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Sports Council and Chamber release study showing $4.1 billion in regional economic impact from sporting events The Los Angeles Sports Council and Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce announce the findings of their latest field study measuring the yearly economic impact of the sporting events industry in the Greater Los Angeles area. Significant findings of the report include: Ø In 2012, the sporting events industry in Greater Los Angeles generated $4.1 billion in overall economic impact for the region. Ø Approximately 18.5...
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....
Clippers, Lakers Game To Begin NBA Season The Lakers and Clippers will oppose each other on the NBA’s opening night, Tuesday, October 29 in a nationally televised game at Staples Center. Tipoff will be at 7:30 pm, LA time following the season’s first game at 5 pm between the Chicago Bulls and defending champion Miami Heat in Miami. Doc Rivers will be making his debut as Clippers’ coach after leaving the Boston Celtics. This will begin the NBA’s 69th season....
Stillwater Runs Deep Movement In Water Runs Deeper Sports Columnist Let’s take a deeper look at the health and well being of our NBA players. The fact that Bryant, Gasol, Nash, Blake, World Peace and Hill were injured before the playoffs began raised a red flag to me. This is not about age. Consider that Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker are all beyond 30 were major contributors in the playoffs. It’s all about being mindful and using the best methods to prevent inj...
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...
Remarkable NBA Final Gets My Mind Working During the years I traveled with Laker teams I covered the NBA Finals 10 times. There were many memorable games and etched in my mind was winning a championship in Boston Garden, at last conquering the Celtics. When we flew home there were several billboards in West Los Angeles. The words were ‘The Lakers have never beaten the Celtics in the NBA Finals.’ The word never had a line drawn through it. Now we’ve had an NBA Finals that will rank with the great...
Flynn Robinson, an important reserve guard on the Los Angeles Lakers’ first NBA championship team in the 1971-’72 season, died last week. “We are very sad to hear of the passing of Flynn Robinson,” said Lakers Executive Vice President of Business Operations Jeanie Buss. “Flynn played an important role on the 1971-72 Lakers team that brought Los Angeles its first NBA Championship and won what is still an NBA-record 33 consecutive games. “ Lakers fans might remember him as ‘Mr. Instant Point,’ a nickname given to him by the great Chick Hearn, a...
Before debating the merits and deficiencies of Vinny del Negro, let’s remember the Clippers have a long history of replacing coaches. It’s the way they solve problems. I wish they’d notice that stability is something to cherish in professional sports. There were Walter Alston and Tommy Lasorda with the Dodgers, about 20 years each, the players knowing there was no doubt about who was in charge. There were Phil Jackson and Pat Riley in the NBA, and the players knew what was expected. Do it right...
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...
The Los Angeles D-Fenders have named Mark Madsen as head coach, it was announced Tuesday by team President/CEO Joey Buss and General Manager Glenn Carraro. Madsen, the fifth head coach in team history, comes to the D-Fenders after serving as an assistant coach for the Stanford University men’s basketball program in 2012-13. A nine-year NBA veteran, Madsen was a member of the Lakers for three seasons, helping the franchise capture two consecutive championships in 2001 and 2002 on the back end of a three-peat. Madsen also brings a year of NBA D...
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...
For two years Chris Paul has been a model of what every NBA franchise would like to have. Actually he’s been that guy much longer. But I’m only talking about his time in Los Angeles as the dynamic point guard of the Clippers, who badly needed his leadership following countless mistake-plagued years as an underdog franchise. Paul played brilliantly, ignoring the Clippers’ past problems and never talked about leaving when he became a free agent. But he’s a free agent now. Why would he leave?...
Clippers’ Coach Deserves A New Contract It’s customary for pro sports owners to evaluate their coaches at the end of each season. The day after the National Football League season ends a half dozen or so head coaches are usually fired. Some baseball managers get fired too and basketball coaches are in danger of becoming unemployed, particularly if their teams don’t make the playoffs. The NBA regular season ended only a few days ago but already we know Doug Collins at Philadelphia and Mike Dunla...
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...
Sports Columnist These days, while the entire city is busy with concern over the causes and consequences of Kobe Bryant's injury and his torn Achilles (which tore the hearts of his fans), I wonder over one question--- What are the real priorities that this organization operates from? Could it really be that the decision makers of the Lakers put more importance on financial gain than on the well-being of their players? It is a known fact that accidents don't just happen. Accidents and...
The Lakers earned the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference and will begin a seven-game series at San Antonio Sunday at 12:30 pm, LA time. The Clippers are the No. 4 seed and will host Memphis Saturday at 7:30 pm to begin their playoff bid. Game Two will be played here Monday night, also at 7:30. The Clippers defeated the Grizzlies in last season’s first round, winning the seventh game in Memphis. This time a seventh game, if necessary, would be played at Staples Center....
On Monday it was tax day, but more importantly it was also Jackie Robinson Day at Dodger Stadium. Many special guests were in attendance to help celebrate the life of the first black baseball player to play in Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. Thanks to General Manager Branch Rickey who signed Robinson, the Dodgers were the first major league team to play a black player since the 1880’s. This ended racial segregation that had relegated black players to the N...
It was a grand afternoon for the Clippers Sunday at Staples Center. Not only did the Clippers complete a sweep of the Lakers for the season, winning all four meetings, they became Pacific Division champions and secured a playoff berth. It isn’t determined if the Clippers will have home court advantage in the first round but they’ve already put playoff tickets on sale. A few days earlier the Clippers achieved their 50th victory, the most they’ve ever had in a season. When the game ended, a message flashed on the Staples Center scoreboard. Divis...
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...
Lakers forward Metta World Peace, who injured his left knee in Monday night’s game against the Warriors in Oakland, will have surgery this week for a torn lateral meniscus. The surgery will be performed by team doctors Steve Lombardo and Dan Kharrazi of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Group in Los Angeles. World Peace, who has averaged 12.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.70 steals in 70 games (64 starts) this season, is expected to be out a minimum of six weeks....
UCLA Fires Coach: It’s a Sad Day The UCLA men’s’ basketball team won the Pac-12 Conference regular season championship this season and reached the title game of the conference tournament. The Bruins lost that title game only after Jordan Adams, one of their star players, broke a leg and couldn’t play. UCLA went on to lose its NCAA Tournament opening game, finishing with a 25-10 record as three prized freshmen – Adams, Shabazz Muhammad and Ryan Anderson -- played major roles. At a lot of school...
Sports Columnist The Clippers have shown the world the power derived from unity and where it can lead when the spirit of acceptance, trust and beneficence takes hold. These qualities lend themselves to a breathtaking dynamic. That for me, is what is called being in the flow. They are well on their way to the playoffs and the joy they emanate on the home court injects the global audience into their vortex. Interestingly, in the last few games away from home, we haven’t seen this flow. It looks l...
‘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...
Pau Gasol is close to returning to the Lakers. And, according to Coach Mike D’Antoni, Gasol will regain his starting position in place of Earl Clark. Gasol has missed 20 games with a foot injury and had a most interesting weekend. I had a private interview scheduled with him last Saturday, but Gasol was troubled by the fact he had experienced pain in the right foot after playing in a two-on-two game that morning. For the previous week he had said there were no setbacks in his training. But by S...
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...
