James discovered the lump early last year and had to undergo numerous tests to find out whether it was cancerous or not.

LeBron James had a lump removed from his jaw in June.

“I was working with some good professionals,” he said, according to ESPN.com. “They were telling me they didn’t think it was cancer, but we had to be sure, of course.”

Thankfully, the lump was benign.

I’m surprised that this information is just coming to light now, but it’s understandable why James would want to keep it on the D-L. It’s been a bumpy year for him — first the lump, then the loss to Orlando in the NBA East Finals, and now he may have Swine Flu.

I guess even mega-superstars can have a run of  bad luck.

Image: Zuma Press

Post from: EveryJoe

LeBron’s Cancer Scare

Only a handful of Detroit players acted like they gave two cents. One of them who did not was Rasheed Wallace. His 6.5 ppg and 11-30 fg do not tell the whole story though, he often did not even debate foul calls, something he has always been known for doing. Tayshaun Prince, visibly slowed by a bad back, was even less inspiring, averaging a stunning 3.8 ppg and 3.5 reb/gm. Tayshaun did not shoot a single free throw the entire series. I’m still wondering why he played 32.2 min/gm. I’d reckon Aaron Afflalo and Walter Herrmann could have at least doubled Prince’s averages in the same amount of minutes.  Not that it would have made a lick of difference, but really, as a Piston fan, it was tough to see Prince play his last 4 games as a Piston so limited (if Dumars is smart, both Sheed and Prince will be in different cities next season).

This graphic tells most of what went wrong for Detroit this series and, well, the whole season actually.

At least Iverson took care of the ball (Image:Ball Don't Lie)

Cavs could be in for a scare in round 2, they are clearly not in playoff mode. They would have been given tougher games by Washington and Indiana. Detroit was not engaged and seemed insulted to even be in the 8^th spot. Somehow the organization didn’t get the “tank for a better draft pick” memo.  As Charles Barkley said on TNT, Detroit had “one foot in Cancun” even before the series began.

And Antonio McDyess chose to come back to Detroit for that?

Can you imagine Denver having the Birdman and McDyess coming off the bench? Dwight could sure use a real power forward to play with. And Boston needs him right about now, Brian Scalabrine just played 10 minutes in a tight Game 5!

What a shame Antonio, what a shame.

Though, I must say, my mood is slowly but surely changing for the better. Allen Iverson never winning a NBA championship is reason enough for a nice, loud CHEERS!

Good luck on that AI, you really showed your true colors over the past 5 months.

Post from: EveryJoe

Cavs-Pistons Recap

1. Will the Pistons play at least one game where they act like they care?

2. Is Tyrus Thomas becoming a player right before our eyes or is he becoming a player right before our eyes?

3. Is New Orleans-Denver that much of a mismatch?

4. Is it just me or did Andre Iguodala make one helluva difficult shot in game 1 with Hedo all up in his grill?

Iggy gettin jiggy wit it (Image:Newscom)

5. Wait, did Orlando just leave 53 year old Donyell Marshall all alone again?

6. Does it bother you to see Kevin Garnett continually say potty mouth type things on the sideline after each big Celtic play…?

7. Or make goofy faces?

8.  Or that the cameraman seems to always focus in on him, like, expecting him to say something more family friendly the next time?

9. Did Tony Parker just decide to take over the Mavs series because I was too busy watching him make layups to tell?

10. Is it just me or does Jeff Van Gundy become more tolerable and dare I say more lovable as time goes on?

Post from: EveryJoe

NBA Playoff Observations Thus Far

Jonathan Givony, president of DraftExpress, characterized the first day as hectic and not a fair barometer of the talent at the camp.

It was hard to read too much into anything we saw in day one—players are being sent in and out of the game constantly, whistles are being blown in all directions, and turnovers, over-dribbling and bad shots abound. Isolated possessions gave you brief glimpses into some of the things these players can bring to the table, but for the most part today was about putting faces and names to the jersey numbers as your eyes constantly darted back and forth between the court and the roster list. Although we’ve seen all of these players on film repeatedly, and many of them in person during the regular season or in private workouts over the past few weeks, even we didn’t recognize everyone, largely due to the fact that many of the players here have lost significant amounts of weight since the season ended.

source

Likewise, Day 1 was deemed as “disappointing” by draftexpress.com writer Joseph Treutlein. But he states Day 2 went much better and figured many of the first day nerves had subsided for most of the players.

Treutlein categorizes certain players whose stock he believes are rising, staying the same and dropping. Some players are on his list that I actually talked about in some earlier posts. Sleeper Seniors Should I stay or should I go?

Rising

Malik Hairston Oregon

While he didn’t have a noteworthy statistical game, Hairston has clearly benefited from getting in better shape. He showed improved elevation, quickness and explosiveness and looked like a new player. He had some nice dunks and was particularly impressive with his vision and unselfishness. His team has great chemistry and he’s a big reason for that.

This is definitely a huge plus for Malik. A couple more solid days of play and you can mark him down as a 2nd round pick.

Pat Calathes St. Joes

Played a very well-rounded game, scoring 10 points with five assists in just 15 minutes. He showed off ball-handling skills unique for a player of his size. There aren’t many 6-10 players who can do some of the things he did today. He was in rhythm almost immediately both times he was called off the bench, showing terrific creativity and feel for the game.

Looks like I’m two for two so far. Where do I sign up DraftExpress? Can I start immediately?

Dropping

Wayne Ellington UNC

Struggled mightily, hitting 3-of-10 from the field with six turnovers. Looked unimpressive athletically and with his ball-handling. Hasn’t been hitting his jump shot since he arrived.

source

I’m telling you he’s got to come back for his junior year. Another couple of bad days and Wayne’s looking at shooting himself right out of the draft altogether.

Treutlein covered many more players than just these three. Some of them are

Patrick Ewing Jr. Georgetown

Ewing was on the “rising” list. As far as I’m concerned he can rise all he wants but there’s no way he gets drafted. Averaged 4.3 ppg in his four year career. Good luck.

Othello Hunter Ohio St.

Othello was on the “no movement” (staying the same) list. Saw this guy play a half a dozen times or so during his senior year. Athletic player but will have to settle for a playing career overseas.

George Hill IUPUI

George was also on the “no movement” list. I actually had the treat of seeing George Hill play in person once this past season. “Treat” might be overstating things a bit (a lot), but I came away sort of on the fence on whether or not the guy can even play in the D-League. He’s smooth, can handle the ball fairly well and has one of the best career field goal percentages I’ve ever seen for a guard, 53%. But not yet a NBA caliber point guard in the least bit. And at 6’2, a point guard is all he’ll ever be. Basically I’m saying George needs to return for his senior year and watch Steve Nash tapes or something.

Surprisingly Kyle Weaver (Washington St.) and Jamont Gordon (Miss. St.) passed up their camp invitations and are not participating. Both of their draft stocks are probably plummeting and are under the “dropping” category as of now. Does Weaver, a senior, know that he’s exhausted all of his college eligibility? At least Gordon can decide to pull out on June 16th and go back to school.

Hopefully I’ll have news from Day 3 of the Pre-Draft camp shortly.

Post from: EveryJoe

Orlando’s winners and losers so far