If I were Raymond Felton, I'd wonder if I missed the boat ... That boat may have left last summer. It's when the Charlotte Bobcats offered about $6 million a season in a long-term contract, and he instead chose to play under the one-year qualifying offer to become an unrestricted free agent next month ... Felton played well in the regular season and poorly in the playoffs against Orlando's Jameer Nelson. I'd heard the Bobcats may have cooled on Felton, and then general manager Rod Higgins
New Orleans Hornets majority owner George Shinn has reached a deal to sell his shares of the team to minority owner Gary Chouest, according to a person familiar with the negotiations ... The club is planning an announcement on Wednesday afternoon, the person told The Associated Press on Monday, speaking on the condition of anonymity because no official announcement has been made by either party to the sale ... A call to Chouest was not immediately returned ... Chouest is a Louisiana native and
I just got confirmation that the Charlotte Bobcats are in serious final-hours discussions with the Chicago Bulls about possibly acquiring Tyrus Thomas to shore up the depth at power forward ... Any big man would be a huge plus now. The Bobcats have lost center Gana Diop for up to two weeks with a sprained right knee. The other two centers, Tyson Chandler (sprained ankle) and Nazr Mohammed (back spasms), haven't practiced in the last two days and are game-time decisions for Friday's home game
Injured Charlotte Bobcats Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton both plan to play tonight against the Washington Wizards, although Chandler might be the safer bet of the two ... Felton sprained his right ankle at practice Monday and he showed up at shootaround Tuesday morning with some swelling in the joint. Felton said he'll play, but coach Larry Brown said he'll wait until gametime, to make sure Felton can be effective. Felton is generally one of the tougher Bobcats when it comes to playing with
This much is certain; the Charlotte Bobcats' top two centers have each other's back ... Nazr Mohammed endorses giving up his starting spot to Tyson Chandler, saying he'd expect the same if he'd lost his spot to injury. Chandler replies that, as well as the Bobcats have played in his absence, he wants no part of disrupting the mix ... The coach is in-between those two positions ... "Under normal circumstances, you'd always start'' the guy who lost his spot to injury, coach Larry Brown said
Some of you have approached me lately about whether Charlotte Bobcats forward Gerald Wallace has a shot at being an All-Star. Here's my thinking: ... The five starters for each conference are picked by the fans. The seven reserves are chosen by each conference's head coaches. I think that works in Wallace's favor. No way he'd be a starter, and he's more likely to be appreciated by the coaches than the general public (at least outside Charlotte) ... The East will have at least four forwards and
There are many things you'd like a point guard to be: A creative passer. An ambidextrous dribbler. A long-range shooter. An inspiring leader ... There's one thing a point guard must be: An organizer. And that's how Raymond Felton and D.J. Augustin have failed of late ... The Charlotte Bobcats are in a six-game losing streak entering tonight's game against the Milwaukee Bucks. To say the point guards deserve all the blame wouldn't only be unfair, it would be dangerously simplistic ... But if you
Any good coach has a knack for anticipating the next move. So when Charlotte Bobcats coach Larry Brown heard a question Friday, implying Nazr Mohammed deserved a larger role, he extinguished any debate ... "At the end of the day, Tyson (Chandler) is our starting center," Brown declared, "and that's not going to change." ... Mohammed, Chandler's backup, has no problem with that. He said in the preseason he's better off, as a 12-year veteran, playing 20 minutes as a reserve than 35 as a starter
Charlotte Bobcats center Nazr Mohammed has never forgotten the night when he was a youngster and, along with a friend, got tickets to see the Chicago Bulls play the Atlanta Hawks in the old Chicago Stadium ... It was Mohammed's first time seeing an NBA game in person and, though the seats were near the top of the now-gone arena, the memory of that evening has remained with the 11-year NBA veteran ... He also remembers not having enough money to buy anything to eat at the game ... "We enjoyed the
Continuity and effort ... Those things are difficult to measure, but impossible to replace. They're what the Charlotte Bobcats have lacked at times this preseason in addressing a major concern: ... Containing opponents' dribble-penetration ... When Bobcats coach Larry Brown said he didn't like his team's energy in a 17-point loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Monday, that's some of what he meant. Hawks forward Josh Smith and rookie point guard Jeff Teague each made 10 trips to the foul line. That's a