Scottie Pippen crowns Michael Jordan`(BLOG)

LISLE, Ill. -- Scottie Pippen said Friday he believes Michael Jordan is the greatest player in NBA history, despite remarks he made last month regarding Miami Heat forward LeBron James on ESPN Radio's "Mike and Mike In The Morning."

"The comments that I made were basically giving LeBron some props as a player, not to dismantle any player like Michael," Pippen said after a youth camp session at the Bulls/Sox academy. "We all know that he's the greatest player that ever played the game.

"I think it was taken a little bit out of context. I felt like I was drawing more of a conclusion from the statistics more than the accolades."

Pippen made the comments as the Heat eliminated the Chicago Bulls from the Eastern Conference finals.

"Michael Jordan is probably the greatest scorer to play the game," Pippen said last month. "But I may go as far as to say LeBron James may be the greatest player to ever play the game because he is so potent offensively that not only can he score at will but he keeps everybody involved.

"You have to be on your P's and Q's on defense. No guy on the basketball court is a threat to score with LeBron James out there. Not only will LeBron dominate from the offensive end as well, but he's also doing it on the defensive end, which really makes him the complete package. He's able to get in those passing lanes, shoot those gaps and create transition opportunities where he is pretty much unstoppable."



Pippen said he's spoken to Jordan multiple times since he made the comments and there is no rift between the former teammates.



"I talk to Michael all the time," Pippen said. "There was no problem between me and Michael. I think [the media] chewed into it a little too much."

Pippen didn't appear to be very bothered by the backlash caused by his remarks.

"Ya know what? I kind of rolled off into the sunset, went down south and enjoyed no media, no TV and just enjoyed life," he said. "So I didn't really get a lot [of flak] from [the comments] as much as probably the organization had to deal with it. But I'm ready to move on from it."

ESPN -

Pippen, We are gonna need you to just Stop talking Please.... and Thank You. ( Stadium Status Staff )

Cavaliers take Irving with No. 1 pick in NBA draft (BLOG)

NEWARK, N.J. – Kyrie Irving probably secured his spot atop the NBA draft when he went to Cleveland and beat his future coach in a shooting contest.

Yet even surrounded by family and friends from his nearby hometown, Irving couldn't relax Thursday night.

"When David Stern came up there and said that the Cleveland Cavaliers have five more minutes on the clock, that felt like the longest five minutes of my life," Irving said.

Imagine how Jimmer Fredette felt.

The sweet-shooting NCAA player of the year had to wait about 2 1/2 hours from the time he was picked by Milwaukee to the time he officially became a member of the Sacramento Kings after being involved in the biggest trade of draft day.

"It took a long time, but it's something you've got to do," Fredette said. "They just wouldn't let you out of the room until the trade was official, and I wish it could have been a little bit earlier. I have friends and family that I'm going to go see and hang out with after this, so that's what happens sometimes."

It happened for plenty others in a draft that was considered a dud talent-wise but certainly wasn't dull, thanks to a flurry of trades that including veterans and picks.

There was no chance the Cavs would deal Irving, confident his foot is healthy enough to lead the rebuilding effort that follows LeBron James' departure and no doubt impressed when the Duke point guard beat Cavs coach Byron Scott in a shooting contest during his workout.

Loudly cheered not far from where he starred at St. Patrick's High School in Elizabeth, Irving showed no signs of the toe injury on his right foot that limited him to 11 games last season as he walked up the stairs to shake hands with Stern.

"I didn't have any doubts about going to No. 1. I was looking to the organization to pick who they felt was the right choice," Irving said. "But now to this moment, from being a fan of the NBA draft and now being drafted, it's a special feeling in my heart and knowing that my friends and family were together, it's a memory I'm going to remember for the rest of my life."

A three-team trade that included Charlotte, Milwaukee and Sacramento that had been agreed to earlier in the day wasn't approved until midway through the second round, forcing Fredette to wait around for his NBA destination to be determined after he was taken with the No. 10 pick.

"Took a little while waiting back there, but it's a great moment for me and for my family, and for the Sacramento Kings organization," he said. "Hopefully their fan base is excited because I'm really excited to get out there and start the season with them and have a great year."

A draft that included a record four international players who didn't play at a U.S. college selected in the lottery soon became dominated by deals, which the NBA was still hustling to approve and announce as the second round wound down.

Stephen Jackson, Corey Maggette and John Salmons were part of the three-way deal, and fellow vets such as Andre Miller, Rudy Fernandez, Raymond Felton and George Hill were involved in other trades.

The deals spiced up what was thought to be a lackluster draft, which was missing its usual buzz with the NBA perhaps a week away from a work stoppage.

Three of the first six players taken were from Europe, capitalizing on the absence of some American college players who might have gone in their spots and made this a stronger draft.

Even Irving has international ties. He was born in Australia while his father, Drederick, played professionally there and said he might be interested in playing for the Australian national team.

After grabbing him with their first No. 1 pick since taking James in 2003, the Cavs used the No. 4 selection on Texas forward Tristan Thompson. They were the first team since the 1983 Houston Rockets with two top-four picks.

The Minnesota Timberwolves took Arizona forward Derrick Williams with the No. 2 pick. The Utah Jazz then took Turkish big man Enes Kanter third with their first of two lottery selections.

The league's uncertain labor situation hung over the draft, and likely weakened it. Potential top-10 picks such as Jared Sullinger of Ohio State and Harrison Barnes were among those who decided to stay in school, without knowing when their rookie seasons would have started.

Stern, who could lock out his players next week if a deal for a new collective bargaining agreement is not reached, was booed when he came onto the stage at the Prudential Center, which is hosting the draft while its usual home, Madison Square Garden, is undergoing summer work.

New Yorkers made the trip across the river to join the crowd of 8,417, cheering loudly when Kemba Walker and Fredette were taken in the top 10 and booing when the Knicks made Georgia Tech guard Iman Shumpert the No. 17 selection.

The draft was filled with little-known European players. Kanter hasn't played competitively in a year, forced to sit out last season at Kentucky after being ruled ineligible for being paid to play in Turkey. Lithuania's Jonas Valanciunas went fifth to Toronto and Jan Vesely of the Czech Republic was taken sixth by Washington.

"Basketball in my country is not so popular, but after this night, I think — I hope — that the basketball will be more popular," Vesely said. "I will do my best to help that."

Bismack Biyombo of Congo went seventh as one of six international players who went in the first round, three short of the record set in 2003. The 18-year-old forward moved to Charlotte as part of a three-way deal.

Kentucky's Brandon Knight went eighth to Detroit as casual fans finally heard a name they recognized again. He was followed by Walker of national champion Connecticut, who wiped away tears on the draft stage after he was taken by Charlotte, and Fredette.

"It's been like a movie. This whole year has been magical, honestly," Walker said. "So many different, crazy things have been happening to me, and you know, I just feel lucky."

Irving became the third point guard taken first in the last four years, following Derrick Rose in 2008 and John Wall last year. Rose was the NBA's MVP this season, ending James' two-year reign.

Irving insists he's not trying to replace James — whose highlights were booed when showed on the overhead screen — in a different manner now.

"I'm looking forward to getting to Cleveland," Irving said. "It's a big sports town and I cannot wait to embrace all of the fans there and the fan support. I can't wait."

Kansas twins Markieff and Marcus Morris went with back-to-back picks to round out the lottery. Phoenix took Markieff at No. 13 and Marcus followed to the Rockets.

Spurs smart to explore trades for Parker (BLOG)

The Spurs are gauging trade interest in Tony Parker, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski. That’s exactly the sort of thing San Antonio should be doing — and not because of some flip comments the point guard made after the season about the end of the Spurs’ run as contenders.

The Spurs gave Parker and Manu Ginobili long-term deals over the last year with an eye toward seeing what the venerable Parker/Manu/Tim Duncan nucleus could do in 2010-11 and 2011-12, the final year of Duncan’s contract. A first-round loss to the Grizzlies makes last season feel like a failure, but that’s shortsighted. This team won 61 games, and it may well have gotten by Memphis — a terrible matchup for San Antonio — had Duncan not lost a bit of rhythm thanks to a late-season ankle injury and had Ginobili not sustained a fluky elbow injury in the regular-season finale. That’s not excuse-making; that’s reality. In the NBA, and especially in the ultracompetitive Western Conference, the line between advancing and losing in six games is that thin. And if the Spurs get by Memphis, who beats them?

But the Parker and Ginobili extensions did not change the fact that San Antonio is in a transitional phase. Seeing what they might be able to get for Parker is a smart way to accelerate that transition. The best front offices can do things at once without really contradicting themselves. Trading Parker could make the Spurs a player in the free-agent market a year from now if they get the right kind of contracts in return.

Parker is still a fantastic player, even if his lack of three-point range mucks up the offense now and then. The Spurs scored much less efficiently with Parker on the floor both during the playoffs and the regular season, though the opposite was true as recently as 2008-09, according to Basketball Value. But the combination of George Hill, Ginobili and Gary Neal might be able to cover for Parker in San Antonio’s motion-heavy, drive-and-kick system.

The Spurs want a lottery pick in this draft, and they’ve talked to Toronto (No. 5) and Sacramento (No. 7) about Parker deals, according to Yahoo!. It doesn’t really matter which prospect they’re targeting, though Lithuanian center Jonas Valanciunas is the early popular choice. The Spurs clearly have their eyes on someone who would be both cheap and a key bridge to the post-Duncan era.

The “cheap” part of that is not trivial. Remove Parker’s deal, and the Spurs have only $34.5 million committed for 2012-13, not including salary for future draft picks and other trivial charges. The Kings are far enough under the cap that San Antonio could send them Parker without taking on any salary in return, other than money attached to that lottery pick. The Kings, of course, would look to unload one of their less desirable deals (Beno Udrih or Francisco Garcia), but both players makes about half of the $12.5 million per season Parker is set be paid through at least 2013-14. The Spurs may even want Omri Casspi.

Nabbing Parker would allow the Kings to experiment with Tyreke Evans off the ball and guarantee that all the cap room they’ve carved out does not go to waste. Parker, by the way, is a really good cutter capable of playing off the ball for stretches, so acquiring him would not necessarily remove Evans as something of a co-lead ball-handler.

The Raptors are over the cap, so any deal with Toronto would include approximate matching salary going back to San Antonio. (The remaining portion of the Chris Bosh trade exception is not large enough to swallow Parker’s deal.) Still, the Spurs could save themselves some long-term money by taking on Leandro Barbosa’s $7.6 million expiring contract and a smaller deal to make the math work. The Raptors could obviously use Parker to run the point. Jose Calderon is a nice offensive player, but he’s a massive liability on defense and might be better suited as a backup. Jerryd Bayless has not proved that he can run a functional NBA offense.

Adding Richard Jefferson’s awful contract into any Parker trade changes the calculus dramatically, and Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported that the Spurs would prefer to do that. If that’s true, it will make it very difficult for the Spurs to achieve significant long-term cost savings, even if the team that acquires Jefferson might be able to wipe his contract away via an amnesty clause in the new collective bargaining agreement. (The Spurs could do the same if such a clause makes it into the CBA.) As wonderful as that amnesty clause sounds, teams are not exactly going to line up for the right to help the Spurs and pay Jefferson $30.4 million (the amount remaining on his deal) to go away.

If the Spurs can include Jefferson, obtain a lottery pick and net major long-term savings, then it’s time to start considering R.C. Buford for the next Executive of the Year award.

That’s not a slight at Parker. He’s an elite player, one of the truly great in-the-paint scorers in the league, a one-man transition attack and an ace on the pick-and-roll. He’s playoff-tested, and he just turned 29. Even if Parker has the sort of quickness-dependent game that may not age well, he should still be quite productive for the length of his contract. Losing a player this good would hurt any team. It is a gamble, especially because Ginobili is not up to playing 40 minutes a game. But it’s a gamble San Antonio might be well positioned to make, given the versatility of its remaining guards, the possibility of trading for another ball-handler and the upside of a lottery pick.

A Parker deal remains unlikely because any trade involving a star is unlikely, and the Spurs will be justifiably cautious in shaking up the team like this. But they are on point for considering it, even if doing so might hurt Parker’s feelings.

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