From Jerry Zgoda/Star Tribune: No D-Wade, no Alston for Heat tonight vs. Wolves
“You always want to play against the best players,” said Wolves guard Corey Brewer, who now won’t have to try to defend the guy who averages 26 points a game. “You never not want to play against a guy like that. But he’s not going to be there, so we have to go out there and get a win.”
From Sporting News First Cuts: Kevin Love Admits to Stuffing the NBA Jam Ballot Box
“I went online and kept refreshing my computer and voting myself into ‘Jam,’ I’m not going to lie,” said Kevin Love. “‘NBA Jam’ was my favorite game growing up, so I was on there all day voting for myself...”
From Mike Max/WCCO:
The Minnesota Timberwolves could lose about $15 million this season.
Only one organization has ever been caught in the past decade with a secret deal. Glen Taylor, the Minnesota Timberwolves owner, cut an $86 million under-the-table contract with Joe Smith(notes). He made the mistake of committing to it in writing. David Stern called it “fraud of major proportion … fraud that ripped to the heart of the [CBA] compact. The magnitude of this stuff is shocking.”
After Taylor lost some draft picks and $3.5 million in fines, do you know what the NBA did with him?
Elected him chairman of the board of governors.
Twice.