The 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers (Getty Images)

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: LA Times. A very cool look back on the champion 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers.
PF: DIME. The top five ex-NBA'ers that would make great team owners.
SF: TrueHoop. Beckley Mason on San Antonio's superb Kawhi Leonard.
SG: NBA Playbook. "Rajon Rondo, and the demise of the distributor."
PG: Piston Powered. Austin Daye and his "failure" of a season.

Three out of five 76ers don't realize that Spencer Hawes is in a rage (Getty Images)

Entering Tuesday night's game against the New Jersey Nets, the Philadelphia 76ers were in a bad way. They had lost four in a row, six of eight overall, and were about to go down 3 1/2 games to the Boston Celtics in the fight for the Atlantic Division lead. The team's scoring center, Spencer Hawes, was also suffering through a frustrating turn, attempting to return to his early season form after suffering an Achilles injury, all while Doug Collins was warding off suggestions that he had lost his team.

Probably as a result of all this, Hawes (now coming off the bench, with his minutes limited due to his lingering injury) was an angry dude at Tuesday's shootaround. And as a release, of sorts, the Philadelphia coaching staff decided to treat him to a Keith Moon-styled rage session. From the Delaware News Journal:

"Spencer was not happy at shootaround," Collins said. "[Assistant coach] Jeff Capel told Spencer, 'Go back to your [hotel] room, act like a little child, tear up your room, give me the bill and be ready to play.'"

Lamar Odom, in his final days as a Dallas Maverick (Getty Images)

In a curious move within a season full of them, the Dallas Mavericks and Lamar Odom decided to part ways on Monday. He wasn't granted his release, and he hasn't even been told that his option for next year won't be picked up, but he's just been asked to leave the team following a season of shooting around 35 percent from the floor. The Mavs are the defending champions, and in a contested Western Conference Odom's all-around talents could have put them over the top. Instead, he won't even get to play in the postseason. It's a sad, unfortunate tale that seems to have its genesis in the most typical of all incidents that preface a breakup.

It appears as if Lamar Odom and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban got into a fight. ESPN's Marc Stein and Tim MacMahon are reporting that Cuban confronted Odom following a typically ineffective turn during halftime of Saturday's loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.

According to sources, the crux of the heated halftime confrontation was Cuban asking Odom if he was "in or out." Sources said Odom, who had played only four minutes in the first half, reacted angrily to the question and did not take his seat on the bench until after the third quarter began.

It's been well-established that ESPN's Skip Bayless is a workout fiend. He spends endless hours on the treadmill, and looks to be in fantastic shape for his age. It's also been well-established that Bayless is a fame-hungry sellout that will say anything on air (and formerly, before he realized it wasn't making him famous enough, in print) just to draw a reaction, and more eyes, and more ratings. Recently, Bayless criticized Oklahoma City point guard Russell Westbrook without the slightest bit of basketball smarts, or hint of nuance, much less research. OKC All-Star Kevin Durant rightfully took his obsessive brand of ignorance to task, and Bayless responded by pumping up his own credits as a high school point guard who finally learned that PGs should think "pass" 12 times before they fire away, on Twitter.

Bayless' ESPN co-host Jalen Rose, after a bit of research of his own, took on Skip after Bayless claimed that he started as a shot-happy point guard for a high school team that made the state finals in Oklahoma. Bayless didn't start for his high school squad, it turns out, and didn't even play for the varsity until his senior season, when he averaged 1.4 points per game. Here's the video of Rose calling a clearly uncomfortable Bayless out:

Phil Jackson consults Andrew Bynum in 2011 (Getty Images)

In his seventh NBA season, Andrew Bynum has played in 53 of his team's 58 games, quite the achievement for someone that has missed 160 of his team's 492 total games entering this year. He's also playing over 35 minutes a contest, after averaging 10 fewer minutes a game for the first six years. Bynum is dropping about 18 points and 12 rebounds per game, and he was voted to the Western Conference All-Star team as a deserved starter.

He's also been benched, just as deservedly, by coach Mike Brown for taking a ridiculous 3-point shot in a game against the Warriors. He's made some smirking references to Brown's coaching style, while sitting out some huddles, and more haughty types like yours truly have taken him to task for his immaturity. The only pro coach that Bynum has had the pleasure to have known before Brown, the recently retired Phil Jackson, went the exact opposite direction recently, taking us to task for asking Bynum to do too much, too soon. In Jackson's own inimitable style, as emailed to the Los Angeles Times:

"Bynum is not quite mature, but everyone should relax and watch him grow up," Jackson said via email. "This year has been a big step for him offensively…nice to see…and when he takes up the mantle as defensive captain the Lakers can get back in the hunt."

Michael Jordan hires Sam Vincent, in 2007 (Getty Images)

It was more than a little startling to hear Sam Vincent go so explicitly on record about the work habits of Charlotte Bobcat owner Michael Jordan. Sure, we've mined this territory since the outset of Jordan's tenure as an owner; he surrounds himself with yes men, and he tends to give short shrift to the work behind his personnel choices. But not only was Vincent Jordan's former teammate on the Chicago Bulls, he was one of MJ's biggest hires (and, eventually, fires) as Bobcat boss. And it's rare to hear an ex-employee, still probably trying to acquire the same job with a different team, speak so candidly.

Vincent didn't hold back, though, in his appraisal of Jordan. From the Washington Post:

"The work he put in to be a great player and the work you put in to be a great executive, those are different things," said Sam Vincent, whom Jordan hired as his head coach in 2007 less than a year after he became minority owner. "That additional time you spend on jump shots, running, dunking, I don't know if he puts in that same amount of time as an executive or if he even cares to."

Zach Randolph, post-minor accident (Getty Images)

On Monday, Memphis Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph was rear-ended while exiting an off ramp in downtown Memphis. Randolph, who was on his way to morning shootaround, was hit by the driver of a 2000 Honda CRV; and the Honda driver in question was cited for "Failure To Maintain a Safe Lookout." That is to say, "don't tailgate, Guy Who Is Probably Trying To See if Zach Randolph Is In That Car." Zach was driving a 2011 Dodge Charger Challenger at the time.

[Y! Autos: Best new car deals for April]

For the 2011 model year, Dodge redesigned its Charger Challenger model, creating a more streamlined version of its longtime go-to feature sedan. Around the same time, Randolph redesigned his game, working quickly out of the post or in the triple-threat position on the baseline, and utilizing his strengths in a manner that actually aided in a winning cause. Just as much power, but streamlined in a way that Zach's typical double-double efforts didn't come at the expense of his team.

Stan Van Gundy and Shaquille O'Neal in (un?) happier times (Getty Images)

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: Palm Beach Post. Ethan Skolnick absolutely destroys Shaq's selective memory with, y'know, facts.
PF: HoopsAnalyst. Why Stan Van Gundy might be better off being let go right now.
SF: SB Nation. Jarrett Jack won't be suiting up for the New Orleans Hornets soon.
SG: Real GM. 'The Long Term Future of the Thunder.'
PG: This Is the Sports. Dwight Howard is denying ever wanting a ham sandwich, guys.