Brooklyn Nets head coach, Jason Kidd, threw out the ceremonial first pitch Wednesday night prior to the Yankees-Dodgers game at Yankee Stadium. Kidd walked out to the mound with his youngest son, Chance, and threw a strike to Yankees catcher, Austin Romine.
With a full understanding that free agent Chris Paul wants this deal completed, the Los Angeles Clippers re-engaged the Boston Celtics on the Kevin Garnett-Doc Rivers negotiations on Wednesday afternoon, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.
The Clippers walked away from the talks on Monday morning, insisting that Boston’s asking price of DeAndre Jordan and two first-round picks was too steep of a price for Garnett.
Clippers management believed Boston would eventually come back to them out of a belief that the Celtics-Rivers relationship would be difficult to repair, but league sources told Y! Sports that Paul’s desire to play for Rivers – and with Garnett – has been a significant motivator for Los Angeles.
Kobe Bryant called into ESPN radio’s LA station on Wednesday afternoon to discuss rehabbing his torn achilles’ tendon, the NBA Finals, Dwight Howard’s upcoming free agency and his all-time NBA starting five.
Since losing his headband in the fourth quarter of Game 7 and finishing the Heat’s furious rally into a Game 6 win without it, LeBron James’ signature accessory has taken on a life of its own (the Heat have already started selling t-shirts), and the NBA’s MVP is having some fun with it as well. James says he will start Game 7 as his normal self, but acknowledged if it were to get knocked off again, he will have a discussion with his headband about how to move forward.
James, on whether he will return to the headband for Game 7: “I’ll probably start off with it, man. A little superstitious. If it gets knocked off, then me and him will have a discussion if he will return.”
Following Ray Allen’s game-tying 3-pointer with 5.2 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, the referees took time to review the play and make sure his foot was behind the line.
As officials reviewed the play, Popovich made sure to get his best players back in the game. He substituted Tim Duncan back into the game with 5.2 seconds remaining and one last chance to win the game in regulation with the game tied at 95 – a substitution which was illegal, as first noted by Yahoo! Sports’ Kelly Dwyer, and later confirmed by the league.
San Antonio – and pay attention to this, all you wack-job NBA conspiracy theorists – then countered with a massively illegal move of its own that the refereeing crew allowed.
The Spurs entered Tim Duncan back into the game while Allen’s shot was being reviewed. Teams are not allowed to substitute players during referee reviews, because reviews aren’t technically a dead ball situation.
Tony Parker ended up missing a potential game-winning jumper at the buzzer, but if things turned out differently for the Spurs, it would’ve been a highly controversial play in NBA history.
Arby’s, yes the quick-service sandwich chain, took a shot at 7-time NBA All-Star, Tracy McGrady, Tuesday night via their Twitter account.
During Tuesday night’s Game 6 of the NBA Finals between the Heat and Spurs, Twitter user, D’Brickashaw, made a joke about McGrady, who’s played minimally since signing with the Spurs in April and just 15 total minutes in the NBA Finals, saying, “Where yall think the Spurs picked T Mac up from when they signed him? Arby’s?”
Arby’s took the opportunity to take a shot at the 15-year NBA-veteran, responding to the tweet,“Actually, we had to release him. He kept making too many turnovers. ” Ouch.
@DragonflyJonez Actually, we had to release him. He kept making too many turnovers.
Chris Bosh had some words of advice for the fans who gave up on the Heat in the fourth quarter and left Game 6 early Tuesday night before the team’s historic comeback: “Don’t come back for Game 7.”
"For all those guys who left, don't come back for Game 7." – Chris Bosh
TMZ caught up with Dwight Howard Tuesday night in LA and asked him if he enjoyed the Game 6 thriller, in which Howard replied “I didn’t even see it,” before adding “I’m not watching [Game 7], I’m not playing so there ain’t no need to be.”
With 9 minutes left in Game 6 LeBron James lost his signature headband on a put-back dunk.
LeBron went on to play the final 13:50 without his headband, which became the topic of discussion. He finished with 32 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds and the OT win 103-100 to force a Game 7.
Game 6 will now go down as the LeBron Headband Game. So, here’s his stats with and without the headband:
Dwyane Wade reinjured his sore left knee early in the first quarter of Game 6 after colliding with Manu Ginobili. The Heat guard underwent treatment at halftime and didn’t enter the second half until there was just 2:22 remaining in the third quarter. When asked about his knee postgame, Wade, who finished with 14 points (6-15), 4 assists and 4 rebounds in the 103-100 overtime victory, refused to discuss the incident.
Manu Ginobili wasn’t able to carry over his strong play from the Spurs’ Game 5 win (24 points, 10 assists) into Game 6 Tuesday night. In his second straight start, Ginobili scored just 9 points, had 8 (game-high) of the team’s 13 turnovers and called the 103-100 OT loss devastating.
“I have no clue how we’re going to be re-energized,” said Ginobili, who had eight turnovers in the game. “I’m devastated. But we have to. There’s no Game 8 afterwards.
“We’re going to have to play our best game, even better than today. Shoot better, better defence, less turnovers in my case, but, yeah, there’s no secret recipe for bouncing back.”