Heat owner fined $500K for lockout tweets
Miami Heat owner Micky Arison arrives to NBA labor negotiations at The Waldorf Astoria on September 30, 2011 in New York City.
/ Photo by Michael Cohen/Getty Images(CBS/AP) The NBA laid down a threatening commandment before the current labor dispute even began: Though shalt not speak, write or tweet about the lockout.
Miami Heat owner Micky Arison just found out the consequences of doing so -half a million dollars. That's reportedly the invoice the league sent him three days after he made references to the locked-out league's ongoing collective bargaining process on his Twitter account.
The NBA did not disclose the amount of the fine, or say publicly why Arison was sanctioned, but league sources told ESPN.com that the fine was $500,000.
That dollar amount, which was confirmed by the Sun-Sentinel, is five times the tally other owners have been docked for publicly commenting about the labor dispute, ESPN notes.
Arison posted several tweets Friday night, including a reply to someone who referred to those involved with the lockout as "greedy ... pigs." Arison replied by saying "Honestly u r barking at the wrong owner."
That tweet was deleted a short time later.
Charlotte Bobcats owner Michael Jordan was fined $100,000 in September after he told an Australian media outlet the NBA's current business model was "broken."
Last year, Stern fined Wizards owner Ted Leonsis $100,000 for saying the owners wanted a hard salary cap.
So why was Arison fined $500,000 when Jordan and Leonsis were "only" docked $100K? Hard to tell.
But while $500K may seem like an astronomical sum, for Arison it's a tiny dent in the bank account. According to Forbes, his net worth is cool $4.4 billion.
ESPN: The worldwide leader in swaying sports?
Is ESPN influencing conference realignment in college sports?
/ CBSESPN raised eyebrows this year when it sealed a 20-year, $300 million deal with the University of Texas to launch The Longhorn Network. Many in the Big 12 were wary of ESPN devoting an entire channel to one school.
The blockbuster deal certainly reinforced ESPN's reputation as the most pervasive sports network in college sports. But it also raised red flags, particularly two months ago when ESPN.com published a story promoting Top 25 games and included the Texas-Rice game - even though the Longhorns were not ranked in the Top 25.
The sports blog Awful Announcing called it "Exhibit A of ESPN bending the rules."
But is ESPN now bending rules to influence conference realignment?
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Watch: Notre Dame coach stage dives, crowd surfs
Notre Dame basketball coach Mike Brey goes cord surfing at a pep rally.
/ YouTubeAs pro basketball fans watch the 2011 season slowly get wiped away, college hoops fans are primed for tip off.
And if Friday's pep rally at Notre Dame is any indication, it's not just the players and fans who are pumped up. After imploring students to attend a home basketball game the night before the Nov. 19 football game against Boston College, Irish coach Mike Brey hands off the mic, takes a deep breath and stage dives into a sea of co-eds in South Bend. (See video below).
Continue »Kenyon Martin tweets "haters:" Get AIDS and die
Kenyon Martin's Twitter rant
/ TwitterWhen the Denver Nuggets failed to offer Kenyon Martin a contract extension before the NBA lockout, the veteran forward opted last month to sign a one-year deal to play in China - and he vented his frustrations to toward his former team.
"That's their problem," he told Yahoo! Sports. "They made that bed. Guess what? Let them lie in it."
But that mild rebuke is nothing compared to Martin's Twitter tirade Sunday night, in which he had some choice words for "haters."
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Chinese Pacers fans reenact Reggie Miller's greatest hits
(CBS) - The NBA lockout is still in full effect, labor talks broke down earlier this week, and there is a very real possibility that the league will cancel the first few weeks of the season. But at least we'll always have China! This video of a gang of Chinese Indiana Pacers fans reenacting some of Reggie Miller's greatest hits is all the basketball we need right now.
Continue »Spurs' star to play in France "nearly for free"
Memphis vs. San Antonio: Game Two
San Antonio Spurs' Tony Parker.
(CBS/AP) With the NBA season in jeopardy, it's intriguing (and entertaining) to see which employment opportunities players are seeking - and for how much money.
Several players are pursuing low-salaried non-basketball interests. Kevin Love opted to play beach volleyball. Blake Griffin decided to intern for Will Ferrell's production company. Delonte West? He's working at a furniture store.
Of course, several players have either signed lucrative contracts to play abroad or expressed interest in doing do - most notably Kobe Bryant and his Italian courtship.
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Delonte West hired despite gun "misunderstanding"
Delonte West's job application for Regency Furniture Showrooms.
/ CBS/TwitterHere's a scenario to ponder: You're riding a motorcycle. You're carrying a bag full of loaded weapons. You're under the influence of bipolar disorder medication. You get arrested.
Now it's two years later. How in the world do you explain this conviction on a job application?
If you're NBA free agent Delonte West, you do it with one word: "Misunderstanding."
Give West credit. During the NBA lockout, he's spurned playing ball in China or Turkey and decided to seek employment in the good old USA - considering everything from working at Home Depot to selling knives. Finally, this week, he started a gig at a furniture store - thanks, in part, to his creative answers on the job application.
On the Regency Furniture Showrooms questionnaire, West writes that he is ready to start work "yesterday" and that he found out about the company through "word of mouth."
When asked if he's ever been convicted of a crime, West checks yes. When asked to "describe in full," the player doesn't exactly oblige with "full" details. Apparently Regency was satisfied with his "misunderstanding" explanation because he got the job the next day.
West's pithy yet creative response is surpassed in hilarity only by Shaquille O'Neal's 2004 job application for the Miami Beach police force. (When told to list any special skills or equipment expertise, Shaq simply wrote: "Laptop computer, binnochulars [sic], master of surveillance." When asked to give the definition of deadly force, Shaq offered this enigmatic answer: "Red, yellow, green.")
Many fans are dreading the prospect of losing the 2011 season. But that could also mean finding more job application gems like these.
Report: Italian team offers Kobe $600K per game
Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant, center, reacts during a basketball clinic on Saturday Sept. 17, 2011 in Singapore. Bryant says he's still considering playing overseas as an owners' lockout of players threatens to sabotage the upcoming NBA season.
/ AP Photo/Wong Maye-ELet's do some math.
Under the terms of his current contract, Kobe Bryant is poised to make over $25 million for the Lakers this season (if there is a season, of course). Divide that by 82 games and that's a little more than $300,000 per game. Not bad.
But as the NBA lockout drags on, many antsy players have been wooed by deep-pocketed teams overseas and Bryant is no exception. Now, according to BolognaBasket.it, Virtus Bologna has offered the Lakers superstar double what he currently makes: $600,000 per game. That's $12,500 per minute, or about $200 per second.
Continue »Report: Jordan fined $100K for lockout comments
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Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
Michael Jordan is no stranger to fines.
In the 90s, the NBA fined the Bulls superstar $5,000 a game for wearing his Air Jordan's during games because they didn't meet the leagues' footwear regulations.
And this summer, Jordan (now the Charlotte Bobcats owner) was warned by the league not to play with locked-out players in a charity golf tournament - or else pay $1 million. (Jordan ended up playing, but not with NBA players).
Now, sources tell Chris Broussard of ESPN The Magazine, Jordan has been slapped with a $100,000 fine for comments he made about the lockout and a current NBA player.
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NBA 2K12: Hands-on preview
This post originally appeared on GameCore
The NBA 2K series has prided itself on nailing the nuances of basketball like arguably no other video game. So when I was given hands-on time with NBA 2K12, all of the subtle gameplay refinements created a level of immersion few sports titles have attained.Continue »
Mark Cuban on buying Dodgers: "It's a long shot"
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban accepts the award for best team at the 2011 ESPY Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live July 13, 2011, in Los Angeles.
/ Getty ImagesDallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban hasn't ruled out the possibility of buying the Los Angeles Dodgers, but he also hasn't decided he wants to sink his money into the team that filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this summer.
"It's a long shot," Cuban said on CBSNews.com's "What's Trending" Tuesday. "It's a real long shot."
Watch: LeBron cajoled in Spain, mocked in Ohio
LeBron James can't seem to escape his critics - whether it's at a Spanish swimming pool or on an American football field.
The Miami Heat superstar was in Barcelona recently and somehow ended up on the high dive at a pool.
The crowd, spurred by a bilingual emcee, clapped and encouraged him to "Jump, LeBron!"
Continue »Kobe accused of injuring man in church scuffle
Kobe Bryant in a 2010 file photo.
/ AP Photo/Reed SaxonSan Diego police Tuesday were investigating a man's claim that he was injured by Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant during an incident at a Carmel Valley church, CBS affiliate KFMB reports.
The alleged incident took place at St. Therese of Carmel on Sunday.
Bryant was attending a church service and thought someone was taking pictures of him with a cellphone, according to broadcast reports.
Police said that Bryant took the phone from the man but saw no pictures on it, then left the church.
Continue »Shaq names "old-school" NBA stars he'd fight
Shaquille O'Neal warms up before Game Three of the Eastern Conference Semifinals in the 2011 NBA Playoffs May 7, 2011, at the TD Garden in Boston.
/ Getty Images
The NBA hasn't even started its next season, and already Shaquille O'Neal wants to fight his "Inside the NBA" co-star Charles Barkley.
O'Neal, who retired this spring after 19 years in the league and will join Barkley on the TNT analysis show, listed the former Philadelphia 76ers star among the five players he'd like to take on in a mixed martial arts fight.
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NBA star Beasley shoves fan at NYC playground
Michael Beasley of the Minnesota Timberwolves reacts after he is called for an offensive foul in the first half against the Boston Celtics on January 3, 2011 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.
/ Getty Images/ElsaCBS/AP) What's the difference between Kevin Durant and Michael Beasley?
Well, the obvious answer is Durant is the superior player, the reigning NBA scoring champion and stars on an up-and-coming playoff team. Beasley is brash and talented but is a confrontational player (on a dysfunctional Minnesota squad) who has run afoul of the law (busted for pot possession just last month).
But Durant has another edge on Beasley - he knows how to handle jeering fans.
On Thursday night, Beasley shoved a heckler in the face with his hand during a playground game - two nights after Durant silenced a heckler by ignoring him and hitting the game-winning shot.
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