Cavaliers rookie guard Kyrie Irving will spend the weekend resting and recovering from his concussion. Irving is sitting out Cleveland's next two home games — against Milwaukee and Philadelphia — as the Cavs follow the NBA's new guidelines on treating head injuries with their young star.

Los Angeles Lakers coach Mike Brown walked past the crowd of reporters huddled outside the Celtics' locker room and thought, briefly, about joining in. "With all the media, are you waiting for Austin or Doc?" Brown said before Thursday night's game against Boston.

Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce overcame slow starts to return to the All-Star game, while lengthy runs ended for Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan. Nowitzki was chosen Thursday to his 11th straight All-Star game, despite his lowest scoring average since his second NBA season.

Nineteen months after "The Decision" sent his personal stock plummeting, LeBron James is as desperate as ever to please and still clueless on how to go about it. So maybe the only surprise about Forbes magazine's latest list of most-disliked athletes is that James hasn't demanded a recount.

Cavaliers rookie guard Kyrie Irving is being evaluated at the Cleveland Clinic as he recovers from a concussion. Irving missed his first game of the season Wednesday night with the concussion. He was kept out after the team diagnosed him with the head injury, which he sustained Tuesday night in Miami when he was accidentally kneed in the head by the Heat's Dwyane Wade.

Cavaliers rookie Kyrie Irving has his first NBA injury — a concussion. The star guard, who has lived up to being the No. 1 pick in this year's draft, was kept out of Wednesday night's game against the Los Angeles Clippers with a head injury.

Cavaliers rookie guard Kyrie Irving has a concussion and is being kept out of Cleveland's game against the Los Angeles Clippers. The Cavs announced Irving's injury a few minutes before tip-off Wednesday night. The team said Irving was kneed in the head during the fourth quarter of Tuesday night's game at Miami.

Chauncey Billups will only watch as the Clippers continue their promising season without him. This isn't going to be easy. With his left leg encased in a plastic protective boot and a newly issued crutch standing nearby, Billups sprawled across a few seats Wednesday inside Quicken Loans Arena as his teammates went through their first pregame shootaround since their veteran guard and leader suffered a season-ending injury.

Chauncey Billups will only watch as the Clippers continue their promising season without him. This isn't going to be easy. With his left leg encased in a plastic protective boot and a newly issued crutch standing nearby, Billups sprawled across a few seats Wednesday inside Quicken Loans Arena as his teammates went through their first pregame shootaround since their veteran guard and leader suffered a season-ending injury.

NBA Commissioner David Stern doesn't think Dwight Howard's uncertain future will overshadow the All-Star game in Orlando in three weeks. The commissioner spoke Wednesday in Houston, where he officially announced that the All-Star Game would be held there in 2013.

Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant has passed former teammate Shaquille O'Neal and moved into fifth place on the NBA's career scoring list. Bryant needed 24 points to pass O'Neal entering Monday night's game against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Kevin Love's frustration with physical play and officiating have been apparent early and often this season. Emotion got the best of him on Saturday night against the Rockets, and now he and the Minnesota Timberwolves have to pay the price: Love, his team's leading scorer and rebounder, was suspended for two games by the NBA for "driving his foot into the upper body and face of the Rockets' Luis Scola as Scola was lying on the floor.

Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo returned to the lineup for Friday night's game against the New York Knicks after missing the previous eight games with a right wrist injury. Rondo was given a loud ovation when his name was announced in pregame introductions.

From Kobe Bryant to Chris Paul, Blake Griffin to Andrew Bynum, the NBA All-Star game is shaping up as an L.A. story. Two Lakers and two Clippers were voted as starters Thursday for the game, the first time in 15 years that two pairs of teammates have been voted to start for one conference.

After every Minnesota Timberwolves game, Anthony Tolliver can be found sitting in front of his locker with ice packs on his knees and wrist and a heavy wrap on his lower back. Tolliver took a nasty fall early in the season when he was undercut near the basket, and the NBA's break-neck, condensed season doesn't offer much time to recover.

Phil Jackson's next title will be on the cover of his new book. Penguin Press says Tuesday that Jackson, the Hall of Famer who won 11 NBA championships as coach of the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers, is writing his memoir called "Eleven Rings.

Dirk Nowitzki is back in the Dallas Mavericks lineup. Nowitzki started Sunday night's game against San Antonio following a planned four-game hiatus to strengthen his sore right knee and do conditioning work. The NBA finals MVP averaged 17.5 points and 5.

A Sunday matinee matchup, with the top two teams in the Eastern Conference rekindling their playoff rivalry from a season ago. Derrick Rose says it's just another game. LeBron James offers a similar sentiment. Odds are, the past two NBA MVPs aren't being entirely truthful in their analysis.

The Hornets have decided to trade Chris Kaman, who won't be playing while the club looks for teams interested in making a deal for the veteran 7-foot center, general manager Dell Demps said. Kaman was excused from New Orleans' home game against the Orlando Magic on Friday night, and Demps, who was traveling, said in a written statement during the game that the team and Kaman "mutually decided for a number of reasons that we are not going to play Chris" while trade talks get under way.

NBA prospect Kyle Singler has no regrets over his decision to spurn the Detroit Pistons to play basketball in Europe. The Real Madrid forward, selected by Detroit with the 33rd pick in the second round of the draft, is one of the few players who didn't return after the NBA lockout ended.

Guard Eric Gordon has turned down a four-year extension offer from the New Orleans Hornets, according to a person familiar with the situation. The person, who spoke to The Associated Press late Wednesday night on condition of anonymity because negotiations had not been discussed publicly, didn't disclose the financial terms of New Orleans' offer.

Kevin Love watched friends Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook sign five-year extensions this season and was ready to do the same with the Minnesota Timberwolves. As the clock ticked down toward the deadline, it became abundantly clear that owner Glen Taylor and president of basketball operations David Kahn didn't want to go that far.

Kevin Love stepped to the free throw line late in the game against Houston and a fan shouted "four more years! Four more years!" Love is hoping for five more, actually, and it won't be long before what has been a season-long story line for the All-Star power forward and the Minnesota Timberwolves reaches a conclusion, for better or worse.

Flip Saunders was fired Tuesday as coach of the NBA-worst Washington Wizards and replaced by assistant Randy Wittman, who has the job for the rest of the season. The Wizards fell to 2-15 this season, including 0-7 on the road, with a 20-point loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday.

Flip Saunders was fired Tuesday as coach of the NBA-worst Washington Wizards and replaced by assistant Randy Wittman, who has the job for the rest of the season. The Wizards fell to 2-15 this season, including 0-7 on the road, with a 20-point loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday.