Rev. Jesse Jackson rips Gilbert's LeBron comments

CHICAGO -- Jesse Jackson criticized Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert on Sunday, saying Gilbert sees LeBron James as a "runaway slave" and that the owner's comments after the free-agent forward decided to join the Miami Heat put the player in danger.

“

His feelings of betrayal personify a slave master mentality. He sees LeBron as a runaway slave. This is an owner employee relationship -- between business partners -- and LeBron honored his contract.

”-- Rev. Jesse Jackson on Cavs owner Dan Gilbert's comments about LeBron James

Shortly after James announced his decision last week, Gilbert fired off an incendiary letter to Cleveland's fans, ripping the 25-year-old and promising to deliver a title before James wins one. He called James' decision "cowardly" and later told The Associated Press he believes James quit during a handful of Cavaliers playoff games.

"He has gotten a free pass," Gilbert told the AP in a phone interview late Thursday night. "People have covered up for [James] for way too long. Tonight we saw who he really is."

Jackson said Gilbert's comments were "mean, arrogant and presumptuous."

"He speaks as an owner of LeBron and not the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers," the reverend said in a release from his Chicago-based civil rights group, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. "His feelings of betrayal personify a slave master mentality. He sees LeBron as a runaway slave. This is an owner employee relationship -- between business partners -- and LeBron honored his contract."

Messages were left Sunday night seeking comment from Gilbert, the Cavaliers and James.

Jackson also called Gilbert's comments an attack on all NBA players and said the owner should face a "challenge" from the league and the players' association.

NBA spokesman Tim Frank declined comment.

Source : http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5372266

Fisher meets with Heat in Miami

MIAMI -- A day after Miami's new superstar trio left money on the table, Heat executives tried to put the extra funds to use.

Team president Pat Riley and owner Micky Arison met with free agent point guard Derek Fisher for three hours at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in downtown Miami on Saturday and made Fisher a "compelling" offer, an NBA source told ESPNLosAngeles.com.

According to the source, the Heat told Fisher they envision him as their starting point guard and will hold off on offers to other players while he made his decision.

Fisher

Riley declined to comment to The Associated Press on Saturday.

The Heat face competition for Fisher's services from the Los Angeles Lakers, Fisher's team for the past three seasons.

Sources told ESPNLosAngeles.com's Ramona Shelburne that the Lakers have made a second offer to Fisher, stronger than the one-year, $2.5 million deal that was originally reported.

Fisher met with Miami the day after the team lavishly introduced LeBron James and Chris Bosh as Dwyane Wade's newest teammates. James, Bosh and Wade all will make less than the $16.6 million they could have commanded next season, giving Miami the chance to lure other players.

"It's about sacrifice now," Wade said.

While Fisher could be a key piece of a championship contender in Miami, he has been part of all five Lakers' championships in the Kobe Bryant era, four of them as a starter.

Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak told ESPNLosAngeles.com's Dave McMenamin on Saturday that negotiations with Fisher were "ongoing" and that he wasn't surprised by Fisher's meeting with the Heat.

"I'm in communication with his representative. If something like [a face-to-face meeting when Fisher returns from Miami] is necessary, that's not a problem," Kupchak said. "But it's not like we don't know Derek and Derek doesn't know us, so I'm not sure that's necessary."

James, Bosh and Wade all signed six-year contracts. The value of James and Bosh's deals is nearly $111 million, while Wade took around $107 million. They could have received about $125.5 million apiece if they had taken the maximum value allowed under the current collective bargaining agreement.

Source : http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/news/story?id=5369580

Raptors sign-and-trade Chris Bosh to Heat

The Toronto Raptors announced Friday they have acquired two first-round draft picks and a trade exception from the Miami Heat in exchange for forward Chris Bosh. The Raptors facilitated a sign-and-trade with Bosh.

InsideHoops.com will post details of Bosh’s contract this weekend.

“We all just witnessed an unprecedented moment in professional sports as these three young stars have joined forces in an attempt to completely transform this league. We are certainly sorry to see Chris leave, but we are planning to use these acquired assets to retool our roster and evolve as an organization,” said Raptors President and General Manager Bryan Colangelo.

The Raptors reacquired their own 2011 first-round pick originally sent to the Heat on February 13, 2009 (trade of Jermaine O’Neal and Jamario Moon for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks) and Miami’s 2011 first-round draft choice (lottery protected).

Bosh was selected fourth overall by Toronto in the 2003 NBA Draft. He has career averages of 20.2 points, 9.4 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and 37.0 minutes in 509 games, including 497 starts. He is the all-time franchise leader in points (10,275), total rebounds (4,776), offensive rebounds (1,369), defensive rebounds (3,407), free throws made (2,997), blocks (600), minutes (19,813), games started (497) and double-doubles (239).

Source : http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=6189

Off-Topic : Chinese Airport Closed After UFO Spotted in the sky.

Arcing over Zhejiang's provincial capital Hangzhou, the UFO appeared to glow with an eerie white light and left a bright trail in its wake.

Xiaoshan Airport was closed after the UFO was detected at around 9 pm and dozens of flights had to be diverted.

The strange light appeared to glow as it swept through the night sky, to the alarm of local residents

Stunned witnesses reported seeing a comet-like fireball in the sky and a number of local residents took photos of the strange ball of light.

A local bus driver, giving his name only as Yu, said he had seen a strange glowing object in the sky late on Wednesday afternoon.

'The thing suddenly ran westwards fast, like it was escaping from something,' he said.

Inbound flights were diverted to  nearby airports while outbound flights were delayed for three to four hours.

Some Chinese experts claimed that the strange sight was actually debris from a US intercontinental ballistic missile.

Chinese officials later said that they knew what the object had been but were unable to make it public because there was a 'military connection.'

An official statement is expected later today.

NBA free-agency 2010: Miami Heat scores big with LeBron James, but who else won ... and who lost

The great free-agent gold rush of 2010 is over - mercifully - and now it's time to give out the grades. With all the crazy money that has been thrown around, it doesn't exactly help the owners' argument that they're losing millions and will need to lock the players out next summer so they can get a new economic system. But that's the gameplan. So this is the last big free-agent period we'll be seeing in a long time.

Ranking the teams, from top to bottom:

GRADE A

Heat: Is there any other grade you can give Pat Riley but an A plus? Miami isn't the center of the NBA universe - Los Angeles still is. But it's now a solid second place. It's just too bad that LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh will be teaming up in Miami. The NBA would prefer to have two mega-stars playing on different teams and performing in a larger media market. But we have a feeling that David Stern will get over it.

Lakers: Think they're scared of the Heat? The two-time defending champs get an A after landing the best free agent out there - Phil Jackson. They'll bring back Kobe's guy, Derek Fisher. They opted to let Jordan Farmar walk and brought in Steve Blake (four years, $16 million).

Boston: They're bringing everybody back, for one last shot at a second title with the Big Three. That gets them an A. Paul Pierce's 4-year, $61 million deal is one of the best moves of the offseason.

Oklahoma City: Give 'em an A for getting Kevin Durant's signature on a five-year, $85-million extension, with no opt-out clause after the fourth season. For this kid, it's a steal.

Denver: Once Carmelo Anthony sign his three-year, $65-million extension, they'll get an A.

Atlanta: You might not think Joe Johnson is worth $123 million, but let's remember that the Hawks have had almost no success since the days of Dominique Wilkins. They had to bring Johnson back at top dollar, so they get an A-minus.

GOOD JOB

Washington: They get a B-plus after stealing Hinrich from the Bulls, who were swept up with LeBron Fever and looking to get more cap space when they gave away one of their top players.

Chicago: They never wanted Chris Bosh, which gives them a passing grade automatically. Did anyone come off worse than Bosh? Carlos Boozer gives them a needed post presence. Without Kirk Hinrich, they need a guard who can shoot and they found one in  Kyle Korver (via free agency). They get a B.

Memphis: They get a B for re-signing Rudy Gay. Yeah, they overpaid ($85 million) but it's not as if free agents are running to play on Beale Street. They're candidates to take on Al Jefferson.

Source : http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/2010/07/10/2010-07-10_freeagent_grades_who_won__who_lost.html