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By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor After the Clippers set a franchise record for victories in a season Vinny del Negro was fired as coach. There was the matter of the Clippers losing in the first round of the NBA playoffs. That was last season and this one began with Clippers management sending a very clear message. It was time for the Clippers to approach – and possibly win -- the first NBA championship in their history. Doc Rivers, leaving Boston after nine years, was hired as the coach who m...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor When the Lakers lost to the Phoenix Suns Tuesday at Staples Center Coach Mike D’Antoni began the evening with his ninth different starting lineup in 21 games. The great Laker teams I covered in the past usually had set lineups and set substitution rotations. The players knew their roles. With roles changing game by game the defense suffers. It can take several years for teammates to learn where each other will be. This season the Lakers brought in a batch of g...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor As the editor of this newspaper I urge my columnists to take a stand on issues. I don’t tell them what stand to take, but merely let readers know their position. Readers have their opinions and want to compare them to yours. But today I find myself unable to take the same advice. Kobe Bryant has signed a two-year, $48.5 million contract with the Lakers and as the wisdom of the Lakers’ move is debated nationally I can very clearly see both sides of the issue. Fir...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor My head is spinning as I leave Staples Center Sunday night. There are so many Laker topics to discuss. The Lakers have just beaten the Detroit Pistons, 113-99 and fans are celebrating as if an NBA championship has been won. They’re so happy because they get free tacos since the opponent didn’t score 100 points. On the last two possessions the Pistons miss shots and the crowd reacts as if the Lakers will get extra points in the standings. But here’s the reali...
Good Laker News: Mark Madsen Is Back There’s been a lot of negative news about the Lakers in the recent past. The team hasn’t done much in the playoffs the last three years, Kobe Bryant has been injured and Dwight Howard has left to play for Houston. But here’s some good news. Mark Madsen is back. Madsen was the Lakers’ first round draft choice in 2000. The 6-foot-8 forward from Stanford was a member of two Laker championship teams although he didn’t play a lot or compile impressive statistics....
Lakers May Be Doomed Until 2014 It’s portrayed as stunning that Dwight Howard rejected the Lakers, with their grand history, and selected the Houston Rockets as his new employer. But it’s really not a surprise if you’re aware of the Lakers’ recent steady decline. They haven’t gotten very far in the playoffs for the last three years. New owner Jim Buss hired the wrong coach, Mike Brown, fired him and hired Mike d’Antoni over Phil Jackson, another poor decision. Howard says he asked the Lakers...
In October, after the Lakers had signed Dwight Howard and Steve Nash, they began training camp labeled as the hottest story in the NBA. The franchise with 16 NBA championships was seemingly in position to win another. A colleague of mine, Howard Beck, who writes in New York, said the Lakers were a bigger story there than the Knicks or the defending champion Miami Heat. But on Sunday night at Staples Center, the Lakers’ disastrous season ended with a first round playoff sweep at the hands of t...
It was all there for the Clippers – the opportunity of a lifetime. After playing in the shadow of the Lakers ever since they moved to Los Angeles in 1984 the Clippers had at long, long last overcome their misery. They won 56 regular season games, beat the Lakers in all four meetings, won their first Pacific Division championship and drew sellout crowds for every home game. Meanwhile the Lakers floundered, barely made the playoffs and then lasted only one round, losing four straight games to t...
It’s An Uncertain Future For Kobe, Lakers There are two questions on the minds of local sports fans today. Where does Kobe Bryant go from here? And where do the Lakers go from here? Each day since Bryant suffered a completely ruptured Achilles tendon against Golden State last Friday there’s been speculation about his future with the team. Bryant will be paid $30 million next season whether or not he’s able to play but the Lakers could save $80 million if they send him away via the NBA’s amnesty...
Lakers Honor A Very Good Guy -- Shaq When people find out I traveled with Laker teams for 23 years they often ask about the players’ personalities. They wonder how it is to be in the company of famous athletes on a regular basis. It would be like being close to any group of people. Some are good company, some would prefer that journalists didn’t exist. It would serve no purpose to reveal the ones who didn’t co-operate with the media. I prefer to focus on the good guys. Number One on my list...
‘I’m Not Going Anywhere’ – Kobe There’s been a lot of speculation about Kobe Bryant’s basketball future when his contract with the Lakers expires after one more season. Will he retire from playing in the NBA? Will he play in Italy, a possibility he has raised in several interviews? He grew up there because his father was a professional player and Kobe speaks Italian. Would he consider coaching? Or how about signing another contract to continue playing for the Lakers? Bryant made one pronounceme...
Charles Barkley thinks San Antonio and Memphis are the Western Conference teams that might beat Miami in the NBA Finals. Both are strong on the inside. But he doubts that either could beat Oklahoma City to reach the Finals because the Thunder has a faster team. Shaquille O’Neal thinks the Lakers would be eliminated right away if they finish seventh or eighth in the West. But he sees hope for them if they can rise to sixth. That could happen if Golden State keeps slumping. I’m not sure he...
(EDITORfS NOTE:) Tributes to Jerry Buss in the last week have focused on his vision in bringing a brand of basketball that made the Lakers and the NBA popular all over the world. An example of this is provided here by Observer sports columnist Bosmat Eynav Sports Columnist Picture this: a remote desert town in Southern Israel, home to 20,000 people; three banks, one high school, one cinema, one market, one pub and me. Everyone knows your business and every untoward step you take is reported...
(EDITOR’S NOTE:) Tributes to Jerry Buss in the last week have focused on his vision in bringing a brand of basketball that made the Lakers and the NBA popular all over the world. An example of this is provided here by Observer sports columnist Bosmat Eynav Sports Columnist Picture this: a remote desert town in Southern Israel, home to 20,000 people; three banks, one high school, one cinema, one market, one pub and me. Everyone knows your business and every untoward step you take is reported d...
Senator Curren Price’s Statement on Death of Jerry Buss “I join the residents of Los Angeles and sports fans throughout the world in mourning the death of Jerry Buss, the great owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and other sports teams in our city. Who can match the legacy of such a man who gave Los Angeles 10 NBA championships and great players such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Shaquille O'Neal, and Kobe Bryant, and coaches like Pat Riley and Phil Jackson? Few people, if any, have done more to turn exceptional African Ame...
Lakers’ Owner Dies At 80 By Mitch Chortkoff Sport Editor Jerry Buss hadn’t owned the Lakers yet when I drove to his Santa Monica office in the ‘70s to discuss World Team Tennis. That was Buss’ first venture into sports and as sports editor of the now-defunct Santa Monica Outlook I wanted to ask if we could arrange a tradeout – he’d pay travel expenses for one of our writers to cover the LA Strings in exchange for advertising in the newspaper. I was nervous but he put me at ease. I stammered a...
What’s Next For The Lakers? Uncertainty The family of Jerry Buss issued a statement Monday saying they would honor their father’s wish to keep the team in the family rather than selling it following his death. I admire Jerry Buss for his many accomplishments and the fact he was a strong family man. But keeping the team in the family brings concern to Laker fans because nobody in the family has emerged as an obvious choice to maintain the Lakers at a championship level. Jim Buss, in his fir...
It has been in the back of the minds of fans and some in the media throughout the early part of the NBA season. It has been a problem magnified by recent developments. Now it’s out in the open. The Lakers are in danger of failing to qualify for the playoffs which they’ve dominated so often through the years. The franchise which has won 16 championships and acquired Dwight Howard and Steve Nash prior to this season is stumbling through one dismal defeat after another. The loss at home to Den...
If you follow the Lakers you’ve probably heard every theory about the selection of Mike D’Antoni over Phil Jackson as the team’s new coach. I can simplify the matter for you. Owner Jerry Buss decided not to remove power from his son, Jim Buss, when Jackson asked for some authority beyond coaching. I think that’s the whole story – not that Jackson asked for too much money or asked to miss some road trips for health reasons. Jackson did want a salary in the range of $10 million per season, but tha...
The Lakers didn’t draft Shaquille O’Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Wilt Chamberlain. All three came to the Lakers after they hsd established themselves with other teams. Combined, they won nine NBA championships with the Lakers. Today, Dwight Howard is the Lakers’ center and he similarly has arrived from elsewhere. Following a soap opera stretch in which Howard demanded a trade from the Orlando Magic, changed his mind and opted to stay there another year, then agreed to a trade with the Laker...
Lakers guard Steve Blake suffered a puncture wound to his left foot after stepping on a spike strip in a parking lot, it was announced Monday. Blake will be prohibited from participating in any impact exercises for approximately three weeks and will miss workouts when the team opens training camp.. He is expected to back up starting guards Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash this season....
Like a lot of you, I’m anxious to see how the Lakers will look with Steve Nash and Ryan Howard in their lineup. But I’m equally anxious to find out something else – something, in fact, that may be just as important as the acquisition of these star players. With the start of training camp just a few days away, there’s a lot of speculation about what’s happening in regard to the team’s offense. John Kuester was the assistant coach last season who was in charge of the offense. Last week the La...
A day I’ve been dreading for awhile has arrived. It’s time to think about the Lakers’ life without Kobe Bryant, which is probably two years away. Bryant has two years left on his Lakers’ contract, and he has said he intends to leave the NBA around that time. In London for the recent Olympic Games Bryant told reporters it would be logical that he’d end his playing career in Europe. He grew up in Italy because his father, Joe (Jellybean) Bryant played there. Kobe speaks Italian and a few other...
When Del Harris became the Lakers’ coach he had a conversation with center Shaquille O’Neal one day after practice. I was listening and he didn’t care. “Shaq,’ he began, ‘the only way coaches and centers are judged in this league is on how many championships they win. Nothing else comes close.” In recent days, as the Lakers were proclaimed a championship contender by the media after they obtained Dwight Howard, that conversation popped into my mind. The Lakers look good now. They have Steve Na...
If you’ve read this column the last two weeks you know I’m not encouraged by the Lakers’ recent movements, which have left them out of salary cap room while needing roster changes. But in the NBA off-season maneuvering surprises can happen. Last week the Lakers used up their final salary slot that could reward an elite player by acquiring Steve Nash in a trade with the Phoenix Suns. The acquisition of Nash made some Laker fans and even some news outlets speculate on whether the Lakers could win...
