Daryl Morey calls Royce White arguably ‘the worst first-round pick ever’

Pro Sports Daily reports:

The Houston Rockets selected Royce White with the No. 16 pick in the 2012 draft.

He spent a year with the Rockets while anxiety issues kept him from being with the team and was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers, who cut him before this season began. At this point, it appears to be a huge longshot White will ever play in the NBA.

Since 1972, just five other players have been drafted that high without playing in the NBA:

Nerlens Noel (No. 6 in 2013 by 76ers)
Lucas Nogueira (No. 16 in 2013 by Hawks)
Fran Vasquez (No. 11 in 2005 by Magic)
Frederic Weis (No. 15 in 1999 by Knicks)
Len Bias (No. 2 in 1986 by Celtics)
Noel will obviously get on the court, perhaps as early as this season. Nogueira has plenty of time to come stateside.

That leaves White in rare, though not quite unprecedented, company as Rockets general manager Daryl Morey suggests.

Jets fire coach Noel, hire Maurice as replacement

The Winnipeg Jets have fired coach Claude Noel and hired Paul Maurice as his replacement.

Winnipeg is 19-23-5 and has lost five games in a row to fall 10 points back of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Noel, hired after the Atlanta Thrashers moved to Winnipeg before the 2011-12 season, went 80-79-18.

Assistant Perry Pearn was also fired.

Wilt Chamberlain feared death by soda poisoning

CSN Philly:   What are ya’ll takes on this?

 

Everything about Wilt Chamberlain is shrouded in mythology. Everything he did on the court, everything he did off the court.

Like the new revelation he used a Sixers’ ball-boy as the “King’s cup-bearer” — the boy tested all the soda Chamberlain drank during games because Wilt feared he would be poisoned.

Or the night in Hershey, Penn., when Chamberlain dropped 100 points on the Knicks. Part of the reason it is so mythological in modern terms is there is no film of it, we only have the stories, which get exaggerated over time.

Except their might be film of that night… but that film too is shrouded in mystery — nobody knows where it is.

All of this comes from Memphis coach Josh Pastner, who was in Philly as his Tigers took on the Temple Owls. When asked about his ties to the Philadelphia area Pastner said this eye opening stuff about Chamberlain, via The 700 Level at CSNPhilly.com.

My father was the ball boy for the 76ers for many, many years, and he and Wilt Chamberlain were very close. … And Wilt Chamberlain always felt somebody was trying to get him on timeouts with assassination through drinking. And he drank 7-Up or Sprite, one of the two. And my dad always had to taste it before Wilt– He made my father drink it before [he] would taste it to make sure my dad didn’t conk out.But Wilt took care of my father. They always went around. Like my dad said, he never had a front seat; Wilt sat in the back when he was driving because his legs were so long.

And in fact, my father and his father taped the game reel-to-reel in the second quarter when it was in Hershey, Pennsylvania in the 100-point game. They started when he had like 30-something; they thought it was going to be a special night. They gave it to Wilt — the 100-point game — and Wilt gave it back to my dad and my dad’s dad. He gave it back to them, they boxed it up, and he’s still trying to find it. He’s got all kinds of boxes, and he doesn’t know if he lost it. He’s trying to find the sucker. … I mean he’s got jerseys of Wilt, pictures.

Is that true? – See more at: http://www.prosportsdaily.com/articles/wilt-chamberlain-feared-death-by-soda-poisoning-284262.html#sthash.3gFAb6Tb.dpuf

Andrew Bynum will be waived or traded to Lakers or Jazz

This week has been dominated by trade talks regarding Andrew Bynum and possible destinations for him. Of all the teams mentioned, it appears that the two finalists to acquire him are the Los Angeles Lakers and the Utah Jazz.

Fansided:

Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that the next 48 hours will be crucial in what happens to Bynum as both the Lakers and Jazz are ming sure the players involved will pass physicals before agreeing to a trade for Bynum. Woj states that regardless of what happens, the Cavaliers are going to waive Bynum.
The Lakers have wanted to come to a resolution by today and that still might happen, especially given the eagerness the Cavss have to dump Bynum. But the finer details of the trade have ben hard to work out as the Lakers don’t want to get fleeced in a trade and neither to the Cavaliers.

Bynum suspended for sleeping with his coach’s wife?

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been a mess this season and now the situation involving Andrew Bynum could make it into a disaster, as a report has come out that the suspended center was given paid leave after having sex with one of the members of the coaching staff’s wife and the news comes from Media Take Out and will need to be confirmed, but if true, that’s a mess….

Sports Reports says that:

According to the report from Media Take Out, Bynum, who was first suspended for conduct detrimental to the team and then given paid leave after his unpaid suspension ended, supposedly had “relations” with the wife of one of the members of the Cavs coaching staff and while the name has been redacted, it is not Mike Brown the head coach, but another coach on the staff. The news from Media Take Out came from a source that claims she is a “girlfriend” of one of the Cleveland Cavaliers players and that’s how she could confirm the details.

The report goes on to say that Bynum had sex with someone’s wife and that is what led to him getting suspended and now it appears that the team will be trading him and teams like the Heat, Lakers, Knicks and the Bulls and the source said that the team should bring him back since it has nothing to do with basketball. The team has been frustrated by Bynum’s play this season and he has now been “excused from basketball duties” and it’s likely he has played his final game with the team.