During ABC’s telecast of the president’s inaugural address, commentator George Stephanopoulos mistakes 11x NBA champion Bill Russell with legendary actor Morgan Freeman. “That’s Morgan Freeman, I think, right there on the Capitol steps,” Stephanopoulos says as the camera pans to Bill Russell in a Boston Celtics cap. He later corrects himself, ” No, Bill Russell, I’m sorry.”

With the help of his charity, The Amar’e Stoudemire Foundation, Knicks star, Amar’e Stoudemire provided a free luncheon for over 600 Madison Square Garden employees for the second straight year.

According to ESPN NY:

For the second straight year, Stoudemire, through his foundation, provided lunch for approximately 600 Garden workers. Last season, he bought lunch for Garden workers before the season opener on Christmas. This season, he chose to do it on Martin Luther King Day before the Knicks hosted the Brooklyn Nets.

“It’s really just showing support that we truly appreciate all the employees that actually make our job easier as basketball players,” Stoudemire said. “… It’s on a special day as well, a day of unity. It’s great to bring everybody together for a nice cause.”

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NBA players around the league will be debuting special kicks Monday to commemorate Black History Month/Martin Luther King Day.

Nike released special versions of the KD V, LeBron X, and Kobe 8 System for their 2013 Nike BMH (Black History Month) Collection which will debut in stores and online beginning January 26th:

Carmelo Anthony (via NBA):

The Black Mamba:

Gerald Wallace:

Iman Shumpert:

Chris Paul (via @madelynburke):

Pau Gasol:

Eric Bledsoe:

Danny Green:

Draymond Green:

Ronny Turiaf (via @madelyburke):

Jared Jeffries (via @caseyholdahl):

Rip Hamilton:

Harrison Barnes:

Lou Williams who tore his ACL last week, uploaded the shoes he would’ve worn today:

Dejuan Blair:

Hakim Warrick (Bobcats):

Kevin Durant debuted his special edition KD V’s in Denver Sunday night:

The Atlanta Hawks have signed veteran guard Jannero Pargo to a 10-day contract, Hawks President of Basketball Operations/General Manager Danny Ferry announced today.

In his ninth NBA season, Pargo played in seven games earlier this year with the Washington Wizards, putting in 3.0 points and 2.0 assists in 14.6 minutes per contest (.250 FG%, 1.000 FT%). In 50 games last season with the Hawks, he averaged 5.6 points, 1.9 assists and 1.5 rebounds in 13.4 minutes (.415 FG%, .384 3FG%, .950 FT%).

The Hawks lost guard Lou Williams to an ACL injury over the weekend.

via NBA.com

Chicago Bulls’ Carlos Boozer and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant today were named Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, Jan. 14 through Sunday, Jan. 20.

Boozer led the Bulls to a 3-1 week, which included wins over the Atlanta Hawks and Toronto Raptors. He averaged 23.0 points (fourth in the conference) and a league-leading 14.8 rebounds. Boozer recorded a point-rebound double-double in all four contests, including a 19-point, 20-rebound game on Jan. 18 during a 100-99 win over the Boston Celtics.

Durant helped Oklahoma City to a 3-1 record on the week, which included wins over the Denver Nuggets and Phoenix Suns. He averaged a league-best 37.5 points and recorded a career and NBA-season-high 52 points on January 18 during a 117-114 overtime win against the Dallas Mavericks.

“We’re very active – our owner wants us to be active,’’ [Charlotte GM Rod] Higgins told the Observer in regard to the Feb. 21 trade deadline.

Higgins said owner Michael Jordan has given Higgins and general manager Rich Cho “the green light to go out and make this team better…I don’t think there’s any limits to what we’d try to do.’’

That could range from pursuing a star player, to adding a complementary big man, to facilitating some deal between other teams to acquire a future draft pick. Higgins and Cho know, following a 10-29 start, there’s still a lot of work to do between now and a playoff appearance.

The new Seattle NBA ownership group has begun discussing possible candidates to run its franchise and has deliberated whether to target San Antonio Spurs general manager R.C. Buford and former Indiana Pacers president Larry Bird, sources told Yahoo! Sports.

To convince Buford to leave San Antonio, where he enjoys close personal and professional relationships with Popovich and owner Peter Holt, the Seattle group might need to offer a small percentage of equity into the franchise and give him autonomy to assemble and run basketball operations. Any potential offer in Seattle would need to be extraordinary to get Buford to leave the Spurs.

Bird, the NBA’s 2011 Executive of the Year, stepped away from the Pacers in the spring to take care of some health issues, but had planned to return in 2013 or ’14. Bird wants to work again and there’s nothing contractual that binds him to the Pacers. Donnie Walsh and Kevin Pritchard are running the Pacers’ front office now.

via Yahoo! Sports

Following Sunday night’s reports of the Maloofs proposed sale of the Kings to Seattle’s Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer, both the NBA and Chris Hansen released statements Monday morning:

NBA:

“The NBA received an executed Purchase and Sale Agreement for the transfer of a controlling interest in the Sacramento Kings from the Maloof family to an investor group led by Christopher Hansen. The proposed transaction is subject to the approval of the NBA Board of Governors and has been referred to the Board’s committee process for review.”

Chris Hansen:

We are happy to announce that we have entered into a binding agreement with the Maloofs to purchase a controlling interest in the Sacramento Kings NBA franchise. The sale is obviously subject to approval by the NBA Board of Governors, and we look forward to working with the League in the coming months to consummate the transaction.

While we are not at liberty to discuss the terms of the transaction or our plans for the franchise given the confidential nature of the agreement and NBA regulations regarding public comments during a pending transaction, we would just like to extend our sincerest compliments and gratitude toward the Maloof family. Our negotiations with the family were handled with the utmost honor and professionalism and we hope to continue their legacy and be great stewards of this NBA franchise in the coming years and decades.

Cavaliers center Anderson Varejao recently developed a blood clot (small right lower lung pulmonary embolism) and was admitted to the Cleveland Clinic last Thursday (January 17th). He is being treated with blood thinners (anticoagulants) and is expected to stay at the Clinic for several days, while undergoing treatment and observation. He will need to remain on blood thinning medication for approximately three months.

While Varejao is expected to fully recover, he will miss the remainder of the current Cavaliers season.

via NBA.com