Tim Duncan of the Spurs is guarded by Trevor Booker of the Wizards. (AP)

With all due respect to Trevor Booker, who works very hard and is one of the few things about this year's Washington Wizards that is enjoyable in a non-"oh God, did you even see that?" fashion (except for when he is enjoyable in exactly that fashion), it was probably hard for Tim Duncan not to actually scream for the ball. We applaud his decision to restrain himself and let his eyes do all the screaming for him.

Best caption wins advice from the Googly Eyes Gardener. Good luck.

In our last adventure: J.J. Redick angrily reminds Lou Amundson that you don't turn off another man's O.A.R. CD.

Hornets GM Dell Demps is working the phones, but what can he really do? (AP)Logic seems to dictate that the New Orleans Hornets should do something before Thursday afternoon's NBA trade deadline — the team isn't playing for anything this year and has to go about the business of planting roots for the future. The $64,000 question, though: What exactly should GM Dell Demps do?

More to the point: What can the Hornets front office do, with the sale of the team — perhaps to a California-based ownership group that includes former NBA coach and general manager Mike Dunleavy — reportedly close? Is the deadline about stockpiling assets or clearing up the books as best Demps can?

A season that was likely going to be lost anyway following December's Chris Paul fiasco has been totally doomed by injuries and apocalyptic offense, as a crawl-it-up Hornets squad that's been without Eric Gordon for 40 games, Carl Landry for 18 and Emeka Okafor for 15 has averaged less than one point per possession this season. The only team worse at putting the ball in the hole? The Charlotte Bobcats, who beat the Hornets in New Orleans on Monday night in a ghastly affair.

Despite game work from the likes of point guard Jarrett Jack, 26-year-old Mexican rookie Gustavo Ayon and head coach Monty Williams, the Hornets have struggled to the league's third-worst record through 42 games, and look like a sound bet to stay in the Western Conference's cellar for the duration of the 2011-12 campaign, casting their eyes skyward with a "wait 'til next year" gaze all the while. But what about next year?

J.J. Redick of the Orlando Magic and Lou Amundson of the Indiana Pacers. (AP)

Chill out, J.J. Redick. I know that sometimes people's sweaty, flailing arms get tangled up during basketball games, and that can be frustrating, but if you blow your stack about it, you are going to get T'd up, throw off your game and imbalance yourself. Remember: A bro divided against himself cannot stand.

You should try to be more like your bro Lou Amundson. Peaceful, easy feelings. Solid ponytails. Deep breaths. Great vibes. Very Californian. Namaste.

Best caption wins a trip to the chillout tent. Good luck.

In our last adventure: Vince Carter kicks the flavor like Stephen King kicks horror.

George Karl's sartorial salute to the injured Ricky Rubio. (Photo via the Denver Nuggets' Instagram)When news broke that the knee injury Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio suffered in the closing seconds of Friday night's loss to the Los Angeles Lakers was a torn ACL that will knock him out for the rest of his rookie season and prevent him from starting at the point for the Spanish national basketball team during this summer's Olympics in London, just about everyone was bummed out.

Fans far and wide lamented the loss of one of the league's brightest and most exciting young stars. A host of Rubio's NBA peers took to Twitter to express their sympathies and wish the gifted freshman a full, speedy recovery. Perhaps the coolest sign of support, though, came from George Karl.

The Denver Nuggets head coach wore the colors of the legendary Spanish soccer side FC Barcelona in Rubio's honor on Sunday, sporting a Barça shirt to his media session before the Nuggets faced the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday. Rubio played for the Barcelona sports club's basketball team from 2009 through 2011 before coming over to the U.S. to join the Timberwolves this offseason, earning recognition as the Spanish ACB League's top point guard and Most Spectacular Player in 2010.

The coach's comments were brief — "I feel bad for Ricky Rubio," according to Lindsay H. Jones of the Denver Post — but the gesture spoke volumes about the level of respect that Karl, one of just seven coaches in NBA history with more than 1,000 career wins, has for the young Spanish lead guard's talents.

Karl has some history in Spanish basketball. He coached Spanish club Real Madrid in the late 1980s and early 1990s, leading squads featuring top European players like Fernando Martín, who had just returned to Real after a stint with the Portland Trail Blazers that made him the first Spaniard ever to play in the NBA.

Always among the league leaders in steals, CP3 shows off his latest heist -- Kobe's mask. (Getty Images)

Looks like this year's hot new accessory is the clear protective mask, gang. First, Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant started rocking one; now, fellow Staples Center tenant Chris Paul is sporting the face guard. By the end of next week, each team will appoint one player to wear a mask, except for the New Jersey Nets, who will tap head coach Avery Johnson to wear it, because that seems like it would be adorable.

Paul's wearing the mask thanks to a "nasal fracture" that he suffered during the first quarter of the Clippers' Friday night win over the San Antonio Spurs, when he was caught in the chops by the flailing left arm of Spurs swingman Danny Green, who has a history of damaging the faces of point guards with "Paul" in their last names.

A Clippers spokesman told Baxter Holmes of the Los Angeles Times that Paul "will be wearing [the mask] indefinitely until the injury is healed." That news displeased recently imported Clipper Kenyon Martin, who wore a mask after breaking his nose in 2002.

"It's annoying and he plays point guard, so I don't know how he's going to do it," Martin told the Times' Melissa Rohlin. "Trust me, I don't know how he's going to go out there and manuever with that thing on."

Luckily, unlike the primitive protection Martin wore way back in the Oughts, the mask Paul is wearing appears to include no leg manacles or concrete shoes, so his mobility should remain excellent.

For video of Paul sustaining the busted schnozz, hit the jump.

If you ever have a tough time deciding what kind of haircut you should get when you go to your barber/stylist, don't worry — I can help. This is the kind of haircut you should get. The "two pictures of Michael Jordan shaved into your head" haircut. Problem solved! We did it!

Now, you will have to go to San Antonio to get this haircut, because that is where Razor Sharp Cutz is, and Razor Sharp Cutz is where master barber Joe Barber — which is a pretty lucky last name, considering the profession he chose — makes people's heads into love letters to Michael Jordan. (It remains unclear if he will turn your head into this love letter from Michael Jordan. I bet he would, if you asked nicely enough.)

If you really care about looking great for your spring formal or that big job interview, though, you will spring for airfare, plus the $75 that Sweater Punch reports that this haircut will cost you. Sometimes you have to sacrifice for art.

This is what Laker bros look like. (Getty Images)

With 20 seconds left and the Los Angeles Lakers hanging on to a one-point lead in a nip-and-tuck Sunday afternoon battle with their longtime nemeses, the Boston Celtics, just about everybody in the basketball-watching world was probably expecting Kobe Bryant to commandeer L.A.'s final possession. Just how good Kobe is in these late-game situations has become a favorite debate in some NBA-watching circles, with writers and fans tossing around numbers, quotes and opinions at a fever pitch seemingly every time the Lakers have the ball with the clock running down.

Some emphasize the fact that Bryant leads the NBA in fourth-quarter scoring and that polls of his peers have often identified him as the players' pick for the league's most respected closer. Others note that 23 other players this season have produced more "clutch" points than Bryant, that he's shooting just 27.9 percent in such situations and that the Lakers as a team rank 23rd in the league in fourth-quarter efficiency.

The perception and momentum can swing not only game-to-game, but play-to-play — against the Detroit Pistons last Tuesday, Kobe coolly drained a 19-foot fadeaway at the buzzer to send the game to overtime (he's clutch and a winner!), but then missed two 3-pointers late in the extra frame to give the Pistons the win (he's bad in big moments and kills his team!).

Whatever your opinion on Kobe's predilection toward hero ball, at this point, pretty much everyone expects to see it. Which is why, with the Lakers up 95-94 against Boston on Sunday, Bryant called an audible, according to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Times:

[...] he uttered four words the public hardly expects Bryant to say.

"Make me a decoy," he said.

So on the Lakers' final offensive possession of the game, leading by one, Bryant stood at the top of the key, while Metta World Peace threw an entry pass toward Andrew Bynum. The Lakers center backed into Boston forward Kevin Garnett. He picked up his dribble just as Paul Pierce cut down to double team. Then Bynum split both defenders and spun around to make a short right-handed hook.

The bucket gave the Lakers a three-point cushion that they'd hold on to with some stalwart defense during a frenetic final 15.5 seconds, sealing a 97-94 victory on Sunday. The combination of the Lakers win and the Los Angeles Clippers' 97-93 loss to the Golden State Warriors later Sunday put Kobe and company back in the top spot in the Pacific Division.

Check out video of Kobe's humble handiwork, plus more reaction to the deferral, after the jump.

Magic Johnson announces that he is HIV-positive. (Getty Images)I'd wanted to do a full-on review of "The Announcement" ⎯ ESPN Films' latest documentary, which revisits Magic Johnson's watershed Nov. 7, 1991, revelation that he is HIV-positive ⎯ in time for its broadcast premiere Sunday night at 9 p.m. Eastern on ESPN, as I've done for a handful of other hoops-focused documentaries over the past couple of years. Unfortunately, the end of the week got a little hectic, which led to some scrambling and the scuttling of some best-laid plans. So, no full review this time around.

On the other hand, I don't want to give the work of Brooklyn-born filmmaker and journalist Nelson George short shrift, leave readers that dig these documentary pieces hanging, or come away from all that watching, note-taking and thinking empty-handed. So in lieu of a full review, here are a handful of thoughts about "The Announcement," which you can check out tomorrow night. (These were supposed to be brief thoughts, but they are not.)

We'd love it if you'd share your take on the doc in the comments, at the Ball Don't Lie Facebook page or on Twitter, whether by reaching out to me or to our @YahooBDL account.

1. "The Announcement" feels sort of rigid and didactic, which is kind of the point, but is still a bit of a problem.

The documentary has dual aims, one micro and one macro. On one hand, George wants to examine the lead-up to, events surrounding and aftermath of Johnson's announcement, as told through interviews with the principals involved in the story ⎯ Johnson, his wife Cookie, his close friends, his teammates and his doctors. On the other hand, the filmmaker wants to use the 20th anniversary of Johnson's nationally broadcast press conference announcing that he had contracted HIV and was retiring from professional basketball as an occasion for reflection on the impact the megastar's disclosure has had on the fight against AIDS.