ESPN NBA

Celtics vs. Lakers 

• Christopher L. Gasper of The Boston Globe: "When Kevin Garnett was recognized as the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year, Celtics coach Doc Rivers commented that Garnett had changed the team's culture when it came to defense. The same can be said of Tom Thibodeau. The first-year assistant coach and former Salem State player is the Celtics' defensive coordinator and the man charged with molding a plan that will help them slow down league MVP Kobe Bryant and the Lakers in the NBA Finals. ... 'Coach is real animated. He's real emotional. He's real energetic,' said Garnett. 'That's what type of defense we try to go out and have. It's an energetic, consistent defense. It's a talkative defense, and when you see him on the side, those are the things that he's put in for us to try to go and carry over to the court.'"
• Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times: "A few weeks ago, you'll remember, Phil Jackson was asked if he knew what to expect on a nightly basis from Vladimir Radmanovic. 'Absolutely not,' he said. Laugh. Pause. Sigh. Here we are in the NBA Finals, and Absolutely Not is guarding Absolutely Money. Absolutely Not will have to defend the Boston Celtics' most explosive scorer and relentless attacker. Absolutely Not must stop a guy who scored 41 points in a Game 7 against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Vladimir Radmanovic must defend Paul Pierce. With Lakers championship hopes perhaps riding on it. Funny, huh?"
• Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: "They are like the guy who dumped his girlfriend and then watched her blossom into Halle Berry, marry Bill Gates, move to South Beach and become the first female president of the United States. They still can manage a smile, they will tell you everything worked out best for both parties and they act like it doesn't bother them. But I'm not buying it. Deep down you know it has to eat away at the Orlando Magic that the likable coach they fired five years ago -- Doc Rivers -- is now playing for the NBA championship."
• Michael Grange of The Globe and Mail: "As the backup to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and a teammate of Magic Johnson's, Mike Smrek played little but saw plenty as he earned championship rings during his two seasons with Los Angeles, 1986-87 and 1987-88. The first ring was earned in six games over the Celtics. 'It's an amazing environment, almost overwhelming, really,' Smrek said by telephone from his home in Welland, Ont., the other night. 'You didn't hate, but it was intense. You really were willing to do whatever had to be done. If you had to lay the wood on someone, you did, and then you could help them up. Maybe.' Smrek was aware he was part of something special back then. He just didn't realize how special. 'I was still early in my career and I didn't grow up with the history of the Lakers-Celtics,' Smrek said. 'I only realized what it meant when it was all over.'"
• Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald: "Rajon Rondo has been told the stark reality that he could become the third starting point guard in modern times to win an NBA championship with so little experience. Rookie Magic Johnson did it in the 1979-80 season, and second-year floor general Tony Parker won the title with San Antonio in 2002-03. Unfazed, Rondo recited the names and didn't flinch. 'I don't feel any pressure or anything,' he said. 'Some games you play well; some games you don't. But as long as we get the 'W,' that's all that matters.' Apparently not to the naysayers. But Rondo isn't worried by the worriers. 'You hear it,' he said. 'I'm not deaf, but I don't pay much attention to it. I try to continue to stay focused and just work harder.'"
  
• Howard Beck of The New York Times: "The defining moment of 1962, the one that set the tone for decades to come, came in the final seconds of Game 7. Boston held the lead for most of the fourth quarter, but [Frank] Selvy twice drove the length of the floor, the second time tying the game at 100-100. With two seconds left, Selvy shot a baseline jumper that bounced high off the rim and was grabbed by Russell at the buzzer. The Celtics won in overtime, 110-107. Today, they all ponder what could have been. Cousy, who was late getting to Selvy on the shot, mused about how close he came to a 'Bill Buckner moment, which would have haunted me for the rest of my life.' 'Poor Frank,' he said. 'I feel so bad for those guys.' Selvy, now 75, said he got over the moment long ago. 'I surely wish I made it, but it hasn't haunted me,' he said. 'I worry about my golf game more than that.'"

Pistons

• Michael Rosenberg of the Detroit Free Press: "How about that Joe Dumars? He fired his coach, then made bigger news at the press conference. The Pistons president said he will try to shake up his core, a surprisingly bold statement intended to send a message to the rest of the league: Call me. Chauncey Billups and Rasheed Wallace are most likely to go. Richard Hamilton and Antonio McDyess are most likely to stay. Tayshaun Prince falls somewhere in between."
• Terry Foster of The Detroit News: "Rasheed Wallace sometimes lives a double life. There's one Sheed where his every move on the basketball court is scrutinized. In that world his heart is questioned. Does he really care about the Pistons? Winning? Why does he melt down so much? It's a world where we see him melt down and run his mouth too much. He is short with reporters and roars at referees. 'My mouth is my greatest weakness,' he said. 'And it is my greatest strength.' On Tuesday, Wallace stepped inside his other world, the world of inner-city Detroit. He's a frequent visitor here, but usually the cameras and microphones are nowhere around."
• Rob Parker of The Detroit News: "When Joe Dumars took over the Pistons, he had one creed as team president: It's not about being right, it's about getting it right. That's why Pistons fans shouldn't be shocked that Dumars pulled the plug on Flip Saunders on Tuesday, firing him after three seasons at the helm."
• Tom Powers of the St. Paul Pioneer Press: "If I were Flip Saunders, I know what I'd be doing for the next year. Nothing. A guy can deal with only so many nut jobs before needing a break. Few coaches have had to deal with the likes of Latrell Sprewell and Rasheed Wallace almost back to back. It's time to go to the cabin. And to lock the door behind him. ... It's funny about Flip: The m
  ore he gets fired, the more in demand he is. But he'd be better off sitting it out and collecting the $5.5 million Detroit owes him for next year. What a great chance to recharge. After the usual flood of coaching failures takes place in 2009, general managers will be wearing a path to Saunders' doorstep in Medina."

Leaguewide

• Michael Hunt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "What no one should count on is help from a problematic league. There is no reason to believe that David Stern, who wasn't happy about the Michael Jordan episode, will work with the Bucks as diligently as he has with the Kings. This is on us in the next five or so years to decide whether the NBA is worth having as a community asset. Either way, the time to start talking about it is now."
• Randy Covitz of The Kansas City Star: "The Sprint Center, enjoying a wildly successful first seven months with concerts and family shows, still has no anchor tenant to occupy the expansive, wood-paneled locker rooms, state-of-the-art training facilities and 18,630-seat arena. While the grassroots organization NHL21 keeps the pulse alive for hockey, and AEG, which manages the Sprint Center, will bring an NHL exhibition game to the arena in September, there doesn't seem to be much buzz in Kansas City regarding an NBA franchise."
• Tim Tucker of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Fifty years ago, gas cost 25 cents a gallon and the Hawks won the NBA championship. Hard to say now which boggles the mind more. The 2008 NBA Finals, tipping off Thursday night, mark the golden anniversary of the 1958 Finals when the Hawks --- then based in St. Louis --- upset the Bill Russell-led Boston Celtics. That was the Hawks' first NBA championship. A half-century later, it remains their only championship. What, no one feels like celebrating the 50th anniversary?"

2008 NBA Draft

• Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star Tribune: "The team's entire scouting and coaching staffs watched Lopez on the first morning NBA teams were allowed to bring prospects to their towns. Breathing heavily by workout's end, Lopez said his first such experience was about what he expected, except for one little detail. 'I thought it was supposed to be summer here,' he said. Wolves basketball boss Kevin McHale and coach Randy Wittman watched the big man bang down low, and they watched him shoot from the outside. 'We asked him to do some stuff that he probably hasn't done before,' McHale said. 'He's actually got three-point range. You can watch Brook Lopez every possession of every [college] game and never see him shoot a three-pointer. I assume he'll play more like he did at Stanford, especially his first few years in our league, but he showed some range.'" Video of Lopez working out for the T-Wolves.
• Ivan Carter of The Washington Post: "Tomorrow, the Wizards will hold the first of several workouts for draft prospects at Verizon Center. The Wizards hold the 18th and 47th picks in the June 26 draft. Prospects scheduled to attend Thursday's workout are C.J. Giles, a center from Oregon State; Lester Hudson, a guard from Tennessee-Martin; Darnell Jackson, a forward from Kansas; Jeremy Pargo, a guard from Gonzaga; Marreese Speights, a forward-center from Florida; and Jason Thompson, a forward from Rider."
• Tim Buckley of the Deseret News: "The Jazz today will get an up-close look at Roy Hibbert, a 7-foot-2 senior center from Georgetown University who several Internet sites predict will be taken by Utah with its No. 23 overall first-round selection in the June 26 NBA Draft. Hibbert averaged 13.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game for the Hoyas last season. ... Also working out along with Hibbert this morning will be University of Utah senior guard Johnnie Bryant, who is not expected to be taken in the two-round NBA draft."
• Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun: "The Raptors, who hold the 17th pick in the June 26 draft, worked out Western Kentucky's Courtney Lee, Oregon's Malik Hairston, North Carolina's Wayne Ellington and Danny Green, Mississippi State's Jamont Gordon and Vanderbilt's Shan Foster. Though all but Lee currently are projected as second-round selections and Toronto does not hold a second-round pick, director of player personnel Jim Kelly said the team has 'got to be prepared for anything,' and as "a fairly active team on the trade market," could well make a move to acquire a second round pick."
• Joe Freeman of The Oregonian: "In a fitting illustration of the difference a year makes, the Trail Blazers' draft future collided with their draft past Tuesday morning at the team's practice facility. During the first day of predraft workouts, the Blazers' practice court was buzzing with activity as the team's management group and coaching staff scrutinized three draft hopefuls during a private two-hour workout. All the while, Greg Oden, last year's No. 1 draft pick, lingered in the background, lifting weights and exercising on machines in the weight room as he continues progressing through the final stages of his knee rehabilitation. At this time last year, the Blazers, a burgeoning franchise locked in an internal debate of whether to draft Oden or Kevin Durant with the No. 1 selection, were the envy of the NBA. Now, on the heels of a better-than-expected 41-41 season, the Blazers are debating far more player options at No. 13 and will make their draft decisions with much less fanfare and fewer distractions."
• Brian Hendrickson of The Columbian: "The Blazers may not be selecting between Greg Oden and Kevin Durant -- their choices last summer for the No. 1 overall pick, which produced a national debate fueled by a billboard marketing blitz. But they're approaching this draft -- in which they hold the No. 13 selection -- as if they're looking for them. 'We've done studies and it's said at 13 you're just going to get a rotation player,' Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard said. 'And I say baloney. If we go into this draft and say, 'All's we're gonna get in three to five years is a rotation player,' then we haven't done our job.'"
• John Denton of Florida Today: "An Orlando Magic team looking to bulk up its smallish frontline worked out five power forwards on Tuesday, the first day teams are allowed to drill prospects for the June 26 NBA Draft. Florida's Marreese Speights (6-10, 240), Memphis's Joey Dorsey (6-9
  , 265), Indiana's D.J. White (6-9, 251), California's Ryan Anderson (6-10, 240) and Rider's Jason Thompson (6-11, 250) drilled with Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy and several assistant coaches. Speights is still undecided as to whether to leave his name in the draft or return for his junior season with the Gators."
• John Denton of Florida Today: "This is the temptation and the trouble with taking Michael Beasley at the top of the NBA Draft. Just last week at the NBA's Pre-Draft Camp at Disney's Wide World of Sports, Beasley missed his bus to the gym, showed up late and clowned around on a side court as other longshot players were clawing and scratching for their NBA lives. But once finally on the court, Beasley was a dazzling, dynamic force scouts couldn't tear their eyes away from."
• Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: "The Heat began its private draft workouts Tuesday at AmericanAirlines Arena with a pair of sessions that featured Florida State senior guard Jason Rich and Israeli League forward Omri Casspi. The workouts were held looking toward the Heat's No. 52 choice in the June 26 NBA Draft, its lone selection in the second round. Also at Tuesday's sessions were Georgetown guard Jonathan Wallace, Washington State guard Kyle Weaver, Oregon guard Bryce Taylor, Rhode Island forward Will Daniels, Alabama-Birmingham guard Robert Vaden, Massachusetts forward Gary Forbes, Mississippi State forward Charles Rhodes, Arkansas forward Darian Townes, St. Joseph forward Pat Calathes, Nevada forward JaVale McGee and French center Alexis Ajinca, a skilled 7-footer."
• Alan Hahn of Newsday: "The Knicks will begin their search for the sixth overall pick in the draft when they host the first predraft workout Thursday at the MSG Training Center. Six players -- swingmen Joe Alexander (West Virginia) and Chase Budinger (Arizona), point guards Russell Westbrook (UCLA) and Sundiata Gaines (Georgia) and big men JaVale McGee (Nevada) and Steven Hill (Arkansas) -- will be in town for various drills and what would have to be an entertaining three-on-three scrimmage."
• Marc J. Spears of The Boston Globe: "Gary Forbes, the University of Massachusetts swingman, will work out for the Celtics tomorrow after working out for Miami yesterday and at New Jersey today. ... Forbes also has a 13-team workout lined up with Golden State in addition to others scheduled with Portland, New Orleans, Minnesota, the Clippers, the Lakers, Charlotte, San Antonio, Milwaukee, and Houston."