LDN - Sports

National Basketball Association roundup

[July 18, 2016] July 16 (The Sports Xchange) - Hall of Famer Nate Thurmond died Saturday morning in San Francisco after a brief battle with leukemia. He was 74.

Thurmond, voted one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA history, spent 11 of his 14 NBA seasons with the San Francisco and Golden State Warriors as a dominant defender at center.

Golden State retired his jersey No. 42 in 1978 and he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1985.

Thurmond was a seven-time NBA All-Star and earned NBA All-Defensive First or Second Team honors five times.

"Looking back, he was as ferocious as any player in the history of the game on the court, but one of the kindest and nicest souls in his everyday life," said Al Attles, former Warriors coach, general manager and current community relations ambassador, in a statement released by the team.

The Warriors made Thurmond the No. 3 overall pick in the 1963 draft after he spent his collegiate career at Bowling Green. For his career, Thurmond averaged 15.0 points and 15.0 rebounds per game.

He is still the Warriors' all-time leader in rebounds (12,771) and minutes played (30,735). He became the first player to record an official quadruple-double when he had 22 points, 14 rebounds, 13 assists and 12 blocks against the Atlanta Hawks in 1974 with the Chicago Bulls.

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Miami Heat president Pat Riley took ownership of the fact that Dwyane Wade opted to leave South Beach last week, admitting on Saturday that the veteran superstar's departure "floored" him.

Riley also noted that he is not sure when Chris Bosh will return to the fold after the 11-time All-Star center missed portions of the last two seasons due to recurrence of blood-clotting issues.

Wade accepted Chicago's two-year, $47 million contract after turning down an offer of two years for $40 million to return to Miami.

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The 34-year-old guard helped the Heat to three NBA titles and is the franchise's all-time leading scorer.

"What happened with Dwyane floored me," Riley told ESPN.

"I didn't make it happen. Dwyane left, and the buck stops here."

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Free agent center Chris "Birdman" Andersen agreed to a one-year veterans minimum deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers, reuniting with LeBron James, according to multiple reports.

The Cavaliers announced Friday that they traded center Sasha Kaun to the Philadelphia 76ers. The move also creates a trade exception for the Cavs in the amount of Kaun's $1.3 million salary. The Sixers reportedly intend to waive Kaun once the trade is completed.

The 6-foot-10 Andersen, who turned 38 last week, previously played four seasons in Miami as a teammate of James when the Heat won two NBA championships. Andersen averaged 4.6 points and 4.5 rebounds in 20 games (14 starts) with Memphis last season.

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The Chicago Bulls signed guard Denzel Valentine to a rookie contract.

Valentine was the 14th overall selection of the 2016 NBA Draft. He earned Big Ten Player of the Year honors after averaging 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.8 assists in 31 games last season for Michigan State. (Editing by Larry Fine) ))

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