NBAFullCourt - Basketball Daily

Guard Rudy Fernandez said Friday that he plans to leave his Spanish ACB League team to join the Portland Trail Blazers. Fernandez made the announcement at a press conference in Spain. The Trail Blazers can not comment, because of league rules, until he signs with the team on July 1. "It has not been easy for me to take this decision, but it is the moment to face new challenges," Fernandez said.

A judge in Seattle says she will rule Monday on motions in the city's lawsuit that seeks to prevent the NBA's SuperSonics from relocating to Oklahoma City. U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman held a hearing Friday to rule on pretrial motions regarding evidence, arguments and witnesses. Those motions include whether certain witnesses and evidence will be presented at trial.

The Lakers-Celtics matchup gave the NBA finals' television ratings a big boost. Game 1 on Thursday averaged an 8.7 rating on ABC, the network said Friday. That's up 38 percent from the 6.3 during last year's Cavaliers-Spurs series. It's the highest Game 1 rating since Lakers-Pistons in 2004 drew a 9.8.

O.J. Mayo has new representation -- LeBron James' agent, Leon Rose. Mike Woelfel, a Huntington lawyer for Mayo's family, confirmed the signing, which was first reported Friday by The Herald-Dispatch of Huntington. Woelfel didn't immediately return a telephone message to The Associated Press. Mayo and agent Calvin Andrews of Bill Duffy Associates parted ways last month over the distraction of...

One sub-par performance can happen to anyone. Another, perhaps just a fluke. Could three be a trend? Nah, not in the case of Kobe Bryant. "I get those looks again, I'm foaming at the mouth," the Los Angeles star said Friday. "I want those looks again. I would never be bashful, you know that." Bryant's remarks came in the wake of a horrendous -- for him -- shooting performance Thursday night, when he...

Former NBA player Chris Herren was charged with driving under the influence of drugs after police found him slumped over the wheel of his running car, which crashed into a utility pole. Sgt. Thomas Mauretti said an officer found a hypodermic needle and a small blue bag in the car that he recognized as packaging for heroin on Wednesday.

Just like that, those familiar chants of "Beat L.A.," dormant for more than two decades, were silenced once again. As Paul Pierce laid in pain near the edge of the famed parquet floor, clutching his injured right knee and weeping, a new cry -- "Let's go Paul" -- filled the air before Boston's captain was carried from the floor by his teammates and whisked to the locker room in a wheelchair.

Paul Pierce wasn't the only member of the Boston Celtics injured in Game 1 of the NBA finals on Thursday night. Center Kendrick Perkins, who collided with teammate Paul Pierce in the third quarter sending him to the locker room with a strained right knee, went out himself a few minutes later with a sprained left ankle.

Dwyane Wade has a news flash: He doesn't think he's getting traded. Speaking out Thursday in an effort to defuse numerous reports out of Chicago suggesting the Miami Heat may be willing to trade him to his hometown Bulls, Wade said he's been assured the notion is completely erroneous. Wade even said he and Heat president Pat Riley have spoken about the topic and to ensure that both remain driven by...

Leaning on the scorer's table, Phil Jackson rested the cane he uses for his troublesome hips against his thigh. He kept one eye on the court as his Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up their morning shootaround before Game 1 of the finals. Above him hung 16 Celtics championship banners, reminders of Boston's mystique and its decades of dominance.

Nearing Super Bowl-like proportions, the buildup has included black-and-white footage from the 1960s -- images of Red Auerbach puffing a victory cigar, Bill Russell swatting away a shot and Jerry West rising for a jumper. We've revisited the 1980s, taken back to those days of Ronald Reagan, bad haircuts and short shorts by Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, the icons whose meetings on the court defined...

It'll be a little bit harder to get in on the action in the NBA finals. Harrah Entertainment Inc., owner of 13 casinos in Nevada, is barred from taking bets on the Lakers-Celtics series. That's because Harrah's top executive Gary Loveman bought a 2.4 percent stake in the Celtics last year. Under NBA rules, Harrah's was barred from accepting bets on the team.

Washington Wizards forward Andray Blatche was charged with reckless driving and driving on a suspended license after a traffic stop. Police stopped Blanche's car Wednesday morning on Interstate 85 in southern Virginia. He was driving 86 mph in a 70-mph zone, police said. The officer arrested Blatche because of the suspended license.

The search for a replacement for Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni apparently is down to four candidates. While Suns general manager Steve Kerr didn't call them finalists, he praised the four individually and said all remained under consideration. The last of the group, San Antonio Spurs assistant Mike Budenholzer, was interviewed Tuesday, one day after Detroit Pistons assistant Terry Porter had his...

Knowing he faces a tight timetable, new Atlanta Hawks general manager Rick Sund is eager to start putting his imprint on a team coming off its first playoff appearance in nine years. But he's still mum about the future of coach Mike Woodson. In a wide-ranging interview conducted at the Hawks' 19th-floor offices, Sund declined comment on whether he's made a decision to bring back Woodson or hire...