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    Dan Devine

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    Dan Devine is the associate editor of Ball Don't Lie. His writing about sports and other stuff has appeared on FreeDarko, Stride Nation and PopMatters, among other places. He has a wife, a cat named Doc, a beard and an unrequited love of the New York Knicks. He lives in Brooklyn.

    • Andrew Bynum, flamenco dancing in Spain (Video)

      Perfect. (Photo via @s13mag)

      Guys, we're all having a lot of fun focusing on the 2013 NBA playoffs — so much fun that we might have forgotten that today makes six weeks since Andrew Bynum had season-ending arthroscopic surgery on both of his cursed knees. I wonder how he's feeling, and if he's having any fun.

      No worries, guys. He's having fun flamenco dancing in what appears to be a Ferrari jacket at Cafe de Chinitas in Madrid, Spain, where he's spending some time on an early offseason vacation, which is the kind of thing you can do when your team doesn't have to worry about the playoffs. (Bynum also took in a nice meal at Basque restaurant Mesón Txistu and had a nice time at a Real Madrid match.)

      Read More »from Andrew Bynum, flamenco dancing in Spain (Video)
    • Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson and Kings fan Barbara Rust celebrate on Monday. (AP/Rich Pedroncelli)

      A look around the league and the Web that covers it. It's also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren't always listed in order of importance. That's for you, dear reader, to figure out.

      C: SB Nation and NBA.com. In light of the NBA Board of Governors Relocation Committee's unanimous recommendation that the Sacramento Kings not be moved to Seattle, Tom Ziller considers Sacramento's three-part blueprint for staving off relocation, while Scott Howard-Cooper takes stock of the 12-0 verdict and the reasons behind it — the committee "did not vote against Seattle as much as it voted for Sacramento."

      PF: CelticsBlog. I really enjoyed this post by Jeff Clark about confronting the eventuality of Paul Pierce's departure from the Boston Celtics, not only from an emotional perspective (where he says he'll miss "The Truth" on a level "that borders on feelings I have for extended family"), but also a practical on-court matter, because despite the All-Star appearances, the deep playoff runs and that one title, he's not sure he and Celtics fans really appreciate what they've had for the past 15 years.

      Read More »from The 10-man rotation, starring the spirit that’s (probably) keeping the Kings in Sacramento
    • Chris Gatling celebrates the Mavericks winning the 1996 Mexico City Challenge. (Barry Gossage/NBA/Getty Images)One-time NBA All-Star Chris Gatling faces criminal charges after Arizona police say he illegally occupied a Paradise Valley, Ariz., home for more than a year, and then tried to rent the place on Craigslist, according to the Arizona Republic:

      Chris Gatling is accused of breaking into a key box and living in the home from July 2010 to August 2011. A police report says the homeowners lived in California but had left the power on.

      The TV station reports that he later listed the four-bedroom house for rent for $800 and called it an “Ex-NBA” home online.

      Court records say that Gatling got a down payment from one potential renter but that another got suspicious and contacted police.

      Gatling’s attorney, Michael Alarid, said the case is a “misunderstanding.”

      It very well could be. Everyone's innocent until proven guilty in this country, and besides, misunderstood stuff goes up on Craigslist all the time.

      Gatling has also been accused of forging personal checks from his ex-girlfriend and "funneling the money through College Bound All-Stars, a traveling youth basketball league that Gatling managed and operated," according to Phoenix CBS affiliate KPHO-TV.

      Read More »from Ex-NBA All-Star Chris Gatling accused of squatting in, trying to rent out Ariz. home
    • Jason Collins' Monday announcement that he is gay sparked responses throughout the NBA world and beyond, and while we covered some of the immediate reactions on Monday, discussion has continued to stir and spread. Here's some things that have been said and written that might be worth your time.

      ***

      Collins reiterated that he "never set out to be the first" in a Monday interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos that aired during Tuesday's broadcast of "Good Morning America."

      "You're sort of waiting around for somebody else to … raise their hand," he said. "I'm ready to raise my hand but, you know, you still look around like, 'OK, come on, guys.' It's time for someone else in the room to raise their hand and say, 'You know what? Yeah, so big deal. I can still play basketball. I can still help the team win, and that's what's most important.'"

      ***

      TNT commentators Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O'Neal discussed Collins' announcement prior to the network's broadcast of the Eastern Conference playoff matchup between the Brooklyn Nets and Chicago Bulls, with Barkley saying "we've all played with gay players," Smith emphasizing the role his race plays in his support for inclusion because "as an African American [...] that's the one thing that we always wanted," and O'Neal commending Collins for "his character" and for "showing us what leadership looks like."

      ***

      Read More »from Jason Collins discusses coming out with ABC; TNT crew, Stern, others react to announcement
    • Jason Collins’ former fiancée, Carolyn Moos, had no idea he was gay

      Jason Collins and former fiancee Carolyn Moos. (MCT/Getty Images)

      Carolyn Moos says she had no idea that Jason Collins, her longtime boyfriend and fiancé, was actually gay.

      In the Sports Illustrated piece featuring his groundbreaking revelation, the 12-year NBA veteran wrote, "When I was younger I dated women. I even got engaged. I thought I had to live a certain way. I thought I needed to marry a woman and raise kids with her. I kept telling myself the sky was red, but I always knew it was blue."

      Moos, however, didn't know. The former WNBA player told TMZ that she only found out about Collins' orientation a couple of days before the world did:

      Carolyn tells TMZ, she never once suspected he was gay, so the news is shocking. She says Collins eventually revealed everything last weekend — just days before his big announcement — and said that his homosexuality was the real reason he ended things with her.

      At the time of their breakup, Carolyn says Jason gave a bunch of BS reasons for calling it quits ... and she could never understand what went wrong, until now. [...]

      "It's very emotional for me as a woman to have invested [eight] years in my dream to have a husband, soul mate, and best friend in him. So this is all hard to understand."

      Read More »from Jason Collins’ former fiancée, Carolyn Moos, had no idea he was gay
    • Jason Collins played high school basketball with actor Jason Segel

      Ah, youth. (Image via Harvard-Westlake School)

      When Jason Collins announced Monday that he is gay, he became the first openly gay active male athlete in any of the four major American professional sports. And yet he still might not be the most famous member of his high school basketball team.

      [Also: ThePostGame: The road to Jason Collins' revelation]

      Back in the mid-1990s, Collins and his brother Jarron starred for Harvard-Westlake School in North Hollywood, Calif., dominating the interior and leading the Wolverines to two state Division III-A championships. But while the Stanford-bound twin towers garnered most of the attention and headlines, a 6-foot-4 backup big man (hey, remember, it's high school) with some ups was getting his fair share of recognition, too. From a March 1996 feature on the team by Vince Kowalick of the Los Angeles Times (emphasis mine):

      They call Alex Gelbard "Gelbows," a nickname born of his propensity to protrude a pointy joint whenever an opponent drives the lane.

      Jason Segel answers to "Doctor Dunk," although he craves more than the 15 minutes of fame he received during an East Coast slam dunk contest.

      And Abed Abusaleh, a.k.a. "Air-Ball Abed," is determined to sink a three-point shot, even if it means hurling enough bricks to build a small fire station.

      [Also: Bubba Watson shows support for ESPN analyst that condemned Jason Collins]

      Yep — it's that Jason Segel, the one who has starred on the CBS sitcom "How I Met Your Mother" for nearly a decade, and who starred in the films "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" and "I Love You, Man." But before he was a star of the big and small screens, he was "Doctor Dunk" — Jason Collins' backup.

      Read More »from Jason Collins played high school basketball with actor Jason Segel
    • Houston Rockets forward Chandler Parsons had a lot going through his mind just after the buzzer sounded late Monday night — processing that he'd just put up playoff career highs of 27 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists against the No. 1-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder, getting past the moment of fear that had to have come while watching Serge Ibaka rise up for an uncontested putback (which somehow didn't go in), feeling a victory-related rush after holding on for a 105-103 win that forced a Game 5 in this best-of-seven first-round series, etc.

      Sometimes, when that much is going on, you can lose sight of other stuff — like, for example, a front-row fan who wants nothing more than to celebrate the victory with you. At least, that's got to be what this fan had to be telling himself, because it's way more comforting than thinking about what actually appeared to happen ... namely, that Parsons began the motion of giving him a pound, took a closer look at him, thought better of it and walked away.

      Pretty cold, Chandler — and your former Rockets teammate, Sacramento Kings forward Patrick Patterson, definitely noticed:

      Read More »from Chandler Parsons leaves fist-bump-seeking Rockets fan hanging after Game 4 win (Video)
    • After leading by as many as 13 points late in the second quarter only to once again cough up an early advantage in this series and trail by as many as 13 late in the third quarter, the Oklahoma City Thunder had a chance to force overtime against the fighting-for-their-playoff-lives Houston Rockets ... only to see forward Serge Ibaka's last-chance bid come up juuuust a little short.

      The Thunder trailed 105-103 with 12 seconds left, possession of the ball and an opportunity to either tie the game or go for the win and finish off a 4-0 sweep of the young eighth-seeded Rockets. Oklahoma City superstar Kevin Durant dribbled from the left wing past the top of the key and over to the right side, where he pulled up in hopes of attempting yet another huge late-game 3-pointer, but Rockets defender Francisco Garcia tightly contested the move, forcing KD to turn away from the basket and, since he'd given up his dribble, pass to teammate Reggie Jackson.

      The ball went off the sophomore point guard's hand, though, draining precious seconds off the clock and forcing Oklahoma City into a mad-dash scramble. Jackson beat defender Chandler Parsons into the paint (thanks, in part, to flimsy help defense from Houston star James Harden) but as he elevated to either attempt a game-tying layup or look for a passing lane, Jackson was met just outside the restricted area by Rockets center Omer Asik, who walled off Reggie's drive and forced an on-the-way-down flip toward the basket. Jackson's desperation try barely caught rim ... but it landed right in the hands of Ibaka, who had an opportunity to play the hero after being left alone by Asik's rotation (and by Harden failing to help the helper by crashing down into the paint to get a body on Ibaka).

      Instead, Ibaka short-armed his point-blank attempted putback, the ball dying on the foot of the rim and descending as the buzzer sounded to signal a 105-103 Rockets win that staved off a sweep and extended the best-of-seven first-round series to a fifth game.

      Read More »from Serge Ibaka misses potential game-tying putback at buzzer, Rockets hold on, force Game 5 (Video)
    • Kenneth Faried was pretty mad after his Denver Nuggets lost Game 4 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series to the Golden State Warriors. How mad? This mad:

      The result of Kenneth Faried's frustration. (Image via @nuggetsnews)

      Yep, that's a hole in the wall just inside the door of the visitors' locker room at Oracle Arena in Oakland, which the power forward admitted came from one of his size 16s after Sunday's 115-101 loss.

      [Also: Jason Collins showed toughness long before announcing he's gay]

      “I hate losing with a passion. I hate losing more than I like winning,” Faried said, according to Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post, who snapped the shot above. And now that the visitors' locker room wall knows that, it's sure to avoid messing with the Manimal in the future.

      Read More »from Kenneth Faried kicks hole in locker room wall after loss puts Nuggets on brink of elimination
    • How confident were the Los Angeles Lakers that they'd stave off elimination at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs in Game 4 on Sunday night? Check out the pump-up favor they handed out to fans who came out to the Staples Center to root on the home team:

      Well, then. (Image via @DuranSports)

      On one hand, yes, the white giveaway towel matches the white home uniforms that the Lakers have long worn during Sunday afternoon Staples Center contests; in that respect, it was an extension of a fun, respected element of tradition and beloved Laker lore.

      On the other, there's something less than rousing about giving fans an item that can serve as both a white flag to wave and a towel to throw in before a do-or-die Game 4 that came after three games in which the Spurs flat-out dominated the Lakers, including a crushing 31-point Game 3 win. Not exactly "Once more into the breach, dear friends"-caliber stuff, right?

      [Related: Dwight Howard talks about tough season, future with Lakers]

      Read More »from Lakers give fans white towels before must-win Game 4 vs. Spurs (which they lost)

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