By DENNIS WASZAK Jr., AP Sports Writer
NEW YORK (AP)—LaDainian Tomlinson(notes) is bolting for the Big Apple.
Tomlinson’s agent, Tom Condon, said Sunday that the New York Jets signed the former Chargers running back to a two-year contract. The Jets confirmed that they have agreed to a deal, adding the aging star to the NFL’s top-ranked rushing offense last season.
“He wanted to go to a team that he thought had a chance to compete for the championship,” Condon told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “He wanted to go somewhere where he had a chance to have a significant role, and so with the Jets he also was going to be very familiar with the offensive system.”
The Jets reached the AFC championship game last season, eliminating Tomlinson and the Chargers along the way.
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By TOM WITHERS, AP Sports Writer
CLEVELAND (AP)—Leon Powe(notes) has seen the Boston Celtics at their best. They aren’t there anymore.
After coming off the bench and helping the Cleveland Cavaliers put away the Celtics 104-93 on Sunday, Powe, who won an NBA title with Boston in 2008, took a moment to reflect on his former team, a squad showing signs of age and perhaps vulnerability.
“Looking at the defense from the championship year, when we won it, it doesn’t look the same,” Powe said. “It looks like the rotation is slower and they ain’t getting to the shooters and closing out like they did before. I don’t know if it’s effort or maybe they’re a little older.
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By Adrian Wojnarowski,
PHOENIX – Privately, people wonder: How many more passes does Kobe Bryant(notes) give Pau Gasol(notes) for speaking so boldly about him? How long until Bryant’s public and private reprisal comes with a ferocity that could bring a 7-footer to his knees? All season, Gasol has been a relentlessly consistent, if not passively aggressive, critic of the franchise star’s shooting habits, of an offense that doesn’t deliver him the ball with the frequency that he wants.
Whatever the reasons, Gasol has been emboldened to speak his mind. Whatever the odds, Bryant has bit his lip and let it go.
“I believe in what I believe,” Gasol said.
Hours before Friday night’s victory over the Phoenix Suns, chatting on a chair inside U.S. Airways Center, Bryant let out a laugh and insisted there will be no public rebuttals. “I’m not touching that,” Bryant said with a smile and shrug.
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