News from May 1. Dikembe Mutombo (Den) was named as the Defensive Player of the Year. Mutombo received 45 of the 105 media votes for the award. Scottie Pippen (Chi) was 2nd with 16 votes, Hakeem Olajuwon was 3rd with 13 votes, David Robinson (SA) was 4th, and Dennis Rodman (SA) was 5th. Sacramento gave coach Garry St. Jean a 3 year contract extension worth about $700,000 per year. The league handed out the fines for Sunday's San Antonio-Denver game. Dennis Rodman (SA) was fined $7,500 for undercutting Dikembe Mutombo. Greg Grant (Den) was fined $5,000 for his flagrant push and Avery Johnson (SA) was fined $2,500 for his retailation. Jack Haley (SA) was fined $7,500 for his flagrant foul on Greg Grant. Haley and Johnson also received an automatic $1,000 fine for their ejections. News from May 2. Houston gave Vernon Maxwell an indefinite leave of absence from the team. News from May 3. Del Harris (LAL) was named as the Coach of the Year. Harris received 62 of the 105 media votes for the award. Mike Fratello (Cle) was 2nd with 15 votes, Bob Hill (SA) was 3rd with 12 votes, Jerry Sloan (Uta) was 4th with 11 votes, and Dick Motta (Dal) received 5 votes. News from May 4. Miami fired interim coach Alvin Gentry. Gentry will be offer another position with the team. Assistsants Ed Badger and Tony Fiorentino were also releaved of their duties and will remain with the team. Bernie Bickerstaff (coach Den) was fined $10,000 for verbally abusing the refs and not leaving the court in a timely manner after being ejected from Tuesday's SA-Den game. Rasheed Wallace (sophomore, UNC) declared his eligiblity for the NBA draft. May 14 is the deadline for undergraduates to declare their eligiblity. News from May 7. Carl Herrera (Hou) is out for the rest of the playoffs with a separated shoulder. News from May 8. Jerry Stackhouse (sophomore, UNC) declared his eligiblity for the NBA draft. Anthony Mason (NY) won the NBA Sixth Man award by receiving 47 of the 105 media votes. Dell Curry (Cha) was 2nd with 18 votes, Chuck Person (SA) received 12 votes, Nate McMillan (Sea) received 9 votes, Dennis Scott (Orl) received 7 votes, Byron Scott (Ind) received 6 votes, Antoine Carr (Uta) received 3 votes, Chris Gatling (GS) received 2 votes, and Armon Gilliam (NJ) received 1 vote. News from May 9. Corey Alexander (junior, Virginai) declared his eligiblity for the NBA draft. News from May 10. Dana Barros (Phi) won the NBA Most Improved Player award by receiving 50 of the 105 media votes. Elliot Perry (Pho) was 2nd with 15 votes, Scott Burrell (Cha) received 8 votes, Gheorghe Muresan (Was) received 8 votes, Allan Houston (Det) received 6 votes, Avery Johnson (SA) received 4 votes, Tyrone Hill (Cle) received 3 votes, Popeye Jones (Dal) received 3 votes, and 8 other players received 1 vote. News from May 11. The All-NBA teams were announced. 105 media members voted on the selections by selecting 2 forwards, 1 center, and 2 guards for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd team. A player received 5 points for a 1st team vote, 3 points for a 2nd team vote, and 1 point for a 3rd team vote. Karl Malone (Uta), David Robinson (SA), and Shaquille O'Neal (Orl) were the only players named on all 105 ballots. All-NBA 1st Team Player (Team, Pos) 1st team votes Total votes Karl Malone (Uta, F) 102 519 Scottie Pippen (Chi, F) 73 451 David Robinson (SA, C) 86 479 John Stockton (Uta, G) 73 447 Anfernee Hardaway (Orl, G) 55 394 All-NBA 2nd Team Player (Team, Pos) 1st team votes Total votes Charles Barkley (Pho, F) 31 363 Shawn Kemp (Sea, F) 0 161 Shaquille O'Neal (Orl, C) 15 311 Gary Payton (Sea, G) 40 342 Mitch Richmond (Sac, G) 25 253 All-NBA 3rd Team Player (Team, Pos) 1st team votes Total votes Dennis Rodman (SA, F) 1 113 Detlef Schrempf (Sea, F) 1 95 Hakeem Olajuwon (Hou, C) 3 102 Reggie Miller (Ind, G) 2 158 Clyde Drexler (Hou, G) 4 73 Others who receive votes [1st team votes, total votes] Jamal Mashburn (Dal, F) 2, 64; Patrick Ewing (NY, C) 1, 51; Michael Jordan (Chi, G) 7, 44; Jim Jackson (Dal, G) 2, 35; Dana Barros (Phi, G) 0, 32; Rod Strickland (Por, G) 0, 31; Larry Johnson (Cha, F) 0, 26; Cedric Ceballos (LAL, F), 0, 20; Glen Rice (Mia, F) 0, 18; Horace Grant (Orl, F) 0, 17; Vin Baker (Mil, F) 0, 16; Nick Van Exel (LAL, G) 0, 13; Joe Dumars (Det, G) 1, 11; Jason Kidd (Dal, G) 0, 10; Tim Hardaway (GS, G) 0, 9; Muggsy Bogues (Cha, G) 0, 7; Sean Elliott (SA, F) 0, 7; Tyrone Hill (Cle, F) 0, 7; Latrell Sprewell (GS, G) 1, 6; Mookie Blaylock (Atl, G) 0, 5; Glenn Robinson (Mil, F) 0, 5; Grant Hill (Det, F) 0, 4; Jeff Hornacek (Uta, G) 0, 4; Nick Anderson (Orl, G) 0, 3; B.J. Armstrong (Chi, G) 0, 3; Dale Davis (Ind, F) 0, 3; Mark Price (Cle, G) 0, 3; Spud Webb (Sac, G) 0, 3; Avery Johnson (SA, 0, 2; Alonzo Mourning (Cha, C) 0, 2; Stacey Augmon (Atl, G-F) 0, 1; Danny Manning (Pho, F) 0, 1; John Starks (NY, G) 0, 1. Kevin McHale was formally named as Vice President of Operations for Minnesota. Jerry Sichting was also named as director of scouting and player development and Phil Saunders was named as GM. Current GM Jack McCloskey will retire after the June 28 draft. Kevin Garnett (senior, Farragut Academy High School) declared his eligiblity for the NBA draft. Garnett was named as USA Today's High School Player of the Year. Antonio McDyess (sophomore, Alabama) declared his eligiblity for the NBA draft. The NBA fined Michael Jordan $5,000 for wear non-conforming shoes (his were mostly white while the rest of the Bulls wore black) and fined the Chicago Bulls $25,000 for permitting Jordan to wear #23 instead of his roster listed #45. The league most be notified in advance and approve any number changes. The league also warned the Bulls that if Jordan continues to wear #23, they will conitnue to assess fines and the infraction will be dealt with "in an appropriate manner" after the playoffs end. News from May 12. Rashad Griffith (sophomore, Wisonsin) declared his eligiblity for the NBA draft. Golden State named Dave Twardzik as General Manager. News from May 15. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Vern Mikkelsen, Anne Donovan, Cheryl Miller, John Kudla, Aleksandr Gomelsky, and Earl Strom were inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. The NBA All Defense Team, as selected by the 27 coaches, was named. 1st Team Player (team, votes) Scottie Pippen (Chi, 46) Gary Payton (Sea, 43) Dennis Rodman (SA, 35) Mookie Blaylock (Atl, 32) David Robinson (SA, 27) 2nd Team Player (team) Horace Grant (Chi) Derrick McKey (Ind) Dikembe Mutombo (Den) John Stockton (Uta) Nate McMillan (Sea) News from May 16. Vancouverand Toronto are now offically members of the NBA. The expansion draft will take place June 24. News from May 17. Jason Kidd (Dal) and Grant Hill (Det) were named as Rookies of the Year. Both players received 43 of the possible 105 media votes. Glenn Robinson (Mil) received 15 votes, Eddie Jones (LAL) received 2 votes, Brian Grant (Sac) received 1 vote, and Juwan Howard (Was) received 1 vote. Boston fired coached Chris Ford. News from May 18. The NBA All-Rookie team was announced. The 27 head coaches voted for the award and were asked to select a 1st team and a 2nd team (10 rookies total) with a 1st team vote worth 2 points and a 2nd team vote worth 1 points. The coaches were not allowed to vote for their own player(s). The selections were made regardless of possition. Jason Kidd was the only unanimous selection - he received 26 first place votes. Grant Hill and Glenn Robinson received 25 first place votes. Kidd and Hill were the only players on all 26 (excluding their coach's) ballots (ya gotta wonder about the one who didn't vote for Robinson at all, though). All Rookie Team Jason Kidd (Dal) 52 points Grant Hill (Det) 51 points Glenn Robinson (Mil) 50 points Eddie Jones (LAL) 45 points Brian Grant (Sac) 42 points Second Team Juwan Howard (Was) 38 points Eric Montross (Bos) 31 points Wesley Person (Pho) 24 points Jalen Rose (Den) 16 points Donyell Marshall (GS) 14 points Sharone Wright (Phi) 14 points Lamond Murray (LAC) received 13 points, Khalid Reeves (Mia) received 9 points, and Michael Smith (Sac) received 6 points. Jerry West (Executive Vice President, LAL) was named as Executive of the Year. Phoenix placed Richard Dumas on waivers. Rumor has it that he is being investigated for violating his substance abuse program. News from May 19. Golden State hired Rick Adelman as their new head coach. News from May 21. The Draft Lottery was held during halftime of the New York-Indiana game. The rookie draft will be selected in the following order for the lottery teams: Lottery Draft 13 Sacramento 12 Dallas 11 Milwaukee 10 Miami 9 New Jersey 8 Detroit 7/6 Vancouver/Toronto (to be determined next month) 5 Minnesota 4 Washington 3 Philadelphia 2 LA Clippers 1 Golden State News from May 23. David Robinson (SA) was selected as MVP. Robinson received 73 of the possible first place 105 media votes. The voters were asked to give a 1st place vote, a 2nd place, a 3rd place, a 4th place, and a 5th place vote with a 1st place vote worth 10 points, a 2nd worth 7 points, a 3rd worth 5 points, a 4th worth 3 points, and 5th worth 1 point. Player 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Points David Robinson (SA) 73 17 8 4 0 901 Shaquille O'Neal (Orl) 12 45 30 5 5 605 Karl Malone (Uta) 14 23 38 11 8 532 Patrick Ewing (NY) 2 4 9 39 20 230 Hakeem Olajuwon (Hou) 1 4 9 13 25 147 Charles Barkley (Pho) 1 2 3 14 15 96 Scottie Pippen (Chi) 1 3 5 6 9 83 John Stockton (Uta) 1 2 1 5 3 47 Gary Payton (Sea) 0 1 1 3 13 34 Anfernee Hardaway (Orl) 0 1 1 3 2 23 Michael Jordan (Chi) 0 1 0 1 2 12 Dennis Rodman (SA) 0 1 0 0 2 9 Jason Kidd (Dal) 0 1 0 0 0 7 Clyde Drexler (Hou) 0 0 0 1 0 3 Cedric Ceballos (LAL) 0 0 0 0 1 1 News from May 24. Charles Barkley (Pho) will undergo surgery on his left knee Thursday to repair loose cartilage. Barkley says that he will decided whether he will retire or return for next season after his 6 week rehabilitation. News from May 29. Ind 94, Orl 93 - at Ind It was a _great_ finish. The ending from my "A tab on the Playoffs" report: Timeout Orl. 89-87 Ind 28.4 seconds. Oh, Shaw swishes the 3. Timeout Ind. 13.3 seconds. Oh my, Miller hits the catch and fire 3 off the screen. Timeout Orl. 92-90 Ind 5.2 seconds. Oh my goodness, Hardaway swishes the high jumping 3. Timeout Ind. 1.3 seconds. Holy cow, into Smits who nails the up and under 15-footer at the buzzer. Game over. The series is tied 2-2. News from May 31. Phoenix fired assistant coaches Lionel Hollins and Scotty Robertson. Patrick Ewing (NY) underwent successfully surgery on his right knee to remove torn cartilage. He is expected to take 6 to 8 weeks to recover.