Links of the Day (Media Overkill Edition)

• Today marked the launch of the Heat Index, an obnoxious, all-Miami, all-the-time Web page that only ESPN has the hubris to pull off. I haven't yet weighed in on the Heat in these pages, and I will in advance of the season-opener against them in Boston, but for now, it suffices to say that both the basketball fan and the journalist in me are fairly disgusted by this development.
• I'll check in on the Heat Index from time to time, but I'd much rather read intelligent, non-self-interested commentary on the team.
• Spurs blog 48 Minutes of Hell suggests (indirectly, anyway) that Boston's 3-0 preseason record portends well for the regular season.
• Cool video of Kevin Garnett instructing the Celtics' young bigs on defending the pick-and-roll.
• Poignant story on NBA Fanhouse about former NBA player Ray Williams (who did his best work with the Knicks but also was on the Celtics roster for the 1984-85 season). Every so often you hear about guys having these sorts of financial problems, but a lack of financial sophistication is probably more pervasive than most people realize. Through the grapevine, I've heard a number of stories about NBA players that I simply could not believe.
• The closing quote of that Williams story is the stuff journalists dream of.