NBA Essentials ranks our six favorite stories of the day.1. OC Register's Lakers Blog: Bad news for The Machine: Sasha has a fracture in that ankle and will likely be out the entire pre-season.
2. NESW Sports: Video: Kevin Johnson enlists Charles Barkley to help him campaign in Sacramento.
3. Free Darko. FD is previewing all 1,230 games of the NBA regular season ... before the season begins. October/November and December have been posted.
4. NY Post Knicks Blog: Strange, almost personally gleeful piece about the possibility of Allan Houston's comeback not happening.
5. NJ.com: More delays for the Nets' Brooklyn arena.
6. Celtics Blog: Fear not, Celtics fans: Brian Scalabrine isn't getting cut.
