ESPN NBA

• Geoff Petrie makes it pretty clear that Bonzi Wells will not be back.
• I have heard that the guy sitting to LeBron's left in the Nike hat is William Wesley. Hard to tell for certain.  Can anyone who was actually in Las Vegas (hello Brian Windhorst) confirm Wesley is there?
• Now that John Salmons has signed with Sacramento, people in Phoenix and Toronto are pretty chapped at Salmons and his agent Joel Bell.
• Broken economic model? Worst lease in sports? The Seattle Times has a roundup of the profits Howard Schultz et al made money from their investment in the NBA.
  
  
• Helen Jung wonders if there might be a new sports business model emerging: "Buy a team. Pay lip service to making changes. Complain about the broken financial model/worst lease in the league. Blame the government, the fans, etc. Then cash in by selling to new owners. Rinse and repeat."
• Seattle Times reporter Percy Allen talks to Ray Allen, whose approach is strictly business, and throws in this bit of vintage Schultz: "The Brooklyn native would often tell the story of how he became a New York Yankees fan and in 2002, he told the Times: 'As a young child, there are certain intrinsic events that become part of your sports DNA. The Dodgers decided to leave Brooklyn, and my father announced to the family that from this day on, we will not watch, listen or mention the Dodger name in this household. And I remember that as if it was right now.'"
• Oh lordy. The Japanese mascot of the world basketball championships gives me an uncomfortable feeling. He's black, and his first name is "bad." The FIBA press release describes him as a much-beloved wicked penguin.
• Celtics equipment manager John Connor mocks Paul Pierce's fashion sense. Steve Bulpett reports:

“You just don’t know fashion,” said Pierce.



 “The guy signs a $60 million extension. You think he could afford the whole suit,” said Connor.



 “This is a vest. I’m in fashion,” said Pierce.



 “You look like George Jetson,” said Connor.

• If you ever wanted to read about Dominique Wilkens in Julius Erving playing golf together, you're in luck.
• Catching up with Gordon Gund.
• Mike Barrett: I've known Bill [Bayno] for a couple of years now, and he's not the kind of guy to blow smoke. I had to keep reminding myself of this as I listened to him rave about the progress of Zach. This has been the first time Bayno has worked with Z-Bo and the first thing he did is call Zach an "absolute gem of a person." He said Zach is embracing this opportunity and has a hunger that makes him very easy to coach. This was, obviously, great to hear. Bayno is one of the best player development coaches around and he's a huge addition to this staff.
• Carnival of the NBA.
• How's Amare Stoudemire's recovery coming? How's his lift? Well, here's a shot of point guard Chris Paul easily swatting Stoudemire's layup attempt.
• David Friedman summarizes the big roster changes of the off-season for the busiest teams: Toronto, Portland, San Antonio, Indiana, etc.
• Word, from quasi-reporter Reggie Miller, is that Billy King does not want to trade Allen Iverson.
• Who doesn't like video of cornball timeout dance antics?
• J.E. Skeets has tales of Pat O'Brien's famous jealous woman, and a photo of her on Carmelo Anthony's lap in a see-through shirt. I can hardly keep up. Here's a video from her blog, with jet set drunk women going to a Clippers-Suns game on a private jet.
• Three part series from the Boston Globe on the Sneaker Wars.