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If you follow the history of basketball a few things are perfectly clear. If your team expects to win a championship you need at least two superstars to complete the journey to the top. The Lakers had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson and Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. The Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA have Nneka Ogwumike and Candace Parker. Like any championship team every player on that roster plays an important role in that team's success. All 12 women on the Sparks roster are...
If you're relatively new to Southern California you probably won't get much out of this column. But if you're an old timer you might want to be reminded of the accomplishments of Bud Furillo, who covered sports in his unique way here for about 60 years before he died in 2006. For a long time Jim Murray was the gifted sports columnist of the Los Angeles Times and Furillo was the dynamic sports editor of the now defunct Los Angeles Herald-Examiner. Besides presiding over the Herald's sports...
Every July there is summer excitement brewing at the Toyota Sports Center, the Lakers headquarters and practice facility in El Segundo. No, it wasn't the news that Brandon Ingram, the second overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft, was practicing at the Lakers’ facility. On Saturday, the excitement involved about 216 capable young women from all over the country trying-out to become a dancer for next season's Laker Girls dance squad. It was an open audition, a cattle call. The only requirements - be at least 18 years of age, have eight years of d...
In discussing NBA free agent possibilities with colleagues who cover teams in other cities I find a consensus. My colleagues agree with me that the Lakers are kidding themselves by believing they might land the elite free agents. In recent years they’ve talked about LeBron James, they’ve interviewed LaMarcus Aldridge, they tried to make an appointment with Kevin Durant but didn’t even get an interview. Since every NBA team has a new $20 million to spend the Lakers, like most of them, were assur...
Kevin Durant played for the Seattle Sonics for a year and eight for the Oklahoma City Thunder for the last eight without winning a championship. He liked Oklahoma, he gave a million dollars to the city following a devastating tornado, he contributed other money, the fans loved him. So why is he leaving? How were the Golden State Warriors able to lure him away? The answer is simple. He wants to get a championship on his resume. NBA players are very well paid. That’s well known. What a lot of p...
Last week the Lakers selected Duke freshman Brandon Ingram with the No. 2 pick in the NBA draft. They're happy because the 6-foot-9 forward is a highly regarded prospect who is likely to have an outstanding professional basketball career. But there are hurdles to overcome. Most important, the Lakers are adding another very young player to their plans to rebuild following four terrible seasons. They've been promoting the idea that their most recent draftees, Julius Randle, DeAngelo Russell and...
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Rams announced a five-year agreement with ESPNLA 710AM, which will serve as the Rams' official home and flagship radio partner. The agreement covers pre-season, regular-season, and post-season games, with extensive pre and post-game shows, producing an eight-hour game-day broadcast. The Rams have also reached a multi-year agreement with Entercom's The Sound 100.3FM, who will simulcast game-day broadcasts and serve as the Rams' official FM home. "We look forward t...
Cooper Komatsu, an eighth-grader at Culver City Middle School, tied for seventh in the 89th Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 26. Komatsu began by correctly spelling cacomixl, glaucothoe, buccal, rerebrace, and myoclonus. Words that we dare say most adults couldn't spell. In the ninth round, Komatsu misspelled illicium, a genus of flowering plan, ending his run that started with 285 spellers. Cooper, a well rounded person, has studied Japanese since he was a kindergartener, and likes how it...
San Antonio Spurs General Manager R.C. Buford has been named the 2015-16 NBA Basketball Executive of the Year. Buford, in his 14th season as the team’s general manager, previously won the award in 2013-14. Buford totaled 77 points and received nine of 29 first-place votes from a panel of fellow team basketball executives throughout the NBA. The Portland Trail Blazers’ Neil Olshey finished second with 63 points (10 first-place votes), and 2014-15 winner Bob Myers of the Golden State Warriors was third with 38 points (five first-place votes). Exe...
Rams QB Jared Goff Post-OTA – June 1, 2016 (On how the first two days of OTAs have been) "Good. A lot of learning. Trying to catch up with the speed and learn as best as I can. I feel like every day I come out here and get a little bit better, a little bit better – learn a little bit more. It's gone really well so far." (On if he has to remind himself not to get too worried about learning everything right away because it takes time to adjust to the professional level) "Absolutely. I think rig...
Cooper Komatsu, the 13 year-old eighth grader, has once again proudly represented Culver City Middle School. This morning, Thursday, May 26, he advanced through the 4th - 7th rounds of the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee and into tonight's nationally televised Finals at 5:00 p.m. PST on ESPN that will determine the champion. Komatsu's successfully spelled words and vocabulary results by round: Round 1 - Preliminaries Test Round 2 - Spelling: nagasaste Round 2 - Vocabulary: If something is...
The Lakers were in position to get the No. 2 pick n the June 23 NBA draft. But they could have gone a lot lower because of the league's annual lottery. They didn't go lower. The Lakers held on to the No. 2 position when the lottery was held last Tuesday. But new head coach Luke Walton was the victim of a prank that caused him some concern. Raymond Ridder, a former Laker assistant publicist and now the Golden State Warriors' head publicist, sent Walton a text message saying the Lakers had lost...
Six years ago Luke Walton was a player for the Lakers and six-year-old Emily Olshan was a fan who was attending her first NBA game. Who knew what the years would bring? Walton completed his playing career helping the Lakers win two championships, became an assistant coach with the NBA champion Golden State Warriors and most recently earned a five-year contract to be head coach of the Lakers. As for Emily, she's an outstanding student and plays in a softball league. On June 18 she'll be Bat...
When a closing ceremony was held last Thursday for the official ending of the Los Angeles Sports Arena after 57years my mind wandered into the past. “I used to work there,” I told my friends. Then I went into deeper thoughts about the 22-year-old Mitch and my entrance into the sports world. I had just graduated from Cal State Los Angeles College and was attempting to find my way in the world. The Lakers had played a few games at the college and I got to know some of their employees.. One day I r...
The Clippers blew a 3-1 series lead and lost a year ago in the NBA playoffs. They had a 2-0 lead this time and lost after their two biggest stars, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, were injured and ruled out of further play. If you’re a Clipper fan you prefer to focus on the 53 regular season wins rather than the playoff losses. But wherever you stand you’re probably curious about what the Clippers are going to do this summer “We have a lot of free agents,” said Coach Doc Rivers. “That’s where we ha...
Win-Win was the music of the night for honored teachers and supporters of Culver City schools at the Culver City Education Foundation's (CCEF) splendid 18th Annual Tribute to the Stars gala fundraiser. It was a night of love from, and for, Culver City. What an evening! A cocktail hour was followed by the awards presentation, followed by a live auction. And then there was a huge street party with food from more than 20 Culver City's best restaurants. After that, dancing under the stars, the real...
Luke Walton called Steve Kerr last Friday afternoon. “I have good news and bad news,” the Golden State Warriors’ assistant coach told the head coach. “Start with the good news,” Kerr said. “The Lakers have offered me their head coaching job,” Walton said. “That’s great,’ replied Kerr. ‘I’m so happy for you. What’ the bad news?” “The bad news is I took it.” That conversation sums up the fact that Walton, who played for the Lakers in nine mostly successful seasons and had a 39-4 record this seas...
Gregg Popovich has coached the San Antonio Spurs for 18 years and the Spurs have made the playoffs every year. RC Buford is the general manager. Buford and Popovich work extremely well together. They annually bring in another good player to support their longtime stars. This is a model franchise. The Lakers used to be a model franchise. They won the NBA championship 16 times. Players left other teams to join them. This was a prized destination. But today we see that three coaches have been...
When I wrote Anatomy Of A Disaster four years ago I had no intention of repeating it the next season. But readers were so fed up with the Lakers’ demise they requested it. Then we had last season, 21 wins and 61 losses, the worst record in the franchise’s history. And now this. Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse it did. The Lakers lost for the 62nd time last week, climaxing their worst season in the franchise’s 68-year existence. It was also their 11th straight loss to the Clipper...
• 48,527: Minutes played through April 7, 2016, the sixth most in NBA history • 33,521: Career points, third on the NBA’s all-time scoring list behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387) and Karl Malone (36,928) • 5,640: Points scored in the NBA Playoffs, third most in NBA history behind Michael Jordan (5,987) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (5,762) • 81: Points in a 122-104 victory against the Toronto Raptors on Jan. 22, 2006, the second-highest total in NBA history behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game in 1962 • 50: Twenty-four career 50-point game...
EL SEGUNDO – The Los Angeles Lakers announced today that it has issued a fraud alert to warn Lakers fans about the potential dangers of purchasing tickets from third party sources. Lakers fans are encouraged to make their ticket purchases directly from the team. Tickets available at Lakers Ticket Exchange at Lakers.com are sold by Lakers Season Ticket Holders and other fans. Lakers Ticket Exchange at Lakers.com is a safe and convenient way for fans to purchase tickets that would be u...
I went to Staples Center Sunday to see a basketball game. Instead, I saw a workout. Blake Griffin was returning to the Clippers after missing 45 games due to a broken hand, a torn quadriceps and a four-game suspension. He was in the starting lineup but as the game progressed I realized he wasn’t going to be featured in the Clippers’ offense. He was beginning to get back in shape by running up and down the court, making careful passes and only occasionally taking a shot. He took only seven sho...
The NBA has announced that Los Angeles has been selected to host NBA All-Star 2018. The 67th annual game will take place at Staples Centeron Sunday, Feb. 18. This will mark the record sixth NBA All-Star in Los Angeles, which hosted in 2011, 2004, 1983, 1972 and 1963, and the third All-Star at Staples Center (2011 and 2004). NBA Commissioner Adam Silver made the announcement during a press conference at Staples Center, where he was joined by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, AEG President and CEO Dan Beckerman and Los Angeles Sports & Entertainme...
Laker broadcaster John Ireland is a friend of mine. He now does the work I used to do – travel all season with the Lakers and form strong opinions about their play. He broadcasts and I write, but both of us have had first-hand knowledge of Laker happenings over the years. The other day I listened to ESPN radio’s morning shows and was intrigued by what I was hearing. Coach Byron Scott reacted when DeAngelo Russell and Jordan Clarkson got off to very slow starts in an eventual homecourt loss to...
This Saturday is the biggest party of the year in Culver City. On Saturday Night, March 19 from 6:30 pm to 11:30 Veteran’s Auditorium will be transformed into Centaur Casino as the Culver City High Boosters hold their ninth annual Casino Night. Attendees can test their skills in blackjack, craps, roulette and more. Eat some of the best snack food in Culver City, purchase Golden Road, Lagunitas and other popular beer. There will also be cheerleader baked desserts and mini donuts in a dessert bar that compares favorably to the best that Vegas h...
