Kevin Durant's collection of "business tattoos" took a number of folks by surprise two summers ago. Some were struck by the torso-covering tats, which they viewed as a departure from the clean-cut, broad-appeal persona he'd cultivated; this seemed like a silly, outmoded way of looking at things. Others were simply surprised because they'd assumed Durant was tattoo-free because they'd never seen any; this is also a bit silly, but at least not quite so judgmental.

Whatever your reaction to the artistic revelation, it confirmed that — like many of his peers, both within the NBA and outside it — Durant digs ink, setting the stage for new and interesting decorations to come. The self-expression continued a couple of months later, with the Oklahoma City Thunder star getting "Maryland" (his home state) tattooed across his shoulder-blades above a basketball-holding angel flanked by hands gesturing with Durant's number 35.

Apparently, though, the piece wasn't complete. This week, Durant used some of his newfound, unexpected free time to get it finished:

All done. (Photo via sniperjones35 on Instagram)

In the caption included when posting the photo to Instagram, Durant informed us that the script along the right side of his lower back next to Jesus' face is Scripture, specifically James 1:2-4, and suggested we "look it up." So we did:

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

A reminder of the importance of sticking to one's principles in difficult times seems not only nice, but also extraordinarily appropriate for Durant this week.

Bryan Colangelo traded away the 12th pick in the 2013 draft for Kyle Lowry (Getty Images)

It’s not the worst thing in the world that Bryan Colangelo is staying with the Toronto Raptors in a nebulous, barely-specified role. It’s not the weirdest thing in the world, either, or even the weirdest decision that Raptors-owning Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment has ever made.

It is suitably strange, though, to see Colangelo both promoted and being told to mind his manners when it comes to future personnel moves by his new boss, MLSE CEO Tim Leiweke. The Toronto Raptors’ general manager, Leiweke told reporters on Tuesday, will be the one making the final basketball-related decisions, and “he’s going to have to live with that,” along with living and working with the new Toronto Raptors GM.

A GM that has yet to be named, by the way. Good thing Colangelo already traded away his 2013 lottery pick.

Every year, NBA fans wonder why the actual lottery portion of the NBA's annual Draft Lottery — all those numbered ping-pong balls bouncing around before eventually being sucked up to the top of their container, removed and set aside to determine the draft positions (and, just maybe, franchise fates) of the year's bottom 14 teams — isn't shown on the televised portion of the event's broadcast. The conspiracy theorists among us — which, obviously, includes fans of literally every team and even, as we learned last year, some NBA executives — typically swear that it's kept off-camera so we can't see all the devious rigging that goes on, with NBA Commissioner David Stern putting his thumb on the scales of justice to tilt the odds in favor of whichever franchise paid the proper illicit price.

That's one possible explanation, sure. Another, likelier one: The lottery drawing is really, really boring.

LeBron James answers the annoying questions on Tuesday (Getty Images)

Indiana center Roy Hibbert was more than a few NBA observers’ pick for Defensive Player of the Year runner-up, and he’s certainly the most important feature of a Pacers defense that ranked tops in the NBA in defensive efficiency this season. That stingy streak has carried to the postseason, where Hibbert is once again averaging around two and a half blocks per game, in a defense that prefers contested shots to outright throwbacks.

[Related: LeBron James seals thrilling triumph for Heat]

This is probably why LeBron James was seen working on floaters Tuesday on Miami's practice court. It's a move that the NBA’s MVP rarely breaks out on account of him bein’ all LeBron James an’ all. LeBron was spied perfecting the evasive maneuver during the post-practice shootaround on Tuesday that was available to the media, and he explained the added attention at the press scrum following, as documented by Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald:

“I just dust it off when I need it,” James said.

Finally, an answer to the question that's plagued philosophers/standup comedians for years: What if they just made the whole team out of the worst/most memorable moment of Charles Smith's playoff career?

Thanks, Memphis Grizzlies. But seriously, who could ever believe that Tony Allen and Zach Randolph (with an assist from rookie Tony Wroten) would combine to miss a bunch of layups? I know — totally random and unbelievable.

About four months ago, some NBA people were seriously discussing whether or not Tony Parker could make a legitimate claim to being the league's Most Valuable Player this season. That discussion was mostly bunk, on account of LeBron James existing, but it was an important step up in recognition for the evolution of the San Antonio Spurs point guard's game over the past few years — the vision, pace and timing he's added to his speed and quickness, the subtle in-and-out moves and slight feints he's mastered to keep even first-rate defenders off-balance, the feel he's developed for when to hunt his own offense and when to facilitate for others to make sure San Antonio's offensive machine is in prime working order.

After skewing a bit toward the former with a team-high 14 shots and a game-high 20 points in the Spurs' Western Conference finals-opening win over the visiting Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday, Parker clearly veered back to the latter in Tuesday's Game 2, keeping Memphis' perimeter defenders at arm's length and dominating the opening three quarters of the game en route to a career-best 18 assists in a 93-89 overtime win that gave San Antonio a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Sure, there might have been a little bit of home-scorer's cooking on a couple of those credited dimes, but Parker's overall control of the game and mastery of a hard-working Grizzlies defense was undeniable.

"He was unbelievable," longtime running buddy Tim Duncan said after the game. "I know he's exhausted. We asked a lot of him. He was controlling the ball every time down the floor and he was making every right play there was. He was finding people, and people knocked down shots for him."

The Memphis Grizzlies' slogan for these playoffs has been "We Don't Bluff," a reference to a semi-famous quote from Zach Randolph and an encapsulation of the toughness that's typified this team for the past three seasons. However, that distaste for play-acting was called into question for at least one key moment in their Game 2 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night.

With the score 85-81 in favor of San Antonio and 27 seconds left in regulation, Zach Randolph forced a steal from Manu Ginobili and passed ahead to Tony Allen, who seemed to have a clear path to the basket for a lay-up. Ginobili caught up, though, and pulled Allen down by his forearm as he rose up for the shot. Allen grabbed his head after crashing to the floor, which suggested that it was a serious foul.

The officials called a flagrant foul and headed over to the monitors to assess the severity. Replays showed a somewhat different picture of the action. While Allen did in fact hit the floor hard, his head never hit the ground. That indicates he bluffed, contrary to the Grizzlies' slogan. It worked, too — Allen nailed both free throws, Mike Conley hit a tough runner on the ensuing possession, and the Grizzlies forced overtime with the score tied at 85-85. The extra period wouldn't have happened if not for the flagrant.

It would be fair to expect San Antonio Spurs fans to let out sighs of relief after the end of Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals against the Memphis Grizzlies. After blowing a 13-point fourth quarter lead to see the Grizzlies force overtime (due in part to a questionable flagrant foul on Manu Ginobili with 26 seconds left), the Spurs controlled overtime to come away with a 93-89 win and 2-0 series lead heading into Game 3 in Memphis. They averted disaster and remain in strong position to make the NBA Finals.

Yet, for at least one attending fan, the game's end was not an opportunity to express relief, but rather a chance to celebrate the Spurs' win in the form of an excited yelp. With two consecutive screams of "We did it!" this man has now entered playoff fan lore alongside Joakim Noah flipper-offer and potential murderer Filomena Tobias, the woman who screamed during the entire Spurs comeback in Game 1 against the Golden State Warriors, and the Miami Heat's "good job, good effort" kid, his spiritual cousin. Congratulations, sir: you will now always be known as "We Did It" Guy.