Hooped Up

The Celtics appear to be close to adding free agent forward P.J. Brown to their roster. Brown’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, acknowledged it is “possible” that Brown could be a Celtic soon.

Boston Globe

Chris Duhon may be the odd man out in the Bulls’ suddenly crowded backcourt, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune is reporting.

“There are times teams want to go in another direction or have guys who they expect to play a lot next year,” Duhon said after practice on Tuesday. “If my time does come again this season, that’s great. If not, I can’t let that affect the player I am.”

“Right now I just have to be a good teammate and, whenever this season is over, see what my options are.”

Chris  does however have options after basketball as you can see here.

Chicago Tribune

The Olympic dream of Chinese centre Yao Ming is in jeopardy over a stress fracture in his left foot.

Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey announced late Tuesday that Yao will be sidelined for the rest of the regular NBA basketball season and the playoffs as well.

Time could then be running out for Yao in his bid to play at the home Olympics in Beijing which take place August 8-24.

There was shock in China over the injury and the Chinese basketball federation announced a news conference for later Wednesday on Yao’s fate.

Yao is the most famoust Chinese athlete along with 110m hurdles world champion and world record holder Liu Xiang. He played in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics and had the honour of being China’s flag- bearer at the opening ceremony of the 2004 Games in Athens.

“If I cannot play in the Olympics for my country this time, it will be the biggest loss in my career to right now,” said Yao, who required six months of recovery in his comeback from a fracture in the same left foot in 2006.

Bangkok Post

An error in sentencing is keeping one of the two men convicted in the killing of Michael Jordan’s father from seeking parole, according to the Associated Press.

Larry Martin Demery was given a life sentence after the July 1993 shooting of James Jordan, and also received time in prison for another conviction. Therein lies the issue.

“Case law now says the remedy is to withdraw the guilty plea and renegotiate a new sentence or have a new trial,” Attorney Hugh Rogers told the AP on Monday. “We’re not looking for trials, but hopefully we can set aside the convictions, enter a new plea and we’ll be looking at one life sentence.”

The Suns expect to hear from free agent guard Brent Barry either late Monday or early Tuesday regarding Barry’s choice of teams, an NBA source said Monday… It is believed that the Suns and Spurs are the leading contenders, but Houston and Boston are also in the mix.

East Valley Tribune

Antoine Walker’s agent is working to get him out of Minnesota and onto a playoff team, but that remains a substantial `if’ to happen by a Saturday deadline. “We’re trying to find a solution that makes sense,” agent Mark Bartelstein said Monday. “We’re trying to find something, if it ever comes together. There’s a lot at stake, a lot involved. But nothing’s been decided at this point.”

Minneapolis Star Tribune

Jamaal Magloire, a center the Mavs are interested in signing, he can be added to the 15-man regular season roster at any point and still be eligible for the playoff roster because the Nets released him prior to March 1. Last season the Mavs signed Kevin Willis at the beginning of April, but because he was not on another team’s roster at any point from March 1 on, he was eligible for the Mavs’ playoff roster.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

The Hornets have 13 players under contract, and Bower said he continues to have conversations with P.J. Brown’s agent Mark Bartelstein. The Hornets want to bring back Brown, who has retired and has turned down several offers from other teams.

New Orleans Times Picayune