Bawful After Dark: June 15, 2010

Wow, that's an impressive reaction. Are KG and Tim Duncan related or something?
Here's a nice reminder I found on JE Skeets' Twitter feed: Yes, Penny Hardaway was that good. Too bad his knees went all Greg Oden gimpy on him -- we all could use a little Lil' Penny in our lives.

In case you haven't gotten your fill of The Summer of LeBron, check out ESPN's Free Agent Slot Machine. "The ESPN Free Agent Slot Machine results are based on the likelihood of each potential scenario for each player and team, as provided by ESPN.com NBA experts." According to the first three spins I took, Amar'e Stoudemire will stay in Phoenix. The sound that you hear is my heart sinking so low it's sloshing around with my intenstines.

Speaking of Phoenix, Steve Kerr will not return as president of basketball operations and GM of the Suns. No word on a replacement since the team seems to be just as surprised by the timing on this decision as the rest of us. I haven't even had time to think of a joke!

And finally, I hope your mind is ready to be blown. According to this article, there are two Celtics that bitched and moaned and whined about foul calls more than Rasheed Wallace! (h/t Jonah Keri)

Last second edit -- new logo and colors for the Jazz. Now if only they could do something about getting the mismatched city and nickname deal fixed...

Worst of Game 5 in Pictures:


Caption This!
What are Mikhail Prokhorov and Avery Johnson laughing about?

Hey look, it's Glenn Frey and Joe Walsh! I wonder which team they root for, and are they in it for The Long Run, or are they just the New Kid in Town? Will there be a Heartache Tonight?

Damn, Pau Gasol looks as intense as a Mark Gormley song

For posterity's sake, Adam Morrison NOT wearing jeans and a sport coat during an NBA Finals game. It happened!
NBA Finals - Game 3:
Celtics at Lakers - ABC, 9:00pm
Celtics lead series 3-2

The Zen Master Phil Jackson is trying to assuage Laker fan fears by proclaiming "Now we're going back to home court to win it. That's the way it's supposed to be, isn't it?" Well, has anything this series been the way it was supposed to be? (Well, okay, we all knew Vujacic would play extremely limited minutes and drop a couple three pointers, and we all knew Scalabrine and Morrison would fight for "who can be the least revelant and most goofy looking guy on the bench")

Fun fact courtesy of ESPN Stats and Information: "Kobe Bryant's 34.4 field goal percentage in NBA Finals elimination games is the 3rd-lowest by a player with at least 50 attempts in such games in the shot clock era (since 1954-55), among the 38 players that qualify."

But, oh wait, I forgot. David Stern has decreed this series must go seven games for maximum profit potential. Forget I said anything.