Mickell Gladness has been signed by the Heat to a second 10-day contract.

Gladness has appeared in eight games with the Heat this season.

LeBron James can take over a game with his scoring, but believes his skill set is more like Magic Johnson than Michael Jordan because of his passing ability, unselfishness and gregarious personality.

“Champions come in different shapes, sizes and forms,” James said. “Everyone always compares Kobe to Jordan and says they always have had that killer mentality. They always had that dagger, that dog. Then you look at Magic [Johnson], and people say that he was fun to play with. He was great. He always had his teammates’ back. He always got his teammates involved. He was a champion as well.

“They come in different shapes and sizes and forms and different colors as well. For me, I see myself on the side of the Magic range where I love my teammates, love being around them. I want them to be happy as well. At the same time, dominate the game, as well. I got a long way to go still to get to [Jordan’s and Bryant’s] levels to get multiple championships. Hopefully, I can get there someday.”

Jeremy Lin is more marketable than Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, according to a recent Nielsen poll.

Nielsen's N-Score measures name and image awareness, appeal and personality attributes such as sincerity, approachability, experience and influence. Lin topped the survey with an N-Score of 102. Bryant scored a 90 while James gets 84.

About 19% of the U.S. population has heard of Lin, say Nielsen, and of those 30% say they like him.

LeBron James believes Derrick Rose has changed the point guard position.

"It's amazing, honestly," James said on Friday afternoon. "Derrick has definitely evolved the point guard position. He's doing it; him and Russell [Westbrook] are two guys with speed, athleticism, can score, can pass, can jump, can do everything at the point guard position. I think D-Rose from end to end, is probably one of the fastest, quickest guys that we have with the ball in our game. It's always exciting to get out there with him."

Dwyane Wade sees some of himself in Rose.

"I see a lot of the things I did when I was younger, probably on a little bit more athletic of a level with him," Wade said. "But I do see the things that he does and I'll be like, 'Man, I used to do that.' or 'Man, I've done that before.' But he does it at another notch up than even when I did it. He's so athletic and he's so fast. ... We're going to compete against each other. We're going to play against each other, but from Chicago, in a sense I'm proud to say that we're from the same place. And the person that he is as well. That kid right there, he's going to be a star in this league for many years to come. He's an unbelievable talent."

Eddy Curry has received limited minutes during his tenure with the Heat.

"We're looking at big picture," Erik Spoelstra said. "He's come a long way, he really has. And the fact that he's not necessarily in the rotation right now does not necessarily mean anything. It doesn’t mean that he doesn't still have an opportunity. It doesn't mean that he hasn't made a lot of progress, because he has.

"It means we offered an opportunity for him here and he's developing. He's getting in terrific condition and the toughest part is trying to get him up to speed to our system when we don't have our normal set of practices."

Joel Przybilla has agreed to sign with the Blazers, according to a source.

Przybilla spent several seasons with Portland before being traded last February to the Bobcats.

Przybilla, who also considered signing with the Heat, Bulls and Bucks, will bring veteran frontcourt play to Portland.

Joel Przybilla is expected to decide on Wednesday which team he will sign with for the remainder of the season.

Przybilla is picking between the Heat, Bulls, Bucks or Blazers.

"I think Portland is always the sentimental favorite for obvious reasons," agent Bill Duffy said. "Joel has a home here and he had the best years of his career here. And at this particular time, it looks like he is needed, too." 

The Miami Heat’s LeBron James and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, Feb. 13, through Sunday, Feb. 19.

James led Miami to a 4-0 week, averaging 27.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 2.0 steals. James shot .623 from the field, .905 from the foul line and .500 from distance, tallying 25 or more points three times, and posting a 35-point effort on Feb. 13 during a 114-96 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Durant helped Oklahoma City to a 3-1 week which included wins over the Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets. Durant averaged 32.0 points and 8.0 rebounds, and shot .585 from the field, .917 from the foul line and .588 from distance. Durant’s career-high 51 points on Feb. 19 propelled the Thunder to a 124-118 win over the Nuggets.

Miami recorded an impressive 90-78 win over the Magic on Sunday, in which Stan Van Gundy endorsed the improvement of his rivals to the south.

Van Gundy offered three reasons on why the 11-12 Heat are better than last year's team.

"No. 1,'' he said, "they're together longer, they know each other better and they're hungry because they didn't get what they wanted last year.

"No. 2, they have a lot more depth,'' said Van Gundy, referring to the additions of Shane Battier and Norris Cole, along with a healthy Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem.

"No. 3 — and I think this is a huge part of it — they've settled their point-guard position,'' Van Gundy said. "Last year, they went through a lot of different guys. Mario (Chalmers)was in there. Carlos Arroyo was starting early. Mike Bibby was there late. They were all up and down. Now they've settled and Mario is having a very good year."

Van Gundy believes Chalmers is in the top half of NBA point guards.

"The position is a strength, not a weakness,'' he said.

LeBron James has hired a high-powered public relations strategist.

The strategist, who worked on Arnold Schwarzenegger’s gubernatorial campaign, will presumably be responsible for strategic planning of James' marketing agency, LRMR.