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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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
In Ben Howland’s nine years as the UCLA basketball coach there have been three Final Four appearances. Howland took over a sagging program and restored it better than any of the other men who had tried to follow in the footsteps of the legendary John Wooden. That’s why the current season was so disappointing. Not only did UCLA plunge to a fifth place finish in a very weak Pac-12 Conference it was the subject of a Sports Illustrated article detailing major problems in the program. One jou...
Following a late start due to labor negotiations the National Basketball Association is rapidly approaching mid-season. With only 66 games instead of the standard 82, as we get around 30 it’s already time for my annual halfway evaluation. My first observation is this is the strangest season ever. That’s because of new labor rules which led teams to dump salaries, only one week of training camp, only two exhibition games instead of eight and even elite teams bringing in a batch of new pla...
In the 23 years when I traveled with Laker teams I can count on one hand the times we writers socialized with the players. I flew on the team’s charter plane, but it was understood there were strict guidelines when the players would be available for interviews. And I didn’t violate that trust. I don’t travel anymore but I understand the restrictions are even greater now. There’s more media and more need for media control. I recall that once Coach Pat Riley and the four traveling writers (LA Time...
When the Lakers lose three in a row, as they did last week, everyone you know has a theory. I have mine and to me it all comes down to one reality. The roster is deficient. This is not a roster up to Laker standards. The question is why. That’s the question which management will ultimately have to answer. If fans and media members can see it, management certainly can too. What seems to be happening is the Lakers are sacrificing the season in order to position themselves financially for the n...
Our weekly stories in this newspaper usually focus on the Culver City High boys basketball team. There are other sports going on but staff limits and a tight budget make choices necessary. And the reasoning here and at other local papers is that boys basketball draws the most interest. But Friday night I went to the Del Goodyear Gymnasium and watched the Culver City girls play their Ocean League game against Santa Monica prior to the boys game. The Culver girls won, 69-60, improving their record...
When the Culver City High boys basketball team began Ocean League play last week it competed well but came up short twice. Culver lost to Morningside, 66-60 on Wednesday and Santa Monica on Friday, 67-61. The losses left the Centaurs with an 8-9 record. Earlier this season Coach Jon Chapman observed that inexperience would have to be overcome. Forward Aamahd Walker and guard Keilan Horton are superior scorers but a new batch of players lack varsity experience. Against Santa Monica Culver got...
In all the years I’ve covered the National Basketball Association I’ve never seen anything like this. Neither has anyone else. Prolonged labor negotiations occurred in 1998 but when they ended there wasn’t turmoil. This time, with new rules guiding teams about money, there was utter chaos. Trades and free agent signings were announced every hour all weekend and into the new week. The Lakers thought they had acquired Chris Paul, then found out the deal wasn’t approved. Then the Clippers thought...
When the 1971-’72 Lakers went to training camp not much was expected of them. Wilt Chamberlain had joined the team in 1968 but no championships were won with Butch van Breda Kolff or Joe Mullaney as coach. So even the arrival of Bill Sharman, who had guided the Utah Stars to the American Basketball championship the previous season, didn’t stir the imagination of forecasters. After all, all-time National Basketball Association great Elgin Baylor was close to retiring. But the Lakers won 33 con...
A highlight for me of this month’s NBA all-star game at Staples Center will be the presence of Kevin Love. The third year member of the Minnesota Timberwolves returns here after playing one year at UCLA. You see, I saw tapes of Love’s high school games in Oregon and drew upon my many years of traveling with Laker teams to determine that this was a special player. I saw he could score, rebound and pass and had the instincts to do each one at the right time. I expected a lot, and Love led the Bru...
Maurice Jones is 5-foot-7, a freshman from Michigan and a key player for the USC basketball team this season. This is what I like best about college basketball. A newcomer can arrive and make an immediate impact. On the team. USC is particularly interesting now as it comes back from NCAA trouble regarding guard O.J. Mayo. New coach Kevin O’Neill has proven adept at fixing broken programs and the Trojans were 16-14 last season despite numerous player defections. It looked like the team could b...
It happened in the NFL this season and now it’s happening in the NBA. The teams expected to dominate aren’t doing that. and others are doing surprisingly well. When the Oakland Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs played for first place the game hadn’t been chosen for national television. In the NBA the Miami Heat were pre-season favorites but lost four of their first nine games. The Lakers got off to an 8-0 start but lost their next two to Denver and Phoenix. I don’t know anyone who expected New Orle...
When the Lakers moved from Minneapolis to Los Angeles for the 1960 season Frank O’Neill was hired as their trainer. O’Neill held the job until 1974. Many years later he returned to the team, briefly filling in for Gary Vitti and he also worked with the Clippers. O’Neill, who died last week at 81, is an example of a professional, dedicated to his work. Trainers aren’t paid anywhere close to what NBA players make, but for most of them it’s a valued profession. I bring this up to offer a contrast...
When I was traveling with Laker teams for many years we used to pass idle time by discussing a variety of basketball topics. One time Jerry West told me it was important to make changes, usually among the reserves, every season regardless of how successful the team had been. He thought it was best to do that for team chemistry. Mitch Kupchak is the general manager now and it’s obvious he was well trained by West. The Lakers have won the NBA championship the last two years but they’ve rec...
The Lakers have completed half of their 82-game regular season schedule with the best record in the NBA. The defending champions look good again, but there are some reasons to doubt their greatness – a few issues to deal with in the second half of the season. The Lakers’ 32-9 record is predictable considering that they have outstanding players and have had a ridiculously favorable schedule. They’ve played 26 home games and only nine well-spaced road games. Considering that, nine losses at this...
It will be a festive occasion at Staples Center Christmas Day when Kobe Bryant and LeBron James oppose each other. National television. The NBA’s two biggest stars facing off. I’ll eagerly arrive at my seat in the press box. That’s the glamour. But now the reality. The key to the Lakers’ chances of stringing together a succession of championship will be how Andrew Bynum progresses. If the 22-year-old kid matures and becomes dominant on a consistent basis the Lakers will be close to unbeata...
It’s staggering to realize what’s been going on with Kobe Bryant lately. He’s the reigning MVP of the NBA playoffs, which means he’s been recognized as perhaps the best basketball player in the world. Only LeBron James would have a legitimate claim otherwise. But in the first few weeks of the Lakers’ season Bryant has done something even he never did before. He’s a guard who has taken on the challenge of being an almost unstoppable post player. In the absence of injured centers Andrew Bynum and...
In the Lakers’ first four games they won twice, were non-competitive in a home loss to Dallas and required overtime to defeat Oklahoma City Reminded that the Lakers aren’t playing anywhere close to their championship form of last season. Kobe Bryant explained. “We’re not at full strength,” he said. “We’re missing one of the best players in the world.” The absence of Pau Gasol with a hamstring injury is a legitimate reason for the Lakers’ slow start. I just wonder if that’s the only major prob...
The Lakers have had so many championship celebrations they’ve gotten very good at putting them on. On Tuesday night they brought back key players from past championship teams before raising the newest banner and receiving their rings. It was the highlight of the opening night at Staples Center when the legends came onto the court, waving to the sellout crowd. There they were – Magic Johnson, Norm Nixon, Jamaal Wilkes, James Worthy, Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Rick Fox, Robert Horry, amo...
