Here is our regular look around the NBA — links to stories worth reading and notes to check out (stuff that did not get its own post here at PBT) — done in bullet point form. Because bloggers love bullet points like I love Top Chef…
• Kyrie Irving is on the cover of NBA Live 14. Above you get a little taste of the game.
• Our old friend Rob Mahoney, now of SI, tries to make the point we shouldn’t be comparing LeBron James and Michael Jordan because it is a disservice to LeBron. Not that he’s better, but he’s different. That will lead some in the comments to bash LeBron (and Mahoney).
• Who has had a better run: The Tim Duncan Spurs or the Tom Brady Patriots? I think the better question is whether Gregg Popovich or Bill Belichick detest press conferences more?
• Popovich and the Spurs GM R.C. Buford have quite a coaching/GM tree in the league now.
• A lot of people don’t understand why George Karl is out in Denver, here is as good a breakdown as you will find (courtesy Zach Lowe at Grantland).
• The Bulls have broken ground on their new practice facility, which when done will be right across the street from the United Center.
• The Sixers front office is playing their coaching search very close to the vest. (Which never goes over well with reporters.)
• The Boston Celtics and Minnesota Timberwolves are going to play a preseason game at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, on October 20. It’s the second year in a row the NBA has brought a game to Canada to try and crack that market… oh, yea, forgot about them. Never mind. But they are going to Montreal anyway.
• Speaking of the Celtics, their owner Wyc Grousbeck has teamed up with some other guys to pool about $80 million to invest in sports media.
• The Pacers are doing a lot better financially after that long run in the playoffs.
• But was the Pacers season a success?
• Right now a lot of NBA teams are bringing in potential draft picks for workouts. What is that actually like?
• Minnesota’s Alexey Shved will not play in Summer League because he will be playing in Eurobasket for Russia.
• Kevin Saraphin, however, will not play for the French national team this summer.
• The NBA launched its new “Best Teammate Award” (Chauncey Billups was the winner) and named it the Twyman-Stokes Award. Here is the amazing story of where that name came from.