But apparently, they are further apart than many may realize. According to SI, Duncan can’t stand KG:

In fact, Duncan hates Kevin Garnett. Hates him the way liberals hate Sean Hannity. This information comes from very reliable sources, who talk about how KG has made a career of trying to punk Duncan, baiting him and slapping him and whispering really weird smack into his ear. They talk about how funny this is, because the worst thing you can do as an opponent is piss off Duncan

Not only was he named the NBA’s executive of the year Wednesday, he becomes the first to win that award as well as having been named coach of the year (in 1998, with the Pacers) and MVP (1984-86 with the Boston Celtics) as a player.

Bird’s first winning play as president this season was to remove the interim tag and name Frank Vogel as head coach. Vogel led the Pacers to the third seed in the Eastern Conference, a first-round playoff victory against the Orlando Magic and a 1-1 standing in the second round against the heavily favored Miami Heat.

Thunder center Kendrick Perkins, who aggravated a right hip muscle strain early in the third quarter of Game 1 on Monday night, once again will be a game-time decision as to whether he will start against the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 2 at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Perkins initially was injured in Game 4 in a series-clinching victory at Dallas on May 5. Perkins rested for eight days awaiting this second-round series and reinjured the hip at the 10:18 mark of the third quarter in Monday’s 119-90 romp over the Lakers at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

In this role, Lacob will report directly to General Manager Bob Myers, while assisting with all aspects of the team’s day-to-day basketball operations. He joins Travis Schlenk, who was promoted to Assistant General Manager/Director of Player Personnel prior to last season, on Myers’ front office staff.

Lacob has spent the last two seasons as Golden State’s Director of Basketball Operations, supporting on a variety of front office roles, including player personnel evaluation, draft preparation and scouting, as well as helping to further the use of statistics and technologies in basketball operations. He has also served as the team’s player development representative with the league office, coordinating and implementing programs to aid in the overall development of players both on and off the court.

In addition to his role with the Warriors, Lacob is the General Manager of the Dakota Wizards, the Warriors-owned NBA Development League affiliate. He was named GM of the Wizards in August of 2011. As GM of the Wizards, Lacob is instrumental in all aspects of the team’s operations, including roster formation as well as basketball and business operations. During his first season as General Manager, the Wizards qualified for the D-League Playoffs after finishing tied for first place in the Eastern Conference with a 29-21 regular season record.

Although Lacob is only 25 years old, it’s not like he’s completely wet behind the ears given his duties with the Warriors D-League franchise. Oh yeah, and he graduated with a degree from Stanford, so he’s likely not your average 25 year old playing video games and smoking weed with his boys all day. Hey, I wonder if that’s what analysts meant by “needing to get younger”?

Indiana Pacers coach Frank Vogel is a little lighter in the wallet. The NBA fined Vogel $15,000 Saturday for his comments about how the ‘referees should officiate’ the upcoming playoff series against the Miami Heat. ‘(The Heat) are the biggest flopping team in the NBA,’ Vogel said to the media Thursday. ‘It’ll be very interesting to see how the referees officiate the series and how much flopping they reward. Every drive to the basket, they have guys not making a play on the ball,’ Vogel continued, ‘but sliding in front of drivers. Oftentimes they’re falling down even before contact is even being made.

It is feared that the injury may force Bosh to miss the rest of the series against the Indiana Pacers — and perhaps for the rest of the postseason. The Heat are expected to talk more about Bosh’s injury around 1:30 after the team’s practice.

Kyrie Irving began his first pro season as the top pick and ended it as the top rookie. Cleveland’s smooth, playmaking point guard has been chosen as the NBA”s Rookie of the Year, a person familiar with the voting said. Irving’s selection is hardly a surprise since the 20-year-old led all first-year players in scoring – 18.5 points per game – and renewed hope for Cleveland’s franchise. He’ll receive the award on Tuesday, said the person who spoke on condition of anonymity because the league has not yet announced the winner.

“This season has been a special one for me,” Irving said on April 27, a day after the Cavs finished with a 21-45 record. “We overcame a lot of obstacles during the lockout-shortened season. It’s been a learning experience. I grew as a player from the mental standpoint, getting used to the NBA grind.” [...] Irving becomes just the second Cavs’ recipient of the NBA honor. LeBron James, who like Irving was a top overall pick, won the award in 2004.

Indiana Pacers coach Frank Vogel always seems to have a trick up his sleeve when it comes to getting across a message. Thursday, he sent a message to the officials who will work the Indiana-Miami playoff series about how the Heat players like to flop on defense. ‘They are the biggest flopping team in the NBA,’ Vogel said.

The Oklahoma City Thunder has scheduled a news conference for Thursday afternoon, during which time James Harden is expected to be formally introduced as the NBA’s 2011-12 Sixth Man of the Year, The Oklahoman has learned.

The official announcement from the NBA is expected to come late Thursday morning.

“If you know anything about guys in the Air Force,” Greg explained, “it’s that they drink a ton. My cousin got wrapped up in the NBA lifestyle and threw parties at my house all the time. So I got wrapped up in it too. When I played well, I’d drink to celebrate. And when I played poorly, I’d drink to forget. That second year in Portland I pretty much became an alcoholic.”