NBA Essentials: Captain Kirk Keeps His Job

NBA Essentials ranks our six favorite stories of the day.

1. Blog-a-Bull. All the evidence suggests Kirk Hinrich is locked in as Chicago's starting ... two-guard. Also: on Ben Gordon's leaping toe pain.

2. Ball Don't Lie. Another great comic from the Garbage Time All-Stars, this one featuring Thunder the Deposed Warriors Mascot's hit list.

3. Dime. On a TNT conference call, Marv Albert reveals other OKC team names he had to use in his audio work for NBA Live 09: Pioneers, Roughnecks, Sunset and Thundering Herd. !

4. Ridiculous Upside. GMs are surprisingly down on "upside" when it comes to keeping D-League alums versus old, old veterans.

5. Hardwood Paroxysm. The Spurs will never die.

6. SLAM. Mike D'Antoni and Jamal Crawford, translated.