NBA Essentials provides the must-see links, quotes and videos of the day.* Brian Scalabrine: "It's not going to be a difficult negotiation,'' he said. "I'll just go to Danny and say, 'I don't want to go anywhere else. Please re-sign me.' If he says yes, that'd be great. If he says no, that's when I'll probably have to start begging." -- HoopsHype
* Kevin McHale on Al Jefferson: "He'll make a lot of them," McHale said. "You miss a couple early in your career when you should have gotten them, and you make some later in your career when you have no business making it and your reputation gets you there. It'll all equal out for him." -- Star-Tribune
* "In my opinion, I think we should have our starting five," said [Paul Pierce], who was selected for a seventh time. "It's for the fans, and the coaches get a chance to choose it. I think we should be rewarded for how we played, but the Cavs have played really well, Orlando has played pretty well. The All-Star team is not going to consist of four Cavs, four Orlando players and four Boston players. I'll take four or five of us."-- Boston Herald
* Ron Artest: "We're in elementary school right now," he said. "How do you go from elementary school to PhD beyond midseason? I don't know, but we're going to try and do it. We're going to try and make it happen." -- Houston Chronicle
Also: Hakeem waxing Shaq; Kobe is Obama's pick; Kobe, Shaq and Phil, together again; and the Polish Hammer sells tickets.
