Ex-Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni spoke with Sports Illustrated's Jack McCallum, going on the record for the first time about his departure from Madison Square Garden:

I absolutely resigned. I was in my car driving to shootaround and it just came to me. That's it. It's inevitable. I have to resign. We're not going anywhere. I made the decision then and there. I called Glen [Grunwald, the Knicks' general manager] and told him that I was coming in to do it. Then I called Laurel [his wife] to tell her. Glen called in Mr. Dolan [Knicks owner James Dolan] and I met them after shootaround and told them that I was resigning.

D'Antoni also said that he does plan to coach again, but that the likeliest short-term scenario would be him staying on the sidelines for one more year while his son finishes high school.

• D'Antoni on Knicks resignation: 'An obstacle had to be removed'

The next NBA team to move could be the Golden State Warriors. But it doesn't sound like they'll go very far.

ESPN's Ric Bucher is reporting that the Warriors are close to a deal to relocate to San Francisco, possibly to a new waterfront arena.

The move would be a return home, of sorts. The franchise was known as the San Francisco Warriors from 1962 - when they moved to the Bay Area from their original home in Philadelphia - until 1971, when they took on the non-specific "Golden State" nickname and began playing most of their home games in Oakland.

It is not known whether a name change would be part of the move.

Oakland officials are reportedly "committed" to keeping the Warriors on their side of the Bay Bridge.

• Source -- Golden State Warriors committed to moving to San Francisco from Oakland - ESPN.

Chris Paul was the biggest acquisition of the year... but his season is over thanks, in part, to some excellent defense from unheralded Cleveland Cavalier castoff Danny Green. Green picked up a deflected pass and forced a miss on two of the Clippers' final two possessions, helping the Spurs close out Los Angeles and advance to the Western Conference Finals.

San Antonio swept the series 4-0, and has now won eight consecutive playoff games and 18 straight overall. They'll face the winner of the Lakers/Thunder series, which Oklahoma City leads, 3-1.

• Spurs beat Clippers, Advance to the Western Conference Finals
• Los Angeles Lakers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (Thunder leads 3-1)

The Miami Heat tied their series with the Indiana Pacers at two games apiece as Dwyane Wade shook off a dreadful shooting slump. He and LeBron James combined to score 70 points for Miami, while Udonis Haslem added 14 points in his best game of the postseason.

• Indiana Pacers vs. Miami Heat (Series tied, 2-2)

Tonight's Games:

• The Celtics/Sixers series is tied at two, and shifts back to Boston for Game Five.
• The Thunder look to close out the Lakers and advance to the Western Conference Finals.

Last summer's lockout compressed the season to just 66 games, delayed opening night by six weeks and generated no end of animosity between players, management and fans. But the endless negotiations failed to settle a couple of minor issues - one of which could really benefit both Jeremy Lin and the New York Knicks.

At issue is the question of whether or not a player's "Larry Bird" rights remain intact when he is claimed off waivers.

Under current rules, a player's service time under his contract is transmitted to his new team when he's traded. For example: Player X is traded during the second-year of a two-year contract. When his contract expires, Player X is eligible to be re-signed using the "early Bird" cap exception, which teams can use to re-sign players that have been under contract for two seasons.

Now... if Player X is waived and claimed before waivers expire, he is still bound to the terms of his original contract. But when that contract expires, the new team cannot use the Bird Exception to re-sign. Or, at least that's the current interpretation of the rules... they're a bit fuzzy on the point, which is why this will go to an arbitrator.

Why does this matter to the Knicks?

As is so often the case, it all comes back to Jeremy Lin.

Lin will be a restricted free agent this summer. Teams will be able to offer him contracts topping out at approximately $5 million per year, which the Knicks will have the option of matching using their mid level exception. If they had the option of using the Bird exception to re-sign Lin, general manager Glen Grunwald might be able to use the mid-level exception on another free agent or two... maybe a badly-needed backup point guard or shooter that can play the two.

As an added bonus for Grunwald - Steve Novak's status is the same as Lin's. So if the NBPA wins this arbitration case, the Knicks may have an easier time retaining both of this season's big waiver-claim finds.

This issue has never really come up before; most of the time, players claimed off waivers are marginal performers at best. (Otherwise, they wouldn't have been on waivers.) I think we can safely say that Lin is the first NBA player to be claimed off waivers twice and appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated - also twice - in the same season.

• The Knicks Fix: A "Linsanity Clause" Could Benefit The Knicks.