For fans of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings, Gary Gerould is the play-by-play voice on the radio. For racing fans, Gary Gerould is a pit reporter on ESPN2’s coverage of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. Two very different sports, one guy.

Gerould has with the Kings since they came to California in 1985 and has called nearly 2,000 games. He’s been on ESPN since 1990, covering NASCAR, IndyCar, CART and other forms of racing in addition to his current role.  Since the NHRA and NBA seasons overlap in both the spring and fall, Gerould sometimes finds himself travelling from court to track and back again.  How does he keep it straight?

“I tell myself ‘engage the racing brain,’ and ‘engage the basketball brain,’” he said. ”Over a period of time you find shortcuts that help. But by the same token, doing three games in a week, then suddenly you’re at a racetrack, then you’ve got to shift gears a little bit.  I work very hard to stay up to speed on what’s going on with rule changes, driver changes, crew chief changes, so that when I get on site, the seed has been planted.  Having done 80-plus basketball games for 25 years, it’s more a discipline of getting your homework done and updating stats.  You’re with these guys, you travel with them on the plane, and so you have opportunities to ask them about things.”

If Gerould has to miss a Kings game to work a drag racing event, he keeps up by watching ESPN and checking box scores online. And while he’s with the Kings, he reads racing websites on a daily basis. He may miss eight or so games during the regular season, but has the full support of the Kings organization.

“I’ve been so fortunate because right from when I first started with the Kings, I was involved with NBC and I had to have certain latitude because of previous commitments, and they allowed it,” he said. “Over 25 years, they’ve continued to give me that. I greatly appreciate it.”

Naturally, Gerould is often asked if he prefers basketball or racing. “My answer is that I like everything that I do,” he said. “I’m that kind of a person. I want to find enjoyment in what I do and have a passion for it.  Also, when you start to get ground down by an 82-game basketball season, or a 23-weekend race season, you go to the other one, and it recharges you, and gives you a fresh outlook.”

Missed this? It’s worth a look and a listen. While making a live guest appearance recently on the set of SportsNation at ESPN’s Bristol, Conn., studios, Orlando Magic star Dwight Howard did a couple of his well-known impersonations, and the video is spreading ’round the Internet.

Most notable was the hilarious imitation of his coach, Stan Van Gundy:

D-Howard imitates Stan Van on SportsNation

Also, before the show, SportsNation co-host Michelle Beadle had a little fun with Howard on Twitter, asking him in a tweet how it felt to be the No. 2 dunker on the team now that Vince Carter has arrived. No word on Howard’s reaction or response…

Tuesday (June 2) on SportsCenter, Kobe Bryant spoke to ESPN’s Magic Johnson, two days before the start of the Finals in Los Angeles on ABC.  Among Kobe’s statements:  About Shaquille O’Neal, “The truth is, he would have never won (titles in LA) without me….” and about Orlando Magic Dwight Howard, ”probably what is misunderstood about him, is what a goofball he is, but he is extremely competitive…”.

To view a clip of the interview click here.  Watch the full interview at halftime of Game 1 of the Finals Thursday, June 4, on ABC.

With live action tomorrow, Wed., May 27, from events in France, Italy, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles, ESPN360.com is going global all day, streaming four marquee events from morning ‘til night.  The day will start off bright and early at 5 a.m. ET with Day 4 matches of the French Open live from Roland Garros.  Next up will be exclusive live coverage of the 2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee Preliminary Rounds from Washington D.C. at 1:15 p.m.  Soccer fans can tune in at 2:25 p.m. for one of the biggest events in the sport — the UEFA Champions League Final between Barcelona and Manchester United in Rome.  The day will conclude at 9 p.m. with Game 5 of the NBA Western Conference Finals when the Denver Nuggets meet the Los Angeles Lakers with their series tied 2-2.

Sports fans love to debate and compare teams of different eras. ESPN NASCAR analyst Brad Daugherty was part of some very good Cleveland Cavalier teams in the late 1980s and early 1990s before his career was cut short by a back injury. And as LeBron James leads today’s Cavs toward what could be the franchise’s first NBA title, Daugherty is often asked how his team would fare against James’ team.

“There’s no doubt about it,” Daugherty said with a hearty laugh. “We’d win by 20 or 30.”

Does he really believe that?

“No, but it’d be a heck of a game,” said Daugherty, the top pick in the 1986 NBA draft after a stellar college career at North Carolina. “Of course I’m going to pick my team, especially since we don’t have to play them.

“It’d be very difficult matching up and defending LeBron, much like the problems we had to guard Michael Jordan,” said Daugherty, whose teams were eliminated from the NBA playoffs multiple times by Jordan’s Chicago Bulls. “LeBron continues to groom his outside shot, being able to make 15 to 18-footers, and that’s what’s making the difference in him being the player he is today as opposed to the player he was three years ago.

“If we played them, and he started making 18-foot shots consistently, he’d be a problem. But I think we could have altered some of his shots, and we could have thrown a couple of really top-notch defenders at him. Larry Nance could guard out on the perimeter, he could guard a 3 or a 4, and “Hot Rod” Williams was an excellent defender. When you got past them to go to the basket, the game was still on because they could come from behind you and block your shot.”

Daugherty, who played center for the Cavs, feels current Cavs pivot man Zydrunas Ilgauskas would have difficulty with the combination of Daugherty and point guard Mark Price, one of the best pure shooters in NBA history. “Zydrunas does a very good job at altering shots, but I think that Mark Price and I would have been able to take him away from the basket, and he would have had to play the pick-and-roll game and guard Mark coming off the screen. If you don’t guard Mark coming off the screen, he shoots a 3-pointer instead of just pulling up and shooting a two or passing the basketball, so that would put a lot of pressure on them.”

Ultimately, Daugherty feels the difference maker would have been his teammate Ron Harper, who was traded away from the team in the 1989-90 season. “Ron was a very, very difficult opponent for anyone,” he said. “You can ask Michael Jordan. When we traded Ron, Michael said that’s the best thing we could have ever done for the Bulls. Ron was very good at moving and defending the basketball, he was a good rebounder, and he could score at different angles, outside or inside.

“LeBron offers all kinds of problems for anyone who has to guard him, but I think with our basketball team, especially if we had Ron Harper, there’s just no way that they could have matched up with us to stop our offense because we were too efficient,” Daugherty said. “But like I said, it’s ok for me to sit here now and say this.”

In 25 years as NBA commissioner, David Stern has seen the Celtics at the top, near the bottom, and back on top again. In fact, many of the league’s players weren’t even born when he was named commissioner Feb. 1, 1984. It’s the third-longest stint amongst major sports leagues, only trailing the NHL’s Clarence Campbell, 31 years, and Frank Calder, 26 years. ESPN’s Michael Wilbon recently spoke with Commissioner Stern, with the interview airing during halftime of ABC’s NBA Sunday game of the week – Cleveland/Detroit (2:30 p.m. ET).