Davis was one of the players pointed to as a snub because of the large steps forward he has taken this season. The first pick of the 2012 draft is averaging 20.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 3.3 blocks in his second NBA season.

Bryant has not played since he fractured his left tibia in December after playing six games for the Lakers in his return from Achilles surgery undergone the previous season.


BROWN SUPPORT


Dan Gilbert has fired Mike Brown once before. So when Cleveland Cavaliers general manager Chris Grant was fired, attention immediately turned to Brown's footing with the team.

For now, that appears to be a non-issue, as Gilbert has come out in support of Brown and the job he has done as coach, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

"We’re going to see Mike Brown succeed this year,'' Gilbert said. "I think he will be able to do good things in the next 30 games or so. I think this team is going to be able to do good things. They’re going to look at each other, look in the mirror, and they’re going to rally. We’re going to do everything we can to give them the air cover they need."

This support of Brown comes in spite of the fact that the Cavaliers are 16-33 and Brown has been criticized for a lack of control within the locker room.

What could change for the Cavaliers is the makeup of the roster, as Gilbert said he wants acting general manager David Griffin to take on an active approach leading into the Feb. 20 trade deadline.

"I think we’ll be aggressive at the trading deadline — historically we have, anyway,'' Gilbert said. "I think we will and we potentially have a lot of opportunity there. We’re looking forward to working with David Griffin, and whatever it takes, 24 hours a day for the next two weeks. Hopefully we’ll find opportunities.''

In those talks, the only player on the roster who is completely safe is Kyrie Irving, the Plain Dealer noted. Dion Waiters has been rumored to be on the market for quite some time, and Tristan Thompson and Anderson Varejao are players who could gain interest.

For the time being, the Cavaliers are still trying to pick up the pieces after the departure of LeBron James.


HEAT STRUGGLE


At this point in their time together, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade appear to have an uncanny connection. They've played in three straight NBA Finals and have won back-to-back titles.

But in that first year together, as the Heat struggled to a 9-8 record in 2010-11, there were doubts. Both James and Wade were unsure if they could coexist and win doing so. It's worked out for the better, however, and James addressed those early struggles in an excerpt of an interview with NBATV slated to appear over All-Star Weekend.

"My mind the whole year, I was not who — that was not the guy who fell in love with the game of basketball," James said. "It wasn’t. I could feel it like every single game, it just felt so heavy on me. All the games on the road, being booed — the aura around us was just so bad.

"At one point in the season, we was 9-8. We weren’t playing good basketball, we was out of sync and me and D-Wade (were) looking at each other like, ‘We make the right choice, man? Is this what we really wanted?'

James added: "Can we, two guys that basically held franchises on our shoulders, can (we) decide to give one shoulder to each other, you know, to make this happen? And D-Wade came to me and was like, ‘Man, in order for us to be great, you have to be the guy, and I’ll take a step back.' "

Contributor: DeAntae Prince