NBA NEWS AND RUMORS

$500,000 FOR CHARITY

· It took Ron Artest 13 years to finally get a NBA championship ring but he didn’t have it for very long. This past weekend in order to raise awareness and research for mental illness, Ron Artest auctioned off his championship ring for $500,000

IS IT WORTH THE RISK?

· The Houston Rockets are looking to trade former all-star center Yao Ming. In this trade they will include a young player from their team with a promising upside. With Yao’s history of injuries and restricted playing time, that is going to be a hard deal to make

STILL BUILDING

· Everyone by now knows about the first blockbuster trade this year between the Magic and the Suns. By the looks of some recent reports the Magic may not be done building up their roster. It is rumored that the Nets may buy out Troy Murphy’s contract. If so, then the Magic will be the first in line to offer him a new contract.

NBA NEWS AND RUMORS

INJURY UPDATES

· Rondo to miss a couple of weeks because of ankle sprain

· Yao is missing time because he has a stress fracture in his foot

TRADE DEMAND

· Bandon Roy of the Portland Trail Blazers asked the front office to either trade him or Andre Miller. He says that Andre Miller slows him down

FORMER NBA ALL-STAR PLAYS FOR THE CBA NOW

· Former #2 pick Steve Francis played his debut game in the China Basketball Association with the Beijing Ducks yesterday. Stephon Marbury also plays for this team

TONIGHT'S FACTS

THE 76ERS WILL PLAY THE NETS TONIGHT IN A DIVISIONAL MATCHUP. WE MAY NOT BE CALLING THE NETS THE NETS FOR MUCH LONGER. THERE IS A RUMOR THAT WHEN THEY MOVE TO BROOKLYN NEXT YEAR THEY WILL CHANGE THEIR NAME TO THE BROOKLYN NEW YORKERS.

THE LAKERS WERE IN DC THIS WEEK TO MEET WITH THE PRESIDENT TO BE HONORED FOR WINNING THE NBA TITLE LAST SEASON. BUT THAT IS NOT THE ONLY REASON WHY THEY ARE IN WASHINGTON. WHILE IN WASHINGTON THE LAKERS WILL FINISH UP THEIR SEASON SERIES WITH THE WIZARDS AND BYNUM SAYS HE WILL MAKE HIS DEBUT.

THAT AND MUCH MORE WILL HAPPEND IN THE NBA TONIGHT INCLUDING A FAN NIGHT SPECIAL ON NBA TV WITH THE MAGIC AND NUGGETS. THERE WILL BE NO TALK ABOUT WHAT IS GOING ON ON THE COURT. ALL THE TALK WILL BE MELO TO THE KNICKS.

NEW IRON MAN

The NBA crowned its new iron man of the league last night. Since the now former iron man Andre Miller of the Portland Trail Blazers was suspended last night because of unnecessary contact on Blake Griffin his streak of consecutive games played ended at 632. With that said, Laker point guard Derek Fisher becomes the new leader with 434 consecutive games played.

THE RETURN

On Thursday December 2, a long time Cleveland Cavelier will make his return to Cleveland for the first time since making the decision of joining the Miami heat. Up until this year he had played every game in a Cavs jersey. How will the fans respond to the return of........... Zydrunas Illgauskas? That is the question everyone wants the answer to.