The impasse between four-time All-Star Jimmy Butler and the Minnesota Timberwolves continues with the season opener less than two weeks away.
“Obviously, we’re trying to get something done,” coach Tom Thibodeau said Friday, hours before a preseason game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Butler wants no part of returning to the team and has requested a trade. Time is running out in terms of there being a resolution prior to the season opener against the San Antonio Spurs on Oct. 17.
“It’s all fluid,” Thibodeau said. “We’ll take it day by day. … We’re trying to do what’s best for the team. And so we’re focused on the guys who are here. And, obviously, we’re trying to get something done. And we’ll approach it as it comes.”
—Sherra Wright, the ex-wife of slain basketball player Lorenzen Wright, is competent to stand trial for his murder, a mental evaluation requested by her attorneys revealed.
Sherra Wright was arrested in December, seven years after Wright’s body was found decomposing in a Tennessee suburb, and is being held on $20 million bond.
“I can’t explain why it’s just been given to us today,” Juni Ganguli, one of her attorneys said, noting that the evaluation had been completed Sept. 27.
—Philadelphia 76ers guard J.J. Redick couldn’t miss during a preseason game against the Dallas Mavericks in Shanghai, China.
Redick made all 10 of his shots in the 120-114 victory, despite being booed by some Chinese fans every time he touched the ball.
Afterward, Redick noted that the booing was polite and was mixed with applause as his perfect night continued. The fan reaction stems from a video in which he appeared to use a racial slur earlier this year while wishing Chinese fans a happy new year.
—New allegations levied against a Mavericks employee grabbed the attention of commissioner Adam Silver on his trip to China for NBA preseason games.
Silver confirmed he was aware of the Dallas Morning News story and the allegations made against team photographer Danny Bollinger. Silver learned of claims Bollinger has a history of making lewd comments and propositioning women at work. Bollinger has been sent home from the team’s trip to China.
On the heels of a Sports Illustrated story that sparked an independent investigation into the abuse of power and sexual misconduct in the workplace, Silver described his level of concern as “extraordinarily high.”
—Field Level Media
