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.

adidas called upon the Hyper Green color to accent entire midsole, Sprintframe, and laces of the black metallic upper on this adiZero Crazy Light 2. Like with most pairs, white is used on the Stripes branding seen above where your ankles would sit. Though these wouldn’t hook up with many NBA or NCAA team uniforms, that shouldn’t stop you from wearing them.

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.

Although there are quite a few forms of flopping these days, many flops come at the receiving end of guys taking a charge on defense. First Kobe spoke about his ‘interesting’ philosophy on never taking charges in the first place:

The 33-year-old veteran who is playing in his 16th season said part of the reason for his longevity is his aversion to sacrificing his body to draw offensive fouls.

“I learned from my predecessors,” Bryant said. “[Scottie] Pippen had a [messed] up back taking charges. [Larry] Bird had a [messed] up back taking charges. I said, ‘I’m not taking charges.’ I figured that … out at an early age.”

But then Kobe got more to the point about flopping when probed on David Stern’s comments about the subject, and his statement that the league this summer will be looking into potential officiating changes to address the matter…

“I think it’s time to look at [flopping] in a more serious way,” Stern said Sunday, “because it’s only designed to fool the referee. It’s not a legitimate play in my judgment. I recognize if there’s contact [you] move a little bit, but some of this is acting. We should give out Oscars rather than MVP trophies.”

Bryant, who made it clear, “I don’t flop,” echoed Stern’s remarks.

“There’s a difference [between taking a charge and flopping]. We all know what flopping is when we see it,” Bryant said. “The stuff that you see is where guys aren’t really getting hit at all and are just flailing around like a fish out of water. That’s kind of like, where are your balls at?”

Eventually, Kobe Bryant will be too old, or the cast too weak, to beat the young, energetic Thunder. Will it be this season? With the Lakers down 0-1 behind a resounding 119-90 win by the Thunder, it is very possible.

Bryant will also be reminded of change in another way. For the first time in his career Bryant is facing his old running mate Derek Fisher, with whom he won 5 NBA Championships, in the playoffs.

Fisher and Bryant played together for most of 13 years, much longer than most marriages in Los Angeles.

On his own, Derek Fisher cemented his reputation as a solid contributor to good basketball teams. Deron Williams, Carlos Boozer, and Derek Fisher helped lead the Utah Jazz to the 2006-2007 Western Conference Finals, where they were dismissed by the San Antonio Spurs in 5.

Fisher’s Heroics with the Jazz:

Of course, neither Fisher, nor Bryant has ever won a championship without the other. And one of those dreams will end this series, at least for the season.

The Thunder made quick work of the defending Champion Dallas Mavericks sweeping them in 4, although the games were hard-fought. And, the Lakers struggles against the Denver Nuggets were evidenced by having to play a game 7.

In the Los Angeles Lakers’ last series against the Nuggets, their new additions Ramon Sessions, who scored about 10 ppg, and Jordan Hill, who had two double-doubles in the first round series, played essential roles. Sessions has quickness, and is quick to learn from his mistakes. And, Hill is doing his best Lamar Odom impression. But, will they be able to produce such efforts on the road against the Oklahoma City Thunder?

In game one against the Thunder they both struggled, so only time will tell.

In reality, Wall was essentially the only superstar talent on the Wizards roster, as the team actually improved a few percentage points from Wall’s rookie season in 2010-2011. Considering the fact that the Wizards traded away his best supporting talent in big man Javale McGee and Nick Young, Wall shouldn’t really bear the brunt of another disappointing season in Washington D.C. basketball.

Well, apparently the 2nd consecutive dismal season doesn’t sit very well with the former NCAA Freshman of the Year at Kentucky as Wall has been spotted working hard on his game at the annual Garner Road Open Gym in his hometown Raleigh, North Carolina this past week.

Although the event is open for anyone who wants to participate, the event regularly includes a grouping of former and current NBA players and collegiate stars like incoming Kentucky transfer at point guard Ryan Harrow, who proved he’s ready to take over the reigns of Calipari’s dribble-drive offense.

While we already know Wall for being one of the most exciting highlight reel players in the league to watch, at the Garner Road Open Gym, Wall looks in great shape and was breaking ankles at every possession, finishing way above the rim on a number of dunks, including a facial on the first play of the game.

Most impressive was his behind the back jam after which he told the remaining players to “Go behind the back or go home.” Maybe we will be seeing Mr. Wall in the 2013 NBA Slam Dunk Contest?

Check out John Wall’s Behind The Back Jam:

Word came Tuesday that Derrick Rose would be out between 8-12 months rehabilitating his torn ACL.

From ESPN.com:

“We’re at this point very optimistic. … We think of recovery as the long process that’s in stages. But the short answer is the time frame we believe an athlete of this caliber generally requires is about 8-12 months. Sometimes shorter, sometimes longer.

“While he will be at hopefully a very high level at 12 months, it still may take slightly longer for him to be at his pre-injury level. That’s not uncommon for athletes of this caliber.”

That means Rose is likely to miss at least the first two-plus months of next season, or he could miss the entire season.

“That’s clearly the range of what’s possible,” Cole said.

To call the announcement a bombshell would be an understatement.

Hopes may be high that Rose recovers and returns as good as ever, but lets be honest, this not-so-picture-perfect-story seems poised for an unhappy ending. To believe that Rose will be just as explosive, just as fearless and any form of durable after a year like the one he has had—and the one he is preparing to have—would be naive.

The fact is, the former league MVP missed 27 of 66 regular season games this year, and couldn’t even last through the first game of the postseason. That’s cause for major concern, even if Rose wasn’t dealing with a torn ACL.

At this stage, the only future more in doubt than Rose’s is that of the Bulls. Chicago made a last-ditch effort to establish some continuity to close out the season by picking up head coach Tom Thibodeau’s option for next season, but even the stability a former coach of the year provides isn’t enough to calm these waters.

The fact is that the Bulls went down to the eighth-seeded Philadelphia 76ers without Rose. Joakim Noah and Luol Deng had their own problems, but that truly doesn’t matter. Even if Chicago had managed to escape the first round, the Celtics and then, quite possibly, the Heat, awaited after that.

The Bulls are not a legitimate championship contender without Rose. C.J. Watson and John Lucas helped propel Chicago to an 18-9 regular season record without the point guard, but they lack experience and disappeared at the most important time of the year—the playoffs.

As if that weren’t enough, the Bulls have little to no cap room to work with this summer. They might be able to bring in a solid backup who could masquerade as a starter, but they don’t have the cash necessary to make that star acquisition.

But that’s okay, right? It’s only, at most, one year. Rose will be good to go after that. Or will he?

Rose is only 23, but there’s not guarantee he returns to his former self after this. He may return too afraid to attack the basket or this may be the beginning of a career marred, borderline ruined, by injuries.

Yes, the Bulls are certainly screwed, for at least a year, but perhaps longer.

And that’s what is truly unsettling, what’s truly pushing the knife deeper and deeper—the fact that Rose, and even the Bulls, may never recover from this.

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”?

Following in form like a lot of other LeBron 9s, this MVP edition featured a speckled midsole in the colors of white and red. A red-to-black gradient is used from the outside in on the Flywire panels with black making up the mesh seen on the outer. The insoles highlight the other two MVP awards LBJ has won throughout his career so far and I wouldn’t be surprised if there are more to come. This pair hooks up perfect with all the Miami Heat apparel anyone could possible have.

If LeBron James were to capture the NBA Finals MVP award as well, I’d be willing to bet that the LeBron 9 Elite would be the model of choice used on a commemorative sneaker. Where do you think this edition would’ve ranked on our list of the 9 best LeBron 9 colorways? Let us know in the comment box below.

After the Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets in a hard-fought, brutally-played seven game matchup, the prospect of heading to Oklahoma City for a shot at Kevin Durant and company was embraced. This would be a tight series, with both teams holding their home court.

Well, the Thunder certainly held their home court, dismantling the Lakers 119-90 on 53 percent shooting from the field. That’s abnormally high, even for an offensive juggernaut like Oklahoma City, and especially for a team going up against Los Angeles’ bigs.

The good news for the Lakers is that they played a passable first quarter. The other three, though? Not so much. But it’s only Game 1, Kobe Bryant and company have time to get it together, don’t they?

Theoretically, yes. That said, the tightly contested match-up that many were expecting may prove to be a pipe dream. The Lakers and Thunder stack up well at tip-off; their starting lineups present almost even match-ups at every position. Where the Thunder truly prevail, though, is on the bench, and not solely because of James Harden, but because the Lakers lack any consistency.

Los Angeles received just 26 points from its bench, compared to Oklahoma City’s 50. That’s insane. Not only are the Lakers tasked with containing Durant and Russell Westbrook, but they are forced to face a supporting cast, that unlike their own, comes out firing.

It’s not that the Lakers bench is truly incapable, but they are far from consistent. The heart of their bench—Steve Blake, Matt Barnes and Jordan Hill—do not instill fear on either end of the ball. They hardly look to shoot and at times, appear to be more passive fillers than anything else.

The Thunder’s bench presents just the opposite, and while it’s mostly because of Harden, guys like Nick Collison, Derek Fisher and Nazr Mohammed bring intangibles off the sidelines the Lakers crew just doesn’t.

And when playing a team like Oklahoma City, a deeply talented starting five will only get you so far, and that’s assuming Metta World Peace plays up to his potential.

Los Angeles addressed its need for a starting point guard with the acquisition of Ramon Sessions, and even strengthened their bench with Hill, but it’s simply not enough.

So, while the Lakers may steal a game, or even two, from the at times, lethargic Thunder, their hope of advancing is slim.

Slimmer than any of us were led to believe coming in.

The Lakers will have to get creative in their attempts at keeping Russell Westbrook, the tip of the Thunder’s doomsday offense, on the perimeter; problem is Los Angeles (like much of the rest of the league) just doesn’t have the quickness to keep him from getting where he wants to go. As last night proved it’s all downhill from that point, as defenses crumble and scramble leaving open shooters everywhere — who are sometimes named James Harden and Kevin Durant — and giving the overall game itself a feeling of controlled chaos. O.K.C. on the defensive end, too, fosters this state of opponents losing control as the likes of Serge Ibaka challenge everything coming at the rim, which begins the groundswell that usually rolls to the other end of the floor, ending in an earth-shattering transition bucket, three, or trip to the foul line.

Like the Dallas Mavericks before them, there were many times during Game One that the Lakers were simply sharing physical space with the Thunder, but by no means were they anywhere near the same level of play. Los Angeles hadn’t even been hit yet and O.K.C. was already smelling blood in the water. To turn things around in Game Two, the Lakers will somehow need to slow the game down; limit run-outs, limit turnovers and blocked shots that lead to disaster, attempt to control the game through the post, through the oft-discussed Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol. But we’ve seen the Lakers rely on that strategy, or the necessity of Gasol and Bynum’s play being the driving force behind a game, and it simply can’t be relied upon enough to believe L.A. can truly steer every night’s action around those two.

The biggest problem is that it might not even matter if they could. The Lakers didn’t have the tools to stop Westbrook from pillaging his way to wherever he wanted on the floor in Game One, and it all begins and snowballs from there. Los Angeles will, of course, need a better showing than what we witnessed last night to avoid an all-out four game embarrassment, but even their best may not be able to match what the Thunder can bring to the table, simply by being their normal selves.