Celtics radio analyst Cedric Maxwell apologized on the air Wednesday night for saying that a female referee should "go back to the kitchen" after he disagreed with one of her calls.

Maxwell made the comment during the Celtics' victory over the Rockets on Monday. He subsequently said "Go in there and make me some bacon and eggs, would you?" in reference to referee Violet Palmer.

"If I said anything that might have been insensitive or sexist in any way, then I apologize because she worked extremely hard to get where she is now, end of quote," Maxwell said before the Celtics' game against the Knicks on WEEI-AM, which is owned by Entercom Communications.

The Boston Celtics announce that forward Wally Szczerbiak is scheduled to undergo season ending ankle surgery on Thursday March 8, 2007. The procedure will be performed by Team Physician Dr. Brian McKeon at New England Baptist Hospital.

In 32 games this season, Szczerbiak is averaging 15.0 points and 3.1 rebounds in 28.1 minutes per game.  The eighth year pro has missed 24 games this season due to injury; all but one game due to ankle sprains. Szczerbiak recorded a season high of 35 points against the Charlotte Bobcats on November 8, 2006.

Cedric Maxwell will apologize for saying a female referee should ?go back to the kitchen,? over the air during a Boston Celtics game Monday night on WEEI-AM, a station official said Tuesday.
   
Over the airwaves, Maxwell ordered female referee Violet Palmer to vamoose after she made a controversial call.
   
?Go back to the kitchen,? Maxwell said.
   
Maxwell re-launched after a brief moment of silence, saying ?Go in there and make me some bacon and eggs, would you??

Former NBA players remembered Dennis Johnson for his athletic ability and his infectious smile Sunday during a memorial service where there was far more laughter than tears.

"In my lifetime I have never met such a dynamic person," former Celtics teammate Cedric Maxwell told the crowd of nearly 200 people gathered in the David Chapel Baptist Church. "He was one of the greatest players of all time."

Johnson, who was part of three championship teams with Boston and Seattle, died Thursday after collapsing following practice with the Austin Toros, the Development League team he coached. He was 52.

Dennis Johnson, former guard for the Seattle SuperSonics and Boston Celtics, has passed away.  Johnson reportedly collapsed during practice on Thursday.

Johnson was a five-time All-Star and the MVP of the 1979 Finals.  He won one title with the Sonics and two with Boston.

"Whether he was leading his teams to NBA championships or teaching young men the meaning of professionalism, Dennis Johnson?s contributions to the game went far beyond the basketball court," said David Stern in a statement released to RealGM and other media outlets.

"Dennis was a man of extraordinary  character  with a tremendous passion for the game and his loss will be felt throughout the basketball community. On behalf of the entire NBA family, I extend my deepest sympathy to his wife Donna, his children Dwayne, Denise and Daniel, and their entire family."

Johnson was briefly the head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers in 2002 and had been the head coach of the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League.

?Speaking for our entire organization, I want to say how saddened we are to hear this shocking news," said Elgin Baylor, VP of Basketball Operations for the Clippers.  

"Dennis was a joy to be around and a terrific person.  He will truly be missed by the many people whose lives he touched.  Our deepest sympathies go out to his family.?

Delonte West's live-in girlfriend allegedly choked and bit him and tried to slash her own wrists with shards of glass because he ended the relationship with her.

West?s girlfriend, Caryn Taylor, skipped court on Wednesday where she was supposed to have been arraigned on domestic assault and battery charges for the Dec. 21, 2006, alleged attack in the couple?s Waltham apartment. A warrant for her arrest was issued, authorities said.

Wally Szczerbiak sprained his left ankle during the Boston Celtics' game against the Kings on Tuesday night, the latest of several injuries to both of the forward's ankles this season.

Szczerbiak stepped on teammate Paul Pierce's foot while trying to defend Sacramento's Kevin Martin near the Kings' basket with 1:18 left in the first quarter. He limped gingerly to the Boston bench before heading for the locker room, and the Celtics said he wouldn't return.

Szczerbiak has missed 18 games with injuries this season ? including 17 because of sprained ankles. He missed 10 games in the previous two months with a sprained right ankle, and missed five games in early December with a sprained left ankle.

The Boston Celtics announced today that they have assigned rookie guard Allan Ray to their NBA Development League affiliate Austin Toros.  Ray is the team?s first assignment to the NBA Development League this season and the 19th NBA player to be assigned to the Development League.

Ray appeared in 33 games averaging 4.9 points and 1.1 rebounds in 10.6 minutes per game at the time of the assignment.  Ray was ranked third among NBA rookies in three-point field goal percentage with a mark of .391. The 6?2? guard out of Villanova will be coached by former Boston Celtics point guard Dennis Johnson with Austin who is in its first year as an affiliate of the Celtics.

Gerald Green of the Boston Celtics easily won over the five-man judges' panel of Michael Jordan, Julius Erving, Dominique Wilkins, Kobe Bryant and Vince Carter ? particularly when Nate Robinson missed nine straight times on his final dunk before finally landing a one-handed spin move.

Green and Robinson eliminated Orlando's Dwight Howard and Chicago's Tyrus Thomas in the first round, even though the 6-foot-11 Howard came up with the most original move. Howard leaped high, slapping a sticker of himself on the backboard before throwing down the dunk.  The move, however, did not impress the judges, who gave Howard a 42, which was the lowest score of all 2nd dunk attempts in the first round.

Green's most impressive dunk was a morph of two previous Dunk Competition renditions, tearing away his number 5 green Celtics jersey to reveal a throwback Dee Brown Celtics jersey, and then jumping over a stationary Nate Robinson while doing the 'cover your eyes with your forearm' dunk which won Brown the competition back in 1991.

The NBA will return for its second year of NBA Europe Live presented by EA SPORTS? this Fall when the Boston Celtics, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves and Toronto Raptors will conduct training camps and play exhibition games in six European cites in four countries, it was announced today by NBA Commissioner David Stern.

The 2007 NBA Europe Live presented by EA SPORTS? will mark a series of firsts in the NBA?s 19-year history of conducting games in Europe.  The Boston Celtics and the Minnesota Timberwolves will play in the first basketball game in the O2, London?s new state of the art NBA style arena.

In addition, the NBA will conduct its first game played in Turkey.  The event will also feature the first time two NBA teams have competed against one another in Rome.