ESPN NBA

Posted by Kelly Dwyer

• A good interview with Kevin Love, the incoming UCLA freshman that Bill Simmons is in love with. He plays basketball, too.
• Nine-year old video of current Grizzlies Pau Gasol and Juan Carlos Navarro (number seven) gettin' jiggy with it.
• Doug Christie swears he's in "the best shape of [his] life," and reader Kevin can't stand to hear it. ""I couldn't help but to be agitated by his "I'm in the best shape of my life" statement. This has become a cliché among any athlete in any sport trying to make a comeback. If you are in your late 30's or early 40's, it is pretty much impossible to be in the best shape of your life - maybe you are working harder but you can't turn back the clock. And doesn't that also mean you weren't training as hard as possible when you were younger and getting paid to be in shape." Spot on. What Kevin would really like to see is a list of the last batch of "I'm in the best shape of my life"-types, find the quotes, and details regarding just how the comebacks turned out.
• Magic Johnson in a fight to stop tax increases on fund managers. I'm not a subscriber, so I haven't read the whole news item. I can tell you that today's Tank McNamara was HILARIOUS.
• More calls for, essentially, transparency.
• Another reader named Kevin sends this classic in. Nick Van Exel and Jalen Rose were actually close to being teammates on the Michigan Wolverines, before NVE hopped down to Clifton to play for the Cincinnati Bearcats.
• YouTube recommends we follow the NVE/Jalen clip with this other classic, and who am I to argue? "Back in '89 I simply slid into place/Buddy buddy buddy all up in your face."
• Mike Slane, an editor at NBA.com, sent in his list of the top 100 players in the NBA that you've probably seen on a few message boards over the last couple of days. Kevin Garnett at 11? It looks like defensive acumen didn't play a big role in these rankings.
• I've attempted to do a KD/DVD breakdown of the Spurs/Suns Game 3 today, and another game that will go unmentioned; both haven't been TrueHoop-worthy. More to come, though, I promise.
• (UPDATES) (UPDATES) (UPDATES!)
• I can't believe I forgot to link to this the first time around: Indy Cornrows' look at new Pacer, Travis Diener.  I scouted Diener back in high school, and suffice to say I was pretty surprised when he started to dominate at Marquette.  He's a solid NBA talent who deserves more minutes, in spite of that horrible defense.  Also, thanks for the Brent Price mention.  He tore it up in 1995-96.  Then he tore his knee up in 1996-97.
• This looks like something Tim and Eric would come up with.  Don't forget your Power Towel!