A look around the league and the web that covers it. It’s also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren’t always listed in order of importance. That’s for you, dear reader, to figure out.

C: SA Express-News. Jeff McDonald: "In his first interview since April 5, the day before a stress fracture in his right distal fibula put a premature end to the most tumultuous season of his career, Ginobili said Sunday that he expects to be fully recovered by the opening of training camp in October".
PF: Dwight Howard Blog. Dwight meets "American Idol" winner Kris Allen, talks trash with Lakers fans.
SF: Out Of Left Field. Whatever you think of Courtney Lee’s botched play, he has plenty of company.
SG: Celtics Hub. The Celtics’ offense couldn’t possibly be better without Kevin Garnett, could it?
PG: SMW. Game 2 of the Finals was off from last year, but still drew strong ratings on ABC Sunday night.
6th: CelticsBlog. Jeff Clark is here to tell you that the C’s have to at least think about trading Ray Allen.
7th: Welcome To Loud City. Real Thunder players, fake comedic Afros. Why? I have no idea, man.
8th: SRI. Devin Harris talks about Kobe, the Finals format, the Nets and free agent Carlos Boozer.
9th: NBA Playoffs 2009. Everybody’s a prop comic in Los Angeles …
10th: New York Post. Marc Berman: "Knicks team president Donnie Walsh will eye a center with his $5 million mid-level exception during free agency, and Orlando’s 7-foot backup Marcin Gortat is very high on his list."

Got a tip/link for Ball Don’t Lie? Hit me up at jeskeets@yahoo.ca or follow me on Twitter.

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French Magic man Mickael Pietrus argues a call with referee Tom Washington during the first quarter of Game 2 of the NBA Finals in Los Angeles. Pietrus fouled out with 3:08 left in regulation. Best caption/imaginary conversation wins two tickets to see Roch Voisine. Bonne chance, mes amis!

After the jump, Driving Mr. Odom.

Winner, ragefury624:
Odom: You know, it wouldn’t hurt to stop at a gas station and ask for directions …
Pau: (grunts)

Runner-up, Denver:
Pau: See, Lamar, this is why you shouldn’t sugar. You always crash. You know, the sugar actually temporarily spikes your blood sugar then …
Odom: Ugh … You tell me this every day after practice.
Pau: … and then you get so tired you can’t drive straight, and your eyes zone out, and you look kinda like this …
Odom: Does anyone out there have some gummy bears or something?

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Poor Matt Guokas.

As if watching his Magic fall to the Lakers in overtime wasn’t painful enough, the Orlando color analyst was drilled in the face by a mini-basketball thrown at him during a post-game show outside the Staples Center.

"Ooooh … not good," said co-host Joel Meyers. "Obviously we need much better security out here."

Yeah, or a net.

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Sunday night on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," Kimmel hosted a faux dating game, pitting NBA players from the Denver Nuggets (Dahntay Jones and Chris "Birdman" Andersen) and the Phoenix Suns (Amar’e Stoudemire and Grant Hill) against each other. Press play to find out which teammates know one another better in "The Team Mating Game."

H/T: Basketball Fiend

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Trey Kerby of The Blowtorch searches high and low across the Internet for NBA-related goods you never knew you needed. You know, phenomenal swag. Email Ball Don’t Lie any relevant products you find here.

No offense, Nike marketing team, but if this "MVPuppets" meme doesn’t die soon, people are going to start parodying it on the Internet. (Whoops!) But seriously, this thing won’t go away. Want more evidence? The fake T-shirts are happening.

First Cuts had the first bootleg one about a week ago, and Skeets (via BDL reader Johnny P) hipped me to the one displayed here last night while we were talking about Bernoulli’s principle. Obviously the shirt isn’t fake in the sense that it doesn’t exist, because it does. But to these piercing blue eyes, it looks like someone got a nice screenprint and put it on one of those blank Nike shirts your dad got from the outlet store. You know, the ones he wears golfing. Nonetheless, as far as these things go, it looks pretty well done, though the Kobe puppet certainly has a "V for Vendetta" look to him. Creepy.

Adding to its legitimacy, we have absolutely no idea how or where you can buy this (UPDATE: right here), but I’d guess they’re pretty abundant in Cancun’s open-air market.

Ball Don’t Lie’s Swag Rating: Two Muggsy Bogues puppets.

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