ctGrapevine Connection

Denver Nuggets brass watched this summer with lumps in their throats as LeBron James and Chris Bosh left for greener pastures, wondering whether the same fate awaits them next year. Carmelo Anthony, a member of the same 2003 draft class as James, Bosh and Dwyane Wade, opted in 2006 to sign a longer extension than his colleagues -- locking himself in with the Nuggets until 2011. But 2011 is quickly approaching, with Anthony and the Nuggets growing increasingly restless. The threat of players moving on when their time comes puts pressure on teams to act sooner to avoid the risk of being left nearly empty-handed like the Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors. An extension for Anthony is on the table in Denver, but remains unsigned. If he intends to stay in Denver, the reasoning goes, why not lock in the financial security now? The clock is ticking, and every passing day leaves Nuggets management more and more nervous. Rumor and innuendo continue to float around Anthony: He wants out; he wants to go to New York; he wants to form his own super team like Wade, James and Bosh did. But maybe the answer is more mundane? The Nuggets have a management void after the team parted ways with GM Mark Warkentien and assistant GM Rex Chapman earlier this month. Perhaps Anthony is simply waiting until new leadership is in place, so he can have a serious conversation about the team's future before committing to Denver for an additional three years? It also would seem that even if the Nuggets are willing to entertain a trade, the chances are remote that they would do so before a new GM is hired. Anthony signed a four-year extension in 2006 that took effect in 2007 and runs through the 2010-11 season (he has the option of extending for one additional season, through 2011-12). In contrast, James, Bosh and Wade elected to sign shorter extensions so as to become free agents this summer rather than next. The difference is potentially staggering -- this summer marks the last free-agent market under the purview of the current collective bargaining agreement. When Anthony becomes a free agent, it will be under the terms of the next agreement. This could represent very bad timing on Anthony's part. The next agreement isn't expected to do the players any favors; the owners are seeking significant changes such as some form of hard cap and a dramatic decrease in the percentage of revenues paid to the players. Should Anthony become a free agent in 2011, his chances of being paid commensurate to the extension he turned down might be nil. So unlike Cleveland with James, Toronto with Bosh and the Phoenix Suns with Amare Stoudemire, the Nuggets have a trump card. They can leave their extension offer on the table, refuse to entertain trade offers and wait Anthony out. It would then be up to Anthony to choose between a bigger payday and playing for the team of his choosing. But such a strategy would be very risky, so the Nuggets could decide to mitigate their risk and deal Anthony this season -- which also avoids the chemistry issues that go with having an unhappy superstar on their roster. Anthony reportedly has a list of teams to which he would prefer to be dealt, a list to which the Nuggets are under no obligation to cater. But for any team not on his list, the risk of trading for Anthony would be significant. His new team would be in the same situation as the Nuggets -- with an unhappy superstar who is poised to leave at the end of the season. Any team that seriously entertains the notion of trading for Anthony would therefore want a guarantee that he would stay long term. Ideally, this means an extension will be in place when the deal happens. The collective bargaining agreement provides a mechanism for doing this -- the extend-and-trade. Like its cousin the sign-and-trade, an extend-and-trade allows the player to sign with his former team, quickly followed by a trade to a specific team. If the trade to the specified team does not follow within 48 hours, the signing is void. Such a deal would be feasible only with a team on Anthony's approved list, as Anthony would have to willingly sign on the dotted line -- which he would do only if it resulted in a trade to a preferred destination. But once the move was completed, Anthony would be on a team of his choosing, his new team would have Anthony locked in to an extension and the Nuggets would get something in return for their departing superstar. So who are the suitors for Anthony's services? Reports vary, but the New York Knicks are said to be Anthony's team of choice, with the New Jersey Nets, Orlando Magic, Houston Rockets and New Orleans Hornets also on the radar. But for any of these teams, an equitable deal would be difficult to construct. New York's ESPN Radio 1050 reported that the Knicks had offered a package including Danilo Gallinari and Eddy Curry -- a proposal in which the Nuggets were said to have zero interest. But the final decision likely will be up to the Nuggets' next general manager. Former Suns executive David Griffin is considered a strong candidate to assume the vacant post. If he does, he will inherit a similar situation to the one he faced in Phoenix with Stoudemire. Stoudemire jilted the Suns this summer, signing a five-year, $100 million deal with the Knicks. But that was during the free-agent frenzy of 2010, not in the frigid climate that might befall the 2011 market. If presented with an opportunity for a do-over with the Nuggets, would Griffin choose to cut his losses and trade his superstar while he can? Or would he use his leverage to wait out his unhappy superstar? It might come down to who blinks first.

MIAMI -- Dwyane Wade knows what he's going to hear for the next few days. It's the same question he's been getting for the past few weeks. "So, why didn't you pick the Bulls?" Hey, when you're a native son of Chicago and you rebuke the advances of your hometown team, that's a fair question. And the newly re-signed Miami Heat guard fully expects to be on the receiving end of it often between now and Sunday, while hosting a number of charity-themed events to help underprivileged kids. [+] EnlargeAP Photo/Paul Beaty Because of charitable and business commitments, Dwyane Wade has stayed in and worked out in Chicago instead of Miami. "I expect to hear that for a while," Wade told The Associated Press Wednesday from Chicago, where his Wade's World Foundation will hold events involving more than 1,000 children this weekend. "But kids are fans of the game of basketball and fans of certain players as well. They think it's cool in a way. It's moreso the adults who don't understand why you didn't choose their cities." Wade became a free agent July 1, and met with the Bulls twice, eventually conceding that he was deeply torn between offers from Miami and Chicago. Even his family couldn't come to a consensus on where the 2006 NBA finals MVP should spend the next few seasons playing. By now, everyone knows how the story ends. Chris Bosh picked Miami, Wade quickly decided to join him and one day later, LeBron James gave the Heat a sweep of the three biggest prizes available during this summer's free-agent period. So now, Wade finds himself in the delicate balance of enjoying Chicago while trying to avoid the city's disappointment. "Whatever jersey I'm wearing, I'm still here," Wade said. "I'm still in the community, I think I'm doing something impactful and bigger than the game of basketball. It had nothing to do with Chicago. It had nothing to do with the Chicago Bulls. It had everything to do with Miami and what we had a chance to do down there." So far, Wade -- who hosts two basketball camps in Chicago, plus has a mother who holds events at her church in the city -- said the support he's seen from his hometown has been unwavering. "The kids can separate it. It's moreso the adults we have to fight against," Wade said. "It's just not their lives. ... At the end of the day, I'm sure that if I'm happy, they will be happy for me in the long run. It's the same thing in Ohio for LeBron. He looks happy. He says he's very happy with his decision and I think people can respect that." “ Whatever jersey I'm wearing, I'm still here. I'm still in the community . . . It had nothing to do with Chicago. It had nothing to do with the Chicago Bulls. It had everything to do with Miami and what we had a chance to do down there." ” -- Dwyane Wade Wade's weekend of events includes a benefit with rapper-actor Common to support a youth center; a bowling party where teams of six can rent a lane for $2,500; a youth summit; a "Chicago's Got Talent" showcase for kids; and a back-to-school supplies giveaway with haircut stations and even places where kids can get uniforms for the coming school year. "I didn't want this to be about celebrities," Wade said. "I wanted this weekend to be about the city of Chicago, to its core. At the end of the day, this is for the community and about them." His summer gets hectic from here. Wade is scheduled for business meetings in New York next week, continuing to build his brand and add to his marketability. And on Sept. 8, Wade and his ex-wife are set to begin a custody trial that is projected to last for two weeks. The trial is in Chicago, meaning it's quite possible the six-time All-Star won't be back in Miami to start preparing for the season as quickly as he'd like. Wade has been working with Heat assistant coach David Fizdale of late, and expects to continue doing so for the rest of the summer. "I'm sure the Heat are going to do an unbelievable job of giving me the things I need," Wade said. Wade has also been in regular contact with close friend Udonis Haslem, his teammate in Miami for the past seven years. It's been a tumultuous summer for Haslem. His mother died recently after a long illness, and he now faces a felony marijuana-possession charge following a traffic stop on Sunday. "He's doing all right," Wade said. "Without knowing exactly everything that has happened, I know this has been hard for UD, because he's been going through a lot. This offseason, there's been a lot on him. I told him this is a challenge that he has to overcome. Everyone has that time, and this is his time. UD is a stand-up guy. It's unfortunate he's involved in this mistake. But he'll move on." Wade expects the same from those that are upset over him not picking the Bulls. Much in the same way James speaks of his native Ohio even after leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers, Wade insists he'll continue keeping close ties with his hometown. Wade may live and work in Miami, but deep down, Chicago remains home, something he'll try to prove yet again this weekend through his foundation events. "It's been a good summer," Wade said, "and it's going to continue being a good summer."

BELL GARDENS, Calif. -- Los Angeles Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss claims he did not green light the team's active summer of free agency with the Miami Heat specifically in mind, but he's certainly excited to see how Miami's Big Three will measure up to what he believes could be his best team in 30-plus years. Speaking at The Bicycle Casino before the Mariani/Buss Charity Open, a no-limit hold 'em tournament to benefit the Lakers Youth Foundation, Buss didn't do a very good job of keeping his poker face. Buss Buss, 76, said the Lakers' moves were motivated by the constant goal to improve and that the Heat weren't a clear-cut threat, mentioning Orlando, Boston, Chicago, Denver and Utah as fellow foes. However, when questioned about LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Co., he couldn't help but get worked up a little. "Suddenly there's this juggernaut out there that we have a chance to play against and that excites me, that really excites me because, quite honestly, I think we can beat them and I'm looking forward to playing them," Buss said. "I don't think it's automatic that Miami will be our biggest opponent come the end, but on the other hand, I must admit they have the world's attention and that means we're going to be on center stage when we get a chance to play them." Still, Buss maintained that all of the personnel decisions were independent of the Heat. "Our intentions were to sign those players prior to Miami coalescing all of the talent that was left over," Buss said. "I don't think we reacted to them. Once the season is over, we look backwards on the season and say, 'Were there any weaknesses? Could we do something to improve this team?' And we did that quite independently of Miami. ... I think we just prepared ourselves for the general war, not specifically for anyone." Speaking to local reporters for the first time since being inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor last Friday, Buss reiterated a remark he made to NBA TV that the 2010-11 Lakers could be the best team he's had since acquiring the franchise in 1979. More on the Lakers For more news and notes on the Lakers, check out the Land O' Lakers blog from the Kamenetzky brothers. Blog "I think that's really called camp spring fever," Buss explained. "Every time I've ever gone to camp, everybody starts talking and saying, 'This team could be the best team we've ever had,' and I guess I fall into that same trap because when I look at this team, every single individual on that team seems to me capable of playing a very important role next year and as of now, I feel there's a good chance this could be the best team we've ever had." The label of best Lakers team of the Buss era is no small achievement. The 1999-2000 Lakers, led by Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, won 67 games en route to the first of three straight championships. The '08-09 team, led by Bryant and Pau Gasol, won 65 and started the team's current string of two straight trophy ceremonies. In '86-87, a team led by Hall of Famers Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy won 65 games to capture what would be its second title in three years, en route to three in four years. The common thread between those teams, of course, is capturing the championship; which is something Buss has accomplished 10 times in his tenure. And championships aren't cheap. The Lakers have approximately $95.7 million committed in roster salary next season, which is well above the league salary cap of $58 million and significantly higher than the luxury tax line of $70.3 million. Spending above the luxury tax warrants a dollar-for-dollar penalty paid to the league office, meaning that as of now, Buss would owe an additional $25.4 million to David Stern. "We are spending way too much money," Buss said with an exasperated laugh. "It's tough. You sit there and you say, 'We really can't afford this, we can't afford this and we can't afford this,' and then somehow the next day we end up spending some more money and getting another player and signing a new extension, etc. etc. At least it has softened my attitude towards women in the mall, because I can't turn down things either." The Lakers were tops in team salary in the league last season, with a roster that cost more than $91 million and that expense has only grown with the addition of free agents Steve Blake, Matt Barnes and Theo Ratliff and the retaining of guards Derek Fisher and Shannon Brown. Buss said the expenditures create a championship-or-bust mentality for his team that has made it to three straight NBA Finals. The Lakers pocket approximately $1.5 million in profit per home playoff game. IT'S L.A., AND IT'S LIVE For more about the Lakers, plus coverage of the complete Los Angeles sports scene, visit ESPNLosAngeles.com. » "It's very helpful to get a lot of games in and go to the Finals," Buss said. "If we don't go to the Finals this has been a very expensive undertaking. ... You get to a spot where you have to win it all to be happy. Sometimes you talk to people and they say, 'Wow, we made the playoffs,' and I think to myself, 'If we don't make the playoffs...' As a matter of fact, talking some time ago to some people, they wanted a bonus if the Lakers made the playoffs. I said, 'If they don't make the playoffs, you don't work here anymore.' " Buss, who speaks to the media infrequently, made the most of his nearly 25 minutes with reporters Tuesday, touching on a variety of topics. • On O'Neal signing with the Celtics: "I think there's a lot of rivalry and a lot of emotions in these things. Shaq and Kobe have a little thing going as to who wins the most rings and so Shaq signing with Boston sets up a potential showdown. I like the drama, I think it's fabulous. You can't help but love Shaq. He's still Shaquille O'Neal. He's still a very funny man, sometimes he gets a little carried away in his analysis of former employers, but outside of that he's quite a guy and we look forward to [playing Boston]." • On the renewed rivalry with Boston after facing the Celtics in the Finals twice in the last three seasons: "From the very beginning, the Boston thing to me was the real issue because I was a big fan of the Lakers and sat through all those miserable moments when Jerry West and Elgin Baylor and even Wilt Chamberlain were getting beat and we came so close in those days, so very, very close and the frustration as a fan was terrible. And so, when I bought the Lakers, that was obviously upper most in my mind -- we've got to catch up and do to them what they did to us. And so, Boston has always been very special and beating them is always and forever will be special." • On the possibility of Magic Johnson becoming a majority owner of the Detroit Pistons: "Earvin is a whirlwind. He does so many things; I wouldn't doubt that he could do 10 more things. He seems to have unbounded energy. One day I see he's playing an exhibition game in Sweden and the next day he's on a business trip in New York and he's just all over the place. So, anything that Earvin says probably wouldn't surprise me, but I have not talked to him specifically about that." • And on the chances Phil Jackson coaching beyond the "last stand" that he is calling next season: "He will go through this year and find out that he's discovered the fountain of youth, and who knows, he may continue after that. He says no, but who knows?"

All signs continue to point toward the eventual divorce between Carmelo Anthony and the Denver Nuggets. League sources say it is now a matter of when, not if, Anthony and the Nuggets will go their separate ways. Anthony is weighing whether to sign a three-year, $65 million extension offered by the Nuggets. His dilemma, league sources say, is what affords him the best chance of continuing his career elsewhere. Anthony could sign with Denver and convince the team to then trade him. His other option would be to not sign the extension, thereby forcing the team to move him rather than risk losing him next summer as a free agent. During his annual basketball camp in Colorado on Saturday, Anthony said he had no timetable on when he'll decide whether to sign the extension. In either case, "he's going to make it real clear that he's not coming back," said one league source. But both Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke and Anthony already are well aware that they don't have a future together, sources say. That became clear to Kroenke at a reception after Anthony's July 11 nuptials to La La Vasquez in Manhattan. A series of toasts at the wedding reception, initiated by New Orleans Hornets guard Chris Paul, suggested Anthony leave Denver for the New York Knicks. Paul suggested it playfully, one source said, but subsequent guests -- including Knicks power forward Amare Stoudemire and Anthony's brother, Robert -- made the point more forcefully. Then Kroenke stood up to give a toast and the room was filled with an awkward silence, one wedding guest said. Kroenke tried to make light of the situation by suggesting Paul could come to Denver but that elicited no response. While Anthony stood and applauded Kroenke when he was recognized, he apparently did nothing to discourage or dismiss the suggestions that he should leave the Nuggets. "There were other people saying, 'We're going to get you guys together,' but it doesn't become a runaway train if Melo says something," said one source. "Maybe he didn't perpetuate it, but tell people to stop or say, 'Stan, I'm sorry.' He didn't do any of that." Paul has since met with Hornets management and appears less eager to leave New Orleans, but all the signals from Anthony are that he would like to be in a different uniform this season. Wedding signals included. Anthony's agent, Leon Rose, could not be reached for comment and the Nuggets declined to comment.

LeBron James won't rule out returning to play for Cleveland some day, but admitted in an interview with GQ Magazine that owner Dan Gilbert's letter to fans on the night James left the Cavaliers gives him "a lot of motivation" for when he and his new Miami Heat teammates play his former club. In an interview to be published in the September issue of GQ, James told writer J.R. Moehringer that "if there was an opportunity for me to return [to Cleveland] ... and those fans welcome me back, that'd be a great story." But James, who announced on July 8 that he would leave the Cavaliers as a free agent to sign with the Heat, said of Gilbert's late-night letter: "I don't think he ever cared about LeBron. My mother always told me: 'You will see the light of people when they hit adversity. You'll get a good sense of their character.' Me and my family have seen the character of that man." James added: "It made me feel more comfortable that I made the right decision." Moehringer interviewed James three times in a 19-day span -- twice before and once after his announcement. “ And Clevelanders, because they were the bigger-city kids when we were growing up, looked down on us. ... So we didn't actually like Cleveland. We hated Cleveland growing up. There's a lot of people in Cleveland we still hate to this day. ” -- LeBron James to GQ The story looks at the weeks leading up to and just after his July 8 announcement on ESPN, which was widely panned. James said he wouldn't change anything about how he made his decision, or how he told the world about it. James told GQ: "I understand that a lot of people would be hurt" in Cleveland by his decision, but also said that growing up, he and his friends from Akron didn't always like Cleveland. Akron is about 40 miles south of Cleveland. "It's not far, but it is far," James told GQ. "And Clevelanders, because they were the bigger-city kids when we were growing up, looked down on us. ... So we didn't actually like Cleveland. We hated Cleveland growing up. There's a lot of people in Cleveland we still hate to this day." James said he'll remain anchored in Akron. "I'm going to spend a lot of the summer here," he said. "This is my home. Akron, Ohio, is my home. I will always be here. I'm still working out at my old high school." And he said Cleveland fans were "awesome" but didn't take back his comment late last season that those around him were "spoiled" by his play. "I love our fans. Cleveland fans are awesome," he told GQ. "But I mean, even my family gets spoiled at times watching me doing things that I do, on and off the court."

NEW YORK -- Its boss gave it a grade that could spawn a fitting nickname. Anybody on board with calling it the B-deem Team? "Grade?" Team USA director Jerry Colangelo asked, repeating the question. "B. "We can do a lot better, but it's not bad." That pretty much summed things up Sunday as Team USA opened its exhibition schedule in advance of the 2010 World Championship by defeating what can be justifiably called France's B team 86-55 at Madison Square Garden. Having officially cut Jeff Green and JaVale McGee from the roster hours before the game, the Americans will bring 13 players to Europe on Monday when they depart for Madrid, Spain. They will not be in action again until they face Lithuania and Spain Aug. 21 and 22. We got our first good glimpse Sunday at what this team is going to look like, what the rotations will be, and what its relative strengths (speed and defense) and weaknesses (size and heft) are. But keep in mind it was only a peek, and the caliber of the competition was the weakest it'll see until September -- after it has faced Lithuania, Spain and Greece in exhibitions and Croatia, Slovenia and Brazil in its first three games of the preliminary round in Istanbul. "I thought our defense was real good. I think the offense is a little behind," said Chauncey Billups, who started at shooting guard and earned game MVP honors by scoring 17 points, second to Rudy Gay's 19 off the bench. "And that's just because offense is executing, defense is energy. You can control your energy level, but offense is kind of knowing each other, executing and seeing if shots are going to go down." The game was tied at 16 after one quarter, and Team USA was up by only nine at halftime. But the Americans opened the third quarter with a 16-6 run that took the life out of a French team that will enter the worlds without its four best players -- Tony Parker, Joakim Noah, Mickael Pietrus and Roddy Beaubois. If things go the way it hopes, that formula could become Team USA's new normal. A slow but steady defensive-oriented attack that wears opponents down creates open-court opportunities to take advantage of the athleticism, best displayed by Andre Iguodala and Gay on a pair of rim-rattling breakaway dunks that helped silent a sizable contingent of French fans among what was announced as a sellout crowd. "It was probably a B. We didn't play our best basketball, but the pace of he game, the way we grinded 'em out in the first half and turned it right on in the third quarter is kind of a good setup for our recipe for success," said Derrick Rose, who came off the bench at point guard behind Rajon Rondo. "If we're not blowing a team out early, that's OK as long as we're grinding them out on defense, limiting them to one shot, making them work hard and getting 24-second shot clock violations. Our defense is there, and we know our runs are going to come at any given time." Rose and Colangelo were kind graders. Gay was the harshest in dubbing it a C-minus, while Rondo and Billups both handed out a B-minus. "We had lapses where we couldn't score and we couldn't stop them," Gay said, "so we wanted to be the aggressor for most of the game, and there were points where we weren't." There's no telling whether coach Mike Krzyzewski will stick with the rotation he established Sunday, because this team tends to shift its identity and change its plans on an almost daily basis. For instance, just a day after intimating that the team might take McGee along to Europe simply as an insurance policy in case Tyson Chandler or Kevin Love (limited to eight minutes by a bruised calf) are injured, McGee was cut. Also, there emerged a new set of players on the bubble, as Russell Westbrook was the last man off the bench, and Danny Granger -- a day after scoring a team-high 22 points in a scrimmage against China -- was scoreless on 0-for-3 shooting with five fouls in less than 12 minutes. For now, the starters are Rondo and Billups in the backcourt, Kevin Durant and Iguodala at the forward spots and Chandler at center, where the backup will be Lamar Odom. Rose is the key playmaker off the bench, and Gay and Granger could end up rounding out what will be a nine-man rotation, with three players from the foursome of Stephen Curry, Eric Gordon, Love and Westbrook filling the final three seats on the bench. Certainly, it is not America's A team. But there is no shame in being a B team if all the A-list players are too unavailable/disinterested to participate. Pau Gasol is not competing for Spain, Manu Ginobili will not represent Argentina and Theo Papaloukas is sitting out for Greece. It's essentially a B tournament anyway, but it's still one the United States has not won since 1994. What we need to see now is whether an A-game is within the Americans' grasp despite their relative unfamiliarity with each other, and whether that A-game can be harnessed when it truly matters -- sometime between Sept. 4-7, when they'll play their first single-elimination game in the Round of 16. Until then, it's OK to call them a B team and it's OK for them to play their B-game. And as long as they keep their eye on peaking at the finish, what happens along the way will matter not at all -- just like this match against France, which may have done nothing more than earn them a nickname that fits.

The Karl Malone I saw up close played in fewer games and scored fewer points than in any other of his 19 seasons, yet that was the time I came to respect him the most. I didn't really know Malone until he left the Utah Jazz and came to the Los Angeles Lakers for that ill-fated run in 2003-04. In my mind, he brought with him the baggage of being the guy who led my favorite player back into retirement a second time when he expressed fears of playing with the HIV-positive Magic Johnson. And Malone always seemed to criticize the younger players, the ones who were closer to my age than Malone's. There's a danger in following sound bites and second-hand reports and thinking that gives you any indication of what a person is really about. I learned that from Malone. I wouldn't call it the hard way, I'd call it the easy way, since he simplified the task of covering that star-studded and star-crossed team as best he could. It was some experiment, bringing in Malone and Gary Payton in an attempt to return the Lakers to the top of the NBA after the Spurs ended their run of three consecutive championships in 2003. That meant two of the top eight active career scorers at the time were joining the already strained duo of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal. And thrown into the mix were a pending sexual assault charge against Bryant, unresolved contract extension negotiations for O'Neal and Coach Phil Jackson, and the possibility of Bryant's departure at the end of the season via an escape clause. And somehow, in the midst of Payton's nonstop high-decibel commentary and O'Neal's mood swings and Bryant's isolation, Malone provided a measured sense of peace and stability. Following the last game of the season, Rick Fox offered the highest praise possible for a member of that team when he said, "Karl is, in no way, as dysfunctional as the rest of us." Malone constantly made himself available for the media, through the good days and the bad days. Even though he'd just arrived and didn't know the full backstory on the Kobe-Shaq feud that flared up again at the start of the season, he did his best to explain it. Malone never made excuses, never asked to be given an exception or free pass. Malone could speak with authority because he'd done just about everything possible in the league. He'd never missed more than two games in a season and went the full 82 10 times. He had scored more points than anyone other than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He was named the league's most valuable player twice. The only thing missing from his resume was a championship, which was the reason he was in Los Angeles. He was willing to make the financial sacrifice, as his salary dropped from $19.3 million to the $1.5 million veteran exception, and even that represented a sacrifice within the sacrifice, as he volunteered to take the smaller amount so Payton could have the $4.9 million midlevel exception. So he had credibility and authority, serving as both a respected voice within the locker room and a spokesman for the team. It made him far more valuable than the 14.5 points he averaged, the only time other than his rookie season he scored less than 20 points per game. Even his work ethic had temporary effects on O'Neal. In a preseason game, O'Neal wanted to sit out, but suited up when he saw Malone was going to play despite a nagging injury. He forced O'Neal to get more aggressive on the boards, because if O'Neal wasn't quick to the ball then Malone would surely snatch it. The 11.5 rebounds O'Neal averaged were the most among his final three season in L.A. and represented the last time he averaged more than 11 rebounds per game. Malone quickly gained my respect, and I soon gained his trust. One day in March he was talking to the media about his availability for the USA National team that summer when he dropped a hint that he might not even want to play basketball anymore after the season. The next time I got a chance to speak to him alone I asked if that meant he was considering retirement, and he said he was giving it serious thought. He still hadn't recovered from the sudden death of his mother at age 64 in the offseason, and the thought of achieving milestones such as the all-time scoring record didn't appeal to him if she couldn't be there to watch. The next time he faced a group of reporters I was curious to see if he would stick with those sentiments or try to distance himself from it and say he wasn't really feeling that way. Athletes do it all the time when they get a bigger reaction than they intended from their initial, candid comments to an individual reporter. But Malone maintained his position and didn't claim he was misquoted. I thanked him for not selling me out. He quietly acknowledged it, then pondered it for a little while as I moved to the other side of the Lakers' locker room. My moment of doubt kept nagging at him. "Did you really think I would sell you out?" he asked. Now I felt bad, because he'd taken my appreciation as an insult. I had a moment of doubt because I'd seen so many others change course when that was the most convenient route. I hadn't viewed him as his own individual case. Malone was far from the usual NBA player. He was more interested in casting a fishing rod than hitting the club, and if he ever did buy an iPod (I sincerely doubt it), it wouldn't be filled with hip-hop. He superstitiously wore the same pair of game socks throughout the season, and when they started to fray he sewed them himself. Unfortunately for Malone, it wasn't so easy to mend his body, the one that had held up in machine-like fashion for 18 seasons. He damaged a knee ligament when Phoenix's Scott Williams landed on him during a fluke play, and Malone missed half of the season. Then he injured the same ligament during the playoffs and wound up watching the end of the Lakers' shocking NBA Finals loss to the Detroit Pistons in street clothes. He followed through on his plan to retire that summer, then any notion of rejoining the Lakers the next season was doused when Bryant angrily accused Malone of hitting on his wife at a Lakers game in December. Malone went back to Salt Lake City to announce his retirement, and until he was announced as a member of the newest Hall of Fame class this year about the only time we've heard from him was when he used his logging company to help clear debris from the wake of Hurricane Katrina. That sounded like something the guy I got to know in Los Angeles would do.

WALTHAM, Mass. -- Shaquille O'Neal was introduced as a member of the Boston Celtics on Tuesday morning, saying that the sole reason he came to Boston was to try to add to his title haul and that he is willing to play any role coach Doc Rivers envisions for him. "When I came into the league, I wanted to compete with Bill Russell for titles," O'Neal said with Russell's 11 championship banners hanging above him. "That's not going to happen, but I'd like to almost get half of what he got." O'Neal, who was decked out in a pinstriped suit and a bow tie for the introduction, could start the season as the Celtics' backup center, with Jermaine O'Neal taking the starting spot while Kendrick Perkins works his way back from knee surgery. No matter the role, the 38-year-old Shaq insisted Tuesday that he still has the same fire. "I still have hunger, I still can play, I still want to win," O'Neal said. "When I close my book at the end of the day it's all about winning, nothing else." Shaq, who has won four NBA titles over the course of his career, told reporters he had hoped to end his career with five or six titles. He signed a two-year deal with the Celtics in what is likely his final NBA contract. "This summer I had many options but I wanted to be with a team that was used to winning, with a team that was one or two pieces away," O'Neal said. "I think it's a good fit." Rivers, who sat next to Shaq during the news conference, said the team had hoped to address a rebounding weakness in the offseason and that the addition of O'Neal went a long way toward doing that. He also noted that Shaq's ability to get opposing defenders into foul trouble will be an added benefit. [+] EnlargeDarren McCollester/Getty Images A star for most of his career, Shaquille O'Neal said he will take any role Doc Rivers sees fit for him. "You need size to win," Rivers said. "We think we've filled that void pretty well today." Now weighing in at 345 pounds -- he was 294 at LSU -- O'Neal averaged 12 points and 6.7 rebounds for the Cavaliers last season, when he was brought to Cleveland in the hopes that he would be the missing piece that would help LeBron James win his elusive NBA title. He also missed almost two months of the regular season after injuring his thumb against the Celtics. "I told him there won't be 30 minutes [for him] on this team; there will be 20-25," Rivers said. "I asked him if that would be OK, because that's the only way it's going to work." And it was OK with O'Neal, who hit the free-agent market seeking a two-year deal worth a reported $8 million to $10 million a season. The Celtics expressed an interest -- though not at that price -- and general manager Danny Ainge moved on to pursue other options. As the summer wore on, though, O'Neal came around. Ainge said O'Neal's agent called and said, "Shaq would like to play there, and he's willing to come on your terms." "I think Shaq's a guy who can still make a difference," Ainge told reporters in a conference call after the news conference. "When he was in his prime, he was considered one of the best who has ever played. Shaq coming to our team right now, our expectations won't be that. We expect him to contribute to our team and play a role off our bench." The Celtics won their NBA-record 17th championship in 2008, then returned to the Finals last year before losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games. While the Miami Heat have rebuilt around Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh, the Celtics have largely brought back the core of last season's team, re-signing Paul Pierce and Ray Allen to keep them alongside Kevin Garnett and point guard Rajon Rondo. "I realize I only have 730 days left in this game. I just wanted to be with a group of guys that like to win," O'Neal said. "This was a good team with or without me. I don't mind playing a role. I know where I am at this point in my career. It's about coming to a team that is one or two pieces from a championship." O'Neal also thanked new teammate Garnett, who flew in from Hawaii to be at the news conference. In terms of nicknames, O'Neal said he liked the Big Shamrock but was also partial to the Big Green Mile. The team also announced that it had signed rookie Luke Harangody to a contract, leaving the roster at the maximum of 15 players. The number, however, went back to 14 on Tuesday night when the team announced it had waived Rasheed Wallace, who plans to retire.

LeBron James is lucky this is the NBA, not “Gladiator”, because he clearly has lost the crowd. Every move he's made this summer has turned against him. The latest example was the reaction to the tweet he sent out Tuesday evening, the one that said: “Don't think for one min that I haven't been taking mental notes of everyone taking shots at me this summer. And I mean everyone!” It was panned all over Twitter, most succinctly by the reply I received that said “[bleep] him.” (There was one great side effect: it spawned a hilarious run of #bronsmentalnotes by Myles Brown on his @mdotbrown feed.) Quick summer summary for LeBron: creates a show to announce his free agent choice, gets roundly criticized for both the choice and the format; takes out an ad to thank his hometown of Akron and gets criticized for not mentioning Cleveland or Cavaliers fans; tweets his reaction to all of the criticism and gets criticized for that. At this point there’s nothing he can say that will make it better, no way he can get back in the good graces of all of the fans he lost this summer. He should either keep quiet and stay off Twitter for the rest of the summer or just go all in and make as many antagonizing comments as he can. I hope LeBron is taking mental notes. I hope he’s storing it in a mental database and preparing a mental PowerPoint presentation for every pregame this season. I hope he stops trying to be nice and turns into Clint Eastwood at the end of “Unforgiven.” If LeBron can live up to all of the additional pressure he created for himself than he will unleash one of the greatest campaigns in NBA history. The first step is creating enemies, even if they’re imaginary. That’s what Michael Jordan did. I tweeted that LeBron’s little statement was the most MJ-like thing he’s done so far…and that brought even more derision and LeBron hatred. It also exposed more ignorance of how Jordan really functioned. People insisted Jordan never would have said anything, he simply would have done it. It’s as if people forgot his Hall of Fame induction speech last season, or they didn’t catch the multiple clues of Jordan’s m.o., including his reaction to then-Knicks Coach Jeff Van Gundy labeling him a con man (make particular note of Jordan’s comments at the 1:25 mark…they’re almost identical to what James had to say Tuesday). Another example of Jordan revealing the sub-zero temperature of his heart was in the 1997 Eastern Conference Finals, when he reacted to the Miami Heat’s physical play in Game 4 by declaring from that point on: “It’s personal.” A common complaint I saw Tuesday was that Jordan wouldn’t have said something like that on Twitter. Just as with “The Decision”, people are getting caught up in the medium and not the message. Of course Jordan wouldn’t tweet that; Twitter didn’t exist when he played. You can’t apply Baby Boomer mentality and standards to today’s generation. It’s like failing to adjust for inflation when comparing movie box office grosses across the decades. If Michael Jordan had been born in 1984 instead of 1963 who’s to say he wouldn’t have created a Twitter account, dated a Kardashian sister and texted nude photos of himself? What Jordan did do – and would have done regardless of the era in which he played – was make good on his threats and hold anyone accountable. Vengeance was his, time and time again. Now that LeBron decided to follow the Jordan route he needs to follow the journey to its natural end point. Oh, and if he wants to be a considered a winner and not a mean-spirited bully, he’d better average more points against the Lakers than against the Cavaliers this season

Fans of the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics will have to wait until January for their NBA Finals rematch. The Lakers and Celtics will meet for the first time since the Lakers won Game 7 of the NBA Finals on Jan. 30 in Los Angeles, in a game to be televised on ABC. The rematch in Boston comes Feb. 10. Paul Pierce and the Celtics visit Kobe Bryant and the Lakers on Jan. 30 in an NBA Finals rematch. The NBA unveiled its full 2010-11 schedule Tuesday after releasing portions of it a week ago. The Miami Heat's first game, on Oct. 26 at Boston, and first matchup with the defending champion Lakers on Christmas already had been announced. The announcement also made official Dec. 2 as the date for LeBron James' return to Cleveland. Fans who watched the kid from Akron turn the Cavaliers into one of the league's best teams were irate when James went on ESPN last month to announce he was leaving as a free agent. Chris Bosh, who like James went to Miami to form an All-Star trio with Dwyane Wade, will face his old team for the first time when the Heat visit Toronto on Feb. 16. ESPN and ABC will televise a total of 90 games, with all 75 ESPN games also available on ESPN3.com and many games on ESPN Mobile TV. ESPN's regular-season coverage will begin with a doubleheader Oct. 27, with the Chicago Bulls visiting the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Los Angeles Clippers hosting the Portland Trail Blazers. On Oct. 29, ESPN will feature the Heat's home opener against the Orlando Magic, followed by the Lakers visiting the Phoenix Suns.