Allen helps Celtics win title after learning son is diabetic
12 hours ago
BOSTON, Massachusetts (AFP) — Finally winning a National Basketball Association crown after 12 seasons of struggling was not even the best news that Boston guard Ray Allen received Tuesday.
Allen was awestruck at the achievement the Celtics completed by beating the Los Angeles Lakers 131-92 to win the best-of-seven NBA Finals four games to two but it was beaten by the news his 17-month-old son Walker would be all right.
Allen learned Sunday morning that Walker had diabetes and raced to his hospital bedside after a game five loss Sunday in Los Angeles, not arriving in Boston until early Tuesday and even then taking his youngest son to a hospital.
Despite sleepless nights and worries for his son’s future, Allen scored 26 points and helped the Celtics impose the worst title-clinching defeat in NBA Finals history upon the Lakers for Boston’s 17th title and first since 1986.
“It really started over the weekend when I knew my son was feeling ill,” Allen said. "We just thought he had some type of virus that was passing. Sunday morning we had to admit him to the hospital and just deal with that.
"Found out he was diagnosed with diabetes and just had to play the game that Sunday and then wonder whether he was OK. He wasn’t doing well that day so I got to his hospital bed after the game on Sunday and he started coming alive.
“Everything was great. I just knew that’s where I needed to be.”
While his teammates struggled with an airplane delay Monday, Allen took an even later flight from Los Angeles to Boston and arrived Tuesday morning.
“We took him to the hospital and he was lively so I was relieved to see that he was moving around,” Allen said.
“This is something that’s going to be a lifestyle change for us but we made it through those first couple of days and being educated on what exactly he has to go through.”
After two nights of little sleep, Allen then had the luxury of thinking about the biggest game of his life, one that brought the title he had sought for so many years.
“Just sitting in the hospital this morning, I hadn’t slept really and was just now thinking how I’m going to sleep, get rest and how my body is going to respond,” Allen said.
"The team was great and I just told myself that I wasn’t going to come in and just do. I was going to focus on trying to make plays. The team played great. I was able to focus in and the family took care of everything else from the hospital perspective.
“I was able to come out here and just play basketball. It’s such a wonderful feeling to be able to do this on this night with all the stuff that has taken place over the weekend.”
Allen brought Walker onto the stage to celebrate the championship victory.
“I know he was looking at me wondering what was going on,” Allen said. "He was very happy to be in my arms. He was very content and just knowing him, in the years to come he will realize how big of a moment it was and he was able to share.
“All of us are pretty speechless.”
Some great pic’s from post game celebrations and the parade. Next year If Boston want to win another title they do need to make changes because the west is going to be stronger. New Orleans and Houston are two deadly teams.
Ray and PP will need to take more of the offense whilst KG will be more the rebounder.
Why the hell didn’t TeamUSA take Pierce?
He probably would turn it down.
Team USA have crazy talent, they just need to play as a team. Put the ego’s aside.
U.S. men’s team announced, with high hopes of regaining gold
CHICAGO – MVP Kobe Bryant has a shot at another big prize after falling short of the NBA championship, and he’ll have plenty of help along the way.
LeBron James is there. Dwyane Wade, too.
They will lead a U.S. Olympic basketball team that was announced Monday and hopes to capture the gold medal in Beijing in August after a third-place showing in Athens four years ago.
The team already has “re-established itself” on an international level, USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo said during a news conference.
The next step is to bring home the gold, and the U.S. will send a deep, versatile team to China. Carmelo Anthony and Jason Kidd were also among the 12 players chosen from a pool of 33. They were joined by the Detroit Pistons’ Tayshaun Prince, along with Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, Michael Redd and Deron Williams.
“It was a very difficult selection process,” Colangelo said. “When you have as many outstanding players as we have in this country – to select a group of 12 is obviously going to leave out a number of outstanding people.”
The Pistons issued a statement from Prince in which he said he was “honored to be selected.”
“I take great pride in being given the opportunity to represent my country, and I strongly believe that with the team that has been assembled, the United States will be represented well,” Prince said.
The team was selected without a tryout. It will have a minicamp this week in Las Vegas and meet there July 20-25 to train and play an exhibition against Canada before heading overseas. The Americans open Olympic play against China on Aug. 10.
Going For The Gold
Tayshaun Prince was one of seven players named to the 12-man U.S. basketball roster who will get their first taste of Olympic experience. The roster, to be coached by Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski:
12 Talented Men Carmelo Anthony Jason Kidd
Carlos Boozer Chris Paul
Chris Bosh Tayshaun Prince
Kobe Bryant Michael Redd
Dwight Howard Dwyane Wade
LeBron James Deron Williams
Most Returning Olympians
*1996 (6): Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Scottie Pippen, Mitch Richmond, David Robinson, John Stockton
2008 (5): Anthony, Boozer, James, Kidd, Wade
*1992 (4): Patrick Ewing, Michael Jordan, Chris Mullin, Robinson
- – Won gold medal
Although the Americans captured the gold at the Sydney Games in 2000, they no longer dominate international play as they once did. The talent gap has narrowed and many top players have chosen to not play for the national team in recent years.
Now, the U.S. team appears loaded. Then again, the Americans went 5-3 in Athens and lost for the first time since NBA players started competing in 1992 even though they had James, Anthony, Wade and Tim Duncan. That group got routed by Puerto Rico before losing to Lithuania and Argentina, but this one is confident it will take the gold.
“It’s really the world’s game. We think we’re the best at playing that game,” said coach Mike Krzyzewski, warning that “unless we show the respect to the rest of the world that it is the world’s game” there will be no gold medal.
Wade and Anthony said they didn’t know what to expect in Athens.
“I’ve always seen greatness in the Olympics, but that was never one of my dreams,” Wade said. “I never really expected to be on the Olympic team, especially in my first year. I didn’t have a clue what I was getting into. … Now, we respect the game so much. We respect the team basketball that they play internationally so much.”
Anthony saw the 2004 Games as a chance to have “some of the best workouts in the summertime with the best players in the world” and went there thinking “the USA is supposed to win everything.”
“Going through that experience really helped me to learn the international game,” Anthony said.
He’s part of a team that includes one of the best shooters (Redd) and defenders (Prince). There are role players and scorers, including the two biggest.
Bryant will play in his first Olympics after winning his first MVP while leading the Los Angeles Lakers to the Finals. James averaged 30.0 points, just enough to beat Bryant for the scoring title.
Those two, along with Anthony, Kidd and Dwight Howard, started for a team that went unbeaten in the Olympic qualifying tournament last year. Eight of the 12 players headed to Beijing played on that team and six played in the 2006 world championships.
“We’re a team already,” Krzyzewski said. “The thing that this program has done is … provide continuity and relationships. … We’ll hit the ground running.”
Phoenix forward Amare Stoudemire withdrew from Olympic consideration, apparently concerned about pushing his body too hard after knee surgery in 2005 and 2006. So did Detroit’s Chauncey Billups, who would have had a tough time making the team given the backcourt depth.
Wade’s season ended in March because of a sore left knee that had been bothering him since surgery in 2007. He started working out in his hometown Chicago in May, and James and Paul joined him to help sharpen his game. Colangelo visited recently and left convinced the 6-foot-4 guard was healthy.
“This was to see how far along he had come in his rehab,” Colangelo said. “That was the whole thing. Plus, I had a little conversation I wanted to have with him. We took care of that. I watched him work. I saw him do a few things in terms of explosiveness that showed me that he was pretty much back.”
Trainer Tim Grover has been working out with Wade. Colanagelo said Grover assured him the Miami Heat star will completely ready when the team gathers in Las Vegas next month.
“I feel great,” Wade said.
And he’d feel even better with a gold medal dangling from his neck.
My starting 5
C- Dwight Howard 6’11"
F- Chris Bosh 7’0"
F- LeBron James 6’9"
G- Kobe Bryant 6’6"
G- Chris Paul 6’0
Now thats scary.
argentina has Ginobili, Nocioni, Scola, Oberto
and Spain has Calderon, Navarro, Rudy Fernandez, Garbajosa, Gasol brothers
It’s probable that none of those guys from Argentina & Spain would even make Team USA. However that’s been said time and time again and USA ends up losing to teams with little to no NBA presence.
Yes but they play as a team which is going to be stronger than playing as group of individuals. Lakers v Boston was good example how the better team can beat the more talented roster.
I thought I would reopen this thread since the 09 east & west conference finals are abt to start. So far Houston and LA are 2-2, who would of thought they would blow out LA without McGrady ( finals) or Yao in game 4.
In the east Boston and Orlando are 2-2, Big baby was clutch in game 4 and Jesus was even more clutch against Chicago. Cleveland have yet to be pushed, Denver may be the quite under dogs. I don’t see the Cs repeating losing KG makes their inside game much less formidable.
another year, another playoffs…
I HOPE that Boston and upset Cleveland in the second Rd.
Game 1 Boston V Miami 30 minutes to start