Pulse2 Technology and Social Media News » National Basketball Association

This Kid Tells LeBron How It Is [VIDEO]

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 05:24:26 +0000

LeBron James was one of the most liked players in the NBA up until he left the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat. Jeremy Lin seems to be wearing the crown for the most liked players nowadays. First it was Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert that bashed on LeBron James and now the latest person to take a shot at King James is a kid on YouTube named Sollomon Gessesse.

Gessesse does not like how the NBA dunk contest has mostly rookies while the all-stars are out partying and clubbing. Gessesse tweeted the video directly to LeBron James’ Twitter account @KingJames. This isn’t the first time that Gessesse bashed on James. Here is a tweet that he sent LeBrown back in October.

[Mashable]

Fired ESPN Editor Anthony Federico Apologizes For Jeremy Lin “Chink In The Armor” Headline

Amit Chowdhry — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 22:23:39 +0000

Jeremy Lin of the New York Knicks has become a social media sensation. Jeremy Lin did not receive any athletic scholarship out of high school and he was undrafted after graduating from Harvard University. But he was able to reach a partially guaranteed contract in 2010 with his hometown Golden State Warriors. After the first year, he was waived by the Warriors and Houston Rockets in the preseason, but he joined the Knicks in the 2011-2012 season. Lin is the first America player in the NBA to be of Chinese or Taiwanese descent.

After outscoring Kobe Bryant on February 10th, Lin started becoming more noticed by the media. The Associated press called Lin “the most surprising story in the NBA” and Time.com ran an article titled “It’s Official: Linsanity is for Real.” One of the least favorable press articles written about Lin was by ESPN editor Anthony Federico, whom used the headline “Chink in the Armor.” Federico has been fired since the article was published on ESPN’s mobile website for about half an hour before being removed.

Federico said that he did not mean any respect and was devastated once he realized what he had done.

“This had nothing to do with me being cute or punny,” Anthony Federico told the Daily News.

“I’m so sorry that I offended people. I’m so sorry if I offended Jeremy.”

Federico, 28, said he understands why he was axed. “ESPN did what they had to do,” he said.

He said he has used the phrase “at least 100 times” in headlines over the years and thought nothing of it when he slapped it on the Lin story.

Federico called Lin one of his heroes – not just because he’s a big Knicks fan, but because he feels a kinship with a fellow “outspoken Christian.”

“My faith is my life,” he said. “I’d love to tell Jeremy what happened and explain that this was an honest mistake.”

Federico’s article was highlighted by hundreds of other agencies and thousands of people on Twitter and Facebook wrote about how they were shocked to see the headline.

Before Federico could get an apology in, NBC’s Saturday Night Live was able to poke some fun at ESPN too. Check out the video below:

[NY Daily News]

NBA Referee Suing AP and Sports Writer Jon Krawczynski Over Defamation Tweet

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 15:08:32 +0000

NBA referee Bill Spooner is suing the Associated Press and sports writer John Krawczynski over defamation that was written in a tweet. Spooner has worked as a referee for 22 years and on January 24th, Krawczynski wrote a tweet that stated the referee promised a make-up call to Minnesota Timberwolves coach Kurt Ramis.

Spooner wants $75,000 plus the threat of punitive damages. Krawczynski sent out the tweet after Rambis complained to Spooner about a foul that was called against his team. “Ref Bill Spooner told Rambis he’d ‘get it back’ after a bad call,” wrote Krawczynski in the tweet. “Then he made an even worse call on the Rockets. That’s NBA officiating, folks.”

[NY Daily News]

Yahoo! Co-Founder David Filo Might Be Buying The New Orleans Hornets [RUMOR]

Amit Chowdhry — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 18:00:18 +0000

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) co-founder David Filo is rumored to be buying the National Basketball Association (NBA) team New Orleans Hornets from former owner George Shinn. Filo, 44, is a New Orleans native. He is the 356th richest person in America as of right now and he wouldn’t be the only person associated with Yahoo! to own an NBA team.

Mark Cuban sold Broadcast.com to Yahoo! for $5.7 billion in 1999. Currently he is the #400 richest person in the world and he bought the Dallas Mavericks. The Hornets had a net loss of over $18 million last season. It is unclear whether Filo would buy the team outright or if he will lead some investors in pursuing the bid.

A Yahoo! representative said that Filo has not expressed interest in buying the team, but NBC New Orleans sports anchor Fletcher Mackel said that he heard Filo’s name show up as a potential franchise owner.

[Wired]

Charlie Villanueva’s “Cancer Patient” Tweet Starts A Media Frenzy Over Kevin Garnett

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 18:09:33 +0000

Earlier this week Detroit Pistons player Charlie Villanueva sent out a tweet saying “KG [Kevin Garnett] called me a cancer patient, I’m pissed because, u know how many people died from cancer, and he’s tossing it like it’s a joke.” This tweet set off a PR backlash against Garnett and now the Boston Celtics are trying to do some crowd control. Boston Celtics coach and former NBA player Doc Rivers referred to the time that Larry Bird talked a lot of trash to him and said that it should just stay on the court.

Kevin Garnett also issued the following statement in response to the tweet:

“I am aware there was a major miscommunication regarding something I said on the court last night. My comment to Charlie Villanueva was in fact ‘You are cancerous to your team and our league.’ I would never be insensitive to the brave struggle that cancer patients endure. I have lost loved ones to this deadly disease and have a family member currently undergoing treatment. I would never say anything that distasteful. The game of life is far bigger than the game of basketball.”

[Boston.com]

Dancing Boston Celtics Fan Goes Viral [VIDEO]

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 00:37:41 +0000

The Boston Celtics and Bon Jovi both have a huge and passionate fan base. What happens when you play Bon Jovi at a Boston Celtics game? The video below is close to 50,000 views in a day:

LeBron James Booed At Cedar Point [VIRAL VIDEO]

Amit Chowdhry — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 04:50:38 +0000

LeBron James is seen as the athlete that turned his back in Ohio when he left the NBA Cleveland Cavaliers team and went to the Miami Heat. Its no wonder that he was booed and called names at Cedar Point, an amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. This video has been watched over 300,000 times since being uploaded about a week ago.

Larry Ellison Loses Bid For Golden State Warriors

Amit Chowdhry — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 15:40:28 +0000

Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ:ORCL) co-founder Larry Ellison lost a bid to buy out the Golden State Warriors NBA team. The person who won ownership is Joseph Lacob, a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Lacob also has part ownership in the Boston Celtics NBA team.

Mandalay Entertainment chairman and CEO Peter Guber is also co-leading the ownership in the Warriors. Ellison valuated the Warriors at $400 million and did not raise his bid any higher than that. “Although I was the highest bidder, Chris Cohan decided to sell to someone else,” said Ellison in an statement from Oracle. “In my experience, this is a bit unusual.”

[CNET]

NBA Player Brandon Jennings Fined $7,500 For Tweet

Amit Chowdhry — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:22:15 +0000

Milwaukee Bucks point guard basketball player Brandon Jennings was one of the best basketball players at Oak Hill Academy in Virginia. After graduating high school, he played professional basketball for Lottomatica Roma in Italy. After playing for a year in Italy, Jennings was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2009 NBA Draft. Jennings was recently fined for tweeting (posting a status message on Twitter.com) about a basketball game about 15 minutes after it ended.

According to National Basketball Association (NBA) policy, players are not allowed to tweet until after the media is finished discussing the game. Jennings was charged $7,500 as a result of the tweet he sent out after the game. Jennings tweeted “Back to 500. Yess!!! ‘500? means where doing good. Way to Play Hard Guys” shortly after the game.

Currently Jennings has about 13,659 followers on Twitter and sent out about a total of 965 tweets. His user name is YUNGBUCK3. Jennings sent out several tweets after being fined in response. He wrote, “I understand I got fined, but 7500? For being happy over a win, you would of thought I said something bad. I mean it was a big win for us.”

Jennings isn’t the only one who was fined for tweeting by the NBA. Dallas Mavericks owner and Internet entrepreneur Mark Cuban was fined $25,000 for criticizing NBA referees on Twitter this past March.

Allen Iverson Announces Joining Memphis Grizzlies On Twitter First

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 09:03:38 +0000

Allen Iverson has become one of the most controversial players in the NBA. In the 1996 NBA Draft, Iverson was the number one pick for the Philadelphia 76ers and he was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in that same year. Iverson also won the All-Star MVP award in 2001 and 2005. But his track record hasn’t been as strong as it was before.

All the awards Iverson made got to his head a little bit. He started missing team practices during the 2002 NBA Playoffs. At the time, the 76ers coach was Larry Brown. At a press conference, Iverson stated “We’re sitting here, and I’m supposed to be the franchise player, and we’re talking about practice.” He then ranted about the situation further and mentioned the word “practice” about 25 times. The video of this interview became a viral hit.

Iverson was later traded to the Denver Nuggets and then to the Detroit Pistons. In April 2009, Iverson did not play much for the Detroit Pistons because of a back injury and Iverson said that he’d rather retire than be benched. It was uncertain where Iverson would land next because he had not helped the Pistons win any games and his back was injured.

A couple of days ago, Iverson’s future career was made clear through a Twitter tweet. Above is a picture of that tweet. Iverson will now be playing for the Memphis Grizzlies. Iverson will make $3.5 million this year when playing for the Grizzlies.