Wall to Washington?

As for big-name free agents such as Mister James, the Wizards do have cap room to go along with the No. 1 pick. Should the District be considered a premier destination for one of them?

"We'll see," Grunfeld demurred. "When you have the No 1 pick, it's a great start. We have some pieces in place and [we'll] see how free agency goes."

Of course, such a scenario had been mentioned for the New Jersey Nets, who had a 25 percent chance of landing the No. 1 pick after trudging their way to a 12-70 season. They have copious cap space. They have a new, billionaire owner, Mikhail Prokhorov, who radiates confidence.

Irina Pavlova, president of ONEXIM Sports and Entertainment, the holding company Prokhorov uses to run the Nets, was their draw room representative. The Stanford business school grad, who in the past has lived and worked in the United States, was not only at her first lottery, but seeing her first lottery. She didn't have a lucky charm with her. She didn't think Prokhorov had one either.

"I don't think he's the type," Pavlova said.

Prokhorov seems to be a guy whose fortune can purchase luck. Yet in a string of misfortune that underlined their season of futility, the Nets barely held on to the third pick. After the Wizards won Lady Luck's hand, the Philadelphia 76ers were next on her dance card with the numbers 13-8-5-7.

Now all that was left was the No. 3 pick. NBA president Joel Litvin then read the numbers as they came out of the tumbler: 12, 4, 9, 7.

"Washington," Dershowitz announced.

Grunfeld chuckled. He could. The other 11 reps shifted in their seats as the balls went back into the tumbler. They came back out: 7-12-6-5.

"Washington," Dershowitz said again.

A buzz was building. The Wizards, who hadn't had any luck during the season, seemingly had all the luck in the world. The Nets, whose number sequences all featured the No. 1, waited for fortune -- who frowned upon them all season -- to smile at them for a change. Hell, the Nets would take a passing glance. But more than anything, they'd take the ping pong ball with the one on it.

"One," Litvin called. "Nine. Eight. Seven."

"New Jersey," Dershowitz said.

And that was it. The fortunes of three NBA franchises had changed in a matter of moments and everyone in the room had 90 minutes to kill before the televised portion of the lottery completed.

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Team Crosby

It wasn't possible to lift the unrelenting, glacial weight on Canada to rule the sport it invented, a sport that permeates and defines this country's soul. So rather than plead with his players to ignore the burden, coach Mike Babcock decided to stress that everything is relative. Look at figure skater Joannie Rochette, Babcock told them. Just days after the sudden death of her mother,Rochette managed to win a bronze medal in what was one of the most emotional, inspirational moment of any Olympics.
overtime.

Could the young and fairly unheralded Americans continue their perfect streak and upset the hosts for the second time in a week? Was Luongo finally tiring? Would an entire country's dream come crashing down?

"We couldn't think about any of that, nothing negative," Crosby said. "We knew if we kept playing our game we still had a pretty good chance."

Sid the Kid's narrative arc has been heading this way ever since Crosby was a precocious tyke growing up in Cole Harbour. A proficient skater at three with motor skills already ridiculously fine-tuned, Crosby gave his first interview at age seven. He's been Canada's most visible and dissected and beloved player since 2005, the year he turned pro. Alex Ovechkin might gripe that Crosby is too polished, too much of a corporate darling, but then it's Crosby who has the gold medal to wear with his championship ring, while Ovechkin and his Russian team shockingly fizzled on the Olympic stage.

As Miller collapsed into an exhausted puddle, Team USA's remarkable run over, Crosby tossed into the air his stick, then his gloves, then his mouthpiece. He was mobbed by his teammates, while tens of millions of tear and beer-stained Canadians hugged each other ... and hugged each other ... then hugged each other some more. And then they turned to people they actually knew and started hugging all over again.

Canada's 14th and last gold medal didn't just set a record for most won by a nation in a single Winter Olympiad. It shifted and transformed a nation's collective consciousness, reconfirming what Canadians knew about themselves but were too modest to say. It made the rest of the world envy Canada's coolness.

Toting a flag as big as a bed sheet around the rink, Crosby bathed in the crowd's love and gratitude, and much later he was still in his uniform, still doing interviews, still trying to come to grips with this enchanted moment. Someone asked him if he was planning to attend the Closing Ceremonies.

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NBA Jam for Wii

NBA Jam will be released for Nintendo Wii. These are the rosters (we are just joking).

Atlanta: Josh Smith and Josh Smith. (There's gotta be a cheat for that, right?)
Boston: Rajon Rondo and Bill Walker.
Charlotte: Boris Diaw and Alexis Ajinca. Or the slightly more realistic Gerald Wallace and Stephen Jackson. (You know your real life NBA roster is weird when your two best players would make one of the most insanely weird NBA Jam duos.)
Chicago: Brad Miller and Aaron Gray.
Cleveland: LeBron James. Just LeBron.
Dallas: Rodrigue Beaubois and Shawn Marion, provided EA gives Marion throwback 2004 stat values.
Denver: Ty Lawson and Nene.
Detroit: Jonas Jerebko and Austin Daye.
Golden State: I can't decide between Kelenna Azubuike-Anthony Morrow, Anthony Randolph-Andris Biedrins or Corey Maggette-Monta Ellis.
Houston: Carl Landry and Chuck Hayes. Of course. Like I even need to say that.
Indiana: Roy Hibbert and Tyler Hansbrough.
L.A. Clippers: Baron Davis and Ricky Davis.
L.A. Lakers: Adam Morrison and D.J. Mbenga.
Memphis: Zach Randolph and an unlocked throwback Stromile Swift.
Miami: Mario Chalmers and Michael Beasley.
Milwaukee: Brandon Jennings and Hakim Warrick, or Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Ersan Ilyasova.
Minnesota: Jonny Flynn and Ramon Sessions. Or Kevin Love and Al Jefferson.
New Jersey: Devin Harris and Drazen Petrovic.
New Orleans: Chris Paul and Julian Wright.
New York: Nate Robinson and Larry Hughes.
Oklahoma City: Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka.
Orlando: Jason Williams and Anthony Johnson.
Philadelphia: Marreese Speights and Jason Kapono.
Phoenix: Jared Dudley and Louis Amundson. Or Steve Nash and Grant Hill, both wearing Velcro shoes.
Portland: Jerryd Bayless and the rights of Petteri Koponen.
Sacramento: Tyreke Evans and Donte Greene, or Sergio Rodriguez and Jason Thompson, or Jon Brockman and Spencer Hawes, or Omri Casspi and Kevin Martin, or Sean May and Sean May.
San Antonio: Tony Parker and Tim Duncan, just for the reminders of that boring Jazz roster in the original and Tournament Edition version of the game. Matt Bonner and DeJuan Blair for fun.
Toronto: Amir Johnson and DeMar DeRozan.
Utah: Kosta Koufos and Kyrylo Fesenko, of course.
Washington: Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

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