DALLAS Mavericks Coach Rick Carlisle responded angrily last Sunday after LaVar Ball’s claim that the Los Angeles Lakers no longer want to play for coach Luke Walton.

Ball, the outspoken father of Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball, made his latest outlandish statement to ESPN for a story published last Sunday. He said Walton is too young to coach and “has no control” of the team—comments that Walton said didn’t bother him, but ones that clearly angered some of his National Basketball Association (NBA) coaching colleagues.

Jahlil Okafor has been with the Nets for five games. In four of those, he’s seen a DNP-CD, which should make him feel right at home. In Philadelphia, the prevailing thought was Okafor wasn’t playing because he wasn’t going to be here much longer and it would be doing everyone a disservice by just tossing him out there in garbage time. With the Nets, it’s different.

The NBA is planning to establish a G-League franchise in Mexico City as soon as possible, according to The New York Times’ Marc Stein, and it could come as quickly as next season.

Dagupan City - The Naga City Foundation (NCF)Tigers held their ground halting an Lyceum Northwestern University (LNU) Dukes' comeback, 79-75, to become the kings of the Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL) Luzon Leg at the LNU Gymnasium.

La Salle alumnus San Miguel Corp. chairman Danding Cojuangco hands over the P2.7 Million, 14-karat golden trophy to Ateneo president Fr. Jett Villarin after the Eagles clinched the UAAP Finals to win the championship at Araneta last Sunday ... the 15-inch trophy was crafted by Suarez and Sons of Cebu ...

By Robbie Pangilinan

LAS VEGAS -“To me, basketball is like art. It takes discipline and focus to create art,” says 26-year-old William Kristopher Timmons of Durham, North Carolina.

The 6’7” tall, 180-pound guard from Shaw University has been playing basketball since he was 2 years old. He started pursuing the game competitively at the age of 5 in Kindergarten. He says the love he has for basketball extends far beyond the joy he gains from playing.

Camarines Sur – The Naga College Foundation Tigers blows past the University of Perpetual Help System of Laguna Saints, 98-74, at the UNC Sports Palace in the Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL) Southern Luzon Finals.

The Tigers jumped off to a very good start with Jaymar Allarey initiating the scoring attack with 10 first quarter points to help his team carry an early 6-point lead heading into the second period.

Camarines Sur – Trace College became the last team standing in the PCC National Collegiate Championship 3x3 Southern Luzon Leg after blasting the University of Nueva Careces in their home floor, 51-45, at the UNC Sports Palace.

Renz Cortez, Aaron Carullo, Elison Honra, Gerald De Ada and Julius Herradula of Trace College went undefeated and going past 9 other teams from different parts of the Bicol region to face UNC in the Finals.

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo

THE semifinal round of Season 80 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) will be a normal Final Four format as the defending champions De La Salle Green Archers derailed the Ateneo Blue Eagles’ sweep bid yesterday with a 79-76 win on the final play date of the classification phase at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

With the Eagles just a victory away from sweeping the elimination round and earning a direct pass to the final, the Archers made sure such would not be consummated, digging deep and coming up big down the stretch to hand Ateneo its first defeat of the season and forcing a Final Four setup with them having a twice-to-beat advantage instead of a stepladder.