Jabari Parker will attend college rather than go on a Mormon mission after he graduates from high school next year.

"I know for a fact that I'm going to college my first year," Parker announced on Friday.

Parker would like to make his college decision by January or February at the latest.

"If I want to make my announcement in the winter, I'm probably behind schedule," Parker said. "I probably will need to be doing a little more work. I'm getting lazy. … My decision, it's going to come kind of easy because I have a lot of people in my circle just telling me different things."

The San Antonio Spurs have been fined $250,000 by the NBA for their decision to not send Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green to play in Thursday's game against the Miami Heat.

The NBA contends that the Spurs' actions were in violation of a league policy, reviewed with the NBA Board of Governors in April 2010, against resting players in a manner contrary to the best interests of the NBA.

"The result here is dictated by the totality of the facts in this case," said David Stern. "The Spurs decided to make four of their top players unavailable for an early-season game that was the team's only regular-season visit to Miami. The team also did this without informing the Heat, the media, or the league office in a timely way. Under these circumstances, I have concluded that the Spurs did a disservice to the league and our fans."

A source told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports that there would be no separate fines or suspensions to Gregg Popovich.

Sklava Kravtsov is the only player on the Detroit Pistons who has yet to have played in a game this season.

"It was not what I expected at all," Kravtsov said on Friday.  "But this is life.  You can not stop because of that.  You should prove yourself at the practices and keep working to find yourself, and sometimes a chance comes to you.  You just have to be ready for it."

Lawrence Frank has said that he would begin to play Kravtsov when he's ready.

"I think I'm ready," he said.  "I've worked hard this month.  I rested a lot on my body.  I worked on my skills with Roy (Rogers, Pistons assistant coach).  I think I get much better.  And I think I can show something right now.  I think I could help a lot.  I just need to show it."

Jason Kidd revealed on Friday that he underwent an MRI on his injured back, which didn't show anything significant.

Kidd will miss his third straight game with back spasms on Friday and is likely to sit on Sunday as well.

"I hope so," Kidd said. “That’s the plan - to get me back out there sometime next week. I feel great. A lot better as the week’s gone on. That’s the goal is to be 100 percent when you come back. No need to rush. Today was a great day working out. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow."

Kidd hopes to be ready to return for the start of the Knicks' three-game road trip on Wednesday.

Following a lackluster 110-89 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday, the Orlando Magic openly acknowledged concerns with the team’s effort, accountability and ability to define roles. On Thursday, coaches and players held a team meeting where they discussed those issues.

Magic coach Jacque Vaughn welcomed seeing his players hold each other accountable.

"I think we still need to find out who's our guys and who's not our guys," said Glen Davis, who most likely initiated the meeting along with Arron Afflalo. "Then everybody can kind of move on. At the same time, we need to grow. We need to find out who's our energy guy, who's our vocal guy.

"At times like this, we really need to bite down and check each other … and see what we can all do to make this team better."

While the meeting was productive, the Magic believe they are still working to mesh as a team. J.J. Redick understands building chemistry will take time, but he also doesn’t want that to affect the Magic’s effort.

"The goal is to get better every day, and we took a step back, and that's just unacceptable because we can't have steps back,” Redick said.

Michael Jordan has expressed interest in having the Hornets' nickname return to Charlotte.

“It’s definitely an interest down the road, but right now it’s the New Orleans Hornets,” Jordan told the Observer. “We would definitely entertain the opportunity. That’s as much as we can say right now. We’ve heard the community ask the question, and we would listen.”

Many in Charlotte continue to have fondness for the Hornets' teal-and-purple.

The New Orleans Hornets are interested in changing the nickname to something more associated with Louisiana.

The NBA already owns the rights to the name Charlotte Hornets, which would make a transition fairly easy.

The Bobcats were named after initial owner Robert L. Johnson.

The Golden State Warriors have assigned rookie guard Kent Bazemore to the Santa Cruz Warriors, Golden State’s NBA Development League affiliate. The assignment marked the first of Bazemore’s career.

With the assignment, Bazemore became the first player ever to be assigned from Golden State to Santa Cruz.

Bazemore (6-5, 201, Old Dominion) has appeared in six games for Golden State this season, recording two rebounds, two steals, two blocks and one assist in 10 minutes. Undrafted following a four-year career at Old Dominion, Bazemore is a two-time CAA Defensive Player of the Year (2011, 2012). 

Southern Methodist University is showcasing Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown in an effort to break out of relative obscurity.

"We're using it every way from fund raising, to creating exclusive or intimate interactions with Larry and our staff, to developing excitement on campus, getting him in front of fraternities, sororities, campus organizations," says Rick Hart, SMU's athletic director. "We're trying to showcase coach Brown and utilize not just his talents and abilities, but his reputation and accomplishments to create for our program."

All of the off-court attention has startled Brown.

"I'm like a trophy here now at SMU," Brown says. "I'm doing a lot of things outside of basketball, but in the NBA, it's all basketball."

Brown, 72, will continue making public appearances, even though he doesn't particularly enjoy talking about himself.

"I realized I don't like being the face of the program,” Brown says. “That's the thing that makes me uncomfortable. I want SMU basketball to be relevant, not me being head coach."

The Houston Rockets have assigned rookies Terrence Jones and Scott Machado to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Rockets’ NBA Development League affiliate.

The assignment is the first for Jones and the second for Machado.

Jones has appeared in seven games for the Rockets this season, averaging 3.6 points, 2.0 rebounds and 10.4 minutes.  

Machado returns to the Vipers having been assigned from Nov. 14-26, when he appeared in two games and averaged 16.0 points, 8.0 assists and 5.0 rebounds. In one game for the Rockets this season, Machado scored two points in three minutes.  

The Boston Celtics recalled forward Kris Joseph from their NBA Development League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws.

Joseph, a 6’7 forward, averaged 25.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.0 block in two games while on assignment.