Text messages from press row . . .

TNT’s Charles Barkley says that no other team in the NBA has a third-best player better than the Lakers’ versatile Lamar Odom. . . .

Fans of the Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs probably would disagree, Odom’s stellar productivity in Pau Gasol’s absence notwithstanding. . . .

Ray Allen, the Celtics’ third-leading scorer, is an eight-time All-Star. . . .

Manu Ginobili, not even a starter, is the Spurs’ leading scorer. . . .

With Elton Brand and Chris Kaman possibly returning for the season’s final days next month and the Clippers’ last six games against playoff contenders, Coach Mike Dunleavy’s lottery-bound team might actually have a say in determining who finishes where in the Western Conference standings. . . .

The clock is ticking on O.J. Mayo, Kevin Love, Michael Beasley, Taj Gibson, Darren Collison and all other non-senior college basketball players, who have until April 27 to make themselves available for the NBA draft. . . .

Next season, by the way, don’t be surprised to hear Ralph Lawler alter one of his signature calls to exclaim, “Oh me, oh Mayo.” . . .

NBA forward turned jazz bassist Wayman Tisdale is set to release his eighth album, “Rebound,” in June. . . .

Previous album titles have included “Power Forward” and “Hang Time,” but “Rebound” refers as much to his recovery from bone cancer as basketball. . . .

Taking a page out of Shaquille O’Neal’s book, Memphis Coach John Calipari says of the Tigers’ misadventures at the free-throw line, “We’ll make the free throws we’re supposed to make,” as if some are not supposed to be made. . . .

Speaking of O’Neal, it’s worth noting that, while “the Diesel” pulled down as many as 20 rebounds 18 times in eight seasons with the Lakers, Wilt Chamberlain averaged nearly 23 rebounds in his 14-season NBA career. . . .

Tyler Hansbrough-led North Carolina, the first team since Loyola Marymount in 1990 to score more than 100 points in each of its first two NCAA tournament games, averaged 110.5 points in victories over Mount St. Mary’s and Arkansas. . . .

Bo Kimble and Loyola Marymount averaged 130 points against New Mexico State and Michigan. . . .

North Carolina Coach Roy Williams, once rumored to be a candidate to replace Steve Lavin at UCLA, is no stranger to the Southland. . . .

Williams will have three Southern Californians on his roster next season, incoming freshman point guard Larry Drew Jr. of Woodland Hills Taft High joining juniors-to-be Deon Thompson of Torrance and Alex Stepheson of North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake, and twins David and Travis Wear, 6-10 juniors at Santa Ana Mater Dei, already have made oral commitments to the Tar Heels. . . .

An anonymous reader calls to note that USC reached the semifinals of the 1940 NCAA basketball tournament, when the field was limited to eight teams in the second season of the event. . . .

USC lost to Kansas, which lost to Indiana in the final. . . .

Noting that President Bush plans to join Jon Miller and Joe Morgan in the booth for a short time during ESPN’s telecast of Sunday night’s Washington Nationals-Atlanta Braves game, USA Today’s Michael Hiestand writes, “Maybe he’s putting together an audition tape.” . . .

With a crowd of 115,000 expected for Saturday night’s exhibition at the Coliseum, the Dodgers and Boston Red Sox will set world and major league records for baseball attendance, but they won’t come close to the stadium record. . . .

On Sept. 8, 1963, a crowd of 134,254 filled the bowl to overflowing, according to a Times report, “to hear evangelist Billy Graham preach the climax to his Southern California crusade against materialism and sin.” . . .

Undaunted, materialism and sin continued to flourish. . . .

In its March 31 issue, Sports Illustrated picks UCLA to win the NCAA championship, Vladimir Guerrero and the Angels to repeat as American League West champions and the Dodgers to again finish out of the playoffs. . . .

Former sluggers Mike Schmidt, Ernie Banks and Eddie Murray are launching wine labels -- Mike Schmidt 548 Zinfandel, Ernie Banks 512 Chardonnay and Eddie Murray 504 Cabernet -- with proceeds going to charity. . . .

The numbers refer not to the price of the wines -- about $17 a bottle -- but to the ex-sluggers’ home run totals. . . .

Art Aragon, the fun-loving, starlet-romancing “Golden Boy” boxer who died Tuesday, also was a successful bail bondsman. . . .

His company motto: “I’ll get you out if it takes 10 years.”

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jerome.crowe@latimes.com