Byron Scott might shut down Kyrie Irivng

With a team going nowhere, Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Byron Scott is considering shutting down All-Star guard Kyrie Irving for the rest of the season.

The oft injured Irving has missed 14 games including three recently with a hyperextended knee. Irving said the knee was still bothering him after last night's win over the Utah Jazz. Scott doesn't want to risk losing Irving for anymore games and wouldn't have a problem keeping Irving on the bench.

"If Ky is hurting, I have no problem sitting him down," Scott said.

Irving doesn't plan on being in fancy suits the rest of the season even though the early break could help him.

"The only way I would get better is if I sit out for the rest of the season, and I'm not doing that," Irving said.

I believe Scott has the right idea. Irving is the franchise and he shouldn't risk him doing further damage to himself in a lost season. It's not like the Cavs are in the playoff chase so why not. As a competitor Irving wants no part of that kind of talk. But it's probably more beneficial to him if he sits out than playing at less than 100 percent for the rest of the season.

Irving has a lot of basketball left and shouldn't hamper his career for a few meaningless games.

Jazz assistant Sidney Lowe arrested for not paying taxes

Current Utah Jazz assistant coach and former North Carolina State basketball coach Sidney Lowe was arrested for failing to pay North Carolina state taxes in 2009, 2010, and 2011.

Lowe, who coached the Wolfpack from 2006-2011, is currently an assistant coach with the NBA's Utah Jazz. At the time of his departure from State, he was making $500,000 per year.

The 53-year-old Lowe faces three misdemeanor counts of willful failure to file a North Caroline Individual Income Tax Return and was placed under a $10,000 unsecured bond. A court appearance was scheduled for March 19.

Even though I don't agree with having to pay taxes, it's best to just pay them. The government doesn't mess around when it comes to not paying their money. Just ask Wesley Snipes or any rapper that decided that it wasn't a good idea to report their income.

The Jazz organization has no comment on the matter and are fully aware of Lowe's arrest. More than likely he'll find his way out of this mess and will be back with the team.

The Jazz name will stay in Utah

King David has laid down the law once again. NBA commissioner David Stern says that the Jazz nickname will remain in Utah. The team nickname was inherited when the New Orleans Jazz moved to Salt Lake City back in 1979.

New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson is set to take over ownership of the New Orleans Hornets, a nickname that came with the team when it moved from Charlotte and said that he would like to pursue getting the Jazz name back in New Orleans.

“We need to find a name like (Jazz),” Benson said, referring to New Orleans first NBA team that relocated to Salt Lake City in 1979. “Whether we can get that or let us use that, you’ve got to know we’re working on it. We’d like to change it tomorrow. We have not gotten that approved, but we’re not letting up on it, either. Because we’ve got a good relationship with the commissioner and his people and we’re going to be on them daily to do something.”

"I'm going to ask all of you to help me with this, too," Benson said. "We want to change the name from Hornets . . . . to something that means New Orleans and Louisiana. The 'Hornets' doesn't mean anything.' "

Stern squashed the whole idea today at a press conference for the 2014 NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans.

“It belongs to Utah,” Stern said. “I wouldn’t make it such an important point. There are many things that are indigenous to the area. I’m sure there will be some wonderful nicknames (suggestions).”


The ideal thing would be for the two teams to swap nicknames, since Utah is the Beehive State and New Orleans is closely associated with jazz music. It sounds logical but it won't happen so be prepared to hear about the nickname contest after Benson gets approved as owner.

The Angry Mailman

Karl Malone says that Jerry Sloan would never quit anything. I believe that because Sloan was a tough, old man. Malone said the only thing Sloan was tired of was the garbage that came with the job.

I was caught way off guard when I heard that Sloan was resigning. He had been in Utah for 23 years and showed no signs of quitting. He was tough and he was old school. I believe his old school ways clashed with his new school players, specifically point guard Deron Williams. Williams says he didn't run Sloan out of town, which I do believe. I also think his attitude might've grated on Sloan so much that he just flat out got tired of it.

Malone says he will honor Sloan's legacy by becoming a coach himself. For some reason I don't see Malone as the coaching type but you never know. Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Isiah Thomas all coached at one point.  

Quick NBA Thought

The Utah Jazz have been awfully impressive on this recent road trip. Three come from behind wins, from double digit deficits against Miami, Orlando, and Atlanta. Three teams in the East's top six. Deron Williams has kicked it into overdrive fairly early.