Tonight the 2012 WNBA season tips off with the Seattle Storm hosting the LA Sparks at 10 pm on NBA TV.  You can find links to your team’s schedule here.

Some quick notes:

•  WNBA LiveAccess is now $4.99 for the season.
• The WNBA season will pause from July 14- August 15 due to the Summer Olympics. The season will resume on August 16.
• The 12 players that will represent Team USA this summer:

Seimone Augustus- Minnesota Lynx
Sue Bird- Seattle Storm
Tina Charles- Connecticut Sun
Swin Cash- Chicago Sky
Tamika Catchings- Indiana Fever
Sylvia Fowles- Chicago Sky
Asjha Jones- Connecticut Sun
Angel McCoughtry- Atlanta Dream
Maya Moore- Minnesota Lynx
Candace Parker- LA Sparks
Diana Taurasi- Phoenix Mercury
Lindsay Whalen- Minnesota Lynx

• Lauren Jackson, Liz Cambage, and Ericka de Souza are some players that are preparing for the Olympics with their national teams and won’t join their teams until the second half of the season.
• This year marks the 40th anniversary of Title IX.

Things I have my my eye on:

• Will the Minnesota Lynx repeat as champs this season?
• The Chicago Sky made some major moves in the offseason, so will they make the playoffs this season?
• If the Atlanta Dream make it to their third straight WNBA Finals, will this be the year they will it all?
• Will we see Tamika Catchings win her first WNBA championship?
• How will the Phoenix Mercury overcome being with out Penny Taylor (torn ACL) for the season?
• Will the Tulsa Shock improve this season?

New faces in different places:

•  Nicky Anosike- LA Sparks
• Alana Beard- LA Sparks
• Swin Cash- Chicago Sky
• Tina Thompson- Seattle Storm

MVP Watch:

• Candace Parker
• Diana Taurasi
• Tamika Catchings
• Maya Moore
• Angel McCoughtry
• Cappie Pondexter
• Sue Bird

ROY Watch:

• Nneka Ogwumike
• Glory Johnson
• Shekinna Stricklen
• Samantha Prahalis

New head coaches this season:

• Carol Ross- LA Sparks
• Gary Kloppenburg- Tulsa Shock

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Derrick Rose just had surgery Saturday to repair his torn ACL. D.Rose is expected to miss 8-12 months after the surgery, so that means we may not even see D.Rose play next season.

Via ESPN Chicago:

All anyone wanted to know is when. And how. When will Rose be able to return full time to the basketball court and how will he regain the form that has made him one of the best players in the NBA?

The short answer to the timetable question, said Bulls team surgeon Dr. Brian Cole, is eight to 12 months. The long answer was somewhat chilling.

“While he will hopefully be at a very high level in 12 months, it still may take slightly longer to be at his pre-injury level,” Cole said. “That’s not uncommon in athletes of this caliber.”

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the Bulls aren’t expecting D.Rose to play next season.

We know D.Rose will work hard to get back to full strength.

(Photo by Marc Serota/Getty Images)

Tuesday night, the Pacers evened up their series with the Heat 1-1. After the game, the Pacers celebrated a little bit and Dwyane Wade didn’t like it.

Via Fox Sports Florida:

“I heard they wanted to be like the Dallas Mavericks, in a sense,” Wade said about an apparent reference to Pacers coach Frank Vogel using last year’s Mavs team, which beat the Heat in Miami for the title, as motivation for Indiana. “I saw their little celebration at the end of (Game 2). I don’t know if they didn’t expect to win, but every night we go out on the court, we expect to win.”

Never forget, D-Wade.
 

 
Oh and never forget game two of the 2011 finals against the Mavs.

(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

The Dallas Mavericks have re-signed their head coach Rick Carlisle.  Carlisle’s deal with the Mavs is for four years.

Via Dallas Morning News:

The Dallas Mavericks announced today they have re-signed Head Coach Rick Carlisle. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

On May 9, 2008, Carlisle became the ninth head coach in franchise history. In his first four seasons with the Mavericks, Carlisle has led the team to a 198-114 (.635) regular season record, three 50+ win seasons and the franchise’s first-ever World Championship.

“We are excited that Rick will be back with the Mavericks for at least the next four years,” Owner Mark Cuban said. “He is a proven winner, a great teacher and a coach that will help the Mavericks improve as a team and as an organization.”

(Photo by Chris Chambers/Getty Images)

Kyrie Irving has been named Rookie of the Year for the 2011-2012 season. Irving led all rookies in scoring averaging 18.5 points, 5.4 assists, and 3.7 rebounds.

[Related: LeBron James named Most Valuable Player]

Via NBA.com:

 Kyrie Irving is the recipient of the Eddie Gottlieb Trophy as the 2011-12 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year, the NBA announced today. Irving totaled 592 points and received 117 first-place votes from a panel of 120 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada.

Minnesota’s Ricky Rubio finished second with 170 points and Denver’s Kenneth Faried finished third with 129 points (one first-place vote). Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote.

Congrats to Kyrie!

More Related:

• James Harden named Sixth Man of the Year
• Ryan Anderson named Most Improved Player
• Tyson Chandler named Defensive Player of the Year
• Gregg Popovich named Coach of the Year

(Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

In Sunday’s game against the Pacers, Chris Bosh had to leave in the first half after suffering an injury. Today, an MRI revealed that he has a strained abdominal muscle and Bosh will be out indefinitely. The Heat pulled out the win without Bosh 95-86.

Injury Update: The MRI on @ChrisBosh revealed a strained abdominal muscle. He is out indefinitely.

— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) May 14, 2012

Heat have announced Chris Bosh is out indefinitely with abdominal strain. Hard to guess on this injury, but good chance out for series.

— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) May 14, 2012

(Photo by Marc Serota/Getty Images)

Love him or hate him, you have to admit that LeBron James did have an MVP season. This is the third time that LeBron has been named the leagues MVP. LeBron was third in the league in scoring averaging 27.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 6.2 assists.

[Related: James Harden named Sixth Man of the Year]

Via NBA.com:

LeBron James of the Miami Heat is the winner of the Maurice Podoloff Trophy as the 2011-12 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award, the NBA announced today. James earns the honor for the third time in four seasons and becomes the first player since Michael Jordan to win at least three MVPs.

James totaled 1,074 points, including 85 first-place votes, from a panel of 121 voters that consisted of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada as well as an NBA.com MVP fan vote.

Rounding out the top five in voting are Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant (889 points, 24 first-place votes), the Los Angeles Clippers’ Chris Paul (385, six first-place votes), the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant (352, two first-place votes), and San Antonio’s Tony Parker (331, four first-place votes).

Congrats to LeBron!

More Related:

• Ryan Anderson named Most Improved Player
• Tyson Chandler named Defensive Player of the Year
• Gregg Popovich named Coach of the Year

(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

OKC’s James Harden has been named Sixth man of the Year for the 2011-2012 season. Harden led the league in scoring off the bench averaging 16.8 points per, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.7 assists.

[Related: Ryan Anderson named Most Improved Player]

Via NBA.com:

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s James Harden is the winner of the 2011-12 Kia NBA Sixth Man Award as the league’s best player in a reserve role, the NBA announced today. Harden, who led all NBA reserves in scoring (16.8 ppg), came off the bench in 60 of 62 games he appeared in, helping Oklahoma City finish with the NBA’s third-best record (47-19).

Harden received 584 of a possible 595 points, including 115 of a possible 119 first-place votes, from a panel of 119 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Louis Williams, who led the Philadelphia 76ers in scoring (14.9 ppg) despite not starting a single game, finished second with 231 points. Jason Terry of the Dallas Mavericks, who won the award in 2008-09, finished third with 81 points.

Congrats to James!

More Related:

• Tyson Chandler named Defensive Player of the Year
• Gregg Popovich named Coach of the Year

(Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)

Wednesday night, the New York Knicks were bounced from the first-round by the Miami Heat. The Knicks have some decisions to make this summer that include their head coach, who to keep out of their eight free agents, and trying to attract Steve Nash. Nash is a free agent this summer and Amar’e Stoudemire makes it known that he would like to play with his former teammate again.

Via NY Daily News:

“Everyone knows that Steve loves New York and that New York loves Steve,” Stoudemire told The Daily News. “I love Steve. It would be great to have him here next year.”

Ideally, the Knicks would have Nash as their starting point guard next season with Jeremy Lin serving as the understudy. The addition of the two-time MVP would go a long way toward making the partnership of Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony a successful one.

It is believed that the Knicks would have a better chance at signing Nash if his former coach, Mike D’Antoni, was still coaching the Knicks. However, a source close to Nash asked the veteran that same question and Nash responded by saying he isn’t “ruling out anybody at this point.”

According to a new report, the Suns are going to offer Steve Nash $20 million over two-years.

Sources say Phoenix will likely offer Steve Nash two years, $20 million. However, I think Nash leaves money on the table to join contender.

— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) May 10, 2012

Nash wants to win now. He has made it clear that he wants to be on a competitive team. Unless the Suns make big changes, I think he leaves.

— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) May 10, 2012

Other teams are going to pursue Steve, so we’ll have to see what direction he goes.

(Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)

You probably saw the gruesome injury the Knicks Baron Davis suffered Sunday against the Heat and if not you probably don’t want to see it. An MRI has revealed that Davis has a partially torn patella tendon and torn ACL and MCL. The Knicks say Davis will have surgery this week and will out for 12 months.

Injury Update: MRI on Baron Davis’ R knee revealed partial tear of the patella tendon & complete tears of the ACL & MCL. #Knicks

— NBA New York Knicks (@nyknicks) May 7, 2012

Baron Davis will have surgery later this week and recovery time is approx. 12 months. #Knicks

— NBA New York Knicks (@nyknicks) May 7, 2012