(h/t Dime Magazine)

Every once in a while, I link to a few articles from other writers around the internet. You know, I throw some dimes.

1. Paul Pierce’s high school jersey will be retired. Congrats, Truth. I was actually watching Pierce lose to Vince Carter in the 1995 McDonald’s dunk contest. Coincidentally, that contest was also the last time Vince will ever beat Truth in anything meaningful.
2. Paul Flannery discusses Rondo leaving/getting cut from Team USA. Bill Simmons opines, “The single smartest thing Coach K did: dumping Rajon Rondo before the tournament started. This team could only succeed because of the “young/energetic/undersized athletes rallying around Durant and having good chemistry” dynamic and it wouldn’t have worked with Rose and Rondo (natural rivals) competing for minutes. Rondo was expendable for two reasons: can’t shoot from outside (neither can Rose), can’t shoot free throws (Rose can). And you didn’t need both. The good news: Every Rose/Rondo game is going to be A-W-E-S-O-M-E this season.”
3. For what it’s worth, Bill Simmons’ father likes Semih Erden. It’s probably worth nothing.
4. Brandon Jennings believes the Bucks will win the Central Division. After getting home from Turkey, I’m sure Derrick Rose will have a nice chuckle at that.
5. Why Team USA, despite winning gold, really was the “B team.” I agree with everything written about Team USA here.
6. Breaking news: People hate Lebron James. Almost as much as they hate Kobe.

Got a tip? An article you think should be included? Send an email to jayking@celticstown.com or hit me up on Twitter @CelticsTown.

We normally do just one highlight reel a day, but this video was too good not to post right away.

The Elite 24, along with NBA stars Brandon Jennings, Tyreke Evans, and John Wall, got together last night for some late-night hoops at the Hangar Athletic Xchange (HAX) in Hawthorne, CA. Ballislife.com was able to tape the pick up games, which you won’t want to miss. Look out for Austin Rivers crossing up John Wall just past the one-minute mark.

The Boost Mobile Elite 24 is a basketball event featuring the nation’s 24 best high school basketball players. The event will be held at the Venice Beach Courts in Los Angeles on Friday and Saturday. The slam-dunk contest is Friday at 8 PM ET, while the game is on Saturday at 7:30 ET. Both will be televised on ESPNU. Among the participants are Doc Rivers’s son Austin, and Dennis Johnson’s nephew, Nick Johnson. For the complete roster, click here.

(h/t @MrMichaelLee)

Rumors, rumors, rumors and more rumors, rumors, rumors. That’s all I’ve heard about the past few days. But now it’s time for some concrete substance. Some real, substantiated truth. And you know what it is? It’s that Nate Robinson, despite playing nary a soccer game in his entire life (he chose to play a man’s sport during the fall), is “amazing” at soccer, according to TrueHoop’s Henry Abbott. Why in the world was Nate playing soccer? Steve Nash’s annual charity event. (ESPN)

Meanwhile, the title that I was hoping Jennings would steal — NBA player who’s surprising good at soccer — was no contest in favor of the amazing Nate Robinson. Part of his greatness was his relentless motor, which showed after the game when he said he had “never been more tired” and felt “like I just worked out seven hours.” He seemed to have been playing his entire life, though he insisted before, during and after the game that he had literally never played one soccer game before.

If true, this was one of the great athletic performances of all time.

Nate Robinson, owner of “one of the great athletic performances of all time.” And here I was thinking his life had peaked with his third Slam Dunk title.

Take him down once, and he'll come right back atcha.

Rajon Rondo got destroyed by Derrick Rose, and I’m talking destroyed.  Pulverized, all game long, on both ends of the court.  Rose had Rondo in his back pocket, making Rondo look like a little school-girl as he hopelessly waved his hand time after time as Rose hit yet another midrange jumper.

But Rondo took it to heart.  It ate at him, and he was bothered by the enormous black eye Rose administered the other night.  And that’s why he played against Milwaukee, in the final regular season game, when all other starters sat.

“Well, he really wanted to play,” Doc Rivers explained to WEEI.  “He’s young enough to play, and he came to me. He said, coach, I really struggled against Chicago, I really want to play this game.”

And so it was that Rondo came to manhandle Brandon Jennings, even demonstrating a rarely-used but well-refined post game while he was at it. You can torch Rajon Rondo once, but you better believe he’ll be coming after you with a heart full of venom in his next meeting.

Is it just me, or did young Kenny Anderson have a whole lot in common with Brandon Jennings?

But the similarities between the two lightning-quick lefties isn’t the part of this highlight reel that interests me the most.  That honor goes to the Vinny Del Negro sighting at 2:15 in the video.  I know exactly what Del Negro was thinking while he watched the soon-to-be-graduate Anderson jet by him:

“I can’t wait to become a head coach so I can burn as many timeouts as I want. Muahaha.”