News from January 2. New York signed Greg Kite (C) to a 1 year contract. Coach Don Nelson (GS) will return to coach the Warriors tonight. Jason Kidd (Dal) is questionable for tonight's game vs Houston due to severe stomach cramps and a high fever. News from January 3. Don MacLean (Was) will be out an additional 6 to 8 weeks after fracturing his right thumb. MacLean is already on IR with tendinitis in both knees. Hakeem Olajuwon (Hou) was named as player of the week and Cedric Ceballos (LAL) was named player of the month (December). Utah placed David Benoit on IR with a stress reaction in his right ankle. Lindsey Hunter (Det) will undergo surgery Wednesday to repair a fractured bone in his right foot. He will be out 6 to 8 weeks. Coach Chris Ford (Bos) is scheduled to return to coaching tonight. News from January 4. Mike Fratello (Cle) was named as Coach of the Month and Glenn Robinson (Mil) was named as Rookie of the Month for December. Latrell Sprewell (GS) skipped practice. Kenny Walker (Was) is off IR. Chicago activated Luc Longley and placed Larry Krystowiak on IR. Philadelphia suspended B.J. Tyler for one game for violating team policy. Philadelphia released Jaren Jackson and signed Jeff Grayer (G). Antonio Davis (Ind) will undergo back surgery Thursday. Clyde Drexler (Por) has publically stated that he wants to be traded to a contender. He said that he asked the team at the start of the season to be traded and the team told him to give them a couple of months. Since nothing has happened, Drexler has made his desire known publically. News from January 5. Golden State suspended Latrell Sprewell for one game for missing practice. The LA Clippers waived Matt Fish and activated Gary Grant. News from January 6. Coach Lenny Wilkens (Atl) obtained sole possession of most coaching victories in NBA history with Atlanta's victory over Washington last night. The ranking for career coaching victories is now Wilkens 939, Red Auerbach 938, Dick Motta 870, Jack Ramsay 864, Bill Fitch 850, and Don Nelson 811. Former NBAer and current CBAer (Chicago Rockers) Fred Roberts retired. News from January 9. Sacramento waived Trevor Wilson. Boston activated Dino Radja and placed Acie Earl on IR with a sprained right wrist. The LA Lakers placed Sedale Threatt on IR with a stress fracture in his right foot. Portland activated Aaron McKie and placed Steve Henson on IR. Kevin Duckworth (Was) will be out 1 week to 10 days with an Achilles injury. Seattle fined Kendall Gill for missing Sunday's practice. Gill had missed a flight from Chicago. Gary Payton (Sea) was named as Player of the Week. News from January 10. Golden State activated Chris Mullin and placed Carlos Rogers on IR. The LA Lakers signed Lester Conner to a 10-day contract. Detroit signed Mike Peplowski to a 10-day contract. Utah signed Walter Bond to a 10-day contract. News from January 11. Jeff Hornacek (Uta) tied an NBA record with 11 consecutive 3-pointers made. He made them over Utah's last 6 games. News from January 12. Golden State signed Ryan Lorthridge to a 10 day contract. The Denver Nuggets reached an agreement with the city to build a new arena. The arena is scheduled to open for the 97-98 season. The contestants for the All-Star weekend 3-point shoot-out are: Mark Price (Cle, defending champion), Dana Barros (Phi, runner-up last year), Nick Anderson (Orl), Scott Burrell (Cha), Steve Kerr (Chi), Dan Majerle (Pho), Reggie Miller (Ind), and Glen Rice (Mia). Scottie Pippen (Chi) says that he wants out of Chicago and does not care where. "No place could be worse than here." "Trade me or [Chicago GM Jerry] Krause." Pippen is signed through the 96-97 season and will be 32 when he is able to become an unrestricted free agent. News from January 13. Felton Spencer (Uta) tore his left Achilles tendon in last night's game. He is most likely out for the season. Moses Malone (SA) will undergo surgery to repair his long peroneal tendon in his right leg. The leg will be in a cast for 4 to 6 weeks. San Antonio placed Malone on IR. Minnesota placed Stacey King on IR and activated Charles Shackleford. The NBA fined Reggie Miller (Ind) $5,000 for trying to start a fight with Charles Smith (NY) after Tuesday's NY-Ind game. Due to the Cowboy-49er game, the start time for Sunday's Spurs-Mavs game has been moved from 6:00 pm (Central time) to 7:00 pm. News from January 14. Felton Spencer (Uta) underwent successful surgery on his torn left Achilles tendon. The Detroit at Washington game was cancelled due to condensation on the court. It will be rescheduled sometime in April. NBA Nibbles: Houston management has finally righted a wrong from the off-season. Houston has re-hired Jerry Burrell, aka Turbo. Turbo will perform in half of the remaining Rocket games and the playoffs. Danny Schayes (Pho) when asked if he was pumped to play the LA Lakers, one of his four former NBA teams: "If I worried about all the teams I used to play for, I wouldn't get any sleep." 15 of Phoenix's games this season involves Schayes' old teams. Dallas coach Dick Motta on his first year as an NBA coach with the Chicago Bulls (68-69): "We were for sale. We didn't know if we were going to be the Toronto Bulls or the LA Bulls. They offered to sell the ballclub to me and the team. They bought it for $1.2 million. They offered to sell it to us for $600,000. They would carry the loan, no interest. But I wouldn't have touched it with a 10-foot pole." On the announced crowd of 891 at Chicago Stadium on November 7, 1968: "We padded that. That night, we actually had about 60 people there. After that, Walter Kennedy's (NBA commissioner) instructions to us were, 'There are alaways at least 1,000 people at every game.'" Notable unrestricted free agents for this summer: Otis Thorpe (Hou), Anthony Mason (NY), Scott Skiles (Was), Danny Ainge (Pho), Jon Koncak (Atl), Mark Bryant (Por), Danny Manning (Pho), and Wayman Tisdale (Pho). NBA players receive $60 per diem when traveling with the teams. News from January 15. Dan Issel announced his surprising resignation as head coach of the Denver Nuggets. Issel: "I never coached before, and I certainly won't coach again." Issel will remain with the team in a different capacity. Assistant coach Gene Littles will replace Issel for the rest of the season. News from January 17. The postponed Washington-Detroit game from last Saturday has been rescheduled for Tuesday, February 7. Denver named Tom Nissalke as an assistant coach. Denver placed Tom Hammonds on IR and activated Darnell Mee. Utah signed James Donaldson to a 10-day contract. Larry Johnson (Cha) was named as Player of the Week. The participants for the All-Star Rookie Game have been announced: Glenn Robinson (Mil), Jason Kidd (Dal), Grant Hill (Det), Brian Grant (Sac), Michael Smith (Sac), Donyell Marshall (Min), Lamond Murray (LAC), Anthony Tucker (Was), Sharone Wright (Phi), Eddie Jones (LAL), Khalid Reeves (Mia), Wesley Person (Pho), Jalen Rose (Den), Juwan Howard (Was), Eric Montros (Bos), and Clifford Rozier (GS). The players were selected by Doug Collins (TNT), David Dupree (USA Today), Lee Shappell (The Arizona Republic), and Phil Taylor (Sports Illustrated). Al Attles and Cotton Fitzsimmons will coach and will select the two teams on February 1. The game will be played on All-Star Saturday night (February 11, sometime after 6 pm Central time). The Long Distant Shoot-Out and Slam Dunk Contest are also scheduled for All-Star Saturday. Any rookie who is selected to the All-Star game will not participate in the Rookie Game. News from January 18. Frank Brickowski (Sac) will be out for the rest of the season. Brickowski has been on IR the entire season so far with a separated right shoulder. He re-aggravated the injury and will undergo surgery. Utah activated David Benoit and placed Jay Humphries on IR. News from January 19. The NBA suspended Olden Polynice (Sac), Rod Strickland (Por), Mark Bryant (Por), Clyde Drexler (Por), James Edwards (Por), Harvey Grant (Por), and Jerome Kersey (Por) for one game. Strickland and Polynice were suspended and fined $5,000 for fighting during Tuesday's Sac-Por game. Polynice served his suspension Thursday (last night) vs GS and Strickland served his suspension Thursday vs Pho. The other 5 Blazers were suspended and fined $2,500 for leaving the bench during the fight. Bryant and Drexler missed Thursday's game vs Pho and Edwards, Grant, and Kersey will miss Friday's game vs LAC. Players receive an automatic suspension for leaving the bench, a new rule this season that came about due to two ugly brawls during the 1994 playoffs. Which games the 5 who left the bench miss was determined alphabetically by their last names (the league allows the suspensions to be split among games if 5 or more players are suspended for leaving the bench so that the team stays above the 8 player minimum for a game). Golden State placed Chris Mullin on IR and activated Carlos Rogers. Cleveland named Larry Nance as a special assistant coach. The sale of the Golden State Warriors has been finalized. Christopher Cohan is now the sole owner of the team. The league Board of Governors had approved the sale last Tuesday. Andy Dolich was alos named as President and Chief Operating Officer. New Jersey activated Sean Higgins and placed Sleepy Floyd on IR. Portland placed Aaron McKie on IR with a sprained shoulder. Detroit activated Mark Waest from IR. News from January 20. Boston placed Derek Strong on IR and activated Acie Earl. Utah signed Walter Bond to a second 10-day contract. The LA Lakers signed Danny Young to a 10-day contract and did not re-sign Lester Conner (10-day contract). Rony Seikaly (GS) will wear a cast on his right ankle for 2 weeks due to tendinitis. Harold Miner (Mia) was diagnosed with developing a stress reaction in his right foot. The length of time he will miss has yet to be determined. Charlotte activated Michael Adams and placed Tom Tolbert on IR. Karl Malone (Uta) became the 19th NBA player to scores over 20,000 points. The participants for the Slam Dunk contest for All-Star Saturday are Tony Dumas (Dal), Grant Hill (Det), Eddie Jones (LAL), Harold Miner (Mia), Robert Pack (Den), and defending champion Isaiah Rider (Min). TNT has decided that it will air the Dallas at Milwaukee game on January 31. The start time for the game has been moved from 7:30 to 7:00 pm Central time. Tony Bennett (Cha) and Kenny Gattison (Cha) both underwent successful surgery. Gattison is out for the season and Bennett's status is uncertain for the rest of the season. News from January 21. Shaquille O'Neal (Orl) on Dennis Rodman (SA), who said that O'Neal does not rebounds as well as he should for his size: "Me responding to Rodman is like talking to a Bugs Bunny doll. I don't like to talk to Looney Tunes." News from January 23. Patrick Ewing (NY) was named as Player of the Week. Mark Price (Cle) will be out 6 to 8 weeks with a broken right wrist. News from January 24. Chuck Person (SA) has been named as the replacement for Mark Price in the Long Distant Shoot-out for All-Star Saturday. Apparently, Antonio Harvey (LAL) will be participating in the Slam Dunk contest instead of Eddie Jones (LAL). [Someone had mentioned that Jones declined the invitation and Harvey's name was on the list shown on ESPN's NBA Today.] Sam Mitchell (Ind) was fined $4,000 by the league for shoving Dennis Rodman (SA) near the end of the SA-Ind game from last Sunday. Yinka Dare (NJ) is scheduled to undergo athroscopic surgery on both knees Thursday. It is unknown how long Dare, who is already on IR, will be out. Scottie Pippen (Chi) was tossed from last night's game vs San Antonio. After he was tossed, he threw a chair on the court. Ref Sam Crawford: "I asked if he was concerned with the safety of other players after throwing a chair. 'Not really,' Pippen said." Fine and suspension to be announced later. News from January 26. Scottie Pippen (Chi) has been suspended 1 game and fined $6,000 by the league for not leaving the game in a timely manner and throwing a chair onto the court after being ejected from the Chi-SA game on Tuesday. Pippen served his suspension last night (Thursday) vs Orlando. The starters for the All-Star game have been announced. The starters were selected by position by the fans in balloting over the past two months. Reserves, who are selected by the coaches, will be announced January 31. The head coaches for the All-Star teams is determined by which team has the best record in each conference after Sunday, January 29th games. The All-Star game is played on Sunday, February 12 in Phoenix. 6,254,427 votes were submitted. Western Conference Votes Votes Charles Barkley (Pho) 1,046,105 Dan Majerle (Pho) 868,115 Shawn Kemp (Sea) 1,027,451 Latrell Sprewell (GS) 861,223 Hakeem Olajuwon 1,125,032 votes Eastern Conference Votes Votes Grant Hill (Det) 1,289,585 Anfernee Hardaway (Orl) 999,327 Scottie Pippen (Chi) 1,134,525 Reggie Miller (Ind) 908,493 Shaquille O'Neal 1,263,451 votes A listing of most of the voting is included at the end of this message. Cleveland placed Mark Price on IR and signed Elmer Bennett (G) to a 10-day contract. Detroit activated Oliver Miller and placed Ivano Newbill on IR. Trade Rumor: Seattle and Portland are rumoredly working on a trade to send Clyde Drexler to Seattle and Kendall Gill to Portland. All-Star balloting results: Eastern Conference Forwards Grant Hill (Det) 1,289,585; Scottie Pippen (Chi) 1,134,525; Larry Johnson (Cha) 698,931; Chris Webber (Was) 491,783; Dominique Wilkins (Bos) 489,617; Glen Rice (Mia) 425,978; Kevin Willis (Mia) 404,257; Horace Grant (Orl) 398,521; Glenn Robinson (Mil) 387,461; Charles Oakley (NY) 386,894. Guards Anfernee Hardaway (Orl) 999,327; Reggie Miller (Ind) 908,493; Mark Price (Cle) 854,771; Joe Dumars (Det) 826,935; Muggsy Bogues (Cha) 672,149; John Starks (NY) 589,617; Scott Skiles (Was) 484,573; Harold Miner (Mia) 484,522; Derek Harper (NY) 462,115; Steve Smith (Atl) 394,225. Centers Shaquille O'Neal (Orl) 1,263,451; Patrick Ewing (NY) 728,331; Alonzo Mourning (Cha) 664,927; Rik Smits (Ind) 317,885; Robert Parish (Cha) 292,557; Oliver Miller (Det) 238,657; Pervis Ellison (Bos) 223,545; Shawn Bradley (Phi) 220,332. Western Conference Forwards Charles Barkley (Pho) 1,046,105; Shawn Kemp (Sea) 1,027,451; Jamal Mashburn (Dal) 742,815; Chris Mullin (GS) 598,125; Karl Malone (Uta) 526,741; Tom Gugliotta (GS) 442,335; Detlef Schrempf (Sea) 391,451; Danny Manning (Pho) 327,554; Otis Thorpe (Hou) 306,541; Cedric Ceballos (LAL) 259,464. Guards Dan Majerle (Pho) 868,115; Latrell Sprewell (GS) 861,223; Tim Hardaway (GS) 853,784; John Stockton (Uta) 798,219; Jason Kidd (Dal) 744,587; Jeff Hornacek (Uta) 681,231; Jim Jackson (Dal) 669,459; Vernon Maxwell (Hou) 581,254; Kendall Gill (Sea) 570,338; Gary Payton (Sea) 567,324. Centers Hakeem Olajuwon (Hou) 1,125,032; David Robinson (SA) 1,046,364; Sam Perkins (Sea) 599,463; Dikembe Mutombo (Den) 594,789; Felton Spencer (Uta) 578,452; A.C. Green (Pho) 303,588; Olden Polynice (Sac) 273,451; Rony Seikaly (GS) 268,998; Vlade Divac (LAL) 239,451; Chris Dudley (Por) 207,412. News from January 27. Golden State has signed Ryan Lothridge for the rest of the season. Dallas placed Roy Tarpley on IR due to tendinitis in his right knee. News from January 18. Utah waived Walter Bond. John Stockton (Uta) passed Oscar Robertson last night in career assists to have the 2nd highest career assists in NBA history. Magic Johnson is currently first on the list, but Stockton should pass him in Utah's next 2 to 4 games. The current ranking: Magic Johnson 9,921, John Stockton 9,897, and Oscar Robertson 9,888. Jerry Sloan (coach Uta) received a 2 year contract extension. Paul Westphal will be the coach of the Western All-Stars and Brian Hill will be the coach of the Eastern All-Stars due to their teams having the best record in the conference. How the coaches (from each conference) vote for the reserves for the All-Star game: each coach selects 2 guards, 2 forwards, 1 center, and 2 wild cards (any position) from within the conference and rank them in order of priority from 1 to 7. The coaches are not allowed to vote for players on their own team. Charles Barkley after Phoenix won 108-107 in Philadelphia Friday night after taking advantage of some lucky breaks: "Okay everybody, we're going to Atlantic City. I'm giving everybody $10,000." News from January 30. Cleveland retired Larry Nance's #22 during a halftime ceremony last night. John Stockton (Uta) was named Player of the Week. Dallas signed George McCloud to a 10-day contract. Shawn Bradley (Phi) sprained his right knee in last night's game vs Seattle and will undergo a MRI Tuesday as a precaution. Jason Kidd (Dal) is in the hospital due to dehydration and the flu and will miss tonight's game vs Milwaukee [poor TNT] and tomorrow night's game vs Minnesota. News from January 31. The All-Star reserves were announced. For the Eastern Conference: Larry Johnson (Cha, F), Alonzo Mourning (Cha, C), Patrick Ewing (NY, C), Joe Dumars (Det, G), Vin Baker (Mil, F), Tyrone Hill (Cle, F), and Dana Barros (Phi, G). For the Western Conference: Karl Malone (Uta, F), John Stockton (Uta, G), Gary Payton (Sea, G), Detlef Schrempf (Sea, F), David Robinson (SA, C), Mitch Richmond (Sac, G), and Cedric Ceballos (LAL, F). The reserves were selected by the coaches in each conference. The All-Star game will be played February 12 in Phoenix. Golden State suspended Clifford Rozier for one game for missing practice. Rozier served his suspension Tuesday night vs New York. The LA Lakers activated Sedale Threatt and placed Sam Bowie on IR due to a sprained right thumb. He's back. The LA Lakers signed Kurt Rambis to a 10-day contract. [I just had to pull this quote from him from last year: 1/8/94 Rambis: "I feel like I'm Jason from Friday the 13th movies. They keep telling me I'm dead." ]