Larry Brown was the head coach of Team USA during their Bronze Medal performance in the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

"The thing is they got guys that are willing to make a three-year commitment, which I think is tremendous," Brown said of this current Team USA. "We had guys that committed (for 2004,) and then all of a sudden 9/11 happened, and then there were injuries."

Kobe Bryant, Jason Kidd, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen all made late withdraws for various reasons.

Bobcats' point guard Raymond Felton has bought into new Coach Larry Brown's system and is taking his role as co-captain very seriously, according to HoopsWorld.

"I've had several meetings with Coach Brown," Felton told HOOPSWORLD. "There's been good meetings. There's been meetings of, 'I'm going to be very demanding of you Raymond. You're the captain. You're the leader of this team along with J-Rich (Jason Richardson) and Gerald (Wallace), so I'm demanding a lot from you. I'm expecting a lot from you. I'm expecting you to lead these guys.' So I'm putting all that on my shoulders. I'm looking forward to it."

There has been some speculation that rookie D.J. Augustin could challenge Felton for the team's starting job, but the incumbent doesn't appear worried.

"That means a lot," he said of Augustin. "You've got a kid coming off the bench when the team isn't going to lose a beat. He's a great player."

The Charlotte Bobcats signed guard Shannon Brown to a one-year deal Wednesday for the NBA minimum of about $800,000.

The 6-foot-4 Brown played in 21 games for Cleveland and Chicago last season and had two stints in the NBA Development League.

The Bobcats on Wednesday signed guard Shannon Brown to a one-year deal, according to an Associated Press report.

Brown appeared in 21 games for the Cavaliers and Bulls last season, averaging 5.4 points.

Point guard Earl Boykins is the latest NBA player to make the jump to Europe, signing a $3.5 million contract for 2008-09 with Virtus Bologna, making him the highest paid player in Italy, Marc Stein from ESPN.com is reporting.

According to Boykin's agents, the deal includes income from Bologna's sponsorship and marketing arms, which is not an option for NBA players because of salary-cap restrictions.

Forward Emeka Okafor officially signed his six year, $72 million contract with the Charlotte Bobcats on Thursday, the Associated Press is reporting.

"The Bobcats and the entire Charlotte community embraced me from day one," Okafor said in a statement. "It's exciting to enter this season with a Hall of Fame coach and teammates who are committed to winning."

"It was important for us to get a deal done," General Manager Rod Higgins said. "Securing Emeka demonstrates that Bob Johnson and the rest of our ownership group are committed to building a winning franchise in Charlotte. Any time you have a player who consistently ranks among the NBA's best in rebounding and shot blocking, you want to keep a guy like that around."