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By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor At the start of another Laker season General Manager Mitch Kupchak told the media last week this would be a season of laying a foundation. “Every season the Lakers have hopes of winning a championship,” Kupchak began. “But realistacly we’re developing DeAngelo Russell, Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson this season. Then, hopefully we’ll add free agents next season.” The plan is to build up to being a championship contender. But when? Kupchak’s speech was ho...
By Myke Williams Sports Rporter A lot of teams look good on paper but no team in the history of sports has ever won a championship just because they look good on paper. The Clippers need to prove that talent translates into wins and eventually championships. “Right now we are talking about something on paper,” said starting shooting guard J. J. Redick last Friday at Clippers media in Playa Vista. “The regular season is 82 games and there are pre-season and playoff games. Roles change and minutes change. “The important thing is to have a good...
The L.A. Clippers Foundation has re-launched with a historic three-year, $3 million commitment, with matching challenge, to City Year Los Angeles, as part of the City Year Opening Day Ceremonies at Microsoft Square in downtown Los Angeles. This is the largest donation and multi-year commitment City Year has received from the private sector, and is also the single largest cash gift in the history of the L.A. Clippers. The donation will provide essential support to City Year programs in Los...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor Before another NBA season begins soon let’s pause and honor two great players who helped make the league what it is today. Darryl Dawkins and Moses Malone died in the last few weeks. Both were giants who possessed extraordinary basketball ability. “Moses Malone was a fierce and noble competitor. He will always be linked with Laker playoff history” was a statement from the Buss family. “The NBA lost a giant and I lost a true friend,” said Clippers coach Doc River...
The NBA Board of Governors has unanimously approved changes to playoff seeding and qualification procedures effective with the 2015-16 season. As part of the modifications, the eight playoff teams in each conference will be seeded in order of their regular-season record. Most recently, every division winner was guaranteed a top four seed in its respective conference. Last season Portland was an example of a team receiving a higher seed than teams with a better regular season record. The Board also approved changes to tiebreak criteria for...
The NBA has released its 2015 preseason schedule that tips off on Friday, Oct. 2 and features three top international teams – Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul, Maccabi Haifa, and Paschoalotto/Bauru – traveling to the U.S. for six games against six NBA teams. Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul, a six-time Turkish League champion, will be the first international team to play in the U.S. this preseason, taking on the Brooklyn Nets on Oct. 5 at Barclays Center before meeting the Oklahoma City Thunder on Oct. 9 at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Maccabi Haifa, an Isr...
The L.A. Clippers tip-off the 2015-16 NBA regular season on Wednesday, Oct. 28 in Sacramento against the Sacramento Kings. The following night, the Clippers host the Dallas Mavericks at Staples Center in their home opener in a nationally televised game on TNT. To purchase tickets for any Clippers home game, fans can visit www.clippers.com, www.axs.com or call 888-9-AXS-TIX (888-929-7849). The Clippers 33 nationally televised games is the highest number in franchise history, with the Clippers...
The NBA announces that Kiki VanDeWeghe, former Palisades High and UCLA basketball star, has been promoted to Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations. VanDeWeghe, who has been serving as Senior Vice President, Basketball Operations, will lead the Basketball Operations department effective immediately. The league also will hire a new President, League Operations. VanDeWeghe and Mike Bantom, Executive Vice President, Referee Operations, will both report to that person. The moves come as two top executives depart the league office....
El SEGUNDO –The Lakers will open the 2015-16 regular season on Wednesday, October 28 at STAPLES Center when they host the number one pick of the 2015 NBA draft, Karl Anthony Towns, and the Minnesota Timberwolves, it was announced today. Highlights of the Lakers' home schedule include a Christmas day game against the Los Angeles Clippers; the NBA Champion Golden State Warriors on January 5 and March 6; LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 10; and Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Th...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor In a few months Kobe Bryant will begin the 20th season of his remarkable Laker career. Next season he won’t have a contract. So what does he do? There are four ways he can go – retire, sign another Laker contract, play in a foreign country or sign with another NBA team. Piecing together information I’ve received from numerous sources, I’m ruling out that he’ll cash in as a free agent and play for another NBA team. The NBA salary cap is soaring and even though Ko...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor The Clippers had a humiliating end to their recently completed season when their second unit couldn’t contribute enough to succeed at the most crucial time in the playoffs. Fatigue was a factor as the Clippers lost a 19-point lead in the fourth quarter of a Game 6 loss to the Houston Rockets at Staples center. The Clippers then lost Game 7 in Houston and could only wonder what might have been. The Clippers set out to improve their depth in recent weeks as o...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor DeAndre Jordan was lured to a contract agreement with the Dallas Mavericks by the team’s aggressive recruiting during the NBA’s free agent signing period. However, the contract couldn’t become legal until July 9 via league rules. Then the fun began. Jordan had second thoughts. He was at his home in Houston when he called teammate and close friend Blake Griffin and shared his concerns. Griffin suggested that Jordan should call Coach Doc Rivers. With a chanc...
By Steven Lieberman Observer Reporter 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 stand-out players Brandon Bass and Roy Hibbert have recently been added to the Lakers roster. On Saturday, the excitement involved the 236 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...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor A sports columnist usually takes a stand on issues. The hope is the column will be read and whether or not the readers agree with the point they’ll have something to think about. As sports editor of the Observer I encourage my columnists to present their opinions too. We try to give readers an opinion they probably won’t get in our rival papers. But today it’s different. In doing research for this column in the last few days I realized I don’t feel strong...
Ralph Lawler, who recently completed his 36th year as the Clippers’ television announcer, has been chosen to receive a star on the Hollywood Hall Of Fame Walk in 2016. Lawler was included in a group of candidates to be selected among thousands of nominees....
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor When I realized the deadline for this week’s paper was Wednesday and the NBA draft was Thursday I was quite disappointed. I wouldn’t be able to comment on the Lakers’ selection until the following week. Then I had an idea. There had been so much interest, so many conflicting rumors in what the Lakers were going to do that there would be considerable reader interest in a description of this process. So. Hopefully, I was right and you’ll read on, At the beginni...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor Okay, this season is over. The Golden State Warriors are champions – well deserved because they had the best regular season record with 67 wins and then proved in the playoffs they’re for real. Now let’s think about next season. Many teams who fell short will try to improve their rosters with trades, free agent signings and the upcoming draft. The first example came Tuesday when the Clippers made a trade that brought in Lance Stephenson, an outstanding defen...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor The Lakers have apparently lost a piece they were counting on to solve the puzzle created by compiling the worst record in their history. Kevin Love, the former UCLA star, says he’s going to remain with the Cleveland Cavaliers next season despite his inability to play in the current NBA Finals due to a shoulder injury. Love can opt out of his Cleveland contract and test the free agent market at the end of this month. The Lakers tried to acquire him when he l...
By Bosmat Eynav Sports Columnist The Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers are rival teams who've been struggling for respect over the past decades. And yet, one of those teams is in the NBA finals. I had to ask myself amidst this energy-charged playoff season, what was the key component that allowed the Warriors to beat the Rockets and proceed to finals, but forced the Clippers to fall short? Maybe it's naive to keep asking why the Clippers didn't win the conference semi-finals. Basket...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor There’s a suggestion going around on radio sports talk shows that LeBron James should play for a different NBA team every year to spread out the championships. It’s silly of course. He isn’t going to change teams every year. But considering that he will be participating in an NBA Final for the fifth consecutive year, three with Miami and two with Cleveland, which was horrid before he joined them, you get the point. Put him on any team and that team becomes elite....
DATE OPPONENT CITY ARENA TIME October 4 vs. Utah Honolulu, HI Stan Sheriff Center 3:00pm October 6 vs. Utah Honolulu, HI Stan Sheriff Center 6:00pm October 8 vs. Toronto Ontario, CA Citizens Business Bank Arena 7:00pm October 11 vs. Maccabi Haifa Los Angeles STAPLES Center 6:30pm October 13 vs. Sacramento Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Garden Arena 7:00pm October 17 vs. Golden State San Diego, CA Valley View Casino Arena 7:00pm October 19 vs. Portland Los Angeles STAPLES Center 7:30pm October 22 vs. Golden State Anaheim, CA Honda Center 7:00pm...
By George Laase Special to the Observer ... And Now, A Word From Our Sponsors I was quite fortunate to be able to photograph a playoff game between our Clippers and the San Antonio Spurs recently. The first quarter was so fast-paced and frantic. It seemed it was over in a flash. On the other hand, the second quarter and the whole second half seemed to drag on endlessly. The next day I got on the internet and found a report showing the number of television commercial breaks that occurred during the game. There were two commercial breaks in the...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor They blew it. There’s no denying that. The Clippers had an excellent chance to end 31 years of falling short but couldn’t hold a 19-point lead in the final quarter of Game 6 and then fell flat in Game 7. So the Houston Rockets advanced to the Western Conference playoff finals, a place where the Clippers have never been. The talk show guys have been running wild in the last few days. One even suggested the Clippers hang banners in Staples Center for winning the...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor When the Lakers moved up from their original No. 4 slot in the NBA draft lottery Tuesday to No. 2 Kobe Bryant made an observation. 'We played like crap this season so it's fitting that we moved up," he said. There's no assurance the Lakers' good fortune will trigger a major rise in the standings but it's the best news they've heard in awhile. Unless they decide otherwise the Lakers will get either Jahlil Okafor of Duke or Karl-Anthony Towns of Kentucky, the...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor As the Houston Rockets begin play in the second round of the NBA playoffs I can’t help wondering what might have been for the Lakers. You see, Dwight Howard wasn’t ready to commit to the Lakers when he became a free agent but he decided to give it a try by signing a one-year contract. Unfortunately, Howard was quickly disenchanted with Coach Mike D’Antoni’s offense which didn’t revolve around a center. So he left and joined the Rockets. Fast forward to this seas...
