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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...
Lakers Announce Coaching Staff Changes The Lakers have hired Eddie Jordan, Steve Clifford and Bernie Bickerstaff as assistant coaches. Jordan, a former NBA player (1977-84) and member of the Lakers 1982 Championship team, most recently spent one season (2009-10) as head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers. Prior to his time in Philadelphia, Jordan, a native of Washington D.C. served as head coach of the Wizards. During his six years (2003- 2009) in Washington, Jordan posted a 197-224 record and in just his second season at the helm, guided the...
Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully, one of the most revered figures in Los Angeles sports history, will return to the broadcast booth for an unprecedented 64th season in 2013, it was announced. Scully will again call all Dodger home and road games in California and Arizona. “The new ownership of the Dodgers has revitalized the city, the team, the fans and myself,” Scully said. “I am so convinced of their great purpose and leadership that I eagerly look forward to joining them in pursuit of the next Dodgers championship.” Widely regarde...
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...
The Lakers have created headlines by acquiring Steve Nash and pursuing Dwight Howard. But quietly, the Clippers have been doing everything right, and right now they have a superior roster. It’s only the beginning of August, so expect more changes. But take a closer look at what the Clippers have done in this off-season. They’ve brought in four-fifths of a second unit, acquiring the quality depth they lacked last season. And they’ve re-signed starter Chauncey Billups, who is recovering from the i...
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...
Are we ready to live in a world where the Clippers do things right and the Lakers fumble around like the Clippers did for decades? Well, we don’t yet know what the Lakers are going to do this off-season. The free agency period has just begun. But the Clippers have left no mistake about their intentions. Acquiring Lamar Odom and making Chauncy Billups their primary target in free agency sends the clear message that the Clippers are trying to win the NBA championship next season, or at least t...
The Lakers have signed radio play-by-by announcer John Ireland and color analyst Mychal Thompson to multi-year contract extensions. Ireland, who took over the team’s radio play-by-play duties last season, previously had been the Lakers’ TV sideline reporter since 2002. A four-time local Emmy Award winner, he also co-hosts the popular Mason and Ireland show on the Lakers’ flagship station 710 AM ESPN Radio. Thompson, who will enter into his 10th season as the Lakers’ radio color analyst, was a former player for the Lakers and was a member...
Vinny Del Negro will coach the Clippers again next season and that’s the right decision. The Clippers have had a dismal history which includes replacing coaches too often. But owner Donald Sterling appears to be on a winning streak lately. Clippers President Andy Roeser and general manager Neil Olshey went to Sterling and said they were in agreement that Del Negro should be retained. Sterling listened and agreed. There was considerable speculation late in the season that Del Negro was in trouble...
Lakers forward-center Pau Gasol is the recipient of the first-ever season-long Kia Community Assist Award in recognition of his outstanding efforts in the community and his ongoing philanthropic and charitable work, the NBA announced. Kia and the NBA are honoring Gasol in part for his ongoing support of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. The pre-medical-student-turned-NBA-star has been a hospital champion for the past several years. In addition to frequent visits with patients, Gasol facilitated a new partnership this year between the hospital an...
While we were all concentrating on the Lakers and Clippers’ march into the NBA playoffs a funny thing happened. The Dodgers, who struggled to a third place finish in the Western Division last season and were forecast third or worse this season, began the baseball season on a hot streak. Then, despite a barrage of injuries, they widened their lead. At the same time, division favorites Arizona and San Francisco got off to terrible starts. So the Dodgers began this week with a 7 ½ game lead on th...
Since the Lakers have a grand history – 16 NBA championships – they are associated with success. When the playoffs begin, fans tend to believe the Lakers will prevail, regardless of what happened in the regular season After all, these are the Lakers. So, when the Lakers were driven out of the current post-season tournament by the younger, faster Oklahoma City Thunder Monday night, four games to one in the second round, a lot of people were jolted. They shouldn’t have been. The Lakers’ season...
Sixteen years after I met Derek Fisher at the Lakers’ training camp in Honolulu I am writing about his departure from the team and his move to Oklahoma City. If the rest of the second round NBA playoff series goes like Game 1 – when the Thunder routed the Lakers – this will be a story of how Fisher outsmarted his former team. They essentially decided they needed a younger, faster point guard and they obtained Ramon Sessions late in the season. That’s fine. But instead of keeping Fisher as a back...
For the first time in the race’s six-year history, bicycle fans and enthusiasts will have an opportunity to ride on the eighth and final stage of the 750-mile, Tour de France-style Amgen Tour of California’s “Nissan Ride Before the Pros,” culminating downtown at L.A. Live across from Staples Center on Sunday. The creator, owner and producer of the Amgen Tour is Los Angeles-based AEG Sports, one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the world. AEG, a wholly owned subsidi...
Last Friday evening Lakers employees joined 100 seniors at the Culver City Senior Center for dinner and Game 3 of the NBA Playoffs series between the Lakers and Denver Nuggets. Upon entering the dining/viewing area of the Senior Center, the patrons were greeted by Lakers staffers and given a “ONE AT A TIME” t-shirt and raffle ticket to be entered in to the halftime prize raffle. Once fully inside the multipurpose room the patrons could see that purple and gold was everywhere, from table decorations to the Lakers’ 16th Larry O’Brien Trophy...
Magic Johnson is the biggest name and Mark Walter supplies a lot of the money, but among the Dodgers’ new owners Stan Kasten is the one fans should get to know. You see, Kasten’s decisions will have the biggest impact on how successful the Dodgers will be on the field on upcoming years. He’s going to run the daily operation, decide which free agents fit, decide where the roster needs to be upgraded. “I have an office in Dodger Stadium and I’m going to be in every day,” said Johnson. “But I won’t...
The Lakers’ player known as Metta World Peace, who changed his name from Ron Artest, won’t be eligible to play in the team’s next seven games. The NBA showed its displeasure with World Peace by handing him a harsh suspension which includes playoff games for a vicious elbow to the face of Oklahoma City’s James Harden Sunday at Staples center. In many cases the NBA suspends players for the first few games of the next season but doesn’t include the playoffs. The Lakers conclude the regular s...
Last Thursday and Friday evenings were special for me. The 1971-‘72 NBA champion Lakers were honored, first at the Manhattan Beach Marriott Hotel and then at halftime of the Lakers’ game at Staples Center against the Houston Rockets. I was the only writer who covered every game that season, home and away when I worked for the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner. No, the LA Times didn’t send a writer full-time. A documentary about the team, its record 33-game winning streak and Coach Bill Sharman is in...
Former UCLA and Laker star Jamaal Wilkes, who also played for the Clippers, was voted into the Naismith Basketball Hall Of Fame this week. The following statement was issued by Lakers Owner Dr. Jerry Buss on behalf of the Lakers organization: “Anyone who truly knows and loves the game of basketball surely recognizes what a special and gifted player Jamaal Wilkes was. A rare combination of selflessness and grace, Jamaal made the game look effortless. It’s easy to forget that Jamaal averaged 20-plus points during our 1980 and 1982 championship se...
Andrew Bynum has been known for erratic behavior throughout his seven years with the Lakers. It appears as if he’s getting worse, and some members of the media and current and former players are wondering if the matter will come to a head before long Quite simply, Bynum is 24, acts younger and tests the Lakers with behavior that could become a serious issue. The subject was addressed Sunday night at Staples Center before the Lakers played the Golden State Warriors. Several of us wondered why the...
It was the injury that has seriously altered the Clippers’ season. Veteran floor-general Chauncey Billups collapsed to the court with a season-ending torn left Achilles-tendon while playing an away game against the Orlando Magic on Feb. 6. The injury occurred midway through the fourth quarter. Billups fell to the court as he tried to change directions while chasing the ball after missing a three-point shot attempt. There was no contact with another player. “I was backpedaling and tried to ret...
Frank McCourt’s eight years as the Dodgers’ owner were filled with unprecedented turmoil. But, like Magic, the saga has come to an end. A group headed by Lakers’ legend Magic Johnson, funded by Mark Walter of Guggenheim Partners and including Stan Kasten, who ran the Atlanta Braves though 14 straight playoff seasons, bought the team and Dodger Stadium Wednesday for $2 billion. The group also includes Peter Gruber, part-owner of the Golden State Warriors. They also paid $150 million for half of t...
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who capped a remarkable season by winning the National League Cy Young Award, was presented with the 2011 Sportsman of the Year award during the seventh annual LA Sports Awards, presented by AT&T U-verseon March 15 at Club Nokia at L.A. Live. The LA Sports Awards are presented annually by the Los Angeles Sports Council to celebrate the greatest moments of the year in sports in the Los Angeles/Orange County area. Although the Dodgers are in spring training in Arizona Kershaw flew here to accept the award. The...
When I attended the Lakers’ game against Utah Sunday night I focused on Ramon Sessions, the team’s new point guard. Immediately, he made an impression with his speed. Session’s presence changes the personality of the 2012 Lakers from a slow-moving team to a team that wants to run. He gets the ball upcourt quickly and teammates better keep up. I don’t dispute the fact that the 25-year-old guard is an upgrade from 37-year-old Derek Fisher. But it’s possible the Lakers are going to regret cu...
