NBA News Wire
NBA roundup: Clippers give Rivers front-office title
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
In the midst of the saga involving unsettled ownership, the Los Angeles Clippers shuffled their front office Monday.
Coach Doc Rivers added the title of president of basketball operations, putting him in charge of deciding which players will make up his roster.
Kevin Eastman, formerly an assistant coach, will be Rivers’ deputy as the vice president of basketball operations.
Dave Wohl, formerly the director of pro scouting, gains the title of general manager.
Three men were demoted: Gary Sacks, from vice president of basketball operations to assistant general manager; Gerald Madkins, from basketball operations director to scouting director; and Jason Piombetti, from scouting director to assistant scouting director.
The Los Angeles Times reported that former New Jersey Nets and Detroit Pistons head coach Lawrence Frank is a candidate to become an assistant coach under Rivers.
—ABC’s broadcast of the 2014 NBA Finals on ABC averaged 15,524,000 viewers and a 9.3 U.S. household rating, according to Nielsen.
The San Antonio Spurs’ series victory over the Miami Heat in five games drew more viewers than the 15,120,000 who watched the Heat defeat the Spurs in the NBA Finals last year. The 2013 finals had a 9.1 rating.
Sunday’s series clincher generated 17,881,000 viewers, representing a 10 percent increase from 16,267,000 in 2013. Viewership peaked with 22,400,000 viewers in the last half hour of the game.
—Miami center Chris Andersen will decline his $1.45 million player option for next season and become a free agent on July 1, Yahoo Sports reported.
Andersen has been an asset for the Heat overall, but his play during the NBA Finals was subpar. He scored just 2.6 points per game on 25 percent shooting.
—Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki told a Dallas radio station that he hopes the team goes after New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony, who reportedly intends to become a free agent July 1.
“If Carmelo would really love to come here, we’d love to have him,” Nowitzki told 105.3 The Fan.
Anthony can opt out of the final year of his contract this summer and file for free agency. The Knicks want to keep him but he plans to opt out of his deal, according to reports.
—Latvian forward Kristaps Porzingis withdrew from the 2014 NBA draft, according to reports.
Porzingis, an athletic 7-footer projected at No. 36 by The Sports Xchange, was one of the hot names in the draft in recent weeks.
Forward Damien Inglis of France, projected at No. 55 by TSX, changed his mind — apparently twice — and will stay in the draft, according to reports.
