Kareem Abdul-Jabbar skyhooks over Randy Breuer, who is next in line for his statue (Getty Images)

Over a year ago, seemingly in response to the statues given to former Minneapolis Lakers center George Mikan, Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell and Los Angeles Lakers Magic Johnson and Jerry West, former Milwaukee Bucks and Lakers center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar moaned a bit about not getting his own tribute from the team he played for between 1975 and 1989. As you'll recall, Kareem was very much put off by the terrible ordeal his former team was putting him through:

"I don't understand (it). It's either an oversight or they're taking me for granted. I'm not going to try to read people's minds, but it doesn't make me happy. It's definitely a slight. I feel slighted."

Slighted. Because they didn't build you a statue. Possibly slighted in the same way Tommy Chong felt slighted (as revealed 65 minutes into this wonderfully NSFW podcast of the brilliant Todd Glass Show) by Kareem after failing to connect on a delivery of sorts 35 years ago. Allegedly.

Kareem can moan no more, probably, because the Lakers very definitely have decided to give the man a statue. Even though Laker spokesman John Black rightfully pointed out that the team wasn't in the business of tossing up a statue "every year," the team has announced that Abdul-Jabbar will get his very own massive stone ideal. It will be unveiled during the 2012-13 season, though no date has been set in stone. Perhaps now the Kareem and the Lakers' relationship will be off the rocks.

The outside of the Barclays Center, as pictured last April (Getty Images)

When Brooklyn Nets part-owner Jay-Z opens up the new Barclays Center with a series of hippin' and the hoppin' concerts in late September, those attendees who haven't walked by the new Nets arena might be surprised at the building's rustic exterior look. Or "rusty" exterior look. Because, seriously, there's rust all over the outside of the place. On purpose.

The New York Times is reporting that the building has been covered in 12,000 pieces of something called "weathering steel," which appears to be a needlessly long way of describing "rusted metal." The impetus behind the use of the product is apparently a mix of function and fashion, and popular in some parts of New York City. Though some, according to the Times' piece, have yet to be swayed.

Elizabeth Harris has the scoop:

Weathering steel — often known by its old brand name, Cor-Ten — develops a fine layer of rust, which then acts as a protective coating against moisture, slowing its own corrosion process almost to a stop. While it can look suspiciously unfinished to the casual observer, it has many fans in the world of art and architecture.

Brian Scalabrine (Jonathan Daniel/ Getty)Two weeks ago, before the trickle of the end of free agency turned into a full-on drought, we ran a story about free agent forward Brian Scalabrine's attempts to find a job with a new team and his opinion that anyone who mocks him is an idiot. Yet, while Scalabrine is rightly respected by ex-teammates and coaches for his understanding of the game, his reputation as an on-court (er, maybe, "on-bench") mascot exists in part because he himself cultivated that image over the course of several years with the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls. He could profess frustration at not being re-signed by Chicago or getting other offers, but in reality his 11-season career probably went on longer than most people would have expected. Officially, Scalabrine is still looking for a roster spot and hasn't retired. However, according to a report from Aggrey Sam of CSNChicago.com (via PBT), Scal could soon hang up his sneakers to become an NBA assistant coach:

Once the marquee event of All-Star Weekend, the NBA's Slam Dunk Contest has seen its popularity dip in recent seasons as superstars opt against participating and competitors increasingly rely on gimmicks instead of aerial artistry. Nevertheless, the contest is not without its charms. In the midst of a rather dull 2012 entry in Orlando, Utah Jazz big man Jeremy Evans wowed the crowd at least once on his way to the title.

Evans is a great dunker, clearly, and it'd take a lot to beat him in any competition. Surprisingly, though, he was bested by Kristaps Dargais during a recent dunk contest appearance in Riga, Latvia. Watch the video above, and wonder how this upset ever happened. Then, after the jump, check out more dunks from Dargais and Evans (via TeamFlightBrothers on YouTube).

JaVale McGee considers the trigonometric identities (Harry How/ Getty).

At this point, most of the NBA is on Twitter. It's a wild world of training updates, questions as to which movies they should go see, and explanations of their Call of Duty prowess. Every so often, though, you also get a picture into the more interesting aspects of NBA life. This feature is your window into that world.

DeJuan Blair: That awkward moment when your toys make 3 movies behind your back... Haha bored thinkin

JaVale McGee: RT @JaValeMcGee34 NO SQUARES IN MY CIRCLE! COUPLE OF OCTAGONS THAT FIT BUT NOT PERFECTLY!

LeBron James: I wanna take my boys to go see @KDTrey5 movie "Thunderstruck"

Hasheem Thabeet: THE EXPANDABLES 2 INSPIRED. LMAOYAHAHAHAHA http://instagram.com/p/O1WNqRLGey/

Rajon Rondo: My palate is maturing. http://lockerz.com/s/238759814

You can also follow Eric Freeman on Twitter at @freemaneric.

Of thee I sing. (WireImage)

A giant burger, a giant order of fries, a giant chocolate milkshake, a giant logo advertising a brand on your shirt, a giant thumb's up and a giant, friendly smile. Metta World Peace is, and remains, our greatest patriot, Canadian weather forecasting notwithstanding.

Let's hear your best pro-America, pro-former Ron Artest slogans. Best caption wins the only non Tru Warior Entertainment song that would make sense as Metta's theme music. Good luck.

In our last adventure: INTO THE PAST! Shaquille O'Neal is having a staring contest. Bill Walton is having a metaphysical conversation that will last 10 lifetimes.

Kobe Bryant walks with the ball during a Nov. 14, 2005, game against the Grizzlies in Memphis. (Getty Images)On Thursday, we celebrated Kobe Bryant's 34th birthday by making jokes about how his 81-point performance against the Toronto Raptors back in 2006 was fueled by pepperoni pizza and waxing hopeful about how we want the brilliant, humble, fiery Bryant of old back this season. On Friday, the Los Angeles Lakers star celebrated a very different occasion — the out-of-court settlement of a years-long lawsuit that accused him of assault, battery and outrageous conduct for forearming a Memphis Grizzlies fan in the chest during a game at FedExForum.

The incident in question took place during an 85-73 Grizz win on Nov. 14, 2005. While running after a loose ball headed out of bounds, Bryant collided with Bill Geeslin, an insurance agent from Blytheville, Ark., who was sitting courtside. Geeslin came away from the collision with a bruised lung cavity and decided to take legal action, according to Lawrence Buser of the Memphis Commercial Appeal:

"I recall a fast-paced incident seeing him come to me, running into me and then forearming me," Geeslin said in a 2008 deposition. "He intentionally forearmed me in the chest. He did not apologize. He walked away and pushed — he kind of pushed his arm toward me and glared at me and walked away."

He surmised that Bryant was angry that his team was losing or that the referee called no foul on the Grizzlies.

Geeslin, then 49, died two months after his 2008 deposition, but his estate is continuing with the suit with his mother, Betty Geeslin, substituted as the plaintiff.

There is no allegation that the contact with Bryant caused his death, but Geeslin previously said he felt like "a human punching bag" and filed suit because he felt violated and that Bryant should not be able to "inject such pain."

Geeslin — and, subsequently, his estate — felt that such treatment and the suffering that followed entitled him to an amount "exceeding $75,000," according to Buser. That seems like a level of damage that not even "The Narcissist" Lex Luger's surgically enhanced forearm could inflict with a single blow, but then, I am not a doctor.

If you weren't scrutinizing the news-and-notes sections at the bottom of Washington Wizards columns in late March, when the team was limping through a 5-11 month en route to a second-worst-in-the-league 20-46 record, you might have missed the news that young Wizards center Kevin Seraphin has a snake named Snakey. (It's OK — no reason for you to apologize. If anything, you were only hurting yourself by living without that information.) Snakey is a small milk snake; snakes are Seraphin's favorite animals. These, remarkably, are facts.

And what do you do when you love snakes and are on offseason vacation in Ibiza? This, apparently:

Super fun vacation. (Image via kevin_seraphin on Instagram)

Yep, that's Kevin Seraphin with two snakes hanging around his neck, each one allegedly weighing 20 kilos (just under 44.1 pounds) and measuring four meters (just over 13.1 feet) in length. (They also eat rabbits, according to Seraphin, which stands to reason, because they are snakes, you see.)