ESPN NBA

Celtics vs. Lakers

• David Abel of the Boston Globe: "They slept on garbage bags, flew in from Mexico, and played cards to pass the time. Like pilgrims for the Green, they came by the thousands and waited outside TD Banknorth Garden, hoping to acquire highly coveted tickets to Thursday's championship opener against the Los Angeles Lakers."
• Gerry Callahan of the Boston Herald: "Better than Jordan? That's like saying smarter than Belichick or tougher than Lance Armstrong or hotter than a NASCAR wife. There was a time when that statement could only be made in jest. Jordan was a player without a weakness, a man who won 10 scoring titles and six NBA titles, an incomparable athlete who somehow got even better when the moment got bigger and who wasn't happy just to win. He wanted to see you lose, to revel in your pain, to devour your heart while it still was beating. There was nothing Jordan couldn't do on the basketball court, but here is Jackson's point: Exactly how long is the list of things Kobe can't do? He has greater shooting range than Jordan, is just as tenacious on the defensive end, and may be every bit as lethal in the clutch. He smiles occasionally, but the smile never quite reaches the eyes. The eyes belong to a cold-blooded killer, another Jordan."
• Christopher L. Gasper of The Boston Globe: "Yesterday, [Ray] Allen wanted no part of rehashing his verbal skirmish with Bryant, but when given the opportunity, he didn't recant. 'Honestly, I said it and I just moved on from it,' said Allen. 'I didn't make a big deal about it myself. If one person says it, then somebody is going to perpetuate it and grow it and make it more than what it is. We're in 2008. It's a nonissue now.'"
• Tom Sorensen of The Charlotte Observer: "If the NBA could have selected its finalists before the season began, it would have selected Boston and Los Angeles. The Celtics and Lakers offer tradition, stars, glitter and potentially huge television ratings. But as much as I like the NBA, I'm wary, and the league also ought to be. The hype the series generates will entice peripheral fans to watch their first professional basketball in months if not years. And they're going to see what the rest of us have -- teams that by historical standards are not very good and the worst officiating in major-league sports."
• Marc Berman of the New York Post: "Sl-o-o-o-o-w down, Jeff. Former Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy not only likes the Lakers to take out Boston for the NBA championship but sees the makings of another purple-and-gold dynasty."
• Mark Whicker of The Orange County Register: "In each case, Mitch Kupchak told us what we didn't want to hear. None of those players -- Andrew Bynum, Jordan Farmar and Sasha Vujacic -- would help immediately. The dogged hope was that the Lakers would accumulate enough value to keep improving, or to provide a base for the next star who rode a lightning bolt into town, as Gasol did. This violates NBA wisdom. You can only be real good if you are real bad, bad enough to land a LeBron James. The Lakers were only bad enough to miss the playoffs once in this exile. That's how they got the 10th pick, for Bynum."

Leaguewide 

• John Jackson of the Chicago Sun-Times: "Reaction has been mixed to the reports of the Bulls bringing back Doug Collins for a second stint as coach, but count Dwyane Wade solidly in the positive camp. 'I love Doug as a human being, first of all,' the Miami Heat guard said Monday. 'He seems like he's so happy and content in life and unstressed. If he goes to the Bulls, I'm sure the city of Chicago will be happy with that hire.' The Bulls are expected to announce the hiring today or Wednesday. Then the issue will become whether Collins, 56, can remain 'unstressed' in the job -- something he wasn't able to do two decades ago as the Bulls' coach."
• Chris McCosky of The Detroit News: "Is Flip Saunders a lock to return and finish out his contract next season? No. Did I write in Monday's News he was a lock to return? No. What I wrote was true. Saunders and Pistons president Joe Dumars met Saturday. Saunders left with the understanding he was to carry on as coach. I also wrote: 'Understand that with the Pistons, a coach's job security can change in an instant, but as of today, the plan is for Saunders to finish out the final year of his contract.' Here's why I wrote that qualifying sentence. Saunders also knew when he left that meeting, Dumars had not yet discussed anything with Pistons owner Bill Davidson. Dumars is expected to meet with Davidson sometime this week. ... dumping Saunders will cost Davidson $5.4 million."
• Sally Jenkins of The Washington Post: "Statement 1: Gilbert Arenas is a shoot-first point guard with a juvenile streak and two surgical cuts on his knee, and the Washington Wizards are just as good without him. Statement 2: Gilbert Arenas is a score-at-will player and an irreplaceable crowd pleaser, and losing him would be a major blow to franchise's fortunes, and popularity. The tension between those two declarations will make for drama all summer, as Arenas explores his value in free agency. Determining his worth won't be a simple exercise, but he is not a simple person. ... Arenas is not a traditional point guard, and clearly, this won't be a traditional negotiation. The person who can accurately define Arenas's value wins a free prize."
• Steve Campbell of the Houston Chronicle: "'We're really focused on being able to upgrade for next year's playoffs,' GM Daryl Morey said. 'Don't judge the team on Oct. 1. We think we've got a lot of assets that a lot of teams want -- a lot of ways to upgrade. Often the best opportunities to use those come at trade deadlines.' The labor of this summer, in other words, might not bear fruit until next spring. To Morey's Clutch City constituency, a humdrum summer should be a small price to pay for a playoff run that doesn't plow into a dead end. 'If you look at me, it might look like I've been eating bon-bons all day,' Morey
  said. 'I haven't been able to get as much of a workout as I'd like, but hey, I'll get to that after all this craziness.'"
• John DeShazier of The Times-Picayune: "The Hornets' convergence of age, ability, knowledge and overlapping contracts (as soon as Chris Paul is given his extension) suggests that their window of opportunity is about to slide wide open, and it could remain in that position for the better part of the next five seasons. The young players still are young enough to not believe they know everything, the veterans still spry enough to contribute on a nightly basis, and the coach still respected enough that no one has tired of his message or methods. But the Lakers could be just as good, or better, for just as long, or longer. And so could Utah. And so could Portland. And so could Denver, pending a heart transplant."
• John Denton of Florida Today: "Otis Smith said his only goal as the Magic's newly extended GM is to work to bring a championship to the franchise. It is why he posts pictures of the Larry O'Brien trophy all over the team's practice facility and why he sends middle-of-the-night text messages to core players Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu asking, 'What have you done today to help us win a championship?' Smith, who signed a three-year contract extension on Monday that could be worth as much as $8 million, doesn't shy away from lofty expectations. In fact, he insists upon them -- from himself, from the Magic's operations staff, coaches and the players. Winning a championship is his only aspiration, he stressed."
• John Hollinger in the New York Sun: "To hear most people tell it, the Spurs are the ones more likely to stand pat, while the Pistons are the ones who need to perform major surgery. Alas, this has everything to do with the halo of being a recent champion and nothing to do with the facts of the two teams. The way I see it, the exact opposite is true. ... don't let the champions' halo fool you. Looking backward, it may seem as if Detroit is the team in need of urgent action. But looking forward, it's the Spurs who require much more radical surgery to stay at the league's forefront."
• Michael C. Lewis of The Salt Lake Tribune: "Kirilenko and his defending European champion Russian national team will play Team USA in an exhibition in Shanghai, in the days before the 2008 Beijing Games begin in China, USA Basketball announced Monday. The Americans also will play Australia and former University of Utah All-American Andrew Bogut, as part of the 2008 USA Basketball International Challenge, which will include other games to be announced later."

2008 NBA Draft

• Doug Smith of the Toronto Star: "Here we go. The pre-draft workouts start in earnest Tuesday for the Raptors, who'll probably run 35 or 40 kids through the Air Canada Centre between now and the June 26 draft. What's it all mean? What do they do? The biggest thing the Raptor brass -- and they are all here, coaches, scouts, everybody -- will be looking for is overall talent. They have had guys out scouting these kids in games all winter but it's hard to really get a handle on how quick they are or their shooting form and ball-handling skills when you're sitting in the stands watching. Maybe they go see a college kid and he gets two fouls in the first four minutes and has to sit down for the rest of the half. Maybe they're in Europe when a guy has a horrible game. You really can't get a good look scouting like that, or from tape."
• Michael Wallace of The Miami Herald: "Gary Forbes, a 6-7 swingman from the University of Massachusetts, played well enough at the camp to join some exclusive company. He is among a handful of prospects scheduled to visit Miami on Tuesday for the Heat's first workout sessions in advance of the June 26 draft. The Heat has two picks -- Nos. 2 and 52 -- and initially will look at potential second-round prospects this week. The Heat plans to evaluate higher-profile players for its first-round pick, such as Kansas State forward Michael Beasley and University of Memphis guard Derrick Rose, a bit closer to the draft."
• Chris Herrington of the Memphis Flyer: "On Thursday, the Grizzlies are scheduled to bring in three players: Israeli small forward Omri Casspi, USC small forward Davon Jefferson, and Mississippi State big man Charles Rhodes. A bigger workout takes place Monday when Kevin Love pairs up with Texas A&M man child Deandre Jordan."