This is one great read. It wouldn't be a draft without another look back at Len Bias. I remember the day he died like it was yesterday.

Aaron McKie tried to buy a gun despite being under a "protection-from-abuse" order. I wanted to know more about what this order means, so I checked out http://www.womenslaw.org/laws_state_type.php?id=10027&state_code=PA

This is sad because Aaron is a bit of a hero in the Philly parts - the most successful trifecta athelete (high school, college & pro) the city has had in a long long time. He was a thug who John Chaney pulled off the street and turned into a man. Details to follow, I suppose.

suggestion to Yardbarker - allow users to edit their lists. I've left 14 blank - forgot there was a 14th team in the lottery.

Officers found her unresponsive with injuries consistent with a fall.

I don't think this will go away as fast as the Marvin Harrison shooting inexplicably has. Strange!

I'm curious as to who still thinks that Scottie Pippen is a top 50 all time player. I never thought he belonged there to begin with, and since the selection took place, there have been several players that would knock him off the list (Tim Duncan, KG, AI, Lebron (placeholder), possibly Kobe). Here are the facts: 7 time All Star, 1 time All NBA, 16/6/5, 6 titles with MJ & none without. Intangibles: Known to disappear in big spots and everybody remembers his little fit in the playoffs against the Knicks.

The resume is clearly a HoF resume, but it is not Top 50.

This is an open plea to OJ Mayo to start keeping a blog here. I can't think of a player right now who would benefit more by doing so. He would get to tell his side of any story he wants and the audience here would believe and forgive him the same way they do so for Carmelo Anthony and all of the other foible filled athletes who bare their souls here do.

If the man is looking for an image change that will shift the way ad executives feel about him, this is the place to do it. Demonstrate that you have a loyal online fan base!! Come on OJ, we want to hear from you buddy!!

Everybody knows that Charles is a degenerate, but he was always known to play within his means. Now he is forcing the Wynn to take him to court for $400K? Yet another subprime casualty.

Now that there is a thread about cheesesteaks and competitive eating is recognized on the Yard, what is everybody's favorite hoagie shop/sandwich? Primo's/Slacks/Lees?

I've tried them all and have the gut to prove it and to me nothing beats the Primo's. Their seeded bread is unreal and they have the Diablo line which makes their sandwiches spicy enough for my liking. Their Bada Boom sandwich features a hot chicken cutlet, cheddar cheese, sprinkled cayenne pepper and a foot long spicy pepper that gets buried in the bread.

I'm very happy to see Johnny Dawkins finally get a shot as a big time head coach. I remember seeing him shred up the NCAA as a point guard and his playing career ended way too early. In the meantime, he spent 10 years as a Duke assistant learning from the best coach in the biz (sorry Duke haters). I would contend that Johnny Dawkins put Coach K on the map - it is fitting to see him get a shot at the big time.

Listening to Mike Tirico's explanation of Josh Howard's interview (where he admitted to smoking weed a few times in the off-season) reminded me of a late 80's anti-drug commercial. It it possible that smoking marijuana is still perceived in our society in a way that requires litanies of explanations and apologies? For some reason, I thought we were more advanced about the way we looked at drug users -Tirico really took me back to the anti-drug stone age.

Tiger Woods has not been known to make excuses for losing at any time in his great career. Of course, the public demands their explanations for why he doesn't win every tournament (like his friend Roger Federer and his bout with mono during the Australian Open), but to say that Tiger is trying to plant an excuse by having surgery now is nonsense. Nobody is harder on Tiger than himself - he is way above excuse making.

This is the time of the year that Lenny Cooke comes back into the basketball lexicon - as a cautionary tale and a light on the underbelly of amateur basketball. Nobody was used more than this kid and he believed the lie all the way until it cost him his future.

For those that don't know, Cooke was a NYC phenom with ridiculous court vision for a 6-6 player who could score at will at the amateur level. He was the top ranked player at the ABCD camp in 2001 yet got shipped around from high school to high school not unlike the Amare Stoudemire story. Mike Jarvis (then at St. Johns) took him under his wing and was heavily recruiting him while also serving as a father figure, but in 2002 , he made the jump to the draft and came up empty. With no college eligibility, he went up to Rucker and started building again from scratch but has not had a shot to break to the NBA.

I guess the school wants to wait and see if the man is still ticking before committing to a new deal

I'm sure this will not be in the next NASCAR marketing video. I can't imagine that racing is too fun on heroin. I imagined the scene from Cheech and Chong's "Up in Smoke" where they are stuck on the median.

Hakeem, Ewing, Riley, and AD - very deserving class. Hakeem is obviously the cream of the crop - he dominated the league for 2 solid years and had amazing stats along with his trademark baseline jumper. As a Knick fan my whole life I'm happy to see Patrick Ewing get his due - he carried the franchise on his back for 15 years and never really got a lot of respect because he didn't get the hardware. I'm also happy to see Adrian Dantley get in - if he were only born 2 years later, he would have collected 2 rings with the Pistons - unfortunately his tank ran out just before they got over the hump but he was a great small forward and had a lot to do with getting them there.