franchises. He atoned by wearing a Bill Russell throwback je

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Sacramento coach Dave Joerger returned to Memphis and left town with a win against his former team.DeMarcus Cousins scored 22 points, Kosta Koufos had 16 points and 13 rebounds, and the Sacramento Kings weathered a late Memphis rally for a 96-92 victory over the Grizzlies on Friday night.Joerger, who started as an assistant with the Grizzlies, was the head coach for three seasons. It was his first return to Memphis since he was fired after last season, ending nine years with the organization.It was not an enjoyable game to coach from that aspect, Joerger said of the return. But now, Im here (with Sacramanto) and these are my guys now.It wasnt until the final seconds that Joerger could fully enjoy the return.The Kings led by 11 with 4 minutes left, but Tony Allen, who had 16 points, scored two baskets and Troy Daniels converted a pair of 3-pointers, the last one with 55 seconds left to trim Sacramentos lead to 95-92.The Grizzlies had a chance to tie, but Mike Conley -- returning after missing nine games with a back injury -- missed a leaning 3-point attempt with 3.9 seconds left.Memphis coach David Fizdale was blunt about the Grizzlies inability to outhustle the Kings to loose balls.Our effort was pathetic, Fizdale said.Garrett Temple added 17 points and Darren Collison had 11 for Sacramento. Marc Gasol led Memphis with 20 points. Daniels finished with 13.The Kings, who led 52-42 at halftime, benefited from a poor shooting night from the Grizzlies. Every time Memphis got the deficit under double digits in the fourth, the Kings seemed to have an answer including the final push.We just grinded it out, Koufos said. They are an experienced team. They are going to fight the whole game.For us, weve got to just try and execute as much as possible and we did that.TIP-INSKings: G Garrett Temple started his second game of the season. ... Joerger got a mixed reception when he was introduced before the game. ... Sacramento held an opponent under 100 points for the fourth time in the last eight games.Grizzlies: Conley missed nine games after he was injured in the Nov. 28 in home game against the Charlotte Hornets. Memphis went 7-2 in his absence. ... With a free throw in the third quarter, Conley passed Pau Gasol to become the all-time leading scorer in franchise history.SHALLOW SLOGANMemphis has a reputation for its toughness, but didnt live up to it Friday. They outworked us, guard Tony Allen said of the Kings. For a team that says they `grit and grind, I dont think that should happen on our home court.HOLIDAY RETURNSConley wasnt the only return for Friday nights game. There are plenty of Kings who have spent time in Memphis beyond Joerger and several members of his coaching staff. Forward Matt Barnes was with the Grizzlies last season, while Koufos played two seasons in Memphis. Forward Skal Labissiere lived in Memphis before playing collegiately at Kentucky. Rudy Gay, who started his NBA career with the Grizzlies, didnt play due to a right hip flexor.SAME DAVEAsked if Joerger was different before the game, Cousins said: Honestly, no. He was the same guy coming in. Same message. Maybe he (thought about the return) deep down inside, but he didnt show it.SAGER STRONGLike other teams in the league, the Grizzlies held a moment of silence before the game for sideline reporter Craig Sager, who died Thursday after his fight with leukemia. Fizdale wore a colorful Sager-like T-Shirt under his suit coat.UP NEXTKings: Close out their three-game road trip on Sunday with a stop in Dallas to face the MavericksGrizzlies: Play the Utah Jazz on Sunday in the third game of a four-game homestand. Cheap NHL Jerseys From China . What general manager Dave Nonis called "short and productive" negotiations ended with Kessel signing a US$64-million, eight-year contract on Tuesday. Adidas NHL Jerseys 2020 . -- Devin Hester is done returning kicks in Chicago. https://www.nhljerseys2020.com/ . To the surprise of many, it isnt the Wolverines but their in-state rivals the Michigan State Spartans. NHL Jerseys China . Those lessons were more than enough to overwhelm the Utah Jazz. Lou Williams scored 25 points and the Hawks continued their offensive upswing as they rolled to an easy 118-85 victory over the Jazz on Friday night, winning their third straight and for the fourth time in five games. Wholesale NHL Jerseys 2020 .com) - Richie Incognito has reportedly been admitted to a psychiatric care unit in Arizona. SAN ANTONIO -- If only for a couple of minutes, Tony Parker started thinking about life as a member of the Boston Celtics. Sitting inside Madison Square Garden and waiting for his name to be called late in the first round of the 2001 NBA draft, Parker had been handed a Celtics cap, an indication that the team planned to select him with the No. 21 pick that was approaching.But before Bostons selection even went on the clock, former NBA vice president of player development Chrysa Chin, lovingly nicknamed Hat Lady by those who received draft-night caps from her through the years, swooped in to retrieve the lid. The Celtics, she apologized, were going in a different direction.For the better part of the past two decades, fans of the Celtics have lamented how Boston missed out on the opportunity to draft Tim Duncan. The truth is that, once the pingpong balls defied them, the Celtics never truly had a chance to nab Duncan.Now that Duncan has retired, its time to shift the spotlight to another future Spurs Hall of Famer, one whom the Celtics whiffed three times on picking, none more noticeable than with their final pick in the 2001 draft, when Boston instead selected guard Joe Forte.I dont remember what happened [with Parker], but normally what happens when a player doesnt get the hat that hes supposed to is theres been a change in the pick or theres been a trade, or a trade is coming, or there was discussion of a trade and maybe it was unsettled, said Chin, who now serves as the executive vice president of strategy and development for the National Basketball Players Association.It happens quite a bit where, at that time, I would give a player a hat, then youd have to go back and get the hat back. Sometimes families want to keep it to sort of document the history and all of that, but its normally not anything sort of catastrophic. Its sort of an operations issue.Yes, the perils of live TV. Fortunately, in the days before Twitter and cellphone cameras, no one noticed the switcheroo. Still, poor Parker, who sat in the stands despite not being one of the invited draftees, then had to wait until San Antonio finally selected him with the 28th pick. This time, Chin greeted Parker on the arena floor with a Spurs cap and directed him to the stage. During TNTs broadcast, former Celtics coach Rick Pitino detailed why Parker might have been on Bostons radar.The Boston coaching staff, they thought this was the premier point guard in the draft, Pitino said. They loved him. If Forte was not available, they probably would have gone with Tony Parker. This is someone who is very, very highly valued in the league and can really shoot it and play the point position.With three picks, including two in the lottery, the Celtics essentially emerged with 48 games of Joe Johnson at No. 10; Kedrick Brown, a freak junior college athlete who was heavily rumored to be heading to Portland but never did at No. 11; and one forgettable season with Forte.Six All-Star appearances and four NBA titles later, its fair to say things worked out just fine for Parker. But that night has certainly stuck with him.[The Celtics] made my eyes water on draft night, Parker recalled during Grantlands BS Report podcast at All-Star weekend in 2013. Im going to telll you a true story.dddddddddddd True story. True story. The draft, you have that NBA lady, Chrysa -- she comes to me, and it was the 19th pick, she gives me a Celtics cap and says, They are going to pick you. And it was like three minutes left on the clock, and you have five minutes to pick. Then at one minute she comes back and takes the cap, [and says,] Oh no, they changed their mind. They took my cap. I was like, What?And so then they drafted Joe Forte. I was always curious what happened. One day I asked the GM, Chris Wallace, I was like, What happened in the draft, like when you changed your mind? Because the day before, I had practiced for Boston. So I did two workouts -- I did the normal workout, then the day before the draft they did a workout. It was Jim OBrien at the time, the coach, and he was like, We want to draft you, but the Spurs are going to try to make a trade at 20, but if youre available at 21, for sure well take you. The coach and the GM, they wanted me, but the president, big boss, he changed his mind.That big boss, of course, was Red Auerbach, who lit two cigars in celebration of the Forte pick. And while its now well-documented that Forte was the last hand-picked selection for Auerbach, who had watched Forte play in high school in Maryland and likely trumped those who might have preferred Parker. Remember, too, the pick was widely praised at the time.In the aftermath of the draft, Auerbach proclaimed that Forte was an, ideal 2-guard; he can flat-out shoot the ball. Alas, Forte could not flat-out shoot the ball. He made only one field goal in 12 career attempts with Boston. He played a mere 39 minutes in eight games. Thirteen months after drafting Forte, the Celtics traded him to Seattle as part of the package that returned Vin Baker (and somehow that might have been an even worse personnel decision).Forte is otherwise remembered in Boston only for his curious fashion choices. He once reportedly wore a Magic Johnson jersey to a team meeting, seemingly oblivious at the time to the history between the franchises. He atoned by wearing a Bill Russell throwback jersey on the bench during one of the games he was inactive for, though hes better remembered for donning a Scooby-Doo sweater in the days before a more stringent NBA dress code.Forte appeared in just 17 games for Seattle and had an even rougher go there (the Washington Post detailed how he wore a Michael Jordan jersey the night of a Wizards game that ended with him getting in a fight in the team showers). Fortes final NBA career averages: 1.2 points, 0.7 rebounds, 0.7 assists over 5 minutes per game. He briefly latched on with the Asheville Attitude of the NBA D-League, playing close to his college roots in North Carolina, before embarking on a decade-long overseas career that included stops in Greece, Italy, Russia, Iran and Israel.Now in his 16th NBA season, Parker isnt quite the force he once was. But he can still turn back the clock, as he did in Saturdays win over the Nets when he put up 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting over 20 minutes.Thats twice as many points more than Forte ever scored for Boston. ' ' '