Florida Sentinel Bulletin

MIAMI — Scottie Pippen said LeBron James may be basketball’s greatest player ever.

Among those who disagree: LeBron James.

The Miami Heat forward provided his reaction to Pippen’s comparison between James and Michael Jordan on Saturday, essentially saying he was flattered by the sentiment but simply does not believe he’s done enough to merit mention among the game’s highest echelon.

“I’m not better than Jordan,” James said.

Pippen – who won six championships alongside Jordan in Chicago during the Bulls’ epic run in the 1990s – told ESPN Radio on Friday that while Jordan is “probably the greatest scorer to play the game,” James “may be the greatest player to ever play the game.”

Pippen even backed up the comments later on Twitter, hours after his words sparked a bit of a firestorm, though tried to clarify a bit by saying that while he thinks Jordan “is the greatest,” James “could” reach that pinnacle in time.

James seemed mildly uncomfortable by the discussion.

“Michael’s an unbelievable player,” James said Saturday. “I’ve got a long way – long way – to be mentioned as far as one of the all-time greats. Not even just Jordan. There’s a lot of great players who have played in this league. Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, all these guys who are floating around with multiple rings, Bill Russell, all these guys who have pioneered this game.

“I’m gracious. Humbled by Scottie’s comments, especially with him being a teammate of his and seeing Michael on a day-to-day basis. But as far as me, I’m not going to sit here and say I’m better than Jordan. I’m not better than Jordan.”

The Tampa Bay Lightning will force a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Finals with a 5-4 win over the Boston Bruins at home on Wednesday night. Teddy Purcell and Martin St. Louis each had two goals for the Lightning.

Purcell scored 36 seconds into the game and Boston’s Milan Lucic tied things up with about seven minutes left to play in the first period. After a back-and-fourth game, Steven Stamkos opened things up for Tampa Bay with a goal in the beginning of the third period to give them a 4-2 lead and would go onto win 5-4.

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. — Former Michigan star and NBA player Jalen Rose pleaded guilty Wednesday to drunken driving, telling a judge he was embarrassed to admit that he drank six martinis the night he veered off a snowy road and rolled his Cadillac Escalade.

Standing beside his attorney, Rose pleaded guilty in district court in Bloomfield Hills to operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated. He faces up to 93 days in a jail, a $500 fine and court costs when he’s sentenced July 27.

When Small asked how large the drinks were, Rose replied: “I’m embarrassed to say probably too big.”

DALLAS — Dirk Nowitzki wrapped his hands around the silver ball trophy that goes to the Western Conference champions and smiled. After five years, he and the Dallas Mavericks are kings of their conference again, earning another trip to the NBA finals.

Yet Nowitzki didn’t flash the wide, toothy grin of someone relieved to have accomplished his goal. Because, he hasn’t.

Unless the Mavs win the next round, too, and become NBA champions for the first time, their whole glorious postseason – and that silver trophy – won’t mean as much. It’s a lament heard by many superstars, but Nowitzki’s indifference amid much of the frenzied celebration around him showed just how serious he is about it.

“I was already thinking about the finals,” he said. “This is nice for a day, but we set our goals in October to win it all. We haven’t done it yet.”

There seems to be a prevailing theory that the current lockout has led to more off-the-field trouble for NFL players. (Though you could also chalk it up to more attention on the behavior of players, if you’re so inclined.)

Ray Lewis has a more interesting sociological theory, however, in that he believes general crime will rise if the lockout continues into the season.

“Do this research if we don’t have a season — watch how much evil, which we call crime, watch how much crime picks up, if you take away our game,” Lewis said in an interview with ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio.

But, um, why?

“There’s nothing else to do, Sal,” Lewis said.

He also seemed to attribute behavior of the general public through vicarious living.

“There’s too many people that live through us, people live through us,” Lewis said. “Yeah, walk in the streets, the way I walk the streets, and I’m not talking about the people you see all the time.”

MIAMI — The first 48 minutes of Dwyane Wade’s night were unremarkable.

The five minutes of overtime changed all that.

And Miami’s Big Three is one win away from playing for the NBA’s biggest prize.

LeBron James scored 35 points, Chris Bosh added 22 and Wade perked up to block three shots – one more than Chicago made in overtime, as the Heat topped the Bulls 101-93 in a scintillating Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals on Tuesday night.

Chicago Bears running back Garrett Wolfe is out on bond following his arrest  Sunday morning on theft, disorderly conduct and assaulting an officer charges in Miami Beach.

Wolfe, 26, had been partying at Cameo nightclub on Washington Ave. when he refused to pay a nearly $1,600 bill, according to an arrest report.

Police said Wolfe got angry with employees and was forcefully removed by bouncers. Officers were called and when they arrived, Wolfe refused to pay the bill, which was for three Champagne bottles.

“F— you, I’m not paying for s—, I run s— here!” Wolfe shouted, according to the report.

Then Wolfe reportedly got physical with the officers, with two of the cops suffering minor injuries, according to police. One officer said he was forced to strike Wolfe in the face and sweep his leg to get him under control.

After a struggle, Wolfe was finally arrested. Wolfe was charged with retail theft of over $300, disorderly conduct, assault on a police officer and resisting an officer with violence.

He was booked into a Miami-Dade jail and later released on $11,500 bond.

I can’t remember the last time I read something about Barry Bonds that didn’t have steroids or perjury as the subject matter, so this story is a breath of fresh air.

According to Lori Preuitt of NBC Bay Area, Barry Bonds has donated to pay for Bryan Stow’s two young children to go to college. Bonds also visited Stow in a Southern California hospital on April 22 and autographed a bat for his children.

Bonds is one of many in the Giants’ family who have shown support since Stow, a Giants fan, was severely beaten outside Dodger Stadium on March 31. According to Preuitt, Tim Lincecum recently gave a $25,000 donation to the Stow family fund.

Some will look at Bonds’ motivation cynically, saying that he is trying to rebuild his image by taking advantage of a tragedy, but that’s missing the point entirely. This is a really nice gesture, no matter what you think of the guy.

The Lakers have reached a deal in principle with Mike Brown to take over as their new coach.

The deal is worth approximately $18 million over four years, with the final year a team option.

The Lakers released a statement Wednesday confirming the team’s hopes to make Brown the successor to Phil Jackson.

Brown, the defensive-minded coach who took the 2010-11 season off after being fired by the Cavaliers last summer, was believed to be the front-runner for the Golden State vacancy as well.