Out of Bounds

Shoot After Lights Out

Back in November, we featured in this space a new backboard from Huffy that glowed and thus allowed you to keep hoopin' after dark. Well, now Huffy has made it even easier to keep playing after the sun goes down with the new Twilight Ball. All you do is stick a plastic needle in a small opening and the ball begins to glow like jack-o-lantern.

The ball isn't going to replace your favorite Spalding NBA regulation--it has a weird bounce and is made of rubber, not leather--but there's no better option for playing well into the night.

Five Degrees of the NBA

We we're wondering how many teammates it would take to trace today's NBA back to the league's inaugural season, sort of a historical version of the Kevin Bacon game. Our first thought was to go with the league's oldest veteran, Dale Ellis.

Using the Hornets' sharpshooter as a starting point we learned you can get back to the 1946-47 Warriors' Joe Fulks or George Sensky in just six players.

Ellis was on the 1983-84 Mavericks with Brad Davis.

Davis was on the 1977-78 Lakers with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Abdul-Jabbar was on the 1969-70 Bucks with Guy Rodgers.

Rodgers was on the 1958-59 Warriors with Paul Arizin.

Arizin was on 1950-51 Warriors with Fulks and Senesky, who both played for the Warriors in 1946-47.

After that exercise, we realized that by starting with A.C. Green instead of Ellis, you can skip directly to Abdul-Jabbar (he and Green were first teammates in 1985-86), and get back to the beginning of the league in five players.

It's in the Genes

The 1976-77 Philadelphia 76ers may have lost in the NBA Finals to the Portland Trail Blazers, but here's betting that the offspring of those 76ers might make the playoffs.

* Mike Dunleavy's son, Mike Dunleavy.

Skinny: McDonald's All-American showed promise off the bench in his freshman year at Duke

* Harvey Catchings' daughter, Tamika Catchings.

Skinny: All-American led Tennessee's women's team back to the title game.

* Henry Bibby's son, Mike Bibby.

Skinny: The second-year starting point guard for the Vancouver Grizzlies has shown lots of promise.

* Joe Bryant's son, Kobe Bryant.

Skinny: Los Angeles Lakers' All-Star guard has developed into a force on both sides of the ball.

* Doug Collins' son, Chris Collins.

Skinny: Illinois Mr. Basketball in high school went on to star at Duke; played in Europe and is now a men's assistant at Seton Hall

* Steve Mix's daughter, Courtney Mix

Skinny: Courtney a high school senior at Toledo Central Catholic, was the player of the year in Toledo last year.

And let's not forget the fact that Julius Erving is the father of budding tennis star Alexandra Stevenson.

Sum Fun

3: Orlando Magic players--Pat Garrity, John Amaechi, and Michael Doleac--currently taking graduate school courses.

$193,500: Total amount of fines Dennis Rodman has paid in his NBA career.

1,352: Consecutive Chicago Bulls home games attended by official scorer Bob Rosenberg dating back to the franchise's first game. Rosenberg missed his first game on March 24 because he traveled to Japan to score the Chicago Cubs-New York Mets games.

34: Technicals accrued by Portland's Rasheed Wallace through April 3, a new NBA record.

25: Centers who have won the NBA MVP in the 44 years it has been awarded. Expect Shaquille O'Neal to become the 26th this summer.

1: Contestants to correctly guess this year's Final Four in ESPN.com's annual competition.

590,000: Contestants entered in ESPN.com's competition.

1: Inspirational screenings of one of our favorite films, "Rudy," shown by Florida coach Billy Donovan before his team's Final Four victory against North Carolina.

Fastbreaks

Shaq's ducats

After Shaquille O'Neal dropped 61 points on the Clippers on his birthday, most observers felt his motivation was the celebration of the anniversary of his arrival into this world. In fact, O'Neal's big night might have been triggered by his checkbook. It seems the Clippers made Shaq pay for his tickets for his family and friends that night, prompting Shaq to ominously warn any future frugal franchises: "Don't ever make me pay for tickets."

Well said

"I didn't see any stars. We don't have any stars on this team."

--Orlando Magic center John Amaechi after getting an elbow from Alonzo Mourning that required eight stitches.

It's the tooth

In early March, a tooth lost by Houston's Steve Francis after a collision with Denver's Tariq Abdul-Wahad later surfaced on the Internet. A fan sitting in the front row apparently found the errant incisor and placed the unusual souvenir up for sale. The bidding was up to $101 before the site pulled the tooth.

Well said, redux

"There I am: me, Spike, and Woody. But they don't put the camera on me."

--Seminal rocker Lou Reed bemoaning his low profile at New York Knicks home games.

Bad sport

Maybe it's time for a new name for the Lincoln, Neb., three-on-three tournament in which a mother of one player attacked the coach of an opposing team. The tournament's name? Roundball Ruckus.