With the NBA season starting this week, here are several intriguing subjects that have my attention:

There’s not a better basketball rivalry, pro or college, than Lakers-Celtics.  Nostradamus types have the two storied franchises meeting in the NBA finals next June for the second time in three years.  Tune in before then for regular season games on January 31 and February 18.

The Lakers will be trying to repeat as World Champions without former assistant coach Kurt Rambis.  He brings his California cool to cold Minneapolis and will adjust to a new culture on and off the court.  He will operate using mentor Phil Jackson’s triangle offense and psychology book.  Neither was ever tested in L.A. like it will be here, coaching a Wolves team trying to prove it’s not the worst in the league.

Kobe Bryant won’t win a popularity vote by fans but he was the best player in the league last year.  Nobody closes a game out like he does.  At 31, watch him while his skills remain extraordinary.

At age 20, Jonny Flynn is the youngest player on the Wolves roster. The talented Wolves’ point guard can flash to the basket with the best young players in the world right now.  How complete the rest of Flynn’s game (including his outside shot) becomes will have much to do with the Wolves moving toward .500 in the next few years.

Manu Ginobili is another guy who is adept at driving to the basket.  He played in only 44 games for the Spurs last year because of injury.  He’s back and presumably fearless as ever, and ready to make a run at the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year.

The Wolves don’t figure to have any Man of the Year candidates this season but it’s not so far fetched to think that one day guard Corey Brewer could be Defensive Player of the Year.  The 6-9 Brewer can guard players who play multiple positions and with his long arms bother them all.  First, he has to show some offensive improvements (career 38 percent shooting) to deserve major playing time.

Shaquille O’Neal might not be a better all-time NBA center than Kareem Abdul– Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell, but none of them played for so many teams as Shaq Daddy.  His Mammothness, now 37, is working for his fifth employer, the Cavaliers.  Shaq is past his prime, and folks in Cleveland may need to call a “plumber” by mid-season to unplug the lane so that King James (that be LeBron James) can find a clearer path to the basket.

Let’s hope with the Wolves’ mission to fast break and run their triangle offense that center Al Jefferson doesn’t spend too much time away from the basket.  Put the big fella down low near the basket where he scored 23.1 points per game last season. At 24 and after just five NBA seasons, Jefferson deserves to be included in conversations about players with the best low post moves in the last 20 years.

The Wolves open their season tonight at home against New Jersey.  On Friday night King James, Shaq Daddy and the rest of the Cavs come to Target Center.  And then a week from tonight the Celtics, including Kevin Garnett, are in Minneapolis.

No reason not to be intrigued by all of this.

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The Wolves are No. 29 among 30 teams in the power rankings, according to https://sports.espn.go.com/nba/powerranking?season=2010&week=0.

A campus basketball source said if the Gophers played a game now the starting lineup might be guards Al Nolen and Lawrence Westbrook, center Ralph Sampson III, and forwards Damien Johnson and Colton Iverson.  The Gophers open with an exhibition game at home on November 5 against Minnesota Duluth.

Lynx guard Renee Montgomery has her own website, www.reneemontgomery20.com. Included on the site are video and written blogs updating fans on her experiences in Lithuania.  Lynx forward Charde Houston is off to a 6-0 start for Tarbes, a team in the French League. The 6-foot forward is averaging a league-high 20.5 points per game.

Alex Daniels, who started his career at Minnesota and played both offense and defense, is a defensive tackle for No. 7 ranked Cincinnati (USA Today poll).  He had a team season high four sacks for the Bearcats earlier this month against Miami of Ohio.

Gophers quarterback Adam Weber is a close friend and roommate of wide receiver Eric Decker who will miss the remainder of this season because of a foot injury.  Weber said yesterday at a news conference that he will do his best to be supportive of his friend but won’t pretend to know the disappointment that Decker is experiencing.  Decker, whom Gophers coach Tim Brewster describes as the “best wide receiver period” in the country, was named one of 10 semi-finalists on Monday for the Biletnikoff award honoring the nation’s top college receiver.

Brewster said it hasn’t been determined if Decker will need surgery on his foot.  If so, there’s no chance of Decker participating in a bowl game.  Otherwise, he could be back for a bowl game if the Gophers earn an invitation.  Da Jon’ McKnight replaces Decker with Ben Kuznia being his backup.

The Gophers (4-4) might face a somber group of Michigan State players on Saturday night at TCF Bank Stadium.  The Spartans lost to Iowa on the final play of the game last Saturday but the odds-makers must think they will be okay because MSU (4-4) is about a touchdown favorite to beat Minnesota.

The Gophers’ game on Saturday against Michigan State begins at 7 p.m.  Brewster said he loves night games, describing the atmosphere as “electric.”

Vikings wide receiver Sidney Rice has 312 reception yards in the last two games, the fifth best two-game total in franchise history.  No NFL receiver has more yards than Rice the last two weeks.

Rice and running back Adrian Peterson (687 yards) have produced 1,232 yards.  That’s the best receiver-runner combo in the NFC.

The Vikings have the best defense inside the 20 yard line in the NFL, allowing opponents to score 27.8 percent of the time.

Two Minnesota schools are ranked in the top 10 of this week’s top 25 American Football Coaches Association poll.  Minnesota State Mankato (9-0) is No. 4 and Minnesota Duluth (8-1) ranks No. 6.

The 2009 World Series teams, the Yankees and Phillies, have payrolls of $201,449,189 and $113,004,046, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts web site.   The Twins 2009 payroll was $65,299,266.  More at https://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/.

George Steinbrenner bought the Yankees in 1973 for about $10 million.  They are now valued at $1.5 billion, according to. https://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/33/baseball-values-09_The-Business-Of-Baseball_Value.html.

Fifty years ago the 1959 World Series between the Dodgers and White Sox went six games, ending on October 8.  If the 2009 World Series lasts seven games, the final game will be played on November 5.

Kevin Mulvey, who the Twins traded to Arizona last summer for Jon Rauch, pitched in six games for the Diamondbacks in September including four as a starter.  He was 0-3 with a 7.04 ERA.   Rauch, at 6-11 the tallest pitcher in major league history, was impressive in limited relief for the Twins with a 5-1 record and 1.72 ERA.

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Speculation that Vikings head coach Brad Childress and agent Bob LaMonte are trying for a contract extension makes sense to an NFL insider who spoke to Sports Headliners on condition of anonymity.  “If I were Brad, and Bob was my guy, I would have Bob on the horn regularly because they’ve got to work that out,” the source said on Saturday.  “They’ve (the Vikings) got a favorable schedule out of the bye but when they get to December that’s a tough situation.”

The Vikings were 6-0 last week when reports were published that Childress, who is in the fourth year of a five year contract, was looking for a new deal.  Whether that’s true isn’t confirmed by the Childress-LaMonte team, or the Vikings, but the source said the coach should “strike now while the iron is hot.”

Although the Vikings lost to Pittsburgh yesterday, the team’s impressive start to the 16 game season provides the 53-year-old Childress with leverage for a contract extension.  His annual coaching records have reflected progress: 6-10, 8-8, 10-6 and now 6-1.

In the fragile world of coaching security, results and employment can change fast.  The Vikings play at Green Bay next Sunday, and then have the next weekend off.  Following that are likely wins in November at home against Detroit (1-5) and Seattle (2-4).  After that starts a run of games against Chicago (3-3) in late November, with December dates versus Cincinnati (5-2), Carolina (2-4), Chicago again and the early January finale with the Giants (5-2).

If the Vikings falter in their late season games, the record won’t be so sparkling and the contract negotiating leverage is gone.  Childress is in a strong position now not only because of the team’s impressive start in the first seven games but also for his gamble to make Brett Favre a Viking.

Childress helped convince the 39-year-old legend to postpone retirement, also moving aside the hoped for plan to make Tarvaris Jackson the starting quarterback.  Jackson was drafted in 2006 and schooled for three prior seasons by Childress.  “Brad Childress pushed all his chips to the middle of the table on Favre, essentially giving up on Tarvaris Jackson,” the source said.

However, the Vikings ownership, including Zygi Wilf, has sound reason to wait until the season ends before negotiating with Childress on a contract extension.  The full 2009 results and four coaching seasons will be complete in January.  Waiting and then evaluating also avoids a potential distraction for the team during the season, the source said.

Childress is believed to earn less than $2 million annually, making him among the lower paid head coaches in the NFL.  Prior to coming here Childress had never been an NFL head coach.

Data on NFL coaches’ salaries is scarce, so figures can involve some guesswork. The source said Childress and his agent might be looking for a new five year deal that provides security and compensation reflecting the average of what the upper tier of NFL coaches is paid.  What’s negotiated, though, could be less than the average and for perhaps $4.5 million a year with incentives that let Childress make more based on performances.

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