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New York • Charlotte Bobcats forward Josh McRoberts was fined $20,000 by the NBA on Thursday for making unnecessary and excessive contact with Miami Heat forward LeBron James.
McRoberts' foul against James with 50 seconds left Wednesday in Miami in the Heat's 101-97 playoff victory over the Bobcats also was upgraded to a Flagrant 2. James drove and was met at the rim by McRoberts, whose right elbow struck the four-time NBA MVP around his chin. James immediately began grabbing at his throat and needed much longer than he usually does to get up after a hard foul, which was not called flagrant.
"I don't need to see it again," James said after the game. "Most important thing is we won the game."
Conley wins NBA's sportsmanship award
Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger calls guard Mike Conley the kind of man a father would want to marry his daughter. Conley's peers certainly think highly enough to award him the NBA's Joe Dumars Trophy for sportsmanship.
Conley received 77 first-place votes of a possible 334 and earned 2,335 points overall for the award announced Thursday. He was followed by Boston's Jeff Green, Phoenix's Channing Frye, Washington's Bradley Beal, Portland's Damian Lillard and Chicago's Mike Dunleavy.
Colorado's Dinwiddie heading to NBA
University of Colorado junior point guard Spencer Dinwiddie is skipping his senior season and will declare for the NBA draft.
Dinwiddie said at a news conference in Boulder on Thursday that he believes he's a "first-round talent."