Samaki Walker and Keith Closs battle for the soul of the NBA (Tom Hauck/ Getty).

In which Tim Duncan solves a mystery in Lob City.

It was about eleven o'clock in the morning, mid May, with the sun brightly shining and a look of dry heat in the clearness of the foothills. I was wearing my dark black suit, with gray shirt, tie and display handkerchief, black brogues, gray cotton socks with black spurs on them. I was neat, clean, not shaved and sober, and I didn't care who knew it. I was everything the well-dressed private detective ought to be. I was calling on a ring worth four million dollars.

Kevin Garnett fends for his life (Jim Rogash/ Getty).

Calling Boston Celtics star Kevin Garnett an intense athlete is like calling water wet or salt salty. There have been few players in the history of the league as committed as Garnett, and that passion shows in pretty much everything he does on the basketball court. In a sport where players need any edge they can get to be successful, Garnett always seems to have a psychological advantage.

[Related: Celtics know they're in for a fight after Sixers even series ]

That's so much the case, in fact, that it sometimes seems as if he takes things too seriously. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that he considers his devotion to the Celtics as a matter of life and death. From an interview with WEEI in Boston, as transcribed by Sports Radio Interviews (via SLAM):

David Stern pretends he liked a joke (Patrick McDermott/ Getty).

Flopping has been a hot topic of conversation during the NBA playoffs, in large part because of growing annoyance over the Los Angeles Clippers' tactics and Frank Vogel's fine-worthy comments on the Miami Heat. Although this sort of outcry happens often, it's loud enough at the moment to inspire several discussions of what the NBA can do to fix the problem.

However, before any meaningful change can happen, the commissioner must voice some concern. That's exactly what David Stern did during an interview with ESPN's Lisa Salters at Sunday's Heat/Pacers game. From ESPN.com:

Xavier McDaniel teaches James Worthy a lesson in stamina (Andrew D. Bernstein/ Getty).

In which Metta World Peace challenges James Harden to a gunfight in the Old West.

James Harden had no idea what he had done wrong. He and his prospecting partners Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook had gone to the saloon expecting a few shots of bathtub whiskey and a good run of faro. Instead, they were greeted by one of West's most feared gunfighters: the contradictorily named World Peace. For years, the settlers of the land had passed around stories of World Peace and his taste for blood. Some said that he had been raised by coyotes, while others maintained that he simply counted the animals as his only true friends. Whatever was true, no one wanted to get on his bad side. There was no telling what might happen.

Austin Croshere and Chris Gatling exemplify the East in 2002 (Victor Baldizon/ Getty).

In which the Indiana Pacers get in a plane crash and attempt to survive in the snow while being hunted by bears that coincidentally look like the Miami Heat.

The Indiana Pacers' plane ride to a diplomatic basketball tournament in Siberia had started normally enough. Then, while flying over the Alaskan hinterlands, a goose flew into the main engine and everything went terribly wrong. Luckily, the pilot was able to crash-land in a snowy field and everyone survived. Unluckily, they were 100 miles from the nearest town and all communications had gone out.

Chris Andersen (Doug Pensinger/ Getty)On Thursday, we passed along a report that Denver Nuggets center Chris "Birdman" Andersen had his home searched in relation to an investigation by a Colorado Internet Crimes against Children unit. It was a shocking story, and enough for the Nuggets to excuse Andersen from all team-related activities in the midst of a neck-and-neck playoff series against the Los Angeles Lakers. With few details, no one knew what to think of the situation, and many feared the worst.

New details have emerged, though, and they paint a different picture of the situation. According to one of Andersen's lawyers, he could be the target of extortion. From Benjamin Hochman of The Denver Post:

Elton Brand boxes out Carlos Boozer, but whatever (Drew Hallowell/ Getty).

By every popular metric, the Chicago Bulls had a disappointing season. Despite earning the East's top record and a top seed, injuries to Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and others foiled their dreams of a championship. While it might have been a case of bad luck rather than some structural defect in the squad, there's a reason that every Bulls fan I know (including our own Kelly Dwyer) feels a little worse about the NBA postseason today. The team had high expectations, and they didn't meet them.

Don't tell that to Carlos Boozer, though, because he's feeling really great. From Nick Friedell for ESPNChicago.com (via SB Nation):

Don Nelson readies to shoot a free throw in the strangest way possible (Getty Images)

In which the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers fight for the future of the nation in Revolutionary America.

When we speak of America's Founding Fathers today, we typically imagine them as a unified body that agree exactly how and why this country's citizens and corporations should be allowed to do things like marry, give money to political candidates and compensate their workers (or slaves). The truth, however, was a little more complicated. In the thick of the Revolutionary War, factions from different cities argued over the country's future.

But which would end up victorious? Join me, if you will, on a trip back in time …