NEW YORK (AP) — Denver Nuggets center/forward J.J. Hickson was suspended for five games without pay by the NBA on Wednesday for violating the terms of the anti-drug program.
Hickson averaged 11.8 rebounds and 9.2 rebounds in 69 games last season, his first with Denver. He has played six seasons in the NBA with Cleveland, Sacramento, Portland and Denver, averaging 10.1 points and 7.2 rebounds.
BILBAO, Spain (AP) — The Basketball World Cup started Saturday with a record 45 current NBA players on the rosters of the 24 teams.
There were 75 players in the tournament who have played in the NBA, along with 17 more who have been drafted and whose rights are owned by NBA teams.
All 12 players on the U.S. roster are on NBA teams. Host Spain is next with six current NBA players.
Only three teams in the tournament have no players who have either played or been drafted by NBA clubs. Cleveland and Houston both have a league-high four players in the field.
The previous record was 44 active NBA players in the 2010 tournament.
The NBA is expanding the area that must be clear behind the basket and cutting the number of photographers along the baseline in an effort to improve player safety.
The new regulations, calling for an extra foot of open space on both sides of the basket stanchion, were sent to teams Tuesday by league president of operations Rod Thorn in a memo that was obtained by The Associated Press.
The “escape lanes,” the unoccupied area on either side of the stanchion to the closest photographer spot, will increase to 4 feet. Only 20 camera positions, 10 on each baseline, will remain, down from 40 during the 2010-11 regular season.
Thorn says changes were planned for “several years” and teams were informed in July, before Indiana’s Paul George broke his leg crashing into the stanchion.
Aug. 30-Sept. 14 — FIBA World Cup of Basketball, Spain.
Sept. 27 — Training camps open for teams competing in preseason games outside North America.
Sept. 30 — Training camps open for all teams.
Oct. 27 — Rosters set for opening day.
Oct. 28 — 2014-15 regular season begins.
Jan. 5 — 10-day contracts can be signed.
Jan. 10 — Contracts guaranteed for rest of season.
Feb. 13-15 — All-Star weekend, New York.
Feb. 19 — Trade deadline (3 p.m. EST).
April 15 — Last day of regular season.
April 18 — Playoffs begin.
NEW YORK (AP) — The NBA is adding its Twitter handle to its official game ball for next season.
The league announced the change on Thursday. The handle @NBA will be added to the left of the league’s logo, making it the first game ball to have it in any of the four major pro sports in North America.
The NBA’s Twitter account has 10.7 million followers, by far the most when compared to the NFL, MLB and NHL.
Unlike a few years back when the league tried to introduce a new synthetic leather game ball, the Spalding ball’s composition will not change. The league quickly abandoned the synthetic ball.
NEW YORK (AP) — Next stop: New York.
The NBA unveiled the logo for the 2015 All-Star weekend on Thursday, a subway-inspired theme that’s fitting for an event that will have fans on the move when it comes to the Big Apple.
The Friday and Saturday events will be held at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, before the All-Star game is staged at Madison Square Garden, home of the Knicks, on Sunday, Feb. 15.
The logo features the teams’ abbreviations, BKN and NYK, next to a picture inspired by the colorful subway and bus line maps that are featured throughout the city’s transportation system. The numbers in 2015 are written to appear like they are subway lines.
NEW YORK (AP) — The NBA has set the 2014-15 salary cap at $63.1 million, an all-time high, paving the way for contracts to be signed.
Deals can become official starting at 12:01 EDT on Thursday. Players and teams could agree to contracts starting July 1, but they couldn’t be signed during the moratorium period.
The cap is a 7.5 percent increase from last season’s $58.7 million.
The league also says Wednesday that the tax level jumped 7.1 percent to $76.8 million. Teams exceeding that will have to pay a luxury tax.
NEW YORK (AP) — Free agency has opened in the NBA with LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony leading the available players.
Players and teams could begin negotiating just past midnight EDT on Tuesday morning, though contracts can’t be signed until July 10.
James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, who joined together in Miami in 2010 and have led the Heat to two championships and four straight NBA Finals, all became free agents.
Though many expect that trio to stay with the Heat, Anthony could be persuaded to leave the New York Knicks for a team that he believes gives him a better chance to compete for a championship.
Longtime stars Paul Pierce and Dirk Nowitzki also are free agents, along with players such as Toronto’s Kyle Lowry and Indiana’s Lance Stephenson.
ROSEMONT, Ill. – Seven former Big Ten standouts were selected in the 2014 NBA Draft on Thursday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, including five first-round choices for the first time since 1990. The five Big Ten student-athletes were selected among the first 21 picks, the most of any conference, and it marked the second straight year that multiple players were picked among the top 10. The seven total selections were the most since eight Big Ten standouts were drafted in 2000.
Michigan’s Nik Stauskas was the first conference student-athlete chosen, going to the Sacramento Kings at No. 8. Indiana’s Noah Vonleh was selected ninth overall by the Charlotte Hornets, joining former Hoosier Cody Zeller, a first-round selection by the team last year. Stauskas was the 2014 Big Ten Player of the Year, while Vonleh collected Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors.
Michigan State’s Adreian Payne was the 15th overall selection by the Atlanta Hawks. Payne’s teammate Gary Harris was selected No. 19 overall by the Chicago Bulls, who were picking for the Denver Nuggets as part of an earlier trade. Michigan’s Mitch McGary was selected No. 21 by the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Wolverines’ Glenn Robinson III was the first Big Ten player picked in the second round after being selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves at No. 40 overall. Iowa’s Roy Devyn Marble was picked by the Denver Nuggets at No. 56 overall before being traded to the Orlando Magic, which drafted former Indiana standout Victor Oladipo in the first round last year.
The Big Ten has had nine players taken in the first round in the last two years, while five different schools have seen student-athletes selected in either the first or second round – Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State. For the second straight year, two Big Ten teams – Michigan and Michigan State – had multiple players selected in the first round. Every starter from the Wolverines’ team that advanced to the 2013 national championship game has been drafted in the NBA.
NEW YORK (AP) — The NBA draft delivered its highest rating on ESPN, surpassing the mark set 11 years ago when LeBron James was the No. 1 pick.
The telecast Thursday had a 3.1 overnight rating, according to Nielsen, a 19 percent increase from last year’s 2.6 mark.
The previous record for the draft was 2.7 overnight in 2003, the first year the network televised it. James was the first pick that year in a top five that included Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
