Jump Shot Web

The National Basketball Association has named United States Army Major General Ronald L. Johnson to the newly created position of Senior Vice President, Referee Operations, it was announced today by NBA Commissioner David Stern.

Chris Paul's agent plans to travel to New Orleans on Wednesday with the intention of completing a contract extension that would keep the All-Star and Team USA point guard with the Hornets for an additional three to five years.

The Golden State Warriors have re-signed free agent guard Monta Ellis to a multi-year contract, it was announced Thursday by Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Mullin. "We are absolutely thrilled to have Monta under contract for the next several years,"said Mullin.

The Denver Nuggets have signed forward/center Chris Andersen, team Vice President of Basketball Operations Mark Warkentien announced today. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not released. Andersen, 6-10, 228, returns to the Nuggets, the team he began his NBA career with as the first-ever "call-up"from the NBA Development League in 2001. He averaged 4.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg and 1.31 bpg in three seasons with Denver from 2001-2004.

The Golden State Warriors have matched the contract offer submitted to restricted free agent guard Kelenna Azubuike by the Los Angeles Clippers, it was announced today by Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Mullin. The Warriors had seven (7) days from receipt of the contract – Friday, July 18 - to match the offer from Los Angeles. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not announced.

Detroit Shock Head Coach and General Manager Bill Laimbeer announced today that the team has signed basketball Hall of Famer, former Detroit Shock head coach and current ESPN broadcaster Nancy Lieberman to a seven-day contract. "At last year's WNBA All-Star Game, our coaching staff watched Nancy run through the skills test. She was very impressive,"said Laimbeer. "We talked after that if the opportunity ever arose to sign her to a seven-day contract we might give her a call. There is no question she is in great shape. I approached her two weeks ago, but the timing was not right."

In response to the events at Tuesday's game between the Detroit Shock and the Los Angeles Sparks, WNBA President Donna Orender issued the following statement: "The WNBA and its players represent all that is good about sports: passion, hard work and sacrifice. On a nightly basis our players display extraordinary skill, athleticism and competitive fire. The events Tuesday, however, were inexcusable and in no way indicative of what the league stands for. We hold our players to a very high standard and these suspensions should serve notice that the behavior exhibited at the end of Tuesday's game will not be tolerated.”

In a Reuters story posted in the PENNISULA QATAR, "Spanish hopes of adding an Olympic men's basketball title to their world title rest largely on the shoulders of Pau Gasol. The versatile seven-footer will be a marked man in Beijing with Los Angeles Lakers team mate Kobe Bryant declaring his aim was to ‘stop Pau winning gold'. Able to play power forward or centre, the Barcelona-born Gasol averaged 18.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game in helping the Lakers reach the NBA finals this year. LA's defeat by the Boston Celtics could help Gasol's motivation in Beijing as will the memory of Spain's 60-59 upset loss to Russia in last year's European championship final in Madrid. "

In the NEW ORLEANS TIMES-PICAYUNE, John Reid writes "James Posey, a 6-foot-8 swingman, gives Scott and the Hornets plenty of options with his versatility. ‘I just think James can play three positions (shooting guard, small forward and power forward),' Scott said. ‘Offensively, he just doesn't make mistakes. He takes great shots and does all the things he can do, and he doesn't try to go overboard. But that's what you get when you have a veteran guy. ‘Right now, we're looking at him as our sixth man, probably our first guy off the bench. We're fortunate and very blessed to have him. You look at his track record, he's won everywhere he's been. I think we are a better basketball team.'”

In the USA TODAY, Tim Dahlberg, a sports columnist for THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, writes "size seems to have become an issue for the Olympic basketball team, if only because every other issue has long since been settled. This is a team so deep and talented and full of superstars that winning the gold medal seems assured even if Kobe Bryant and LeBron James never pass the ball to anyone. Chris Paul laughed because he's seen the intensity. He knows the desire. ‘I don't care if they put me at center, it will be fine,' Paul said. ‘We've got 12 of the best players in the world on this team and they all know a lot about how to win.'”