Hooped Up

Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers has been suspended one game without pay for striking San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili in the face, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

The incident occurred on Sunday, Jan. 28 with 2.7 remaining in the fourth period of the Lakers 96-94 (OT) loss to the Spurs at Staples Center. Bryant will serve his suspension tonight when the Lakers play the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden

LA Times

Miami is shopping Jason Williams, as they look for a reliable point guard, but they are also reportedly interested in a legitimate scorer.

“A lot of calls are being made in hopes of landing a legit scorer, someone like Ricky Davis,” said one Western Conference executive.

New York Post

The Grizzlies and Eddie Jones have agreed to a buyout and could be waived as early as Tuesday.

They reportedly will sign former Washington guard Will Conroy to a 10-day contract.

Miami is believed to be interested in bringing back Jones.

Commercial Appeal

Alvin Williams’ 10-day contract with the Clippers expires on Tuesday and he will not receive another contract, a team spokesman told the Los Angeles Times.

Los Angeles Times

Starting point guard T.J. Ford practised with the Raptors yesterday after missing the past four games with a sore right ankle.

The hope is he’ll be able to play tomorrow against the visiting Washington Wizards and provide some relief for Calderon, who played an average of 41 minutes in the four games Ford missed.

“He looked rusty, but he looked all right,” head coach Sam Mitchell said of Ford’s workout. “It was nice to have him back. He tried too hard to do a few things, but if we can get healthy for the stretch run and the second half of the season, hopefully we’ll finish strong before the [all-star] break.”

Globe And Mail

Kevin Garnett almost single-handedly snapped the Phoenix Suns ‘ 17-game winning streak, scoring 44 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in Minnesota’s 121-112 victory on Monday night.

Yahoo

The odds are against the Nuggets this season using the $2.95 million trade exception they got in the Earl Boykins trade. It looks as if Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke would prefer to try to get under the luxury tax this season before the payroll goes crazy the next two years.

Rocky Mountain News

LeBron James said Monday he’ll consider sitting out Cleveland’s next few games to rest his sore right toe, which he injured on a recent road trip and aggravated during Sunday’s game against Phoenix. After missing Friday’s game at Philadelphia, James returned and scored 30 points in 42 minutes against the Suns, but he re-injured the toe during the fourth quarter of the Cavaliers’ 115-100 loss. James was kept out of an eight-minute scrimmage on Monday, but he was able to shoot, stretch and even threw around a football on the team’s practice court with teammate Sasha Pavlovic following the workout.

AP/USA Today

Joe Dumars contacted the league in protest of the technical foul called on Rasheed Wallace Sunday night, hoping to get it rescinded. But league spokesman Tim Frank told me about 10 minutes ago that it would not be I thought it was another weak, cowardly whistle against Wallace by referee Sean Corbin.

Detroit News

Charlie Villanueva and Mo Williams both were sidelined with shoulder problems and Michael Redd has been out with a strained patellar tendon in his left leg. Villanueva and Williams recently returned to action, and now Redd said he’s on the brink of returning as well. “The week of the fourth,” Redd said, referring to Feb. 4. “I’ve been doing a lot of rehab and It (the knee) is feeling pretty good again. The week of the fourth is when I want to be back.

Racine Journal Times