By Vincent Bonsignore
MIAMI – Like it or not, Clippers guard Eric Bledsoe has 13 new coaches pulling him in all sorts of directions now that he’s been selected to participate in the Slam Dunk at the NBA All-Star game in Houston.
Bledsoe was officially added to the six-player field on Thursday night, and by Friday he pretty much heard from all 13 of his Clippers teammates, all of whom have some guidance on what he should do.
“Everybody’s trying to give me some advice,” Bledsoe said. “Everybody has some pretty good ideas so we’ll see how it goes.”
Some suggestions are better than others, of course.
For instance, one teammate suggested Bledsoe jump over Clipper Darrell, the team’s long-time, unofficial greatest fan.
That probably isn’t going to happen.
One player who won’t give much advice is Chauncey Billups, whose dunking days are pretty much behind him.
“I’ll leave that to the other guys,” Billups said, laughing. “But I’m interested in what he’s going to do.”
EVERYONE BACK, EVEN JAMAL CRAWFORD
By mid-day Friday it was becoming more clearer Chris Paul, Chauncey Billups and Blake Griffin would be cleared to play against the Heat, but there was still some concern Jamal Crawford would need more time to tend to his injured right shoulder.
By the time the team arrived at Miami’s American Airlines Arena, though, Crawford was feeling well enough to play after missing the last two games.
“The shoulder loosens up on him then it tightens up,” Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said. “He’s gonna give it a go tonight. I don’t know when he gets out there how he’ll feel, but he wants to get out there and play.”
The same was the case for Paul, Billups and Griffin as the Clippers finally had their entire roster together for the first time all year.
“There’s some limited minutes and restrictions (on guys) and we’re trying to figure it out because it’s a big list,” Del Negro said.
But the good news is, for one night at least everyone was available.
“Now we’ll just monitor it and see how it goes,” Del Negro said.
SO FAR SO GOOD ON NEW YORK
With the New York area getting hit with a major snow storm Friday and Saturday flights into the area being canceled, there was concern the Clippers game against the New York Knicks would be affected.
As of Friday, though, everything looked good on the Clippers end. They’ll travel to Newark, New Jersey Saturday, and seem hopeful the game will get it.
“Everything looks good,” Del Negro said.
TURIAF GETS HIS RING
Clippers forward Ronny Turiaf, who played with the Heat last year, was scheduled to get his 2012 NBA Championship ring during a pre-game ceremony.
“I’m happy for Ronny,” Billups said. “There was no greater feeling in my life than winning a championship.”
HEAT RUNNING A TEAMPATURE
A near team-wide flu bug ravaged the Miami Heat roster and nearly left them severely shorthanded Friday.
As it turns out, it was bad but not devastating.
While Ray Allen and Chris Bosh were sidelined, Dwyane Wade was able to play.
All three missed the Heat morning shoot around, and only Wade was able to feel good enough to suit up.
Vincent.bonsignore@DailyNews.com twitter.com@DailyNewsVinny
