is that they attend but don’t participate in a minicamp and intrasquad scrimmage in Las Vegas in late July. He hopes they can participate by the second minicamp in New York City in mid-August; that camp will also include an exhibition, likely against France. “I know [James’] circumstances,” Colangelo said. “I’m hopeful that everyone is able to take care of their business before we leave to Europe. There’s a good chance for that. If they don’t have their business taken care of, we’ll have to play it by ear. We will have to be prepared to replace those three guys. My gut is that everyone will have it wrapped up. “I’ve gotten to know the guys well. I know their word is bond. I think they will show that kind of respect.” Yahoo! Sports

With Dallas Mavericks point guard Jason Kidd unlikely to return, USA Basketball would like to add another experienced point guard to replace him. Colangelo said he is considering Denver Nuggets veteran Chauncey Billups. He also is high on Portland Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy. Lakers center Andrew Bynum and forward Lamar Odom may garner attention for roster spots as well. Team USA officials won’t discount Kidd, injury-plagued Milwaukee Bucks guard Michael Redd, Detroit Pistons forward Tayshaun Prince or Utah forward Carlos Boozer (also a 2010 free agent) until they are given the option to return. Yahoo! Sports

Chris Douglas-Roberts: Everybody has a favorite drink. What's yalls?? I do the champagne. Rosè & Ace of Spade. When I do happen to have a drink. Twitter.com

Chris Douglas-Roberts: I also absolutely HATE attention the club brings. Never know who's watching you from across the room. Twitter.com

Howard Beck: Love these resolutions from Charles Barkley: "by the end of the season I will have lost 50 pounds and I am going to learn Spanish" Twitter.com

Detroit Tigers fans who found themselves losing patience with catcher Gerald Laird as he slugged his way through a .225 2009 campaign will be interested to know that the 30-year-old backstop was arrested following a brawl at the Phoenix Suns-Boston Celtics game Wednesday. Laird and his 22-year-old brother Brandon -- an infield prospect with the New York Yankees -- were allegedly involved in a rhubarb in the lounge area of U.S. Airways Center in which the brothers Laird apparently assaulted the security guards. Chicago Sun-Times

Maurice Lucas also is back in his Portland home and under the care of his wife, Pam, following a grueling six weeks undergoing chemotherapy for bladder cancer. An ABA-NBA enforcer, the 57-year-old is not giving out much info. Yet, it's safe to say he's punishing the pain and making the disease pay dearly for reoccurring. New York Post

Dean Meminger, I'm delighted to report, was recently released from the hospital. He is walking and talking strong. Haven't spoken to him directly, but the good news is, he's out, unmarked and still recovering from the whole scary smoke-inhalation experience. New York Post

NBA all-star Gilbert Arenas and his Washington Wizards teammate Javaris Crittenton drew guns on each other in the team's locker room during a Christmas Eve dispute over a gambling debt, The Post has learned. League sources say the pistol-packing point guards had heaters at the ready inside the Verizon Center, the Washington, DC, home of the Wizards -- whose name was changed from the Bullets over gun- vi olence concerns. New York Post

It was the three- time all-star Arenas, 27, who went for his gun first, sources said, drawing on the 22-year-old Crit tenton, who quickly brandished a firearm as well. New York Post

Washington Wizards Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton had allegedly been arguing over a bet debt when they drew guns. It was not clear whether other teammates saw the shocking standoff, which happened on a practice day. The duel in DC -- unprecedented in sports history -- was sparked when Critten ton became enraged at the vet eran guard for refusing to make good on a gambling debt, a source said. "I'm not your punk!" Crittenton shouted at Arenas, according to a league source close to the Wizards. New York Post

A playground pal of Crittenton's from Atlanta, Kendrick "Bookie Ball" Long, confirmed the locker-room standoff and said he learned of it directly from the third-year player out of Georgia Tech. "He [Arenas] was f- - -ing with him; he [Crittenton] was just defending himself!" declared Long, who said the dispute was over money but would not elaborate. New York Post

But a league source said Arenas' weapons were uncovered only after the confrontation with Crittenton. Wizards General Manager Ernie Grunfeld declined to comment. "It's in the hands of [Washington] authorities," said Grunfeld, a former star Knicks player and president. "We're going to get to the bottom of this, if there is a bottom to this." New York Post

A top players-union official said he was shocked by the allegations. "This is unprecedented in the history of sports," said Player's Association Executive Director Billy Hunter. "I've never heard of players pulling guns on each other in a locker room." Team owner Abe Pollin -- his sensitivity heightened by the fatal shooting of his good friend Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995 -- changed the club from the Bullets to the Wizards in 1997 because he didn't like the violent overtones of the original name. Pollin died in November. New York Post

Arenas, who has three kids, reportedly told team officials he brought guns to his Verizon Center locker so they wouldn't be close to his newborn at their home in Great Falls, Va. He denied pulling a gun on Crittenton and even mocked the suggestion he would ever point a weapon at a teammate. "You guys, I wanted to go rob banks, I wanted to be a bank robber on the weekends," Arenas said sarcastically after a game this week. New York Post

Several league sources believe NBA commissioner David Stern ultimately will mete out stiff penalties in the matter. Both Arenas and Crittenton could be subject to suspensions and fines. Yahoo! Sports

Anyhow, this all made me think back to possibly my favorite Gilbert blog post of all time, from two years ago, when he discussed how to approach a new year. The NBA seems to have deleted much of his blog from its Web site, but luckily I excerpted part of it back then. "You have to write down everything whether you are happy or not. Just if you were happy or not, that's it. Write down if it was a full day of happiness, a half day of happiness or if you were just sad and something happened to mess up your day. You just write it down every day.... I'm just saying, it let's you know how many days you was actually happy in that month. So if you get 25 out of 30 days happy in that month, you're doing good. Even 20 days out of 30, that's pretty good. It lets you know that you're doing OK. If you're at 15 and 15, you need to reevaluate yo' life. If you're happy every other day, that ain't too good.... I want to try something different. I want to be happy. I'm going to start with 20 days a month, and if that's too easy I'll go for 25. I want to get my grown-man on and I want to be happy. I think it's a great life philosophy. But I think we're all starting off 2010 with an 0-for-1. Washington Post

So what's it going to take to get the Houston Rockets' Tracy McGrady and his $23 million expiring contract? It's going to take a deal involving, as its main piece, 76ers swingman Andre Iguodala. According to a source close to the situation, the Houston Rockets have said they would only consider shipping McGrady to Philly if the Sixers "knocked the Rockets over" with the amount of talent they included in the deal. Philadelphia Inquirer

This source said the Rockets have made it clear they will not -- in any way -- consider trading McGrady to the Sixers for power forward Elton Brand ($14-15 million this year, 3 years left after this one) and center Samuel Dalembert ($12 million, one year left after this one). According to this source, the Sixers are trying very hard to unload Dalembert (not a surprise) and Brand (not a huge surprise, either). Philadelphia Inquirer

According to this source, the Rockets have expressed interest in a deal involving Iguodala, but he must be paired with better, younger talent than Dalembert. (Read: a deal involving possibly Lou Williams, Thaddeus Young, Marreese Speights, etc.). Philadelphia Inquirer

The source also said that the Rockets and Sixers have not talked in "more than a week", making a deal unlikely, but said any deal involving Iguodala "has a chance." Philadelphia Inquirer

Chris Mannix: Sixers and Rockets have talked many times, mostly about Dalembert. Let's be clear though, Houston has zero interest in Sammy D. Twitter.com

The Wizards are active in trade talks with multiple teams, league sources said, and willing to trade any player on their roster. Yahoo! Sports

This is kind of off the beaten path, but the Pistons were out doing a little scouting Wednesday night. They were in Ft. Wayne, Ind., to get a look at NBDL small forward Amara Sy, 28, who plays for the Bakersfield Jam. He stands 6-foot-8 and is considered more an energy guy than a polished scorer, but with the Pistons just now recovering from the rash of injuries to the wing position, the Pistons are doing their due diligence since teams can start signing players to 10-day contracts starting Tuesday. Or could it mean there will be an opening along the wings if Pistons president Joe Dumars pulls the trigger on a deal? Detroit Free Press

Damon Jones, Robert "Tractor'' Traylor and Travis Best are on the verge of leaving their Italian League team, Martos Napoli, because they haven't received their paychecks for the past month, according to several sources with knowledge of the situation. ESPN.com

Jones, 33, is hoping to latch on with an NBA team. A veteran of 11 NBA seasons, he played for 10 teams, most recently Milwaukee in the 2008-2009 season. This experience has become a fairly common one for NBA players who have been lured to Europe with lucrative contracts. Nenad Krstic and Jannero Pargo were among the players who returned to the NBA last season after not receiving payments from their European clubs. ESPN.com

The Hawks left Quicken Loans Arena on Wednesday planning to protest to the league over an error in the shot clock. With about two minutes left in the game and the Hawks ahead by one, Cavs point guard Mo Williams missed a shot. The Hawks rebounded, but the shot clock didn't reset properly, denying them the allotted 24 seconds. Akron Beacon Journal

At their brief morning practice Thursday, the Hawks were in a better frame of mind than they were following the controversial finish and loss to Cleveland Wednesday night. Players joked with one another as they competed in shooting games and drills. That doesn't mean, however, that coach Mike Woodson had let go of an apparent shot-clock error that had a role in the Hawks' 106-101 defeat, the second loss to the Cavaliers in as many nights. "All I can say is a lot of mistakes were made," Woodson said. Atlanta Journal-Constitution

That, actually, was just the start of what he said, confirming that the team was in the process of filing a protest with the NBA within the 48-hour deadline from the end of the game. "It's been filed," Hawks part-owner Michael Gearon Jr. said Thursday night. "It becomes official [when it arrives in New York] tomorrow." Atlanta Journal-Constitution

NBA spokesman Mark Broussard said he could not comment on what would be necessary for the league to rule in the Hawks' favor. Incidentally, Mauer was also on the officiating crew for the other game currently under protest, a Dec. 18 Houston win over Dallas that the Mavericks have challenged. "We're going to have to review everything once we have all the details and information," Broussard said. In the only successful protest since the 1982-83 season -- a league-ordered replay of the finish of a Hawks-Miami game played in December 2007 -- commissioner David Stern found the Hawks were "grossly negligent" in committing a scoring error that incorrectly disqualified then-Heat center Shaquille O'Neal from the game. Asked about the discrepancy in fouls – Cavaliers shot 38 free throws to the Hawks' 15, only four of which were in the second half – Woodson said, "I'm not commenting on that." Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Perkins was scheduled to speak yesterday with NBA president of basketball operations Stu Jackson in an attempt to have his previous two technicals rescinded. Monday in Golden State, Perkins was whistled for using his elbow to clear space from rugged Ronny Turiaf. He insists he is under control. “I didn’t do nothing,’’ said Perkins. “It’s nothing I ain’t never been in before. Refs and techs, I have been going through this the last three seasons.’’ Boston Globe

“He’s just got to get better, and I told him that at halftime,’’ Rivers said. “We cut it to 9 points and then he gets a tech. I had no idea over what. “He’s got to grow up. He’s got to get better. No doubt about it. They’re going to listen to Kevin [Garnett]. They’re going to listen to Ray [Allen] a little bit. They are going to listen to Paul [Pierce]. They have to listen to Rasheed. They’re not going to listen to anyone else. That’s enough.’’ Boston Globe

According to Perkins, in Wednesday’s game, he said nothing to official Monty McCutchen, who told Perkins to stop complaining. McCutchen began yelling at him, according to Perkins, who responded, “Why are you talking to me like that?’’ Official Zach Zarba then called the technical on Perkins. “They are allowed to scream at you like you are their child, huh?’’ Perkins said. “It ain’t nothing that I can’t stop, so it’s just something I’ve got to control and do a better job. Obviously these last two just wasn’t my fault, so I’ve got to do a better job of controlling myself.’’ Boston Globe

Rivers said he doesn’t have much sympathy. Perkins is a key component on this team, but his emotions have been an issue for years. On Sunday against the Clippers, Perkins got into an on-court exchange with Garnett about his focus and frustration in guarding Los Angeles center Chris Kaman. Perkins acknowledged afterward that a “few little things took me out of the game. I just feel like I have to do a better job of holding my composure.’’ Rivers agrees. “He does have a reputation,’’ said the coach. “But do you know how you get a reputation? You earn it. It’s not like they just give you one. Boston Globe

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Michael Beasley isn't a rookie anymore. And he isn't backing down. In a significant step in his NBA maturation, the second-year Miami Heat forward said Thursday he had no regrets about his heated exchange with Quentin Richardson during the third quarter of Wednesday's loss to the New Orleans Hornets, and felt did not deserve any admonishment from his veteran teammate. "I'm not a rookie no more," Beasley said before his team faced the San Antonio Spurs at AT&T Center on New Year's Eve. "I felt like I was where I was supposed to be." South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Asked if he would have taken as demonstrative an approach last season, Beasley smiled. "I would have shut up," the No. 2 overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft said. "He would have thought he was right." While the Heat often is characterized as a young team, Beasley said it has reached the point where there simply has been too much input, albeit well-intentioned, from the veteran likes of Richardson, Jermaine O'Neal and others. "A couple of weeks ago, we had our little talk and I told 'em, 'I'm all for suggestions and I'm for guys trying to help, but when everybody is telling me different things, that's when things kind of get mixed up,' " he said, having been mentored from his arrival by veteran power forward Udonis Haslem. "I told them I'd take their opinions, but I kind of only listen to U.D. South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Miller, the savvy veteran point guard signed over the summer to take the Blazers to the next level, has barely played during critical fourth-quarter stretches as the team has played its best basketball of the season. Instead, coach Nate McMillan has opted to play Jerryd Bayless and Steve Blake in the backcourt, alongside All-Star Brandon Roy. "You can't really control that," Miller said. "I just have to go with what the coach's decision is. I know what I can do. Coach has a certain comfortability with the guys who are out there, so that's how I see it." Oregonian

McMillan insists that he will go with whatever late-game lineup is productive down the stretch and will "ride the hot hand" when necessary. But he's big on consistency and developing clearly defined roles, and he's clearly developing a trust with the Roy-Blake-Bayless trio. "That has worked for us, meaning we've been able to score and defend," McMillan said. "I like whoever can finish. I don't want to be rolling the dice with players down the stretch.... "You want to be consistent with who is finishing the game, so that these guys build a rhythm, a chemistry (with) set-calling and plays (and they) become familiar with situations and hopefully become consistent with what they do." Oregonian

"It was a great time," Brand said of his years with the Clips. "It was a great part of the Clilpper history, so I'm honored to be a part of that." For the first time, Brand was dressing in the visitor's locker room. "It was kind of surreal, no real range of emotions," Brand said of entering the building where he spent 7 seasons with the Clippers. "It's kind of comfortable. I walked into this arena more than any other arena in my career." Philadelphia Daily News

Maybe there is some bad blood there. However, Dirk Nowitzki has no hard feelings for the dude whose left a couple of teeth in his elbow earlier this month. It's not like Landry meant to foul Dirk's elbow with his face. The gruesome collision left Dirk with a nasty gash on his shooting elbow, but Landry definitely got the worst of it. He had five teeth knocked out or broken, leading to five hours of emergency dental surgery. ESPN.com

“With everything he’s done for us, if our record was better, you’d hear people talking about him for MVP,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “And that sounds sort of strange because we thought those years had passed.” Yahoo! Sports

As 2010 arrives, the Spurs have seen signs of progress, and that’s why most league observers have been wise to reserve judgment. The Spurs typically start slow then shift into a higher gear shortly before the All-Star break. Isn’t this simply more of the same? Aren’t the Spurs headed for another strong finish? “With this group,” one team official said, “I wouldn’t assume anything.” Yahoo! Sports

“There’s definitely concerns,” Duncan said. “We’re a third of the way into the season and this isn’t the record we wanted. There’s concerns all over the place. But this is the team we’re going to roll with, these are the guys we’re going to count on. Yahoo! Sports

Healthy or not, Parker has also looked disinterested on some nights. Popovich chided him after a poor performance against the Phoenix Suns, then benched him with the Spurs down a point on their final possession against the Pacers. Is it early season boredom? Has he grown too comfortable with his red-carpet Hollywood life? Or is Parker simply frustrated that his body hasn’t cooperated as well as he’d like? Yahoo! Sports

Recently, HOOPSWORLD asked Brandon to finish the following sentence: "In your prime, you will be..." He hesitated for a moment. "The best point guard in the league and the best player in the league," he said with a smile. HoopsWorld

"What have I learned about myself? That I can play with these guys. I was a little nervous coming in at first," he admits. "I think everything that happened with the draft, telling me I couldn't shoot, I couldn't do this, [hearing] he isn't going to be that good, he didn't get any playing time over there, just motivated me more and made me want to show what I can do." HoopsWorld

Not only is he ahead of his years from a basketball standpoint, he also has a great understanding of how the world around him works. When asked about all of the critics he responds to on Twitter, Jennings smiles. "The thing about my Twitter is I like to keep people coming back. I'm going to say what I want to say and just be real," he says. While most players haven't taken advantage of the social networking site, Jennings understands that by responding to the critics and debating back and forth with them, people come back to his page and that helps his brand. It helps his exposure, marketing opportunities, and image. HoopsWorld

Here’s what a loser I am: The Flaming Lips are covering “Dark Side of the Moon” at midnight in a special New Year’s Eve show across the street from my hotel in Oklahoma City and I’m here blogging about the Jazz’s loss to the Thunder. It was the kind of loss that was so absurd - - a rookie ref calling a loose-ball foul on Paul Millsap going after a rebound with 4.5 seconds left - - that all the Jazz can do is try to shrug it off and hope it doesn’t come back to haunt them come playoff tiebreaker time. “It’s a tough one to swallow,” Deron Williams said. “We were right there. We played good enough defense the whole game to win the basketball game. We just . . . offensively we didn’t have everybody going.” Salt Lake Tribune

Darnell Mayberry: Charles Barkley on Kevin Durant: "If he's not an All-Star, I'm not going." Twitter.com

Artest has sat out the last three games after a suffering a concussion Christmas night from a fall down a flight of stairs outside his home in Brentwood. The Lakers play the Sacramento Kings tonight at Staples Center, but Coach Phil Jackson said that he was "very doubtful" that Artest would play. Artest didn't speak with the media, preferring to get up extra shots instead. But the team said he saw a neurologist again Thursday and will see another one today. "He's pretty stiff in the shoulders and stuff," Jackson said. Los Angeles Times

McMillan said forward LaMarcus Aldridge, who suffered a sprained left ankle in the first quarter of the Blazers' win over the Clippers on Wednesday, will be held out of basketball-related activities today when the team holds a light practice in Tualatin. Aldridge is officially considered a game-time decision for the Blazers' game against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday. "We won't run him (Friday) and we'll wait and see what he can do at shootaround Saturday morning," McMillan said. Oregonian

At first, it looked like Rodney Stuckey broke his ankle. Then he returned to the game. Then Stuckey left the court and headed back to the locker room. Then he returned to start the second half. It looks like the Pistons might have finally caught a break when it comes to injuries. Stuckey fell to the floor with 4:38 left in the first quarter Thursday against the Chicago Bulls with what first appeared to be a serious ankle injury. He immediately collapsed and held his ankle while wincing in pain, but he eventually made his way off the court on his own. Booth Newspapers

Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge, who sprained his left ankle in Wednesday's win over the Los Angeles Clippers, is listed as day-to-day, Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard said. Aldridge's status will be re-evaluated by the team during Friday's practice in Tualatin, Ore. The Blazers did not practice today, but some players visited the team's workout facility for treatment and maintenance. "We told L.A. to stay home today," Pritchard said. Columbian

While the Kings practiced Thursday, Evans took part in a less-intensive routine with fellow injured guard Kevin Martin, who is recovering from Nov. 9 wrist surgery. Petrie said he doesn't anticipate Evans' injury turning into a more serious matter. "He's making a lot of progress and just being evaluated on a daily basis," he said. "It's not going to turn into a 10-day or two-week thing … . There's nothing I'm aware of that's remarkable on his radiographic stuff." Sacramento Bee

Asked yet another round of questions about his job status in the wake of reports from the Tribune and Yahoo! Sports that management's lack of support upset him, Vinny Del Negro refused to self-promote. "That's not my decision," the Bulls coach said when asked if felt he deserved to finish his three-year contract. "It's easy for me to make that decision, but it's not mine. I have a lot of confidence not only in myself, but I think my staff has done a tremendous job. "They're very experienced and have been around. I'm going to keep on making sure we're prepared. Get these young guys continually developing and try to move in the right direction." Chicago Tribune

Del Negro calmly declined to answer a question about whether management's lack of support bothered him, as the Tribune and Yahoo! Sports reported. "It's been beat up so much," Del Negro said. "I want to just focus in on the game, concentrate on what my job is with this team. I think all that stuff will play itself out. We have to try to move forward a bit." Chicago Tribune

I can't say I was surprised when Rockets owner Leslie Alexander told me had decided to pick up his option on Rick Adelman's contract "soon" rather than wait for the off-season. It was a bit more surprising to see that he has a better winning percentage in his career and as the Rockets coach than any coach in Rockets history. Winning a lot is probably a good reason to keep a coach. "I'm going to pick up his option," Alexander said. "We're going to do it soon, relatively soon. Houston Chronicle

The Clippers were without head coach Mike Dunleavy, who aggravated a herniated disk in his lower back. Assistant coach Tony Brown served as acting head coach. Philadelphia Inquirer

I noted it in the game story, but Sloan was as animated as you’ll see in Thursday’s loss. He was switching into zone defenses, calling out plays to run, getting guys up off the bench, calling quick timeouts and even going with that Williams/Price/Matthews lineup in the fourth. “He’s a competitor,” Matthews said, adding that it was the most animated he’d seen Sloan in person, though “I’ve seen him on TV plenty of times.” Salt Lake Tribune

Alan Hahn: Just heard from a source with knowledge of the situation that those orange-and-blue LeBrons are fakes. Going for $349 on eBay. Clever, tho. Twitter.com

The column makes reference to those supposed LeBron 'Knick' shoes that made the rounds on the web yesterday. Talking about the LeBron James free-agent hysteria in New York, columnist Marc Berman writes, It's so surreal that a hoax was perpetrated on the Web in the past days -- reporting Nike had released pictures of a soon-to-be released new Knicks LeBron shoe in blue and orange -- with "I love New York" pictured on the orange sole along with "L23" shaped in a question mark. A Nike spokesman told The Post yesterday it was a fake. It looks as though it's being sold on e-Bay, so buyer, beware. Cleveland Plain Dealer

We already knew LeBron loves New York (who doesn’t?), and so we’re wondering if he’ll sign with the Knicks as a free agent in July. Here’s a new sneaker that encapsulates both of those tidbits quite nicely in the Nike Air Max LeBron VII (7) Low. One of the first things you might notice is the ‘I ? NY’ heel pivot, with the LBJ lion’s head insignia for its heart. The redesigned outsole is on one side of the orange and white speckle framed Air bubble, while a ‘Crown’ logo-style question mark begs the question on their insoles (also looks a little like a backwards ‘6'). Peep the microperfed blue suede goodness in a dozen closeups after the jump. If you can’t wait for these to hit stores, you can pick up this size 9 sample from cigar0330 on eBay. Sneaker News

Meanwhile in other LeBron news, there is still no independent confirmation that Shaquille O'Neal was actually serious when he told reporters he gave James a white Rolls Royce Phantom for his birthday on Wednesday. Take a look at the video and decide for yourself if Shaq was just messing with everybody. Cleveland Plain Dealer

Any rumor missing? E-mail us at hoopshype@hoopshype.com.