LeBron James, Robert Covington Both Fined $15K By NBA
Lakers star LeBron James has been fined $15K for making an obscene gesture on the court, the league announced (Twitter link).
The incident occurred at the end of the fourth quarter during the team’s overtime win against Indiana on Nov. 24. He was also warned for using profanity during his post-game availability in response to his one-game suspension.
In a separate tweet, the league also announced that Trail Blazers forward Robert Covington was fined $15K for throwing his face mask at a referee.
The incident took place in the second quarter of the team’s loss against Sacramento on Nov. 24. Covington received a technical and was ejected from the game.
Robert Covington Ejected From Wednesday's Game
- Trail Blazers forward Robert Covington was ejected from Wednesday’s game in Sacramento for throwing his face guard and hitting an official’s foot with it. As Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian relays, head coach Chauncey Billups and star guard Damian Lillard said after the game that it was an accident. “Roco always takes his mask off and tosses it to the side,” Lillard said. “This time he just tossed it and it literally bounced into the referee.” It remains to be seen whether Covington will be fined by the NBA for the incident.
Quick: Blazers Evolving From Collection Of Players Into Team
- The Trail Blazers, who are riding a three-game winning streak, are showing signs of evolving from a collection of players into a team, according to Jason Quick of The Athletic. Quick points to a few moments that have shown that evolution, including Larry Nance Jr. making sure rookie Trendon Watford got the game ball when he scored his first NBA points in a blowout loss to Denver.
Damian Lillard, Giannis Antetokounmpo Named Players Of The Week
Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard has been named the Player of the Week for the Western Conference and Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo has earned the honor for the Eastern Conference, the NBA announced today (via Twitter).
Lillard’s Blazers only played three games during the week of November 15-21, but won all three. The All-NBA guard averaged 28.3 PPG and 8.3 APG in victories over Toronto, Chicago, and Philadelphia, racking up 39 points in Friday’s game vs. the Sixers. He beat out fellow Western Conference nominees Deandre Ayton, Jordan Poole, and Karl-Anthony Towns (Twitter link).
Antetokounmpo and the Bucks also enjoyed a 3-0 week, with Giannis putting up eye-popping averages of 33.3 PPG, 16.0 RPG, 5.0 APG, and 2.7 BPG against the Lakers, Thunder, and Magic. His week included a 47-point outburst vs. Los Angeles and a 32-point, 20-rebound showing vs. Orlando.
The two-time MVP won the award over a crowded field of Eastern Conference nominees: LaMelo Ball, Jimmy Butler, Clint Capela, DeMar DeRozan, Darius Garland, James Harden, Tyrese Maxey, and Jayson Tatum.
Blazers' Olshey Interviewed This Week As Part Of Investigation
- The Trail Blazers‘ investigation into Neil Olshey may be entering its final stages, according to Ian Begley of SNY.tv, who says Olshey was interviewed earlier this week as part of the probe. Sources tell Begley that Olshey is still owed more than $12MM on his current deal, which could become a sticking point if the franchise decides to part ways with the executive, as we outlined on Thursday.
NBA GMs Forming Association To Give Execs Access To Legal, PR Resources
NBA general managers are working to form an association that would support front office executives across the league with shared access to “legal defense funds, lawyer referrals and public relations professionals,” sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. The group would be structured similarly to the National Basketball Coaches Association, per ESPN’s duo.
According to Wojnarowski and Shelburne, NBA front office executives began this process back in March, so it predates the independent investigation the Trail Blazers opened into the conduct of president of basketball operations Neil Olshey. However, that probe further convinced the GMs of the need for such an association, sources tell ESPN.
As Woj and Shelburne explain, dozens of executives have told ESPN that the Olshey investigation has “stoked fears” around the league that a team could part ways with an executive for a traditional reason – such as a team’s performance or a difference in philosophies – and look for a way to turn it into a firing for “cause” in order to avoid paying the exec’s remaining salary.
Those front office executives feel that phrases used in media reports to describe the Blazers under Olshey – such as “toxic environment” and “hostile workplace” – may be part of a campaign to void the remaining years and salary on his contract if and when he’s dismissed, according to ESPN.
It’s easy to view this story cynically from either side. It’s certainly plausible that an ownership group would look for ways to avoid paying the rest of a top executive’s salary after deciding to fire him for basketball reasons. It also wouldn’t be surprising if there are execs around the NBA who have, in fact, created hostile workplaces and have become increasingly concerned about facing consequences for their actions.
While it remains to be seen how the Olshey situation will play out, the Blazers have at least been relatively transparent about the probe so far. The team hired an independent firm to conduct the investigation into Olshey and publicly identified that firm (O’Melveny & Myers). We’ll see if the organization is as transparent about O’Melveny & Myers’ findings.
Blazers Notes: Lineups, Nance, Little, Powell
Since head coach Chauncey Billups criticized the team’s compete level on Sunday and suggested that lineup changes could be coming, the Trail Blazers have reeled off wins against Toronto and Chicago this week, pushing their record back up to .500 (8-8).
The Blazers didn’t make any changes to their starting lineup in those two games, but the team is leaning a little more on reserves Larry Nance Jr. and Nassir Little, who played more total minutes in the last two games than starters Jusuf Nurkic and Robert Covington.
When Nance and Little played the entire fourth quarter vs. Toronto on Monday while Nurkic and Covington sat on the bench, Billups was asked about the decision. As Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian tweets, the first-year coach said it was more about matchups vs. Toronto than an indication of imminent lineup changes. Still, it seems clear Nance and Little have earned bigger roles with their play so far.
Here’s more on the Blazers:
- After averaging just 17.2 MPG and never playing more than 22 minutes in any of his first 11 games in Portland, Nance has averaged 22.9 MPG in his last five games. That’s a byproduct of the Blazers getting a better sense of how best to use him, writes Jason Quick of The Athletic. “When he came here I wasn’t sure if he was a four that could play five, or a five that could play some four,” Billups said. “Right now, I’m pretty confident that he is a five who could play four, too. But we are better served with him at that small-ball five.”
- For his part, Nance said he’s glad his role has evolved organically rather than having it become an issue the team needed to focus on and figure out. “I think it’s a great thing that we didn’t have to sit down and have a pow-wow about, ‘What’s going on? How do we get Larry involved?'” Nance said, per Quick. “(Billups) knows I’m a guy who you just put me on the floor and I will figure it out. And I pride myself in not being a squeaky wheel.”
- The Blazers’ game vs. the Raptors on Monday was a reminder that last season’s Norman Powell/Gary Trent Jr. swap is working out pretty well for both teams, as Eric Koreen of The Athletic writes. Powell has remained a highly efficient scorer in Portland this season, averaging 16.8 PPG on .494/.438/.818 shooting, while Trent has been a ball hawk on defense in Toronto, leading the NBA in total deflections and steals.
- Powell signed a new five-year, $90MM deal with the Blazers during the offseason, but he’s determined not to get complacent after securing a life-changing payday. “I never really looked at the money as, like, (an) indicator of how good I’ve been,” Powell said on Monday, per Doug Smith of The Toronto Star. “It’s always been the expectations and goals that I’ve set out for myself … and can I get better? There’s no doubt the money will come if I keep doing those things, and it has, and I’m still hungry for more goals.”
Billups Expresses Frustration With Blazers’ Compete Level
The up-and-down Trail Blazers had perhaps their worst game of the season on Sunday in Denver, losing by 29 points to the Nuggets and falling to 6-8. While Portland was playing without star point guard Damian Lillard, Denver was missing Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr., and Will Barton.
Following the loss, Blazers coach Chauncey Billups expressed displeasure with his club’s compete level, as detailed in stories from Jason Quick of The Athletic and Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian.
“I’m confused,” Billups said. “I don’t think we came to compete in this game. I mean, this is a team that beat us in the playoffs last year. And we come out and don’t even compete in the first quarter. Kind of … a little disappointed in that. The effort. Just no fight. No fight.”
Asked about the possibility of making lineup or rotation adjustments to shake things up for the Blazers, Billups suggested that changes could be around the corner.
“It’s coming. That point is coming soon,” Billups said. “If we continue to play like that … because if you think about it, you keep playing that way, at some point I have to look at it and say something isn’t quite working. And then maybe think about shifting some things around.”
In Quick’s view, changes seem most likely to come at power forward and/or center, since Robert Covington and Jusuf Nurkic have been inconsistent so far this season, while bench players like Nassir Little, Larry Nance Jr., and Cody Zeller have provided more stability. Billups, who said earlier this month that Covington “could be better defensively,” stated on Sunday that he’s been happy with the effort he’s seeing from his reserves, including Anfernee Simons, Dennis Smith Jr., Little, and Nance.
“All of the second unit played as hard as we need them to play,” Billups said. “The first unit, they didn’t have it.”
The first-year head coach acknowledged that Portland had a busy schedule during the last week, playing four road games in six days. However, Billups didn’t view fatigue as a viable excuse for the team’s lack of effort.
“I just think there is no real reason to not have effort,” Billups said. “We’ve had a lot of games, so I can see being tired. … I can see if we come out and play our behinds off, but we just run out of gas. I can live with that. I don’t like losing like this. That game was over.”
Blazers Notes: Olshey, Billups, McGowan
Trail Blazers general manager Neil Olshey is scheduled to be interviewed next week by investigators from law firm O’Melveny and Myers, according to Jason Quick of The Athletic (Twitter link). Quick notes that the firm has already interviewed over 60 people as part of its investigation into Olshey and Portland’s front office.
As we previously relayed, the investigation will take longer than expected. A deadline of November 5 was originally set, but that date has since been pushed back.
Olshey is under investigation after numerous employees complained about a hostile work environment. The longtime executive is fighting for his job and has no interest in making a deal or buyout settlement, Quick notes in a separate tweet.
There’s more out of Portland tonight:
- Speaking of Olshey, Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian reports that several employees have experienced or seen him ‘”berate, belittle and intimidate” staffers. “You tried to not be around him,” said one of Fentress’ sources, explaining how employees actively tried to avoid Olshey at the team’s practice facility.
- In an article for The Athletic, Jason Quick examines the factors that led to Chris McGowan resigning as president and CEO. McGowan, who recently stepped down Portland after spending nearly a decade in the position, said there were “a lot of things” that factored into his decision. One, according to Quick, was that he wanted to become the “voice of the franchise” – overseeing the team’s messaging, not its basketball decisions – but was rebuffed by team owner Jody Allen.
- Head coach Chauncey Billups recently described the team as “under construction,” Quick writes in a separate article for The Athletic. Aside from some off-court issues, Portland’s on-court product doesn’t look much better. The team is 6-7 through 13 games, though it’s worth noting that Damian Lillard is averaging just 20 points per game (38% shooting from the field and 27% from downtown).
Chris McGowan Resigning From Role As Blazers’ President
Trail Blazers president and CEO Chris McGowan has informed the team that he’s resigning from his position, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). McGowan is also the CEO of Vulcan Sports & Entertainment, the group that oversees business operations for the Blazers and the Allen family’s other sports franchises.
A longtime sports business executive, McGowan had been in his role with the Blazers since October 2012. He’ll be replaced by Dewayne Hankins, who will be promoted to the position of president, tweets Haynes. Hankins had been the team’s chief commercial officer and executive vice president.
The Blazers have issued a press release confirming the change in upper management.
“Since joining the Trail Blazers in 2013, Dewayne has been crucial to our success and growth,” team owner Jody Allen said in a statement. “Now in his ninth season with us, we’re thrilled to have him lead the organization.”
McGowan’s resignation comes shortly after word broke that the Blazers had launched an independent investigation into the workplace conduct of president of basketball operations Neil Olshey. While the timing suggests that the two developments may be related, there has been no confirmation of that.
According to Jason Quick of The Athletic (Twitter link), McGowan was in the final year of his contract, which had been set to expire next June. McGowan told John Canzano of The Oregonian (Twitter link) he “felt like this was the time for me to make a change,” adding that he intends to pursue other opportunities.
“We are grateful for Chris’s contributions since joining the Trail Blazers nearly a decade ago,” Allen said within today’s announcement. “I appreciate his dedication to the organization and to our fans, and we wish him well in his next chapter.”