I know that banner image isn’t a GIF, but I still haven’t taken the class on GIF editing through South New Hampshire State Tech’s amazing online program. Either way, it’s my effort to join in the fun of one of my latest favorite Tumblrs that friends have passed along to me. Today’s delightful meme is NBA Doppelgangers, which as the name suggests is a site dedicated to taking NBA players and finding celebrities that they look like. You know, like Dwight Howard and a cat. That Dwight, a big ol’ cat.

Among my favorite Doppelgangers that the site’s creator(s) has offered up are:

Russell Westbrook and Nicki Minaj
Anderson Varejao and Raggedy Ann
Chris Bosh and Godzilla
Chris Bosh and Jar Jar Binks
Jonas Valanciunas and C-Tates
Phil Jackson and Ned Flanders
Shaquille O’Neal and a Lego

And there are plenty more, some hilarious and one that is very familiar that I swear I’ve seen before, but my favorite part is the face-shifting GIFs.

Both amusing and frightening, these GIFs are pretty great, especially the Kyle Korver one because it’s true. In fact, it could be a picture of Korver morphing into another picture of Korver and I’d still say… well, you’ll see.

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People sometimes wonder why a guy like Jeff Van Gundy hasn’t checked back into coaching in the NBA, but the answer’s pretty simple – he’s just got it way too easy right now. Instead of catching on with another losing franchise in need of a coach that will only get a group of decent to above average players so far, Jeff gets to hang out at the broadcast booth and say just about anything he wants without ever really being criticized, which is basically the exact opposite of being a coach.

His brother, Stan, on the other hand, will most likely end up in coaching again, as it’s hard for contending teams on the cusp of joining the elite tier to ignore a guy who had a .641 career winning percentage when the Orlando Magic fired him a few months ago. And it’s that very reason that the kid brother in his big boy announcer’s chair is going to keep sticking up for Stan every chance he gets.

Jeff’s latest comments about the Magic front office came on Mike Lupica’s ESPN Radio show, and he basically doesn’t understand why people have faith in this sadsack organization.

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I’m not a fan of Jeff Van Gundy — the only time he comes up in conversation is when I need someone to compare to Stevie from ‘Eastbound & Down’ — but I appreciate the thorough, somewhat obnoxious lengths he goes to to condemn flopping during Sunday’s game between the Miami Heat and New York Knicks. He’s right (he’s completely, 100% right), but at some point when he’s shouting over the upcoming games graphics you expect him to turn into Mike Gundy and scream about how old he is.

And no matter how right he is (he is totally right), the NBA isn’t going to punish flopping because you can’t punish flopping. Not only because of that terrible argument soccer fans use about it being “how the game is played”, but because if you start calling a technical on every guy on the court who doesn’t fall straight back when he’s touched you are swiftly and permanently neutering an honest man’s ability to play defense. Fines won’t work either, because LeBron James isn’t going to miss that 10-grand he’ll consciously decide to pay when he goes down like a fainting French lass at a f**king cotillion to regain possession in the playoffs.

It also won’t work because Jeff Van Gundy said it.

I guess the only way to fix it is a fundamental restructuring of sports and parenting, where we can organize teams in a world where people were raised with the idea that they should always try to do the right thing, and in a world where Winning At Sports isn’t a higher priority than decency. Also in this world, the Miami Heat have been put into a space shuttle and piloted into the sun.

[h/t to Ball Don't Lie]

Jeff Van Gundy was in fine form broadcasting Game 3 last night, first botching Nick Lachey's name (Lach-ee), misidentifying his girlfriend (and personal crush) as Alyssa Milano instead of Vanessa Minnillo, who is the girl Lachey is actually kicking it with, brah.

These are all venal errors when compared to his cluelessness when it comes to barbershops. The latter portion of the clip highlights JVG quipping how quickly he can gets in and out of what he very ruggedly calls boutiques. Possibly because he has no hair. What preceded that moment was an argument with Mark Jackson that sets new national standards of whiteness. Mark Jackson mentioned how the game would be discussed in the barbershop and Van Gundy heatedly claimed people don't talk to each other in barbershops. Which is true if you're white. In response to that, Jackson bludgeoned him with a copy of that Ice Cube movie where people talk for a long time about controversial subjects in a barbershop. I forget the name. I think it was Barberblack or something. Being white like Van Gundy limits my awareness of such things.