LeBron James #6 of the Miami Heat talks with Delonte West #13 of the Boston Celtics during Game Two of the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2011 NBA Playoffs at American Airlines Arena on May 3, 2011 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Not much else going on in the NBA world today.

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The first two weeks of the 2011-2012 NBA Season have been cancelled after the league failed to reach an agreement with the Player’s Association on Monday night (Oct. 10, 2011).

As a result, the following games on the Boston Celtics schedule have been cancelled:

Nov. 2: Cleveland Cavaliers at Boston Celtics
Nov. 4: Boston Celtics at Atlanta Hawks
Nov. 5: Boston Celtics at Indiana Pacers
Nov. 9: Charlotte Bobcats at Boston Celtics
Nov. 11: Los Angeles Clippers at Boston Celtics
Nov. 12: Boston Celtics at Cleveland Cavaliers

Unfortunately the work stoppage may continue after the two-week period expires as no new developments have been reported and the two sides are currently far apart on most (if not all) of the major sticking points.

The NBA and the Player’s Association are expected to meet at some point next week, which leaves them little time to save the remainder of the season if by some miracle the wrinkles are ironed out in time to play ball.

That’s all for today guys, i’ll be back to blog you tomorrow.

NBA stories don’t come more unsettling than the one that saw then-Cleveland Cavaliers guard Delonte West(notes) arrested two years ago while driving a motorcycle (complete with sidecar) while carrying a disturbing amount of guns and rifles. The resulting fallout has created a litany of legal woes for the talented hybrid guard, who now plays for the Boston Celtics.

Little has come out about how West put himself in that dangerous, frightening situation until recently, when SLAM’s Tzvi Twersky asked Delonte to tell his side of the story.

West was already groggy from his prescribed nightly dosage of Seroquel when some ne’er do wells partying in his home studio came across his stash of guns and hunting weapons. In his take, West insists he was attempting to keep his mother happy by riding his stash to another one of his houses. From SLAM:

“Ma Dukes came running upstairs into my room, cursing me, saying she wanted all these MFers out of my house,” recalls West. “I came to like, What’s going on? I was already on my Seroquel trip. A few of my cats had found some stuff in the studio and they were living the whole gangsta life thing—guns in the air and this and that,” continues West. “And I said, ‘Oh my God. What the **** are y’all doin’ in here? Y’all got to go. Momma ain’t on that. Kids are running around upstairs. It’s time to go.’”

Gassed up from the commotion, West decided it would be prudent for him to relocate the guns to an empty house he owned nearby. So, with his other vehicles blocked in by guests’ cars, and expecting it to be a short trip, he haphazardly loaded up his Can-Am and placed the weapons in a Velcro-type of bag—”not a desperado, hardcase, gun-shooting-out-the-side type case”—and set off.

“I’m on the Beltway, cruisin’,” West says, voice high, emotional and inimitable. “Soon I start realizing I’m dozing in and out. I open my eyes and I went from this lane to that. I’m swervin’, and by the time I wake up, I’m about three exits past my exit.”

Yikes. It could have been a lot worse, apparently.

The interview is a must-read. It delves into West’s continued struggles with bipolar disorder, and discussing the heretofore unrevealed fact that West was under a version of house arrest during the 2010-11 season. It also includes the line “I ain’t lookin’ for no nipple to cry on.” So you can’t lose, really.

Related: Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers

If anybody needs tickets to games, remember to click the tickets link at the top.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Guard Delonte West has played six seasons in the NBA, with his contracts adding up to about $14 million.

The Cleveland Cavaliers paid West about $9 million of that bonanza from Feb. 21, 2008 — when he was acquired from the then-Seattle SuperSonics as part of a three-team trade — through the end of the 2009-10 season.

Cleveland traded West to the Minnesota Timberwolves on July 26, 2010. Though they regarded him as a gifted player, the Cavaliers understandably felt they could no longer depend on him due to his personal problems.

West played last season with the Boston Celtics, and is scheduled to become a free agent. Now, though, with the NBA and the NBA Players Association unable to settle on a new labor deal, the league has locked out the players. If the lockout continues into the season’s scheduled start in late October, players won’t get paid.

He’s not yet missed any paychecks, but West is preparing for such an event.

With the national unemployment rate at 9.1 percent — and much, much higher than that when including the people who have stopped looking for work – and with West’s savings from his modest income maybe running dry, he’s taking action.

On his @CharleeRedz13 Twitter account, West tweets:   

It’s official.. Pride 2 the side.. just filled out a application at Home Depot.. Lockout aint a game..

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In this May 3, 2010 file photo, then Cleveland Cavaliers coach Mike Brown screams at his team in the third quarter of Game 2 against the Boston Celtics in the second round of an NBA basketball playoff series in Cleveland. A person with knowledge of the discussions says the Los Angeles Lakers are in serious talks with former Cleveland coach Mike Brown about their coaching vacancy. The person spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday, May 25, 2011, on condition of anonymity because the Lakers’ coaching search isn’t complete yet. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan, File) / AP

Not much else going on in the NBA world today.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — J.J. Hickson had just one word — although it was a long one — when he heard the news that Shaquille O’Neal had announced his retirement on Wednesday afternoon.

“Nooooooooo!!!!” Hickson tweeted in tribute to his former teammate.

Daniel Gibson’s Twitter response was the same word but three times that long and concluded with, “Say it ain’t so Big Homie! Say it ain’t so!”

O’Neal, 39, announced his retirement on the new social media tool Tout, a real-time video messaging service: “We did it. Nineteen years baby. I want to thank you very much, that’s why I’m telling you first, I’m about to retire. Love you, talk to you soon.”

A four-time champion, 15-time All-Star and three-time NBA Finals MVP who was the 2000 NBA MVP and the 1993 Rookie of the Year, O’Neal is fifth on the all-time scoring list with 28,596 points. According to ESPN, he is the only player to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds per game for 13 seasons.

“Shaq is one of the NBA’s all-time great players and ambassadors,” said Cavs General Manager Chris Grant. “He will truly be missed for not only all he accomplished on the court but also the impact he made in every community in which he played.”

O’Neal, who spent this past season with the Boston Celtics, spent just one season with the Cavaliers — 2009-10 — which ended not as he or his teammates had hoped. The Cavs finished the regular season with a league-best 61-21 record, but lost to the Celtics in six games in the Eastern Conference semifinals, leaving O’Neal far short of the fifth championship ring he sought.

Limited to 53 regular-season games because of injuries, O’Neal averaged just 12 points and 6.7 rebounds in the regular season and 11.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in 11 playoff games.

Obtained by the Cavs on June 25, 2009 from Phoenix in exchange for Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, a second-round pick in 2010 and cash, O’Neal did a masterful job of toning down his big personality in order to fit into a team he clearly saw as LeBron James’.

From Miami, James tweeted, “What a career for Shaq Diesel!! The most dominating force to ever play the game. Great person to be around as well. Comedy all the time!! He will be missed!!”

O’Neal has called a press conference for Friday at his home in Isleworth, Fla., outside Orlando, but he told ESPNBoston.com’s Jackie MacMullan that a persistent and painful Achilles injury led to his decision. He told MacMullan he had more than five cortisone shots, over the objections of team physician Brian McKeon, in order to try and play against the Miami Heat in the second round of the playoffs last month.

O’Neal said he rejected the notion of surgery, which could require up to nine months to recover, virtually wiping out the second year of his contract with the Celtics.

“I didn’t want to let people down two years in a row,” he told MacMullan. “I didn’t want to hold Boston hostage again.”

As great as his basketball career was, O’Neal also built a second career in entertainment, including music, movies, television shows and commercials, and he also was active in community service and charity work, much of which went unpublicized.

“I tried to make people happy,” he told MacMullan, “and I tried to have fun. I think I did both.”

On Twitter: @pdcavsinsider

Here’s the link to Shaq’s video announcement.

Cinesport video: Shaquille O’Neal retires

For more Cinesport video on cleveland.com, go here.

What are your opinions.

FILE – In this May 3, 2010 file photo, then Cleveland Cavaliers coach Mike Brown screams at his team in the third quarter of Game 2 against the Boston Celtics in the second round of an NBA basketball playoff series in Cleveland. A person with knowledge of the discussions says the Los Angeles Lakers are in serious talks with former Cleveland coach Mike Brown about their coaching vacancy. The person spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday, May 25, 2011, on condition of anonymity because the Lakers’ coaching search isn’t complete yet. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan, File)

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It looks like former Cleveland Cavaliers coach Mike Brown will become the new coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Brad Turner of The LA Times reports the Lakers have put together a deal worth between $4 million and $4.5 million per season, for three years, with a team option on the fourth season that would give him partial pay if he was not retained.

Brown, 41, became the front-runner because Jim Buss, the team’s executive vice president of player personnel, was impressed with his defense-minded style.

Lakers owner Jerry Buss did an interview with Sirius XM Radio on Tuesday, saying the team was “very close” to filling its coaching vacancy.

It now appears as if Brown is that person, something that could be announced in the next 24 to 48 hours.

Brown left the Cavaliers after five seasons with a 272-138 record. After the Cavaliers lost to the Boston Celtics in the conference semifinals in 2010, Brown was fired.

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The Lakers have put together a deal to hire former Cleveland Cavaliers coach Mike Brown as their new coach, an NBA official who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter said late Tuesday.

If Brown agrees to the deal, he’ll sign a contract worth between $4 million and $4.5 million per season, the official said. Brown would sign for three years, with a team option on the fourth season that would give him partial pay if he was not retained.

Brown, 41, became the front-runner because Jim Buss, the team’s executive vice president of player personnel, was impressed with his defense-minded style.

Former Houston Rockets coach Rick Adelman also was in the mix for the job and will remain a candidate to replace Phil Jackson if Brown turns down the deal from the Lakers.

Lakers assistant coach Brian Shaw also was considered for the head position.

The Lakers had to wait until General Manager Mitch Kupchak and Buss returned from pre-draft camps in Chicago and Minneapolis on Tuesday night before they could get a deal done.

Lakers owner Jerry Buss did an interview with Sirius XM Radio on Tuesday, saying the team was “very close” to filling its coaching vacancy.

It now appears as if Brown is that person, something that could be announced in the next 24 to 48 hours.

Brown was with the Cavaliers for five seasons until he was fired in 2010, leaving with a 272-138 record.

He was named the NBA’s coach of the year in 2009 for leading the Cavaliers to a 66-16 record.

Brown led the Cavaliers to a 61-21 record during the 2009-10 season, another league-best record.

But after the Cavaliers lost to the Orlando Magic in the 2009 Eastern Conference finals and to the Boston Celtics in the conference semifinals in 2010, Brown was fired.

Brown led the Cavaliers to the NBA Finals in 2007, but Cleveland was swept by the San Antonio Spurs.

Brown coached one of the NBA’s superstars in former Cavalier LeBron James.

In his radio interview Tuesday, Jerry Buss said that he expected the Lakers’ core roster to return next season, with a “tweak … here or there.”

Buss was interviewed by Playboy Radio’s Michael Eaves and Bonnie-Jill Laflin.

Buss did say there would be changes in the Lakers’ offense.

“We’re not going to continue exclusively with the triangle,” Buss said. “Certainly, there will be facets of the triangle incorporated into any modern offense.”

Various Lakers, including Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher and Luke Walton, have publicly endorsed Shaw to be the next coach, in part because of his familiarity with their personnel.

Not much else going on in the NBA world today.

The Los Angeles Lakers are looking at former Cleveland Cavaliers coach Mike Brown as a possible successor to retired coach Phil Jackson, according to ESPN.com.

The Los Angeles Lakers are taking a deliberate approach to their search for a successor to Phil Jackson, but NBA coaching sources told ESPN.com the team has added Mike Brown to its list of candidates.

The former Cleveland Cavaliers coach, now working as an analyst for ESPN, is expected to interview “soon” with the Lakers, sources say.

Brown would become the fourth known candidate for the job, along with former Houston Rockets coach Rick Adelman, ex-Los Angeles Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy and Lakers assistant coach Brian Shaw, who is regarded as the only serious in-house contender to replace Jackson.

The site says that Brown is considered a leading candidate for the head coaching vacancy at Golden State. Indiana Pacers President Larry Bird said he’s among those being considered for that job, as well.

Brown was dumped by the Cavaliers shortly after the team built around LeBron James fell to the Boston Celtics in the 2010 playoffs. James left the Cavs last summer in a televised special called “The Decision” and “took his talents to South Beach.” James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh decided that together, they could win multiple NBA titles with the Miami Heat.

As of now, the Heat and Chicago Bulls are tied 1-1- in their playoff series.

That’s all for today guys, i’ll be back to blog you tomorrow.