LeBron James retracted his recent comments regarding contraction according to a report by ESPN and therefore he headlines my NBA News column for December 27, 2010

In fact, James swears he didn’t even know what “contraction” meant.

Just look at that honest face!

Silly school systems - start teaching the word “contraction”!

Even though I blasted LeBron in THIS COLUMN I must admit that I and possibly the entire country of LeBron-haters took his statements a bit too seriously.

It’s not his fault that all he remembers from the 1980’s are the Celtics, Lakers, and 76ers!

I mean, those are the teams the NBA has glorified. Just watch what you say regarding contraction next time, LeBron, now that you know what it means.

Other news items I’ll touch on in this edition:

  • Shaquille O’Neal has been fined an insane amount for criticizing officials

  • If Yao Ming disappears how would this affect the NBA?

  • Steve Francis bombs his Chinese basketball career - shocking, I know.

  • Baron Davis wants to stay in Los Angeles?

  • Will Allen Iverson finish his career in Australia?

As usual, please click on the bold headlines to view the entire column from the original source.

Enjoy!

*LeBron James welcomes the New Jersey Nets and the Minnesota Timberwolves as part of the NBA, and said that he never intended to advocate contraction in recent comments he made about the league’s “watered down” talent level compared to the 1980s. *

“That’s crazy, because I had no idea what the word ‘contraction’ meant before I saw it on the Internet,” James said after the Miami Heat’s practice Monday. “I never even mentioned that. That word never even came out of my mouth. I was just saying how the league was back in the ’80s and how it could be good again. I never said, ‘Let’s take some of the teams out.’ ”

“I’m with the players, and the players know that,” James said Monday. “I’ve been with the players. It’s not about getting guys out of the league or knocking teams out. I didn’t mean to upset nobody. I didn’t tell Avery Johnson to leave either. I didn’t say let’s abandon the Nets, and not let them move to Brooklyn or let’s tear down the Target Center in Minnesota. I never said that.”

*Following the Celtics’ loss to the Magic on Saturday, Shaquille O’Neal decided that it wasn’t the inability of Paul Pierce to score in the fourth, nor the collapse of the Celtics’ defense, that led to the Magic victory. No, instead he told reporters that it was, naturally, the officials who sealed the deal for the Mickey Mouse Gang. Here’s what Shaq said Saturday from our post Sunday: ** *

Needless to say, O’Neal had some choice words for the officiating. “I guess they came out to see number 26 today,” O’Neal said.* *

The only No. 26 on the floor Saturday was official Bob Delaney. “He (No. 26) was a great player out there today,” O’Neal said.* *

O’Neal added, “They (fans) paid all that money to watch No. 26 play. If I was a fan, I would be pissed. You pay all that money for good seats, you have two of the best guys in the (NBA) sitting on the bench, out of the game. That is what happens when you have control freaks out there.”

  • Then here’s what the league said via press release Monday: ** *

Shaquille O’Neal of the Boston Celtics has been fined $35,000 for public comments about the officiating, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

Eight years ago, Yao Ming was quickly becoming the biggest name in the basketball world. He had been a superstar in Shanghai, he became the No. 1 overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft, and it didn’t take long before he was the franchise player of the Houston Rockets. He’s been the face of the Rockets ever since, but he’s amounted to little more than seven All-Star selections (aided by millions of Chinese voters) and a sustained run of team underperformance. Yao and the Rockets have only once sniffed the second round of the playoffs, nothing more. The hopes of the 7-foot-6 Goliath bringing a title back to Texas have dwindled over the years.

Yao used to be a huge superstar. Now he’s a huge burden on the Rockets’ payroll.

But it’s sad to see Yao’s career reduced to a salary cap figure. He was once the face of the changing landscape in the NBA, and it’s difficult to picture the league without him.

Yao put basketball on the map in China. He made the biggest country in the world care about the NBA like never before. Over the last eight years, we’ve seen TV contracts, shoe deals and jersey sales reflect the growth of the game overseas. There’s now a chance that we’ll never see Yao again as the player he once was. And if his career declines, then so, too, might the popularity of the NBA game around the world.

“It’s tough because it’s the nature of the business,” Davis said in an interview with FanHouse before the Clippers’ 108-103 win over Phoenix on Sunday about the trade rumors surrounding him. “But it’s tough because I don’t want to leave. I’m here. I came here for a reason. If I were to be traded, I just think that I just never really got a chance to do what I was signed here to do.”

  • Davis, a native of Los Angeles, signed a five-year $65 million contract as a free agent in the summer of 2008 with his hometown team. *

  • “I just look at it like you brought me here and you got to give me an opportunity,” said Davis, who is averaging just 8.8 points and 6.3 assists, the lowest numbers since his rookie season of 1999-2000. He has battled a left knee injury and claims by Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro that he didn’t report to training camp in proper shape.*

  • “I just want to (have an) opportunity to establish something with this core unit and this group and then we’ll keep going,” he added.*

In what is being described as an amicable parting between two sides that completely hate each other, the Beijing Ducks have released the former NBA All-Star (the former NBA All-Star starter, mind you) after a total of four games played out of a one-season (with an option for a second) contract. Francis was with the team for 13 days and played a total of 14 minutes. He scored two points.

The Ducks signed the 33-year-old Francis because of his popularity in the region due to his one-time pairing with fellow Houston Rockets All-Star Yao Ming. Francis never seemed to get over the fact that he was more of a sideshow in the Chinese league than an actual on-court asset, which is fair, but the Ducks’ coaching staff also never seemed to get over the fact that Francis was completely out of shape and looked ineffective in a league where other NBA washouts like Randolph Morris and Javaris Crittenton can average Jordan-esque statistics.

“I’ll definitely pursue the idea of bringing Iverson to the Kings,” Turner said.

“He’s making a lot of money playing in Turkey and fitting him under the NBL’s $1 million salary cap is something we’d have to work on, but I wouldn’t rule him out.

“It was Iverson who opened the door.

“He clearly knows about the standard of the NBL from talking to an old mate from south Philadelphia in Rodney Overby.”

Overby is the Kings’ courtside commentator.

The NBL remains open-minded about Iverson joining the Kings. “Stranger things have been known to happen in this league,” spokesman Marc Howard told The Australian.

News of Iverson wanting to play out his career with the Kings in Sydney first appeared on Twitter.

“I am very happy here in Istanbul, but if I don’t return to the NBA I am considering a move to Australia after my two-year contract is up.

“I hear Sydney is a real good city to live, my boy Rodney O (Overby) asked me to come over. I am comin!”

Until tomorrow…