Tony Parker Is Collateral Damage In Rap Beef; The Zen Master “Might” Make NBA Return

Everything was going Tony Parker‘s way in May. He had that 20-game winning streak with the Spurs. The people at Merriam-Webster basically were putting the Spurs’ team photo next to “team” in their dictionary. They weren’t just beating Oklahoma City, they were teaching them a lesson. Then it all came tumbling apart in a four-game losing streak. Now, Parker has a damaged cornea thanks to being collateral damage in a Wednesday throwdown between Chris Brown and Drake in a NYC club. Parker says he can’t do anything for seven days but will still play in the Olympics for the French national team, and that he got hit because he was shielding his girlfriend from the shards. The obvious first question is, did he flop when he got hit? We would put up money to hear the phone conversation between either Parker and Timmy D or Parker and Gregg Popovich about it. We’re sure both of those guys have similar stories to tell. … Siempre Mo is a horse that is running in a Southern California race on Sunday. We bring you this news because Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol each have a stake in the horse, whose name means, “Always Mo,” in Spanish. And apparently the horse has been hearing a lot of it because another owner told reporters that Gasol is a regular at the stables since the Lakers lost in the playoffs. What if Kobe and Pau put their money into training Andrew Bynum, instead? Dude is more temperamental than Siempre Mo probably is in the starting gate. They could get back a commission on his contract if he improves his numbers. The 4-year-old horse is being trained by Doug O’Neill, who you may remember got I’ll Have Another to Kentucky Derby and Preakness wins this spring. He’s also been in scrutiny for allegedly doping up his horses … Kendall Marshall, formerly of UNC, worked out with Phoenix on Thursday, which still sounds like a great pairing to us. Obviously this isn’t your older cousin’s Phoenix Suns anymore, but they can still run and work around their All-Star point Steve Nash (if he comes back). We could see a guy like Marshall being his apprentice. Another guy who’s been turning heads since the winter is Damian Lillard. He worked out for Portland and afterward grabbed some food with guys like owner Paul Allen and the rest of the front office. He said all the right things afterward about it being “smooth” but dinner with Allen sounds like getting your teeth pulled. One of the more, oh, interesting owners out there. … Speaking of the Draft, we wanted to pick the ideal song for the top 30 guys in this year’s class. One word for The Brow: Mercy… Hit the jump to hear about what the best coach of all-time is up to…

Phil Jackson is saying this week that Orlando’s executive job was too far from his Montana home, while New York’s head coach job wasn’t even offered — but he would have turned his nose up at it, anyway. Such are the comments P Jax will drop in next Tuesday’s “Real Sports” on HBO. Don’t think the Zen Master isn’t ruling out another return. In his words, “there might be” a team he’d consider going to. While we think Quin Snyder and Brian Shaw are safe with being the only finalists for MJ in Charlotte, Phil would have to be the insta-finalist anywhere else. But what’s a viable team? He shot down the Knicks because of their “clumsy” roster (a true statement) and basically called out Amar’e Stoudemire for only being able to play in one system and Carmelo for giving up the rock roughly once ever 10 times he gets it. The Knicks’ side of the story is that they didn’t want Jackson, either, thus never offering a deal to him. New York, a place he started his career with the legendary Old Knicks, is a perfect spot for Jackson. The trouble is, he hates their roster — but we can’t think of many teams that would fit Phil’s bill, either. Blake Griffin and Chris Paul (possibly) could pair up again in Clipperland but Vinny Del Negro is back and he’d never tweak the Lakers with his girlfriend, Jeanie Buss, being a Lakers executive vice president. While Phil does live in Montana and grew up in North Dakota, we think he’d prefer a major market to ply his trade. How about Miami? We know the topic got cold quick a few weeks back but why not? At age 66, we seriously doubt Phil wants a complete rebuild. Plus, the warm weather of South Florida would be great on Jackson’s new knees. … The Hornets’ sale just became official to Tom Benson. So the next time they win the Draft Lottery, don’t ask David Stern about conspiracies. Oh yeah, we have an NBA Finals game on Sunday. This time the game goes back to Miami for the next three games. That sounds like a perfect place for the Heat to close up shop on this series, right? We wrote about this topic today and found reason to say, think again. … And if you have to read one deep piece today, check out Toure’s piece in Time about whether we’ll see another great USA team that can be embraced as a standard by the black community. It brings into question the NBA most heavily. … We’re out like Gasol and Kobe’s horse.

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