Turkey used a 21-4 run spanning the second and third quarters on Sunday to eliminate France from the basketball world championship with a 95-77 win. Phoenix Suns forward Hedo Turkoglu scored 20 points and Sinan Guler added 17 for Turkey, which played its first tournament game in the new Sinan Erdem Dome.

Superficially, at least, the craziest reunion in the NBA might be Bobcats owner Michael Jordan and free agent big man Kwame Brown.

Remember, Jordan (then running the Washington Wizards' basketball operation) used the No. 1 overall pick on Brown in 2001. If you strip out injury situations, Brown might have been the worst use of the first overall pick in recent memory. And Jordan never let him forget it once he left management to play for the Wizards.

So why did the Bobcats sign Brown to a veteran-minimum contract of $1.3 million for next season?

Because it was a veteran-minimum contract. Brown never panned out as an impact player; not in Washington or with the Lakers, Grizzlies or Pistons.

IZMIR, Turkey - Three weeks ago in Toronto, Canadian basketball coach Leo Rautins saw it coming.

Each weekday morning, BDL serves up a handful of NBA-related stories to digest with your butcher's skillet.

Michael Jordan and his Bobcats NBA team will donate $250,000 to middle-school athletics programs in Charlotte, North Carolina's largest city. The Charlotte Observer says the NBA hall-of-famer and North Carolina native will announce the gift Monday. Jordan, who made a fortune playing in the NBA and marketing his image as one of the world's best-known athletes, talked about being a...

Each weekday morning, BDL serves up a handful of NBA-related stories to digest with your mostaccioli.