The HEAT is ON! Heat SMASHES Thunder 121-106 for N.B.A. Title!

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The HEAT is on! Heat SMASHES Thunder 121-106 for N.B.A. Title

 

The King finally has his ring.

In one swift motion, packed with power, grace and symmetry, LeBron James grabbed a title and released his burdens, enjoying a coronation and liberation all at once. The audacious star with the “Chosen One” tattoo now has a trophy to validate the claim.
Dwyane Wade scored 20 points for the Heat as he won the second championship of his career.
The mission, nine years in the making, was finally completed late Thursday night, as James led the Miami Heat to a blistering 121-106 rout of the Oklahoma City Thunder to claim the 2012 N.B.A. title.

A euphoric crowd showered James with adoration as he celebrated his soul-cleansing moment. The greatest N.B.A. player without a ring will soon have one.

“It’s about damn time,” James said gleefully during the trophy presentation, while also calling it “the happiest day in my life” and “a dream come true.”
James averaged 28.6 points, 10.2 rebounds and 7.4 assists in the series and was named the most valuable player by a unanimous vote. 

As the white confetti fell and the arena boomed, James shed the burdens of his past. He was no longer the antihero of the “The Decision,” or the flawed star of the 2011 finals, or the solo act who could not deliver a title to Cleveland, his hometown. He was, at long last, a champion. A near-decade of anticipation, unmet expectations, intense criticism and doubts washed away.

“I think everything changes,” Magic Johnson said earlier in the day, referring to James’s winning a title. He added: “He can now feel that, you know, that I am the best player in the world, because I won a ring. The ring says so. Not the media, not that the marketing says so, but my game actually says so. And we’re judged by championships.”
James was brilliant in the finale, with 26 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists. He got ample help from his co-stars. Dwyane Wade scored 20 points, and Chris Bosh finished with 24 points and 7 rebounds.
James, Wade and Bosh, who united in a historic free-agent signing frenzy in 2010, checked out of the game together, to a standing ovation, with 3 minutes 1 second to play.

Mike Miller scored 23 points, his career playoff high, and hit 7 of 8 3-pointers. The Heat tied a finals record by hitting 14 3-pointers.

This finals was billed as an epic duel between James and the Thunder’s Kevin Durant, two of the most dynamic scorers in the game. They did not disappoint. In his finals debut, the 23-year-old Durant averaged 30.6 points.
Though it ended in five games, the series was close on the scoreboard. No lead was ever safe, and all four games came down to the final minutes.
Thursday was different. A championship was in reach, and the Heat had no desire to delay it. They raced to an early double-digit lead as fans filled the air with chants of “Let’s go Heat!” and “M-V-P” (for James).
Durant led a brief third-quarter rally that cut the deficit to 69-62. The Heat promptly blew the game open with a 19-1 run, taking a 25-point lead after consecutive 3-pointers by Bosh and Miller.

The Thunder never did get consistent production from their third star, James Harden.
Yet the Thunder’s future remains bright, with a core of 22- and 23-year-olds with seemingly unlimited potential. Durant and Russell Westbrook are one of the league’s most electrifying scoring tandems, and they figure to make many return trips. There will likely be another Heat-Thunder finals, perhaps several.
“I just told our guys, we didn’t win a championship this year,” Thunder Coach Scott Brooks said, “but they gave a championship effort.”

To Victor goes the spoils, that said…CONGRATULATIONS Miami Heat!

FINALLY...CHRIS PAUL TRADED TO THE L.A CLIPPERS!

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Chris Paul Trade: Clippers, Hornets Agree To Deal

Chris Paul is headed to Los Angeles for real this time – to the Clippers, not the Lakers.

The Hornets have traded Paul to the Clippers for guard Eric Gordon, forward Al-Farouq Aminu, center Chris Kaman and a first-round draft choice.
The deal required the approval of NBA Commissioner David Stern because the Hornets are owned by the league.
For Paul, the trade means no more lame-duck practices – and ducking questions – in New Orleans.

It also ended a tortured week in which the Hornets' season sat in limbo while the NBA took a public relations beating over everything from potential conflicts of interest, to retarding the Hornets' pursuit of free agents, to disrespecting the New Orleans fan base.

"I knew we were doing the best thing for New Orleans and that was my job," Stern said. "You have to stick with what you think was right. I must confess it wasn't a lot of fun, but I don't get paid to have fun."

Stern said he never allowed other owners' opinions or considerations of large and small markets to determine where Paul, one of the NBA's biggest stars, would end up. He said his only focus was on getting the best deal for the Hornets.
The Hornets at last have a measure of certainty about the roster they'll have when the regular season begins in less than two weeks.
Paul, already a star with international appeal, gets to play in one of the NBA's biggest markets, even if his new team plays in the shadow of the Lakers. That's the club Paul was almost traded to last week, only to have Stern nix the deal and unleash a torrent of bad publicity on his league just as it was trying to generate good will following a nearly five-month labor dispute that has already caused a shortening of the season.
Then again, maybe there is no such thing as bad publicity, or as Stern called it, "a frenzy." Even with the NFL's Saints on a five-game winning streak and wrapping up a playoff spot, the Hornets and Paul ordeal were the talk of New Orleans for a change.

"Our sole focus was and will remain, until we sell this team, hopefully which will be in first half of 2012, how best to maintain the Hornets, make them as attractive and a competitive as we can and ensure we have a buyer who can keep them in New Orleans," Stern said.
Stern said the team is in negotiations with several potential ownership groups, who, if all goes to plan, will have to accept a new long-term lease in the state-owned New Orleans Arena in order to buy the team.
"The future of the Hornets in New Orleans is brighter than it's ever been," Stern said.

Meanwhile, the Clippers have plenty of reason for optimism themselves.
The 26-year-old Paul is a four-time All-Star who averaged 18.7 points and 9.8 assists last season, his sixth in the NBA. His move to the Clippers means he'll now be able to make alley-oop lobs to a young star famous for dunking over a car. That would be forward Blake Griffin, who averaged 22.5 points and 12.1 rebounds last season, his first as a pro.
The Hornets, meanwhile, get a prolific young shooting guard in Gordon, who turns 23 on Christmas Day and averaged 22.3 points last season. The 6-foot-9 Aminu is a second-year pro who averaged 5.6 points and 3.3 rebounds as a rookie.

The 7-foot Kaman, 29, is an eight-year veteran who averaged 12.4 points and seven rebounds last season, but played in only 32 games because of a left ankle injury.

"With this trade, we now have three additional players who were among the top eight draft picks in their respective drafts as well as our own first round pick and Minnesota's first round pick," Hornets general manager Dell Demps said in a statement released by the team. "Aminu is a young talent with a bright future, Gordon is a big-time scorer and one of the best (shooting) guards in the league and Kaman is a proven center and former All-Star. ... We will field a competitive team and our future looks great."
ESPN, citing anonymous sources, first reported the trade, which also involves New Orleans sending two 2015 second-round draft picks to the Clippers.

"We wanted to make sure that we got the best possible deal for a player of Chris' caliber, and we feel great about the outcome," said Jac Sperling, who Stern appointed as the Hornets' governor after the league bought the team in December 2010. "We feel our future looks very bright. ... We want to thank Chris Paul, an extraordinary person who contributed so greatly to our basketball team and our community. We wish him the best of luck."

The Hornets can only hope the deal will sit well with fans and area business, who bought more than 10,000 season tickets despite the lockout in an effort to show the NBA their community could make the franchise viable for whatever ownership group eventually buys the club from the league.

Paul, whom the Hornets drafted fourth overall in 2005, told New Orleans earlier this month that he was not going to sign an extension, and Demps had been trying to trade him since.
Demps came close to making a three-team deal last Thursday that would have sent Paul to the Lakers. The Lakers would have sent Lamar Odom to the Hornets and Pau Gasol to Houston, while the Rockets would have sent Luis Scola, Kevin Martin and Goran Dragic, and a first-round draft choice to New Orleans.
Stern, however, told Demps to take that deal off the table because he thought the Hornets could get a better deal, both in terms of personnel and salary obligations, in exchange for their marquee player.
Paul showed up for Hornets training camp last Friday but has not spoken to reporters since. He was excused from a normally mandatory media event on Wednesday in which players pose for photos in uniform and talk about the upcoming season.

The urgency to make a deal appeared to be growing, even though Demps insisted earlier Wednesday that the Hornets had no timeline and would not be rushed into a "rash decision."

Still, Demps acknowledged that it was hard for the Hornets to pursue free agents and further build their roster while Paul's status was in limbo. If trade talks had dragged on much longer, the Hornets could have gone into Friday night's preseason opener at Memphis with little idea of what their roster would look like in their first regular season game at Phoenix on Dec. 26.
Other than Paul, the Hornets had only five returning veterans under contract: center Emeka Okafor, forward Trevor Ariza, point guard Jarrett Jack, second-year swingman Quincy Pondexter and shooting guard Marco Belinelli.
The addition of Gordon, Aminu and Kaman give New Orleans desperately needed depth while opening the way for the franchise to further strengthen its roster through free agency.

Meanwhile, the Hornets also could look forward to an additional first-round draft choice next summer. The pick originally belonged to Minnesota, meaning it will be tied to where the Timberwolves finish in the standings this season.

"For the long-term future of the New Orleans Hornets, this is the best deal," Demps said.

I GUESS Hopefully once he's a free agent after this season. He'll become a NY Knick!.

NBA Is Back, Players & Owners Reach a Tentative Deal!

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Is the NBA Finally Back?

NBA players and owners are back on the same side after reaching a tentative agreement early Saturday to end the 149-day lockout.
They hope to begin the delayed season with a marquee triple-header December 25.
'We want to play basketball,' Commissioner David Stern said at a press conference early Saturday morning. Come Christmas Day, they should be.

Most of a season that seemed in jeopardy of being lost entirely will be salvaged if both sides approve the handshake deal.
Barring a change in scheduling, the 2011-12 season will open with the Boston Celtics at New York Knicks, followed by Miami at Dallas in an NBA finals rematch before MVP Derrick Rose and Chicago visiting Kobe Bryant and the Lakers.
Neither side provided many specifics about the deal, and there are still legal hurdles that must be cleared before gymnasiums are open again.
'We thought it was in both of our interest to try to reach a resolution and save the game,' union executive director Billy Hunter said.

After a secret meeting earlier this week that got the broken process back on track, the sides met for more than 15 hours Friday, working to save the season.
Mr Stern said the agreement was 'subject to a variety of approvals and very complex machinations, but we're optimistic that will all come to pass and that the NBA season will begin December 25.
'We're very pleased to come this far,' Mr Stern continued. 'There is still a lot of work to be done.
'There's a lot of places with a lot of committees and player groups and the like, but we're optimistic that it will hold, and we'll have ourselves an NBA season.'

The league plans a 66-game season and aims to open training camps December 9, with free agency opening at the same time. Mr Stern has said it would take about 30 days from an agreement to playing the first game.
'All I feel right now is `finally,'' Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade told The Associated Press.
Just 12 days after talks broke down and Mr Stern declared the NBA could be headed to a 'nuclear winter,' he sat next to Hunter to announce the ten-year deal, with either side able to opt out after the sixth year.
'For myself, it's great to be a part of this particular moment in terms of giving our fans what they wanted and wanted to see,' said Derek Fisher, the president of the players' association.
A majority on each side is needed to approve the agreement, first reported by CBSSports.com. The NBA needs votes from 15 of 29 owners. (The league owns the New Orleans Hornets.)
Mr Stern said the labor committee plans to discuss the agreement later Saturday and expects them to endorse it and recommend to the full board.

The union needs a simple majority of its 430-plus members. That process is a bit more complicated after the players dissolved the union November 14. Now, they must drop their antitrust lawsuit in Minnesota and reform the union before voting on the deal.
Because the union disbanded, a new collective bargaining agreement can only be completed once the union has reformed.
Drug testing and other issues still must be negotiated between the players and the league, which also must dismiss its lawsuit filed in New York.
'We're very pleased we've come this far,' Mr Stern said. 'There's still a lot of work to be done.'
The sides will quickly return to work later Saturday, speaking with attorneys and their own committees to keep the process moving.

When the NBA returns, owners hope to find the type of parity that exists in the NFL, where the small-market Green Bay Packers are the current champions.
The NBA has been dominated in recent years by the biggest spenders, with Boston, Los Angeles and Dallas winning the last four titles.
'I think it will largely prevent the high-spending teams from competing in the free-agent market the way they've been able to in the past. It's not the system we sought out to get in terms of a harder cap, but the luxury tax is harsher than it was. We hope it's effective,' deputy commissioner Adam Silver said.
'We feel ultimately it will give fans in every community hope that their team can compete for championships.'

The league hopes fans come right back, despite their anger over a work stoppage that followed such a successful season.
But owners wanted more of the league's $4billion in annual revenues after players were guaranteed 57 per cent of basketball-related income in the old deal.
Participating in the talks for the league were Mr Stern, Mr Silver, Spurs owner Peter Holt, the chairman of the labor relations committee, and attorneys Rick Buchanan and Dan Rube.
The players were represented by executive director Billy Hunter, president Derek Fisher, vice president Maurice Evans, attorney Ron Klempner and economist Kevin Murphy.

Owners locked out the players July 1, and the sides spent most of the summer and fall battling over the division of revenues and other changes owners wanted in a new collective bargaining agreement.

They said they lost hundreds of millions of dollars in each year of the former deal, ratified in 2005, and they wanted a system where the big-market teams wouldn't have the ability to outspend their smaller counterparts.
Players fought against those changes, not wanting to see any teams taken out of the market when they became free agents.
'This was not an easy agreement for anyone. The owners came in having suffered substantial losses and feeling the system wasn't working fairly across all teams,' Mr Silver said.

'I certainly know the players had strong views about expectations in terms of what they should be getting from the system. It required a lot of compromise from both parties' part, and I think that's what we saw today.'

Even the final day had turbulent patches. It required multiple calls with the owners' labor relations committee, all the while knowing another breakdown in talks would mean not only the loss of the Christmas schedule but possibly even the entire season.
'We resolved, despite some even bumps this evening, that the greater good required us to knock ourselves out and come to this tentative understanding,' Mr Stern said.

He denied the litigation was a factor in accelerating a deal, but things happened relatively quickly after the players filed a suit that could have won them some $6 billion in damages.

'For us the litigation is something that just has to be dealt with,' Mr Stern said. 'It was not the reason for the settlement. The reason for the settlement was we've got fans, we've got players who would like to play and we've got others who are dependent on us.
'And it's always been our goal to reach a deal that was fair to both sides and get us playing as soon as possible, but that took a little time.'
It finally yielded the second shortened season in NBA history, joining the 1998-99 lockout that reduced the schedule to 50 games.

This time the league will miss 16 games off the normal schedule.
Though the deal's expected to be approved, it may not be unanimous as there are factions of hard-liners in both camps who will be unhappy with substantive portions of the deal.
'Let's all pray this turns out well,' Pacers forward Danny Granger wrote on Twitter.
But getting what the owners wanted took a toll. Mr Stern, after more than 27 years as the league's commissioner, hoped to close a deal much sooner but was committed for fighting for the owners' wishes even at the risk of damaging his legacy.

Mr Hunter dealt with anger from agents and even questions from his own players about his strategy, wondering why it could so long for the players to use the threat of litigation to give them leverage that had otherwise eluded them.
The sides met just twice in the first two months of the lockout before stepping up the pace in September, when it was already too late to open camps on time. The sides tried meeting in small groups, large groups and even mediation, but nothing sparked compromise.
Things changed this week with the entrance of Jim Quinn, a former NBPA counsel who had good relationships on both sides. The meeting Friday was held at the office of his law firm, though he did not take part.
Mr Hunter said the terms of the deal would come out shortly, preferring to keep them private until they could be shared with the players.
They might not like the deal, but it will be better than what many of them feared. Resigned to possibly missing the season, some had signed deals overseas so they would have some paycheck.
Instead, they're a step closer to returning home.

A TIMELINE OF THE 149-DAY NBA LOCKOUTJune 21, 2005: NBA players and the union agree on a six-year collective bargaining agreement, which include luxury tax, contracts reduced by a year for both free agents re-signing and for players signing with a new team
October 21, 2010: Commissioner David Stern reveals that the NBA wanted to slash players’ salaries in anticipation of a nearly $350million loss. There was also talk of eliminating teams.

October 22, 2010: NBPA president and LA Lakers guard Derek Fisher fires back and says: ‘We have a responsibility to protect as many jobs as we can’

November 18, 2010: Both sides meet to discuss concerns

November 22, 2010: NBPA executive director Billy Hunter says he is ’99 per cent sure’ there will be a lockout

February 18, 2011: Both sides – including several All-Stars – meet to discuss terms.

May 24, 2011: Players union files a lawsuit with National Labour Relations Board in hopes of preventing a lockout

June 2011: Mr Stern says ‘time is running out’ but says he wants to make a deal by June 30

June 30, 2011: League announces it will lock out players when the CBA expires at midnight

July 1, 2011: Lockout begins

July 13, 2011: Players Association sends note to players backing up their plans to play overseas. The next day, Nets guard Deron Williams signs a contract with Turkey’s Besiktas

July 29, 2011: FIBA grants players the option to play overseas so they can earn a pay check

August 2011: Negotiations yield little progress: various All-Stars look to play for international teams

August 31, 2011: Both sides meet in New York for the second joint meeting, which lasts six hours. They agree to keep matters private while negotiating

September 8-9, 2011: Sides meet for back-to-back meetings

September 22, 2011: Mr Stern says ‘the calendar is not our friend’ as the battle wages on for a new collective bargaining agreement. The league cancelled training camps and several exhibition games

September 28, 2011: Rumours spread that Mr Stern threatens to cancel the entire season if a deal isn’t met. Kobe Bryant signs a 10-game $3million deal with Italy’s Virtus Bologna the next day

October 1, 2011: Sides meet for seven hours, discussing the salary cap structure
October 3, 2011: Smaller groups meet in what Mr Fisher calls a ‘very huge day’ of meetings

October 18, 2011: NBA players and owners spend 16 hours with federal mediator George Cohen, who they both agreed to bring in to help with negotiations

October 20, 2011: After three long days of meetings, sides couldn’t agree over the division of revenues and the salary cap structure

October 26-27, 2011: Sides meet for 15 hours. Union president Derek Fisher said ‘some progress was made on system issues’
October 28, 2011: After days of progress, talks stalled. Mr Stern cancelled all games until November 30
November 5, 2011: Sides again met with the federal mediator; The NBA proposed a new offer, which players rejected outright
November 14, 2011: Players told Mr Stern they’d take him to court
November 23, 2011: Inside sources said a quick settlement was needed to get the season going by Christmas.

PLEASE;Just get back to playing Basketball!

Dwayne Wade Tells Commish Stern "WATCH IT I'm not your child."

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NBA LOCKOUT MADNESS! Dwyane Wade told Commissioner Stern…..Str8 up “I'M NOT YOUR CHILD"

David Stern (left) and Dwyane Wade reportedly engaged in a heated exchange during negotiations.

It seemed like things took a turn for the worse on Friday during a meeting between the NBA brass and the players. According to multiple reports from ESPN, Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade flipped out at commissioner David Stern.

According to Chris Broussard, the meeting became "incredibly heated," especially when Wade made "pointed remarks" at Stern.

Fellow ESPN reporter Ric Bucher tweeted that a source informed him that Stern had been pointing his finger at the players while speaking. That is apparently when Wade shouted, "You're not pointing your finger at me. I'm not your child."

Broussard reported that Wade and the other superstars "nearly stormed out of the hotel." Union chief Billy Hunter was said to have calmed the players down. Not surprisingly, Broussard tweeted that the owners were "stunned" by the players' resolve.

Yahoo! Sports reporters Adrian Wojnarowski and Marc J. Spears confirmed the confrontation and wrote that Wade had "referred to Stern as 'David' twice during the exchange."

To make matters worse, Wade, LeBron James and Chris Paul reportedly told the union that they're actually willing to sit out a year instead of making any more sacrifices.

Speaking to NBC's Darren Rovell on Saturday morning, Wade revealed that he hasn't felt that the owners have shown they're willing to meet the players half way during any of the many meetings between the sides.

"We may lose a year," he said….Great, just great...

NBA 2011-2012 season under jeopardy

Owners have grown increasingly unhappy about the state of their franchises, especially new owners wanting more return for the risk that they take. The NBA lost in the vicinity of $300 million last year, and this was during one of the most positive seasons in recent years.

There are still a host of issues that need to be resolved for the league to get back to work. Issues include the competitive balance in the association, deciding what type of salary cap to enforce, lengths of contracts and guarantees, but the biggest hurdle is how the $4 billion or so of revenue will be split. The players earn 57% of the total revenue in the current state, but owners would like to see that go down as a majority of the teams have been in the red the past few season. The players have agreed to cut back that percentage somewhat to around the 54% mark, but owners would like to see it in the low 40s and as a result, the negotiations are still far from reaching an agreement.

Billy Hunter noted that there is a $800 million gap per year and when asked whether there would be a 2011-2012 NBA season, he firmly replied “if I had to bet on it at this moment, I would probably say no.” Already stakeholders are taking necessary precautions in case of a lengthy work stoppage. Players as noted before are planning ‘year abroads’ as casually as an exchange student in university would.

Deron Williams, Sasha Vujacic,Jordan Farmar, Nicolas Batum, Darius Songalia, Sonny Weems have all already set themselves up in case of the cancellation of the 2011-2012 NBA season. NBA 2K 12 has set their strategy to focus on old legends this year instead of the crop of current generation players. Other like Kevin Love are planning other pursuits, in his case playing competitive volleyball. ESPN on the other hand have started rolling out their team previews as if the season will start on schedule.

Whatever the resolution, a lengthy break is certainly not to the benefit of anyone involved with the NBA. Fan interest was at an all time high since MJ’s retirement and a slew of interesting stories were followed with keen interest by sports fans around the world. A cancelled season, or even a partial season will only end up hurting player performance, team chemistry, fan interest, and eventually player legacy. We can only wish a speedy recovery, and hopefully we’ll get to see some interesting developments as we break free of this lock out that in many people’s eyes is nothing more than a circus.

Players hold your ground!