NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Hornets suspended Jim Jackson indefinitely on Wednesday for not reporting to the team, two days after he was acquired from Houston in a trade.
Jackson, who plays guard and forward, was acquired from the Rockets along with forward Bostjan Nachbar for guard David Wesley.
The trade will not be affected by Jackson's suspension, the Hornets said in a statement Wednesday. Nachbar was available for the New Orleans' home game Wednesday night against Phoenix.
Jackson has played with Dallas, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Golden State, Portland, Atlanta, Cleveland, Miami and Sacramento, in addition to Houston, where he signed as a free agent before last season.
He had averaged 13.3 points and 4.8 rebounds in 24 games with the Rockets this season.
MUTOMBO ELBOWS LEBRON: Cavaliers star LeBron James was accidentally elbowed in the face by Houston's Dikembe Mutombo late in the first half of Wednesday night's game and had to be helped from the floor.
James, on defense and moving across the lane, was leveled by Mutombo. He immediately dropped to the floor, covered his eyes and kicked his feet in obvious pain while play continued.
When Houston scored, the officials stopped play and Cleveland's medical staff rushed out to help James. He had to be assisted off the court, leaving near Houston's bench and taken through the nearest exit to Cleveland's locker room.
Early in the third quarter, the Cavs said James had bruised the orbital bone around his left eye and would not return.
BOBCATS ACTIVATE WHITE: The Charlotte Bobcats activated center Jahidi White before Wednesday night's game against Indiana, and placed forward Jamal Sampson on the injured list. White went on the injured list Dec. 4 with a shoulder injury. He has appeared in eight games this season, averaging 2.3 points and 1.8 rebounds. Sampson sprained his ankle in Monday night's loss at Washington.
O'NEAL BACK IN COURT: Indiana forward Jermaine O'Neal will go before a federal judge on Thursday to see if he can continue playing for the Pacers. If the ruling goes against him, and O'Neal returns to the suspended list, he said he'll accept it.
"I got to," O'Neal said before Wednesday night's game against Charlotte. "It will be hard. I'll be disappointed, but I'll put it in God's hands. I've got a lot of faith."
Originally suspended by NBA commissioner David Stern for 25 games for fighting with fans during the Nov. 19 Pacers-Pistons brawl, an arbitrator reduced the ban to 15 games. The NBA then challenged arbitrator Roger Kaplan's authority to hear O'Neal's grievance, and a federal judge temporarily upheld Kaplan's ruling last week, allowing O'Neal to play.
Both sides will be back in court Thursday in New York, where Judge George B. Daniels will consider the merits of the NBA's lawsuit.
COOPER'S FIRST PRACTICE: Michael Cooper began his first day as head coach of the Denver Nuggets with a team meeting, giving each player a frank assessment of his role now that Cooper is running the show.
Then he took his players onto the practice court to work on defense.
If Day 1 is any indication, the Nuggets can expect a lot of unflinching honesty and demand for hard work — especially on defense — from their new coach.
They can also expect him to push them to be more than just a little above average, which is pretty much the best the Nuggets franchise has ever been.
"As Pat Riley once said, 'If you don't talk about being a champion, you'll never be a champion,' " said the former Lakers star, who won five NBA titles with Riley as his coach.