Aging basketball player to retire from horrendous team

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

WELL ... BYE: Kobe’s final NBA game is here. My position from November, when he announced this was it, stands. If you’re wondering if the Lakers should retire No. 8 or No. 24, this is a wonderful breakdown. Los Angeles’ Metro transit system will rename a stop “Kobe Station” in honor of a man who commutes to work via helicopter. Kevin Ding has been covering Kobe literally his entire career; here’s his farewell column.

73? The Warriors could break the 20-year-old single-season wins record set by the Peak Bulls with a win over the Grizzlies on Wednesday. The hating, mean old Grizzlies. Hmm.

HELLO, SPURS DANCING GIF. HELLO. WELCOME.

CLOSE TO CLOSURE: Hey, only one day left! We know what two Eastern Conference series will be: Cavaliers (1) vs. Pistons (8) and Raptors (2) vs. Pacers (7). Comedies or dramas? We’ll see. Meanwhile, just about nothing is settled in the 3-6 mess in the East, so you’ll need to check out our playoff scenarios post to break it down. The same applies to the West, where the Blazers, Mavericks and Grizzlies have no idea who they’ll face in the first round yet, and where the Jazz and Rockets are still fighting for that last playoff spot.

FLIP’S SCRIPT: Phenomenal Zach Harper piece on how Karl-Anthony Towns fits into Flip Saunders’ decades-old gameplan.

MAKE EVERY SHOT: Mirin Fader with an excellent deep dive on J.J. Redick and his quest to never miss.

HARDWARE: Paul Flannery and I made our NBA award picks. Even Most Improved Player!

SCORES GALORE ...

NYK 90, IND 102
MIA 99, DET 93
PHI 98, TOR 122
OKC 98, SAS 102 (OT)
MEM 84, LAC 110

ROCK CHALK: Ricky O’Donnell on why Josh Jackson is a perfect fit at Kansas and is a future potential No. 1 pick.

GOD BLESS NORMAN POWELL: The Raptors blew out the Sixers in Toronto, and with time winding down and an open court ahead, rookie Norman Powell could have run out the clock. But he put down a dope windmill instead. And I love him for it.

TALKING KOBE: A neat quote history of Kobe Bryant’s career on NBA.com. Via REDEF.

SMRT: Charles Barkley is again vociferously doubting the Warriors.

STAUSKAS!

HERE COME NASCAR JERSEYS: ESPN reports the NBA Board of Governors is expected to approve on-jersey ads this week. They’d be non-intrusive, 6.25-square-inch patches near the shoulder. Some team is going to wile out with something weird. I mean, an NBA team plays in the Smoothie King Center, for crying out loud. It sort of wishes we still had the Maloofs in the NBA ...

JEREMY LIN IS A GOOD HUMAN: How good a human is Jeremy Lin? A woman was tricked into getting the Chinese characters for “Jeremy Lin” tattooed on her leg. Once she learned who Jeremy Lin was (and presumably punched the person who tricked her), she became a Lin fan. So he repaid the favor and “tattooed” the same characters on his own leg. Very neat.

BIRD RESCUE: Interesting info in this Justin Verrier piece on the Pelicans’ injury woes and training program.

THE IMPORTANT STUFF: Kevin Arnovitz reveals what it takes for a hotel to host an NBA team.

ON THE AIR TONIGHT: Important games! The Warriors go for 73 vs. the Grizzlies at 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. Kobe’s last stand vs. the Jazz is at the same time on ESPN 2. Heat-Celtics on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET should start to settle some things. So will Magic-Hornets and Hawks-Wizards (League Pass on both). The West League Pass games of note include Spurs-Mavericks (early), Kings-Rockets (early) and Nuggets-Blazers (late). We’ll have full, robust coverage, of course.

Happy Final Day Of The Regular Season! See you next time.

Kobe’s Legacy: His accolades are matched only by his flaws

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