Injuries are always going to play a major role in sports, but they get magnified in the playoffs, and especially when it’s a star player. Derrick Rose of Chicago and Kobe Bryant of Los Angeles were both questionable with sprained ankles as they headed into Tuesday’s games, but like the warriors they are, their ankles … [Read more…]
The Los Angeles Lakers recently started training camp at their team facility in El Segundo, Calif., without little fanfare. There were no one-hour ESPN specials to announce their existence and there were no pyrotechnics to introduce Kobe Bryant, Phil Jackson and Pau Gasol – the real Three Kings of the NBA. Unlike their neighbors from … [Read more…]
Two-time NBA champion Jordan Farmar recently wrapped up his third annual Hoop Farm basketball camp at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion. He was joined by his former Lakers teammate Luke Walton on the fourth and final day of camp, and the two joined the campers in a little game of knockout. Farmar ended up winning the game, … [Read more…]
When the 1992 Dream Team took time off to visit golf courses in Barcelona, almost everyone on the team was itching to bust out their golf clubs out and take their cuts. Karl Malone saw the well-manicured greens, uninviting bunkers and deep roughs, and called it a “waste of pasture.” Karl Malone was a different … [Read more…]
Kobe Bryant says anyone who is crazy enough to mess with him on the court is crazy enough to play with him. Two seasons ago, Bryant got into an altercation with Ron Artest – who was with the Houston Rockets at the time – during a playoff game. A year later, Artest signed with the … [Read more…]
The Associated Press is reporting that Phil Jackson will return to coach the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2010-11 season, putting off retirement for at least another year to chase his 12th NBA championship. Jackson made the announcement Thursday with a news release. The Hall-of-Fame coach said last week he was leaning toward retirement after … [Read more…]
Kendrick Perkins is the anchor of the Boston Celtics and without him the Celtics sunk like the Titanic. Seven minutes into Game 6 of the 2010 NBA Finals, the Celtics lost their starting center when he came down awkwardly on his right knee while trying to grab an offensive rebound away from Kobe Bryant and … [Read more…]
Ray Allen set an NBA Finals record for most 3-point shots made in a game. He made eight of them, and all of them barely hit the rim. It was the kind of night shooters dream about. Catch the ball, get your feet set, release, and … SPLASH! Those who can shoot know that feeling. … [Read more…]
Kobe Bryant made sure there wasn’t going to be a Game 7 as he made three clutch shots down the stretch to lead the L.A. Lakers to a 111-103 victory over the Phoenix Suns and clinch the 2010 Western Conference championship. L.A. will face the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals, a matchup of two … [Read more…]
The Phoenix Suns’ zone defense has altered the complexion of the Western Conference finals. After two convincing victories in Game 1 and Game 2, the Lakers appeared to be headed for sweep until the Suns, out of pure desperation, went exclusively to a zone defense that not only slowed up the Lakers’ offensive attack but … [Read more…]