NBA Report
Wade drops 41; Heat leave Pacers in the dust Dwyane Wade tied a franchise record for most points in a first half with 31, and finished with 41 overall to help the Miami Heat defeat the host Indiana Pacers, 110-103, on Tuesday night.
Wade drops 41; Heat leave Pacers in the dust
Dwyane Wade tied a franchise record for most points in a first half with 31, and finished with 41 overall to help the Miami Heat defeat the host Indiana Pacers, 110-103, on Tuesday night.
Elsewhere: Luol Deng scored 24 points, and the Bulls beat the pesky Bobcats, 106-94, in Chicago. . . . The host Thunder set a season high for points and beat the Kings, 126-94.
More hardware for Russell
76ers nemesis Bill Russell was among those recognized by President Obama with the Medal of Freedom for contributions that he said "reveal the best of who we are and who we aspire to be."
Russell led the University of San Francisco to two national titles, won an Olympic gold medal, and 11 NBA championships. He was a five-time MVP, and a 12-time all-star. And he was a pioneer as the NBA's first black coach.
But he was also notorious for his refusal to give autographs or acknowledge fans. One writer called him "the most selfish, surly, and uncooperative athlete." "You owe the public the same it owes you, nothing! I refuse to smile and be nice to the kiddies," Russell once said.
But if he seemed to have a chip on his shoulder, he could tell you why. In Boston, vandals trashed his house and covered the walls with racist graffiti. After he was named Celtics coach, he appeared at a news conference where "probably the second or third question one of the Boston reporters asked me [was], 'Can you coach the white guys without being prejudiced?' Now, I didn't recall anybody asking a white coach if he could coach the black guys without being prejudiced. All I said was, 'Yeah.' "
Cement shoes for Kobe
Talk show hosts Jimmy Kimmel and George Lopez will be on hand to celebrate this weekend when Kobe Bryant puts his hands and feet in concrete outside Hollywood's famed Grauman's Chinese Theater. Bryant is the first person with no association to the film industry to be enshrined at the theater.
Ex-Sixers GM diagnosed with cancer
Orlando Magic senior vice president and longtime general manager of the 76ers Pat Williams, 70, has been diagnosed with multiple myelom, a form of blood cancer. Doctors say they are optimistic that they caught the disease in the early stages. Williams was a member of the group that founded the Magic in 1989 and spent 12 seasons as GM of the Sixers in the 1970s and early 1980s. - Staff and wire reports