Nets introduce 3 new draft picks

When New Jersey Nets president Rod Thorn introduced the team’s three new draft picks Monday, he praised the trio as much for their reputations off the court as their ability on it. “You always look for ability, but you also have to have character,” Thorn said as he introduced first-round selections Brook Lopez and Ryan Anderson and second-round pick Chris Douglas-Roberts. “That’s what we like about all three.”

In the past two years, the Nets gambled with first-round picks, taking Marcus Williams in 2006 and Sean Williams last year – players who had shady pasts and run-ins with the law during their college days at Connecticut and Boston College respectively.

That’s not the case with the team’s three selections this year.

Kobe Bryant’s time has arrived

The game is the same, as is the goal: win it all and bring home a gold medal from the Beijing Summer Games. Kobe Bryant sat down with The Times on Sunday to talk about Team USA before departing for New York, where he and his U.S. teammates — including Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade — will be formally introduced during a promotional tour.

Question:On a team full of stars on their respective teams, how does each find his individual role?

Answer: It’s actually pretty easy. It’s not necessarily about roles or what have you. It’s just playing basketball. A lot of philosophies that we play with on the Lakers is the same thing we do here. Just hit the open man when you have the opportunity, make it quick. If not, you just move the ball and try to get an open shot.

Rockets bid to hold Landry with qualifying offer

The Rockets extended a qualifying offer to restricted free-agent forward Carl Landry on Sunday. In his first season out of Purdue, the 6-9 Landry averaged 8.1 points and 4.9 rebounds in 42 games.

According to the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement, the qualifying offer establishes the Rockets’ right of first refusal. Restricted free agents may sign an offer with any team, but the Rockets have the ability to match any offer to Landry.

The one-year contract Landry signed last October called for a team option of $711,000 for next season. The Rockets will have only the mid-level exception (expected to be roughly $6 million) to offer to free agents while staying under the luxury tax.

Robert Horry

Robert Keith Horry (born August 25, 1970 in Harford County, Maryland) is an American professional basketball player. Horry currently plays for the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs, and is known for his clutch shooting in important games. Because of this skill, he is known as “Big Shot Rob”.

This name is a play on the nickname of fellow former Laker “Big Game” James Worthy. In his playing career, Horry has won seven NBA championships: two with the Houston Rockets, three with the Los Angeles Lakers and two with the San Antonio Spurs. Horry’s last name is pronounced “Orry”, with the H being silent.

Tim Duncan

Timothy “Tim” Theodore Duncan (born April 25, 1976 in Christiansted, St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands) is an American professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 6′11″ (2.11 m), 260-pound (118 kg) power forward/center is a four-time NBA champion, a three-time NBA Finals Most Valuable Player, and the current captain of the Spurs. He has also won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award twice, and has been voted into ten All-Star games, 11 All-NBA teams, and 11 All-Defensive teams.

Duncan started out as a swimmer and only began playing basketball in ninth grade, and had difficulties adapting. However, he soon became a standout for St. Dunstan’s Episcopal High School, and had an illustrious college career with the Wake Forest University Demon Deacons, winning the Naismith College Player of the Year, USBWA College Player of the Year and John Wooden awards in his final year. Duncan graduated from college before entering the 1997 NBA Draft as the number one pick, and his list of accomplishments and leadership in the Spurs’ NBA title runs in 1999, 2003, 2005, and 2007 have led basketball experts to consider him to be one of the greatest power forwards in NBA history.

Off the court, Duncan is known for his quiet and unassuming ways, as well as his active philanthropy. He holds an honors degree in psychology and created the Tim Duncan Foundation to raise general health awareness and fund education and youth sports in various parts of the United States.

Jason Kidd

Jason Frederick Kidd (born March 23, 1973) is an American professional basketball player in the NBA who currently plays for the Dallas Mavericks.

He led the New Jersey Nets to two consecutive NBA Finals appearances (2002 and 2003) and is considered to be one of the best players of his generation. His on-court versatility also makes him a regular triple-double threat, and he is in third place all-time for regular season triple-doubles in the NBA with a career total of 100 (as of April 16, 2008) and second in playoffs triple-doubles with a career total of 11 (as of May 12, 2007).

Steve Nash

Stephen John Nash, OC, OBC (born 7 February 1974), is a Canadian professional basketball player who plays point guard for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nash, who was born in South Africa but grew up in Canada, enjoyed a successful high-school basketball career, and he was eventually given a scholarship by Santa Clara University. In his four seasons with the Broncos, the team made three NCAA Tournament appearances, and Nash was twice named the West Coast Conference Player of the Year.

After graduating from Santa Clara as the team’s all-time leader in assists, he entered the 1996 NBA Draft and was selected as the 15th pick by the Phoenix Suns. He made a minimal impact, and was traded to the Dallas Mavericks in 1998. By his third season with the Mavericks, he was voted into his first NBA All-Star Game and had earned his first All-NBA selection. Together with Dirk Nowitzki and Michael Finley, Nash led the Mavericks to the Western Conference Finals the following season. However, he became a free agent after the 2003–04 season and returned to the Phoenix Suns.

In the 2004–05 season, Nash led the Suns to the Western Conference Finals, and was named the league’s Most Valuable Player (MVP). He was named MVP again in the 2005–06 season, and missed out on a third consecutive MVP title to Nowitzki the next season. Named by ESPN in 2006 as the ninth greatest point guard of all time, Nash has led the league in assists and free-throw percentage at various points in his career, although he has occasionally been criticized for his poor defence. He is also ranked as one of the top players in league history for three-point shooting, free-throw shooting, total assists and assists per game.

Nash, who is married, is involved in charity and humanitarian work, and he is also interested in soccer and film-making. In 2006, Time magazine named Nash as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. On 28 December 2007 it was announced that Nash would receive Canada’s highest civilian honour, the Order Of Canada, and on 3 June 2008, it was announced that Nash would receive a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame.

Paul Pierce

Paul Anthony Pierce (born October 13, 1977 in Oakland, California), nicknamed The Truth,[1] is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the NBA. He earned All-America First Team honors in his junior year at Kansas, and has been a starter every season since being selected by the Celtics with the 10th overall pick in the 1998 NBA Draft.

He is a 6-time All-Star and led Boston to an appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2002 and the 2008 championship. He was named the 2008 NBA Finals MVP in his first trip to the NBA Finals.

NBA is finding a new way

You couldn’t say the quote, unquote, Renewal of the Storied Lakers-Celtics Rivalry, lived up to everyone’s expectations, especially around here. After blowing a 24-point lead in Game 4 that was probably the biggest in Finals history and getting humiliated in Game 6, the Lakers are like their 1984 team that coughed up a title to the Celtics . . . living in the hope of a rematch next spring.

In the meantime, Lakers fans can take this summer off. Kobe Bryant’s comments after Thursday’s exit meeting made it clear that he’s happy, officially ending last summer. This being a 180-degree turn — by a force of nature who isn’t given to making one-degree turns — their season was already a success, or a miracle, by Jan. 14.

Clippers glad to have Eric Gordon

There was only one other player on the court when the baby-faced Gordon took center stage in workouts for the Clippers. That was Nevada’s Marcelus Kemp, not as elite a prospect as Gordon, but one that stretched a couple of inches taller.

Battling those types of players was one of the few lingering questions the Clippers had concerning Gordon and when he answered those, the Clippers couldn’t pass on him with the seventh overall pick in Thursday’s NBA draft.

“They tried to see if I could guard guys that were stronger and bigger and I think I pretty much showed a good taste of that,” said Gordon, who declared for the draft after his freshman season at Indiana. Through all the trade rumors, politicking and hearsay, the Clippers cobbled up the player they had long coveted. In the hours before the choice, the Clippers continued discussions with the Seattle SuperSonics in trading up to the fourth overall slot with thoughts of picking Gordon there in a move that never materialized.