The NBA announced the reserves of the 2011 All-Star Game on Thursday.
Boston’s Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen were named to the team, along with Chris Bosh of Miami and Atlanta’s Al Horford and Joe Johnson.
Kevin Garnett
In the Western Conference, Dirk Nowitzki, Russell Westbrook, Pau Gasol, Blake Griffin, Deron Williams and San Antonio’s Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili were named to the team.
Kevin Love and LaMarcus Aldridge were amongst the most prominent snubs.
Commissioner David Stern will name at least one replacement for injured starting center Yao Ming.
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Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett, who was criticized last month for trash-talking that was seen as mocking cancer patients, spoke to Nuggets coach and cancer survivor George Karl after Wednesday night’s game to explain the comments.
Kevin Garnett
“I went up to him as a man, and what I said is that I had nothing personal toward him nor any other cancer patient that was out there struggling, dealing with life situations,” Garnett said. “I wanted to say that to him, man-to-man.”
HoopsWorld
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Fans of the Boston Celtics will get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the Green next month as ESPN will air a five-part series entitled “The Association.”
A news release from NBA Entertainment says: “While much of the preseason hype focused on the defending champion Lakers and the new look Miami Heat, viewers will see how the Celtics are working to prove that they never should be overlooked.”
Boston Celtics
The series, which starts Dec. 3 before the Celtics face the Chicago Bulls on ESPN, will chronicle the team’s season-long journey while also providing some insight into the history of the storied franchise.
The other episodes will air Jan. 21, Feb. 25, March 16 and April 15.
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Charlie Villanueva
The Boston Celtics pounded the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday, and messages sent from Charlie Villanueva’s Twitter account indicate Kevin Garnett may have made it personal.
One of the tweets says: “KG 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.”
Garnett is known for his trash talking on the court. Villanueva suffers from alopecia universalis, a medical condition that results in hair loss. The Pistons forward does not have hair on his head.
“KG talks alot of crap, he’s prob never been in a fight, I would love to get in a ring with him, I will expose him,” another tweet on the Villanueva account reads.
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Gasol, Garnett
Pau Gasol will never forget how Kevin Garnett belittled and humiliated him when he entered the league with with sharp words and sharper elbows. Gasol hates Garnett for it, they will tell you.
There is a visceral disdain that is stayed with the Los Angeles Lakers star, an obsession that goes beyond beating Garnett, but embarrassing him.
When Gasol grabbed a rebound over Garnett late in the Lakers’ 102-89 Game 1 victory, missed a shot, grabbed the ball again and laid it into the basket, he could not help himself. Out of nowhere, out of character, Gasol flexed his arms and screamed into the Staples Center din. It was an unmistakable mimic of K.G., a sarcastic ode to a bully he vows will never take his lunch money again.
FanNation
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Boston Celtics
If Danny Ainge built a team built for a short run, the 2010 NBA Finals may be the end of it for principals Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.
They are not getting any younger nor are they getting any better.
None of that should detract from what the Celtics have accomplished this spring — and what they may very well accomplish still — but it does place additional urgency on these finals for a team that bases its success solely on championships.
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Kevin Garnett
Celtics forward Kevin Garnett has been suspended for Game 2 of Boston’s first-round playoff series against the Heat for landing an elbow to the face of Miami’s Quentin Richardson in a fourth-quarter fracas during Saturday’s Game 1.
The announcement was made Sunday by Stu Jackson, NBA executive vice president, basketball operations.
Richardson was fined $25,000 for his role in the altercation.
Garnett earned a double technical and ejection in the melee that unfolded after Paul Pierce tumbled to the ground near the Miami bench with 40 seconds left in Boston’s victory at the TD Garden.
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Kevin Garnett
Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett has been fined $25,000 for publicly criticizing game officials and for using inappropriate language during a postgame interview.
Garnett was fined for comments he made following the Celtics’ 109-104 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday, March 31.
After that game, Garnett and the Celtics were not pleased by the amount of calls Thunder star Kevin Durant was receiving.
Inside Hoops
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Boston Celtics and LeBron
Looking to reason why the Celtics are slipping? It is simple. The Celtics have lost their edge, and good health and a couple of ubuntu chants following huddles are not going to bring it back.
This is not the 2007-08 team and the Celtics are stumbling against Eastern Conference contenders like a punch-drunk champion who has nothing but a few good rounds left.
The Celtics played a sparkling first half but had nothing for a response when the Cavaliers made adjustments, as good NBA teams do.
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