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Spurs’ Leonard crams for NBA test - A month ago, Spurs rookie Kawhi Leonard was sitting in the bleachers at San Diego State’s Viejas Arena, watching his former teammates beat Southern Utah in their season opener. He only wished it felt like he had never left. “The lockout was tough, not just on me but on every rookie,” Leonard said. “I was ready to get started in the NBA.” After 150 days of labor limbo, Leonard’s education as an NBA player began, finally, with the opening of training camp last week. Between now and the Spurs’ Dec. 26 regular-season opener against Memphis, the 20-year-old small forward will be asked to cram nearly six months of NBA 101 into a little more than two weeks. READ MORE
Spurs notebook: Healthy Anderson anxious to show his stuff - After missing most of his rookie season training camp, second-year Spurs guard James Anderson found waiting nearly two-and-a-half months for the opening of this season’s camp a mere inconvenience. Now, with Gary Neal on the shelf after undergoing an appendectomy on Monday, Anderson figures more heavily in the Spurs’ early-season plans. Anderson got off to a good start last season, making 10 of 20 on 3-pointers in the first six games of the season but appeared in only 26 games after a stress fracture in his right foot was discovered Nov. 11. He returned to the lineup Jan. 29 but played a limited role thereafter. READ MORE
Dallas Mavericks' core intact for training camp - The Dallas Mavericks likely aren't done tinkering, but the core of the roster they take into the rest of an abbreviated training camp should be complete. The weekend flurry that added Lamar Odom, Vince Carter and Delonte West to the mix rounds out the team planning to defend its title. Odom and Carter are proven veterans who take on vital roles, especially with Tyson Chandler and Caron Butler gone via free agency. But the addition of West, who doesn't own the same pedigree as Odom and Carter, is just as important. With J.J. Barea signing with Minnesota, finding a quality backup for point guard Jason Kidd might have been the biggest question coming into camp. READ MORE
Newcomer Lamar Odom brings talent, TV show to champion Mavs - The big fish at the Dallas Mavericks' Media Day on Tuesday was Lamar Odom. Now a member of the Mavericks after spending the past seven seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, Odom spent 15 minutes being grilled by the media on a variety of issues. Last year's Sixth Man Award winner talked about being disrespected by the Lakers when they tried to trade him to New Orleans, and about whether he plans to continue filming his reality TV show with his wife, Khloe Kardashian. READ MORE
Dragic thinks his timing is right with Rockets - Goran Dragic had played just two games in Spain when word came that the long NBA labor impasse was finally over. Dragic was ready to come "home." His team, Caja Laboral, insisted he stick around for one more game. He lasted less than two minutes. "I played the last game in Spain," Dragic said. "I played only one minute and a half, and I twisted my ankle. Bad luck. I wanted to go home." The sprained right ankle did more to keep him out of the first three days of Rockets training camp than his inclusion in an on-again, off-again, on-again, off-again trade to the Hornets. And the frustration he felt came not from nearly being traded twice before the deal was finally declared dead, but from getting hurt in a final cameo a week ago in Spain before the lockout was officially over. READ MORE
The Rangers And The Case Of The Missing "Payroll Flexibility" - "Our challenge is going to be to keep this level of talent together and we know that. We’re going to step up and put some money in, ask the fans to support us and help us and see if we can’t deliver something like this every year. We want a great fan experience. We’re committed to sustaining this level of play." - Bob Simpson, 10/17. I come bearing unwelcome news this morning, but I feel I should be upfront in saying that it's hardly the end of the world, and it certainly isn't news that's going to end up smothering the Rangers' chances of collecting a divisional crown in 2012. It's certainly not the most unexpected news, either, considering the whispers from the local beats in recent days about the fading to non-existent likelihood of the Rangers making a serious play on Prince Fielder or Yu Darvish ... but I'm not sure it's even so much about that at this point as it is about the circumstances playing into that lack of a serious pursuit, and a new revelation about what's going down out in Anaheim. READ MORE
Rangers not expected to be among contenders for Japanese ace Yu Darvish - Yu Darvish suddenly has become the hottest player available this off-season, now that Albert Pujols, C.J. Wilson and Mark Buehrle have found new teams. Prince Fielder remains on the market but has taken a back seat the past few days to Darvish, the Japanese right-hander who many believe will be a star in the major leagues. His team, the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, is accepting bids from big-league teams for the right to negotiate a contract with Darvish through the posting system in place for Japanese players not eligible for free agency. Bids are due at 4 p.m. today. The Texas Rangers have become quite familiar with Darvish, to the point that they have long been considered the team that would land him. READ MORE
Long lists and building to succeed - List of Banned Substances is a Long One. Inside every major league clubhouse—in both English and Spanish—is a list of all the supplements and/or other products that are banned from baseball. The list includes just about all the body builder or weight lifter supplements used commonly by those athletes. None of them are steroids or human growth hormone directly, but may alter the body’s chemical composition and thus alter a drug test. It would appear Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers may have run afoul of ingesting something felt to be harmless that may or may not have been on the list, but produced a positive result for elevated testosterone levels. Or maybe he didn’t do anything. That is where the leaking of the results of his October test is so wrong. About 2.5% of all males have what are called significantly above normal testosterone levels naturally. One test proves nothing was done wrong by the NL MVP. READ MORE
Happ tendered 2012 contract by Astros - Not surprisingly, the Astros tendered a contract to left-handed starting pitcher J.A. Happ on Monday. Happ, eligible for arbitration for the first time, earned $474,000 last season and certainly won't break the bank. There was no reason for the Astros not to tender Happ considering his relatively small salary and the chance he could return to form next year. The Astros will have work out a 2012 salary with Happ or go to arbitration. READ MORE
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones stands by Jason Garrett - Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones initially bristled when asked whether coach Jason Garrett's job was on the line if the team continued its familiar December meltdown and missed the playoffs. The question seemed legitimate given the Cowboys' history of late-season collapses and their historic penchant for blowing fourth-quarter leads that have left them on the outside looking in if the playoffs started today. Jones is not happy with the Cowboys' situation considering they were a field goal away from taking a commanding two-game lead over the New York Giants in the NFC East just two games ago. READ MORE
Cowboys' Jones returns to lead role confident in his abilities - The Cowboys have confidence in Felix Jones, and Felix Jones has confidence in Felix Jones. "Any time you get a chance to get out there and help your team, you are happy," Jones said. "We've just got to do what we can and make the best of every opportunity we get." Jones returns to being the Cowboys' starting running back. He had that role until spraining his left ankle in the Oct. 16 game against New England. Rookie DeMarco Murray replaced him, and in his first game as lead back, set the team record for rushing yards in a single game. Now, with Murray lost for the season with a fractured right ankle and high ankle sprain, it's Jones' job again. READ MORE
Texans Promote Rookie WR Jeff Maehl To The Active Roster - With veteran wide receiver Derrick Mason jettisoned from the Houston Texans’ roster Monday, they have replaced him on the active roster with wide receiver Jeff Maehl. READ MORE
Is it still real? Our Texans are in the playoffs? - I’ve seen from at least one “national” personality this week the phrase “hey Texans fans, act like you’ve been there.” HAHAHA – it turns out we haven’t been, so why don’t you shut the hell up, unidentified national media member. A few days later, and we are still all coasting on the high that the Texans’ first AFC South Championship has given us. The Texans are currently the number one seed in the AFC, but if they, the Ravens, and the Patriots all win out – Houston will be the number three seed. They will of course still host their playoff game, but will not get the much-coveted off week. I’d love for the Texans to get a week off to rest their players and prepare, but I do also think there’s something to be said for staying hot and staying in a rhythm. READ MORE
Stars replay: Bachman earns first NHL shutout - STARS 1, RANGERS 0 -- Three stars: 1. RICHARD BACHMAN, Stars : First shutout in second NHL start. -- 2. Henrik Lundqvist, Rangers: Gritty performance after taking hard shot to neck. -- 3. Trevor Daley, Stars: Huge goal for the second straight game. READ MORE
Mark Fistric finishes suspension, could return Thursday - Briefly: Brad Richards played in his 800th career regular-season game Tuesday night, while Stars winger Loui Eriksson played in his 400th. ... Mark Fistric served the third game of a three-game suspension for charging and is eligible to return Thursday against the Islanders. READ MORE
---Staff and Wire Reports contributed to this story
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