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A federal judge in New York has refused to allow an early end to supervised release for Tim Donaghy, the former NBA referee who took money from a professional gambler for inside tips. Donaghy argued he should be released early because of good conduct and because it's difficult to find work while under court supervision. The judge denied the request Tuesday.

Donaghy admitted taking thousands of dollars from a gambler for inside tips on games, including games he worked. The scandal tarnished the reputation of the league and raised questions about the integrity of its officiating.

Donaghy pleaded guilty in 2008 to conspiracy to engage in wire fraud and transmitting betting information through interstate commerce. He was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison camp and served 33 of 36 months of supervised release. His sentence ends Nov. 3.


Ex-NBA referee Tim Donaghy denied release

Carmelo Anthony wasn't the same player in 2008-09 that we had come to know and love.

He missed 16 games with injuries as a member of the Denver Nuggets. He averaged nearly three less points per game than the previous season. He appeared to lack the energy and assassin-like scoring attitude that has otherwise defined his career.

Same goes for Michael Redd, then a 29-year-old guard with the Milwaukee Bucks. Like Anthony, Redd just wasn't the same as the season before, injuries limiting him to 33 of a possible 82 games. But Anthony and Redd shared another bond beyond their injuries that season. Both entered the season coming off a summer in which they played for Team USA in the 2008 Olympics.

So was Carlos Boozer, then a star forward with the Utah Jazz. Boozer played 37 games for the Jazz in 2008-09, averaging almost five points less per game than the season before.

Of course, that's not to say the '08 Olympics in Beijing were bad for everyone. Kobe Bryant of the LA Lakers and Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic were also members of Team USA, and their NBA teams met in the Finals.

Nor is there hard evidence that the less-than-stellar seasons had by Anthony, Redd and Boozer were a direct result of summer play.

But the questions were out there. And the front-office types sure did get skittish as their biggest investments took the floor in London for the past two weeks.

And who can blame them? NBA players are huge investments, and Olympic rosters tend to read like a who's who of the league's brightest stars.


Read More: NBA teams worried about returning Olympians

Fatigue is not a problem with them, getting the gold medal will boost their talent and confidence back in the NBA season. A big start for Anthony Davis who got immediate experience from the NBA superstars and veterans.

This season is more exciting than before.

Former No. 1 overall pick Greg Oden amounted to nothing more than a colossal disappointment for the Portland Trail Blazers.

While it would be ridiculous to blame Oden's injury problems on him, as degenerative knee issues usually aren't someone's fault, many Blazers do not look too kindly upon Oden.

Other teams can thank the Blazers for drafting Oden No. 1 overall, as they were able to avoid drafting a player that turned out to be a huge bust.

Apparently, some teams haven't learned from the Blazers' mistake. According to Fox Sports' Sam Amico (via Sulia) Oden is a topic of conversation among a certain few teams: NBA Rumors: Teams Should Stay Away from Greg Oden | Bleacher Report

There are lots of good players in the NBA, and among that top tier LeBron James stands out as the best of the bunch. There's nothing he doesn't do well on the basketball court, apart from shooting from outside at an elite leve and re-invigorating hair follicles. The only way to discuss his place in the league, or to criticize him, is by comparing him to the cream of the historic crop.

As with most basketball arguments, that means he's going to be compared to Michael Jordan, to whom he cannot possibly measure up at this point in time. Yet, Dwyane Wade, LeBron's teammate in Miami and a Chicago native who grew up watching Jordan, says a comparison is warranted. From Ira Winderman for the South Florida Sun Sentinel

Read More: Dwyane Wade says LeBron James is playing at Michael Jordan

Dwight Howard is a Laker. Read that again. Dwight Howard is now a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. A move that seemed inevitable given the Lakers’ track record with acquiring the NBA’s best centers, something that seemed but a mere pipedream 15 months ago, a move that sent shockwaves across the NBA landscape, happened via a complicated four-team deal.

It’s been two years since the Lakers last tasted a championship, a seventh game win in the NBA Finals against the hated Boston Celtics. Since then, they were swept away by the Dallas Mavericks in the second round of the 2011 playoffs leading to Phil Jackson’s retirement and lost in five games to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2012 playoffs. For a team and fanbase so used to winning, that was just unacceptable.


Read More: www-abs-cbnnews-com/blogs/sports/08/19/12/nba-art-la-lakers-deal

LeBron James squeezed his mom's hands, the way he did as a kid.

Moments before being honored again in his hometown, where they still love him and always will, James stood among family members and friends. With the days in this summer of summers dwindling quickly, this was another moment to savor. So as he waited to be introduced, James hugged his mom, Gloria, around the neck, took out his phone and snapped their picture.

He was home.

"I know this place," he said, "and it knows me."

Fresh off leading the U.S. men's team to a gold medal at the London Olympics, James was praised Sunday during a minor league game for his recent basketball accomplishments - an MVP award, NBA title and the gold - and for giving back to Akron, where his "Wheels For Education" initiative has provided inner-city kids with supplies, programs, mentors, and above all, hope.

"I was one of these kids," James said. "It means everything to me to be able to give back. I have a passion for it. I love seeing kids smile, and for them to have someone who can lead them. For me to be in this position and being able to help and give back, means a lot."

Read more: LeBron James says he would like to play in 2016 Olympics - NBA - SI-com

President Obama may have a better jump shot than his Republican rival for president, but N.B.A. owners seem more eager to offer Mitt Romney the bigger contract.

Eight of the 10 N.B.A. owners who have made contributions to the candidates’ campaigns so far have donated to Mr. Romney’s campaign, for a total $49,000, according to a list published by the basketball website hoopshype-com. (The list includes only contributions to candidate’s campaigns and not “super PACs” or other committees.)

The two owners who donated to Mr. Obama’s campaign, Ted Leonsis of the Washington Wizards and Johnny Bush of the Los Angeles Lakers, gave a total of only $6,100.

While the shift towards Mr. Romney seems surprising given Mr. Obama’s love of the game, it falls in line with owners of professional sports teams in other leagues. In a study last year, the Center for Responsive Politics found that two-thirds of political donations from N.F.L. owners went to the Republican party, candidates and committees. And a recent article by WNYC found that owners of teams in the four major sports donated $1.25 million to Republicans and $750,000 to Democrats.

Read More: For N.B.A. Owners, the Money's on Romney - NYTimes-com

As the fundraising machines of the Obama and Romney campaigns continue to bring in contributions at a rapid clip, one subset of donors has caught the attention of the media in the past two days: the NBA.

HoopsHype-com recently released a compilation of donors from the NBA, ranging from players and coaches to professional staff, to owners. This compilation, which was derived from the website Opensecrets.org paints a picture of players and coaches predominately contributing to the Obama campaign, while owners overwhelmingly contribute to the Romney campaign.

News outlets quickly picked up on the intriguing chart, which seems to conform to expectations that President Obama is preferred by players and coaches while Mr. Romney is the choice of their supposedly more business-oriented owners. Stories appearing today in many news outlets, including USA Today and the Washington Post , noted that Mr. Romney’s campaign collected $70,000 from owners, while Mr. Obama raised $57,650 from players and coaches. While two owners (Ted Leonsis of the Washington Wizards and Johnny Bush of the Los Angeles Lakers) did pull out their pocketbooks for President Obama, it appeared that the overwhelming number of owners doled out cash to the presumptive Republican nominee.

Read more: NBA owners back Romney for president | The Capitol Column

Walter Davis, a six-time NBA All-Star and the Phoenix Suns' all-time leading scorer, is auctioning off the medal he won as part of the 1976 U.S. gold medal team. It's part of Grey Flannel Auctions' seventh annual Basketball Hall of Fame induction auction, which will take place live from Springfield, Mass.

The current top bid is $12,000, but online bidding will continue until Sept. 6. And there are plenty other cool things, like All-Star jerseys and championship rings, up for sale if the gold medal is out of your price range.


Read More: Ex-NBA All-Star Walter Davis to auction Olympic gold medal

Imagine if Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, and Kevin Durant decided to hang up their jersey and start coaching. As crazy as it sounds, I believe one of those players would be a great coach in high school. In fact, there are a lot of NBA players that would be great coaches. Here are my top 10 NBA players that would make great high school coaches: Top 10 NBA Players: That Would Be Great High School Coaches : The Arena Pulse

Kevin Durant is going from representing the red, white and blue to walking the red carpet.

Adding to a resume that already includes being a three-time NBA scoring champion and Olympic gold medalist, Durant was the star as his movie “Thunderstruck” premiered in Oklahoma City’s Bricktown entertainment district Sunday night. It opens in other theaters Friday. Durant strolled down a red carpet in a black T-shirt, grey vest, white jeans and black sneakers to answer questions about his acting skills instead of the deadly shooting ability that propelled the Oklahoma City Thunder to the NBA Finals last season.

“Of course, people are going to look at it a little different because I’m a basketball player and I’m doing something different,” Durant said. “A basketball player is what I do. It’s not really just solely who I am. I like to do other things.

“It’s all about conquering your fears. That’s one thing I did with this, stepping in front of a camera and people yelling ‘Action!’ It’s not the norm for me. I did something outside the box, and I’m glad it turned out pretty well.”

Durant was getting his first chance to see the completed project, which was shot in Louisiana during the NBA lockout last year and then during the season in Oklahoma City in January.

Read More: NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant goes from gold medal to red carpet, starring in new movie - The Washington Post

Fans mobbed American basketball star Jeremy Lin on Friday as he celebrated his birthday with his family in Hong Kong. The 24-year-old son of Taiwanese parents told reporters that he was enjoying the city but had been unable to visit all the sights because of a "bit of paparazzi issue", amid huge popular excitement over his visit.

"It's a beautiful city. I like it a lot," he said.

Lin is in the former British colony to launch a basketball charity for poor children and share his Christian faith at a church service that is expected to attract thousands of believers on Sunday.

Organizers said over 11,000 tickets to attend the service at the Asia World Expo had been snapped up, and it will be simultaneously broadcast at 10 churches around Hong Kong.

Read More: NBA star Lin greeted like hero in Hong Kong | The Japan Times Online

Every NBA team has their sights clearly set on the Miami Heat as we head toward the start of the 2012-13 season.

No team wants the Heat to repeat as NBA Champions, because that means they'll have to wait another year to hoist the Larry O'Brien Championship trophy.

Right now, every NBA team thinks they are capable of competing for the 2013 title, but some teams, like the L.A. Lakers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets and Brooklyn Nets, are better equipped than others.

Ahead is a ranking of every NBA team's odds at dethroning the Miami Heat in the 2012-13 season.


More: Ranking Every NBA Team's Odds at Dethroning the Miami Heat in 2012-13 | Bleacher Report

Basketball star Jeremy Lin is visiting his roots in Taiwan this week. The player, whose success as a point guard in the North American National Basketball Association sparked an international fan reaction known as "Linsanity," hopes his second stop in Taiwan this month will help raise the status of basketball in Asia.

Sixty young basketball students gathered in a Taipei stadium to welcome Jeremy Lin Monday. They were excited to meet the 24-year-old American whose parents are Taiwanese. Lin led the New York Knicks to a rapid series of wins after fighting and finally winning a chance to play as point guard in February. Lin signed with the Houston Rockets last month.

Jeremy Lin is in Taiwan with friend and Golden State Warriors player David Lee to help an elite group of Taiwanese children learn techniques of the game. At a news conference Monday, Lin said he wants to boost basketball play in Asia.

"When it comes to basketball, [Asia] is kind of a little underdeveloped. But I think that's changing and I think there's huge potential here and the game is growing at a rapid pace," Lin said. "And so the thing that I want to do, the thing David wants to do, the reason he wanted to come, was because we felt like we can have a lot of insights we wanted share and spread to the kids here in Taiwan. That's why we made the trip."

Lin also visited Taiwan early in August to teach basketball. He went on to attend promotional events in Beijing and Hong Kong, returning to the island Sunday. Mainland Chinese have been wild about basketball since fellow national Yao Ming started with the Houston Rockets in 2002. Elsewhere in Asia, the sport is also big in the Philippines, where leagues exist in even the remotest parts of the country. But Lin is one of the few Asian or Asian-American players in the NBA.


Read More: The Chosun Ilbo (English Edition): Daily News from Korea - NBA Star Jeremy Lin Visits Taiwan

It has been a chaotic NBA offseason, filled with player movement, promising draft picks and players making comebacks. The season begins in less than two months, and the rosters are basically all set.

There has been a power shift in the Western Conference when the Lakers landed Steve Nash and Dwight Howard. The Oklahoma City Thunder were thought to be the top seed for many years, but they will now have to deal with the reloaded Lakers, among others.

The East still belongs to the Miami Heat, but there are a handful of teams that have a reason to be optimistic. After failing to make the playoffs last season, these teams should make a return to the postseason in 2012-2013.


More: NBA Outlook: 5 Most Improved NBA Teams Next Season | Bleacher Report

In a poll of NBA front-office executives, the Miami Heat was an overwhelming pick to repeat as world champions in 2012-13, followed by the revamped Los Angeles Lakers and the Thunder.

SI-com’s Sam Amick polled 19 NBA executives, with three of the voters submitting only first-place votes, and the Heat received 15 first-place votes, one second-place vote and two third-place votes. The Lakers, who acquired point guard Steve Nash and Dwight Howard during the offseason, had two first-place votes, nine second-place votes and six third-place votes, while the Thunder received two first-place votes, six second-place votes and eight third-place votes.

In on-line voting for next season‘s NBA championship, the Lakers are receiving 48.84 percent of the votes, the Heat 30.69 percent, the Thunder 7.53 percent and the Boston Celtics 6.08 percent.

“Miami and Oklahoma City are the known commodities by comparison,” Amick writes. “The Heat’s championship experience, quality additions (Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis) and the fact that the best player on the planet, LeBron James, is still getting better means they’re even more dangerous than before. And while the Thunder’s most significant offseason moves were securing extensions for coach Scott Brooks and power forward Serge Ibaka, it’s been three straight years of relentless progress for them and the lesson should have been learned by now that Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden & Co. are not to be trifled with. What’s more, Harden’s uncertain status beyond this season creates a potential ‘make or break-up year,’ as one voter said.


Read More: NBA execs: Miami Heat overwhelming favorite to repeat | Thunder Rumblings

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) yesterday rejected the N5000 banknote proposed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

It said legal action may be taken to stop it.

NBA President Joseph Daudu (SAN), in a speech during the association’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Abuja, said the policy could “damage the lives of Nigerians”.

He described it as “a shallow scheme”.

Daudu said introducing it would weaken the naira and promote corruption.

He said: “The looming danger is that using large bills will devalue the naira.

“It will promote money laundering and massive monetary inducement in the next general election.

“It’s also against the cash-lite policy of the CBN, and is disparate to what obtains elsewhere.

“If it has to be litigated against, so be it. The CBN should not be allowed to damage the lives of Nigerians through shallow schemes such as this.”

The outgoing bar leader said Nigeria should not be hurried into accepting a harmful policy.

“The country should not be rushed into a policy that will be deleterious and injurious to the people of this country,” he said.

According to him, CBN was trying to “impose on Nigerians” what they do not need.

Senator Eta Enang, a lawyer, backed Daudu, urging the NBA to include the rejection of the new banknote policy in its communique that will be issued today.

He said the policy is unacceptable, saying it should it rejected by all.


Read More: The Nation - NBA rejects N5000 note, threatens to sue CBN

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) is pushing for Federal Government’s appeal against the judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that ceded the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroun.

It is also advocating a national dialogue to address the various challenges facing the country.

In a communiqué at the end of its 52nd Annual General Conference in Abuja, the association said the continuous gross violation of the rights of the Bakassi people may snowball into a catastrophe if it is not addressed.

It lamented that the people are facing harassment from the Camerounian government while they are treated as refugees in Nigeria, their original country.

In the communiqué read by the immediate past President of the NBA, Mr. Joseph Daudu (SAN), it noted that Cameroun has continued to violate Article 3 (1) and 2 (a) of the Green-Tree Agreement of June 12, 2006 by compelling Nigerian citizens residing in Bakassi to “change their citizenship (through imposed possession of an identity card known as ‘waka book’) if they are to live their lives free of harassment with imprisonment of up to six months without option of fine as consequence of failure.


Read More: The Nation - NBA urges FG to appeal World Court?s judgment on Bakassi

The Brooklyn Nets were presented with a quagmire earlier in the week when potential signee Donte Greene went down with an ankle fracture.

Greene was hopeful to sign with the Nets but his unexpected injury put the whole situation on hold.

By no means are the Nets moving on and forgetting Greene, but the Nets have begun to look for other players that could fill in the gaps in the Nets’ roster.

One possible Nets signee is Andray Blatche, who, after seven somewhat successful season with the Washington Wizards, was amnestied by the team. Any fantasy basketball owner knows that Blatche was an extremely pleasant surprise in the 2010-2011 NBA season, as he averaged 17 and 8 on the year.

Likewise, any fantasy basketball owner knows that Blatche was an extremely unpleasant surprise the following season, only playing 26 games the entire season and averaging 8 and 6. In addition to his absence on the court, it was evident that hubris and arrogance was slowly taking over the talented big man’s game.

Blatche’s most infamous moment is immortalized on YouTube, and shows his character in a nutshell. Nonetheless, arrogant or not, there is really no question that Blatche can flat out play. Blatche can do a little bit of everything on the court, from shooting, to rebounding, to posting up.

Blatche is considered the best option available in free agency for a reason. Blatche would make an immediate impact on the Nets, as the Nets lack an adequate backup center and overall size (both of which Blatche would bring to the Nets).

The Nets do not want to make a hasty decision in signing Blatche and have decided to meet with him to discuss the possibility of playing for the team. If the Nets do not end up signing Blatche, the power forward may land on the Minnesota Timerwolves, where he has picked up interest, or he will consider playing in the D-League.


Andray Blatche: Brooklyn Nets Close to Signing the Seven Year Veteran : Brooklyn Nets