Good morning. Add Shawn Marion to the farewell tour.

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Good morning. Shawn Marion announced on Wednesday that he plans to retire at the end of the season. Immediately the debate went to his Hall of Fame credentials, and that is an interesting debate. But it reminds me how misunderstood Marion's impact on some of the greatest teams of his generation remains. Marion is lauded as a great defender and supplemental scorer, but as my friend the great Bethlehem Shoals has written at length, he was much more: Matrix was the man who made those famous Suns possible.

By virtue of his versatility and ability to "fill in" each role on a totally ad hoc basis, Marion allowed Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire to push the gas pedal and run persistent fast picks-and-rolls. Amare wasn't able to be a center because of his own gifts so much as Marion's ability to play power forward while undersized. Marion was alternately a shooter, a playmaker, a post threat, a leak-out culprit and always a stopper. They say that Nash is the reason that Mike D'Antoni's grand experiment worked. Many of us would argue Shawn Marion deserves that distinction.

Given the impact the Suns had on the league -- an impact still being felt -- I'd say Marion is worthy of the ultimate recognition.

Alright, let's basketball.

DON'T HURT THE HAMMER: Kevin Durant played in D.C. on Wednesday. I think he legally evicted Marcin Gortat with a nasty poster dunk. Later on, Russell Westbrook won the game in overtime with a layup. Nice try, Wizards defense.

SPEAKING OF WHICH ... A brief history of KD to DC rumors. Enjoy.

NICE TRY TO YOU, ROCKETS: I guess Houston is going to embrace this villain stance. The Warriors were crushing the Rockets, so Houston decided to get chippy. This led to Stephen Curry needing to be restrained from going after Trevor Ariza. Afterward, Draymond Green danced on the Rockets' grave. I will take one Houston-Golden State playoff series, please.

FOR NAUGHT, BUT ... This play didn't impact the result of a lost game, but it involves DeMarcus Cousins going behind his back to deke Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett out of his socks on his way to a dunk, so. TACO BELL SKILLS CHALLENGE HERE WE COME.

WOW: One of the more impressive Kevin Love outlets ever. Of course it's aimed at LeBron, who would be one of the NFL's best receivers if he stayed in that sport.

ABRAMS ALERT: Jonathan Abrams on Mike Conley.

HIS JOB AND OURS: Colin McGowan says Russell Westbrook doesn't owe the media anything.

INTERESTING: ESPN reports LeBron recently tried to recruit Ray Allen to join him in Cleveland.

MVP TALK: Ryan Nanni lists his top four candidates. Jason Patt adds John Wall to his weekly list.

WILL THE THUNDER MAKE THE PLAYOFFS? My chart says yes, if KD stays healthy.

GOOD QUESTION: What's wrong with the Bulls?

AAAAAHHHH: Giannis Antetokounmpo reportedly commits to the dunk contest. Victor OIadipo and Mason Plumlee, too. As the great Kenny Smith would say, "The Dunk Contest is back!"

USA VS. THE WORLD: Speaking of All-Star Weekend, the NBA announced that the Rookie Challenge will take on a new flavor, pitting international rookies and sophomores against American foes. Prepare for a helluva lot of "___ is Canadian?!" tweets.

SURPRISE! Kawhi Leonard returns and the Spurs are suddenly unstoppable again.

THAT'S ABOUT RIGHT: Kobe says he cannot name five current Celtics. He also seems to pooh-pooh their rebuild, which is funny, because fans seem to universally prefer Boston's strategy to that of Los Angeles.

BAD SCIENCE: VICE's Jack Moore on the iffy science behind some odd new analytics trends in sports, like the Bucks' face analysis.

ENCYCLOPEDIA ENTRY: This is what you find under 2014-15 Philadelphia 76ers Offense -- a Vine of them missing five shots under the basket. Even Tony Allen thinks they need to slow down and show a bit more touch.

Happy Thursday. See you next time.

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