No Thriller tonight

Tonight's NBA Draft looks more like a formality than anything else.

The LA Clippers -- the league's most hapless franchise -- shouldn't need any time deciding who's going to be their next centerpiece. The moment the draft starts, Blake Griffin should start trudging toward the podium, knowing that his days of celebrating wins will suddenly come to a screeching halt.

The Clips have been so bad, they've only advanced to the playoffs four times since 1985, and in that span they've only been above .500 three times.

Michael Jackson's cardiac arrest will get more shock and awe than tonight's draft, which scouts and analysts have declared skimpy on talent.

The Clippers will do the obvious thing, but with point guard-heavy draft like Ty Lawson among others, I wouldn't be surprised to see another Chris Paul or Deron Williams resurface.

That's pretty good work if Philip can get it

Now that Phil Jackson has proven himself arguably the best coaching mind ever, he's turning heads by saying he needs a break.

But the amazing thing is, he isn't retiring.

The owner of 12 NBA titles -- 10 coaching and two playing -- has asked the Lakers if he can still coach the team, but only during home games.

What? That's like applying for a job but during the interview requesting that you get Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays off.

Of course, if anyone has earned the right to even ask for something so off-the-wall, it's the Zen Master but even this is a stretch. I mean, what's the Lakers road coach going to do at halftime, prop up a Mac on a stool and click iChat and wait for thoughts of genius to come streaming through? And who are the players going to respect, someone who's there for the long flights and time zone changes or the guy that shows up 41 times only having to worry about his commute?

The 63-year-old has cited health concerns the past few years and frankly who wouldn't? After dealing with Dennis Rodman he has also caressed the enormous ego of Kobe Bryant while juggling everyone else's minutes and scoring opportunities.

If the Lakers decide to do this, it could split the team. Who's to say that players like Bryant and perhaps even Pau Gasol won't be inclined to ask for a five-game East Coast road swing off if their legendary coach can't be there. Heck, they might ask the Lakers brass for one week off a month. This could potentially set a bad precedent and prove costly to a team that is primed to win another NBA title next summer.

What the Lakers have to decide right now is not who's going to coach the Lakers on the road next year but who's going to coach them the next two to four years. The fact that Jackson is even asking for something so out of the ordinary almost assures everyone else that next year will be his swan song.

This year could be attributed to how well of a coach Jackson really is. The Lakers only won eight more regular season games than last year and even tied last year's number of playoff losses with seven. But it was Jackson who enabled the Lakers to get past a feisty Rockets team in the second round and power them past the Nuggets and the Magic for the championship.

No one will ever be able to replace his presence. So the obvious question is, why is Jackson making the Lakers do so when it's already very difficult to win on the road in the NBA?

ESPN has declared June 23 the end of the world

It's hard to imagine but the "Worldwide Leader" has surprisingly sunk to even lower lows. Now that LA Dodgers pariah Manny Ramirez is almost cleared from his 50-game suspension for being the first male to try to give birth, he's going to have a rehab stint in Albuquerque, NM.

The moniker for Isotopes Park: "The Lab", how fitting.

And if that wasn't enough, ESPNEWS will interrupt its 24-hour stream of agate to give us every Ramirez at bat. Does anyone need to witness all of Ramirez's at bats? He's probably going to be a step slow and -- as usual -- will be several steps behind in the field. But that isn't stopping the four-letter network from making this into a full-out media bonanza, especially since there hasn't been any breaking news in quite awhile.

With all this attention, it's a wonder if Bristol actually remembers why he's going to need two-to-three rehab starts to get into baseball shape. The man knowingly took something he shouldn't, and now he's going to play before a sold out stadium and in front of millions more on live TV.

I'm not sure this is what commissioner Bud Selig had in mind when he gave Ramirez his 50-day unpaid vacation. But, on a slow news day in an endless news cycle, things like this will keep passing the grade as newsworthy.