After sleep-walking through the first two rounds of the playoffs and the first four games of the Western Conference finals, the Lakers are now fully caffeinated and wide awake. Pau Gasol is fully stretched, Lamar Odom is back to form and Kobe Bryant looks unstoppable. To borrow a line from the popular Nike Most Valuable … [Read more…]
The inconsistent officiating in the NBA playoffs is becoming predictable. In Game 3, the Los Angeles Lakers were awarded 45 free throws and won 103-97. In Game 4, the Denver Nuggets were awarded 49 free throws and won 120-101. It is coincidence? Neither coach doesn’t believe it is. Nuggets Coach George Karl reasoned his players … [Read more…]
Kobe Bryant scored a game-high 41 points in the Lakers’ 103-97 victory in Game 3, the first playoff game in Denver since 1985. But Kobe received a lot of help. However, help did not come from his teammates. It came in the form of three guys wearing the Footlocker shirts: Dan Crawford, Derrick Stafford and … [Read more…]
The Los Angeles Lakers are going a little overboard in trying to shed their “soft” reputation. Against the Houston Rockets in Game 2, the Lakers lay down some serious smack talk during the game and smacked the Rockets with two vicious elbows. Both were calculated and delivered with malice. In the fourth quarter of a … [Read more…]
When he was a freshman at USC, O.J. Mayo spent his summer vacation playing one-one-one against Kobe Bryant at Bryant’s basketball camp held at Loyola Marymount in Marina del Rey. Bryant won most of the battles, but Mayo more than held his own against the player regarded as the best in the world. Mayo’s basketball … [Read more…]
After being selected to his 15th – and possibly his final – NBA All-Star Game, Shaquille O’Neal began reflecting. It is something athletes do when they get to be a certain age and they start to see the finish line, and O’Neal is at that point now. Regrets? Oh, yeah. Shaq’s had a few of … [Read more…]
Larry Bird, Hall-of-Famer and three-time NBA champion with the Boston Celtics, once said that a true basketball “assassin” is someone who is not afraid to shoot when the game is on the line. Bird explained that it is easy to shoot a potential game-winning shot when the game is tied, and the worst thing that … [Read more…]
In the greatest gold-medal game in the history of men’s basketball in the Olympic Games, Kobe Bryant proved beyond any reasonable doubt that he is the best player in the world. When Spain got within two points at 91-89 with about eight minutes left in the fourth quarter, the United States, a team loaded with … [Read more…]
The sport of basketball was the biggest winner in the game between the United States and China. Many have suspected that the game, a 131-70 blowout in favor of the much deeper and talented U.S. squad, was witness by billions. That may be an exageration but the impact of the game will be felt in … [Read more…]
Kobe Bryant was built for this. The reigning MVP of the NBA takes center stage at the Beijing Olympics. Now, all he has to do is play like the best basketball player in the world and lead Team USA to the gold-medal stand. Kobe would probably say, “no problem.” The U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team … [Read more…]