The NBA survived Day 1 without Kobe. Whew

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

HERE’S OUR PLAYOFF GUIDE: We went all radial bracket on it this year. Shout out to Graham MacAree for the incredible design. The individual series previews are linked in there. Paul Flannery and I also joined Mike Prada and Ben Epstein on the Limited Upside podcast to preview the playoffs. Here’s Paul and the dudes on the East and me on the West.

HERE’S YOUR PRELIMINARY DRAFT ORDER. Ties will be broken Friday.

MEN OF INTRIGUE: I ranked all 241 players on playoff rosters in terms how intriguing their postseason runs are. Aaron Harrison, Brian Roberts? Not so intriguing. Andre Drummond, Kevin Love and Kevin Durant? You bet.

A PREFERRED ALTERNATE TIMELINE: What if the Hornets had never traded Kobe?

MORE KOBE: Howard Beck on how Kobe’s finale is a perfect portrait of his career. Nick DePaula on how Kobe put the league in low-top shoes. 538’s Neil Paine tracks the rise of basketball analytics parallel to the peak and demise of Kobe, which is real interesting. David Aldridge says goodbye to the Mamba. And so does Woj. Lee Jenkins puts a stamp on Kobe’s career.

ALL 20 YEARS: Kobe is the first player to spend 20 years with one team. Tim Duncan can match that next year, and potentially pass it in 2017-18.

IT’S THON: The NBA has cleared Thon Maker to enter the 2016 Draft, despite the fact that he spent this year at his high school academy. He successfully convinced the league that he actually graduated in 2015, and since he’s a 19-year-old international player, he’s good to go. Some are concerned this will open the floodgates for other prospects who spend a fifth year in high school.

TRY THIS, COACH CAL: UConn’s stars went 1-2-3 in the WNBA Draft on Thursday. Seattle is the lucky team to get Breanna Stewart. Moriah Jefferson went to San Antonio No. 2. Morgan Tuck will stay in Connecticut with the Sun after being taken No. 3.

YEP: It is super weird that members of the media -- including a couple of folks paid by the Pelicans -- will decide whether Anthony Davis gets a $24 million boost to his contract.

NEAT: The NBA will track and release some “hustle” stats during the playoffs.

OOH: Sam Amick talks to Steph Curry about just starting to realize how good he is, as well as how Curry responded to that now-infamous Joe Lacob quote saying the Warriors organization is “light years ahead” of any other team and how “it’s not just Steph Curry.” Very interesting.

MORE DUBS: Chris Ballard reflects on their 73-win season. Bethlehem Shoals bows before the Warriors.

PUBLIC SERVICE: Why a woman created a video tracking the many hard fouls Jeremy Lin has received without a flagrant ever being called.

KANGZ: Sam Amick talks to Vlade Divac about what went wrong this season and how the Kings will approach their coaching search. Meanwhile, Chris Mannix has some anecdotes that (surprise!) make the Kings look extra dysfunctional.

THE PERFECT CODA TO NICK YOUNG’S SEASON: He tried to get Kobe to sign some Adidas, Kobe threw them in the trash.

Happy Friday. Reminder: We’re going seven days a week for the playoffs, draft and free agency. So see you next time, which will be Saturday.

Alternate History: What if the Hornets never traded Kobe to LA?

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