Getty Images

Just a few days after “Linsanity” started to grip New York City, a couple of people filed to trademark that name, hoping to make a few quick bucks off the Jeremy Lin phenomenon.

Turns out, Jeremy Lin would like those bucks himself.

Lin has filed to trademark the word “Linsanity” and did so on Feb. 13, reports Bloomberg. That would be six days after Yenchin Chang (35 of Alhambra, California) and four days after Andrew W. Slayton (Los Altos, California).

However, it’s not always about just being first. Neither of those men have ties to Lin. The law tends to favor the person whose name is being used to make money, Lin’s attorney told Bloomberg.

“We’re prepared to enforce his intellectual property rights,” Pamela M. Deese, a partner in the law firm Arent Fox LLP, said in a telephone interview, confirming that she had filed the application on Lin’s behalf.

Trademark applications generally take about three months to be examined and published, according to Gary Krugman, a partner at the Washington-based firm of Sughrue Mion. As Lin, 23, is the subject of the phrase Linsanity, he would probably be successful in opposing an application filed earlier than his own, Krugman said.

“Nobody can register a mark if it falsely suggests a connection with a person or an institution,” Krugman said in a telephone interview. “I would guess that Jeremy Lin would be able to oppose on the grounds that Linsanity points uniquely and unmistakably to him.”

That seems fair, if anyone is going to make money off “Linsanity” shirts it should be Lin, not some random person on the other side of the country.

With a Harvard economics degree, you kind of think Lin will be on top of these types of things.

Source

Iman Shumpert is out, Jeremy Evans is in — we’ve had All-Star Saturday Dunk Contest changes.

So, if you are a degenerate gambler and want to bet on this, how will this change impact you? Well, from the fine folks at Bovada here are the new odds.

Paul George (Pacers) 3/2
Jeremy Evans (Jazz) 11/4
Derrick Williams (Timberwolves) 3/1
Chase Budinger (Rockets) 4/1

Why is George the favorite? Watch the video above again.

Source

Knicks rookie Iman Shumpert had been playing through knee pain for a couple weeks, but with the arrival of J.R. Smith and Baron Davis finally getting healthy, Shumpert was scratched Monday, is not expected to play Wednesday. He will be re-evaluated after the All-Star break.

But what about the All-Star Saturday Dunk Contest? Shumpert is scheduled to be one of the contestants.

Nothing is official, but there are rumors swirling Shumpert will pull out and the Jazz’s Jeremy Evans will replace him.

If you haven’t seen Evans — which is possible, he’s only been in 16 games for Utah and is averaging 5.6 minutes per contest — he is a human pogo stick who can leap out of the building. Honestly, I didn’t know much about him until I saw him at the Impact Series of workouts/games this past summer in Las Vegas, and in that free-flowing setting his athleticism caught your eye.

Evans was a snub — there had been a campaign for him from Utah, so if Shumpert has to be out this is the right call.

Source

LeBron James and Dwyane Wade know how to put on a show.

This is not really as good as the baseball-pass ally-oop from Wade to LeBron earlier in the year, but it comes close thanks to the block by LeBron at one end and the acrobatic finish by Wade at the other.

The Heat rack up a mountain of          highlights in transition, but that happens in part because they are playing such good defense of late — like with LeBron making blocks in the paint — and that fuels the tempo I

Source

Derrick Favors of the Utah Jazz has been added to the Rising Stars Challenge, according to an official release. Favors will play for Team Chuck (Charles Barkley’s squad) in place of Tiago Splitter, who will be forced to sit out of All-Star weekend’s Friday night exhibition featuring selected stars from the Rookie and Sophomore classes.

Splitter suffered a calf strain on Saturday during the Spurs win over the Clippers, and is expected to be out two weeks.

Favors is averaging 8.1 points and 5 rebounds per game this season, and has a style of play that should fare well in an open-court exhibition like this one — just as long as he remembers not to take things too seriously.

Source

Getty Images

Portland is making a change — Jamal Crawford, not Raymond Felton, will be the starting point guard for the Trail Blazers when they face off against the Spurs tonight, reports the Oregonian.

So here’s your starting job, Mr. Crawford, enjoy trying to stop the hottest player in the league in Tony Parker.

But the move isn’t a surprise. Felton is shooting a career low 37.1 percent so far this season, 22.9 percent from three, his assists are at a career low while his turnovers are at a career high, his PER is 10.5 (that of of a third-string guard) and he helped lead the Trail Blazers to a franchise low 7 points in the first quarter against the Lakers Monday night. Portland is struggling, Felton is struggling and coach Nate McMillan decided to shake things up.

Doesn’t mean that Felton likes it, as he told CSNNW.com.

“He (Nate McMillan) called me this morning and told me we got to have consistency from that position and that a 7-point quarter was unacceptable,” Felton told CSNNW.com. “I’m not just going to blame myself for that first quarter. We’re a team. We win together, we lose together.”

Felton has said he felt persecuted for the Blazers poor play of late (5-7 in their last dozen) and that he doesn’t think McMillan trusts him.

He probably doesn’t. Felton’s play has not been trustworthy. This maybe a blip, an off couple months for Felton (who is normally a good point guard), but the fact of the matter is he has played his way out of this job.

Crawford is not perfect at the point, but he’s an upgrade right now and the Blazers need a change. Can’t blame McMillan for this move.

Source

Getty Images

Earlier today, we told you about an ESPN.com report from Chris Broussard which cited sources saying that Marvin Williams “wants out” of Atlanta, in hopes of playing for a team where he’ll have a bigger role offensively.

Williams himself has now denied that report directly, according to Hawks PR man Arthur Triche on Twitter.

The #Hawks just landed in NYC and had a convo with a very disappointed Marvin Williams, who while attending the funeral of a family friend, had to hear about his “reported” trade request. He vehemently denies ever asking for a trade and said, “you know that’s not me”.

It’s silly to try to refute a denial like this when it comes directly from the player’s mouth, but it’s worth noting that the information in the Broussard report and the statement by Williams that he never “asked for a trade” could very well both be 100 percent accurate.

The initial report painted Williams as being frustrated with his role, and said he wants out — but not that he ever asked to be traded. Williams clearly didn’t personally ask to be dealt, but how these things often work is that a player’s agent may go to the team to express his client’s unhappiness,  and then hint at the possibility that if things don’t change, his client might not be interested in being here anymore.

The reality is that very few players actually ever ask to be traded; Carmelo Anthony a season ago was the exception to the rule, not the rule itself. It takes a top-tier talent in the final year of his contract to be able to do this successfully, and Williams doesn’t qualify in either category. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t unhappy, and that his agent didn’t let the team know about that on his behalf.

Source

AP

James Anderson is not getting a lot of run from Gregg Popovich in San Antonio right now, he has pretty much slipped to the back of the rotation. Monday night he played 7:35 and had five points for the Spurs.

So the guard wants out, reports Buck Harvey, columnist with the Express-News on twitter.

Sources say James Anderson’s agent this month encouraged Spurs to trade his client. Nothing offered would have been better than JA Monday.

Anderson, a second year player out of Oklahoma State, is averaging 4 points per game this year in his limited minutes. With the Spurs on an 11 game win streak, don’t expect Popovich to be making a lot of rotation changes.

Not a major deal, but if he wants out the Spurs likely will try to accommodate that. However, as these are the Spurs it has to be a deal they like, so it may not be fast.

Source

From The Oklahoman’s Darnell Mayberry:

James Harden (ankle) and Nick Collison (groin) are both out tonight against the Hornets. Big blow to the Thunder’s depth.

Harden has been having a career season, and has been making a strong case for the 6th Man of the Year Award. The #3 overall pick in 2009 has been averaging 16.8 points and 4.1 assists per game in 31.6 minutes per game this season, and his PER is a career-high 21.13. Collison has been a valuable defender off the bench for the Thunder, and has averaged 4.5 points and 4.1 rebounds in 20.5 minutes per game this season.

The Thunder should still be able to handle the Hornets without Harden and Collison available off the bench, but will need them back as soon as possible, as they are set to play the Celtics, the Lakers, the 76ers, and the Magic directly after they face the struggling Hornets.

Source