Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

LeBron James has reached to tell Kevin Love of his desire for them to play together with the Cavaliers, front office sources tell Yahoo.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 17, 2014

Kevin Love is going to be a free agent after this season, and he’s going to leave Minnesota.  That is pretty much accepted as fact by the entire NBA.  That’s why teams are trying to trade for him now, and why Minnesota has been listening to offers.

LeBron James wants to play with Love in Cleveland.  He’s apparently convinced the Cavs to give up Wiggins in that pursuit.

But LeBron has gone a step further.  He, a player under contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers, reached out to Kevin Love, a player under contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves, apparently to persuade him to push for a trade to Cleveland.

Sounds a lot like tampering to me. 

Tampering is when a player or team directly or indirectly entices, induces or persuades anybody (player, general manager, etc.) who is under contract with another team in order to negotiate for their services. The NBA may impose suspensions and/or fines up to $50,000 if tampering is discovered, however the league’s practice has been to wait until a team lodges a complaint before investigating (but that’s not to say they don’t continue to monitor the league and won’t take action independently if they discover that tampering has occurred).

Let’s look at that first line again:

Tampering is when a player or team directly or indirectly entices, induces or persuades anybody (player, general manager, etc.) who is under contract with another team in order to negotiate for their services. 

Tell me that’s not EXACTLY what LeBron did according to Woj.  He’s a player directly enticing or persuading a player who is under contract with another team in order to negotiate for his services.

I don’t know what the next step is for the NBA, but if the next report is “Kevin Love demands trade to Cleveland,” I’d hope the NBA gets involved.  The Timberwolves could get involved by lodging a complaint… but they might not want to screw things up with a potential trade partner with quality assets to offer.

However, if perhaps a meddling owner saw fit to lodge a complaint, I wouldn’t object… especially an owner who wants to keep his star.

But despite the widespread trade speculation, Taylor maintained his stance on Love’s future with the Timberwolves in an interview Wednesday with NBA TV.

“My preference is that Kevin will come to [training] camp — and I’m sure he will — and play with the team,” Taylor said.

Taylor also said that the Timberwolves would not trade Love unless they received what they perceived as “equal or more value” in the deal.

It’s possible nothing comes out of this.  LeBron might just get a warning and a scolding to not be so goddamn obvious about things.  It’s one thing for guys to shoot the shit at Team USA training camps… there’s nothing you can do to police that… but it’s another to make it so obvious that someone in the front office finds out and tells Woj about it.

Related links:  CSNNE: Report: LeBron reached out to Love about joining Cavs

Page 2:  Bill Russell is OK after fainting scare

Boston Celtics officials said Bill Russell, the team’s Hall of Fame center, collapsed after feeling faint while speaking at a corporate event in Lake Tahoe, Nev., on Thursday.

Russell, 80, left the event on a stretcher and was taken to an area hospital. Celtics officials said Russell was doing OK, and it was possible he could leave Lake Tahoe for his home in the Seattle area Thursday night.

Globe: Russell OK after fainting spell collapsing

NBA Hall of Famer Bill Russell was recovering at his home in Seattle last night after collapsing during a speaking engagement earlier in the day.

According to a team spokesman, the Celtics legend fainted while attending a function in Lake Tahoe, Nev., but recovered well enough to board his scheduled flight home.

Herald:  Bill Russell faints at fete

I’m not sure what to type here without depressing myself and all of you, so I’ll just leave it at this:  I’m glad he’s ok, and I’m glad it wasn’t serious enough to keep him in the hospital.  It might have been something as simple as not getting enough to eat before the event and blood sugar dropping too low.

Regardless, the NBA and the Celtics family need more Bill Russell in our lives, not less.  So here’s hoping he makes a full recovery and can make more public appearances.

Related links:  CSNNE:  Bill Russell said to be OK after collapsing

And Finally…

In the wake of yesterday’s public tete-a-tete with Gary Tanguay, I wrote a few words on my Facebook page about Rondo.

I just wish people could be rational about Rondo. At least somewhat. Here are the facts about what Rondo really is:

He’s a premier passer. Perhaps the best in the league. He finds angles that make you think he has the ability to bend time and space. Even the most ardent Rondo hater can admit this guy is like a pool shark when it comes to finding passing angles.

[…] His defense has taken a back seat to his offense. Once upon a time, Rondo was an elite-level defender. Now, he’s a gambler and, sometimes, a turnstile. I’m not happy about this. But this is why I like the ball-hawking Avery Bradley. Rondo + Bradley is a nice combination. Still, it’d be nice if Rondo was more of the defender he used to be. Welcome to the NBA. As one’s offensive responsibilities increase, his defensive responsibilities decrease.

Those were just a couple of the points I made.  There are more if you care to read them.

Remember, your Facebook likes and shares sustain me and validate me as a human being…. so… y’know… feel free to make me feel whole as I refresh the page all day long.

The rest of the links

Herald:  Clippers sign Glen Davis to new contract  |  CSSNE:  Antoine Walker hopes to help young athletes in documentary  |  ESPN Boston:  Offseason reset: Where the C’s stand  |  MassLive:  Walter McCarty agrees to 3-year contract to remain on Stevens’ staff