Moderators: Cowology, theBigLip, Snakebites, dVs33
Yi could have his first full practice Thursday or Friday, depending on how his sore ankle responds after some drills he took part in Tuesday night.
Eduardo Najera (wrist, X-rays negative), Lopez (leg bruise), Jarvis Hayes (hamstring) and Swift (eye poke) all sat out the scrimmage portion Wednesday, but the injuries are considered minor.
Call him coach – Shareef Abdur-Rahim, who has worked with young Kings such as Thompson, will continue to share his 12-year experience as an NBA player. Only now he'll do so with a new title – assistant coach.
The Kings announced the move Wednesday.
"My time is done playing, so I think it's something that'll be good," said Abdur-Rahim, who retired last week because of recurring knee injuries. "I love basketball and enjoy being around the game."
Mike McGraw of the Arlington Heights Daily Herald: "The Bulls finally made the official announcement late in the evening that Gordon would take the qualifying offer worth $6.4 million and become an unrestricted free agent next summer. In the meantime, he cannot be traded without his consent. The Bulls offered a six-year deal worth about $59 million and were reluctant to go any higher because they would be faced with paying the luxury tax if their payroll grows beyond $71.1 million. There aren't many examples of NBA players turning down extensions to sign the qualifying offer. Michael Olowokandi, Stromile Swift, Vladimir Radmanovic and Mickael Pietrus are among the few. None of those players signed for more than the mid-level exception (currently worth $5.6 million) the following year."
Lisa Dillman of the Los Angeles Times: "Clippers rookie guard Eric Gordon's ankle injury, suffered on the first day of training camp on Tuesday, could keep him out of practice anywhere from five days to a week. Which leads to the question: Is Gordon injury-prone? He also suffered a hamstring injury limiting his summer-league action to two games. Or is he simply the victim of a couple of flukes? Coach Mike Dunleavy picked the latter. 'He's had a bit of bad luck,' Dunleavy said today after the morning workout. 'You can [have] a great ankle but if you step on someone's foot and turn it ...'"
The Sacramento Bee (Melody Gutierrez) reports on Kings rookie Donte Green: “I’ve got my work cut out for me,” Reggie Theus said after Tuesday’s training camp session. “(Greene plays) great offense and has no basic understanding of how to play defense.” Theus said he considers the forward a “project player,” because he has “never really been taught anything about defense at all.” Greene admits his weakness, saying it has been a tough transition from his season at Syracuse, where the Orange played zone defense. “Before that, he was in high school, where they don’t learn anything about defense,” Theus said. “But it’s OK, because he’s got a lot of room to grow.”
Reserve point guard Brevin Knight did not take part in the morning session of the Jazz training camp today due to a strained lower back sustained in Wednesday's second practice.
Also out of action this morning were two free-agent hopefuls, guard Gerry McNamara and big man Kevin Lyde. McNamara has whiplash and a sore jaw after hitting his head on the floor during Wednesday's late session. Lyde was ill and stayed back at the Jazz's team hotel here
Knight said he did not want to put a timetable on his return, but added that he did not think the injury was a serious one. "We're just going to play it by ear," he said. "Backs and stuff — kind of take it as it is," said Knight, who added the injury is not a typical one for him. "I've never had it. Just got caught the wrong way, I think. Those things tend to happen."
Suns forward Amare Stoudemire was poked in the right eye by center Boris Diaw at Wednesday night’s practice and returned to Phoenix today to be examined by team opthamologist Jay Schwartz.
Stoudemire suffered a partially torn iris, but there is no damage to the retina or the cornea. Stoudemire did have significant swelling and blurred vision so he skipped today’s workout. He will also miss tonight’s workout but Suns officials hope he can return to practice Friday.
Stoudemire may have to wear goggles when he returns. Suns trainer Aaron Nelson said Stoudemire has talked to him in the past about wearing goggles full time to avoid these types of injury.