The 10-man rotation, starring how Danny Green keeps getting open from 3-point range
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: SB Nation, Eye on Basketball and The Point Forward. Maybe, like Tony Parker, you're wondering how Danny Green keeps getting such wide-open looks from 3-point range this late in his record-setting NBA Finals. Mike Prada, Zach Harper and Rob Mahoney each went back over Green's shots in search of the answer.
PF: TrueHoop. I dug this riff on how randomness, luck and the unforeseen have impacted, are impacting and will impact the NBA Finals, and not just because I personally have no idea what the hell's going to happen from night to night when the San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat play (which, incidentally, is what's making this so fun).
SF: HoopSpeak. With Monta Ellis reportedly (and unsurprisingly) poised to opt out of the final year of his contract with the Milwaukee Bucks to pursue greener pastures in unrestricted free agency, let's revisit this fun thought experiment Ryan Weisert explored last week — what if, instead of being determined to "have it all," Monta just stopped shooting 3-pointers entirely?
SG: The Shadow League. I'm using a context-appropriate late pass to recommend checking out Khalid Salaam's column arguing that basketball fans on the whole don't appreciate what Manu Ginobili does and can do quite as much as we should because he isn't black. Whether you agree or disagree, it's an interesting lens through which to view this particular element of the annual "Why don't we care about the San Antonio Spurs?" debate and you might come away with a different perspective on where Manu slots in among the wing scoring peers of his generation.
PG: GQ. Friend of the program Bethlehem Shoals on the Spurs becoming Tony Parker's team and how both the squad and its leader make the fantastical seem mundane: "Are miracles just a matter of context or are we numb to them if they're happening all around?"
6th: Daily Thunder. Royce Young identifies the one player whose status and summer might determine the future of the Oklahoma City Thunder in both the short- and long-terms, and no, it's not an off-the-crutches Russell Westbrook: "If the Thunder think Jeremy Lamb is the real deal, and more importantly think he’s ready, the Thunder don’t need Kevin Martin, and they should focus entirely on drafting big."
7th: The National Post. Eric Koreen catches up with the mothers of Spurs guard Cory Joseph and Heat center Joel Anthony — who are just the second set of Canadians to appear on opposing sides of an NBA Finals series, joining Rick Fox and Todd MacCulloch, who did so twice — about their paths to the championship round. My favorite part? Erene Anthony's memories about what Joel would have done had a professional basketball career not been an option.
8th: Sports Illustrated. A smart post-Game 5 read from Chris Mannix about how the continued struggles of the point-guard tandem of Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole are killing the Heat.
9th: Grantland. George Gervin tells Zach Lowe about how "nobody ate on Ice" and man, that is just such a great turn of phrase that you have to go find out what the hell it means.
10th: ESPN New York. Jared Zwerling catches up with Reggie Evans for a Father's-Day-themed piece in which the Brooklyn Nets power forward talks about strengthening his bond with his three children and rebuilding his relationship with his father, who spent parts of Evans' youth incarcerated for selling drugs.
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