Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas. They were once so close that they shared a kiss at midcourt during the NBA Finals. What a difference 20 years makes.

In a new book written by Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, Magic accuses Isiah of spreading gay rumors and sabotaging their friendship.

From SportsIllustrated.com

“I’m really hurt, and I really feel taken advantage of for all these years,” said Thomas, the Hall of Fame point guard and former NBA coach and executive, most recently with the Knicks. “I’m totally blindsided by this. Every time that I’ve seen Magic, he has been friendly with me. Whenever he came to a Knick game, he was standing in the tunnel [to the locker room] with me. He and [Knicks assistant coach] Herb [Williams] and I, we would go out to dinner in New York. I didn’t know he felt this way.”

Stallworth Had Pot in His System
Cleveland Browns wideout Donte Stallworth, now serving 30 days in jail for striking a man with his car and killing him in March, had marijuana in his system at the time of the accident, the athlete’s attorney acknowledged Tuesday. “Evidence leaked or released over the coming days and weeks will reflect exculpatory statements and acts by Donte’, the presence of marijuana in his blood, and it will highlight the critical issue of causation,” David Cornwell said in a statement, confirming a report in the the Miami Herald on Tuesday, based on anonymous sources, that Stallworth tested positive for marijuana. Hall of Famer Jim Brown had told a Miami radio station last month that marijuana was found in Stallworth’s system on the night he struck and killed 59-year-old Mario Reyes. Stallworth pleaded guilty to DUI manslaughter and is serving a 30-day sentence, with two years of house arrest to be served after that. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Stallworth indefinitely. “The NFL’s substance abuse policy addresses the specific discipline that may be imposed for use of illegal substances,” Cornwell said. “We are confident that Commissioner Goodell will respect existing league polices and consider all of the evidence when making his disciplinary assessment.”

Pistons Fire Mike Curry
Detroit Pistons Coach Michael Curry was fired Tuesday after just one season at the helm. The once-powerful Pistons wrapped up last season with a losing record and an embarrassing first-round exit from the playoffs. A year earlier, Joe Dumars, president of Basketball Operations for the Pistons, fired Flip Saunders, who led the team to the Eastern Conference finals in each of his three seasons.

Dungy Says Vick Deserves Another Chance

Tony Dungy, the Super Bowl-winning coach who visited suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick in prison recently, told a group Wednesday that the troubled baller deserves another chance in the NFL. “I think Michael is just like so many other guys that I have seen, so many other people who are nameless, faceless in that environment,” Dungy said. “It’s a young man that made a mistake and is looking for a chance to recover and move forward. That’s where he is and that’s where so many of the men who are here today are.” Dungy, who visited Vick a few weeks ago at the federal Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan., was speaking to a group at a workshop for ex-offenders seeking jobs. He has also been involved in several other outreach activities since announcing that he was done with coaching. “I’m doing way more than I thought I would be, and maybe more than I should,” Dungy told The Associated Press. “That’s one of the fun things about not being tied down to an NFL schedule. You have time to take a day to go wherever. To be able to say I can go here on this day and work on this project, that’s been the fun part of it.” Dungy is the first African American coach to win a Super Bowl, the first coach to make 10 straight playoff appearances and the first to win at least 12 games in six straight seasons. His regular-season winning percentage of .668 is fifth all-time among coaches with at least 100 wins and his 10.7 regular-season wins per year is tops among that group.

 
Hundreds Pay Tribute to NBA Great Chuck Daly Hundreds of mourners – including a group of the original infamous “Bad Boys” of basketball – turned out to pay their final respects to Chuck Daly, the longtime NBA coach who was laid to rest Wednesday. Standing side by side were behemoths Bill Laimbeer and Rick Mahorn, along with former shooting sensation Joe Dumars and ball wizard Isiah Thomas and Vinnie Johnson, all members of the team Daly led to the NBA Promised Land in both 1989 and 1990. “He was coaching all of us until the day he died,” Thomas said. “He was a wonderful, wonderful human being and a great mentor, a great friend.” Also among those in attendance were other respected sages of the game, such as former Philadelphia Sixers championship coach Billy Cunningham and Villanova University national championship coach Rollie Massimino. Daly, 78, died Saturday in Jupiter, Fla.,. He had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer earlier this year. “Coach. Daddy Rich. Prince of pessimism. Hall of Famer. Champion,” Daly’s daughter, Cydney, told mourners. “He went by many different names to many people, but there was only one person who called him daddy.”

Allen Iverson is out at least two weeks in Detroit with a sore back. But that might not be bad news for anybody but Iverson. Click to see why.

New team, old tricks for Allen Iverson. After vowing that he’d changed his ways at a news conference that introduced him as the newest Detroit Piston, Allen Iverson showed an old habit this week. The recently traded point guard missed a practice without being excused by the team. Pistons coach Michael Curry confirms that A.I. won’t start for Detroit in tonight’s game. He’ll be replaced in the starting line-up by Rodney Stuckey. Iverson also faces an undisclosed fine.

Stephon Marbury criticized after recent loss. The 14-point loss New York suffered this week after playing with just seven men has forward Quentin Richardson lashing out. The player blames guard Stephon Marbury, whose listing as inactive has kept him on the bench this season, but who sat out the game for a second time Wednesday after having a chance to play. Marbury earlier disputed reports that he’d been offered 30 minutes of playing time last week, saying he was told the decision wasn’t his. “He hasn’t played with us all year,” says Richardson. “Regardless of what you have going on with the organization or what you have going on with your coach or whatever, you’re not going to allow your teammates to be left out there the way we were basically being left out there.” Richardson says he doesn’t “look at Marbury as a teammate anyway.” Injuries and trade maneuvering have left the Knicks roster short in recent days.

Francisco Rodriguez to consider offers in Las Vegas. Record-setting pitcher Francisco Rodriguez will start testing the team market in Las Vegas at winter meetings on Dec. 8, says his agent. K-Rod, who had a best-ever save total of 62 games for the Los Angeles Angels, wants a five-year contract of about $15 million a season. The New York Mets, who K-Rod’s agent says he plans to address, are among candidates to become the pitcher’s new team.