A little Sunday afternoon reading for halftime of the Mavericks-Spurs game (the Mavs up at the half, in San Antonio, with Timmy scoring 20?), or between conference semifinal games (Pistons-LeBron ... er, Pistons-Cavaliers later today):

* For those peering over the side of the Leo Mazzone bandwagon, Bruce Chen's numbers clenched in their fists, wondering whether to jump or not: here's a clear, hard-to-argue defense of Mazzone, presented by Newsday and by the wretched performances of the pitchers he left in Atlanta after ending his 16-year association with the Braves.

* For those believing that the bailout of some sponsors on the Barry Bonds home-run chase is appropriate, this column by former S.F. Chronicle colleague Scott Ostler sheds new light on the move. Let's just say one particular sponsor doesn't have a moral leg to stand on.

* For those ready to fight over the merits of Bonds vs. Ruth and obsessing over asterisks and legitimacy and who deserves to be recognized for what, here's an angle most everybody (once again) has forgotten or overlooked: from my old paper again, the Josh Gibson story.

* For those who haven't picked their jaws off the ground after seeing Suns 121, Lakers 90 - and Kobe 0-for-3, one point in the second half of a Game 7 - here's a pretty clear-headed deconstruction of the team, the player and the series, in the L.A. Times. To sum up: the Lakers weren't that good in the first place.

* For those who knew Kobe had ultimately, finally and conclusively won the battle with Shaq two years after their divorce because of how their respective playoff series were going last week, here's a kindred spirit, whose column in the Orlando Sentinel ran in this paper. Written and published, by the way, before the Lakers blew that 3-1 lead and before Shaq closed out his series with a 30-point, 20-rebound game.

Now, back to the Mavs-Spurs game...