e odds-on favorite
Napsal: čtv 23. srp 2018 9:03:34There’s going to be dozens of players left out in the cold at next week’s NBA draft Nick Nelson Jersey Elite , players who will not hear their names called by the time the night is over.
Udonis Haslem knows how they’ll feel.
He also may be the example they’ll need.
Undrafted in 2002, Haslem – a Miami native who has spent his entire NBA career with his hometown Miami Heat – has been in the league longer than just about any other active player. He’s planning and hoping to sign this summer to return for a 16th season, something that was not only unlikely but unthinkable after every team passed when given the chance to secure his services through the draft.
”My mind works differently,” Haslem said. ”I know when one door closes, another door opens. That’s the way it’s always been for me.”
Out of the 57 draft picks that all went ahead of Haslem in 2002, only one – Nene – was on a roster last season. Haslem has outlasted almost everyone who was in the league when he arrived as a rookie in 2003 following a year in France; just 12 players who were in the NBA in 2002-03 remained on rosters this past season.
He’s one of many undrafted success stories in the NBA right now: Utah’s Joe Ingles and Philadelphia’s Robert Covington played huge roles for their respective teams reaching the second round of the playoffs, Miami’s Tyler Johnson is about to see his salary explode to nearly $40 million over the next two seasons, and Boston’s Aron Baynes became a pivotal part of the Celtics‘ rotation this season while appearing in 100 games.
They’re all proof that if there’s enough skill, the NBA will eventually notice.
”UD would never get told no,” his longtime Heat teammate Dwyane Wade said. ”I remember when I came in for my Heat workout before the draft and asked who the guy getting every rebound was and they told me, `That’s Udonis Haslem.’ And I didn’t even recognize him because of how much he’d changed his body. I knew right away that he was a guy I wanted on my team.”
Haslem was an underrated part of all three of Miami’s championship teams in 2006, 2012 and 2013. He barely sees the court anymore, appearing in only 30 games over the last two seasons. But he remains invaluable to the Heat for what he brings to the locker room and from a leadership perspective, which is why he’ll probably be on Miami’s roster next season – although Thursday, Haslem floated the idea of possibly looking to play in Europe or China if things in Miami don’t work out.
”When you talk about culture and Miami Heat culture Titans Elite Jerseys , you’re talking about Udonis Haslem,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. ”The way he keeps himself ready, the way he’s always working, the way that he’s a voice in our locker room, he epitomizes what it means to be a Miami Heat player. We tell people all the time, if you want to understand our culture, look at UD. He is our rock. He has the ultimate respect of this locker room.”
It hasn’t been easy. Haslem has reinvented himself more than a few times along the way.
”He impacts winning,” said Oklahoma City coach Billy Donovan, Haslem’s college coach at Florida. ”He knows exactly what goes into winning. He’s a consummate warrior, an unbelievable competitor.”
Haslem was a 300-pounder during his college days at Florida, which explains why he went undrafted; he’s now chiseled, with nary a speck of visible body fat on his 38-year-old frame. He was terrible with money when he entered the league; he still cringes at particularly wasteful expenditure – an ostrich couch – that he quickly ruined. He not only didn’t open his mail, he didn’t even know where it was being sent.
Today, he’s a budding mogul.
Haslem has ownership of no fewer than 13 franchises – Subway, Auntie Anne’s 49ers Fred Warner Jersey , Starbucks and Einstein Bros. Bagels among them – in his rapidly growing business portfolio. He’s partnering with Wade on some future projects.
”I’m not complaining. I’m continuing to stay motivated, putting basketball energy into business energy,” Haslem said. ”The things that I deal with are things that I’m engaged in, things I believe in. If I invest in something, I’ve eaten there.”
That’s another lesson for this next generation of NBA players. Haslem has made himself rather wealthy despite never signing what would be considered a massive contract by NBA standards. The most he ever made in a season was just over $7 million – a fortune for most people, yet pretty pedestrian for those who have been in the league this long.
”UD is a great example of what happens if you work,” Heat guard Goran Dragic said. ”That’s how he made a great career.”
—
Lars Eller scored the tiebreaking goal with 7:37 to play, and the Washington Capitals raised the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history after a 4-3 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 5.
Devante Smith-Pelly tied it with a full-stretch goal midway through the final period of the Capitals’ fourth consecutive victory over the Golden Knights, whose incredible expansion season finally ended in the desert.
So did the Capitals’ agonizing wait for their first championship since the franchise’s debut in 1974. After so many years of postseason flops and crushing disappointment, these Capitals won their fourth consecutive closeout game with a tenacious third-period comeback.
Captain Alex Ovechkin, who scored an early power-play goal, and his teammates are Washington’s first championship hockey team – and the city’s first champion in a major pro sport since the Redskins won the Super Bowl in early 1992.
Ovechkin won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP after scoring his franchise-record 15th goal of the postseason.
PRO FOOTBALL
Terrell Owens will not attend the induction ceremony for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August, an unprecedented decision by an enshrinee.
Owens was voted into the hall in February. In a statement released by his publicist, Owens says: ”While I am incredibly appreciative of this opportunity, I have made the decision to publicly decline my invitation to attend the induction ceremony in Canton.”
The hall confirmed that the former All-Pro receiver informed them he would not be on hand Aug. 4 for the enshrinements. Owens added Cheap Kolton Miller Jersey , ”After visiting Canton earlier this year, I came to the realization that I wish to celebrate what will be one of the most memorable days of my life, elsewhere. At a later date, I will announce where and when I will celebrate my induction.”
Owens heavily criticized the voting process when he failed to be elected to the hall in his first two years of eligibility.
PRO BASKETBALL
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Bryan Colangelo resigned as president of basketball operations for the Philadelphia 76ers in the wake of what an investigation found was ”careless and in some instances reckless” sharing of sensitive team information.
The independent review by a law firm did not determine that Colangelo operated or was even aware of Twitter accounts that anonymously trashed some of his own players and fellow executives, and defended him against criticism from fans and the sports media.
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP said evidence supported the conclusion that Colangelo’s wife, Barbara Bottini, operated the four accounts it investigated, and she admitted to doing so – though also said she deleted contents of her iPhone with a factory reset of the device prior to surrendering it for forensic review, limiting the investigation.
As for Colangelo, there was no evidence he knew of the accounts before a May 22 inquiry from the sports website The Ringer for a story it reported linking him to five Twitter accounts that took aim at Philadelphia players Joel Embiid and Markelle Fultz, former Sixers general manager Sam Hinkie, Toronto Raptors executive Masai Ujiri and former Sixers players Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – New Orleans Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry has agreed to a two-year extension running through the 2020-21 season.
The Pelicans already had informed Gentry going into the playoffs that the club would exercise his option through next season. Now he’s under contract two additional seasons under the extension announced by the club on Thursday afternoon.
Gentry has gone 117-138 in three seasons Jaire Alexander Jersey Elite , including this season’s playoffs, when the Pelicans swept Portland before losing a second-round season 4-1 to defending champion Golden State.
New Orleans missed the playoffs in Gentry’s first two seasons, during which the team dealt with a spate of injuries to key players.
GOLF
Tiger Woods will play the opening two rounds of the U.S. Open with Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson, which feels like a grouping of Nos. 1-2-3 in the world ranking. Except that Woods is No. 80.
The USGA released its tee times for the U.S. Open next week at Shinnecock Hills, and it offered two stacked groups for the morning and afternoon.
Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy tee off together in the morning of the first round. Woods, Johnson and Thomas are together in the afternoon.
This is the 10-year anniversary of the USGA first putting together the Nos. 1-2-3 players in the world at Torrey Pines – Woods, Mickelson and Adam Scott.
HORSE RACING
NEW YORK (AP) – Triple Crown contender Justify glided over the track in his first trip over the Belmont Park strip.
The strapping chestnut colt is the odds-on favorite to complete the series sweep on Saturday in the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes following victories in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness.
Justify arrived here Wednesday afternoon after a flight from Kentucky. Bob Baffert, his Hall of Fame trainer, was delighted with how well the horse handled the shipping and the unfamiliar surroundings on an overcast morning. Justify went 1 3/8 miles, keen and eager as he flashed by the grandstand.
.
Udonis Haslem knows how they’ll feel.
He also may be the example they’ll need.
Undrafted in 2002, Haslem – a Miami native who has spent his entire NBA career with his hometown Miami Heat – has been in the league longer than just about any other active player. He’s planning and hoping to sign this summer to return for a 16th season, something that was not only unlikely but unthinkable after every team passed when given the chance to secure his services through the draft.
”My mind works differently,” Haslem said. ”I know when one door closes, another door opens. That’s the way it’s always been for me.”
Out of the 57 draft picks that all went ahead of Haslem in 2002, only one – Nene – was on a roster last season. Haslem has outlasted almost everyone who was in the league when he arrived as a rookie in 2003 following a year in France; just 12 players who were in the NBA in 2002-03 remained on rosters this past season.
He’s one of many undrafted success stories in the NBA right now: Utah’s Joe Ingles and Philadelphia’s Robert Covington played huge roles for their respective teams reaching the second round of the playoffs, Miami’s Tyler Johnson is about to see his salary explode to nearly $40 million over the next two seasons, and Boston’s Aron Baynes became a pivotal part of the Celtics‘ rotation this season while appearing in 100 games.
They’re all proof that if there’s enough skill, the NBA will eventually notice.
”UD would never get told no,” his longtime Heat teammate Dwyane Wade said. ”I remember when I came in for my Heat workout before the draft and asked who the guy getting every rebound was and they told me, `That’s Udonis Haslem.’ And I didn’t even recognize him because of how much he’d changed his body. I knew right away that he was a guy I wanted on my team.”
Haslem was an underrated part of all three of Miami’s championship teams in 2006, 2012 and 2013. He barely sees the court anymore, appearing in only 30 games over the last two seasons. But he remains invaluable to the Heat for what he brings to the locker room and from a leadership perspective, which is why he’ll probably be on Miami’s roster next season – although Thursday, Haslem floated the idea of possibly looking to play in Europe or China if things in Miami don’t work out.
”When you talk about culture and Miami Heat culture Titans Elite Jerseys , you’re talking about Udonis Haslem,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. ”The way he keeps himself ready, the way he’s always working, the way that he’s a voice in our locker room, he epitomizes what it means to be a Miami Heat player. We tell people all the time, if you want to understand our culture, look at UD. He is our rock. He has the ultimate respect of this locker room.”
It hasn’t been easy. Haslem has reinvented himself more than a few times along the way.
”He impacts winning,” said Oklahoma City coach Billy Donovan, Haslem’s college coach at Florida. ”He knows exactly what goes into winning. He’s a consummate warrior, an unbelievable competitor.”
Haslem was a 300-pounder during his college days at Florida, which explains why he went undrafted; he’s now chiseled, with nary a speck of visible body fat on his 38-year-old frame. He was terrible with money when he entered the league; he still cringes at particularly wasteful expenditure – an ostrich couch – that he quickly ruined. He not only didn’t open his mail, he didn’t even know where it was being sent.
Today, he’s a budding mogul.
Haslem has ownership of no fewer than 13 franchises – Subway, Auntie Anne’s 49ers Fred Warner Jersey , Starbucks and Einstein Bros. Bagels among them – in his rapidly growing business portfolio. He’s partnering with Wade on some future projects.
”I’m not complaining. I’m continuing to stay motivated, putting basketball energy into business energy,” Haslem said. ”The things that I deal with are things that I’m engaged in, things I believe in. If I invest in something, I’ve eaten there.”
That’s another lesson for this next generation of NBA players. Haslem has made himself rather wealthy despite never signing what would be considered a massive contract by NBA standards. The most he ever made in a season was just over $7 million – a fortune for most people, yet pretty pedestrian for those who have been in the league this long.
”UD is a great example of what happens if you work,” Heat guard Goran Dragic said. ”That’s how he made a great career.”
—
Lars Eller scored the tiebreaking goal with 7:37 to play, and the Washington Capitals raised the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history after a 4-3 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 5.
Devante Smith-Pelly tied it with a full-stretch goal midway through the final period of the Capitals’ fourth consecutive victory over the Golden Knights, whose incredible expansion season finally ended in the desert.
So did the Capitals’ agonizing wait for their first championship since the franchise’s debut in 1974. After so many years of postseason flops and crushing disappointment, these Capitals won their fourth consecutive closeout game with a tenacious third-period comeback.
Captain Alex Ovechkin, who scored an early power-play goal, and his teammates are Washington’s first championship hockey team – and the city’s first champion in a major pro sport since the Redskins won the Super Bowl in early 1992.
Ovechkin won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP after scoring his franchise-record 15th goal of the postseason.
PRO FOOTBALL
Terrell Owens will not attend the induction ceremony for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August, an unprecedented decision by an enshrinee.
Owens was voted into the hall in February. In a statement released by his publicist, Owens says: ”While I am incredibly appreciative of this opportunity, I have made the decision to publicly decline my invitation to attend the induction ceremony in Canton.”
The hall confirmed that the former All-Pro receiver informed them he would not be on hand Aug. 4 for the enshrinements. Owens added Cheap Kolton Miller Jersey , ”After visiting Canton earlier this year, I came to the realization that I wish to celebrate what will be one of the most memorable days of my life, elsewhere. At a later date, I will announce where and when I will celebrate my induction.”
Owens heavily criticized the voting process when he failed to be elected to the hall in his first two years of eligibility.
PRO BASKETBALL
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Bryan Colangelo resigned as president of basketball operations for the Philadelphia 76ers in the wake of what an investigation found was ”careless and in some instances reckless” sharing of sensitive team information.
The independent review by a law firm did not determine that Colangelo operated or was even aware of Twitter accounts that anonymously trashed some of his own players and fellow executives, and defended him against criticism from fans and the sports media.
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP said evidence supported the conclusion that Colangelo’s wife, Barbara Bottini, operated the four accounts it investigated, and she admitted to doing so – though also said she deleted contents of her iPhone with a factory reset of the device prior to surrendering it for forensic review, limiting the investigation.
As for Colangelo, there was no evidence he knew of the accounts before a May 22 inquiry from the sports website The Ringer for a story it reported linking him to five Twitter accounts that took aim at Philadelphia players Joel Embiid and Markelle Fultz, former Sixers general manager Sam Hinkie, Toronto Raptors executive Masai Ujiri and former Sixers players Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – New Orleans Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry has agreed to a two-year extension running through the 2020-21 season.
The Pelicans already had informed Gentry going into the playoffs that the club would exercise his option through next season. Now he’s under contract two additional seasons under the extension announced by the club on Thursday afternoon.
Gentry has gone 117-138 in three seasons Jaire Alexander Jersey Elite , including this season’s playoffs, when the Pelicans swept Portland before losing a second-round season 4-1 to defending champion Golden State.
New Orleans missed the playoffs in Gentry’s first two seasons, during which the team dealt with a spate of injuries to key players.
GOLF
Tiger Woods will play the opening two rounds of the U.S. Open with Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson, which feels like a grouping of Nos. 1-2-3 in the world ranking. Except that Woods is No. 80.
The USGA released its tee times for the U.S. Open next week at Shinnecock Hills, and it offered two stacked groups for the morning and afternoon.
Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy tee off together in the morning of the first round. Woods, Johnson and Thomas are together in the afternoon.
This is the 10-year anniversary of the USGA first putting together the Nos. 1-2-3 players in the world at Torrey Pines – Woods, Mickelson and Adam Scott.
HORSE RACING
NEW YORK (AP) – Triple Crown contender Justify glided over the track in his first trip over the Belmont Park strip.
The strapping chestnut colt is the odds-on favorite to complete the series sweep on Saturday in the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes following victories in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness.
Justify arrived here Wednesday afternoon after a flight from Kentucky. Bob Baffert, his Hall of Fame trainer, was delighted with how well the horse handled the shipping and the unfamiliar surroundings on an overcast morning. Justify went 1 3/8 miles, keen and eager as he flashed by the grandstand.
.