Hoops News Blog

The Orlando Magic couldn't stop Kobe Bryant, who scored 40 points, his high in an NBA finals game, in a dominant Game 1 performance. So how about putting another body on him? That question certainly made the rounds Friday before Orlando had its practice session at Staples Center. Don't expect the Magic to give away [...]

Back in his Clark Kent days, when he was an 18-year-old rookie, Dwight Howard was welcomed to the league by Kobe Bryant. It wasn't with a fist bump or handshake. It wasn't friendly at all. In his first game against Howard, Bryant drove the lane and delivered a ferocious dunk that still haunts Orlando's center [...]

Rafer Alston helped guide the Orlando Magic to the NBA finals, then helped them take a lead after the first quarter of Game 1. Then he sat, for a long time — way too long. By the time Alston got back in the game, his rhythm was gone, and so was Orlando's lead. He never [...]

Allen Iverson needs a team and Larry Brown needs a scorer. Just think, they could reunite and talk about practice. Seven years after his famous rant in Philadelphia during a feud with Brown over missing practice, Iverson is set to become unrestricted free agent. Brown is now coaching the low-scoring Bobcats, and Iverson was recently [...]

Charlotte Bobcats coach Larry Brown would be "nervous" if an ownership change stripped Michael Jordan of his role running the team's basketball operations. Brown said Friday that he hasn't spoken to majority owner Bob Johnson, who is looking to sell after losing tens of millions of dollars.

The Raptors have hired former Memphis Grizzlies coach Marc Iavaroni as an assistant to Jay Triano and are parting ways with assistants Mike Evans and Gord Herbert. The Raptors also announced on Friday that Alex English will return for his sixth season with Toronto, his eighth as an NBA assistant. English, who played 16 seasons [...]

Former NBA player Randy Smith has died following a career in which he starred for the Buffalo Braves in the 1970s. He was 60. William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich says Smith was brought into the hospital's emergency room about noon Thursday and was pronounced dead. Smith played 13 years in the NBA and set [...]

Having appeared in a documentary and played himself on "The Simpsons," Houston Rockets star Yao Ming will voice a whole different character for an upcoming Chinese-language animated film. The 7-foot-6 center also will spend time on the court while back in China, leading a basketball camp next month for Asia's top young players.

Andrew Bynum watched the NBA finals last year. On Thursday night, he wasn't going to watch Dwight Howard dominate. Bynum's physical play set the tone to shutting down Howard, Orlando's Superman center. Howard had only one field goal, far below the 40 points he scored in the Magic's last game, the Lakers ran away for [...]

All-Star point guard Jameer Nelson returned to the Orlando Magic for Game 1 of the NBA finals, playing the entire second quarter before struggling in the second half against the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night. Nelson finished with six points on 3-of-9 shooting in 23 minutes of the Magic's 100-75 loss.