Free Republic

OAKLAND — What's one more week compared to a 40-year championship drought? What's one more week when it means a shot at the first title in franchise history? The Warriors eliminated the Rockets with a 104–90 victory in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals on Wednesday, advancing to an NBA Finals date with the Cavaliers. This is a matchup worth waiting for, and a little patience will be required. Because both Golden State and Cleveland made quick work of their conference finals foes, the NBA will hit the pause button for a full week before the championship series opens...

Marques Haynes, the legendary Harlem Globetrotters showman often called the greatest dribbler in basketball history, has died. He was 89. He died Friday in Plano, Texas, of natural causes, the Globetrotters said. CEO Kurt Schneider said “basketball has lost one of its most iconic figures.” Haynes made the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998, the first Globetrotter to be so honored. He had two stints with the touring team — from 1947-53 and 1972-79.

A historic player is going home. Derrick Gordon, who is from New Jersey, announced Sunday, on Twitter, he's decided to finish his college hoops career at Seton Hall. It will be Gordon's third school; he began at Western Kentucky, then spent the past three years at UMass. Gordon announced his intentions to transfer in late March. His move is notable because he became the first openly gay player in men's Division I hoops when he came out in the spring of 2014.

Businessman and Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is known for his passionate outbursts in all spheres of his life, including the success of his team. So after last night’s incredibly exciting buzzer-beating game-winning shot by the Clippers’ Chris Paul, he Ballmered out all over the place – surprising no one, but delighting everyone (except for Spurs fans).You can’t really blame Steve Ballmer for reacting as he did. Even fans who don’t have any financial interest in the LA Clippers were probably losing their minds after Chris Paul took the game away from the Spurs with just a single second...

BROCKTON, Mass. - Authorities have identified a teenager stabbed to death during a basketball court melee in Brockton and say an arrest warrant has been issued for the suspect. Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz says 18-year-old Ywron Martins of Brockton died at a hospital Wednesday night after being stabbed earlier in the evening at the James Edgar Playground. Cruz says two other people stabbed in the fight are expected to survive their injuries.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The billionaire wife of former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling got her revenge against a woman he secretly showered with gifts and whose recording of his racially offensive rant cost him ownership of the team. Shelly Sterling's victory Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court will force V. Stiviano to surrender a $1.8 million duplex and return $800,000 lavished on her in cash handouts and several luxury cars, including a Ferrari, during a shadowy relationship....

Lauren Hill spent her final year polishing a layup and inspiring others to live fully. She succeeded at both as she fought an inoperable brain tumor. The 19-year-old freshman basketball player at Mount St. Joseph University died at a hospital Friday morning, the co-founder of her nonprofit foundation told The Associated Press. "Through Lauren's fundraising and advocacy efforts, she not only became a spotlight on the lack of funding for cancer research, but she most certainly has become a beacon guiding researchers for years to come," The Cure Starts Now co-founder Brooke Desserich said.

Coach Knight didn't hesitate to push young people, or anyone who worked with him to the very edge of their emotional and physical capacity. That was the only way that he thought he could get the very most out of our generally lazy human nature. We were always highly prepared because we didn't want to receive the wrath of Coach if we weren't, or even more so we didn't want to let him down.

"[..... Currently, the NCAA is coming under close scrutiny for the “one-and-done” recruiting policy schools are using to secure highly-touted freshmen, and McCaskill used her congratulatory tweet to the Blue Devils as an opportunity to criticize the collegiate athletic body. .....]"

Kentucky guard Andrew Harrison seemed to mumble an obscenity and a racial slur as a question about Wisconsin's Frank Kaminsky was being asked during a postgame news conference at the Final Four. Harrison and the Wildcats were upset 71-64 by the Badgers on Saturday night.

MADISON (WITI) — Governors Scott Walker and Steve Beshear offered up a friendly wager on Friday, April 3rd in anticipation of the NCAA Final Four men’s basketball game on Saturday. Governor Walker bet an assortment of Wisconsin cheese and sausage, and root beer, that the Wisconsin Badgers will win, while Governor Beshear wagered Kentucky bourbon for a University of Kentucky Wildcats victory. In a news release, Gov. Walker said the following: “The Badgers have had an incredible season thus far and have represented Wisconsin admirably both on and off the court. As we face the Kentucky Wildcats in the Final...

What’s the worst thing that could happen when your Windows update takes longer than expected? Ask the Paderborn Finke Baskets, a German pro basketball team who got relegated thanks to Windows’ sluggish performance. The Spiralling Progress Indicator of Doom spelled the end of the team’s run in Division Two of the Basketball Bundesliga. As the home team in a match against Chemnitz, the Finke Baskets were responsible for the large score display screen. The laptop controlling the screen crashed right before the start of the game and upon re-start insisted on installing automatic Windows updates. The game was supposed to...

The Mid-American Conference announced it won't hold championships or meetings in Indiana in response to the state's recent signing of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, ESPN reported Tuesday. Conference commissioner Jon Steinbrecher said the league would continue to avoid conducting business in the Hoosier state until, "the current matter is brought to a sensible and appropriate conclusion."

Rod Hundley, basketball’s irrepressible Hot Rod, who parlayed showmanship on the court with flair at the microphone to become a fan favorite for more than half a century, died on Friday at his home near Phoenix. He was 80. Hundley was an electrifying presence at West Virginia University, played for the Lakers and stamped his persona on broadcasting, mostly for the New Orleans Jazz. “Nobody did the things I did on the court and nobody has done them since,” Hundley said of his collegiate exploits in “Hot Rod Hundley: You Gotta Love It Baby!” (2012), written with Tom McEachin. “I’d...

The late North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith said thank you to all of his former players one last time in his will. About 180 former Tar Heels will get $200 checks from the accountant who administers his trust. The checks contain the notation "Dinner out."

On Thursday, University of Kentucky men’s basketball coach John Calipari reacted to his team’s performance or lack thereof in his halftime interview during Kentucky’s game against Hampton, an inferior opponent.

One team President Barack Obama didn’t have the opportunity to pick when he joined ESPN this week to fill out his NCAA March Madness bracket was Oregon State, which has yet to recover from a disastrous six years under the guidance of his brother-in-law, Craig Robinson. Robinson, Michelle Obama’s brother, was fired by Oregon State after six straight disappointing seasons as head coach—the team went 39–69 in the Pac 12 and never made the NCAA Tournament or the NIT. Not only did Robinson fail to get results at Oregon State, he also left a mess for new coach Wayne Tinkle....

Like Las Vegas oddsmakers and nearly half the people making picks in ESPN's Tournament Challenge, President Barack Obama likes Kentucky to win the NCAA men's basketball championship. Obama, a die-hard basketball fan who has filled out a bracket for ESPN since he became president in 2009, picked Kentucky to beat Villanova in the title game. His complete bracket was revealed Wednesday morning.

The Southwestern Athletic Conference has suspended seven Southern women’s basketball players and eight Texas Southern players for their role in a chaotic on-court brawl Saturday night, the Advocate is reporting. The conference also announced that the game will count as a loss for both teams, meaning Texas Southern earned the SWAC regular season title at 16-2 while Southern fell to 15-3. However, Texas Southern announced it will not participate in the SWAC tournament because it will not have enough players to field a five-person lineup. Southern will have six available players for its game against Grambling on Wednesday in the...

Basketball is in the headlines, but football is the great corrupter in college sports. Headlines, even in sports, can be deceptive. But it’s hard getting around the contrast in last weekend’s banners regarding two universities that are involved in one of the greatest (though temporarily suspended) rivalries in college basketball. On one side is Syracuse. Having already removed themselves from postseason play due to self-reported academic infractions, the Orange were hit by the NCAA with more severe penalties: five years’ probation, twelve forfeited scholarships over the next four years, and the vacating of 108 wins accumulated with the efforts of...