Every year, NBA.com releases a poll of NBA general managers who were asked to predict the champion and Most Valuable Player for the upcoming season? This year, the revamped Miami Heat did not get the nod, and LeBron James only received a single vote for MVP this season.

The NBA is cracking down on complaining. At the annual referee meeting on Thursday, the NBA told referees they will expand the rules for technical fouls to include “overt reactions” to a referee call.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson was recently on ESPN 1000 in Chicago, and he was, naturally, asked about the collection of talent down in Miami. In typical Phil Jackson fashion, he couldn’t resist throwing some subtle, zenmaster jabs at LeBron and company.

Chauncey Billups’ 19 points led a balanced attack for Team USA as they dominated Angola to the tune of a 55-point win and easily advanced to the Quarterfinals of the World Championships.

Kevin Durant led Team USA to a 70-68 victory over Brazil to make the US 3-0 in group play and give them a clear path to winning the group.

Eric Gordon led Team USA with 16 points as they cruised past Croatia 106-78 in their World Championships opener in Istanbul.

It’s funny how we can procrastinate sometimes despite having everything laid out in front of us. I started this column back on Saturday, diligently starting the process of building the news and notes of the week as I always do. The skeleton inputted online, I then went about my daily writing and slowly fleshed out [...]