It seems almost silly to write anything basketball that isn’t purely about last night’s epic Game 6 OT slugfest. In the end, Tim Duncan’s 30/17 front loaded night couldn’t quite outlast LeBron’s 32/10/11 – the latter doing much of his damage late in the game. You could almost hear the collective groan of keypads everywhere – suffice to say there were stories being written in the last few minutes of regulation that did not end up being used.

In an era of quick-bite news feeds, Kevin Arnovitz’s longform article about the San Antonio Spurs stands out. The premise is nothing new – centering on the recalcitrant nature of a team that plays by the fundamentals at the cost of mega popularity. Arnovitz steadily peels back the layers though, getting to some essential truths about choices made and a determination to stick with authenticity.

The Grantland staff put together their NBA Finals Shootaround: Just Like Heaven and there’s not much to say except just read the piece – classic sample observation, “basketball is a drug.”

On to Lakers business. You’d have to be living under a rock not to know of the parade of injuries visited upon the Los Angeles Lakers this past season. Often blared and sensationalized, the subject is illuminated through a terrific Mike Trudell interview of Lakers trainer Gary Vitti.

Somewhere between the polar ends of self-parody and hard cold business lies an essential conflict. Using the framework of the new film comedy “This Is The End”, Andy Kamenetzky from the Land O’Lakers examines the act of Dwight.

This year’s draft is sneaking up fast. With only the 48^th pick to play with, the Lakers’ challenge will be to find a player who can actually function at an NBA level. Ben Rosales has been writing cogently about the process for Silver Screen & Roll – here he looks at six prospects who came in for a group pre-draft workout.

Sasha Vujacic made a unusual two-year commitment to Anadolu Efes during the 2011 NBA lockout. This past April, the 2012 Turkish All-Star MVP was suspended for disciplinary reasons in the middle of the Euroleague quarterfinals. The team failed to advance to the next round and has yet to elaborate on how things went so wrong. Last Friday, Vujacic said goodbye to Istanbul on Facebook, adding that “the truth will come out”. The former Machine is hoping to resume his NBA career. Here, Matt Agne for Sports Media 101 hypothesizes about a place for Vujacic with the Knicks.

I know, how can you follow a paragraph about a man who once reigned supreme at the charity stripe? Nonetheless, basketball life does go on. Tomorrow night will bring Game 7 of the NBA Finals in Miami. There will be no lack or predictions between now and then but if the first six games were any indication, this one will be another war. Are you fired up? Ready to go?

From TheGreatMambino, Silver Screen & Roll: In just two weeks, the Dwightmare could reach it’s highest peak. That’s when Lakers center Dwight Howard will officially become a free agent, available to be courted by whomever has the will and the wherewithal to sign the three-time Defensive Player of the year to a maximum contract. Lakers Nation seems to be split on whether or not Howard, one of the most polarizing players of his era on and off the court, is truly worth the money and trouble that seem to follow him wherever he goes. Let’s take the pulse of Silver Screen & Roll:

From Dan Duangdao, Lakers Nation: Metta World Peace, a.k.a Ron Artest, joined a local Houston radio station on Monday to discuss a typical day in the off-season, his thoughts on LeBron James’ play in the Finals so far and Dwight Howard’s impending free-agency. When asked about Dwight Howard’s plans this off-season, World Peace quickly dismissed any possibilities of Howard going to Houston: “Well, he’s not going to Houston. I’ll tell you that.” The Houston Rockets are one of the rumored teams Dwight Howard is interested in as they enough cap room to sign him and a young core centered around James Harden, Chandler Parsons and Omer Asik. Regardless of what the Rockets have to offer, World Peace remained confident with his response and further explained his reasoning the only way Ron Artest knew how to: “The bulls that you bullfight…those things that you tie those things to the bulls that make them go crazy? I got two of those things tied to Dwight Howard’s t——–, so he can’t move.”

From Eric Pincus, LA Times: The Lakers’ final non-Mike D’Antoni assistant coach left over the weekend as Darvin Ham joined the Atlanta Hawks under Coach Mike Budenholzer. “Darvin has a great feel for the game and knows what it takes for a team to be successful and compete at a high level,” Budenholzer said in a prepared statement. “He was a smart player who played with intensity and toughness every night and he has gone about coaching the same way.” Dan D’Antoni, brother to Coach Mike D’Antoni, is the only holdover from last season after the Lakers let both Chuck Person and Bernie Bickerstaff go. Phil Handy joined Mike Brown’s staff in Cleveland, while Eddie Jordan took the head position at Rutgers.

From Brett Pollakoff, Pro Basketball Nation: Phil Jackson is unquestionably one of the greatest coaches of all time, but he didn’t get there by placating people or considering the feelings of others — especially those with seniority or who were holding down a higher-level position within the organization. Speaking at an event last week where Jackson was plugging his latest book, he recalled the time he asked then Lakers general manager Jerry West — also one of the franchise’s all-time great players — to leave the locker room so Jackson and the team could be alone to dissect the night’s troubles in private.

From Dan Devine, Yahoo Sports: Kobe Bryant has ranked among the most popular players in the NBA for more than 15 years now, as his legendary scoring prowess, on- and off-court charisma, affiliation with the glamorous Los Angeles Lakers and near-constant exposure to massive audiences through nationally televised games and deep playoff runs have combined to make him one the sports world’s highest-profile figures. He’s also donequite a bit of work over the years to extend his mega-star status into the massive and hoops-mad nation of China — he’s made annual offseason trips there to meet fans and host camps, and appeared in commercials airing in the nation. He’s participated in exhibition charity games and even reportedly briefly entertained the idea of playing in China during the 2011 NBA lockout. He’s built a Chinese social media presence and launched multiple charitable initiatives in the Far East. And so on.

From Drew Garrison, Silver Screen & Roll:The Los Angeles Lakers remain confident that Dwight Howard will re-sign with the franchise this Summer and have had “several discussions” with Howard’s representatives, according to the latest update from Marc Stein and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. The Lakers may a handful of sign-and-trade options on the table this Summer if their confidence is misplaced, however, including an offer involving Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin from the Houston Rockets. Howard is expected to give the Rockets serious consideration this Summer and Houston has assets to offer Los Angeles, but the Lakers are expected to turn away sign-and-trade offers in favor of maintaining financial flexibility from 2014 and onward, according to Shelburne and Stein.

From Brett Pollakoff, Pro Basketball Talk: When the reports started flying of a possible deal that would net the Clippers Kevin Garnett and head coach Doc Rivers from the Celtics, Dwight Howard‘s name got thrown in the mix at some point as someone that L.A.’s historically junior team would then like to pursue. Talks have stalled between the Celtics and Clippers for now, but the report that the Clips have weighed offering Blake Griffin and Eric Bledsoe to the Lakers in a sign-and-trade package for Howard had plenty of people wondering where the Lakers stand on potential scenarios involving Dwight should he decide he wants out of the Forum blue and gold as a free agent after July 1.

From Gabriel Lee, Lakers Nation: Time for a quick survey – raise your hand if you thought the Lakers would be a force to be reckoned with upon acquiring Dwight Howard and Steve Nash. Vegas sure did, as they had the Lakers at 5:2 odds to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy in October. Keep your hand raised if you now think after one sub-par season, the Lakers need to press the reset button on this aging and brittle roster. I should see a lot of (virtual) hands up. That’s just the nature of sports in the 21^st century. Few fans have the patience to wait for their favorite sports team to mesh when everything else in their lives is given to them in a nano-second. You can technically reach anyone in the world in an instant through a text message (although, standard message rates may apply). We consume the news instantly through our Twitter feeds. I could go on for days to list the ways technology has accelerated the process of globalization. However, we’re here to talk about the Lakers.

From Eric Pincus, LA Times: Phil Jackson coached Shaquille O’Neal with theLakers.  In his playing days, Jackson was occasionally charged with guarding Wilt Chamberlain. Jackson compared the two legendary centers Wednesday night in Glendale at the Alex Theatreat his “Live Talks Los Angeles” event. “Shaquille didn’t have quite the same athleticism that Wilt had,” said Jackson. “He had the bounce and he had the speed, but he didn’t have the endurance.” As detailed in his memoir, “Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success,” Jackson told O’Neal that Chamberlain’s greatest accomplishment came in the 1961-62 season when he averaged 48.5 minutes a game. Jackson challenged O’Neal in their first season together (1999-2000) to get in better physical condition to improve his endurance.

From Zach Harper, CBS Sports: Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant is approaching the end of his career. He’s been in the NBA 17 seasons, will be 35 when he plays his next game, and is rehabbing a torn Achillestendon injury that could either keep him from playing in the 2013-14 season opener or possibly limit his play altogether when he does come back. It’s hard to know just how his body will respond to the hard work and the injury recovery. But don’t think that Kobe Bryant is even thinking about hanging it up any time soon. He’s intent on not only coming back at full strength or better from this Achilles injury, but he reportedly has his mind set on playing until he has won at least two more championships to put his career total at seven rings. Via ESPN Los Angeles: