Oh, There's Basketball Again?

Yeah, that should be telling enough.

Just goes to show you how much I care anymore about the NBA.

Two lockouts in 12 years that resulted in two shortened seasons.

And David Stern still runs the show.

That's enough to turn me off, and away.

Oh, and let's not forget the overrated and untalented players that make up about 90% of the rosters,

They "entertain" us with their pure athleticism and little-to-no basketball skills or smarts.

It's no wonder players can't make free throws or 15-foot jumpers.

Where's Magic Johnson and Larry Bird when you need them?!

I want my 80's NBA back!

I think I've seen enough of the crybabies in this league. For now, anyway.

"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.

What Brown Can't Do For You

Shannon Brown has opted out of the final year of his contract by declining his player option and electing to become a free agent, whenever that may be as the players will be officially locked out as of midnight ET tonight.

Brown joined the Lakers in the middle of the 2008-2009 season in a trade deadline deal with Charlotte, along with Adam Morrison, for Vladimir Radmanovic. He averaged about eight points a game the last two seasons.

BREAKING: Locked Out!

The NBA has locked out its players today.

The current collective bargaining agreement ends tonight at midnight ET.

The sides are far apart in negotiations on all major issues.

This includes salaries to salary cap, revenues to revenue sharing.

All league business has been suspended.

Free agency has been put on hold.

Games could be lost, as well.

Last lockout in 1998-99 resulted in a shortened 50-game season.

Talks could resume in next "two to three weeks."

It's Official

Well, that didn't take long.

Just drafted F Chukwudiebere Maduabum of Nigeria has been traded.

Maduabum will take his services to Denver.

In return, Lakers get a future second-round pick.

We hardly knew ye, Chuky!

Laker Draft Picks

As mentioned earlier, Lakers had four second-round picks in tonight's draft.

Here are the players they drafted:

• 41st: G Darius Morris, from Michigan
• 46th: G Andrew Goudelock, from College of Charleston
• 56th: F Chukwudiebere Maduabum, from Nigeria (go ahead, try to pronounce it!)
• 58th: F Ater Majok

Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak has already suggested either Maduabum or Majok could be traded later tonight, with the other going to Europe.

Lakers are also still waiting on whether Shannon Brown will exercise or decline his player option.

This could greatly affect the training camp roster and whether or not Gouldelock has a chance to make the team or not.

Meanwhile, Cleveland took Duke G Kyrie Irving with the first overall pick.

Arizona F Derrick Williams went second overall to Minnesota.

And two UCLA players were drafted, as well.

F Tyler Honeycutt was drafted in the second round by the Kings with 35th pick.

G Malcolm Lee was drafted by the Bulls with 53rd pick.

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And finally, from the "Say what?!" files...

Ron Artest has filed paperwork in L.A. to legally change his name to...

Metta World Peace.

No joke.

Read about it here.

Draft Day Has Arrived

As usual, Lakers aren't expected to be big players at the draft.

They have no first round picks again.

But they have been trying to trade up to get into the Top 5.

And yesterday a rumor surfaced that they had made an offer for the second pick.

That pick is held by Minnesota who is expected to take Arizona forward Derrick Williams.

The rumored offer was Lamar Odom for Kevin Love and the pick.

As of right now, it looks like it's not happening.

However, trading Odom might not be a bad idea because he has a very attractive contract.

And if it meant getting Love and drafting Williams?

Well, that could fill two holes created by moving Odom.

One other rumor worth mentioning...

Odom and Ron Artest for Andre Iguodala. Would you do that one?

For now, Lakers have four second round picks (41, 46, 56 & 58).

My guess is that will be the extent of their night.

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Other tidbits...

Brian Shaw has been named Associate Head Coach of Indiana Pacers.

Matt Barnes has exercised his option and will return next season.

Bill Macdonald and John Ireland headline new Lakers broadcast teams.

Macdonald joins Stu Lantz as TV play-by-play guy, replacing Joel Myers.

Ireland replaces Spero Dedes on radio and will team up with Mychal Thompson.

Former Laker Center Shaquille O'Neal has retired after 19 seasons.

We Have a New Champion

Congratulations to the Dallas Mavericks on a job well done as they defeated the Miami Heat tonight 105-95 to clinch the 2011 NBA Championship in six games and earn their first ever NBA title.

Dirk Nowitzki was named series MVP.

I gained a lot of respect for this Mavs team as they had to go through the two-time defending champion Lakers to get this far. The Mavs earned this title.

My congrats also go out to all the Mavs fans out there here in DFW. As a relatively new resident here (four years) transplanted from L.A., I've come to know plenty of Mavs fans and they are some of the best fans in the world. So enjoy the win and the championship, and enjoy the parade in a couple of days. And as a reminder, from a Laker fan who didn't celebrate like a fool in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009 or 2010, please celebrate peacefully with class and dignity! In other words, don't burn down your city!

This Just Totally Irks Me

You know, I somehow expected this from Lebron James.

He already comes across as an arrogant, immature, pompous ass.

No wonder people are losing all respect for the guy!

But Dwayne Wade, too? I expected better from him...

Beautiful sportsmanship. Seriously...

This just exemplifies why I'm rooting hard for Dallas to win this thing.

One more win!

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.

And the Sixth Man Award Goes to...?

Lamar Odom! Congratulations, L.O.!

You've had a great season, so far!

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.

Quick Note

Lakers are an NBA-best 15-1 since the All-Star Break.

Any questions?

I didn't think so.

And that triple-overtime 139-135 win last week against Phoenix was insane!

Seriously, insane!

Ok that's all. You may carry on...

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.

Ouch, That Hurt!

Another ugly loss. But is anyone surprised they lost in Charlotte?

There was no magic in Orlando yesterday either.

One more stop on the seven-game roadie Wednesday.

Time to rock Cleveland!

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.

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

One Week

The Lakers lost to Boston and San Antonio at home last week, two teams with the top records in their respective conferences, but needed overtime to beat Houston at Staples and barely got by New Orleans on the road.

They played pretty good hoops in all four games but they had their lapses. Life doesn't get any easier for them.

The New Orleans win started a seven-game road trip that includes Memphis tonight, where they typically don't play well, Boston and New York on back-to-back nights Thursday and Friday, and Orlando Sunday afternoon. The trip concludes with a stop in Charlotte next Monday, another place they don't generally play well, and Cleveland next Wednesday, against a Cavs team they walloped by 55 points last month at Staples.

They will need to play better than they have been if they even want to consider finishing above .500 on the trip.

The time is now! Let's rock!

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.

And the Winning Streak...

Goes bye-bye.

The Clippers halt the Lakers streak at seven today with a solid 99-92 win at Staples. This time, it wasn't Kobe or the Lakers that stepped it up in the fourth quarter. Instead, they showed their frustration at the end of the game, and two players from each team were tossed after a minor altercation ensued.

Lamar Odom, Ron-Ron, Blake Griffin and Baron Davis were all ejected. And Phil Jackson had some choice words for the refs afterwards.

In any case, both teams have home games tomorrow at Staples: the Clippers vs Indiana with a matinee affair, and the Lakers vs Oklahoma City in the nightcap.

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.