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As Kobe Bryant’s career winds down, the focus shifts to what more LeBron James can accomplish in the remainder of his career. Continue to Article

March 11, 2016 9:24:am EST

The Memphis Grizzlies' brutal run of injuries continues. The team announced Thursday that point guard Mario Chalmers did, as feared, tear his right Achilles tendon during Wednesday's loss to the Boston Celtics, and will miss the remainder of the season — an awful twist of fate for a player who had cemented himself as one of the league's best backup point guards and who was likely to field significant contract offers in unrestricted free agency this summer, but whose immediate NBA future now looks much more uncertain. [ Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Basketball contest today ] Chalmers suffered the injury during the third quarter of Memphis' visit to Boston, pulling up lame after trying to race for a loose ball following a missed 3-point shot just under the seven-minute mark: Chalmers was helped off the floor and back to the locker room, and was later ruled out with a "right foot injury" that had Memphis fans fearing the worst. Mario Chalmers down, needs to be helped off. Saw him say, "I heard it pop." — Chris Mannix (@ChrisMannixYS) March 10, 2016 Mario Chalmers being rolled out in a wheelchair, foot in a boot. — Chris Mannix (@ChrisMannixYS) March 10, 2016 Chalmers finished with 11 points, five rebounds, five assists, one steal and one block in 22 minutes. The Grizzlies, already playing shorthanded as a result of injuries to starters Mike Conley, Zach Randolph and Chris "Grizzzilla" Andersen — as well as longer-term injuries to big men Marc Gasol and Brandan Wright , and young guard Jordan Adams — buckled after Chalmers' injury, scoring just 12 points in the third quarter and giving up 64 second-half points to the Celtics, who cruised to a 116-96 win . After spending the first seven seasons of his NBA career with the Miami Heat, during which he played in four NBA Finals and won two league championships, Chalmers was sent to Memphis in November along with swingman James Ennis in exchange for fellow reserve point guard Beno Udrih and forward Jarnell Stokes. (Udrih, too, suffered a season-ending injury, while Ennis was waived and Stokes was traded again, to the New Orleans Pelicans, before being waived.) The ever - confident Chalmers proved to be a hand-in-glove fit for a Memphis team seemingly always starved for both ball-handling and shooting, averaging 10.8 points, 3.8 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 22.8 minutes per game after heading to the Grindhouse. Chalmers increased his production when stepping in for an injured Conley, averaging 15 points, 6.4 assists and four rebounds in 35.2 minutes per game in seven starts for the Grizzlies. He also showed a bit of a flair for the dramatic in Memphis, hitting a "you've got to be kidding me" game-winner to top the Detroit Pistons in January: ... and a huge bucket down the stretch of Memphis' stunning Monday win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, in which an eight-man Grizzlies squad playing without any of its top stars (save for Tony Allen) took down LeBron James' healthy Eastern Conference-leading Cavs: Chalmers seemed to embrace Memphis, and also seemed on a nightly basis to be working his tail off, which is the kind of thing that endears you to a rabid fan base like the one that backs the Grizz: Easy to jump to future, but Mario Chalmers was a *great* in-season get for Grizzlies. Also very popular across organization and fan base. — Chris Herrington (@HerringtonNBA) March 11, 2016 Wishin @mchalmers15 a speedy recovery. Never seen a player win over a city quicker. Hope see him in a Grizzlies uni again down the road. — Chris Vernon (@ChrisVernonShow) March 11, 2016 The reason such a thing has to be hoped for is that, after confirming that Chalmers would be done for the season, the Grizzlies waived him. [ Follow Dunks Don't Lie on Tumblr:  The best slams from all of basketball] “[Chalmers] has been an important part of our success this season, both coming off the bench and when called upon as a starter,” Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace said in the team's statement . “But with Mario’s season-ending injury and our already depleted roster, it became necessary to free up a roster spot.” It's something that looks unseemly ... The Chalmers waiver is the unfortunate part of the business. Grizzlies need an extra roster spot and Chalmers is out for the season. — Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) March 11, 2016 ... even, and perhaps especially, to current and former players ... Wow.... @mchalmers15 has season ending injury and gets waived smh.. There is no loyalty in pro sports,Athletes are assets and nothing more — Danny Granger (@dgranger33) March 11, 2016 ... but, for what it's worth, isn't nearly as cold and bloodless a maneuver as you might think: Important to note- Mario still gets paid all his money. — Matt Stark (@MattStarkFOX13) March 11, 2016 Chalmers wasn’t partially guaranteed. He didn’t lose any money in this injury situation outside of the playoff share. — Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) March 11, 2016 Waiving an injured players, especially one w/ a severe injury, isn't uncommon. Last year LAL waived Xavier Henry after he tore his Achilles. — Jeff Stotts (@RotowireATC) March 11, 2016 I would bet Memphis will do right by Chalmers to whatever degree they can within CBA confines. — Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) March 11, 2016 No, not cruel to waive Chalmers. They need the roster spot. Can still try and resign him this summer. — Geoff Calkins (@geoff_calkins) March 11, 2016 At issue, of course, is how robust a market there will be for the services of an about-to-turn-30-year-old point guard coming off a ruptured Achilles tendon, even with the influx of revenue from the league's $24 billion broadcast rights deal inflating the salary cap to a reported $92 million, giving just about every NBA team money to burn this summer. Brandon Jennings tore his left Achilles tendon last January , was sidelined for eight months, and has struggled to recover his previous form in his return. Jennings, however, is more than three years younger than Chalmers, and already had his 2015-16 contract locked in. He, too, will be a free agent this summer, and it's very much an open question how significant an offer he'll command once he hits the market. The hope, of course, is that Chalmers' track mimics that of Wesley Matthews, who ruptured his left Achilles last March , an injury expected to eradicate any shot of the 28-year-old getting maximum contract offers in unrestricted free agency ... only to see the Dallas Mavericks give him a four-year, $70 million deal. Matthews' recovery took about 7 1/2 months, as he returned to the court in time for the start of the regular season; he, too, hasn't been the same player he was for the Portland Trail Blazers, but he's started all 61 Mavericks games, averaging 33 minutes a night. Continue to Article

March 10, 2016 9:51:pm EST

As Sacramento coach George Karl missed practice Thursday to undergo a procedure related to a cancer in his throat, the Kings announced a one-game suspension for center DeMarcus Cousins, apparently because of his actions the previous night. Cousins' suspension was for "conduct detrimental to the team," Kings vice president of operations and general manager Vlade Divac said in a statement. Cousins will miss Friday night's game against the Orlando Magic. Continue to Article

March 10, 2016 8:29:pm EST

Nate Robinson hasn't played in an NBA game since he was waived by the New Orleans Pelicans in late October, and a subsequent tryout in China didn't result in a gig overseas. If the 11-year NBA veteran's got anything to say about it, though, a lack of interest in his services as a basketball player doesn't necessarily mean his career as a professional athlete is over. [ Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Basketball contest today ] In a video Wednesday Thursday by The Lead Sports , Robinson announced his intentions to change venues and pursue a career in the NFL. That, of course, sounds crazy, as Robinson is less than three months away from his 32nd birthday, hasn't played football in 11 or 12 years, and was last listed at 5-foot-9 and 180 pounds. That said, Nate saying he's interested in changing lanes isn't exactly the same as many other longtime NBA pros doing so. Before embarking on an NBA career that would see him suit up for the New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Oklahoma City Thunder, Golden State Warriors, Chicago Bulls, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers and Pelicans, Robinson was a standout high school football player in his native Seattle, totaling more than 1,700 combined rushing and receiving yards with 21 total touchdowns during his senior season at Rainier High School en route to being named Washington's Class AAA Player of the Year by the Seattle Times . Robinson went to the University of Washington in 2002 on a football scholarship, planning to walk onto the Huskies' basketball team as well. He played in all 13 UW football games as a true freshman, making six starts at cornerback. After that one season, though, he decided to quit football to focus on basketball , a decision that paid off when he became a first-round pick in the 2005 NBA draft. "In my mind, I've seen one athlete that can do this," says Robinson's former coach at Washington, Rick Neuheisel, in the video. "And that's Nate Robinson." Continue to Article

March 10, 2016 7:57:pm EST