Los Angeles Declares March 5, "Derek Fisher Day"

 On March 5, 2008, the city of Los Angeles declared it “Derek Fisher Day” in praise of his work in the community, his love of his family and his commitment to his teammates.  Fisher was honored downtown at a City Hall ceremony where he gave a speech and was presented with a scroll.

Derek Fisher with the NBA Finals trophy after the Los Angeles Lakers won the title in 2010.

A perfect example of Derek’s devotion to his family and his dedication to his teammates came in 2007 when he announced his daughter had a rare form of eye cancer.  Fisher would be by his daughter’s side in New York while she underwent surgery and then later that day would fly to Salt Lake City to play in his Utah Jazz’s Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinal against the Golden State Warriors.

Derek would arrive to the game late in the third quarter to a standing ovation.  He would help send the game into overtime and would hit a late three-pointer to seal the victory for the Jazz, giving them a 2-0 series lead.

Fisher has enjoyed a great career in the NBA including winning five NBA Championships from 2000-2002 with the Los Angeles Lakers, and 2009-2010 with the Lakers again. He was also the NBA Shooting Stats champion in 2004.

Currently Fisher is playing with the Oklahoma City Thunder, his second stint with the team after playing with them for a short period in 2012.

NBA All-Star Weekend Podcast

Scratch Hit Sports creator Stephen Langsam talk about the NBA All-Star Weekend with former co-host of the Sporting Hangover, Ryan Hilton, and dive in head first to talk about the All-Star Game.

Topics to listen for: Dunk Contest, Three-Point Contest, All-Star Game Memories,

Our predictions of the game and who or what will make a major impact on the game.

We also dive into some other topics revolving around basketball and the Golden State Warriors, the Kevin Durant - Lebron James match up and more.

Scratch Hit Sports PODCAST LINK

Suns Cancel Game With Heat

On Jan. 17, 1989, the Phoenix Suns cancel their game against the Miami Heat just minutes before game time.

The Chicago Tribune reported racial tensions in Miami were intense and parts of the city were rioting that evening. The Suns were scheduled to play the Miami Heat, but the game was canceled 50 minutes before it was scheduled to start due to pressure from the community.

The arena was located on the edge of the Overtown neighborhood. A day before the game, police officers shot and killed a black resident of the neighborhood. Schools were closed and police were out in force as they tried to quell sniper fire and looting in Overtown.

Other games that have been cancelled in the NBA have been during the 1998-1999 season. The lockout in 98-99 lasted more than six months. Which forced the season to be shortened to 50 regular season games by the time the league was back up and running.

During the 2005 season the New Orleans Hornets would play all of their games in Oklahoma City due to damage to their stadium and the city of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. In 2007 the Hornets returned to New Orleans.

Last year, during the 2011-2012 season the NBA was in the middle of another lockout. This time the lockout lasted just over five months and forced the NBA regular season schedule to be reduced to 66 regular season games.

This year Hurricane Sandy forced the postponement of several games on the East Coast, but none of the games were completely cancelled.