Angels tie up Weaver before free agency looms

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Los Angeles Angels have secured the services of their ace pitcher for the next half a decade after Jered Weaver agreed to a five-year contract extension with the AL West team on Sunday.

The contract, worth $85 million according to Major League baseball's website (mlb.com), will be formally announced at a news conference at Angel Stadium on Tuesday.

The 28-year-old was due to become a free agent after the 2012 season but OPted to commit to his hometown franchise and the team with which he has spent his first six seasons in the Major League.

After a promising start to his career, the power-pitching Weaver is clearly reaching new levels this season as he has posted a 14-6 record with an American League-leading 2.10 ERA.

Weaver, who led the Major League in strikeouts last season, started the All-Star Game for the AL side last month in his second consecutive appearance as an All Star.

He currently has the Angels (69-59) locked in an AL West race with the Texas Rangers who lead the division by four games.

NBA Finals Heat vs.Mavericks: A question of speed

J.J. Barea knows LeBron James shut down the MVP Derrick Rose. J.J. Barea knows LeBron James is stronger. J.J. Barea knows LeBron James has a bigger wingspan, a bigger frame, a bigger defensive skillset, and every physical attribute in the book outside of raw speed defensively.

J.J. Barea still thinks he can get around LeBron James.

"He's taller and stronger, but I still think I can get by him," Barea said Tuesday before Game 1.

The diminutive Mavs bench spark plug is not lacking for confidence in speed, nor should he. He's been torching defenders with his abilty to get to the rim all season. When the defense does adjust, Barea  loops under the basket. Barea's made a name for himself by being fearless and aggressive and said he has no plans to change that.

"I'm attacking. I'm going to stay aggressive. I bring a lot of energy on both ends, and we'll see what happens."

But with LeBron guarding him? With that wingspan?

"I think Westbrook and LeBron are pretty similar. LeBron's stronger, but we'll see what happens."

That kind of confidence comes with success, and Barea's had a lot of it, and it's been predicated on speed. The Mavericks, though, aren't a barnburner, up-and-down squad, not even in the playoffs. They're just highly efficient. In this series, however, they may wind up having to try and pick up the tempo a bit more.

The Mavericks were 20th in pace this season, at an estimated 93.1 possesions per game. The Heat, funnily enough, were right behind them, 21st, at 92.9. And in the playoffs, where everything slows down, we've seen the same comparative trends. The Mavericks are ninth among all playoff teams at 86.6 possessions per game, while Miami is 12th at 86.2. What does those numbers mean? It means neither team has been running Seven Seconds or Less. It doesn't mean either team lacks ability on the break though. Both teams have the same attitude about fast breaks that Rick Carlisle described Tuesday morning.

"Aggressive."

There's a gap between running for running's sake (most of those teams you'll find in the lottery or one-and-done in the first round, not naming any names), and being aggressive when the opportunity presents itself. Carlisle said that the same things which spark the Mavericks' break are what the Heat use as their core: defense and rebounding. It's those types of elements that allow for the break, to let Jason Kidd cut down the middle and find an open cutter or a shooter on the perimeter, and that lets Barea get to the basket behind a defense. It's also those things that give LeBron and Dwyane Wade highlight opportunities. And it's those opportunities that will likely have a huge impact in this series.

Carlisle was particular before Game 1 of saying they weren't going to slow down or speed up the offense. "We're going to play our pace," the Mavericks coach said Tuesday morning. It's a generic quote meant to avoid any strategic leak of information, but it's also indicative of the Mavericks' confidence going into Tuesday night's Game 1.

The Mavericks will be fast when they need to. They'll grind when they need to. And they'll hope that they can make more plays. Half-court, full-court, defensively, this is going to be a series about speed. Whoever gets to the spot first, wins.

We know one thing, though. Barea thinks it'll be him, no matter who's guarding him, even if it's LeBron James.

Has NBA learned lesson from NFL lockout?

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/default.htm
Nearly three months have passed since the NFL's lockout began. Lawsuits, court rulings, heartfelt pleas, dramatic pronouncements and insulting tweets have followed, but the stalemate remains.

Recent legal proceedings have clearly favored owners, providing the league with judicial leverage and erasing initial gains given to players. At the same time, the NFL's growing advantage in the courtroom is being viewed with wide eyes by the NBA, which sees the NFL's case as an ongoing experiment.

Basketball's collective bargaining agreement (CBA) expires June 30. While the NFL waits, the NBA watches.

"Both sides are very aware of what's happened in the NFL and the disruption to their business caused by the work stoppage," NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver said. "And I think I can speak for both the owners and the union in that we want to avoid, at all costs, entering into any type of work stoppage or, certainly, a lockout."

Sports labor lawyers and analysts say that is almost impossible. Too much remains at stake with too little time, and National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) executive director Billy Hunter acknowledged last week that no progress has been made during recent talks.
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Gary Roberts, dean and professor at the Indiana University Law School-Indianapolis, predicts a more immediate setback for the NBPA.

Roberts said there is "no question" that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit in St. Louis will again rule in the NFL's favor after a Friday hearing, preserving owners' legal rights to a lockout, while possibly using language that advocates for the dismissal of the National Football League Players Association's (NFLPA) antitrust lawsuit.

"Neither side is going to make any concessions until we see how the NFL lawsuit plays out," said Roberts, who also serves as the NFL Network's on-air legal analyst.

The NBPA is stronger and more prepared than it was during the 1998-99 lockout. Hunter has refused to cave in and accept a repressive deal, while NBPA president Derek Fisher is a proud, captivating leader.

But NFL players have already lost legal footing, despite the league raking in $9 billion in annual revenue. How will it look in court when the NBPA presents its case, Roberts wonders, after the NBA claims it lost $300 million this season and 22 of 30 teams are running a deficit?

"I think the majority of the NBA owners are perfectly happy to shut down for a year or two because that means they won't lose $25 million a year," Roberts said.
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"The NBA and the NFL are in very different circumstances."

Roberts believes the NFL will ultimately win its litigation, with new CBA talks peaking in August, allowing the league to possibly play a full regular-season schedule in 2011-12.

Larry Coon, a CBA expert and ESPN.com contributor predicts the NBA lockout could stretch through January, though, with owners eventually breaking players by luring in lesser-name athletes with the promise of much-needed paychecks.

And the normally optimistic Silver found common ground with Roberts, acknowledging that the NBA's worst-case scenario would mirror the NHL's lost 2004-05 season.

While the NFL's main fight is based on splitting a large pile of cash, the NBA's battles are more complicated and dig much deeper.

Pro basketball's soft salary cap favors large-market teams; guaranteed contracts are a boon to some and a plague to many; star players have little incentive to remain with the small-market clubs that drafted them; and everything from revenue sharing to athletes' profits are at stake. A steadfast league wants a 50-50 split.

"The biggest damning piece of evidence right now is that the NBA is really doing great," said Patrick Rishe, a sports-business professor at Webster University in St. Louis. "The ratings for the postseason are fantastic. There's been a lot more enthusiasm and excitement for the sport in the last couple of years. And yet, they've seen the teams' profits dwindle. That's not a good combination."

But it's currently working in the league's favor, and a likely lockout is just 32 days away.

NBA: Which Team Sports the Best Big 4 in Basketball?

In 2007-2008, the Boston Celtics started a modern-day NBA trend. Danny Ainge and the Boston front office made moves to bring Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett to Boston so that Paul Pierce would finally have the help he needed to win a championship.

A championship is exactly what the Celtics won that year. The rest is history.

In short, Danny Ainge and the trendsetting Boston Celtics forced their competition (the NBA) to follow suit and create super teams of their own.

The headline story heading into the 2010-2011 season was Miami loading up on superstars, signing LeBron James and Chris Bosh to long-term deals. These moves were completed in hopes of bringing in the help that Dwyane Wade has needed to be able to win another title in Miami.

Upon uniting in Miami, Bosh, Wade and James were hoping they could overcome the Celtic's Big Three who had year-after-year put a hurting on their prior teams in the regular season and the playoffs.

The Heat's trio even went as far as copying the Celtics nickname. When they were brought together, LeBron James dubbed them "The Heatles," copying Kevin Garnett who had earlier named the Celtic's Big Three "The Ceatles" after the famous rock and roll group "The Beatles."

The Heat were not the only team that tried to form a super team in 2010-2011. The Chicago Bulls brought in Carlos Boozer to join Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah to form their own terrorizing trio.

Right before the trade deadline, we saw the New York Knicks almost trade their whole team away to bring in Chauncey Billups and, more importantly, Carmelo Anthony. Already having Amar'e Stoudemire, the Knicks too would now have a "Big Three" of their own.

If you weren't before, you should now be aware of the fact that numerous NBA teams have created super teams consisting of three superstar players. But which teams have managed to comprise a team that has four superstar players or a Big Four and which of those teams has the best Big Four in the NBA today?

Mark Cuban's quiet time goes on, to Mavs' delight

http://www.skysports.com/
Mark Cuban's quiet time continues.
Now that they've gotten used to it, the Dallas Mavericks kind of like it this way.
"It's fine with me," Dirk Nowitzki said. "It should be all about the players."
The Mavs have roared into the NBA finals with Cuban taking the traditional, low-profile role of most team owners. Of course, Cuban has never been like most team owners, making himself part of the story pretty much from the day he went from buying season tickets to buying the club.
He's racked up more than $1 million in fines over his 11-year tenure, mostly for outspoken comments — like berating the officials during the 2006 NBA finals in Miami, where his team returns for Game 1 on Monday night.
"Mark's a smart guy, one of the smartest I've ever been around," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "Like all of us, he has great humility and respect for the position that we're in right now. We're all doing everything we can to put ourselves in the best possible position to do well."
Cuban's silence began after Dallas won its first-round series against Portland. The Mavs are 9-1 since, so why mess with a good thing?
"Mark is a very vocal guy," Jason Kidd said. "He's going to say what he wants to say at the right time, but I think he's been a little been quiet during this playoff run."
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Just to be clear, this is only a media silence. He chitchats with reporters, but has made only a few innocuous comments on the record. He has also remained active on Twitter, tweeting "Go Mavs" a few hours before every game. He may have even fired off a few e-mails to David Stern.
The emphasis is that Cuban is avoiding the spotlight. The only exception was to accept the Western Conference trophy. His mainly thanked the crowd, then offered up the rallying cry, "We ain't done yet."
Cuban refuses to explain why he's taken this tact. If anyone in the organization knows the story, they're not saying.
Heat forward Udonis Haslem, one of two holdovers from the '06 Miami team, offered his speculation: "It's five years ago and he's probably learned from that experience. He's moved on and he just wants this team to have the best opportunity to win."
___
SPO'S POPULARITY: The Heat broadcast department has been running live pregame, halftime and postgame shows on the team's official website during the playoffs, generating about 500,000 distinct hits so far and with growing numbers as the playoffs go deeper.
Most of those hits come from the United States, of course.
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The nation logging on to Heat.com second-most? The Philippines.
That might sound surprising at first, but there's a very good reason for Filipino interest.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra is extremely proud of his Filipino heritage, and has a huge following in his mother's homeland. He visited there in July 2009 — his first trip there since being a toddler — and plans to go back sometime this summer.
Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom rank third, fourth and fifth as far as international clickers onto the Heat webcasts. Germany is sixth — a number that might rise during these finals, given the immense popularity of Dallas star Dirk Nowitzki in his homeland.

The NBA and Homosexuality: Anti-Gay Slurs, Fines and "Think Before You Speak"

http://www.nytimes.com/pages/sports/index.html
 The NBA is currently under fire after a brash of anti-gay slurs were captured on camera. Joakim Noah was fined $50,000 for using an anti-gay slur at a fan. Kobe Bryant was fined $100,000 dollars for using the same slur at an official.

Shortly after Bryant used the slur, he apologized, and the Lakers announced they were teaming up with GLAAD, (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), to bring attention to the harm anti-gay remarks can cause.

Earlier this Spring, Suns' CEO Rick Welts told the world he was a homosexual. The reception around the league has been very accepting. Welts has received an overwhelming amount of support from around those involved directly with the Suns and otherwise.

His story proves you can be a homosexual and hold a prominent position in the league. The story comes at nearly the same time ESPN broke a story where ex-Villanova's basketball player, Will Sheridan, declared he was gay.

When asked about Kobe's usage of a gay slur, Welts had this to say, "He was just into the game at that point. It's not acceptable, but I consider it another step in having it be part of the conversation. It got of people talking about the use of that slur, people that wouldn't have talked about it. In some ways, it was constructive."

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Welts is a representative of someone directly involved in the NBA who can also speak for the homosexual community. If speaking about the matter is constructive, the media is moving mountains.

It's hard to believe that either Noah or Bryant intended to start a media whirlwind. I find it unlikely that they are homophobic or have problems with the gay community.

The slur they said was not in jest. They said it to hurt the recipient. Is it possible then that they were caught up in the moment? Did they choose a word that is considered offensive without thinking of the baggage the word carries, or the hurt that comes with it?

It's quite possible. It seems as though people use these words every day completely out of the context of the situation at hand. How many times do you hear statements like, "that car is gay". Clearly the car isn't a homosexual, but the personification is commonplace.
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In walks the NBA, once more. Grant Hill and Jared Dudley join the "Think before you speak" ad campaign and come out with a commercial addressing this very topic.

The commercial encourages people to stop saying phrases like "that's so gay". They encourage people to stop using gay as a substitute for the word stupid.

The NBA is making headlines on both ends of the spectrum here. Maybe players will become more cautious about what they are saying and who they are offending. Maybe fans will follow suit. Perhaps this goes beyond homosexuality and beyond the NBA
.

NBA, Maloofs Release Statements On Sacramento Arena Plan

http://www.cbssports.com/

Shortly after the conclusion of the unveiling of the Taylor/ICON Group's feasibility study for a new entertainment and sports complex in downtown Sacramento that'd be the long-term home of the Kings, the NBA released a statement from Commissioner David Stern.

"We are encouraged by the process and the overwhelming support of the Mayor, the business community and the citizens of the region. Like the Maloofs, we want to make this new entertainment and sports complex happen. The focus now is moving forward in developing a public-private partnership financing model that will bring a new arena to fruition. That is priority number one in Sacramento for all of us."
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Among the myriad questions that remain: will the NBA jump in with the Maloofs as ownership, the city's technical staff and the developers figure out that public-private partnership financing model? My guess would be "yes," but it hasn't explicitly been stated just yet.


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UPDATE: The Maloofs also released a statement on the plan.

"We're optimistic because both the political and public will are here. We all realize that the time is now to get this done so the region finally has a much needed events center of which we all can be proud."