Around the NBA

Hurt. Confused. A bit angry. That's how Warriors forward Corey Maggette said he feels about his home fans booing him, which has been the case of late at Oracle Arena.

"It's not pleasant at all," Maggette told the Contra Costa Times. "I remember the time when Al Harrington was here, and he was getting booed and he was asking to be traded. And I saw it when (Stephen Jackson) was here, and he was asking to be traded. And now, I'm getting booed for wanting to be part of this team through all this nonsense." ...

The Washington Wizards will honor late owner Abe Pollin by wearing a patch on their jerseys for the rest of the season.

The black patch just under the jersey's right shoulder features the name "Abe." Two identical logos also appear on each side of the court at Verizon Center, the downtown arena built mostly with Pollin's money.

The team wore the patch for the first time Thursday night for the Wizards' home game against the Boston Celtics. ...

The NBA is taking another step in its plans to expand its presence in India, sending Dikembe Mutombo to take part in a pair of events this week.

The former All-Star center, recently hired as the league's global ambassador, was in Mumbai on Wednesday to unveil two refurbished courts, along with a learning center, which the league said will benefit more than 1,500 children.

He will take part in a groundbreaking ceremony for another new court Friday in Chennai, then remain there to run a coaching clinic over the weekend. ...

Forgive Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson for quickly shooting down Commissioner David Stern's assertion that a woman may play in the NBA in the next decade, but Jackson has firsthand evidence to support his argument.

When Jackson ran a youth basketball camp in Montana early in his coaching career, he recalls pitting a state champion high school girls team against a group of middle-school boys who had never played together. The outcome of the game was so one-sided in favor of the boys that it has stuck in Jackson's mind ever since.

"(The girls) were all 4 to 6 inches bigger than these boys, and they got beat by 40 points," Jackson told the Riverside Press-Enterprise. "It was one of those things that opened my eyes to the differences. Even though the girls had skill and knowledge as a group and the boys hadn't played together, they just trapped and pressed and did all kinds of things that changed the game."

Game of the week

Magic at Heat

The battle of Florida will get national play Thursday night on TNT when Dwyane Wade leads Miami against Vince Carter and the Magic. Orlando, led by center Dwight Howard, has a more well-rounded team, but the Heat have the home crowd advantage.