Let’s give a nod to the teachers. The ones who put us in positions to win, and sometimes put us in our place. Because today, one of the game’s best teachers took home some recognition that was long overdue.

George Karl won NBA Coach of the Year in his 25th year as a head coach, after leading the Nuggets to 57 wins and the third seed out west. Danilo Gallinari’s injury hurt them in the playoffs, but this was an incredible turnaround for a team supposedly gutted by the loss of Carmelo Anthony. This franchise never missed a beat, and Karl’s to thank.

They say you need a superstar to succeed in the League, and maybe to win a title that’s true (although the ’04 Pistons would disagree). But any streetballer knows when the star isn’t around to call the shots, sometimes everybody starts fighting to be top dog. The Nuggs haven’t had that star for two years, but they play hard for their coach. He’s not hard on them, but you can tell they got respect for him. They play hard for him. They’re a team. That’s on Karl

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Simple, fresh, classic. A monument to the self-expression and style this is the streetball way of life. Oh, and they were front and center in the greatest dunking exhibition of all time.

Vince Carter took a pair of AND1 Tai Chi Mids, starting with that ridiculous 360 windmill, raised the bar of expectation for every dunk contest to come. He wasn’t the only one, of course: we saw Tai Chis on Latrell Sprewell, Stephon Marbury, and dozens of others over the years.

And that design…sweet. So clean you can’t believe you didn’t think of it first, yet recognizable the world over. Though Air Canada made the red and white most famous, the two-tone colorways came in more varieties than the Kardashians. Complementing the soft tumbled and slick patent leathers are that feathery, velvety nubuck, which feels so nice you can’t believe you’re wearing a basketball shoe. And as some of the lightest kicks on the market, the Tai Chis made sure their wearer always rose highest.

Today, our boy Lance Stephenson is bringing AND1 into the next chapter. Lance is normally an Empire Mid man—with his own artistic flair, of course—but last night he rocked custom black/yellow Tai Chi Mids. It’s a promise of what’s to come…maybe the next time you see some Tai Chis, you’ll be looking straight down.

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Here’s all you need to know about Robin “Sik Wit It” Kennedy. At a juco all-star game, maybe his only shot at D-I ball and, of course, the League, he served up multiple halfcourt alley-oops and, to end the game, had a teammate lift him above the rim for a two-handed stuff. Scouts might have seen him as the class clown except, oh yeah, he handed out 15 assists and earned himself a scholarship at Nevada. That’s the kind of showman Sik is.

The man gives “service with a smile” new meaning. His alleys are the stuff of legend—between the legs, behind the back, three-quarter court, whatever—and no matter what ridiculousness he’s inventing off the top of his head, he somehow does it with the grin of a man who’s done it so many times, failure just isn’t an option.

That’s the confidence of a man who’s seen it all before. Kennedy cut his teeth on the courts of Pasadena, California, and after an ACL tear took away his first year at Nevada, he came back with a breakout season, dropping 14.6 PPG and leading the WAC with 6.7 dimes a night. Sik made a brief stop in the ABA, but by 2001 he was a full-time Tour member, playing the game the way he loves to play it. He proved himself at every level, but we’ll remember him for how much fun he had while he did it.

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We had our first buzzer-beater of the playoffs last night when Chris Paul went bully-ball on Tony Allen to put the Clips up 2-0. (Yeah, they put a tenth of a second back on the clock, but when the crowd reacts like that, that’s a true buzzer-beater).

Check this video, courtesy of the NBA. The finish is crazy, doing it on a two-time All-Defense lockdown artist is crazier, but what grabs us is the look in his eye after Allen bumps him the first time. You can see it around the 15-second mark—when CP3 gets that look in his eye, yeah, you know how this story ends.

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Streetball is full of flair, bravado and self-promotion. Too many guys are more about getting themselves over with the crowd than getting their team over their opponents, and that’s what set Lonnie Harrell apart. To him, being the best was always the Prime Objective.

That’s how he got his nickname on the street, anyway—in reality, the prime objective was to make the league. The DC native starred for the Georgetown Hoyas in the early 1990’s alongside Dikembe Mutombo and Alonzo Mourning, and was the last man cut by the Orlando Magic in 1996. From there Harrell slogged through minor-league ball and, after being cut by the New Jersey Nets in 2001, made himself a name in the street game. At a lean 6’7”, he looks the part of a slasher, but remember, scoring isn’t the objective: Harrell was all about setting up his teammates.

PO did play three years in the newly formed NBA Development League, but felt his streetball background hurt him with scouts. (“The second I dribble through my legs at a tryout, scouts…say, ‘That’s the street in him.”) Imagine that from the man who, when the D-League tryout questionnaire asked what causes him stress, wrote, “Not being in the league.” He never did make the league, but there’s no shame in being one of the best ballers to ever suit up for the Tour.

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