Andrei Kirilenko signed a 6-year, US$86 million contract extension with the Utah Jazz, a deal that took three months of negotiations.
"This is the team which I love and is where I want to stay for the rest of my career," Kirilenko said Friday. "It's pretty nice to be a part of this team -- of a family actually. It's my family for the next seven years."
PHOTO: AP
The fourth-year All-Star forward from Russia has been with the team longer than any other current player. The extension kicks in next season and is for the maximum amount allowed under the NBA's collective bargaining agreement.
PHOTO: AP
It completed a long summer for vice president for basketball operations Kevin O'Connor, who added restricted free agents Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur to the Jazz in July.
With the 23-year-old Kirilenko, the 22-year-old Boozer and the 25-year-old Okur, Utah appears set in the frontcourt for several years.
"We're trying to make a very, very, eloquent loud statement to this market that the Jazz not only are here, we're not just tagalongs," Jazz owner Larry Miller said. "We've been as competitive a team as there is in the league."
The deal was completed Thursday while Kirilenko and the Jazz were in New York for the final preseason game. O'Connor and agent Marc Fleischer, who also worked out the deals for Okur and shooting guard Gordan Giricek in the offseason, finally agreed on the terms.
Kirilenko is in the fourth-year option of his rookie contract. If he had not signed the extension before the Oct. 31 deadline, he would have become a restricted free agent at the end of the season.
Kirilenko may have had a chance at an even bigger deal, but also could have been injured. Neither side wanted to risk it and the Jazz finally agreed to the maximum deal.
"Andrei got a little frustrated, but it was his first time going through this, so it's completely understandable," Fleischer said. "It's a good move for Andrei because I think it's a great place for him to be. I can't think of a guy on your team to build around that's any better."
Kirilenko led the Jazz in scoring last year with a 16.2 average. He also led the Jazz in rebounds (8.1), blocked shots (2.76) and steals (1.92). Twice last season Kirilenko recorded at least five in all of the positive statistics -- points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks.
The Jazz selected Kirilenko in the opening round of the 1999 draft with the 24th overall pick, but he stayed two more years in Russia before coming to Utah for his rookie season in 2001.
Kirilenko said he learned a lot from former Jazz greats John Stockton and Karl Malone in his two seasons. He also knows now that the Stockton-Malone era is over and he's the highest paid player on the Jazz, it's unofficially his team.
"What they've done for the Jazz is legendary," said Kirilenko, whose English is still coming along. "I want to do [it] the same way. I want to be this kind of guy."
SPURS 102, HORNETS 86
Tim Duncan scored 17 points to lead the San Antonio Spurs over the New Orleans Hornets 102-86 Friday.
Tony Parker added 16 points for San Antonio, and newly acquired Brent Barry scored 14.
Barry, who left Seattle as a free agent after last season, was 5-of-6 from the field and 4-of-5 from 3-point range. Reserve Tony Massenburg scored 12 points in 14 minutes.
Baron Davis led the Hornets (3-5) with 21 points, and Chris Anderson had nine rebounds in 25 minutes.
San Antonio (4-3) broke the game open in the third quarter, outscoring New Orleans 36-24 to take an 80-64 lead.
Raptors 100, Cavaliers 92
In Toronto, Vince Carter scored 20 points as Toronto beat Cleveland.
Robert Traylor had 30 points and 11 rebounds for the Cavaliers (6-2), who host Indiana on Wednesday night in their season opener.
Donyell Marshall added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Raptors (2-5).
Carter missed Toronto's two previous preseason games to deal with a lawsuit filed by a former agent. Carter is expected to return to Columbia, South Carolina, for the trial on Monday, but will be back for Toronto's season opener at home against Houston on Wednesday night.
Nuggets 98, Pacers 79
In Indianapolis, Indiana guard Reggie Miller broke a bone in his left hand in the Pacers' loss to Denver.
Miller left the game in the first quarter, clutching his non-shooting hand. He will be examined Saturday to determine the extent of the injury.
Brazilian-born player, Nene, had 17 points and four rebounds for Denver. Earlier in the day, the Nuggets said they picked up his US$3.04 million option for next season.
Ron Artest led the Pacers with 24 points, seven rebounds and three steals.
Timberwolves 102, Pistons 95
In Minneapolis, Kevin Garnett had 22 points and nine rebounds to lead Minnesota over Detroit
Troy Hudson, in his first game action since March 29, sparked Minnesota with nine second-half points. The Timberwolves' backup point guard is recovering from offseason surgery on his right ankle.
Fred Hoiberg and Eddie Griffin added 15 points each for Minnesota (4-4), which starts the regular season Wednesday night at home against New York.
Richard Hamilton had 21 points and nine assists for Detroit (3-5), which had 24 turnovers.
Suns 124, Kings 96
In Sacramento, California, Joe Johnson had 21 points, seven rebounds and seven assists to help Phoenix beat Sacramento.
The Suns had a 28-point lead at halftime and the Kings never cut the lead below 20 points in the second half.
Amare Stoudemire had 19 points and seven rebounds for Phoenix. Shawn Marion had 18 points and eight rebounds, Quentin Richardson made five 3-pointers and scored 18 points.
Steve Nash added 11 points and eight assists.
Peja Stojakovic hit five 3-pointers and scored 21 points for the Kings. Darius Songaila scored 15 points, while Matt Barnes and Mike Bibby had 12 points apiece.
SuperSonics 91, Trail Blazers 87
In Seattle, Ray Allen scored 32 points, including a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 24.6 seconds left, as Seattle beat Portland.
Allen, who missed the previous two games with a sore back, scored 17 points in the fourth quarter and had eight of Seattle's last nine.
Portland (4-4) had only eight healthy players in uniform -- Theo Ratliff, Derek Anderson and Nick Van Exel stayed home for the final preseason game.
Ruben Patterson had 22 points and six rebounds for the Blazers, and Darius Miles scored 14 of his 16 points in the first half. Zach Randolph added 14 points and nine rebounds.
Luke Ridnour had 14 points and six assists for Seattle (2-6), and Reggie Evans scored 13 points.
Forward Qyntel Woods, already suspended by the Portland Trail Blazers following allegations of dog fighting, has been suspended without pay for five games by the NBA for violating the league's drug policy.
The NBA suspension announced Friday starts with Wednesday night's season opener at Golden State.
The league and its players' association do not reveal details about drug testing.
The Trail Blazers suspended Woods without pay during the preseason after a television news report linked him to dog fighting. Sheriff's deputies and Oregon Humane Society officials have twice searched his Lake Oswego home for evidence.
No criminal charges have been brought in the case.
The qualifying round of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) is to be held at the Taipei Dome between Feb. 21 and 25, Major League Baseball (MLB) announced today. Taiwan’s group also includes Spain, Nicaragua and South Africa, with two of the four teams advancing onto the 2026 WBC. Taiwan, currently ranked second in the world in the World Baseball Softball Confederation rankings, are favorites to come out of the group, the MLB said in an article announcing the matchups. Last year, Taiwan finished in a five-way tie in their group with two wins and two losses, but finished last on tiebreakers after giving
North Korea’s FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup-winning team on Saturday received a heroes’ welcome back in the capital, Pyongyang, with hundreds of people on the streets to celebrate their success. They had defeated Spain on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the U17 World Cup final in the Dominican Republic on Nov. 3. It was the second global title in two months for secretive North Korea — largely closed off to the outside world; they also lifted the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in September. Officials and players’ families gathered at Pyongyang International Airport to wave flowers and North Korea flags as the
For King Faisal, a 20-year-old winger from Ghana, the invitation to move to Brazil to play soccer “was a dream.” “I believed when I came here, it would help me change the life of my family and many other people,” he said in Sao Paulo. For the past year and a half, he has been playing on the under-20s squad for Sao Paulo FC, one of South America’s most prominent clubs. He and a small number of other Africans are tearing across pitches in a country known as the biggest producer and exporter of soccer stars in the world, from Pele to Neymar. For
A debate over the soul of soccer is raging in FIFA World Cup holders Argentina, pitting defenders of the social role of the beautiful game against the government of libertarian Argentine President Javier Milei, who wants to turn clubs into for-profit companies. Argentina, which gave the world Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi, is home to some of the world’s most devoted soccer fans — a fact attributed by supporters like Gabriel Nicosia to the clubs’ community outreach. Nicosia is a lifelong supporter of San Lorenzo, a more than 100-year-old first division club based in the working-class Buenos Aires neighborhood of Boedo where
RSS