Former Clippers forward Matt Barnes fined 35K for comments centering on Derek Fisher beef

Matt Barnes

Matt Barnes/Photo courtesy of Memphis Grizzlies

 

Former Clippers forward Matt Barnes – now of the Memphis Grizzlies – on Sunday was fined $35,000 by the NBA for his recent comments regarding New York Knicks coach Derek Fisher, with whom Barnes had a physical confrontation in October when Barnes found out his twin sons were unhappy that Fisher was visiting their mother – Barnes’ ex-wife Gloria Govan.

Barnes’ Grizzlies defeated the Knicks 103-95 on Saturday at Memphis. Although there was apparently no interaction between the two at the game, Barnes had plenty to say to reporters in the days leading to it.

“There’s support throughout the league, other leagues, GMs, owners, entertainers, actors, everybody,” Barnes said regarding the altercation with Fisher. “It’s been a great support. Every man who looks at the situation knows what’s right and wrong. Violence is never the answer, but sometimes it is. And, unfortunately, it happened.”

On Sunday, the NBA said it fined Barnes “for inappropriate public comments that are detrimental to the best interests of the NBA.”

“Matt Barnes’ comments condoning violence do not reflect who we are as a league or the character of our players,” said Kiki VanDeWeghe, the NBA’s executive vice-president of basketball operations. “His words are unacceptable and entirely inconsistent with the core principles of this game and the NBA.”

Barnes had already been suspended two games for the incident itself.

NBA approves welcome a change to its playoff seeding system

Doc Rivers/Photo by Associated Press

 

The NBA board of governors has agreed to changes in the playoff format that will now see teams afforded playoff seedings based on records rather than a combination of records and whether they won their division.

Beginning this upcoming season the  eight playoff teams in each conference will be seeded based on order of their regular-season records.

Most recently, any team winning its division was guaranteed a top 4 seed in its conference even if another team in the conference had a better record. Interestingly, that team still did not have homecourt advantage even if it had a higher seed, if it had an inferior record than the team it was playing. That, of course, made no sense because at that point, why even give a team a top 4 seed for winning its division if you’re not going to reward it with homecourt advantage?

Either way, this is a good move by the NBA board of governors, which made this change on the recommendation of the league’s competition committee.

Doc Rivers, Clippers coach and president of basketball operations, is on the competition committee.

 

 

Full copy of Donald Sterling’s civil lawsuit against NBA, Shelly Sterling

Embattled Clippers owner Donald Sterling filed a civil lawsuit against the NBA and his wife Shelly on Tuesday, alleging fraud and asserting himself as the sole shareholder in the team he has owned since 1981.

Donald had already filed a federal lawsuit against the league in June seeking antitrust damages, and is currently embroiled in a probate trial with Shelly Sterling that could decide whether or not she had the right to sell the team for $2 billion.

Below is a full copy of the latest lawsuit:

Donald Sterling's civil lawsuit against the NBA and Shelly Sterling by thejackwang

Keith Benson scores 18 for Clippers, who fall to 1-3 in summer league play

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Keith Benson/Photo courtesy of Oakland University

 

The Clippers are now 1-3 in summer league play after being defeated by the Miami Heat 96-87 on Wednesday at Cox Pavilion on the campus of University of Nevada Las Vegas.

Keith Benson – a 6-foot-10 power forward out of Oakland University – led the Clippers with 18 points off the bench.

DeAndre Liggins, a 6-6 shooting guard/small forward out of Kentucky, scored 14 points. Shawn Jones – a 6-7 power forward from Middle Tennessee St. – led Los Angeles with eight rebounds. Benson had six rebounds.

Miami (1-4) got a team-high 18 points from Justin Hamilton, a 7-foot post out of LSU. Tyler Honeycutt – a 6-8 forward who played at UCLA – led both teams with 15 rebounds.

The Clippers next play Friday at 3 p.m. against the Toronto Raptors at Cox Pavilion.

 

Chris Paul makes All-Defensive first team for the fourth time

Point guard Chris Paul has been selected to the NBA’s All-Defensive first team for the fourth time during his nine-year career.

Paul, who led the league in steals with a 2.48 average, received 64 first-team votes. Joining him on the first team are Defensive Player of the Year center Joakim Noah (105 first-team votes) of the Chicago Bulls, forward Paul George (65 first-team votes) of the Indiana Pacers,  forward Serge Ibaka (54 first-team votes) of the Oklahoma City Thunder and guard/forward Andre Iguodala (57 first-team votes) of the Golden State Warriors.

Voting consisted of a panel of 123 sports writers and broadcasters.

The second team is made up of forward LeBron James of the Miami Heat, guard Patrick Beverley of the Houston Rockets, guard Jimmy Butler of the Chicago Bulls, forward Kawhi Leonard of the San Antonio Spurs and center Roy Hibbert of the Indiana Pacers.

Donald Sterling will sue the NBA for $1 billion

Even as his franchise steps toward a new regime, Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling plans to sue the NBA for $1 billion in damages.

Attorney Maxwell Blecher confirmed that his client intends to file suit against the league, as first reported by NBC News. Sterling’s wife, Shelly, agreed Thursday to sell the franchise to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer for $2 billion after reportedly having her husband declared mentally incapacitated. She in turn claimed full control of the Sterling Family Trust, which owns the Clippers.

The league has not yet approved the sale of the Clippers, and is proceeding with a June 3 hearing to oust Donald Sterling. Commissioner Adam Silver has maintained that the preferred outcome is a voluntary sale.

Sterling is seeking damages for the lifetime ban the NBA handed him last month and his termination charges.