If you been paying attention to the dizzying last month of news and trades in the NBA, then you’ve probably also noticed a little battle brewing between Yahoo Sports and the 8-man armada of ESPN. Yahoo’s been cleaning up in scooping the biggest news – Shaq to the Cavs, Yao likely done for the next season, and Richard Jefferson to the Spurs. And they just beat ESPN again – we hear that today, Yahoo hired Marc Spears of the Boston Globe. Last night, Spears broke the Rasheed Wallace-to-Boston story.

When reached on vacation in New Orleans, Spears said, “I’d like to thank the Boston Globe for everything they’ve done for me. It’s a fantastic paper. I’m hoping and praying that everything in the future works out in the right direction. I’m looking forward to going to a great website.”

Perhaps the best story we’ve heard about Spears, who is 6-foot-7, involves Tony Allen of the Celtics. As we hear it, Allen was furious at Spears’ reporting of this story, and let Spears know about it in the locker room, saying, “Keep my name out your mouth.” Spears stood his ground and responded calmly, saying, “Tony …,” which infuriated Allen. Eventually, Allen, who is only 6-foot-4, backed down. (Some of the story is captured here.)

When asked about the confrontation with Allen, Spears laughed and said it was water under the bridge.