Mickael Pietrus readies you to run through that brick wall for him (Getty Images)

Boston Celtics -- hell, we'll call him this -- legend Kevin Garnett is a free agent this summer. So is Ray Allen, the NBA's all-time leader in made 3-pointers. Paul Pierce has another year left before his contract can become mostly unguaranteed, and Rajon Rondo has been involved in trade rumors quite literally since the day he was drafted by another team back in 2006. As Yahoo! Sports' Marc Spears pointed out on Thursday, the Celtics are living in a state of impermanence.

As the season swings back and forth, and the team trades inspiring wins with ugly losses, it seems appropriate amongst this group of knowing veterans that an evocative voice in the locker room would stand up. And, as you'd expect, a clarion call has bounced off those locker room walls several times this season. And, as you wouldn't expect in a million years, that voice belongs to Mickael Pietrus. You heard me. According to Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald, the journeyman forward has been calling out the C's all season long:

Pietrus singled out teammates by name. He was careful to be respectful, but he was also critical. As the new guy he undoubtedly raised a few eyebrows, but that didn't stop Pietrus from standing up in a room that is ruled and policed by the most veteran group of future Hall of Famers in the NBA.

Kobe Bryant has Lamar Odom's back (Getty Images)

As someone whose life revolves around covering games that we learned to obsess over as children, I understand that perspective is in short supply in the field of detailing for a living and loving for a lifestyle the art of pro basketball. With that in place, I cannot understand the motivation for wanting to boo the crap out of a slumping millionaire athlete with his own reality TV show, a guy who has gotten to play in either Los Angeles or Miami for the duration of his 12-year professional career before last December, and someone who plays a style of ball so gorgeous and engaging that the game seems to come effortlessly to him.

It's still stupid to boo Dallas Mavericks forward Lamar Odom, though. And former teammate Kobe Bryant agrees, as the two took to the court as opponents on Wednesday night. "That's," Kobe said, referring to the boos Odom heard during Dallas' blowout loss to the Lakers, "just stupidity." Bryant went on, as quoted by ESPN Dallas:

"It's tough," Bryant said. "He comes to a team that's pretty much set, you know what I mean? So it's hard for him to find his niche. The fans, they don't really understand what he does or how he can do it, you know what I mean?"

Andre Iguodala (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: Hoopspeak. Tom Sunnergren's must-read on Philadelphia's Andre Iguodala.
PF: The Basketball Jones. Turns out that Caron Butler was filming the most overrated film in decades.
SF: New York Times. On the Charlotte Bobcats attempts to find fans in the heart of the ACC.
SG: SB Nation. Tom Ziller breaks down the races at the bottom of the playoff brackets.
PG: Hardwood Paroxysm. Steve McPherson includes a Lee Morgan reference in this LeBron James piece, so he's won my eyes and ears.

As has been the case throughout his nearly 20 years (yes, we're all very old) on television, talk show host Conan O'Brien continues to state that thing most people are surprised about upon meeting him is that they are taken aback by how tall he is. Even at 6-4, Conan doesn't usually come across on television as the sort of guy that could fit in easily as a tweener or tall NBA point guard. And his co-host Andy Richter, at 6-3, isn't far behind. Of course, this is still no excuse for TBS (clearly cutting cost after paying through their teeth to acquire all those "Big Bang Theory" re-runs) to come up with a set that isn't big enough for the duo, especially when Shaquille O'Neal is the show's first guest:

There we were, ready to anoint Chicago Bull center Omer Asik the finest flopper in the NBA, especially after his latest dive in Chicago's win over the Orlando Magic on Monday. But then Lost Letterman alerted us about this fantastic fall from a fellow named Mick Pennisi, who dove as if he was under canon fire following a shot to the head from Will McDonald in the Philippine Basketball Association game. Watch the sordid violence:

McDonald was rightfully ejected from the game, as he should have been, but Pennisi (from Lost Letterman: "'I think I'm going into acting when my career is over,' Pennisi told The Philippine Star afterward") should be ejected from the game of basketball for the next 10-12 years. Even if that dive was the funniest thing we've seen in a long time. Say, since, the last time Omer Asik "took an offensive foul" from Dwight Howard, seen here:

Samuel L. Jackson takes in a Lakers/Hornets game earlier in March (Getty Images)

Oscar-nominated actor Samuel L. Jackson is currently shooting a "spaghetti Southern" (term courtesy of its director, Quentin Tarantino) down in New Orleans. And, following in the footsteps of similarly shooting actor Will Ferrell, Jackson will take his turn introducing the New Orleans Hornets (and presumably the team's opponent, the Los Angeles Clippers) on Thursday night.

Considering that Jackson -- though a fabulous, well-rounded actor -- is best known for dropping copious amounts of f-bombs in his previous pairings with Tarantino (or parodies -- very, very NSFW parodies, like this one), this should be quite the treat . Tickets are still available at the Hornets' website (buy a ticket, and support the NBA's struggling Manhattan offices), and we'll no doubt have a clip of the intros up at BDL soon after.

Andray Blatche has next (Getty Images)

On Tuesday, Eric Freeman relayed the news that Washington Wizards forward Andray Blatche will be sidelined for an indefinite amount of time to aid the mercurial forward in getting in shape. This attempt at catching up to NBA speed comes three months removed from the opening of NBA training camps, but we're willing to look past that fact for now. What we can't overlook is the curious Twitter timeline 'Dray came through with early Tuesday morning, when it appears as if Blatche engaged in a furious early morning workout that may have lasted … 15 minutes?

Perhaps we're taking this too literally, but we found it pretty funny when D.C. Sports Bog's Dan Steinberg pointed out that Blatche tweeted to his ostensible workout partner at 3:32 to "get it," and that another workout partner tweeted that he had "just left the Gym" with Blatche and the first partner at 3:47. Blatche, wanting everyone to know that he was getting his run on, promptly re-tweeted that.

We're pretty sure that Blatche didn't just go in for a 15-minute workout just a few hours after being shamed by interim Wizards coach Randy Wittman and shunned from the struggling team, even the more bloated amongst us (and believe me, I am all about being amongst that) can withstand more than a 15-minute run, especially when Blatche averages over 24 minutes per game. It's the timing of the event that says quite a bit.

Boris Diaw is free of Charlotte's opressive pinstripes (Getty Images)

The Charlotte Bobcats and Boris Diaw have reached a buyout agreement, making the versatile forward a free agent. This is good news for those who embrace versatility's literal meaning, because Boris can come to you in several shapes and sizes, with different levels of motivation, declining to make an impact or completely taking over the game in a positive way. He can be brilliant, and he can be terrible. He can help your team, or absolutely waste its time. He could be in shape, or maddeningly portly. He's versatile.

Charlotte Observer reporter Rick Bonnell first reported the news on Tuesday morning, but this has been in the offing for two weeks, especially after Bonnell quoted Bobcats coach Paul Silas' infamous description of Diaw after his removal from Charlotte's active (a loose definition, to be sure) roster on March 7th:

"I like a player who is really committed to not only the team but to himself and then doing the best he can as a player,'' Silas said. "Some of the things that would go on, like not shooting the ball, passing all of the time."