"I'm not your child."

Those were the words of Miami superstar Dwayne Wade directed at NBA Commissioner David Stern during today's labor talks between the players and owners. Obviously things are getting heated between the two sides.

Stern supposedly pointed a finger in the direction of Wade during today's session while making a comment and Wade barked back at him, "You're not pointing your finger at me. I am not your child." Wade reportedly felt as if Stern was belittling him.

Talks got so heated at that point that the players in the room nearly stormed out. Union executive directive Billy Hunter calmed the players down and asked the players to remain at the negotiation table with Stern and the 10 owners present.

Think there might be a sense of urgency in trying to get a deal done?

Both the league and players cautioned that a deal is still far from close, but talks will resume in a much smaller forum tomorrow. The contingent of big-name players on hand today will not be present tomorrow.

In the meantime, the Italian League team, Virtus Bologna, that offered Kobe Bryant a contract announced today that they had a deal with him to join their team. The deal is reportedly for about 10 games over a 35- to 40-day period and worth about $3 million.

There are some scheduling conflicts posed by two of the other teams in the league which could hinder the deal, but Virtus is confident Kobe will still sign the deal.

Checking In... Lockout News

It's been a very quiet off-season and lockout thus far. The league and players have met several times in recent weeks but without any progress on reaching a new labor deal.

In the meantime, because it's getting close to when training camps would normally begin, the league postponed camps indefinitely today and announced the cancellation of the first week of pre-season games this season of 43 games. There's really nothing to be optimistic as far as getting a season started on time at this point, but we're probably still about a week away from reaching panic mode.

With the lockout looking like it will linger well into the fall season, several players have already taken to signing with teams overseas, primarily in Europe, to stay in game shape.

Pau Gasol is already over there, and now Kobe Bryant has an offer on the table from an Italian team for about $6.75 million. Now the question is, will he take the offer and play there until the lockout ends?

We'll know soon enough.

Two and a Half Months

Ok, so I stole that title from the CBS hit sitcom. So sue me!

But yes, it's been a while, so let's get right to it and recap from where we left off...

We knew the Lakers got the two-seed and drew New Orleans in first round.

We knew they lost Game 1 at home.

They won the series in six.

They drew Dallas in the next round, and got slammed.

Dallas swept them in four games, and it wasn't pretty.

Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom committed stupid, ugly fouls in Game 4.

Bynum has been suspended for start of next season.

Pau Gasol simply didn't show up at all in the playoffs.

Quest for Three-peat Part II came to a crashing end.

Dallas is now playing Miami for the NBA title.

Series is tied 2-2, and the series has been closer than that!

Dirk Nowitzki is in "beastmode"; Lebron James has been MIA.

Phil Jackson retired; Mike Brown (yes, really, that Mike Brown!) was hired to replace him.

So long, triangle offense.

Moving forward in the off-season, here are five things the Lakers need...

• Kobe healthy
• Younger and quicker point guard (Chris Paul or Deron Williams, anyone?)
• Shooters who can make their shots
• More consistent bench play
• Dwight Howard

All that said, everything is peachy in Laker-land.

In the meantime, we wait for a new champion, free agency and a possible league work-stoppage.

Ugly Loss

Well that wasn't very pretty now, was it?

But not to worry, these things happen. At least that's what Phil says.

Kobe did his part. Chris Paul did his too.

The rest of the Lakers didn't.

Pau was absent and took the day off.

So did the bench.

And so did the defense, especially in transition.

Ok, Hornets got their one road win.

Game 2 should be much different Wednesday night.

It better be or the two-time defending champs are in deep trouble.

Weird End to Regular Season

After rolling through 17 of their first 18 after the break, Lakers went on a five-game skid.

They finished season winning last two against San Antonio and Sacramento to equate last year's 57-25 mark.

Along the way, Pau Gasol had a knee scare, but is fine. Just a bone bruise.

Andrew Bynum hyper-extended his knee, but is fine too.

Steve Blake came down with the chicken pox.

And Kobe was dinged $100k after making a racially sensitive slur to a referee in the aforementioned San Antonio game.

So, the two-time defending champs "earned" the two-seed and get CP3 and the Hornets in round one.

Game one is Sunday.

Rocked in Cleveland

So much for that 55-point blowout win two weeks ago against the Cavs at Staples...

Gasol's 30 & 20 not enough tonight.

Lakers finish trip 4-3 after starting 4-0.

All-Star Break this weekend at Staples.

Kobe, Pau and Blake Griffin to rep the local teams.

Should We Just Call Them the Lakerbockers?

Because the Lakers just simply own the Knicks at MSG. Or shall we call it, KSG:

Kobe Square Garden.

Season sweep complete against Knicks.

Kobe blew up for 19 in first; finished with 33 in rout.

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Cavs ended an NBA-record 26-game losing streak tonight with an overtime win against the Clippers in Cleveland. Had the Cavs lost again tonight, they would have surpassed the 1973 & 1974 Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the longest losing streak by any North American team sport among the four major sports.

Beantown Beatdown

It's gotta be the throwbacks! Strangely, they wore their 1971-72 home throwbacks on the road, and still won.

Five Lakers scored in double-figures lead by Kobe's 23.

Ray Allen passed Reggie Miller for most career three-pointers made.

On to take a bite out of the Big Apple tomorrow night.

**********

One other hoops note... Utah head coach Jerry Sloan retired today after 23 seasons.

A Common Problem

Another ugly loss. They earned it. Kobe's 41 not enough.

Kings of Staples

And it's not the Lakers. (And I'm not talking pucks either.)

So much for that beating they gave the Jazz the other night.

Ugly loss. Not for lack of trying. But ugly nonetheless.

This team's inconsistencies still make me cringe.

The C's arrive at Staples tomorrow. Should be uh... interesting.

Kobe passes "The Dream" for eighth all-time in scoring.

He's also starting another All-Star Game. Thirteen in a row!

Five Years Ago Today

Kobe dumped 81 points on Toronto.

It was January 22, 2006. Lakers had a Sunday night home game against the Raptors, and little did anyone know that Kobe was about to make history. He finished with the most points ever scored by a Laker in a game, and second most ever in NBA history since Wilt Chamberlain dropped 100 points on the Knicks on March 2, 1962 while playing for the Philadelphia Warriors.

My how time flies.

Meanwhile, after losing to the Clippers last Sunday as the road team at Staples, the Lakers beat Oklahoma City the following night at Staples. They then took to the road and lost to a struggling Mavs team Wednesday night in Dallas, but rebounded nicely to beat the Nuggets in Denver last night.

Next up: The Jazz at Staples on Tuesday night.

Seventh Heaven

That's where the win streak is at now after wins over the Warriors and Nets. They struggled in both games but Kobe came up big in the fourth quarter in both games, as usual.

They get another good test tomorrow: a red-hot Blake Griffin and the cross-arena Clippers.

Sweet 16!

It's been two weeks since the Lakers clinched their 16th NBA title against Boston in seven games. Kobe earned his second straight NBA Finals MVP. The L.A. riots were in full force that night, as if right on cue. The parade has already come and gone. Phil Jackson has already announced he'll be back for one more year. And the free agency drama is already in full swing.

The Finals were certainly very entertaining, that is, if you enjoy watching the refs control them. But still, it was very entertaining. It was a see-saw battle throughout. The Lakers won Game One at home, then got beat in Game Two. The series shifted to Boston and Derek Fisher took over in Game three. The Celtics won the next two games in Boston, playing solid defense to stifle the Lakers. But Lakers returned the favor in the final two games back in L.A. with two insane defensive efforts to keep the Celtics at bay, at win their 16th NBA title, second most in NBA history behind Boston's 17, second in a row, and third win over the Celtics in their last four meetings head-to-head.

With all that behind them, the Lakers are looking forward to next season. The off-season drama began with the annual Phil Jackson watch. After meeting with doctors, he was cleared to resume his coaching duties, and elected to return for one more final year.

As for the players, Shannon Brown opted out of his contract, and Fisher, Jordan Farmar and Adam Morrison all became free agents, as well. They've already agreed to a four-year deal with guard Steve Blake, essentially marking the end of Farmar's Laker stay, at the very least. Blake can officially sign his contract on July 8th.

The Lakers and Fisher would like to continue their relationship, but Fisher wants a multi-year deal worth about $5MM per year, while the Lakers are only willing to go as high as $2.5 or $3MM per year. Is their a compromise somewhere in the middle? Sure. I'm pretty sure both would like to find some sort of resolution to this sooner rather than later.

The Lakers had been linked to guard-forward Mike Miller the day before signing Blake, but Blake's signing all but takes the Lakers out of the running for Miller. A sign-and-trade is always possible, but highly unlikely. Earlier in the off-season, it had been reported that the Lakers were very interested in guard Raja Bell, and they could very well still be interested. Bell has stated his first choice is Miami, so this is still in a wait-and-see mode until all the other top free agents find homes.

Aside from Fisher, the starting lineup figures to remain intact, assuming they don't trade Andrew Bynum. The bench appears to have been thinned out, and depending on how they fill out the bottom end of the roster, Sasha Vujacic and Luke Walton will probably be given more playing time next year than this. Both struggled immensely this season off the bench, Walton in large part due to an injury-plagued season, and Vujacic also battled nagging ailments, as well.

At least one of the Lakers draft picks this year is likely to make the roster. West Virginia small forward Devin Ebanks has a very good chance of not only making the team, but of becoming an key bench player for the Lakers. His biggest upside is his defense, and that's why the Lakers drafted him.

At this point regardless of how the off-season plays out for everyone, Lakers included, it would be foolish and hard-pressed to bet against the Lakers winning their third NBA title in a row next season. With so many key players on the market right now, and teams such as Miami, Chicago, New York, New Jersey and Cleveland all in play to not only bring back their key players, but also to add to them, it's still too early to tell who the Lakers primary opposition will be.

But one thing is for certain, the Lakers are the back-to-back defending NBA Champions!!

It's Been a While... Again

Sometimes, life just gets in the way of being able to keep this space up-to-date, but with the holiday weekend upon us and the NBA season down to two teams after an interesting first three rounds of playoff hoops, It's time to get back down to business.

When we last spoke here, Kobe had just inked his three-extension and the Lakers were preparing for the playoffs. Since then, the Lakers have rolled through three rounds, though it was interesting for a while.

As the top seed in the West, they drew a very good eight-seed in Oklahoma City. The Thunder won two games in the series, and pushed the Lakers in a couple of the other games. But in the end, it was just too much Kobe, and too much Laker experience for the Thunder.

The Lakers then got a match-up with the Utah Jazz, and promptly swept them right out of round two. They manhandled the Phoenix Suns in the first two games at Staples in the Conference Finals, but looked lost in games three and four in Phoenix. With the series tied 2-2 in Game Five, the Lakers looked like they were on their way to another home blowout against the Suns. Instead, the Suns erased an 18-point deficit and with the score tied with 3.5 seconds left, the Lakers got some more of the playoff magic.

Ron Artest continued his hot streak in Game Six at Phoenix last night, and although the Lakers nearly blew another large lead, they hung on for an eight-point win and a third straight trip to the NBA Finals.

The Lakers will get a rematch, and home court, against the Boston Celtics. They split the season series 1-1, with each team winning on the road by one point. But the C's have the Lakers number when it comes to the Finals. In the previous 11 match-ups, the Lakers are just 2-9 overall against Boston in the Finals, including a six-game thumping by the Celtics in 2008. You can bet the Lakers are looking for revenge.

And for what it's worth, the Lakers are making their league-high 31st appearance in the Finals to go with their 15 titles, second most in the league behind Boston, who have 18 titles in just 21 total appearances in the Finals.

It should be a fun series.

More to come as it closer to Game One on Thursday night at Staples.

Lakers Extend Kobe

Just days after completing a very disappointing 2-3 road trip as they prepare for the playoffs, the Lakers announced today they have inked Kobe Bryant to a three-year max extension, likely to be around $90MM.

Think it's a coincidence that Kobe's extension, Pau's extension and Ron Artest's contract all run through the 2013-2014 season? I think not. The Lakers have all but assured themselves they will be one of the top teams in the league through that season.

Ouch! That Hurt...

After the Lakers struggled some, and looked relatively inconsistent in the initial couple weeks after Kobe's return from his ankle injury, they ran off seven straight wins. The first couple of those seven games weren't pretty, but they were wins. They started to play well again, as a team, and consistently enough that they reeled off seven straight wins.

Then they ran into a buzzsaw.

I didn't see any of last night's game, but I have to imagine from some of the score updates I saw that it was ugly. The score after three quarters was 80-47. In favor of Oklahoma City.

And for a change, Kobe had a lot to do with the 91-75 loss. He turned the ball over eight times. Seriously.

And it doesn't get any easier tonight. The Lakers are back at in the second of back-to-back games in Houston. Let's hope they don't have to call in any problems.

This team better get its act together when the playoffs arrive otherwise there won't be another parade through L.A. in June.

**********

A quick update: Andrew Bynum is expected to be back in action late next week after suffering a strained Achilles last week. And Luke Walton is inching closer to his return, as well.

And So It Goes...

Kobe returns after a five-game injury absence in which the Lakers went 4-1 without him, only to look listless and effortless for two-plus games since. You kind of had to think this would happen. Their "main man" goes down and the other 11 guys suddenly feel a sense of urgency and play out of their minds for five games. Then the guy comes back and the rest of the team takes a deep breathe and a sigh of relief and they wait for something to happen through four games in which they looked dreadful in two-plus of them.

In any case, Kobe's back and hopefully the last 18 minutes of Sunday's win over Denver is a sign of things to come.

In the meantime, I stumbled across this little ditty of a rumor early this morning. In a nutshell, the rumor suggests Lebron James is quietly campaigning to join the Lakers in the off-season after his contract with Cleveland expires.

Now, as the article suggests, a lot would have to happen for this to ever come to fruition. The Lakers would have to shrug Kobe off to the sidelines and end all possible contract extension negotiations. Would they dare do that to the franchise's all-time leading scorer and the second most popular player in franchise history?

I just don't see it happening, but it does make for a fun little conversation.

Celtics Barely Escape Kobe-less Lakers

Lakers lose by one, 87-86. They had several chances to take the lead in the last two minutes of the game but came up empty. Pau Gasol had 22 points for the Lakers in the loss.

The Lakers are off until next Tuesday when they begin a short two game trip in Memphis, followed by a stop in Dallas. Hopefully the extra off days between games will be plenty for Kobe to get back into a game. Lakers are 4-1 now without him, 42-14 overall.

No Kobe, No Problem!

The Lakers are 4-0 with Kobe sitting out the past four games due to a bad ankle. One had to wonder if the Lakers would go into a panic mode not knowing how long Kobe would be out and make a trade before today's deadline, but it came and went and the Lakers stood pat.

The Lakers were tied to several trade rumors, including one that would have netted them Chicago's Kirk Hinrich. The sticking point to that potential deal, and frankly, any deal, was their inability to find a taker for Sasha Vujacic. The Lakers have grown more and more weary of Sasha's inconsistencies in recent weeks and started shopping him several weeks ago. But the Lakers were not looking to add any more payroll, so in order to take on the remaining two years, $17MM of Hinrich's contract, it had to be offset with a similar contract going the other way, and that contract was Vujacic. So the beat goes on. Hinrich is still in Chicago, and Vujacic in L.A.

The Lakers have beaten Portland, Utah and Golden State on the road, three teams that give the Lakers trouble in their buildings, and San Antonio at home without Kobe. Andrew Bynum missed the first three of those games, but Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol have stepped up nicely in all four games, and Bynum had a solid game on Tuesday in Golden State while playing in pain. Shannon Brown has played well in Kobe's absence, as well.

So the Lakers forward with the same team they've had all season as they host the Celtics tonight at Staples. And once again, Kobe will not play. There's no telling when he'll play, but if the rest of the team continues to step and play with the sense of urgency they've had over the past four games, they have a legit chance tonight. And it will give Kobe even more time for his ankle to heal.

Kobe Sits, but Lakers Win Anyway

The Lakers looked dreadful last night in the second half, losing big at home to Denver, 126-113, Kobe scored 33 points on a bum ankle after re-aggravating it in their win Wednesday night against Charlotte.

But after last night's game, the Laker's finally decided today that Kobe needed a rest, so he was given a night off tonight in Portland. Well, benching Kobe against a team they usually don't play well against in their building didn't seem like the right thing to do, and the odds were certainly stacked against the Lakers for a win, but lo and behold, they buckled down, and others stepped up in Kobe's absence, and the Lakers took care of business at the Rose Garden tonight, winning 99-82.

Lamar Odom, starting in Kobe's place, scored just 10 points but grabbed a whopping 22 boards. Ron Artest led the Lakers with 21 points and Shannon Brown added 19 off the bench.

I didn't get to see any of the game here, and there is no recap posted on the ol' www yet, so I am curious as to why Andrew Bynum only played 9½ minutes tonight.

Regardless, this was a much needed "team" victory. Hopefully they can use this win without Kobe as motivation because they'll need all the help they can get if Kobe doesn't play Monday when they host the Spurs.