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How could the Los Angeles Clippers possibly walk away from a negotiation that would’ve yielded them Kevin Garnett and Doc Rivers for a relatively unproven young center, a couple of first-round draft picks and the relatively small burden of taking on one or two mid-level contracts?

That’s the question gnawing at some Clipper fans and many Clipper skeptics on Tuesday, but however ineffectual the organization appears on the surface for folding up their tent, the Clippers made a sound decision.

Two key points:

What’s the hurry?
The Celtics’ situation is in flux and they’ve signaled to the world that they’re ready to pursue the wise course of rebuilding. If they buy out Paul Pierce’s contract on or before June 30, where does that leave Garnett and Rivers? Neither is wild about the idea of being part of the reconstruction process without their comrade, and both would prefer they join forces with a team driving for a title, a team like the Los Angeles Clippers.

In other words, if the Clippers want to acquire Kevin Garnett for DeAndre Jordan, they can do so after July 1. The only complication there is the report that Garnett isn’t interested in playing for any coach other than Rivers, a primary reason this whole drama started.

That’s why if I’m the Clippers, I hold off on hiring a coach until after the Pierce situation is resolved. Apart from the Clippers, the only remaining coaching vacancies are Memphis, Philadelphia and Denver. There’s virtually no overlap between the Clippers’ short list and that of 76ers president of basketball operations and general manager Sam Hinkie. Memphis will likely hire current assistant Dave Joerger. At worst, the Clippers lose one of their top three choices (most likely Lionel Hollins or Brian Shaw) to Denver while they wait. In exchange, they maintain the possibility that Rivers could join them after July 1. Boston will have no more impetus to pay Rivers $7 million to coach a bubble team than they do now. Ditto for Garnett’s $18 million guaranteed, assuming KG would return to a Pierce-less Celtics team.

There’s some worry that the Clippers’ inability to strike a deal with Boston might prompt Chris Paul to look elsewhere, but the concern has been overblown. If the Celtics are truly moving into rebuilding mode, time is on the Clippers’ side. If the Celtics decide to fire up the wagon for another run, then so be it.

Was the deal worth it?
Few veterans in the league bring Garnett’s gravitas, pedigree and presence and it’s easy to be charmed by the prospect of Garnett’s taking Blake Griffin under his wing and teaching him the dark arts of defending the pick-and-roll and becoming a championship power forward.

But Garnett is 37 and isn’t good for more than 26-28 minutes per game going forward. As transformative as he is as a minister of culture, Garnett’s past performance isn’t a reliable indicator of what kind of production he’d give the Clippers next season -- and the season after if the team decided to pick up his $12 million option for 2014-15.

So far as the leadership, Garnett is regarded as one of the league’s best teammates and mentors, but the Clippers went down that path last offseason when they brought back Chauncey Billups, signed Grant Hill and loaded up on good-guy vets to add to the collection they already had. Veteran leadership wasn’t the problem when the Clippers lost four straight to Memphis in the first round.

If anything, the Clippers need to get younger and establish a sustainable core around Paul and Griffin. Truth be told, Jordan probably isn’t the best frontcourt counterpart to Griffin since both are most dangerous in the basket area. And although Garnett would offer the midrange stretch that would best complement Griffin and is still a very steady defender, is 2,000 minutes of Garnett the best the Clippers can do for Jordan, whose athleticism and talent have many admirers around the league?

We don’t know the answer to this question, but a team like the Clippers that desperately needs a couple of wings who can defend and shoot from distance has an obligation to listen to offers -- and they’re out there for Jordan, both in the form of talent and picks.

Rivers is one of the five best coaches in the game and clearly has the respect of NBA players. But there’s a reason teams don’t trade assets for coaches. Doc Rivers can’t guard Russell Westbrook, Tony Parker, Ty Lawson, Mike Conley, James Harden and Stephen Curry. A few front office execs who were asked about the idea of handing over a pair of first-round picks for the privilege of paying a coach $7 million per season found the proposition absurd. While there was almost unanimous respect for Rivers’ acumen, the transaction was seen more as a salary dump than anything else.

The notion that a pair of first-round draft picks is a paltry sum to pay for Garnett and Rivers is short-sighted. With the new collective bargaining agreement in place, first-round picks have never been more valuable. They are the mother’s milk of the NBA trade market. With the exception of a few superstar max contacts, rookie-scale contracts represent the best values in the game. All across the league, there are young executives who know how to turn post-lottery picks into Chandler Parsons, Serge Ibaka and Eric Bledsoe, among others.

Teams value these picks and will offer the Clippers quality, on-court talent for them. A first-round pick is the kind of asset that could get a team to swallow the final year of Caron Butler’s contract, and could accompany Eric Bledsoe to get a top-line starter in exchange.

The Celtics also wanted the Clippers to take on additional payroll in the form of Jason Terry and/or Courtney Lee (this in addition to the $1.5 million that would’ve been added to the Clippers' salary number in a Jordan-for-Garnett swap). With only Griffin, Jordan, Butler, Jamal Crawford and Bledsoe locked in for next season, and Paul due a maximum salary, the Clippers need to preserve all their available exceptions. But adding Terry and/or Lee would’ve brought the Clippers precariously close to a place where they’d lose one or more of those slots, which are going to be vital in filling out their depleted roster.

It’s entirely possible the Clippers blew it big time by turning down an opportunity to sign a Hall of Famer in the twilight of his career and one of the most respected coaches in the game. Acquiring Garnett and Rivers would’ve made Paul ecstatic and endeared the team to the local media that have been pounding them in recent weeks.

But in forfeiting one option, the Clippers open themselves up to many others, including several that might actually address the team’s needs beyond 2014. In the meantime, Garnett and Rivers are still in Boston awaiting word on the direction of their team. If and when the Celtics decide to break up their current core, Garnett and/or Rivers will be looking for life rafts -- and the Clippers still have one.

Gregg Popovich pulls the strings like a master, the Heat struggle to score, Danny Green sets a record and the series heads to Miami where the Heat face a must-win Game 6. TrueHoop TV at the Finals, with Doris Burke and J.A. Adande.

The Mavericks coach is the president of the coach's association and a key member of the NBA's competition committee, which is meeting in San Antonio to discuss ways the game could be better. What does he think about some HoopIdeas?

Brent Barry wants you to know that he's more than a dunk champion; He's also an amateur assistant to Pearl Jam's bassist.

And, he says momentum is a myth. TrueHoop TV at the Finals.

• Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News: As Cornbread Maxwell noted after Boston destroyed the Lakers in Game 1 of the 1985 Finals, basketball isn’t backgammon. You don’t get extra credit for margin of victory. But the Spurs might have grounds to petition the NBA for a policy change after Game 3 of the Finals, in which they set a series record with 16 3-pointers en route to the third-largest rout in NBA championship history. At a certain point, it was almost comical. LeBron James, harassed by Kawhi Leonard into another legacy-staining disappearance. Danny Green and Gary Neal, playing better than they ever dreamed while slumming it overseas. And the best part – Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, the cornerstones of San Antonio’s championship success, sitting on the bench and enjoying the show as, for once, others did the heavy lifting. “You don’t expect it to go the way it did,” Duncan said. “But (I’m) loving our home court after getting blown out (in Game 2) to have that kind of…energy in the building, and to feed off that and our team to respond the right way. Hopefully we can respond even better to this win.” … History bodes well for the Spurs after Tuesday’s victory: Winners of Game 3 are 12-1 in the Finals since the 2-3-2 format was implemented in 1985, and 30-5 overall. Tuesday also marked Miami’s first loss while trailing or tied in the playoffs over the past two seasons, snapping a streak of 11 straight victories.
• Greg Cote of The Miami Herald: Where have you gone, LeBron James, and when are you coming back? Where is the offensive dominance that makes defenders and rims quake? Where is the greatest player in the NBA and one of its most prolific scorers when the Heat needs him the most, which is right now? When will the league’s Most Valuable Player start being that on his own team again? Forget “remember the Alamo.” Heat fans today are trying to remember the LeBron James who makes the highlight reels not for a pass or a rebound or a block – but for a dunk-festooned game of 35 or 40 points. Only James could accomplish something last done in the NBA Finals by Celtics goateed great Bill Russell in flower-power 1969 and still leave the impression that he is underperforming, that he has somehow been a disappointment. Welcome to LeBron’s world. For him, sometimes even great isn’t good enough, so you know THIS isn’t. For him, sometimes when the brain tries to tell you he is doing enough, the gut knows better: He must do more.
• Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: For every botched possession, for every missed rotation, the Spurs made them pay Tuesday, championship-tested, fueled by the 2-3-2 format that could have them in position to close this out on their floor on Sunday night. "They played with more force, more focus," Spoelstra said. Odds are, the Heat will look far different in Thursday's Game 4, because that's who they are, who they have been. Odds are every Chris Bosh blocked shot won't turn into aDanny Green 3-pointer. But it's a game that's getting somewhat old and getting somewhat dangerous. "The only thing that matters," Spoelstra said, "is we're down 2-1 and we did not bring anywhere near our best game tonight. I did not recognize the team that was out there." Yes, there have not been consecutive losses since Jan. 8 and Jan. 10. We get that. But even that might not be enough. … Now the question is whether the Heat can make it back to South Florida with a season still in progress. We've learned by now to never doubt LeBron. But what he is facing this series is something far more maniacal than what Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau has thrown at him in recent postseasons, more than the Pacers' Frank Vogel conjured in the previous round.
• Chris Herrington of the Memphis Flyer: Jason Levien needs to shore up his public diplomacy: I have little doubt that Levien ran this move by players, minority owners, and others around the organization and knew a coaching change would not cause a revolt. But the Grizzlies are at once private enterprise and public trust, and the community needs a fuller and more personal explanation than the brief, antiseptic press release the team put out Monday night. Levien needs to explain this decision, in direct but polite terms. For better or worse — and I think it's some of both — this is a “speak to the Rotary Club, hobnob at the college football game, banter on the radio shows” kind of market. Incumbent general manager Chris Wallace, in addition to being a quality basketball man, had mastered this public role, one reason I always thought the new regime would have been wise to incorporate him more fully in the decision-making process and try to keep him around. Levien is a bright man undertaking a big job, but he needs work in this area. … This is about the future: This coaching change won't alter the Grizzlies' projection for next season in the minds of most who follow the NBA closely. Coaches matter, but rosters matter much more. What fans need to understand is that the Grizzlies were heading into a period of transition even without a coaching change. How the new ownership and front office manages this transition — not just this offseason but in the next couple as well — will determine their ultimate success or failure.
• John Smallwood of the Philadelphia Daily News: Sports agents should be afraid, very afraid. If reports are true and NBA superstar Kevin Durant, of the Oklahoma City Thunder, is about to the sign with Roc Nation Sports, a new playa has entered the field of sports representation, and he might be the best hustler of them all. … Apparently, Roc Nation didn't have to show its mettle before a legitimate superstar decided to climb on board. Durant is an NBA megastar. Besides LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, perhaps no NBA player has a higher global profile than the charismatic Durant. This could be a game-changer for Roc Nation Sports. Think about it. … The threat that Roc Nation Sports presents to the sports representation hierarchy is why I believe the NFL Players Association has accused Jay-Z, who is not yet licensed to be an agent, of acting in the role of a runner in the recruitment of Smith. NBA agents should be just as leery. After the 2013-14 season, superstar players such as James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Paul George, Kyrie Irving, Dwyane Wade and John Wall will be in some sort of renegotiation position. Those players will be paying attention to what Roc Nation does to raise Durant's profile and fatten his bank account. If they like what they see, a lot of agents could have more than 99 problems as they watch clients jump ship for Jay-Z.
• Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald: While so much uncertainty dribbling around the Celtics these days — uh, heard any good Doc Rivers rumors lately? — the club is fully expecting to be improved in at least one position next season. Not only will they be better at point guard when Rajon Rondo returns from ACL surgery, but Danny Ainge believes this version of Rondo, when healthy, will be a notch above the one voted an Eastern Conference All-Star starter. The Celtics president of basketball operations knows that Rondo was paying attention when he was out, seeing how the team did better at first when not relying so heavily on one ballhandler and then noting how much he was missed during the postseason. “I think Rondo is a smart guy, and he got to see the strengths and weaknesses of our team and the players,” said Ainge. “I think he actually started to see it even before he was out, but when you’re out, you can see things in your team and your teammates that maybe you didn’t see before. You see players that are capable of doing some things that maybe you weren’t sure they could do. I think that’s always helpful. Doc and I have both talked to Rajon about what he can do to get better and what he needs to do. And Rondo’s a smart kid on his own. He doesn’t listen to everything you say, but he’s got his own ideas of what he can do to get better, as well. He’s very observant, very street-smart and very basketball-smart, too.”
• Doug Smith of the Toronto Star: Haven’t heard precisely why from anyone on the record but a planned free agent camp in Toronto this coming weekend has been cancelled. It wasn’t all that big a deal, a lot of projects in to see if the HOTH could find some summer league fodder – and perhaps some diamond in the rough – but it would have been the first chance for Dwane (Casey)and his staff to do any coaching under Masai’s general managership and now that’s not going to happen. It had been scheduled for weeks and I would think maybe Masai looked at the roster that’d been assembled, saw where he was in his own evaluation process and figured it wasn’t worth the hassle, or the cost, to get it done. And with the waves of uncertainty still washing over the franchise, I can see that making sense. Masai and Dwane still have to sit down and have some more heart-to-heart discussions (and that’s what Masai said would happen the day he was introduced), the coaching staff remains very much in limbo with less than three weeks until the contracts of all the assistants run out, and the front office and scouting staff still has to be assembled. One thing has to happen this week, I’d say. While I fully expect Dwane to stick around and that’s pretty much what Masai said that day in Toronto, I think some public pronouncement about the head coach and his staff is in order. There was just enough uncertainty out of that original news conference that no clear message was delivered; now that everyone’s in and settled, it’s time to clear everything up.
• Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times: The NBA wants to stop teams from tampering with soon-to-be free agents. Three franchises were nailed Monday, including the Atlanta Hawks and Houston Rockets for making it known that Dwight Howard and Chris Paul were on their offseason wish list. But several Bulls players wished the league luck trying to stop it. Taj Gibson said that Miami Heat star LeBron Jamestried to recruit him last offseason before Gibson and the Bulls agreed on an extension. Nazr Mohammed said recruiting is “happening everywhere with the players.’’ That’s what the NBA fears. The league can punish teams if it’s coming from the front office, but if it’s the players recruiting each other, good luck. “I know [the league office] doesn’t like to hear this, but ultimately it’s good for the league,’’ Mohammed said. “You got guys that like each other, want to play with each other. Why not? The collective-bargaining agreement is going to settle some of it, but guys are going to take huge paycuts to play with their friends.’’ Further evidence that Derrick Rose needs to start recruiting if he wants help.
• David Mayo of MLive.com: Dear Maurice Cheeks: Welcome to Detroit. Kind of. You've been in the NBA long enough to know the Detroit Pistons don't really play in Detroit. Not even in the same county as Detroit. Heck of a limo ride from the airport to the arena, isn't it? On the bright side, the team charter is housed in Pontiac, so there's that. Then, there's the job as Pistons head coach, which you accepted Monday. You get the same core time that Lawrence Frank got before you, three years with a team option for a fourth, neither of which he quite made. That's how it's been done around here for a while. The Pistons treat coaches the way their coaches should treat housing decisions: They rent, don't buy. You walk into a pretty good mess here but you also know there's some potential, if your bosses can talk some good players into taking all this money they have to spend. … The only way to sell it is to start winning. Except after years of losing culture, that isn't easy to do. I know it's a process, you know it's a process. But on the Pistons coaching plan, the process gets rewired every two years. Here's hoping you get more time. Best of luck, coach. It won't be easy. But nothing worth doing is, right?
• Dwight Jaynes of CSNNW.com: When I heard that Maurice Cheeks had landed another job as a head coach in the NBA, my instant reaction, quite honestly, was: "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Followed by, "HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Yes, really. This time it was the Detroit Pistons who were casual or naive enough in their job search to hire the man whom I consider, hands down, to be the worst coach in Trail Blazer history and probably one of the worst I've ever seen in the NBA. And while it's possible that no quality coach would accept that Detroit job, the Pistons could have done so much better. What's wrong with Cheeks, you say? Well, I've covered the NBA since the days when Jack Ramsay was roaming the Blazer sidelines in paisley pants. And I don't think since that time I've seen a coach as poorly informed, as casual about his duties and as lazy as Cheeks. NBA head coach? He should have been charged with identity theft. … There's a chance this franchise is on the upswing. Maybe Cheeks, in his tenure as an assistant at Oklahoma City, has learned some lessons. We shall see. So good luck, Detroit. I'll be watching. And trying to keep from giggling.
• Mac Engel of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Since Mark Cuban bought the Mavs no one in the NBA has leaned on the league for a better product, from the fan experience to the refs to now - no flopping. Refs in the NBA have sucked for years, they still do, because it's an impossible job and the only good ref is the one you don't notice. It's odd - when the Mavs won the NBA title in 2011, the refs were incredible. Probably just a coincidence. Now Cuban is working on the widespread epidemic of NBA flopping by granting $100K to SMU to solve this massive crisis. Only there is no solution, even the best player Cuban agrees this is a fruitless exercise. "I think we're trying; you're never going to get rid of it but you have to limit it," Dirk Nowitzki told a small group of reporters on Monday at a Dallas YMCA. "I think it's also part of sports. In any sports, it's a part. It's part of winning. Some people are smart; some people do a little extra thing to sell a call. To me, that's part of sports. You don't want to be obvious; the really, really bad ones you'd love to get rid of those. But if someone does get shoved or hit a little bit, just to sell it to the referees gives the call, I don't have a problem with that. That's part of the game. But the really obvious when there is nothing happening, and he doesn't get hit and he falls down, we do need to eliminate those." Even with the NBA issuing stiffer fines against the floppers, nothing has really stopped guys who are getting grazed turning the ensuing reaction into a cannon shot to the face. Because, as Dirk says, it's part of sports.
• Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer: Kentucky center Nerlens Noel will visit the Cavaliers on June 20, a source confirmed to The Plain Dealer on Tuesday. The date has been rumored in various media outlets, but the Cavs do not announce their pre-draft interview schedule and would not confirm the appointment. The Cavs have the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft on June 27, and Noel has been rumored to be the likely No. 1 choice, although he tore his anterior cruciate ligament in February. Reportedly he also broke the growth plate in the same knee in high school. … Should Noel not be the No. 1 pick, other options could be Kansas' Ben McLemore, Georgetown's Otto Porter Jr., UNLV's Anthony Bennett or Indiana's Victor Oladipo. The Cavs, who have stated they intend to make the playoffs next season, also could look at trading the pick to bring in a veteran or to move down in the draft.
• Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer: David Falk, the agent for Georgetown’s Otto Porter, confirmed to the Observer by text message Tuesday that Porter will only work out for the top three teams in the draft. That means the Bobcats at No. 4 won’t get a visit from Porter. It also suggests the Washington Wizards, with the third pick, are the floor for where Porter will land in the June 27 NBA draft. The Wizards have a strong need for a small forward, and Porter’s ties to the Washington area, via Georgetown, make him a logical selection for the Wizards. If Porter is off the board before the Bobcats pick, then they will have access to at least two of four other top prospects: Nerlens Noel of Kentucky, Ben McLemore of Kansas, Anthony Bennett of Nevada-Las Vegas and Victor Oladipo of Indiana.
• John Rohde of The Oklahoman: Pittsburgh center Steven Adams posted the above video of his trip to Oklahoma City on June 2 after his physical exam with the Thunder and the day before his workout with the team. Adams planned to share a video of the Thunder’s world-class facility and any OKC players he might come across. However, All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook advised Adams not to do so. Adams complied and now knows the protective ways of the Thunder. While many organizations are more than happy to share workout information, no such luck with the Thunder, which will always be clandestine in its approach under general manager Sam Presti.

The NBA's competition committee is meeting this week, and David Stern says they'll be discussing profound changes to refereeing, for instance with a room full of officials reviewing calls off-site on video in real time. We asked one of the most respected in league history, Steve Javie, what referees would think about that.

 
I was alone, the only person watching the NBA playoffs on a 16-foot television. It didn’t last. Soon others entered. Most wore purple, some wore yellow. A few carried boxes. One young lady put tchotchkes on my table. Yellow-and-purple tchotchkes.

I asked what was up.

"We're having a Lakers viewing party," said the woman.

"Who is we?"

"The … Lakers," she said, realizing I didn’t belong.

It made sense. We were in downtown Los Angeles at the ESPN Zone, a sports bar to the nth degree. Staples Center sits next door, and the injury-riddled Lakers were about to play Game 2 of their first-round series in San Antonio, hoping to pull even with the Spurs at 1-1. Fans needed a place to congregate. Why not here?

In came a man who did belong: Michael Cooper.

He dressed simply -- a baby-blue button-up tucked neatly into dark slacks -- but his tailored, freshly pressed clothes stood out. Even those who didn’t notice his sartorial style would recognize his ballplayer gait.

It was clear that someone had entered the room.

He walked my way. I was just a face in the growing crowd, but we made eye contact, and he gave a nod. It was the nod famous people give when they know you know who they are. He was just being friendly. Though I was planted at a long, communal table and Cooper had his own VIP chair, we were next to one another when he took his seat.

The box carriers unpacked, arranging items on a table beneath the giant TV. They arranged purple-and-yellow jerseys and basketball shoes. One sneaker was in a glass case.

At first I couldn’t read the number and signature. Then I made it out.

Antawn Jamison?

The jerseys were similarly odd: Shannon Brown, Luke Walton, Andrew Bynum.

Then, one made sense. It had No. 21 on the back. Ahhh. There it is.

The Michael Cooper jersey?

Nope. It was a Kareem Rush throwback.

I wasn’t surprised that someone else had worn Coop’s number. I knew the Lakers hadn’t retired the jerseys of all their greats.

Still, it was off-putting to be sitting next to Cooper, the 1986-87 Defensive Player of the Year and a guy who made eight straight All-Defensive Teams, and see a Kareem Rush jersey.

I looked up, and there was a break in the game action on the big screen. A Crown Royal commercial came on with Julius Erving as the liquor’s pitchman.

As with everything Dr. J-related, the highlight soon showed up.

For the man sitting next to me, I imagine it is the highlight; The Doctor’s breakaway, cradle, “rock the baby to sleep” dunk over Michael Cooper in January 1983 during the Lakers’ regular-season visit to the Spectrum.

I looked over at him.

"What?" Cooper asked me, raising his arms. "You got something to say?"

I did not.

I did manage a question. Holding back laughter -- maybe fear -- I asked him how many times he has seen that highlight. I expected him to shake his head and say, “Thousands, jerk.” Or check my chin.

He didn’t answer. But he did let me in on a little secret.

"The funny part about it -- every time I see that, I get paid,” Cooper said.

I don’t know if he was leading me on or if he actually gets a royalty check each time the ad airs. Crown Royal has to license the footage from somewhere.

But Cooper repeated his claim later in the evening while emceeing the event. He joked with the crowd, saying I tried to clown him. He recounted our exchange, saying that he receives $1,500 every time it airs.

I was taken aback. Twice, Cooper had owned the moment. The Doctor’s butchered patient -- a stopper of the highest order, the guy Larry Bird called the best defender he ever faced -- was embracing his inclusion in maybe the most iconic poster dunk in basketball history.

Some people might be ashamed. Players today are told, “Don’t jump.” Brandon Knight and Jason Terry, victims of the two most heinous facials handed out this season (here and here), probably wish they had taken that advice.

Coop? Thirty years after the dunk, he’s taking it in stride.

As he should.

Michael Cooper is a Lakers icon. To those in the know, he is an NBA legend. But to many casual sports fans, he is just a guy who played with Magic, an afterthought who didn’t make the Showtime “big three” cut behind Johnson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar and James Worthy.

Through this dunk, however, he has become immortal. Whenever Dr. J is celebrated, the footage inevitably resurfaces. I must have seen the time Coop got dunked on thousands of times.

He never answered after I asked how many times he has seen it. But I’m guessing the years -- and maybe those $1,500 checks -- allow Cooper to enjoy The Doctor’s most famous dunk more now than he did in 1983, and more than any of us do today.

When things looked precarious for the Miami Heat in the second quarter and LeBron James’ stat line looked pedestrian by anyone’s standards, it became throwback night:

What was going on? Was he being too deferential? Not sufficiently assertive? And was this lack of assertiveness actually a lack of resolve and the symptom of a deep character flaw?

How we miss you, 2011 C.E.

A combination of factors were at work, but to the extent there was a problem, it was far more rhythm than resolve. Unsatisfying as it sounds, there were a lot of possessions that simply didn’t end up in LeBron’s hands.

The defense of Kawhi Leonard also has to be cited, as it clearly bothered LeBron more than occasionally. The best example came toward the end of the third quarter, when Leonard recovered from a Mario Chalmers screen and quickly caught a driving James and deflected his pass for a turnover. He played on LeBron’s right shoulder fearlessly all night. When James held the ball, Leonard gave him a little space but was hyper-alert to potential closeouts.

But there were plenty of good opportunities all around for Miami, and the Heat -- often James himself -- frequently chose the one that happened not to be LeBron.

Dwyane Wade and James orchestrated a pick-and-roll with just less than four minutes to go in the first half, right about the moment of the game when LeBron’s limited level of involvement in the offense went from a peripheral plot point to a major storyline. Together, they forced a defensive switch by San Antonio.

The immediate expectation would be to empower James, who was eight feet in front of the basket one-on-one against Danny Green. But just when it seemed like Wade blew it by not finding LeBron, Wade bounced into the lane against Leonard, rose and flicked the ball at the rim over Leonard.

It was an obvious opportunity for LeBron, but there’s no faulting Wade for not giving it up.

James drew Green again on a switch the very next possession, and James shot a 17-footer directly over Green. It was a shot he hits at a decent clip but didn’t fall.

A couple of possessions later, James ran directly at Gary Neal in transition off a Spurs miss. He bullied Neal into the lane just beneath the basket and established position. But Wade either didn’t feel like he could lob a pass inside that would have cleared Tim Duncan, who stood between Wade and James, or felt he had some real-estate opportunities of his own to exploit. Either way, Wade drove the lane, lured Tony Parker away from Chalmers on the strong side perimeter, then dished to a wide-open Chalmers for the 3-pointer.

Just as James made his approach to the paint while leading a break in the third quarter, he kicked the ball out to the arc and rang up the hockey assist on Ray Allen’s trailing 3-pointer.

A minute later, James jump-stopped in the paint on a drive, saw Mike Miller wide open and gave it up again for a teammate’s open 3. Then followed a James laser to a cutting Wade for an easy layup and a dish to Wade again on the break when Wade settled for an awkward runner. The Heat went to a successful Wade-Chris Bosh pick-and-roll off a subsequent inbound.

In the Heat’s final possession of the third quarter, James’ sturdy screen for Chalmers took Parker out of the play, allowing Chalmers to drive to within five feet of the basket for the floater and the foul. A pass of medium difficulty to James would have resulted in a high-percentage shot but probably not one better than Chalmers’.

And the Heat first mounted a 15-point lead after James took control of the left block against Manu Ginobili, got the pass, saw an immediate double-team and whipped a pass along the baseline that landed in Miller’s hands in the right corner for an open 3-pointer.

Time and again, James hunted mismatches and dragged the unsuspecting victim into the post, and there was a classic example of how quirky the game was for LeBron as he tried to get on track down low.

With a little less than five minutes left in the third, James dragged Green onto the low left block and got an entry pass from the left sideline. This is one of Miami’s corner-post sets run for James at the spot on the floor that best allows him to be a true triple threat. But just as he started to go to work, Duncan was whistled for defensive three-seconds.

So, yes, by both conventional and LeBron standards, he had an unremarkable first three quarters. There were definitely uncharacteristic moments. Having his shot blocked at the rim by Green wasn’t one for the reel, and he failed to convert on the break after Green performed the aerial version of pulling the chair out (opening the door to the plane?) on LeBron, throwing the shot attempt off.

But LeBron’s results over the first three quarters weren’t worrisome or a betrayal of his powers. And assertive can mean different things. His team was performing efficiently overall, and, by a combination of chance, the appetite of his teammates and some pretty strong defense by Leonard, the individual production wasn’t there until late. It happens, especially against disciplined defenses that plug the lane before James can find a seam.

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Chalmers is one of those players we rarely look at with a long telescope. It’s easy to forget he was a second-rounder out of Kansas in 2008. As the draft drifted toward the end of the first round, he was one of those potential draft-night steals, a guy who might surprise and become an effective backup NBA point guard.

Chalmers' career has exceeded those projections. He isn’t a perfect solution, but he’s one that’s been far more than adequate holding down a very serious responsibility for an elite team and doing it during the nuttiest of environments in which the people he works with yell at him a lot. He’s essentially the long, spot-up threat, the stretchiest guy in the starting lineup for a team featuring James in his prime.

In Game 2, Chalmers led the Heat in scoring and drained a big 3-pointer that re-established the lead for Miami 90 seconds before halftime. We saw in Game 1 that he can be an effective weapon if he can clear the corner on the screens from James and Udonis Haslem. Leonard can’t do much to help since he’s on James, which means if Chalmers can pick up a little speed around that turn, life becomes more difficult for Duncan or whomever is waiting.

The defense has gotten inordinately smarter, even if there are occasional groaners. The staff gave him a directive to run under screens for Parker and work with his big men to make sure they nailed the timing of the recoveries. He shined in those capacities as well in Game 2.

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In Game 1, the Spurs found quality looks inside for their big men against smaller Heat defenders, the guys who have to rotate from the wing when the Heat blitzed pick-and-rolls. The Heat still ran a few blitzes on Sunday night (early), and we saw Tiago Splitter as the beneficiary when he drew Miller as the rotator. Splitter scored an easy bucket at close range to settle the Heat’s first-half run.

Blitzing the pick-and-roll is a tough full-time strategy for the Heat because they’re already pretty small behind a trap on the ball handler. Combine that with Parker’s speed, which requires the big man to hang around longer, and the Heat’s defense can get destabilized pretty quickly when that happens (as it did in Game 1).

With that in mind, the Heat began to switch some pick-and-rolls. Ideally, this strategy is less likely to put a defense into rotations, which is death against the Spurs. Initially, Miami’s switches came almost exclusively in late shot clock situations. If Parker or another guard can make a play from 25 feet with five seconds left, then so be it.

Sometimes, the Spurs did, as when Parker in the first quarter zipped past a screen from Boris Diaw just in front of the left sideline and flipped up a teardrop over a backpedaling Bosh with the shot clock expiring. Green sank his third 3-pointer of the game when Splitter gave him a screen that bought Green enough space to step back and launch an uncontested look from beyond the arc.

But the Heat accomplished much of what they wanted defensively with the switch (credit them for getting into late shot clock situations by defending for 18 seconds). Duncan missed a 20-footer over Wade with the shot clock expiring. Bosh, Haslem and James handled Parker and the guards sufficiently. The Heat were still put into their share of rotations -- many of them the result of Spurs cutters and divers -- but distances were shorter because nobody was more than a few feet from their assignment to trap Parker or pick up Duncan on the roll.

Whether it was the switch or something else, the Heat desperately needed some variance in their pick-and-roll coverage coming into Game 2. And throughout the second half, we saw the Heat’s big men give Parker a long show with Chalmers taking the long way under the Duncan screen.

A team has to mix up its pitches against San Antonio. If the new plan is a disaster, you can always ditch it, but sometimes, a competitive series demands trial and error. You have to know when to abandon the experiment (and/or be willing to cut bait early), but even the remote possibility that you can win a few possessions makes it a worthwhile gamble.

Earlier today the NBA announced the creation of the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award in honor Jack Twyman and Maurice Stokes. The league couldn't have picked a better duo to illustrate the extent and power of being a good teammate.

Stokes was a burly, fast and exciting power forward with the Rochester and Cincinnati Royals back in the mid-1950s. In his brief three-year career, Stokes made the All-Star and All-NBA second teams in each season. In 1956, Stokes ranked in the top 10 in points per game, rebounds per game and assists per game. That kind of all-around excellence easily earned him the rookie of the year award and left contemporaries, like former Celtics broadcaster Johnny Most, awestruck:

His quickness, passing ability, and court awareness were just unbelievable. When I first saw Magic Johnson play, it brought back memories of Maurice. You have to understand that Stokes was 6-foot-7 and weighed 240 pounds. He could handle the ball like a point guard and rebound like a center.

Stokes' career was cut short, however, due to a terrible fall he suffered against the Minneapolis Lakers in the spring of 1958. Landing on his head, Stokes was knocked out and slowly drifted back into consciousness. In today's world, such a frightening spill would have a player carted off the floor, but back in the 50s Stokes was practically given a pat on the butt and sent back into the game.

Just days later, Stokes suffered a series of seizures while aboard an airplane to Cincinnati to face the Detroit Pistons in a playoff game. The ordeal left Stokes permanently paralyzed.

The Royals were obscenely quick to remove Maurice and his $20,000 salary from their payroll. There was no pension or medical plan for NBA players back then, which left Stokes and his family unable to endure medical bills that would approach $100,000 a year. Facing financial peril, Stokes was saved by his Royals teammate Jack Twyman. The hot-shot small forward filled a void few would, and he did so for the duration of Maurice's life.

Twyman became his teammate's legal guardian and undertook all kinds of fundraising efforts to round up the money and save Maurice. A benefit game of NBA All-Stars was played annually in New York to raise funds. Twyman, who worked for an insurance company during offseasons, successfully sued under Ohio law to have workman’s compensation awarded to Stokes.

The never-ending assists from Twyman helped keep Stokes alive until 1970. In 2004, Stokes was inducted to the Naismith Hall of Fame. Twyman had the honor of inducting his old friend but, as always, the humble Twyman insisted the honor was all his to have cared for such a class individual as Stokes.

The award the NBA is naming in their honor will acknowledge the bond they shared, but it also doesn't quite measure up to what Twyman did. He wasn't just a good teammate who rallied and cheered on his fellow Royals. He continuously saved the life of another person for 12 straight years. That's a hard act for any Twyman-Stokes Award winner to follow.

Fortunately, with the benefits players receive today -- protections not afforded to Stokes during his short tenure in the league -- it's one they won't have to.

LeBron James is calm. That's the point of Dan Le Batard's Miami Herald column today. But it goes all kinds of interesting places digging deep into the idea that yes LeBron thinks he's the best player in the world, and yes he is and yes he has a "Chosen One" tattoo and yes people hate him and doubt him every minute, and loudly.

Below are some key lines, but it's well worth reading the whole thing:

• "Once upon a time, when he had a youngster’s sensibilities, James got a 'Chosen One' tattoo, feeling a need for the outside world to see, bravado not the same as bravery. But now he carries that imprint within."
• "The instant overreaction is so loud and so knee-jerk and so emotional, the Heat a microcosm for too much of what passes for sports analysis these days, and you’ll find James at the very center of all this looking like a Buddhist basketball monk trying to do his daily prayers as the fire alarms wail and the roof sprinklers rain."
• "You remember what this guy was doing as feces rained down upon him before Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals last year, blueprint on the brink? He sat in the locker room reading a book, then produced a game that will echo through the ages."

 

They've won almost every playoff series they've played, and as we discuss in the video, far more playoff games than anybody else.

But lose these Finals to the Spurs, and Dan Le Batard says the entire Heat model will, to his amusement, still be considered a failure. TrueHoop TV at the Finals.

David Thorpe is my X's and O's mentor. We have been talking for hours a week for years, and I have learned a ton about what coaches do and how much it matters.

After Game 1, though, while the whole world was talking X's and O's like San Antonio's "anyone but LeBron" defensive scheme or early-game substitution patterns -- classic Thorpe issues -- Thorpe talked for a half-hour about how the Spurs won, and barely mentioned tactics at all.

The topic was aggression.

If he were Erik Spoelstra, I asked him, what would he be telling the Heat right now? Thorpe didn't hesitate: "I'd go nuts. I'd tell them this was horse s---. It was like they were playing the Milwaukee Bucks in November, thinking they were so much better that just doing things the right way would be enough. I'd say guys, we're giving them our rings. Against a lot of opponents they're so much better that going through the motions is enough. But they're not so much better against the Spurs. San Antonio has won, what, seven straight playoff games now? The Heat were so afraid to make mistakes that they were making them all over the court. I'd say we've got to take the fight to them. We've got to take chances. We've got to blitz them and attack them. Norris Cole did it. Dwyane Wade did it some. 'Bron only now and again."

Some particulars:

• "Go and watch some video of the Heat playing defense from the second half of Game 7 against the Pacers. You wouldn't find that team anywhere on the court tonight. Both teams were merely good on defense. The Spurs managed to kick up the defensive pressure, especially, on ball, for a few minutes of the fourth quarter, and it was enough to win the game."
• "I LOVE Pop. One thing he did that was amazing was he just went bananas at one point screaming at Tim Duncan to come earlier to set a screen for Tony Parker. Not a lot of coaches get on Hall of Famers like that. But what I see him saying is don't let Miami get its defense set. Go go go. He was screaming about setting ball screens early. And it worked. FAST. Go fast. Pop knows Miami will go on some serious scoring runs in this series. But, unlike the Pacers, he knows the Spurs can have scoring runs of their own, especially if they are aggressive and quick."
• "Chris Bosh is a wonderful player, and I love his game. But he was horrible in this one. The Spurs were saying 'let him score. Let him score 40 if he wants, out there on the perimeter. As long as he isn't getting to the line, and getting our bigs in foul trouble.' Bosh was all catch and shoot. But he can also catch and GO. Attack. That's part of his game, and he needs to do that."
• "Play good D against the Pacers and you'll get some unforced errors. Not so against the Spurs. Solid isn't enough. The model is the Thunder, who went down 0-2 to the Spurs last year, then got super aggressive, jumped everything, played with incredible athleticism, and won four in a row."
• "LeBron only attempted four free throws."
• "Miami needs to use every possible method to get the ball close to the hoop. Drive, post, pinch post ..."
• "The Spurs are only surviving by not guarding people who can score. Bosh, for instance, can both shoot and drive. We need more."
• "The Heat have often been at their best after being physically challenged. They have risen to the occasion. The Spurs corralled the Heat on a lot of possessions, rather than doing anything that would make their hair stand up. I almost wonder if that was intentional, to keep the intensity level down. Without the Heat being super intense, the Spurs can carve them up."
• "Miami is no longer a team we can rip for wilting. They have trailed and come back in series before. Yes, the Spurs are the best opponent they've faced. But Spo is fantastic and they'll come back strong with something. The Heat are a few days from Game 5 and Game 7 against the Pacers, when they had to really elevated their intensity to crazy levels. They couldn't do it again in this game. It's hard to do it often. But if they can get very aggressive, the Spurs could be in a world of hurt. Miami could win some blowout games."

Bomani Jones and J.A. Adande say the Spurs took Game 1 with a defensive strategy of making anyone but LeBron James beat them. TrueHoop TV at the Finals: