Former Cleveland State men's basketball players J'Nathan Bullock and Cedric Jackson will each get an opportunity to play professionally this winter in the NBA Development League after each had their rights claimed this week.

Jackson will play for the Erie Bayhawks after his rights were assigned to the team, which is affiliated with both the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Toronto Raptors, while Bullock was tabbed as a sixth round pick (96th selection) by the Albuquerque Thunderbirds in Thursday's NBA Development League Draft.

Bullock, a 6-5, 240-pound forward from Flint, Mich., earned first team All-Horizon League honors in each of his final two seasons. Bullock, who is one of three players to lead the team in scoring in four straight seasons, finished his Viking basketball career by ranking fourth in CSU history with 1,800 points. He played in a school-record 130 games, also holding records for career starts (124) and consecutive starts (106), and is the only player to score more than 1,500 points and grab more than 750 rebounds in a career.

Longtime Cleveland Cavaliers fans probably have fond memories of Chris Dudley, who at 6' 11'' could jump through the roof, but was one of the most challenged free throw shooters in the history of the NBA. When the former Ivy League star out of Yale's career was complete, the fourth round draft pick by the Cavaliers would play 16 seasons and grab nearly 5,500 rebounds in his career for 5 different teams.He was also a trailblazer in many ways for people who suffer from Type 1 diabetes. Dudley was the first NBA player to play with the disease and opened the doors for players such as Adam Morrison, who was selected with the third overall pick in the NBA draft 2 decades after Dudley hung up his high tops.

Dudley will tell his inspirational story to children in a new book released in time for Diabetes Awareness Month. "Chris Dreams BIG" tells his story and the press release promoting the book reads:

The NBA season tips-off today with the Eastern Conference titans Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics meeting at Quicken Loans Arena for a 7:30 start on TNT. The Cavaliers have been selected as favorites to win the Eastern Conference according to oddsmakers but the LA Lakers are currently the team to beat for the NBA Championship.

Prognosticators also expect big things out of our superstar LeBron James. King James has odds of 3-1 to win the MVP with Kobe Bryant right on his heels at 4-1 and Dwayne Wade at 6-1. Number one draft choice Blake Griffin is the early selection as Rookie of the Year at 2-1 with Stephen Curry at 5-1 to win newcomer of the year.

Here are the entire odds for the NBA Championship:

David Stern is officially a witness. The NBA Commissioner was asked a few questions about the Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James for the Versus show The $ports Take and said:

He may be the best player ever to have played. Michael might dispute that, but he has a lot of canvas yet on which to paint. I have no doubt the picture is going to be beautiful.

You know, he hasn’t won anything yet but he may be the best player ever to descend to this planet. It’s a delight to watch him; it’s a delight to watch him grow, to see his width and breadth, in terms of his interest and capacities. He’s a great kid and a great player.

When asked about where he would like to see LeBron play in 2010-2011, Stern sounded like a man who wants to be able to show his face in Northeast Ohio by saying:

Magic Johnson had some interesting things to say in a book co-written with Larry Bird and put together by respected hoops writer Jackie MacMullan. Johnson says in the book that Thomas had spread rumors about Johnson catching HIV because he was homosexual or bisexual and blocked Thomas from playing on the Gold Medal winnng dream team.

Thomas strikes back by saying:

"I'm glad that he's finally had the nerve and courage to stand up and say it was him, as opposed to letting Michael Jordan take all the blame," Thomas told SI.com. "I wish he would have had the courage to say this stuff to me face to face, as opposed to writing it in some damn book to sell and he can make money off it."

Some of the biggest sports legends in history will be on hand for the 30th National Sports Collectors Show at the IX Center later this month. The show runs from July 29th-August 2nd this year and features the likes of Bob Feller, Jim Brown, Troy Aikman, Bo Jackson, and Joe Montana who will be participating in autograph signings.

Below you will find all the information on the event including schedule of events and hours of operation.

Show Hours

Wednesday, July 29: 5pm to 9pm
Thursday, July 30 through Saturday, August 1: 10am to 6pm
Sunday, August 2: 10am to 5pm

Admission

Single-day admission tickets are $15 if purchased in advance. Week-long VIP passes are available, starting at $119

Tickets can be purchased by following this link.

Last week the Detroit Pistons fired Michael Curry as coach after he was on the bench for just one season. Now, a source close to negotiations has linked the Cleveland Cavaliers' assistant coach John Kuester as the team's next head coach. Once finalized, Kuester would be Detroit's fifth coach in just nine seasons.

Kuester has close ties to Detroit General Manager Joe Dumars after Kuester worked as an assistant coach under Larry Brown. Dumars was initially interested in TNT analyst Doug Collins, who eventually removed himself from consideration, and then shifted his focus to former Dallas Mavericks head coach Avery Johnson. Talks with Johnson fell through on Tuesday, so Dumars next choice was Kuester.

According to Chris Broussard of ESPN the Magazine, LeBron James told free-agent Trevor Ariza that he plans on staying in Cleveland for awhile. With rumors swirling that the King has his eyes on the Big Apple, this is exactly the kind of news that Cleveland Cavaliers fans have been looking for. Whether or not we can trust that this is the truth, however, remains to be seen. After all, he did say this in the midst of trying to recruit Ariza rather than publicly make a statement to fans who have been asking the question for quite a long time now.

A source revealed to Broussard:

"Trevor asked LeBron if he would be in Cleveland after next season. And LeBron said, 'I'll be there. Of course, I'll be there.'"

Ariza, however, wasn't convinced. The source said:

"He thought it was just a recruiting tool. "LeBron definitely said it, but until he signs the contract it doesn't mean much."

Cavs GM Danny Ferry and head coach Mike Brown flew out to Los Angeles to meet with Ariza on Sunday. In addition to the call from James, Ariza also got a phone call from the Cavs newest member - Shaquille O'Neal.

The Cleveland Cavaliers choose Christian Eyenga out of the Congo with the 30th pick in this years NBA Draft. Eyenga is a 20 year old shooting guard/small forward who is said to be very athletic.

While Eyenga is said to possess the tools physically succeed in the NBA he lacks the fundamentals to contribute to the Cavaliers right away.

Eyenga stands at 6' 6'' and weighs 210 pounds. Here the rundown of the first round of the NBA Draft.