Stacey King, pictured with the man he was hired to replace (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: CBS Chicago. Perhaps Stacey King should dial it back a bit.
PF: ESPN. J.D. Adande might be a little outclassed, here.
SF: SB Nation. 'What the NBA and NCAA Need From Each Other.'
SG: The Classical. 'What Shaq's Dove Ad Refuses to Say.'
PG: The Basketball Jones. The story behind The Best .GIF Ever.
6th: Sports Illustrated. Britt Robson's go-to power rankings. Please read.
7th: The Point Forward. Zach Lowe goes into what could be the best night of the season.
8th: Sports Illustrated. A fantastic look at the weirdness of the Philadelphia 76ers.
9th: Houston Press. A startling look at what the Astrodome looks like now. 72 degrees.
10th: 700 Level. The 76ers are doomed, by the way.

Got a link or tip for Ball Don't Lie? Holler at me at kdonhoops (at) yahoo.com, or follow me on Twitter.

Ray Allen and Doc Rivers, pondering options (Getty Images)

Everything the Boston Celtics accomplish, in the wake of the team's 2008 NBA championship, is gravy. You can whine and moan over the fact that a triptych featuring Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen "only" won one ring together, and point to some potential lost opportunity as guard Rajon Rondo ascends to an All-Star level, but this was a team built for that year. They won that year. It's 2012, now, and things might as well get weird.

How weird? Like bringing potential Hall of Famer Ray Allen, once he returns from ankle woes that have dogged him for years, off the bench. Off the bench of a team currently ranked 27th in offensive efficiency, in favor a cat named "Avery Bradley," who defends well. Not as some sort of minutes-saving device, mind you, but as a way to keep the C's flowing. It makes no sense to us, but as we stated above, any form of championship contention nearly a half-decade removed from the trades that brought Allen and Garnett to Boston is found money. Here's the haps, from the Boston Globe:

[Boston Celtics coach Doc] Rivers acknowledged Allen might not start. "We've talked about it,'' Rivers said.

Dwight Howard and Stan Van Gundy, working together (Getty Images)

Remember the big smiles Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy gave us at the press conference announcing Dwight Howard's intention to waive his early termination option, and sign with the Magic for the 2012-13 season? No? Because Van Gundy wasn't there for that joke of an "announcement"? And have you read the news spiraling out of the sources of a small pond's big fish down in Orlando, about how Howard wants SVG and his staff gone this summer, once this miserable season ends? Yes?

Do a healthy portion of reputable Orlando folk want to disabuse us of the notion of listening to "Local 6 Sports Director David Pingalore" when he tells us that in "order for Dwight Howard to sign a contract extension this summer with the Orlando Magic, team owners will have to fire head coach Stan Van Gundy, as well as his coaching staff"?Sure. Are we guilty of believing that where there's smoke, there's fire? Of course.

But does it make sense that Howard wants absolutely nothing to do with Van Gundy, his staff and his expectations? Definitely. SVG has been Howard's coach for nearly five years now, and while the two have never openly feuded, Van Gundy's exacting style can wear on a soul. A soul that doesn't want to be held accountable. Howard wants to be liked, as much as he wants to win, and it's becoming clearer that the Orlando Magic and Dwight Howard don't deserve a coach as great as Stan Van Gundy.

Tom Thibodeau, hydrating (Getty Images)

When Tom Thibodeau flames out, everyone will swear they saw it coming.

We went over this on Tuesday. The man is brilliant, the man is obsessed, and no man can keep up that level of intensity forever. The Chicago Bulls head coach might be well on his way to consecutive Coach of the Year awards, an NBA first, but the note that began can also destroy. Thibodeau's genius and drive might wear out, soon enough. Even Michael Jordan, when it became too much, had to retire. Three times.

(The preceding two paragraphs are absolute garbage, by the way. Presumably, this is what the Chicago Bulls are telling themselves, as they put off extending Thibodeau's relatively slim coaching contract. ESPN's Marc Stein's reported last week that Thibs was "dismayed" at the fact that his bosses had yet to pony up to the man who is keeping their injured squad atop the NBA standings, a non-move that falls directly in line with the team's parsimonious past.)

The owners of the Oklahoma City Thunder don't mind lying about their documented intentions to move the team from Seattle to OKC, or contributing huge gobs of money in to programs designed to help deny the right for two consenting adults to marry after falling in love, but if you're a Thunder employee and you dare post a rap video online chronicling your team's best players while sporting Thunder gear? Well, you better brush up on your resume, buddy, because you're going to be out on your (Thunder) butt.

Here's the completely inoffensive video, as found by Welcome to Loud City and via'd our way by Trey at The Basketball Jones:

Yeah, not great. Kind of annoying, childishly gross at times. And I'm sure the contract of the since-fired Thunder employee states that he's not allowed to use Thunder apparel for promotional clips that they don't approve of, but to axe a member of the team's cheering squad for … cheering for the team? Or is it because team co-owner Aubrey McClendon is afraid of butts?

[Related: Rapper Serengeti says 'Don't Blame Steve' in Bartman-based rap song]

Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant don't appear to care about your stats (Getty Images)

Don't feed the troll. Don't feed the troll. Don't feed the … ah, forget it. We can't let this one go. Skip Bayless is commenting on games he hasn't watched again, getting it wrong as usual, and Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star Kevin Durant is calling him out for it.

Apparently (we're blissfully unaware, because we've watched as many minutes of Skip Bayless on TV during the last decade as Bayless has watched Oklahoma City Thunder games this season; that is to say we've happily never watched Skip Bayless on TV) Bayless has been on a rant recently trumping up the tired storyline about how Thunder point man Russell Westbrook wants the team to be his, how the point guard shoots too much (Durant has taken seven more shot attempts this season than Russell), and that it's a damning stat when Westbrook ends a game with more shot attempts than Durant. Durant, because he's seen (and even played in) quite a few Thunder games this year, chimed in with this:

"That guy doesn't know a thing about basketball," Durant said of Bayless before the Thunder faced Memphis on Monday night.

Tom Thibodeau exults in joy (Getty Images)

The thing that makes Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau the likely favorite for the Coach of the Year award is the thing that is driving him, and potentially his team, batty. The man -- the brilliant, exacting, intelligent dude who knows way more about this than any of us -- treats each basketball day like a 15-year old treats a high school romance. It's always the end of the world, nothing matters beyond what's either happening now or in 16 hours, and nobody understands.

This is why Tom Thibodeau is going absolutely bonkers in the wake of Chicago's first back-to-back losses on the season. You're allowed to play that back, if you need to. The Chicago Bulls led the NBA in wins last season. They've led the NBA in winning percentage for most of this year, despite watching as 2011 NBA MVP Derrick Rose missed 21 of the team's 55 games. And despite Rose's absences, the team has gone over three months without losing consecutive games.

Not to get fat and sassy as late April, and that postseason, approaches; but this accomplishment in and of itself is worth a laurel and hearty handshake. Thibs' team has already clinched a playoff berth under his guidance, the squad has somehow improved to fourth in offensive efficiency this year (up from 10th in 2011) despite Derrick Rose missing over a third of the team's games, and until Monday night they answered every step back with a step-up win. Still, Thibs is ticked. From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Reggie Miller has made the Hall of Fame (Getty Images)

The Basketball Hall of Fame is an absolute joke. The Baseball Hall of Fame could elect a series of Jack Morris-types in, twice a year, and the Football Hall of Fame could enshrine Tim Tebow before he even suits up for the New York Jets later this year; and those two collectives would still appear as mindful, knowledgeable organizations in comparison to this NBA-addled, logo-shilling front. Call into question whatever practices the Baseball and Football-wings toss out every voting season, and it wouldn't hold a candle to the transparently corporate practices that the shoe company-driven and David Stern-obsessed Hall of Fame routinely churn out. No amount of Dennis Rodman inductions will change that.

This was the case last year, when Indiana Pacers legend Reggie Miller was left off the ballot. This is the case this year, when it comes time for Miller's induction.

We'll fawn over Miller in late summer, when he takes to the stage for his induction speech. For now, the story is that Reggie Miller was voted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, a weird catch-all collective that is also bringing former coach and player Don Nelson into its mix, as well as former Virginia and Houston Rockets center Ralph Sampson. Does Miller belong? Does it matter?