Former KU guard Chalmers contributes to NBA all-star team victory over WNBA squad
Former University of Kansas guard Mario Chalmers helped an all-star team made up of former NBA players to a 91-81 victory over a squad consisting of former WNBA standouts in what was billed as a “Battle for HoopQuality” contest Tuesday night at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
No stats were made available on the event’s Website after the game pitting men’s players versus women’s players.
“Former Houston Rockets guard Jermaine Taylor earned the men’s MVP award after an impressive scoring output, featuring some quickness with the ball in his hands,” according to the Website sbcride.com.
“Three-time NBA Slam Dunk Contest winner Nate Robinson also played a big role, showing off his outside shooting with his off hand. 2015 WNBA Draft first-round pick Crystal Bradford picked up MVP honors for the women’s side thanks to some tough play inside. Tiffany Hayes, a WNBA All-Star who opted out of the 2020 season (because of COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic), starred early on to keep her team in the game,” the Bleacher Report story on the game noted.
Other players on the winning NBA team included Dahntay Jones, Carlos Arroyo, Mike Taylor, David Hawkins and Rob Hite. Mike Bibby coached the men’s team. Cynthia Cooper coached the women’s squad which also included players Imani McGee-Stafford, Kaela Davis, Danielle Adams and Shae Kelly.
Chalmers has been in Las Vegas since July 19 competing for Miami in The 5 Tournament. It’s a 3-on-3 tourney consisting of six teams of former NBA players (five on each team). Chalmers’ Miami team lost in the semifinals Monday night. His personal highlight in the tourney was a 50-point scoring outburst against Chicago last week.
Wednesday’s championship game will match Toronto against Sacramento. Former KU forward Julian Wright plays for Toronto. The game will start at 7 p.m., Central time, and is available on pay-per-view. Members of the winning team will split $100,000.
Vaughn’s Nets to resume play
Former KU point guard Jacque Vaughn, who took over for Kenny Atkinson as Brooklyn Nets’ head coach two games before the stoppage of the season due to COVID-19 concerns, is considered a front-runner to be the team’s permanent replacement for Atkinson in 2020-21.
“He’s the head coach. They didn’t make him interim coach,” ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said on his podcast last week. “While i know the Nets are considering the possibility of a search, I would still give Jacque Vaughn, I would take Jacque Vaughn against the field right now.
“You know what Sean Marks (Nets GM) has to evaluate,” Wojnarowski added. “He’s got to evaluate whether Jacque Vaughn is the right guy to coach KD (Kevin Durant) and Kyrie Irving and lead that team next season.”
Under the 45-year-old Vaughn’s direction, the Nets (30-34) won both games he coached before the long break, which ends Friday when the season resumes at the “bubble” in Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
Each of the 22 NBA teams will play eight seeding games at Disney World to determine the final 16 teams that will make the playoffs. Eight teams did not qualify for the event in the bubble.
“Because Jacque’s been a head coach in Orlando (58-158 record with a rebuilding Magic team from 2013-15), he understands that while you control some things, you certainly don’t control everything. The only thing you do control is how well you do your job,” former NBA coach/ESPN broadcaster Jeff Van Gundy told the New York Post.
“Now he’s bringing a very decimated (because of injuries) team to this bubble, and most likely they’re going to really struggle in the playoffs because of just being out-talented.
“But it’s important that he knows that he can’t be judged by winning and losing in this. They (Nets) are going to make a decision based on what they see in totality, because it’d just be foolish to try to judge him off of an eight-game (span) and most likely one playoff series with a decimated roster. I know that to do that job is difficult, and I think he’s also filling in for big shoes,” Van Gundy added.
The Nets are said to also be considering Tyronn Lue, who won a title as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, for the head coaching job as well as Jason Kidd and Mark Jackson.
Lue, a former Raytown High School and University of Nebraska standout guard, is now an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Clippers. He won two NBA titles as a player with the Lakers and one so far as a head coach.
“It’s shocking that he doesn’t have a (head coaching) job. I mean, how many guys who’ve won titles are not coaching? So he clearly should be a head coach,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said of Lue in an interview with the New York Post.
“For me, the fact that I’ve coached Ty, that he’s been on my bench and watched him now, the difference is absolutely stunning. It’s amazing when you go from an assistant to a head coach how much you grow, how much better you get. This version of Ty has been absolutely wonderful for me personally. He’s just such a smart, smart mind, and he has amazing people skills. For us it’s been invaluable.”
McLemore on target vs. Grizzlies
Former KU guard/forward Ben McLemore could be a big part of the Houston Rockets’ rotation during the reboot of games starting Friday.
McLemore came off the bench to score 26 points in Houston’s 119-104 exhibition win over the Memphis Grizzlies in their second restart scrimmage Sunday. Starting guard James Harden was the only player to score more, pouring in 31 points with nine assists and eight rebounds. McLemore hit 6 of 7 threes and 8 of 10 shots overall.
McLemore, 26, averaged 9.8 points per game on 44.5% shooting (39.5% from three-point range) for Houston in the Rockets’ first 63 games before the coronavirus stoppage.
This story was originally published July 29, 2020 at 10:03 AM with the headline "Former KU guard Chalmers contributes to NBA all-star team victory over WNBA squad."
