Page 16 - Florida Sentinel 6-30-17

Sports
Russell Westbrook Wins NBA MVP Award During First-Ever NBA Awards Show
Drake and Adam Silver hand the MVP trophy to Russell Westbrook.
In Attempt To Knock Off Warriors, Teams Targeting Andre Iguodala
ANDRE IGUODALA
Andre Iguodala has be- come the foremost target in an attempt to weaken the Golden State Warriors' choke hold on the NBA, league sources have told ESPN.
The Minnesota Timber- wolves, San Antonio Spurs, LA Clippers, Philadelphia 76ers, Orlando Magic, Brook- lyn Nets and Utah Jazz are among the teams interested in the 2015 NBA Finals MVP, sources tell ESPN.
It is not yet known if Iguo- dala will take meetings.
Kevin Durant Congratulates Russell Westbrook For Winning MVP On YouTube Page
RUSSELL WESTBROOK AND KEVIN DURANT
The ice-cold relationship between Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook thawed for a moment Tuesday when the Golden State Warriors star congratulated his former teammate on winning the 2016-17 NBA MVP award.
Durant offered his con- gratulations to Westbrook in a comment posted on his official YouTube page.
"Huge congrats to Russell Westbrook on MVP, that boy went out there and was a created player on 2k all year, F--kin balled out," he wrote. "Gotta respect it!
Knicks, Phil Jackson Agree To Part Ways
Superstar Russell Westbrook has been voted NBA MVP after setting a record with 42 triple-doubles last season.
Westbrook joined Oscar Robertson as the only players to average a triple-double for the season, and he broke Robertson's single-season record set when he had 41 triple-dou- bles in 1961-62.
The point guard beat out Houston's James Harden and San Antonio's Kawhi Leonard to succeed Stephen Curry, who had won the past two MVP awards.
Champions Golden State
forward Draymond Green won the defensive player of the year
Milwaukee's Malcolm Brogdon became the first player not picked in the first round to win NBA Rookie of the Year in the common draft era.
Teammate Giannis An- tetokounmpo won the Most Improved Player award.
Houston coach Mike D'Antoni won his second Coach of the Year award, and Eric Gordon was Sixth Man of the Year after setting a record for most 3-pointers off the bench in his first sea- son as a reserve.
The New York Knicks and team president Phil Jackson will announced that they're parting ways early Wednesday morning.
Conversations about what was best for the team's future between Jackson and Knicks owner James Dolan acceler- ated this week when the fran- chise decided it would not buy out embattled forward Carmelo Anthony.
Jackson, 71, had made it well known that he felt it was best for Anthony and the or- ganization to part ways, both publicly and privately, but Anthony refused to waive his
PHIL JACKSON
no-trade clause, and the Knicks were determined not to accommodate any request for a buyout. Anthony has two years worth more than $54 million remaining on his deal.
Clippers Agree To Trade Chris Paul To Rockets
The Los Angeles Clippers have reached agreement on a trade to send All-Star point guard Chris Paul to the Houston Rockets.
Paul, 32, agreed to opt in to the final year of his $24.2 million contract, clearing the way for the Clippers to execute a trade with the Rockets and bring back assets for Paul, league sources said.
The Rockets will send the Clippers guards Patrick Bev- erley and Lou Williams, forwards Sam Dekker and Montrezl Harrell, the non- guaranteed deals of DeAn- dre Liggins, Tim Quarterman and Ryan Kelly, and a 2018 first-round pick (protected Nos. 1-3) for Paul. The Rockets paid sev- eral million in cash to acquire Quarterman (Portland), Kelly (Atlanta) and Liggins (Dallas) to complete the deal with Los Angeles.
Chris Paul, Doc Rivers Reportedly Clashed Over Austin Rivers, Carmelo Anthony
Chris Paul's tenure with the Los Angeles Clippers ended Wednesday when the team shipped him to the Houston Rockets, according to The Vertical's Adrian Wo- jnarowski, and the trade sig- naled the conclusion of what was reportedly a contentious relationship with head coach Doc Rivers.
According to SportsCen- ter's Michael Eaves, Paul had begun to resent Rivers because he, along with other Clippers players, thought the
CHRIS PAUL
head coach was coddling his son, guard Austin Rivers.
"It led to resentment within the locker room, which often played out during games," Eaves wrote. "One of Paul's biggest contentions with Doc was that Paul, and other play- ers, felt Doc treated Austin more favorably than other players. He would yell at guys for certain things during games and practices but not get on Austin in the same manner for similar transgres- sions."
Along those same lines, Paul reportedly became fed up with Rivers—who is also the team's president of bas- ketball operations—when he nixed a trade last season that could have landed the Clip- pers Carmelo Anthony.
"New York offered Carmelo and Sasha Vu- jacic to the Clippers in ex- change for Jamal Crawford, Paul Pierce and Austin Rivers, a deal to which Rivers ultimately said no," Eaves added. "That event led Paul to feel that keeping his son on the roster was more important to Doc than improving the team."
Citing a league executive, Eaves reported Paul now "despises" Rivers because of how those situations were handled.
PAGE 16-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, JUNE 30, 2017