Bryant, Kidd both likely to play Sunday
Kobe Bryant will start for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game, and Jason Kidd will be in the lineup for the East.
Probably.
But with Bryant's right pinkie in a splint and Kidd stuck somewhere between New Jersey and Dallas in the midst of a trade on hold, nothing was a guarantee for either player Friday.
Bryant said he'd "rather not play" Sunday night, but doesn't think he has a choice. NBA policy dictates that if a player is healthy enough to play in the final game before the break and the first one after, he won't be excused from the All-Star Game. Bryant is hardly pleased with the rule.
"But what can you do?" he said. "I don't want to be suspended, miss a game."
It wasn't clear if Bryant would in fact be suspended if he sat out. He expected the Lakers to talk to the league about his options, and couldn't say for sure if he would play.
Sophomores 136, Rookies 109: Cleveland's Daniel Gibson made a record 11 3-pointers, many coming right in front of Cleveland teammate LeBron James, and scored 33 points to lead the NBA's sophomores stars to a victory over the top rookies on Friday night of all-star weekend.
Gibson will compete in the 3-point shootout today.
Thorn denies side deal: Nets president Rod Thorn said Friday he has no side deal with Mavericks swingman Jerry Stackhouse, an illegal arrangement that could put a potential Jason Kidd-to-Dallas trade in jeopardy.
The Nets thought they had worked out a deal with the Mavericks on Wednesday that would have sent Kidd to Dallas, but the trade is on hold because Devean George exercised his right to block it.
However, it may have been in trouble before that. Earlier that day, Stackhouse told The Associated Press that he may be able to rejoin the Mavs, an indication the Nets planned to buy out his contract.
"I get 30 days to rest, then I'll be right back," Stackhouse said. "I ain't going nowhere."
Not so, Thorn said Friday.
"I'm perfectly willing to take Stackhouse on my team. You can't make deals like that," he said. "Those are illegal. You can't do that. I'm not going to do it."
Hall of Fame finalists: Hakeem Olajuwon and Patrick Ewing, who battled for NCAA and NBA titles, and Miami Heat coach Pat Riley were selected as finalists Friday for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Bulls TV analyst Johnny "Red" Kerr was also one of the 15 finalists for induction.
The 2008 Hall of Fame class will be announced April 7, before the NCAA championship game in San Antonio. A finalist needs 18 of 24 votes from the honors committee for election.
Kerr, 75, has been involved in most every facet of basketball. The Chicago native helped lead Illinois to the Final Four in 1952. During a 12-year NBA career, Kerr won a championship with the Syracuse Nationals in 1955 and played in a then-record 844 consecutive games.
He was named NBA coach of the year in 1966-67 after leading the expansion Bulls to the playoffs in their first season. He has been a Bulls broadcaster since 1975.
Olajuwon and Ewing both played in three Final Fours, with Ewing's Georgetown team beating Olajuwon's Houston squad for the 1984 national championship. Olajuwon got his revenge as a pro, leading the Houston Rockets to the first of two straight titles with a seven-game victory over Ewing's New York Knicks in the 1994 NBA Finals.