Team USA Notebook: Billups Discusses President Obama's Game-Winning Shot
by Chris Tomasson
NEW YORK -- Chauncey Billups likes what he sees in President Obama's game.
The Denver guard was among a group of more than a dozen players invited by Obama to play pickup games last Sunday at the White House in front of fans that included wounded American soldiers. You better believe Obama, quite the basketball player and fan, joined in the fun.
"It was a good time,'' Billups told FanHouse on Wednesday after his Team USA practiced in preparation for this month's World Championship. "The chance to meet Obama, play a little hoops and share some fellowship. ... (Obama) has a nice little left hand. He's a lefty shooter. He hit a game-winner on us.''
So Obama, using a much-needed presidential trait of being cool under pressure, nailed a game-winner?
"We went to double Chris Paul," Billups said of pressuring Obama's teammate, the New Orleans star guard. "It was a wide-open shot. We left (Obama) open by accident and he knocked it down on us. Game time."
by FanHouse NewswireLONDON (AP) -- NBA Commissioner David Stern says the league will play two regular-season games in London next season.
The Toronto Raptors will face the New Jersey Nets on March 4 and 5 at the O2 Arena.
The NBA has been looking to expand overseas for years, and Stern has said in the past he would like to play a meaningful game in London before the British capital hosts the Olympics in 2012.
Before this season opens, the Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks and Minnesota Timberwolves will each play two games in the fifth installment of the NBA's preseason Europe Live Tour. The 2009 champion Lakers will face the Timberwolves at the O2 Arena in London on Oct. 4 and then play Barcelona in Spain three days later.
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by Matt Watson
Fans may never know when exactly LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh first hatched the idea to band together to form a super team in Miami, but Toronto Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo seems convinced Bosh had his mind on bolting as a free agent long before he officially became a free agent.
In a Monday interview with FAN 590's Bob McCown (as transcribed by Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun), Colangelo complained that Bosh took an excessive amount of time returning from injury, an apparent reference to the seven games Bosh missed in February with a sprained ankle.
"Despite limited swelling and any excessive damage on an MRI, he felt like he needed to sit for six more games ... I'm not even questioning Chris' injury. I'm telling you he was cleared to play subject to tolerance on his part, and the tolerance just apparently wasn't there and he chose not to play," Colangelo said.
"The fact that our season was spiraling downward and we were hoping he'd come back sooner and we were also dealing with a few other things at that point ... we were really struggling there." 
LAS VEGAS -- The NBA free agency ranks are starting to get a bit thin, but two Eastern Conference teams were able to add starters Friday.
Chicago signed Ronnie Brewer to a three-year, $12.5 million contract, and he likely will take over as the team's starting shooting guard. That's not a surprise since Brewer (photo right) has trotted out at the beginning of 223 of his 271 career NBA games.
But the other guy in the fold likely to become a starter is more of a surprise. Linas Kleiza, who joined Toronto after Denver failed to match a four-year, $18.8 million offer sheet on the restricted free agent by Friday's deadline, has started just 36 of 301 career NBA games.
"With the departure of (Hedo) Turkoglu (in a trade earlier this week to Phoenix), right now he's the starting small-forward option,'' Toronto general manager Bryan Colangelo said in an interview with FanHouse at the NBA Summer League. "It makes this (acquisition) even more important.''
Nuggets coach George Karl, though, told FanHouse that Denver would have matched the offer on Kleiza had it not been able to land forward Al Harrington earlier this week. Harrington agreed to a five-year, $33.4 million deal Tuesday night, which he signed Thursday. 
LAS VEGAS -- It came down to the Big D and the Mile High City. In the end, it sounded as if Denver won by a mile.
Free-agent forward Al Harrington agreed late Tuesday night to a five-year, $33.4 million contract with the Nuggets, choosing them over the Dallas Mavericks. In an interview Wednesday with FanHouse at the NBA Summer League, Harrington offered his reasons why.
"Because I just think this team (Denver) got a little bit more potential (than Dallas),'' Harrington said. "Being able to play with (Denver point guard) Chauncey Billups is huge for me. Me and Chauncey have worked out in the summer the last 12 summers. So I'm very familiar with him, and he did a lot. He talked to me a lot about it also, so it made me more comfortable in my decision.''
But back up for a moment. Why does Harrington believe the Nuggets, the No. 4 seed in the West last season, have more potential than the Mavericks, who were No. 2 and appear to still be the West's second-best team after the Lakers following Tuesday's acquisition of center Tyson Chandler?
"I like our team,'' Harrington said. "I got to. I think we're going to be one of the top teams in the West. So I'm excited about that.''