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.

Bynum's Injury

It's a hip contusion he suffered in the first half. No word on how serious the injury is or whether he'll play Monday.

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.

More Laker History

This time, with the 99-97 win tonight against Charlotte, Phil Jackson became the winningest coach in Laker history, passing Pat Riley with his 534th career win as a Laker.

The Passing

Here's the video of Kobe passing Jerry West as the Lakers all-time leading scorer...

And Then They Lose...

95-93 in Memphis. Clearly they were exhausted from playing the day before in Boston, but the Lakers notoriously don't play well in Memphis anyway. Kobe finished his record-setting night tying a season-high with 44 points.

They finish the road trip 5-3, and head back to L.A. with a 37-12 mark, and host Charlotte for a rare Wednesday night game at Staples.

Kobe is King Laker

He needed 29 points to pass Jerry West as the team's all-time leading scorer and he's got 34 with about six and a half minutes left in the game in Memphis.

Congrats, Kobe!

533 and 2

So you might be wondering what the two numbers mean. Well, the first one is pretty simple. Phil Jackson tied Pat Riley yesterday with 533 wins on the all-time Lakers win list for coaches in the Lakers 90-89 win at Boston. And Kobe was it again with yet another game-winner.

The number two might be a bit more difficult to decipher without a Laker "Number Translator."

Today marks the two-year anniversary of the Pau Gasol trade to the Lakers. In the process, they unloaded some dead weight on the team, most notably Kwame Brown, Marc Gasol, his little brother, and Javaris Crittenton, who was recently suspended for the remainder of the season by the NBA for taking part in the Dirty Harry weapon-draw incident with teammate Gilbert Arenas last month.

But it's become pretty obvious how valuable Gasol has become to the Lakers over the last two years. The Lakers have been in the last two Finals since the trade. And here's some irony for you:

On the two-year anniversary of the trade, the Lakers continue their eight-game road trip tonight in of all places, Memphis, where Gasol came to the Lakers from. So you can imagine that even as Gasol has become a mainstay and fan-favorite in L.A., and he has grown to love it there, he will have some mixed emotions as he takes the floor tonight to take on his old team.

And Yet Another Laker Milestone

And this one has nothing to do with Kobe.

Phil Jackson is just one win shy of tying Pat Riley atop the Lakers all-time wins list for coaches with 533 wins. Riles has a better win percentage with the Lakers with his 533-194 mark. Phil has 253 losses.

*****

Also forgot to congratulate Kobe on his All-Star selection, as well. He was voted in by the fans as a starter, and will be joined by teammate Pau Gasol, selected as a reserve on the West team. The All-Star game is next Sunday on Valentine's Day in Arlington at Cowboys Stadium. So far, more than 85,000 seats have been sold for this game, with an additional 15,000 standing-room only tickets expected to be sold. The 100,000 plus in attendance for the game would demolish the all-time attendance record for any basketball game anywhere.

Lebron Loses His Cool

This is another reason he has a lot of growing up to do. You never saw/see Magic, MJ or Kobe have temper-tantrums like this when they don't get a call go their way...

Approaching Another Milestone

As the Lakers continue their swing through the East Coast, Kobe continues his push towards another milestone. The team has won their last three games at Washington, Indiana and Philly last night in pretty convincing fashion since their loss in Toronto last Sunday, but Kobe is about to make Laker history.

After reaching 25,000 career points at the start of the trip last week in Cleveland, Kobe is now just 48 points shy of surpassing Laker legend Jerry West as the all-time leading scorer in Laker history. And all this hoopla over Kobe has started a whole new debate in L.A. over who the greatest player is in Laker history.

There are a few who believe it is Jerry West, but the real debate is between Kobe and Magic. Having grown up watching Magic do things no other guard in the history of the game has ever done, and being in awe watching him do it, and then having the honor as an adult to see Kobe do what he does, it's a very tough decision. They both certainly can make a great argument for this honor, but my vote goes to Magic, for several reasons.

While Kobe is a pure scorer, and arguably one of the most clutch players in the history of the game, Magic was the one who wowed and awed players and fans with his knack for making players around him better. Kobe's getting better at that, but Magic was great at it. He always knew where everyone on the floor was. He was an amazing passer. He was an amazing "quarterback" on the court.

Magic also had his share of game-winning shots, and you could make an argument that his game-winners are more memorable than Kobe's because of the conditions. There's the "baby sky hook" in Boston in the Finals in 1987. That one is probably his greatest shot ever. It's the most memorable. He had another clutch shot in Boston earlier that season the beat the Celtics at the buzzer.

Take a look...

And let's not forget his performance in the 1980 Finals against Philly, when Kareem couldn't go in Game Six because of a badly sprained ankle. Magic stepped in as the center and promptly led the Lakers to their first of five titles in the 80s while picking up the slack in Kareem's absence.

But Magic's fame and glory came for making players around him better. No one could read or see the court better than Magic. He did things on the court and with the ball that no one has ever done or been able to do. He knew exactly where every player was on the court at all times. He was the only player who had eyes on the back of his head as well as the front. Magic mesmerized teammates, opponents and fans alike.

Magic was not only a five-time champion, but he was a three-time MVP winner. Sure, Kobe is closing in as a four-time champion, and has an MVP of his own, but Magic will always be... the Magicman.

Lakers Go to Washington

After blowing a four-point lead with a minute and a half in yesterday's game at Toronto to lose 106-105 (Kobe finished one assist shy of a triple-double, finishing with a 27-16-9 line), the Lakers moved back stateside and spent the morning visiting President Obama at the White House, who honored them for their championship run last season.

Here's a short video from NBA TV. (Pay close attention to Obama's plea to Phil Jackson to give some members of Congress a few hoops pointers.)

After visiting the White House today, the Purple and Gold will continue their swing through the Eastern seaboard with a quick stay in D.C. through tomorrow night with a game against the Gilbert Arena-less Wizards. Also, Ron Artest, who was not part of last year's title, sat out the visit with the flu. He'll be a game-time decision tomorrow night.

A Tale of Two Cities

The Lakers got off to a great start on Thursday night in Cleveland, but couldn't finish off the Cavs, and lost 93-87. The battle between Kobe and Lebron lived up to its expectations, as Kobe scored 31 on 12 of 31 shooting while Lebron netted 37 on 13 of 25 shooting.

The Lakers demise on the night was their inability to make shots down the stretch. It was a see-saw battle for much of the game, but in the end, the Cavs kept their cool, and the Lakers couldn't hit their shot from the field or the free throw line. The Lakers were also unable to match Cleveland's intensity throughout the game, something Kobe was a little concerned after the game.

“The mentality has to change a little bit playing against these teams,” Bryant said. “These teams are physical, tough-minded, hard-nosed types of teams. That’s not part of our DNA. We have to step up and match that and still play skillful basketball.”

Meanwhile, the Lakers got a good game for most of the night from the Knicks on Friday, but in the end, they were too much for New York, pulling out a 115-105 win.

Kobe continued to struggle with his shooting in large part because of the injured index finger on his shooting hand, hitting just eight of his 24 shots to lead six Lakers in double figures with 27 points. It was a ho-hum game for Kobe until he took over late in the game. Obviously, it was a far cry from his 61-point night there last season, but he made his points matter, especially down the stretch.

Pau Gasol added 20 while Andrew Bynum poured in 11 of his 19 in the fourth quarter. Lamar Odom had an unusual line, scoring just two points while grabbing a team-high 14 rebounds.

Next up on the road trip, north of the border on Sunday in Toronto. Oh Canada!

25,000

Kobe has just notched his 25,000th career point to become the youngest player ever to reach the milestone.

Lakers and Cavs, Kobe and Lebron...

The Rematch. Now.

Last Night's Win, and Pau Wins Award

The Lakers looked like they were going to roll all over the Magic early last night but wound up coughing up the lead in the third period, then had to battle back to edge the Magic, 98-92. Kobe had another horrible shooting night, shooting four-for-19 from the field for just 11 points, though he looked like he was feeling a lot better as far as his back went. Kobe will also have to wait another night to reach 25,000 points for his career.

The Lakers continue to plug along with the league's best record, now at 32-9 after last night's win. The begin an eight-game roadie on Thursday in Cleveland against Lebron James and the Cavs.

Meanwhile, Pau Gasol was named 2009 Sportsman of the Year by the L.A. Sports Council. During the year 2009, Gasol won an NBA title with the Lakers, was all-NBA third-team, won the European Championship while winning MVP honors, signed an extension with the Lakers through the 2013-2014 season, and kicked off his acting career with a cameo on CSI: Miami. Congratulations, Pau!

Finals Rematch

It's been a while again since I've blogged in this here space, but while I've been absent the Lakers have continued to roll, sort of. They continue to lead the league with the best record at 31-9 going into tonight's Finals rematch with Orlando, but they've struggled over the last eight games since January 3rd while going 5-3.

In the process of looking like the champs that they are in their five wins against Dallas, Houston, Milwaukee, Dallas again and the Clippers, they also looked lost and uninspired in losses to the Clippers, Blazers and Spurs. Kobe had his worst game of the season, if not in his career, against the Spurs, but that was largely due to his plethora of injuries.

He's still battling a broken finger on his shooting hand, and a banged up elbow, and in that Spurs game, he strained his lower back after suffering back spasms earlier in that game. He struggled in the first half of the next game in Dallas but played well in the second half that he wound up hitting the game-winning shot.

The Lakers also got Pau Gasol back in their last game, a 40-point blowout of the Clippers. Gasol had reinjured his hamstring early in that January 3rd blowout of Dallas and hadn't played since.

In the meantime, in spite of Gasol's injury and Kobe being banged up, the Lakers have been getting some nice contributions from Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum and Jordan Farmar. Ron Artest has also since returned to the lineup after his Christmas Day fall in his home that sidelined him for a few games since.

Back to Kobe. He's still fighting through the bad back but as he put it earlier today, "it's stiff, not painful." He'll play tonight. He needs 30 tonight for 25,000 in his career. (More on Kobe later as I want to touch on how he relishes the challenge of playing with all these injuries compared to other great players.)

Reflecting on the Last Decade

As we move into a new decade, it's always fun to reflect on the previous 10 years just completed. That said, I thought we'd go back and look at the best Laker games and players of the last 10 years.

Top Laker Games. Where do we start? The Lakers provided us fans with so many great games in the last 10 years that it's virtually impossible to find a place to start. But I'll give it a shot!

8. Any of Kobe's regular-season buzzer-beaters not mentioned below.

7. Kobe scores 61 at Madison Square Garden.

6. Kobe takes over in overtime in Finals against Indiana after Shaq fouls out.

5. Kobe hits TWO buzzer-beaters in Portland, one at end of regulation, and one to win in 2OT.

4. The Lakers rally from 15 points down in fourth quarter to beat Portland in Game 7.

3. Kobe dumps 81 on Toronto.

2. Robert Horry's playoff three-pointer buzzer-beater from top of the key beats the Kings.

1. Derek Fisher's playoff buzzer-beater in San Antonio with .04 seconds left.

I know I'm probably missing some games from this list, but these are the most memorable games that have stuck with me over the last 10 years.

And how about the top Laker players over the last 10 years? Well, there are two, maybe three, that are pretty obvious. So if we break the top five down by position, this is what we come up with:

Center: Shaquille O'Neal. Continued the history of dominant big men in Purple and Gold.

Power Forward: Pau Gasol. One of the most consistent power forwards in franchise history.

Small Forward: Rick Fox. Another in the long line of consistency.

Point Guard: Derek Fisher. Along with Kobe, was part of four decade titles.

Shooting Guard: Kobe Bryant. Is there anyone else?

Merry New Year!

Well, it's been a while, and my apologies for being dark over the past couple of weeks.

During my absence from this here blog, the Lakers have continued to roll, having won five of the seven games they've played. They haven't played particularly well in most of those games, including two ugly losses, one to Lebron James and Cleveland on Christmas, and the other to Phoenix a few nights later. They have managed to find ways to win the others, including another Kobe buzzer-beater two nights ago against Sacramento.

Welcome to 2010. Some things will never change!

Moving forward, tonight, they host a red-hot Dallas Mavericks team that is second in the conference behind the Lakers at 23-10.

The question still remains about whether or not Ron Artest will play. As you know, he suffered a concussion after a Christmas Day fall in his home and hasn't played since, and the lack of his presence defensively is very noticeable. He did practice, somewhat, with team doctors and neurologists looking on, and will apparently be a game-time decision.

Again?!

From Wednesday 12/16. (A few days late!) Kobe goes for 39 after netting 42 the night before.

What broken finger?!

Jazz Snaps Lakers Streak at 11

I didn't see the game, so I have no real opinion or analysis to add.

Final score: Jazz 102, Lakers 94. Here's the box score from the game.

My Beef with King James

I haven't had a chance this past week to react to an incident that occured recently, but now that I have a few minutes, and I've actually had a chance to gather my thoughts on it, I figured now's as good a time as any to give you my opinion on it.

Everyone knows LeBron James is a great player. And, everyone knows he loves to have fun, especially on the court. But last Friday night against the Bulls, I think he went a little overboard.

Throughout the game that night, LeBron was seen dancing excessively on the sidelines and during the game, even while he was on the court. He was seen during one timeout making "funny" faces at the camera that just so happened to be right in his face. And as he put it later, he was just having fun.

Well, Bulls center Joakim Noah took exception to it. And frankly, so did I. Late in the game, while James was about to shoot a couple of free throws in front of the Bulls bench, Noah, sitting on the bench, started calling him out on it. After James made one of the free throws, he casually walked towards the Bulls bench to confront Noah, but before it got out of hand, it was broken up.

Still, even after the game, there was a lot of talk about it.

Now, we all know Noah had a knack for a doing a little excessive taunting back when he was at the University of Florida. And some might suggest he was being a bit hypocritical to call out James. But I think Noah was dead-on for calling him out in this case.

This is the NBA. It's a professional league where the players get paid. This is a different animal from the NCAA.

Some say that NBA players, no, check that, all professional athletes, are entertainers. While this might be true, the last thing that gives you the right to do is showboat, rub it in your opponents faces. It's one reason why I'm not a big NFL fan. Because the lack of maturity and respect from some players to their opponents disgusts me. (The end zone showboating after a score has gone far too overboard for my taste, and so has the showboating after making a great defensive play when they're trailing by three touchdowns late in a game.)

Back to LeBron James. As I said before, he's nothing short of a great player, a great athlete, a great talent. But one thing he does lack, in my opinion, is maturity. And I think it was that immaturity that led to the excessive dancing on the court.

By comparison, you never, ever saw Magic Johnson, Larry Bird or Michael Jordan dance around like that while on the court in the middle of a game. You never saw them disrespect their opponents. Heck, you don't even see Kobe do it, or even Dwayne Wade.

Why? Because they respected/respect the game and their opponents. And most importantly, they took/take the game seriously. They were/are passionate about it. Sure, they tried/try to have fun, but they did/do it without chastising their opponents.

They did/do it respectfully and with dignity.

Kobe Breaks Finger as Lakers Roll to 11th Straight Win

The Lakers keep find ways to turn close games into routs, and last night was no different. Well, actually it was.

The difference was Kobe broke his index finger on his shooting hand in the first quarter while he was reaching for a pass. He stayed in the game briefly and played through it but eventually came out of the game and went to the locker room for x-rays and treatment. He came back out for the second half and finished the game with 20 points.

With the 104-92 win over former Laker player and coach Kurt Rambis and his Minnesota Timberwolves, the Lakers improved their-league best record to 18-3 and wrapped up the easy part of their schedule on a roll. The Lakers got a generous schedule in which they played 17 of their first 21 games at home, and rolled through that stretch with a 15-2 home mark.

Pau Gasol was outstanding last night pouring in 17 points and pulling down a career-high 20 rebounds, and Ron Artest added 16 points for the Lakers.

In this last stretch, the Lakers won impressive games this week against Utah and Phoenix. With the Phoenix win, the Lakers reminded the Suns, the rest of the conference, and probably the rest of the league, as well, who the Cream of the Crop really is.

Utah will get a chance for redemption tonight as the Lakers travel into cold Salt Lake City for a rematch against the Jazz. But they won't get any breaks (no pun intended) because it's going to take a lot more than a broken finger to keep Kobe off the floor. Kobe is expected to play tonight, but how effective, or ineffective he is because of the broken finger, well, we'll just have to wait and find out, won't we?!

Another Kobe Buzzer-Beater

We should be used to this by now as Laker fans, but this was ridiculous! Kobe heaved a running three-pointer off the backboard as time expired for an electric 108-107 win over Miami, sending another sellout Staples Center crowd into a frenzy. Dwayne Wade couldn't have defended Kobe on that play any better.

Just simply a great finish to a great game. There's not much else to say about this game. That's how great a game it was.

The win was the Lakers eighth straight win to improve to a league-best 15-3.

Ouch!

Anyone happen to see the box score for Atlanta's 146-115 win over Toronto tonight?

The Hawks had nine players score in double figures tonight, folks! That's right, NINE players in double figures. And a tenth player scored nine points!

It also didn't help that Chris Bosh only scored two points for the Raptors. I guess he was so happy to be out of frigid Toronto for a night, that he simply took the night off to celebrate being in a warm climate city for a change.