Brittney Griner learns the finer points of acting from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Barry Gossage/ Getty).

Legendary NBA center Hakeem Olajuwon has created something of a second career for himself as a teacher of post moves to stars and promising young players alike. Hakeem's tutees are presumably drawn to him because of his reputation as a master of post moves, and it doesn't hurt that many of his previous students have seen success.

On the other hand, it's not as if Olajuwon should have a monopoly on working with professional basketball players looking to improve their interior games. While he may be particularly well known for his varied moves in the post, there have been plenty of big men with go-to scoring tactics worth imparting to a younger generation. It's unclear why another legend couldn't step up to fill a similar role.

Perhaps Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will be that person. At a recent practice, Abdul-Jabbar taught one notable pro center his patented sky hook. Of course, she's not in the NBA. From John Marshall for the Associated Press:

Kobe Bryant, daredevil (Getty Images)

Kobe Bryant has played through broken fingers, and a severe and painful knee condition that resulted in him having to undergo fluid draining procedures in-between playoff games. His final two points of the 2012-13 season, following a seven-game run that saw him average 45 minutes per game, came at the free throw line, directly after he badly tore his Achilles tendon. He’s a tough dude.

Possibly a crazy dude, too. Because he sometimes puts himself in a position to where he could be swimming with sharks. And not in the metaphorical, Hollywood-sense. In the, “giant boat and shark-infested waters of the Pacific ocean”-sense.

Daniel Buerge of Laker Nation was kind enough to find this photo that Nike rep Heidi Burgett tweeted out on Thursday. After the jump, you’ll see a large picture of Bryant, pre-injury, as taken and explained by Nike’s Eric Avar:

George Hill's out, meaning D.J. Augustin will need to step up. (Nathaniel S. Butler/NBA/Getty Images)

The Indiana Pacers will be without starting point guard George Hill in Thursday's Game 5 against the New York Knicks, Pacers director of media relations David Benner announced a little more than 90 minutes before tip-off at Madison Square Garden:

Pacers guard George Hill will miss tonight's game in NYwith a concussion. He sustained the injury in Tuesday's game

— David Benner (@PacersDMB) May 16, 2013

Pacers coach Frank Vogel told reporters that Hill is day-to-day after being diagnosed with a concussion, which Vogel said he sustained during a first-half collision with Knicks center Tyson Chandler. We don't know specifically when it happened, but midway through the first quarter, Hill went down hard after a Chandler screen:

Michael Jordan hugs Allen Iverson while Stephon Marbury sees a shiny object (Randy Belice/ Getty).

Over the years, basketball fans have become accustomed to considering Michael Jordan as a fairly vindictive and flawed person, not just an unimpeachable legend of the game. From his infamous Hall of Fame induction speech to more intimate profiles, Jordan has come across as someone who holds grudges and isn't afraid to interrupt the rules of polite company if it means getting what he wants. Presumably it's much easier for him to do these things than it is for an average schmoe, because he is the most famous basketball player ever.

Despite this now familiar perspective on Jordan's personal life, it's still somewhat jarring to encounter new details of his everday actions. Such is the case of rapper and actor Bow Wow (formerly Lil Bow Wow), a longtime friend of Jordan's sons. On one occasion, he found out just how invested Jordan is in his relationship with Nike. From a recent interview with Montreality (via For The Win):

'Oh, pardon me, Tyson.' (Ron Hoskins/NBA/Getty Images)

The Indiana Pacers stand just one win away from earning their first trip to the Eastern Conference finals in nine years, just 48 minutes from a rematch with a Miami Heat squad that ousted them from the playoffs in the second round one year ago. All they have to do is follow in the footsteps of the Heat and Memphis Grizzlies by taking care of business and beating Carmelo Anthony and his New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden in Game 5 on Thursday night.

Given how easily they've handled New York for most of this series — and the fact that they've already won at the World's Most Famous Arena here in Round 2 — you'd think they'd enter Game 5 bursting with hubris, breathing easily and crowing loudly. Except that's not who these Pacers are and it's not what brought them here; to hear them tell it, according to Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star, they're talking like they're facing the '92 Dream Team:

“We haven’t won anything. We have to be perfect,” Pacers center Roy Hibbert said. “The [Knicks] play extremely well at home. We’re going to have our hands full. They are really an explosive team when at home.” [...]

“It’s going to be 10 times harder, it being in New York,” Pacers swingman Paul George said. “We know how well they play at home, so it’s going to take a great effort, so we’ll see where we’re at.” [...]

“We won in Atlanta, which is a hard place to win, with our backs against the wall, so we know we can win on the road and I think we’re going to take the same mentality to New York and try to close it out there,” Pacers point guard George Hill said. “But like I said, it’s not going to be easy. The [Knicks] play extremely well at home and we’re just going to do the best we can to make it tough for them.” [...]

“We know New York is such an explosive team, such a tenacious team, that we’re not in any shape or form comfortable with what we’re doing and we know we need an extraordinary effort like we had the last couple of games to get a win, and that’s what our focus is,” [Pacers coach Frank] Vogel said.

Kevin Durant during Oklahoma City's final game on Wednesday (Getty Images)

With every season that ends, for the playoff teams at least, we felt it right to take a look ahead. TNT already has the rights to "Gone Fishin'," and because we're sure that someone, somewhere, still likes that Wyclef song, we're going with "Gone Till November." And, yes, we know the season starts in October. Today? The Oklahoma City Thunder.

Russell Westbrook’s knee injury may have cost his team an NBA title this season, but it could also go a long way towards saving coach and general manager Sam Presti a whole heck of a lot of criticism. To some Oklahoma City Thunder fans, that statement is just piling bad on top of bad.

Scorn for Brooks’ abilities date back two years at this point, and whether they come in the form of complaining about his limited mid-playoff adjustments or overreliance on certain vets, he’s taken quite a bit of heat following two straight five-game finishes to seasons in 2012 and now 2013. Presti, meanwhile, will receive tempered but certain criticism for his choices to ostensibly value contract extensions for Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka over one for Houston Rocket All-Star James Harden.

Both will be back next year, though. Brooks just finished the first year of a four year contract, and Presti has done so well in his first six years with the team that he’s earned several more years of goodwill. Both admirably and staunchly defended themselves (and by extension, the team’s owners) in the wake of the deal that sent James Harden to Houston, allowing for the team’s ownership to skate in the face of paying the luxury tax. On top of that, Westbrook’s season ending injury allows for most to consider the 2012-13 team a once-again championship contender that was just felled by bad luck at the worst possible time.

Klay and Steph have to shoot well enough to merit a postgame chat tonight. (Andrew D. Bernstein/NBA/Getty)

The Golden State Warriors will fight to stave off elimination on Thursday when they welcome the San Antonio Spurs to Oracle Arena for Game 6 of their Western Conference semifinals series. After a 109-91 Game 5 rout that saw Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson combine for just 13 points on 6 for 22 shooting in 70 total minutes, the lion's share of the questions have focused on how Warriors coach Mark Jackson can get his vaunted backcourt back on track and firing on all cylinders in a bid to extend the series to a deciding seventh game back in San Antonio.

Interestingly enough, just weeks after telling anyone who'd listen just how good and important he thought his sharpshooting duo was, Jackson now seems much more interested in the other end of the floor, according to Carl Steward of the San Jose Mercury News:

"It's not about their shooting," Jackson said flatly. "We didn't play well. We own it, and we move forward. We're disappointed across the board, and it is what it is. Now we make the proper adjustments, because we don't want to put together a similar game." [...]

Neither player was present before practice nor made available to the media to offer any explanations or solutions for what happened in Game 5. In their stead, Jackson poured cold water on their combined shortcomings as the main reason for the loss and spread the blame team-wide.

"We can make it about [Curry and Thompson], but for us, that's not what it's about," the coach said. "It's a four-point game in the third quarter. [The Spurs] shot 72 percent in the first quarter and scored 37 points. That has nothing to do with Klay Thompson or Steph Curry shooting the basketball."

To a certain extent, that's true. But only to a certain extent.

I kind of can't believe it's only been a week since Joakim Noah's ejection in Game 2 of his Chicago Bulls' Eastern Conference semifinals matchup with the Miami Heat. It feels like way more time has passed between Noah getting the gate, a certain upset blonde Heat backer deciding to express her displeasure with the Bulls big man, her middle-finger salute going viral, the world learning her name is Filomena Tobias and the world going on to learn that she has what you might call a complicated backstory. (I guess the playoff schedule has a way of stretching things out.)

Well, if it's seemed like a long time to me, I can only imagine what kind of week it's been for Tobias. After initially saying she didn't want to comment on the incident and that those interested in it "need to get a life," according to her daughter, she's now decided to apologize, sort of, while also taking those of us who've written about it all to task.

In a statement issued to noted basketball resource Jose Lambiet's Gossip Extra by her attorney, Anthony Barbuto, Tobias copped to making an "ill-mannered" gesture, but remains upset by the subsequent "very ugly and despicable intrusion" into her personal and legal history: