My close personal friends know that the very first thing I do when I awake in the morning is check out Henry Abbott’s True Hoop. OK, that’s not entirely true. The very first thing I do is feed the dog and cats, search for some pants, check my email and Google myself to see if David Laing’s been talking shit about me again.

But the 5th thing I do every morning is check out Henry Abbott’s True Hoop. Today, in addition to being all over Alonzo Mourning’s calf injury and the amazing job the Pistons did in shutting down Dwyane Wade in last night’s likely preview of the Eastern Conference finals, Abbott links to the following story from the Sioux Falls Argus Leader’s Stu Whitney.

The National Basketball Development League is exploring the possibility of annexing the CBA’s most stable franchises – including Sioux Falls – to join the “D-League” starting in the 2006-07 season.

Other top CBA candidates to join the other league are the Idaho Stampede; the Dakota Wizards of Bismarck, N.D.; and the Colorado 14ers, an expansion team set to begin play next season in Broomfield, Colo.

“We’ve talked about this for each of the last four seasons,” CBA commissioner Gary Hunter said Tuesday. “As of right now, though, nothing is official and nothing has been signed. Nothing passed by my desk today.”

“To be honest, I think the CBA is better than the D-League,” said Skyforce guard Corey Williams. “There are more experienced players here. More call-ups go from the CBA to the NBA.”

Actually, the NBDL lists 13 players promoted to NBA teams this season, while the CBA has 12.

I’d add the obligatory “Isiah Thomas, unavailable for comment” line, but you were probably already thinking of it halfway through. Though that does remind me that “Love & Basketball” is available on DVD for just $8.61.