ESPN  

Lakers vs. Celtics 

• Mark Heisler of the Los Angeles Times: "Unfortunately for the NBA, the Lakers and Celtics were on pace for only the No. 6 rating in the 10 years since the end of the glory days with Michael Jordan's Bulls. Like the Lakers, the TV numbers rallied in Sunday night's nail-biter, which drew a 12.1 overnight rating. If that still wasn't spectacular, it blew away the 8.5 overnight rating for the U.S. Open the same day. The NBA's overall number even beat the 11.4 overnight the Open got in prime time in the East and Midwest for the last two hours of its riveting finish with Tiger Woods rolling in that birdie putt on the last hole to force a playoff."
• Bob Ryan of The Boston Globe: "In terms of sheer competitiveness, this ballyhooed confrontation between the Celtics and Lakers has been a disappointment. There has not been a game in which both teams brought even a B-plus game on the same evening. There has yet to be a knock-down, drag-out, 48-minute demonstration of mutual athletic greatness, something that would have neutrals buzzing at the morning-after water cooler. There have only been alternating spurts of dominance."
• Marc J. Spears and Christopher L. Gasper of The Boston Globe: "The team was supposed to leave at 11 a.m. Pacific time, but because of mechanical issues with the plane, they didn't leave until after 2:30 p.m., and they arrived at Hanscom Field in Bedford around 10:30 p.m. Eastern time. Even without plane trouble, it was set up to be a tiring turnaround for the Celtics, who will play their 26th postseason game tonight. 'There's nothing you can do about it,' said Rivers. 'It's a tough one, as tough as you can have. I think going West to East is tougher. Sleep patterns are messed up. ... There's no way around it. It's just a tough turnaround. I wish we could do this on Thursday and just skip a Tuesday. Both teams have the same issue, so it could come down to a game of mental toughness, who fights the fatigue mentally better.'"
• Ken Berger of Newsday: "With the price of fuel these days, what a shame to waste so much of it to fly the Lakers all the way across America simply to suffer their inevitable fate in a different time zone. Better to have advised both teams to make a pit stop in Las Vegas, the NBA's adopted home, and complete the remaining business of the Finals in a neutral location with plenty of casinos for the players and referees to stay busy between games."
• John Hollinger in the New York Sun: "If any civic leaders in Boston are reading this, I have just one thing to say: Get the duck boats ready. No, the Celtics did not clinch the title on Sunday, losing Game 5 of the NBA Finals to the Lakers, 103-98, but the celebration was merely delayed, not denied."

Leaguewide

• Art Thiel of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: "Granted, five days of scheduled testimony remain for an opportunity to discuss all the factors that allowed the alienation to set in that has left the team vulnerable to predation from outlanders. But seeing diehards gathered on the courthouse plaza Monday reduced to chanting oaths and encouragement toward a monolith of steel and glass, it occurred that their collective witness to a part of the story assuredly needs telling. Since the run to the NBA Finals in 1995-96, KeyArena's debut season, Sonics basketball began a slow circle of the drain. Sonics business fortunes followed. In that time, under three ownership groups, the Sonics won a total of three playoff series, never more than one in a season. In seven of the past 10 seasons, they failed to make the playoffs."
• Eric D. Williams of The News Tribune: "'For them to try to move this team out of this city after 41 years ... there's no way possible they should be leaving here,' said former Sonic Gary Payton, who along with another ex-Sonic, Xavier McDaniel, addressed the enthusiastic crowd Monday. 'And when they see all of this, and we see all of this support, there's no way they're going to want to move this team.'"
• Dave Boling of The News Tribune: "How bad was mayor Greg Nickels? He seemed to serve as a better witness for the defense than for the city."
• Tim Buckley of the Deseret News: "For years, Larry H. Miller has neglected his health. 'And now he's paying the price for it,' Miller's oldest son, Greg Miller, said Monday. Miller, 64-year-old owner of the NBA's Utah Jazz and one of the state's most influential business magnates, is hospitalized with complications from type 2 diabetes."
• Jay Drew of The Salt Lake Tribune: "Utah Jazz guard Deron Williams should learn soon, perhaps this week, if he made the U.S. Olympic basketball team. He is also just weeks away from being given the chance to break the bank with a max contract extension from the Jazz. But when Williams acknowledged being jittery about the future on Monday morning, it had nothing to do with basketball. Instead, he was dreading his first shot in the pro-am portion of the Sorenson Champions Challenge golf tournament. 'I've been so nervous,' Williams said. 'I am just worried about that first tee shot."
• Jim Paschke for Bucks.com: "Yi Jianlian's return to basketball exploded on Monday in China's third straight victory over Croatia. The Bucks power forward erupted for 26 points with strong play under and around the basket. As in game one, China scored its first points on a pair of free throws by Yi."

2008 NBA Draft

• Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: "While Tuesday's workout by Kansas State forward Michael Beasley in Chicago is significant, even more telling could be what happens after Derrick Rose works out there Thursday. By then, the race effectively could be over, with Rose perhaps having little need to entertain further courtship from the Heat. For its part, the Heat, which drafts at No. 2, is poised to take yet another look at O.J. Mayo."
• Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star Tribune: "The team's scouts and coaches are scheduled to watch Italian forward Danilo Gallinari work on Friday in Los Angeles and then will catch USC freshman guard O.J. Mayo in a workout for several teams Saturday in Chicago. UCLA freshman forward Kevin Love is due at Target Center this morning."
• Don Seeholzer of The Pioneer Press: "To date, Mayo has worked out only for Miami (which picks second) and the New York Knicks (sixth), and there has been speculation that he wants to play for a big-market team. But working him out is a priority for the Wolves. 'I think it's important,' Hoiberg said. 'I think it's good to get in front of him and interview him and talk to him and have him answer some questions that we have. We know he can shoot. We know he can do a lot of good things on the basketball court.'"
• Mike Trudell for Timberwolves.com: "All of a sudden, just 10 days separate Minnesota from its next crop of rookies. So who's it gonna be? We'll see who accepts the Wolves' newly designed jersey from NBA Commissioner David Stern on June 26, when the Wolves will pick third, 31st and 34th ... Unless, of course, Minnesota makes a trade or two. There are several options that the Wolves' basketball operations department might consider heading into the big day."
• Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal "The Grizzlies held their second six-player draft workout Monday in FedExForum. LSU forward Anthony Randolph was the only player considered to be viable as a top-five selection although Western Kentucky guard Courtney Lee clearly had the best workout. ... The Griz will also be among a small group of teams to watch USC's O.J. Mayo work out Saturday in Chicago." (Workout Report from the Memphis Flyer)
• Art Thompson III of The Orange County Register: "The Clippers began another week of pre-draft workouts Monday by bringing in guard Eric Gordon, who declared for early entry into the NBA draft, after spending only one year at Indiana. Although the workout was closed to the public, the general consensus afterward among Clipper basketball staff personnel was that Gordon was very impressive in displaying his shooting ability. 'He's got pro 3-point range,' Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said."
• Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer: "Among the players auditioning Monday was Charlotte 49ers guard Leemire Goldwire. He had a funny line when a television reporter told him he'd at least get a Bobcats T-shirt: 'I'm trying to get a jersey.'"
• Fred Kerber of the New York Post: "DeAndre Jordan, who will work out for the New York Knicks soon, intrigues the Nets, who own picks 10, 21 and 40 in the NBA Draft. He is huge, but has the potential for more bulk. He's still raw, but the feeling is his athleticism will carry him a long way. He liked his Nets audition. 'I showed well, especially when I came back and just kept playing,' Jordan said. 'I rolled my ankle when we were playing in the live competition. It started swelling up. Then we did something else and I re-sprained it. But everything's all right.'"
• Mike Wells of The Indianapolis Star: "Jim O'Brien likes private workouts for one reason: They feel real. 'When you're close by a guy, you get a real sense of athleticism, explosiveness that you might think you can see on tapes,' the Indiana Pacers coach said. 'But if you're around 20 point guards and you're doing things where they're going right by your body and you're right there seeing that, you get a better understanding of being up close to them. And the other thing is who they are, the eye contact, what they say during the workout, how they react.'"
• Keith Langlois for Pistons.com: "More than ever, you can expect the Pistons to take the best player available -- regardless of position -- with the 29th pick in the June 26 draft. Joe Dumars' determination to reshape the roster makes it senseless to project the draft with the current rotation in mind, because it could all change with one sweeping trade. And it's the trade route that is going to make the Pistons more dramatically different heading into next season of the two other ways to tweak the roster, the draft or free agency."
• Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: "With less than two weeks before the June 26 draft, Eric Gordon remains perhaps the most known unknown of this year's elite prospects, but one the Seattle SuperSonics could take a flier on with the No. 4 overall pick with the hope he blossoms into a Wade-like talent. 'I don't see how this kid could miss,' said former Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson. 'He's good. He's really, really, really good, and he has a chance to be great.'"
• Justin Lawson of the Reno Gazette-Journal: "On June 26, Mike Taylor could be the first player taken in the NBA draft after playing in the NBA's Development League. If Taylor is drafted it could mark the beginning of a trend in the D-League, which will begin play in Reno beginning with the 2008-09 season. 'That would be nice to be known for being the first person in history to do something,' Taylor said. 'This way is not the norm and I did have my struggles, but I got through them. I never got down or anything. This is the hard way, but it's the way that I'm used to.'"