Rumors

The Knicks have taken over more than Seventh Avenue. Streets across Manhattan are being temporarily co-named after Knicks players to celebrate the team’s electrifying playoff run, as the franchise is set to begin its first Eastern Conference finals appearance since 2000 on Wednesday night at the Garden. All 15 players on the Knicks roster got the honor, with the street assignments corresponding with their jersey numbers.

New York Post

Though Oakley is no longer banned, he chooses not to visit. “That’s up to two people, [Adam Silver, NBA] Commissioner and the guy who owns the team, but there’s a lot of things you can’t control in life,” Oakley said at the 19th annual BTIG Charity Day in Manhattan. “I played there for 10 years, the fans let me know [how they felt] when I played there, and I tried to show them love every time I could. Win or lose, I showed that I was willing to fight.”

New York Post

A Manhattan jury in October convicted Calvin Darden Jr. of cheating Howard -- who had been one of the NBA's most dominant players in his prime -- out of $7 million in a bogus scheme to buy the WNBA's Atlanta Dream. The 50-year-old Atlanta resident was also found guilty of bilking $1 million from former NBA forward Chandler Parsons in a separate ruse involving the development of then-NBA prospect James Wiseman.

ESPN

On Tuesday, Wells appeared on the Mavericks’ broadcast during the team’s interconference matchup against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, N.Y. During his segment, Wells assured fans that the team is headed in the right direction after the Luka Doncic trade. “In time, wins and losses will tell whether the deal was a good deal or a bad deal,” said Wells. “I just am going to promise to our fans right now. Whatever trust we have lost, or whatever concerns they have, we’re going to earn it back. Because we’re going to do this the right way, and we’re going to win championships.”

Larry Brown Sports

Friday’s post-practice Heat media session on the banks of the East River in Manhattan delivered a blend of reflection about the end of the Jimmy Butler era and a sense of excitement about the possibilities ahead. “We were able to bolster our roster in a way that was really creative,” coach Erik Spoelstra said after the team’s morning shootaround at the Basketball City recreation center, a day after Miami finalized a five-team trade that sent Butler to Golden State and former Warriors forwards Andrew Wiggins and Kyle Anderson and ex-Raptors point guard Davion Mitchell to Miami. “We like the players we added,” Spoelstra said hours before team played at Brooklyn. “And to be able to get a draft pick, we were able to do a lot of different things. We have clarity now. This could have looked a lot worse if you had to go through a lot of different changing situations. All things considered, it’s a good spot for this stretch run. We feel good about turning the page of the direction of our franchise. It’s exciting. [And] Jimmy will be in a great place in Golden State.”

Miami Herald

Adding to the excitement: They are in Manhattan with all of its famed holiday trappings. "It is a dream come true," Jones said. And Jones and his teammates know they have Victor Wembanyama to thank for it. "He has helped put us in a lot of cool positions, especially this year," Jones said of the 7-foot-3, 20-year-old center whose superstar appeal has returned the Spurs to national TV prominence and has once again made them a global attraction. In addition to their Christmas Day game, the Spurs will play two games in Paris next month.

San Antonio Express-News

Knicks legend Charles Oakley was grilled in Manhattan federal court Thursday over text messages that went “missing” in the aftermath of his infamous ejection from Madison Square Garden. The former power forward — who’s suing billionaire team owner James Dolan, 69, for booting him from a Knicks game in 2017 — was asked during a heated cross-examination why he got rid of cell phone data that could be key in the protracted legal battle. The ex-NBA star replied that he lost the data when his phone “broke” in Oakland, Calif. in July and he had to quickly get a new one.

New York Post

But days before Strum’s attorneys filed the lawsuit in New York County Supreme Court, Avenue Capital Group, Lasry and co-founder and President Sonia Gardner filed their own complaint against the former staffer on Oct. 18, claiming she was “engaged in a vindictive and wrongful attempt to blackmail and malign Avenue and its founders.”

CTInsider.com

A Georgia businessman was convicted Friday of cheating former NBA stars Dwight Howard and Chandler Parsons of $8 million after a trial in Manhattan federal court. The jury returned its verdict against Calvin Darden Jr. eight years after Darden was sentenced to a year in prison for impersonating his successful father in a failed bid to buy Maxim magazine.

Washington Post

In the latest twist in a seven-year-long legal saga, Manhattan federal court judge Richard Sullivan ordered Dolan, 69, to sit for a deposition to give his first-hand account of how Oakley, 60, ended up hauled out of the arena in handcuffs after tussling with security guards during a game against the Los Angeles Clippers. “Dolan had a courtside seat to the action here,” Sullivan wrote in a nine-page ruling on Tuesday. “He likely possesses relevant knowledge that cannot be obtained from other witnesses.”

New York Post

A film project has earned former Boston Celtics forward Glen "Big Baby" Davis a temporary reprieve from the start of his three-year prison term for a fraud conviction in Manhattan federal court. Judge Valerie E. Caproni said Wednesday that Davis can wait until Oct. 22 to start serving his three-year, four-month stint for defrauding an insurance plan for NBA players and their families. She postponed his Sunday deadline to report to prison for seven weeks after his lawyer said he was working to complete a documentary film project on his life.

ESPN

Daniel Wallach: BREAKING: TBS and Warner Brothers Discovery have just filed a lawsuit against the NBA in New York County Supreme Court over the league’s rejection of WBD’s attempted match of the Amazon media rights bid (h/t @ls87NY)

Twitter

Bynum, 41, of Bensenville, Illinois, was sentenced in Manhattan federal court, where a jury convicted him in November of conspiring to make false statements related to NBA players who submitted false dental and medical claims to the NBA Players' Health and Benefit Welfare Plan. More than 20 people have been convicted in the case, many of them onetime NBA players.

CBS News

“Coming straight from Congo to a different country, I didn’t know 20 people at the time,” the 21-year-old Kuminga told The Post while at his first National Basketball Players Association clinic in Manhattan on Wednesday. “Trying to figure it out at the very young age, not knowing so many people. … It was tough. I mean, there is always ups and downs in life … but just moving from city to another city, it was a challenge.”

New York Post