Did New York Knicks Carmelo Anthony diss Jeremy Lin, the starting guard for the Brooklyn Nets?; Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton still in concussion protocol

In Episode 79 of What's The 411Sports, the panel of Keisha Wilson, Mike McDonald, and Sydney Wayman, are talking about:

Quick Bites:

Milwaukee Bucks forward Jabari Parker took the ball to the hole a little too forcefully, so the rim hit back
Carolina quarterback Cam Newton is still in concussion protocol
Legendary golfer Tiger Woods pulls out of the Safeway Open
Former Dallas Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy is hanging up his football cleats for Mixed Martial Arts

What's Poppin'!

The return of Tom Brady after serving an NFL four-game suspension for deflated footballs
MLB Playoffs - in particular, the Chicago Cubs; can the Chicago Cubs take it all?
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick will come under center in NFL Week 6;
Not everyone can successfully make the transition from college football coaching to coaching in the NFL. So we ask the question, is the NFL a right fit for San Francisco 49ers head coach Chip Kelly?
The NFL is cracking down on all end zone dances. Has the NFL become the No Fun League?
Professional tennis player Maria Sharapova's suspension from tennis is reduced to 15 months from 24 months. Did Sharapova special treatment?
Michigan blows out the Rutgers football team 78-0, should Rutgers be in Division 1A?

What's The 411Sports New York Sports Report:

• Did New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony diss Jeremy Lin, the Brooklyn Nets starting guard? You be the judge.
• NY Jets Week 5 results
• NY Giants Week 5 results
• Ode to the New York Mets

IN THE DOG HOUSE:

New York knicks guard Derrick Rose for the information coming out at his sexual abuse civil trial.

Wayne Ellington wins Professional Basketball Writers Association award that showcases outstanding service and dedication to the community

Brooklyn Nets guard Wayne Ellington of the Brooklyn Nets has won the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award for 2015-16, as selected by the Professional Basketball Writers Association (PBWA). The honor, named after the NBA’s second commissioner, is presented annually by the PBWA to the player, coach or athletic trainer who shows outstanding service and dedication to the community.

The other finalists for the award were guard George Hill of the Indiana Pacers, forward LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers, guard Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers and guard John Wall of the Washington Wizards.

After his father, Wayne Ellington Sr., was shot to death on Nov. 9, 2014, in Philadelphia, Ellington, a native of Wynnewood, Pa., decided to channel his grief into action by becoming an advocate for gun violence prevention.

On Sept. 21, 2015, Ellington was the featured speaker at Peace Day Philly’s “March for Peace” before a crowd of mostly schoolchildren, many of whom lost a loved one to gun violence. His speech was a primary attraction at the fifth annual Peace Day Philly, which was the culmination of a weeklong series of peace-oriented events. Also in September, Ellington joined Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas and other current and former NBA players to help run the fourth annual Chicago Peace League Basketball Tournament, which aims to reduce gang violence in the city.

Ellington has continued his outreach efforts by creating the “Power of W.E.” campaign. In addition to filming a PSA for one of the only hospital-based violence prevention programs of its kind in the country (in conjunction with Temple University), Ellington plans to host the Philadelphia Peace Games in August. For that event, rival gang members in Philadelphia will come together for a basketball game played on a court built and customized with Power of W.E. messaging for community use.

“Wayne Ellington’s efforts to curb gun violence are inspiring,” said PBWA President Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. “His message resonates.”

Ellington also connected with The Rens, a grassroots children’s basketball program in New York City. The Rens became the first basketball team in the country at any level to wear orange patches on their jerseys as a statement against the crisis of gun violence after multiple incidents of gun violence involving the team’s members. Ellington provided them with tickets to attend two Nets games. Through the Brooklyn NetsAssist program, Ellington also donated more than 2,000 tickets this season to various youth basketball programs, non-profit organizations, and schools throughout New York City.

The PBWA is composed of approximately 175 writers and editors who cover the NBA on a regular basis for newspapers, online outlets, and magazines.

Stephen Curry may miss Game 3 against the Houston Rockets in NBA playoffs; Josh Gordon and Johnny Manziel fall again, will they ever see the NFL again?

In this episode of What's The 411Sports recorded on April 19, 2016, What's The 411Sports hosts Keisha Wilson and Mike McDonald are talking about the:

NBA Playoffs 2016;
Stephen Curry's ankle injury;
NBA Board of Governors decision to place brand logos on players' jerseys;
The NBA Draft chase by high school graduate, Thon Maker;
Los Angeles Rams - Tennessee Titans trade;
Seattle Seahawks' social media cupcake schedule promo;
Josh Gordon and Johnny Manziel's latest falls from grace;
Kenny Atkinson is the Brooklyn Nets new head coach
New York Knicks and its coaching dilemma
New York Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom’s stressful week

Upcoming sports events are:

• The NBA playoffs continue.......
• Yanks host the Rays for a weekend series 4/22-4/24
• The Mets visit the struggling Atlanta Braves 4/22-4/24

VIDEO DISCUSSION: Phoenix, Utah, and Denver Path for Nets to Win on West Coast

Brooklyn Nets have a tough test ahead as the team heads out to the west coast to play the Portland Trailblazers, Phoenix Suns, Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets, and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

VIDEO DISCUSSION: NBA All-Star 2016 Snubs: Kemba Walker, Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol, DeAndre Jordan, JJ Redick

Former Los Angeles Laker and Clipper, Lamar Odom, was released from Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles to a private rehab facility. Odom’s transfer comes three months after being hospitalized in critical condition after being found unconscious in a Las Vegas brothel. He continues to improve but still faces a long road to recovery. We wish him continued improvement and healthy recovery.

Nets Offense Fails in the 4th Quarter; Johnson and Larkin Miss Key Shots

In the 4th quarter, with a little over a minute left until the end of regulation, Brooklyn Nets Joe Johnson and Shane Larkin missed back-to-back threes that would have cut what was a nine-point, 83-74 deficit to six. Even with a made shot, the Nets would still have had an uphill climb in capturing the win. However, the missed shots put a spotlight on the struggles the Nets have had this season in late-game offensive execution.

On Friday night, Victor Oladipo and Nikola Vucevic each scored 20 points and handed the Nets an 83-77 loss, their ninth straight loss at home and 3rd straight to the Magic.

It was the Nets 3rd straight loss (10-26), losing seven of their last ten games while the Magic (20-17) snapped a four-game losing streak. Once again, making plays late when they matter the most, has doomed the Nets. With 6:48 left in the 4th quarter, Brook Lopez shot a floater off of a penetration feed from Larkin.

He missed, received his own rebound, fought against Vucevic and got a hook-shot to go, tying the contest at 68 all, two of his team-high 17 points. Following the bucket, the Nets were held scoreless from the field for the next five minutes. At the most critical juncture of the game, the Nets would miss their next three shots, commit two turnovers and worst of all, fail to stop Orlando’s youth movement.

Aaron Gordon and Oladipo took turns nailing the coffin, featuring two threes’ from Oladipo and four points from Gordon. Evan Fournier who scored 13 points also added a three in the midst of a 13-2 run until Thaddeus Young stopped the bleeding with the Nets second FG in 5 minutes. During the Magic’s run, Lopez connected on two free-throws while the Nets offense fell flat.

“…In the last quarter, we just couldn’t make a play, couldn’t make a shot and again we come away with a loss,” Nets head coach Lionel Hollins said post-game also claiming that he sounds like a broken record.

To begin the game, the Nets looked like the team that would eventually lose, falling to an early double-digit lead in the first quarter. In the second and third, the Nets found better results. They battled back by increasing their defensive pressure, got out in transition and shot 80 percent from the free-throw line.

They even led by five towards the end of the third and early in the fourth. But they couldn’t hold onto it and the credit goes to the Magic’s defense for not allowing the Nets to build a substantial advantage.

“Our defense got a little bit tighter,” Magic head coach Scott Skiles said following the win. “We were playing so hard on the defensive end that I felt it took a little juice out of our offense. We were getting it up the court a little too slow. The clock winding down on us, but we were able to make a couple of shots and you need to make those.”

According to Young who scored 11 points and nine rebounds, the Nets just have to make plays.

“We just have to execute. Execute, make shots,” Young said post-game. “We had great opportunities at the basket.”

Unfortunately, the Nets had trouble finishing their opportunities at the basket. Another reason why the Nets had trouble stopping Orlando was their 3-point percentages for this game. Oladipo, who led the Magic in made threes with four, and the rest of his team drained 13 threes of 27 attempts, good for 48 percent while the Nets could not match, shooting 31 percent from long-range and 39 percent in field goals.

After another game, another loss, the Nets are stuck asking about the same problems, and in the end, have nothing to show for it.

“It gets frustrating, but you have to keep continuing to push it, keep continuing to push it, keep continuing to play and keep trying take positives from these games, Young added.”

Until the Nets win the fourth quarter, nights like Friday night will continue to occur and it gets even tougher on Monday night when they host the Southwest Division-leading San Antonio Spurs.

Celtics’ Crowder's Big Night Dooms Nets; Shane Larkin Stumbles in Starting Role in Jarrett Jack’s Absence

As the temperature drops in Brooklyn so has the climate surrounding the Brooklyn Nets. On Saturday in a win against the Boston Celtics, 100-97, the Nets lost their starting point guard Jarrett Jack for the remainder of the season, to a torn ACL which he suffered late in the third quarter. On a freezing Monday night in Brooklyn, the Boston Celtics took advantage of Jack’s absence and just added to what has become a miserable season for the Barclays Center’s only professional basketball club.

The Celtics' Jae Crowder and all of his dreads scored a team-high 25 points and six rebounds, leading the C’s to a 103-94 victory over the Nets, winning the other half of the home-and-home series. Crowder started his big night as early as the first quarter, scoring 14 points which helped facilitate the Celtics (19-15) in creating distance, ending the first 12 mins of the game with a 37-22 lead. Despite his strong start, the play’s Crowder made towards the end of the game hurt the Nets (10-24) the most and proved to be the deciding factor in the games result.

When the Nets made their attempts to threaten the Celtics dominance in this game, as well as their chance at winning, Crowder answered the bell. Joe Johnson, who did a little bit of everything scoring 21 points with six rebounds and four assists, drained a big eight-foot jump shot with three mins left in the 4th which cut the Celtics lead to five, 90-85. In response, Crowder sinks a long-range bomb, increasing the C’s lead to eight, 93-85 with a little under three mins left in the final quarter.

“He’s hit big shots for us all year,” Celtics Head Coach Brad Stevens said reflecting on Crowder. “He’s not afraid of the moment and he stepped up.”

A minute later, the Nets would find themselves needing a stop, trailing by six, 95-89 and there was Crowder again, making the Nets pay-converting a driving layup and an and-1 to put the C’s up for good 98-89. And for the exclamation point, the Celtics next two points highlighted Marcus Smart, who drove to the rim with a minute left in the 4th and added a beautiful-acrobatic-reverse layup, avoiding Brook Lopez, which put the C’s up by nine, 100-91.

Late game execution continues to be a problem for the Nets but there is no doubt that Lionel Hollins and co. did not get off to the start that they would have hoped to. In the 1st quarter alone, the Nets committed eight turnovers which led to 10 Celtics points.

“We turned the ball over a lot, and that got them out on the open court kind of playing the game at their pace and so, obviously, it’s tough to put yourself in that position and come back from it,” Brook Lopez said post-game, scoring 19 points to the Nets cause.

Fortunately for the Celtics, their strong start was enough to propel them to the win, as their first quarter alone was more points than the Nets could ever rival throughout their entire game. To their credit, the Nets did outscore the C’s in every quarter following the 1st, but the damage was done.

“We just couldn’t make enough plays to get all the way back,” a disappointed Hollins said post-game. Hollins also does not want to associate the Nets lack of ball-control to the loss of Jack, stating that “there is always a rationalization for anything bad that happens” and simply, “we have to keep working and get better.”

In Jack’s place, Shane Larkin assumed the starting role and didn’t have the most dazzling performance like his counterpart, Isaiah Thomas, who added 19 points and seven assists, the second leading scorer on the C’s.

Larkin struggled to create for himself and for his teammates, ending his night with four points, two assists while criticizing his lack of aggressiveness to his low production.

“I’ve just got to go out there and play my game and stop thinking so much and just play,” Larkin said post-game. “I’ve shown I can do it. I’ve had great games this year, I’ve had not so good games this year. I’ve just got to stay being aggressive and just be consistent for my team and it’ll be better for sure.”

Larkin’s comments could be the theme of the Nets profile as a team this year. One of the few bright spots on the Nets continues to be the play of Thaddeus Young who chipped in a double-double, 23 and 15 rebounds to lead all Nets scorers. Jack's injury will force the Nets to take turns being the playmaker, especially in the backcourt, which could result in Johnson handling the ball a little more and tonight was a perfect example of that.

The Nets will host the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night at 7:30 pm.

VIDEO: Former NBA player, Mychal Thompson, attends the 2015 NBA All-Star Game to support his son, Golden State Warriors shooting guard, Klay Thompson.

A former Milwaukee Bucks dancer is suing the team for “prolific wage abuse”

Laura Herington claims that she was grossly underpaid while employed as a dancer by the Milwaukee Bucks.

The dancers are paid flat fees for games, practices and personal appearances with the total aggregate of hours spent sometimes averaging $3-4 per week. As of now, the Bucks organization has not commented about this case. At this point in time, Herington is the first NBA dancer to file such a suit. However, the NFL has faced complaints by some of its cheerleaders, with the Raiders reaching a settlement with their cheerleaders.

In 2014, the Raiderettes filed suit against the Oakland Raiders claiming that their wages were held until the end of the season, they were forced to pay for many of their business expenses and one cheerleader claimed that her wages were less than $5.o0 an hour.