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After months of speculation and rumors Anthony Davis was introduced at a press conference at the Lakers training facility in El Segundo last Saturday. The 26 year old Davis turned the press conference into a joyous occasion that lasted about 30 minutes. Flashback to a year ago during LeBron James press conference and it was all serious business. Davis' was full of comments that could only come out of a mature 26 year star athlete. One of the greatest players in the world gave answers to...
The Los Angeles Clippers have finally arrived. The Clippers have been fighting for relevancy in a city where the Los Angeles Lakers legacy has completely dominated the professional basketball scene. On late Friday night, NBA Superstar Kawhi Leonard decided to officially come home and become a Clipper. Leonard ended up signing a max contract with the Clippers after they acquired Paul George from the Thunder in exchange for five first-round selections, two pick swaps, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and...
NBA Free Agency is like putting a puzzle together. For the thirty NBA teams, it can just be finding that missing piece. Or there can be many missing pieces. Or maybe, the puzzle needs to be completely redesigned. In the first 24 hours of NBA free agency, there are teams that fit all those descriptions. For the causal NBA fan and even a diehard NBA fan, some teams will look completely different. In the Western Conference of the NBA, where the Lakers and Clippers call home, the changes start at...
The NBA draft is rarely going to produce instant stars. The goal is to acquire cheap labor that will fill out the roster, with the hope that the players can develop into stars or solid role players. Most NBA teams use the draft to build the roster into a playoff team and will try to add a superstar through free agency to become a championship team. The Clippers are that example. The Lakers are the opposite, acquiring superstars to win now and filling the roster out with role players and...
The Los Angeles Lakers finally accomplished something that they had been trying to do since January. They traded three players and three draft choices for one of the best players and big men in the world. Anthony Davis is coming to Tinsel Town to play for the Lakers. The Lakers traded away three promising young players, Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart. Ball and Ingram were supposed to be the Lakers future but when they acquired LeBron James last year they realized their future is now....
Southern California native Kawhi Leonard was named the 2019 NBA finals MVP as the Toronto Raptors upset the favored Golden State Warriors and won their first NBA Championship. Leonard, who played his high school basketball at King High School in Riverside and his college ball at San Diego State University, has spent his professional career leading the San Antonio Spurs and the Raptors to Championships. He is now an unrestricted free agent and he may be coming home to Southern California. While...
To outside observers, the Los Angeles Lakers look like a trainwreck. A bad basketball team and a bad soap opera. The sudden resignation of Magic Johnson, Laker legend and President of Basketball Operations, only helped to reinforce this image. The bungled head coaching search, which led to the Lakers losing their top two head coaching candidates, made the Lakers head coaching search look like a circus act. Despite the comedy of errors, at the end the Lakers got it right with the hiring of Frank...
At press time the Clippers were headed to Oakland to play game five of their best of seven playoff series against the powerful Golden State Warriors. The defending NBA champions took the Clippers best shot in game four at Staples Center last Sunday and turned it into a 113-105 victory. Game five was played last Wednesday and even if the Clippers upset the Warriors in Oakland winning the series is highly unlikely. Give the Clippers credit for making it this far. They were picked to win 30-35...
The Los Angeles Clippers just completed one of the largest comebacks in NBA playoff history last Monday and the Lakers are trying to complete a search for a new coach. Both teams are in positions that no one thought they would be in but that's the nature of the sports world. The Clippers, led by Lou Williams' 36 points came from 31 points down to stun the Golden State Warriors in Oakland. Williams also had 11 assists and Danilo Gallinari had 25 points and Montrezl Harrell scored 24 and grabbed...
Just when you thought you had the NBA all figured out the two professional basketball teams in Los Angeles left you scratching your head? The Lakers season will be over next week and the Clippers will move on in the playoffs. The Clippers are currently in sixth place in the Western Conference with three games to play in the regular season. Their record is currently 47-31 and if the playoffs started today they would probably play the Houston Rockets. Two out of their three remaining games are at...
The Los Angeles Lakers were officially eliminated last Friday from the playoffs. They have been on a downhill spiral for the last few weeks. Two of their starters, Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball are still injured and the team is still looking for the light at the end of the free agent tunnel. That's the bad news. The good news is this is still the Lakers town. Fans still pack the Staples Center regardless of whom the Lakers are playing or who the Lakers put on the court. "The fans are awesome,"...
The Los Angeles Clippers are 8-2 in their last 10 games and they are in eighth place in the Western conference playoff race. Eight teams from the west and eight teams from the east make the NBA playoffs. Their record is 42-30 with 10 games remaining in the regular season. The Clippers recent success has been a compilation of many things. The number one reason maybe the maturation of their two rookie starting guards, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Landry Shamet. Gilgeous-Alexander has become more...
The Clippers and Lakers regular seasons are about to come to an end and the teams are headed in opposite directions. After the Clippers 140-115 win over the Boston Celtics last Monday night at the Staples Center the Clippers moved into sixth place in the Western Conference standings with a record of 39-29. The Lakers are in 11th place in the standings with a record of 30-36. Eight teams make the playoffs in the conference. The Lakers’ situation will get a lot worse during the next week because t...
Clippers appear headed for the Playoffs. The Los Angeles Lakers have become a daily soap opera, with daily speculation about who is in and who is out. With a record of 31-36, they are headed for a sixth straight season of missing the playoffs. The Los Angeles Clippers, on the other hand, appear to be headed for the playoffs for the seventh time in eight years. Their record improved to 39-29 after beating the Boston Celtics 140-115 on Monday night for their fifth straight win. The Clippers were l...
The NBA season is already full of more tension than a day time soap opera, now the next few months will be filled with drama evolving teams that will trying to make the playoffs. In the Western Conference no less than 13 teams will be battling for eight playoffs spots and in the Eastern Conference it looks like it's going to be a close race between the top four or five teams. For the Clippers and Lakers the bottom line is they have to win at least 70% of their games if they expect to make the pl...
Both teams are looking for improvement from last year. If the Clippers can stay healthy, they will surprise a lot of people. They were 5-0 in the preseason although they played overseas teams like the Sydney Kings and the Macabbi Haifa. They did have wins over the Lakers, Minnesota and Denver. Three of the Clippers starting five are set but the other two are still up in the air. Coach Doc Rivers will begin his starting five with guard Patrick Beverly, forward Danilo Gallinari and forward Tobias...
The Lucky Ducky Swim will again be at the Fiesta La Ballona Saturday, Aug. 25 and Sunday, Aug. 26. At 3:00 pm on Sunday, the rubber ducks will "swim" across the Culver City Plunge in two preliminary races followed by the final winning race. There will be three Lucky Ducky winners. The top prize is $500 cash, with the second prize of two tickets to a Lakers basketball game and third prize a one-year free membership to the Culver-Palms YMCA. The proceeds from the Lucky Ducky Swim will benefit...
My friend, my coworker, my editor Mitch Chortkoff lost his battle with diabetes and related illnesses this week. He was 78. Mitch was a renowned sports writer in Los Angeles for 50 years. His knowledge and zeal for writing sports was incredible. He was regarded as the "Dean of the Lakers Writers." Services for Mitch will be held at 2 p.m. on Monday July 23, at Mount Sinai Hollywood Hills - Mount Sinai Chapel, 5950 Forest Lawn Dr., Glendale. During my career, I have been blessed to work with some...
Culver City Observer Editor and Sports Editor Mitch Chortkoff has died after a short illness. The announcement was made by Observer Publisher Stephen Hadland on Wednesday afternoon. Chortkoff covered the Los Angeles Lakers for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner and Copley Press. His column appeared in the Daily Breeze and Santa Monica Evening Outlook. He traveled with the Lakers for over 20 years. Services are planned for Monday with details to follow. A complete story will appear in this week's...
The Los Angeles Clippers and the Los Angeles Lakers are both coming off seasons that neither would call a success. For the first time since 2005, both LA teams missed the playoffs. For the Lakers, this has become a routine. This was the fifth straight season the Lakers have missed the postseason. For the Clippers, this was the first time since 2011 that they had missed the playoffs. The offseason officially starts on June 21st when the 2018 NBA Draft is held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn,...
For the first time in recent memory, both the Clippers and the Lakers will start their summer vacations early. The Clippers will miss the playoffs for the first time in seven years, although they will finish the season with a winning record. The Lakers will miss the playoffs for the fifth straight year. So for the Los Angeles professional basketball fan this feels different. With so many other sports in Los Angeles it's not so bad but it still hurts. It's like the NBA All-Star game being played...
The NBA season for the Clippers and Lakers is about to end unless the Clippers can pull off a miracle. The NBA playoffs consist of 16 teams from two different conferences. Eight teams from the west and eight teams from the east will square off in the next few months to see who we be the 2017-18 NBA Champions. The Lakers have already been eliminated from the playoffs so it's up to the Clippers to try and have at least one NBA team in the post season. In order to accomplish that achievement they...
The NBA in Los Angeles is getting interesting. Despite not having any super stars in town the Clippers are battling for a playoff position and the Lakers are starting to play winning and entertaining basketball. Last weekend LeBron James and Cleveland visited the Staples Center to play the Clippers on Friday and the Lakers on Sunday. Both of the Los Angeles teams beat the Cavaliers in convincing fashion and both teams are playing well without big name players in the lineups. "Guys are defiantly...
After covering the NBA for almost 50 years I learned something today that had never crossed my mind. It is possible for these superior athletes to suffer like anyone else. Yes, they can experience panic attacks while playing a game that is admired by millions of fans. Kevin Love, the former UCLA star, has told us he has suffered panic attacks and tells anyone who has done that should take it seriously. He says he’s now paying attention to his mental health. Love isn’t playing right now bec...
A lot of interesting basketball will be played in the NBA this season. We don’t know who the champion will be. If you like the sport you have months of entertainment coming up. But another subject has become very important. With LeBron James breaking records a lot of attention has begun to go his way with fans wondering where he’s going to play next season. You see, LeBron crushed some long-standing records last weekend and he’s reached that super duper place of all-time great. Lebron belongs to...
