In a surprise on par with the sun rising each morning, Ray Allen told the Associated Press he is not considering retirement.

Allen also said he is willing to sit out the entire season if that’s what the players association decides is best.

“Nobody wants to miss a year,” he said. “But I’m prepared to do what the team needs me to do, what my players association, players union team, what they need me to do, because we want to make sure we get the right deal for us.”

When Allen and other older players state their loyalty to the players association, we should salute them: because Allen likely only has two or three seasons left in the league, any changes made to the Collective Bargaining Agreement will not affect him for long. With ten million reasons to hope the NBA resumes play in time for the first regular season game, Allen would benefit individually from a quick end to the labor negotiations regardless of how many concessions the players association makes. That he’s willing to stand by the union regardless of his own interests show that Allen is interested in the game’s future, not just the way the new CBA affects his own bank account.

The NBA owners and player’s association met for five and a half hours yesterday, reportedly making as much progress as a car with four flat tires. The result: training camp and the opening slate of preseason games will be postponed at least two weeks. (ESPN)

The NBA will announce Friday it will postpone the start of training camp and the opening slate of exhibition games after a negotiating session Thursday in New York between players union executive director Billy Hunter and commissioner David Stern ended without a labor agreement or progress toward one soon, league sources said.

Stern, according to one source, told Hunter in Thursday’s meeting the owners want to reduce the players’ cut of basketball-related revenue to a figure well below 50 percent. Under the previous agreement, which expired July 1, the players were guaranteed a minimum of 57 percent of basketball-related revenue would be spent on salaries.

In negotiations, the players’ union had offered to reduce its percentage to as much as 54 percent to accommodate the owners’ contention they lost $300 million last season, with the stipulation that a mechanism would be instituted to reward the players if future revenue increased.

The league offered players a 46 percent of basketball-related revenue, 11 percent less than they received in last deal and seven percent less than last proposal by players, a league source said. Owners agreed to try to come up with a mechanism to solve their issues without adding a hard salary cap before the next meeting, according to the source.

If the league really is hoping the players settle for 46% of basketball-related revenue, this lockout could endure until I’m in a nursing home — currently, I’m 24 years old. The players offered to cut their basketball-related revenue to 53% during the last bargaining session, and that number was seen as a real concession. If the NBA really desires the players to take just 46% of basketball revenue, Billy Hunter’s response will probably be: “Yeah, and I would love a date with Mila Kunis.”

Hunter was understandably frustrated by the way yesterday’s meeting went, telling Chris Sheridan he does not feel the NBA owners even want a deal.

“In general, we haven’t made any progress,” Hunter said. ”I really don’t think they’re ready to do a deal. My position is that they said 2 years ago they were prepared to lockout for a year to get what they wanted, and I think the way they’ve negotiated gives every indication that that’s bearing out.

“And while they’re talking about not wanting to miss the season or having to cancel games, I’m not really sure that that’s the truth,” Hunter said.

Only one national reporter, Ken Berger, came away from yesterday’s negotiating session with anything close to an optimistic outlook. Berger reported that the NBA’s proposal for basketball-related revenue was less than the players’ (“unacceptable,” according to one of Berger’s sources) but still, the number was better than the owners’ last proposal.

Following a series of small compromises by both sides, it was the owners’ turn to move the needle in a significant way. And they did: According to a person briefed on the negotiations, the league put forth a new number on the split of revenues, or basketball-related income, on Thursday, a step that could help propel the talks forward even as the start of training camps were set to be delayed and preseason games canceled — with such gloomy but fully expected and insignificant announcements expected Friday.

“It’s moving,” said another person with knowledge of the talks. “Not as fast as some people would want, but it’s moving.” …

But despite hand wringing over the imminent delay of training camps and the cancellation of preseason games — an announcement is expected Friday, according to sources — what happened here actually had the potential to be productive. For the first time since their initial proposal in January 2010 — when they offered a $45 million hard cap that would deliver the players well below 50 percent of BRI — the owners proposed a revised BRI split that was closer to, but still below what the players have indicated they would be willing to accept. In this impossibly slow negotiating dance, that qualifies as progress.

The owners’ number, one of the people familiar with the details said, represented a willingness to move off their most recent formal proposal to cap player salaries at $2 billion a year for the bulk of a 10-year proposal. So, do the math: Assuming 4 percent revenue growth next season to $3.95 billion, the owners’ $2 billion proposal represented roughly 50.5 percent of BRI for the players. If the players were willing to go down to, say, 53 percent with assurances that a soft cap would remain in place, that would be $2.094 billion — leaving the two sides only $94 million apart in the first year of the deal.

Given that the owners moved off their $2 billion to somewhere between that and the players’ number, we’re talking about perhaps as little as $75 million per year holding up the future of the NBA. That’s why, as one person familiar with the talks said Thursday, a deal is “there for the taking.”

A deal is “there for the taking,” but now the pressure is on to make a deal quickly. First, the NBA loses training camp and preseason games. The next step will be regular season games, which would likely postpone the beginning of the regular season by a few months. The last time that happened, during the 1998-99 season, Zach Lowe warns the league-wide caliber of play decreased dramatically. He called play that season ”the worst collective offensive performance since the league instituted the three-point line in 1979-80, according to Basketball-Reference.”

So yeah, holding a full season would be nice. And the league only has a week or two left to save it.

On September 30, Kendrick Perkins and Rajon Rondo will be reunited as teammates in the Southern Hospitality Showcase Atlanta 2011, a glorified pickup game featuring more than 20 NBA players. Marquis Daniels will also make his return to competitive basketball, or at least his public return.

On Friday, September 30 Marquis Daniels, Rajon Rondo, Kendrick Perkins, and Nate Robinson will suit up as teammates in the Southern Hospitality Showcase Atlanta 2011, a competitive, fast-paced “pick-up” style game featuring over 20 NBA players.

Along with the current/former Celtics, other NBA players slated to participate include John Wall, Jason Terry, Stephen Jackson, Josh Howard, Al Harrington, JJ Hickson, Josh Selby, and Trey Thompkins. Additional players are expected to be announced.

What follows is an account of what will inevitably occur on that day.

*****

It’s a beautiful day in Atlanta, 83 degrees without a cloud in the sky, and Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins are walking from their hotel room to Moorehouse College to play in a charity basketball game.

Nate Robinson is already in the gym working on his pullup 30-footers. To simulate reality, Robinson asks Scott Brooks to sit on the sideline shaking his head after every shot. Brooks declines because he doesn’t see the point: in reality, Robinson will be strapped to the bench and Russell Westbrook will be the Thunder point guard taking ill-advised shots. After about two dozen attempts, a few of which actually go in, Robinson stops shooting so he can work on the one aspect of his game that doesn’t need work: his celebrations. At that moment, he looks to the gym’s entrance and spots Rondo and Perkins walking through the door. But Nate’s a little surprised: Rondo and Perkins are holding hands.

As Nate, Rondo and Perkins share a nice moment together, old teammates reminiscing about the good ol’ days, the other competitors are getting loose for the game. Josh Smith is preoccupied with his three-point shooting, because obviously that’s his greatest strength, J.J. Hickson has a dunk contest with himself, Marquis Daniels is thanking the tournament director for not inviting Gilbert Arenas, and Josh Howard, Stephen Jackson, Jason Terry, John Wall, Al Harrington and Josh Selby are huddled in the corner, trying to figure out who the hell Trey Thompkins is.

“I have no idea, but he looks tall,” says John Wall. “And I can guarantee he has a higher basketball IQ than Javale McGee.”

The horn blows and the game is about to start. During pregame introductions, James Posey materializes out of nowhere and begins his odd hugging routine. He holds Marquis Daniels close and whispers into his ear, “I like the way your dreads smell today.” Then he bends down a couple feet so he can embrace Nate Robinson. Finally, he tries to hug Rondo and Perkins, but for the first time in his life, Posey fails to properly execute his homo-erotic pregame routine: Rondo and Perkins are too busy hugging each other.

In Rondo’s arms, Perkins finally stops scowling and his face lightens into a 10,000-watt smile. The game is beginning now behind them, but Rondo and Perkins are lost in their own world. After a few minutes, tears start falling down Rondo’s face. Perkins gently brushes them away.

“I wish I had been there to comfort you when you hurt your elbow,” whispers Perkins.

Tim Hardaway unexpectedly arrives to watch the game, and he gives the hug two thumbs up.

On the court, Trey Thompkins shakes his head in disgust — this is not exactly what he envisioned when he skipped his senior year at Georgia to enter the NBA draft. The embrace seems like it will never end, but the two are brought back to reality when an errant Nate Robinson pass strikes Perk in the back of the head.

“First time he’s ever passed to me,” says Perk, and the scowl has returned. Playing with Rondo again at long last, Perkins is freed to do the things he does best: mostly, set moving screens, elbow unsuspecting opponents, intimidate officials and occasionally stop his opponents from scoring a basket. Rondo, too, plays like himself for the first time in months. He sets up teammates for wide open jumpers, beats opponents off the dribble at will, and bricks any shot he takes from outside the paint.

For the whole game, the world is right. Rondo and Perkins are reunited. Their team wins by 27 points. Rondo is named the MVP. A well-placed Perkins elbow gives Thompkins a gash that requires 16 stitches. Josh Howard wears earmuffs during the national anthem. But the world cannot remain perfect forever.

Five minutes after the game, players are in the locker room changing into street clothes when Rondo’s phone begins to ring. He picks it up and looks at the caller ID.

“It’s Jeff Green,” he tells Perkins.

“Then don’t pick up.”

The Celtics really had their best lineup here, huh?

Celtics free agent Troy Murphy has received a contract offer from Red Star Belgrade, which plays in Serbia’s Sinalco Superleague.

“According to Novosti.rs,” tweeted Sportando, “Red Star offered to Troy Murphy 250.000 per season but his agent said Murphy won’t move for less than 500.000 USD.”

Murphy and the Celtics were a match made in basketball heaven — the white, Irish kid with the white, Irish name playing for the Celtics — except they weren’t. Murphy’s time with the Celtics was marked more by DNP-CDs and low shooting percentages than anything helpful. On the bright side, Murphy finally made the playoffs for the first time in his NBA career. He played only three minutes of one game and didn’t score a single point, but still. Reaching the playoffs must have been a goal.

Nobody really knows whether Murphy’s poor play was a factor of bad conditioning and nagging injuries, or whether he’s washed up beyond the point of return. In Serbia, he will likely be able to get away with legs that can’t run as fast as they used to, can’t jump as high as they once did. In the NBA, not so much.

Murphy’s still an intriguing option for the Celtics whenever the NBA season returns: he’s only 31 years old, and as recently as 2009-10 averaged a double-double. The Celtics will certainly be starving for height and rebounding whenever the lockout ends. If Murphy can work his way back into game shape, he could become a valuable contributor in Boston.

Then again, when 10-year veterans lose a step, they often never find it.

At times last season, Rajon Rondo was the best point guard in the league, a threat to break the NBA single-season record for assists, a brooding disappointment whose best friend’s trade may or may not have been partially to blame, a nightly triple-double who destroyed the Knicks, and the one-armed criminal from The Fugitive, if the one-armed criminal from The Fugitive played valiantly in a playoff basketball series after losing movement in his arm. Rondo was alternately brilliant and disinterested, wonderfully creative and oddly hesitant, the piece that drove the Celtics and the piece that held them back.

As the careers of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen fade to black, the Celtics will become Rondo’s team, more so than they already are. Though Celtics fans resented it when Mike D’Antoni remarked, “I’d like to see him play in Minnesota and see how he does,” there’s still an unknown factor surrounding all of Rondo’s accomplishments to date. He undoubtedly benefits from playing with a number of sure-fire Hall of Famers — their threat gives him space to create, their high-percentage shooting boosts his assist totals, their mere presence loans camouflage to the nights when Rondo just doesn’t show up. With that in mind, we wonder how Rondo will evolve when the Big Three aren’t there as his crutch, when the team is his, when he is flanked by players who need him to lead nightly rather than just whenever he feels like it, when his occasional lapses in effort and focus are no longer hidden by the play of his fellow starters.

Really, the Celtics needed Rondo to lead them nightly last season. You cannot say his second-half struggles caused the team’s demise because there were far too many debilitating factors — among them a bench that couldn’t hold 15-point leads, a midseason trade that never panned out, and two centers who could barely walk never mind run — but Rondo became a decidedly worse player in the second half of the season, and that was precisely when the Celtics began to resemble the old, slowed team they spent the first half pretending not to be. When the Celtics were at their best last season, Rondo was setting the NBA world ablaze with nightly assist totals you couldn’t count with two hands. He was flitting in and out of passing lanes, snatching rebounds with either hand, and leading his teammates, even his more celebrated ones, both by example and with his words. The Celtics were Rondo’s team, but in the end, whether because of injuries, heartache or both, he could not sustain his record pace.

When Rondo did not deliver — in the Heat series, mostly because of his arm, and in the second half of the season, mostly for reasons we’re unsure of — the Celtics fell. The correlation between Rondo’s play and Boston’s play was clearly evident — before the All-Star break, Rondo averaged 10.9 points and 12.2 assists on 50.2% shooting while the Celtics compiled a 40-14 record. After the All-Star break, Rondo’s averages fell to 10.2 points and 9.4 assists on 43.1% shooting and the Celtics limped to a 16-12 finish.

But the Big Three were still there to serve as a parachute that made the fall less devastating. What will happen in 2014 if Rondo starts to mail in games? What will happen if the Celtics fail to reload, Rondo is their only star, and he still fails to deliver consistently? What happens if he needs to take on a bigger scoring role? Could he do that? Is he capable of adjusting to life beyond the Big Three? Does he need them?

It’s safe to say that Rajon Rondo will still succeed when the Big Three retire. With his speed, basketball IQ, creativity and grit, he’s clearly a talent capable of surviving without them. But to what extent will he thrive? To what extent will he miss his running mates? To what extent will Rondo’s game change when Ray Allen isn’t spotted up on the perimeter, Kevin Garnett isn’t running the pick-and-pop, and Paul Pierce isn’t lined up on the wing, a threat to score from anywhere? Will losing the Big Three hold Rondo back, or will losing them force him to focus more on his own game, without any more parachutes to decelerate his falls?

There are holes to Rondo’s game, and his biggest flaw remains as evident as the sun on a cloudless day. His broken jumper allows teams to defend him unconventionally — especially in a playoff series, when coaches are afforded more time to leverage game plans, good defensive teams can use Rondo’s horrific outside shooting to their advantage. Yes, Rondo’s playoff stats are normally comfortably above his regular season averages. But as the rounds progress and the Celtics face stiffer competition, Rondo shoots poorer percentages and his teammates get fewer open looks as opponents seek to exploit Rondo’s reluctance to shoot.

The lack of any semblance of a jumper limits Rondo’s progression. Without serious improvements to his shooting, Rondo could not, for example, become Derrick Rose, a point guard who is relied on to score, nor could Rondo become Chris Paul, who has become a deadly shooter in the past few seasons.  He could not become Steve Nash, one of the greatest shooters in NBA history, or John Stockton, who knocked down jumpers at an impressive rate.

No, Rajon Rondo is Rajon Rondo, not to be confused with anyone else, a fiercely unique player whose closest comparison is probably a young Ason Kidd (before he learned a “J”), a gifted defender who gambles too often, an aggressive rebounder in a 6’1 frame, a young point guard who has improved drastically each season, the weak link of the 2008 title team, the leader of a current (quasi-) contender, an emotional, surly, fun-loving, head-strong character who loves the child’s game Connect Four and has not yet had the chance to prove himself without the Big Three by his side. The time for that proof will inevitably come, and when it does Rondo will surely succeed, but to what extent we are not yet certain.

The facts were scary enough, and the rumors only made them sound worse. Delonte West drove a three-wheeled motorcycle late at night with three guns, one of them a shotgun that was loaded into a guitar case. Where he was going, the media did not know. But it was illegal to carry concealed weapons and to transport loaded weapons in Maryland, and whatever West was doing, it seemed undoubtedly sinister.

It actually wasn’t, West told SLAM Magazine during a recent interview. While he never should have been driving the guns, his intentions that night were not at all violent. (SLAM Magazine — READ THIS PIECE)

Delonte West is an avid outdoorsman, likes to hunt and fish in the backwoods of Virginia, but that’s not really why he owned the guns. Like many nouveau riche athletes, he had hammers because he could afford them. The same way money buys cars and clothes and comfort, it also buys guns. It’s the American way.

After the ’09 season ended with his Cavaliers getting knocked out by the Orlando Magic in the Conference Finals, West returned home to Maryland and set about finding a good place to store the weapons, which he saw more as collector’s items. He chose the recording studio.

Tucked away in his fully finished basement, West’s studio is his sanctuary. Off limits to children, the sparsely furnished wood paneled room is his home within his home. All of that’s why he thought it was the perfect stash spot. Everything was fine—the guns remained safely hidden—until, on the night of September 17, feeling unusually tired, West went to his bedroom pretty early, took his nightly dose of Seroquel (a drug that treats bipolar disorder) and got in bed. Shortly after falling asleep, he was startled awake by shouting.

“Ma Dukes came running upstairs into my room, cursing me, saying she wanted all these MFers out of my house,” recalls West. “I came to like, What’s going on? I was already on my Seroquel trip. A few of my cats had found some stuff in the studio and they were living the whole gangsta life thing—guns in the air and this and that,” continues West. “And I said, ‘Oh my God. What the fuck are y’all doin’ in here? Y’all got to go. Momma ain’t on that. Kids are running around upstairs. It’s time to go.’”

Gassed up from the commotion, West decided it would be prudent for him to relocate the guns to an empty house he owned nearby. So, with his other vehicles blocked in by guests’ cars, and expecting it to be a short trip, he haphazardly loaded up his Can-Am and placed the weapons in a Velcro-type of bag—“not a desperado, hardcase, gun-shooting-out-the-side type case”—and set off.

“I’m on the Beltway, cruisin’,” West says, voice high, emotional and inimitable. “Soon I start realizing I’m dozing in and out. I open my eyes and I went from this lane to that. I’m swervin’, and by the time I wake up, I’m about three exits past my exit.

“There’s this truck flying beside me—” West pauses; this next part is crucial—“and I’m scared to death. So I seen an officer coming up and I try to flag him down. I pull up next to him. He slows down and I get up in front of him. I tell the officer I’m not functioning well and I’m transporting weapons… The rest of the story is what it is.

“I’m not proud of it,” concludes West, “but it looks way worse than it was.”

West played all last season under home detention, meaning he wore an electronic anklet until four months ago. Four times per day last season, West needed to alert a probation officer of his whereabouts. On the road, West often couldn’t leave his hotel room. Sometimes, home detention kept him from arriving at practice early or staying late. It kept him from joining his team at certain team-bonding activities. And when he broke his wrist against the New Jersey Nets and needed to drive straight to the hospital, West later received a phone call from his probation office.

“If something happens on the way to the hospital, I don’t know where you’re at, so you better call in advance next time,” the officer told West.

West is now free, anklet-less, and, well, just read SLAM’s story. If you’re a Delonte West fan, you’ll really like it.