LeBron James' King For Kids Bike-a-thon

AKRON -- It was a parade fit for a king. Lebron James and the LeBron James family foundation spent Saturday in James' hometown of Akron to host the 2009 State Farm "King for Kids Bike-a-thon."

LeBron's mother, Gloria, was there to kick-off the event.

The event is held each year to recognize and reward Akron-area children who have contributed to the community.

James' teammate Mo Williams, along with celebrities Chris Paul, Nick Cannon, and Lil J.J., strapped on their helmets and took to a one-mile ride through the city.

Hundreds of children received free bikes.

Proceeds from the bike-a-thon will benefit the Akron area YMCA and the Akron Urban League.

NBA Slam Dunk Contest winner Fred Jones signs italian Biella

Ex-Clipper Jones signs with Italian club
From the NBA to Europe.

The 6-2, 225-pound guard Fred Jones has agreed to terms with the Italian team Biella Angelico. The American has officially agreed to a one-year deal.

In 2004 Jones won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, beating out ex-champion Jason Richardson.

Jones was a member of the Indiana Pacers, the Toronto Raptors, the Portland Trail Blazers, the New York Knicks and last season he played in Los Angeles for the Clippers.

Last season Jones appeared in 52 games for the Clippers and totalled 7.3 points, 2.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game.

Orlando Magic sign point guard Jason Williams

After a year out of the game to spend more time with his family, Jason Williams will be making his NBA comeback as close to his family as possible.

The veteran point guard on Wednesday signed a one-year deal with the Orlando Magic believed to be worth the league's veteran minimum of $1.3 million, choosing the opportunity to play behind Jameer Nelson with a championship contender over a return to the Memphis Grizzlies.

"You couldn't paint a better picture," Williams said in a phone interview.

Williams signed a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Clippers in August 2008 but walked away from the contract before ever playing a game for the Clippers, partly because of complications his wife faced when pregnant with their third child. The 33-year-old wound up sitting out the entire 2008-09 season when his February attempt to be reinstated -- which requires unanimous approval from the league's 30 teams to avoid a mandatory one-year waiting period -- was voted down by 24 teams to six.

The Clippers held exclusive negotiating rights with Williams through July 24 but ultimately elected to relinquish them. The New York Knicks then inherited those exclusive negotiating rights by claiming him off waivers, but Williams soon became an unrestricted free agent when the Knicks passed on him. That led to immediate interest from the Grizzlies and the Magic.

Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley has long maintained a deep fondness for Williams and urged him to come back to the team he spent four seasons with from 2001-05. Yet the chance to stay in Orlando -- having maintained a residence in the nearby community of Isleworth for nearly a decade -- was too attractive to the 10-year vet.

"We're moving forward," Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace told the Memphis Commercial Appeal. "I think Jason was serious about us. I just don't think he wanted to move his family. He gets to stay at home and contend for a championship."

Said Magic general manager Otis Smith: "Jason provides depth and leadership to our backcourt. He is a veteran point guard that knows what it takes to help us reach our ultimate goal."

Williams told ESPN.com that he feels "rejuvenated" physically from the year away and grateful to be making his return to the game in Florida after helping the Miami Heat win a championship in 2005-06 in a season that began with Orlando's Stan Van Gundy as his head coach.

In 10 seasons with Sacramento, Memphis and Miami, Williams has averaged 11.4 points and 6.3 assists, gradually delivering steadiness on a consistent basis as he got older after breaking in with a flashy but risky floor game that earned him the nickname of "White Chocolate."

Asked to reflect on his career to date, factoring in the highs in Miami and his status as an instant darling in Sacramento as well as his multiple suspensions in college and occasional controversies in the NBA, Williams said: "Let me tell you this: If I could go all the way back [to the beginning], I wouldn't do a damn thing different. I know I messed up here and there along the way, but those things I didn't do right helped me become the person I am now."

Williams is merely the latest new arrival in an active offseason for the reigning Eastern Conference champions, with Smith clearly unafraid to tinker with the supporting cast around his All-Star trio of Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis and Nelson.

Since reaching the NBA Finals for just the second time in franchise history, Orlando has traded for former All-Star swingman Vince Carter, signed free-agent forward Brandon Bass, matched a five-year, $34 million offer sheet to restricted free agent Marcin Gortat and added Matt Barnes, Williams and Ryan Anderson (acquired in the Carter trade) in place of the exiting Hedo Turkoglu, Courtney Lee, Tony Battie and Rafer Alston.

source: espn

Artest thinks the Lakers are like the 90's Bulls...

Ron Artest believes that the Lakers can be like the Bulls of the late 1990s.

Artest, who signed a free-agent deal with Los Angeles this summer, grew up as a fan of Michael Jordan.

"The opportunity was unbelievable. I get a chance to play with Kobe, Michael Jordan's my favorite player, Kobe's probably the closest person to Michael Jordan, so I get to kind of relive that whole Chicago Bulls thing growing up, that was my favorite team," Artest told 790 The Ticket in Miami.

"So, Phil Jackson, you got Kobe Bryant, you got myself at the three like Scottie Pippen, you have a clutch shooter in Derek Fisher like a Steve Kerr, you have Lamar Odom like a Toni Kukoc, it's just fun, it's a dream. I thank God so much to be in this situation, get a chance to win, playing with the defending champs, and I'm in LA 'cause you know I love the spotlight."

Nate Robinson arrested...

New York Knicks star and "diminutive slam-dunk expert" Nate Robinson has been arrested for driving on a suspended license, according to the New York Post.

Tuesday afternoon, the unrestricted free agent guard — whose license was suspended in June for the fifth time! — had his vehicle pulled over by the NYPD in The Bronx on suspicion of having illegally tinted windows. Well, at least that was Nate's tweet reasoning. We're still not exactly sure.

"Cops pulled me over cuz my windows were 2 dark (but my windows were down) lol how funny is that," the 5-foot, 7-inch guard posted on Twitter while waiting on his Big Wheel in his car with Nets' rookie Terrence Williams(notes).

Robinson also tweeted that the cops kept him waiting too long for his liking while they processed his papers: "I am still pulled over and its been 35 min they have me sit in my truck like i dnt have s#*+2 do lol," he wrote.

The tweets have since been removed from Robinson's feed, but Tweleted, an online program which recovers deleted messages Twitter messages for good or evil, confirms they were indeed there.

The arrest is the latest in a long list of motor-vehicle-related troubles for Robinson. According to DMV records dug up by The Post, Nate has been cited and/or ticketed over the last three years for disobeying a traffic signal, failing to signal, driving without his seat belt on and talking on a cell phone.

Roko Leni Ukic in Bucks

Just when Interbasket was getting all excited the Toronto Raptors and all the international players they had on their roster…

Now comes this rumour that the Canadian NBA franchise is trading away Argentinian Carlos Delfino and Croatian backup point guard Roko Ukić to the Milwukee Bucks for Amir Johnson.

If true, Toronto will no longer have as many international players.

However the Raps still have the potential for the first ever (?), all-international NBA lineup with José Calderón running the point, Marco Belinelli at shooting guard, Hedo Türkoğlu at small forward, Andrea Bargnani at the four, and veteran backup center Rasho Nesterović.

Belinelli and Nesterović would be backups, but as long as all five remain healthy, the situation is highly-likely this next season.

Delfino left the NBA at the beginning of the 2008-09 season to sign with Russian club Khimki. Delfino has since left Russia because the club could no longer afford to pay the 6-6 shooting guard. The Raptors owned Delfino’s NBA rights.

The 6-5 point guard Ukic played 12 minutes a game for the Raptors and averaged 4.2 points and 2.1 assists in his first NBA season. Ukic is 24 years old.

Amir Johnson is a 22-year old, 6-9 forward that was drafted by the Detroit Pistons #56 overall in 2005. Johnson played his entire career with the Pistons before being traded to the Bucks this offseason as a part of a three-team trade that sent Richard Jefferson to the San Antonio Spurs.

Denver Nuggets Re-sign Anthony Carter

Aging point guard stays put.

Anthony Carter has spent the last few seasons in Denver and was used as a starter quite sparingly last season. As a backup guard he was valuable last year while contributing almost 23 minutes per game. He assists contributions of 4.7 per game were surprisingly high given his limited playing time and his presence on the bench next season should help keep the Nuggets competitive (although Carter is not a significant difference maker).