AROUND the NBA:

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Dirk Nowitzki on Jalen Brunson: "I got to say I was skeptical when he went to New York as a franchise player there in that market. He's a quiet guy, a shy guy to go to that market, in that media market. I was a little worried, but man, has he been unbelievable on and off the floor and really carrying this franchise, and so well-deserved to win the championship, bring the championship back there after 50-something years. Finals MVP; it's been an incredible run. I didn't see that development coming from him. I knew he was super solid already in his rookie year; he's smart, he knows how to get to his spots, but I didn't think he was going to have a franchise-player type ceiling in him."

YouTube

[HoosierDaddyKid]

The civil sexual assault trial of Lakers star Byron Scott is on hold after the former player and coach filed for bankruptcy last week. Hayley Dylan has accused Scott in a civil lawsuit of sexually assaulting her in the summer of 1987 when she was a 15-year-old student at Campbell Hall School, and he was 26 and married. The case was originally set to go to a jury trial Tuesday, but it was pushed back to Oct. 12 because of a court scheduling conflict. Dylan’s attorney, Kerry Garvis Wright, told The Times in a phone interview Tuesday that her team plans to file a motion with the bankruptcy court for relief from stay to return the sexual assault case to state court. If the motion is not granted, Dylan would have to pursue her claims against Scott in bankruptcy court. “We’re planning on exploring all of our options to get relief from stay and to have this case tried before a jury as soon as possible so that Byron Scott can face the consequences of his actions,” Wright said.

Los Angeles Times


Scott filed for bankruptcy? Seriously?

[HoosierDaddyKid]

PHNX Suns: "This is the time for him NOW." @StephenPG3 thinks Khaman Maluach is ready to step up in the absence of Mark Williams, who will miss extended time after shoulder surgery.

x.com

[david75090]

The civil sexual assault trial of Lakers star Byron Scott is on hold after the former player and coach filed for bankruptcy last week. Hayley Dylan has accused Scott in a civil lawsuit of sexually assaulting her in the summer of 1987 when she was a 15-year-old student at Campbell Hall School, and he was 26 and married. The case was originally set to go to a jury trial Tuesday, but it was pushed back to Oct. 12 because of a court scheduling conflict. Dylan’s attorney, Kerry Garvis Wright, told The Times in a phone interview Tuesday that her team plans to file a motion with the bankruptcy court for relief from stay to return the sexual assault case to state court. If the motion is not granted, Dylan would have to pursue her claims against Scott in bankruptcy court. “We’re planning on exploring all of our options to get relief from stay and to have this case tried before a jury as soon as possible so that Byron Scott can face the consequences of his actions,” Wright said.

Los Angeles Times


Scott filed for bankruptcy?  Seriously?

I'm guessing that's a pro-tip. When accused of civil sexual assault, do your best to avoid financial responsibility by declaring bankruptcy. It's known that, in America, a person can be a billionaire and bankrupt at the same time. Could be, this bit of slight-of-hand is from the playbook that contains a similar strategy.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Fred Katz: The NBA has informed teams of its updated salary cap projections for the 2027-28 season, league sources tell @TheAthletic: • $176 million salary cap • $213 million luxury tax line. The new projection comes in $2 million higher than the league’s last one.

x.com

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is complying with the NBA's punishments of the franchise for salary cap circumvention, deciding not to pursue any legal action.

Steve Ballmer’s Statement:

“This has been a very difficult time for everybody associated with the Clippers, and for that, I have sincere regrets. I want to apologize to our fans, employees, and my fellow NBA team owners for the distraction and distress this matter has caused, for which I accept responsibility as principal owner.

We are committing to put this chapter behind us. We have communicated to the NBA that we are complying with the penalties assessed by the league, have paid the fine, and are moving forward. While there are still disagreements concerning the findings in the report, this is not where I want to focus. Team owners should support, not distract.

The challenges ahead of us are significant, but so is our resolve. We will continue to build our team and invest in our community. The confidence of our fans is our prior-ity. With our talented roster, outstanding staff and clear vision, lam certain that we will compete at the highest level and be an organization our fans can be proud of.”

[KillerLeft]

Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is complying with the NBA's punishments of the franchise for salary cap circumvention, deciding not to pursue any legal action.

Steve Ballmer’s Statement:

“This has been a very difficult time for everybody associated with the Clippers, and for that, I have sincere regrets. I want to apologize to our fans, employees, and my fellow NBA team owners for the distraction and distress this matter has caused, for which I accept responsibility as principal owner.

We are committing to put this chapter behind us. We have communicated to the NBA that we are complying with the penalties assessed by the league, have paid the fine, and are moving forward. While there are still disagreements concerning the findings in the report, this is not where I want to focus. Team owners should support, not distract.

The challenges ahead of us are significant, but so is our resolve. We will continue to build our team and invest in our community. The confidence of our fans is our prior-ity. With our talented roster, outstanding staff and clear vision, lam certain that we will compete at the highest level and be an organization our fans can be proud of.”

That didn’t take long at all. Silver came out of this with a lot more of my respect.

[khaled1987]

As I said previously, this is about the collective power of owners more than anything.

Balmer cheated on the system that the owners designed for their own benefit, they are the ones that put that punishment and enforced it. Silver is just the face of they need for that, but he himself has no power to fight a guy like Ballmer, OTOH, Ballmer doesn't have the power to fight the rest of the owners.

[omahen]

As I said previously, this is about the collective power of owners more than anything.

Balmer cheated on the system that the owners designed for their own benefit, they are the ones that put that punishment and enforced it. Silver is just the face of they need for that, but he himself has no power to fight a guy like Ballmer, OTOH, Ballmer doesn't have the power to fight the rest of the owners.

Of course Silver needs to have support of other owners. 

However, he handled the situation proffessionally and produced a bullet proof result and process, that left the other side without options. I wouldn't underestimate how difficult this task was.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

NordVPN, the digital security app, has announced a partnership with legendary NBA player, entrepreneur, educator, and philanthropist Shaquille O’Neal. This duo will collaborate on educating users about the digital threats that are tackled by NordVPN’s next-generation antivirus. According to NordVPN’s experts, the scale of the threats people face daily is staggering. NordVPN’s next-gen antivirus scans 12 million unique URLs every day, blocking an average of 130,000 malicious pages.

Advanced Television


Shaq has his fingerprints on damn near everything. He's on TV all the time. More power to him.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Jake Fischer: I wouldn't read Steve Ballmer accepting the NBA’s investigation findings and penalties as any sign that the trade of Kawhi Leonard to the Raptors will be completed imminently. Still sounds like the Clippers aren’t quite ready to get back on the phone with Toronto, even though, as @TheSteinLine reported, the NBA league office would process a trade call without an interim governor in place.

x.com

[KillerLeft]

As I said previously, this is about the collective power of owners more than anything.

Balmer cheated on the system that the owners designed for their own benefit, they are the ones that put that punishment and enforced it. Silver is just the face of they need for that, but he himself has no power to fight a guy like Ballmer, OTOH, Ballmer doesn't have the power to fight the rest of the owners.

But Silver, one of the lead lawyers who messed up the Joe Smith thing, had the trade craft needed this time around to completely and utterly box Balmer in, legally, using the CBA to an insane level of precision, even before Balmer knew what was happening. I'm sorry, but that gets a hat tip from me. He correctly recognized that the job didn't stop with discovering the truth, but that it would take some art to actually ensure anything real was done about it. Super impressive, imho.

[Scott41theMavs]

Jake Fischer: I wouldn't read Steve Ballmer accepting the NBA’s investigation findings and penalties as any sign that the trade of Kawhi Leonard to the Raptors will be completed imminently. Still sounds like the Clippers aren’t quite ready to get back on the phone with Toronto, even though, as @TheSteinLine reported, the NBA league office would process a trade call without an interim governor in place.

x.com

Oopsie.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Igor Kokoskov: I don’t have a particularly high opinion of him. Perhaps the best illustration is that, after working with Jason Kidd for a year, I sat down with him and said, ‘Look, I have a history with Luka Doncic, and I know him well; we’ve worked together before, and that can certainly help the team, but I am not here working for Luka Doncic; I am working for you; this is your team.’ However, he could never really get over it. It was something in his head, part of his personal issues, which I didn’t want to get involved in," Kokoskov added. "After that first year in Dallas, once the season wrapped up. I got a call from Steve Nash, inviting me to join Brooklyn. I remember thinking, 'I was working for the worst guy in the NBA, and now I have a call from the best guy in the NBA.'"

Basket News


Igor Kokoskov holds Jason Kidd in high regard, I see.

[DallasMaverick]

Igor Kokoskov: I don’t have a particularly high opinion of him. Perhaps the best illustration is that, after working with Jason Kidd for a year, I sat down with him and said, ‘Look, I have a history with Luka Doncic, and I know him well; we’ve worked together before, and that can certainly help the team, but I am not here working for Luka Doncic; I am working for you; this is your team.’ However, he could never really get over it. It was something in his head, part of his personal issues, which I didn’t want to get involved in," Kokoskov added. "After that first year in Dallas, once the season wrapped up. I got a call from Steve Nash, inviting me to join Brooklyn. I remember thinking, 'I was working for the worst guy in the NBA, and now I have a call from the best guy in the NBA.'"

Basket News


Igor Kokoskov holds Jason Kidd in high regard, I see. 

Kinda interesting that he regards Steve Nash as the best guy in the NBA.

Maybe from the perspective of being pleasant?

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Prices for Knicks games at Madison Square Garden surged during their first title run in 53 years, with the cheapest seats in the arena during the NBA Finals costing more than $7,500. The momentum has continued with ticket prices surging on the secondary market ahead of the 2026-27 season. According to online marketplace StubHub, demand for the defending champions is 60 percent higher than the same point a year ago. Search has also increased 174 percent from last year. Of those purchasing tickets on StubHub, 67 percent are return buyers, up from 55 percent last season. As of Tuesday, tickets for the Knicks’ Oct. 20 home opener against the Philadelphia 76ers start at $1,314 and top out at $36,210 on StubHub. Vivid Tickets has tickets for the opener ranging from $1,335 to $20,951, while Seat Geek has tickets ranging from $1,400 to $36,004. The Knicks were a popular road draw during their title run, and it looks like that will continue in 2026-27. Games at Philly, Miami, Boston, and Washington are popular on StubHub, which said 25 percent of Knicks road-game purchasers are based in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut. That’s up from 21 percent last season.

New York Times

[Chicagojk]

Igor Kokoskov: I don’t have a particularly high opinion of him. Perhaps the best illustration is that, after working with Jason Kidd for a year, I sat down with him and said, ‘Look, I have a history with Luka Doncic, and I know him well; we’ve worked together before, and that can certainly help the team, but I am not here working for Luka Doncic; I am working for you; this is your team.’ However, he could never really get over it. It was something in his head, part of his personal issues, which I didn’t want to get involved in," Kokoskov added. "After that first year in Dallas, once the season wrapped up. I got a call from Steve Nash, inviting me to join Brooklyn. I remember thinking, 'I was working for the worst guy in the NBA, and now I have a call from the best guy in the NBA.'"

Basket News


Igor Kokoskov holds Jason Kidd in high regard, I see. 

Sort of weird, I am still confused by Kidd as I was when he was hired.   I did not like the hire.   I thought early on he proved me wrong.   His team played hard.  He seemed to treat the players like professionals and never embarrassed them.   He gave the players freedom.   Players seemed to like him.  But then, we had years were he really seemed disengaged.    When extreme measures had to be taken, he almost seemed like it was not his responsibility.    Then when players left Dallas it always felt cold and impersonal.   You will always have hurt feelings when you move on but it felt particularly cold by Dallas.   

Then after the Luka trade you had all these weird or hidden comments by him.  It was just exhausting.    

Whether he is/was a good coach is debatable.   What is not debatable is how bad things would have gotten if Kidd weaseled his way into a front office position.

[cow]

Igor Kokoskov: I don’t have a particularly high opinion of him. Perhaps the best illustration is that, after working with Jason Kidd for a year, I sat down with him and said, ‘Look, I have a history with Luka Doncic, and I know him well; we’ve worked together before, and that can certainly help the team, but I am not here working for Luka Doncic; I am working for you; this is your team.’ However, he could never really get over it. It was something in his head, part of his personal issues, which I didn’t want to get involved in," Kokoskov added. "After that first year in Dallas, once the season wrapped up. I got a call from Steve Nash, inviting me to join Brooklyn. I remember thinking, 'I was working for the worst guy in the NBA, and now I have a call from the best guy in the NBA.'"

Basket News


Igor Kokoskov holds Jason Kidd in high regard, I see. 

Jason Kidd is an asshole?

[Scott41theMavs]

Sort of weird, I am still confused by Kidd as I was when he was hired.   I did not like the hire.   I thought early on he proved me wrong.   His team played hard.  He seemed to treat the players like professionals and never embarrassed them.   He gave the players freedom.   Players seemed to like him.  But then, we had years were he really seemed disengaged.    When extreme measures had to be taken, he almost seemed like it was not his responsibility.    Then when players left Dallas it always felt cold and impersonal.   You will always have hurt feelings when you move on but it felt particularly cold by Dallas.   

Then after the Luka trade you had all these weird or hidden comments by him.  It was just exhausting.    

Whether he is/was a good coach is debatable.   What is not debatable is how bad things would have gotten if Kidd weaseled his way into a front office position.

He's angled for a front office position every place he's been, no? 

What surprised me about the hire is that they "mended fences" with him after he left them in the lurch for essentially no reason (career visibility?) in '13. 

In any event, he burnt all remaining bridges with me with that recent anecdote of him acquiescing to LeQueen that the Mavs "got lucky" in '11. Horse puckey. No one should allow Queen Jane to say that, least of all one of the guys who beat his butt when he had already been crowned by the media.

[Scott41theMavs]

Jason Kidd is an asshole?

Shocking!