Page 26 - Florida Sentinel 2-16-18

Sports
NBA All-Star Game 2018 Rosters:
LaVar Ball Says Lonzo Won’t Re-Sign With Lakers If They Don’t Sign LiAngelo, LaMelo
From left, Lonzo Ball, LaMelo Ball, LiAngelo Ball and LaVar Ball attend Melo.
LeBron Vs. Steph Starters,
Game At 8 P. M. Sunday
LEBRON JAMES AND STEPHEN CURRY
With less than a week re- maining before Sunday's 2018 NBA All-Star Game, captains Stephen Curry and LeBron James have locked in their rosters for the world's greatest pickup game.
As top vote-getters in their respective conferences, Curry and James were tasked with constructing their teams under the league's new format. Once fans, players and media picked 10 starters and coaches fleshed out the reserves, there was a draft to populate both teams.
John Wall, Marcin Gortat Reportedly Met To Discuss Tweet
JOHN WALL
John Wall and teammate
Marcin Gortat met last week to discuss the friction between the two, according to a report.
ESPN’s Chris Haynes re- ported on Tuesday night that Wall and Gortat had a brief meeting to clear the air. He says both players wanted to meet and that their meeting was brief.
Wall became upset with Gortat for seemingly taking a jab at him over Twitter follow- ing a win over Toronto two weeks ago. Gortat tweeted about a great “team” victory, with team in quotes.
Some thought that Gortat was implying the Washington Wizards are more of a team and move the ball better with- out Wall, who has been out since late January with a knee injury.
Wall didn’t appreciate that and responded to the tweet with sarcasm. He later con- ducted some TV interviews to express his feelings on the matter.
Haynes says that there is still work that needs to be done on the relationship between the teammates.
THE STARTERS
Team LeBron
LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
Kevin Durant, Golden State Warriors Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans Kyrie Irving, Boston Celtics
DeMarcus Cousins, New Orleans Pelicans**
** denotes selected players who were injured and replaced
Team Stephen
Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors James Harden, Houston Rockets
DeMar DeRozan, Toronto Raptors
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers
Ray Allen Addresses Celtics, Paul Pierce Situation
LaVar Ball made a con- troversial decision when he decided to pull his youngest son LaMelo out of high school and have his middle son LiAngelo withdraw from UCLA, but the Ball pa- triarch apparently believes he knows a way he can make sure all three players end up with the Los Angeles Lakers.
While speaking with Lithuanian basketball re- porter Donatas Urbonas this week, Ball basically said he is planning to force the Lakers to draft and/or sign both LiAngelo and LaMelo by using Lonzo as leverage.
LaVar’s plan might not be quite as easy to execute as he is making it sound. Lonzo is basically under team control with the Lakers through the 2021-2022 sea- son. The Lakers have club options for him in 2019 and 2020, and they can make him an unrestricted free agent in 2021 by extending a qualifying offer.
If LaVar intends to have Lonzo threaten to leave L. A. should the Lakers not sign the point guard’s brother, he can’t really threaten them with Lonzo’s departure until 2022.
Ray Allen posted a lengthy message on social media Tuesday addressing his time with the Celtics and rela- tionship with Paul Pierce.
On Sunday, Pierce had his No. 34 jersey retired by the Celtics. Among those at TD Garden for the festivities were former teammates Rajon Rondo, Kevin Garnett, and Antoine Walker. Doc Rivers was also there. Ray Allen was not, and that be- came a topic of discussion.
Allen spent part of his Sunday golfing with George Lopez across the country from Boston in Los Angeles. On Monday, Pierce did not appear to be disappointed with Allen’s absence.
On Tues- day, Allen posted a photo of himself and Pierce to his Instagram ac- count. He also included a lengthy caption addressing his
Jae Crowder Appeared To
RAY ALLEN
First Game With Jazz
time with the Celtics and feel- ings toward Pierce.
The source of animosity between Allen and his former Celtics teammates stemmed from his decision to leave them to join the Miami Heat. Rondo appears to still hold a grudge.
Garnett extended an olive branch to Allen, leaving it up to Allen to respond.
Jae Crowder’s first game with the Utah Jazz on Sunday was one of the better ones he has had this season, and it sounds like he does not think that was a coincidence.
After Crowder helped the Jazz to a convincing win over the Portland Trail Blazers with 15 points, five rebounds and three assists, the veteran for- ward may have taken some subtle shots at his former Cleveland Cavaliers team- mates and coaches.
“I got back to having fun playing basketball with a great group of guys,” Crowder said. “We were playing off one another. Coach (Quin Sny- der) gives a lot of freedom to these guys — some structure and a lot of freedom, and I love it. I love playing with them. I love playing within a system. It’ll be fun.”
JAE CROWDER
The Cavs traded away six players before the trade dead- line last week, and Crowder was one of them. Judging by the early reactions to the moves, most people seem happy and rejuvenated. Isa- iah Thomas said he felt revi- talized after his debut with the Los Angeles Lakers, and Le- Bron James appeared to throw shade at his former teammates after the Cavs blew out the Boston Celtics on Sun- day.
Take Shot At Cavs After
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