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WILMINGTON - Fiery Charlotte Bobcats guard Stephen Jackson made a film debut of sorts this fall; he was Example 1 in the NBA's video to teams, warning them about "overt gestures" that would now be cause for technical fouls.
"I didn't know I was making my debut," Jackson joked Monday at media day. "It will be an adjustment, but it won't be a big deal. I won't make it a big deal."
The league is outlawing things like incredulous arm-waving or a player slapping himself to mimic what he thought was a foul. Jackson shrugged it off, but teammate Gerald Wallace, also known to vividly make a point to a ref, saw this as overkill.
"I just feel like they've taken a lot of the emotion out of the game," Wallace said. "Things happen in the heat of the moment. I think when something happens in the heat of the moment, that should be taken into consideration, instead of just defining everything by the rule book."
Coach Larry Brown says he understands why the league is toughening the standard on technical fouls, in part because basketball is such an intimate sport, compared to football or baseball.
"Baseball they have hats on and you're 1,000 feet away. Football, they have helmets on," Brown said. "Everything we do, kids and parents see it. We've all got to make sure we do better."
HOME INVASION? A home invasion occurred over the summer at a house Jackson was renting in Charlotte. Jackson revealed Monday he's been going through a divorce, and questions whether the crime his wife described actually occurred.
"To this day, there's been no proof of anyone breaking in, so my attitude is it didn't happen," Jackson said. "I was going through a divorce situation with my wife at the time, so there were a lot of emotionally-different things going on.
"Nothing was stolen, no breaking-and-entering. If it did happen, I thank God that she's OK. If not, then I'm ready to put it behind me."
DIAW: NO PROBLEM: Bobcats forward Boris Diaw is anything but high-strung. His name came up twice this off-season in trade rumors -- first in a mid-summer deal with Toronto and more recently in the four-team deal centered on Denver Nugget Carmelo Anthony.
Diaw said no one should worry about him being distracted. He's been traded twice already, and sees it as part of the gig.
"If you don't have any control over it, why would you worry about it? There's nothing I can do but wait to see what will happen," said Diaw, who would end up with the Utah Jazz if this deal is consummated.
Diaw contacted his agent to see what he knew, but mostly gets his information like any fan: "I just hear what they say on Sportscenter n that it comes down to Carmelo Anthony deciding whether to make a long-term deal."
KWAME RELIEVED: Kwame Brown will miss at least the next 4-6 weeks of practice and games with a sprained left ankle, the same ankle that needed surgery a couple of years ago.
Brown said, based on how the joint swelled Thursday, he and the organization feared far worse.
"It's the fastest I've ever seen an ankle swell up," Brown described. "It was like somebody put a tennis ball in my ankle as soon as they took my shoe off. That swelling made everyone nervous."
HIGH ON MCGUIRE: Larry Brown loves lump-of-clay guys n someone with high, but unrealized potential he can develop. Sounds like he's found one already:
"Dominic McGuire is going to surprise a lot of people. I know nobody knows about him, he hasn't played, but he's going to be a big part of our team," Brown said of the 6-9 forward.
