Rumors

On Thursday before the draft, Power Home Remodeling struck again — this time, with airplanes. Per their news release, they paid to have three planes fly over Barclays Center and along the Hudson River for four hours, stopping around 7:30 p.m. ET, with the following messages: 23/Crown image + Liberty Bell image = GOAT image, Strive for GOAT-ness and #PhillyWantsLeBron

For The Win

Even Jeremy Lin lives in Brooklyn now. New York’s professional athletes have long gravitated to luxury Manhattan high-rises, trendy TriBeCa lofts and sprawling mansions on the Hudson. Not since there was baseball at Ebbets Field and the old Dodgers had homes in Bay Ridge have players chosen to actually live in Brooklyn. But that has all changed in recent months. The Nets are playing, practicing and, at long last, living in Brooklyn this season. In fact, 12 of the 15 players with guaranteed contracts are bona fide residents, a stark change from last season when the team was still practicing in East Rutherford, N.J., and only one player lived in the borough. This season, some players reside within a bounce pass of the fetid Gowanus Canal, a Superfund site. Their real estate decisions are the latest proof that this ain’t your father’s Brooklyn — unless your father cultivated roof-to-table microgreens and ran a small-batch bourbon distillery/yarn store. “It’s different,” said Luis Scola, a forward from Argentina whose family has a three-bedroom rental in Carroll Gardens. “You walk places. We’re riding our bikes a lot. It’s a place with real personality.”

New York Times

Amar’e Stoudemire loves the atmosphere across the Hudson River when the Knicks play the Nets at Prudential Center. He loves that a Knicks-Nets game in Newark feels like a home game away from home. And though he has eyed the Knicks’ last-ever visit to New Jersey tomorrow as his big return from a bulging disk, the Knicks believe having him back in Cleveland on Friday is more realistic. Stoudemire has had two contact scrimmages, but yesterday’s practice was canceled because the club was beaten up further with Tyson Chandler’s knee injury. That hasn’t helped Stoudemire get into game shape. he will miss his 12th straight game tonight when the Knicks host the Celtics.

New York Post

Some Nets officials were reminded of a trip across the Hudson River seven years ago with Jason Kidd. Back then, Stephon Marbury had sniffed over suggestions that Kidd was a superior player, and Marbury declared himself the best point guard in the NBA on the eve of a Nets-Knicks game. “You couldn’t even talk to Jason that day,” one official said. “Seven hours before the game, and J-Kidd was in a full rage. You knew what was coming that night.”

Yahoo! Sports

Across the Hudson River yesterday, John Calipari made it to another Final Four. Because of his ties to the super agency, CAA, which orchestrated the Melo deal and represents Chris Paul, Calipari will be linked to any future Knicks vacancy. Mark Warkentien was hired to the front office partly because of his CAA ties and gossip on Anthony and Denver.

New York Post