HoopsHype.com Rumors

The old men were so ancient that — gasp! — they were in their late 30s. But Chris Mullin and Sam Perkins were, to be fair, almost twice the age of 18-year-old rookie Al Harrington on the 1998-99 Indiana Pacers. After the Nuggets' practice Monday, Harrington was asked about teammate Danilo Gallinari's shooting slump. Harrington promptly quoted the two elderly sages who advised him in his younger years. "They'd say: 'Keep shooting. You're only one shot away from being on fire,' " Harrington said. "You make one, feel good about yourself, the next one will go down, and you'll be back to being yourself." Denver Post

Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, Al Harrington, Chris Mullin, Danilo Gallinari, Sam Perkins 

The NBDL’s Texas Legends are adding more well known names to the organization’s basketball staff. Sources with knowledge of the moves told ESPNDallas.com that the D-League franchise will this week hire former Mavericks forward Sam Perkins as a big-man coach and Basketball Hall of Famer Marques Haynes of the Harlem Globetrotters as a front-office adviser. Sources said that the Legends, who are co-owned by Mavericks president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson, will also hire former Maverick and Dallas native Jason Sasser to work in player development alongside Perkins and Travis Blakeley, who served as the Legends’ director of player personnel in their inaugural season. ESPN.com

Coaching, Donnie Nelson, D-League, Sam Perkins 

Marc Stein: D-League's Texas Legends adding Sam Perkins and Harlem Globetrotters legend Marcus Haynes to staff w/Del Harris/Spud Webb/@NancyLieberman Twitter

Coaching, D-League, Del Harris, Sam Perkins 

Marc Stein: With D-League's Texas Legends, Sam Perkins will coach big men for Del Harris and Marques Haynes will join Webb and Lieberman as an advisor Twitter

Coaching, D-League, Del Harris, Sam Perkins 

Just as they did against Utah two weeks earlier, the Sonics overcame a sluggish start but rally to force overtime. Shawn Kemp and Sam Perkins hit big shots in the extra session to help Seattle hold on for a 103-100 win and advance to the Western Conference finals. Seattle’s matchup against the top-seeded Phoenix Suns was nothing short of two heavyweights trading roundhouse punches. Neither team won two games in a row in the series, which came down to Game 7 in Phoenix on June 5. Looking at a box score 18 years later, Karl shakes his head. The Suns made a NBA record-tying 57 free throws. Charles Barkley and Kevin Johnson combined to take 38 free throws, two more than the entire Sonics team, as Phoenix cruised to a 123-110 win. “I’m not commenting on either the officiating or the number of free throws,” Karl said after the game. “But we’re a team that has to get a flow going and we never could get a flow because of all the free throws. The only rhythm to the game was walking to the free-throw line.” NBA.com

George Karl, Seattle SuperSonics, Shawn Kemp, Kevin Johnson, Sam Perkins