Lately, I cannot tell the difference between Andrew Bynum and DJ Mbenga, which is not good for the Los Angeles Lakers. For a guy who was supposed to be the last piece to the Lakers’ championship puzzle, Bynum has turned into Mr. Irrelevant in this year’s playoffs. He has morphed into Andrew Mbenga. Bynum, a … [Read more…]
Los Angeles Lakers Coach Phil Jackson made the first move in the Western Conference finals and now it is up to the Denver Nuggets to adjust. Jackson put Kobe Bryant, his best defender, on Nuggets point guard Chauncey Billups for much of Game 1. Even though Billups scored 18 points, he made just 38% of … [Read more…]
NBA TV analyst and former Houston Rocket Kenny “The Jet” Smith made a very bold but accurate statement on TNT’s “Inside the NBA” show after the Los Angeles Lakers destroyed the Rockets by 40 points in Game 5. Smith said the Lakers have a certain “arrogance” about them, arrogant in a sense that they feel … [Read more…]
Despite having watched his team get destroyed by 40 points in Game 5, Ron Artest remained confident. In fact, he was so confident that he believed his Houston Rockets would be back in Los Angeles on Sunday for Game 7, which meant he guaranteed a Rockets victory in Game 6. “We come back in Game … [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…]
Last June, the Los Angeles Lakers were humiliated by the Boston Celtics by 39 points in Game 6 of the NBA Finals at the new Boston Garden. That drubbing is still fresh in the minds of Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson. Both future Hall of Famers are chomping at the bit to get back to … [Read more…]
Winning a division title probably won’t move the seismograph in Los Angeles, but beating the San Antonio Spurs is always a big deal for the Lakers and it is also becoming a common occurrence. The Spurs and Lakers are the two dominant teams of this decade, winning a combined six championships and one or the … [Read more…]
Lamar Odom’s game is as volatile as the New York Stock Market. Sometimes it is way up, and sometimes it is way down. When the Los Angeles Lakers season tipped off, the Odom Meter was running low as all eyes were on Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. The casual fan and longtime basketball experts were … [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…]
Chants of “Boston Sucks!” rained all over Staples Center on Christmas Day. The L.A. crowd were feeling good after the Lakers defeated the Celtics, 92-83, to end Boston’s 19-game winning streak and gain an upperhand in the season series. The Celtics, who had won 19 in a row heading into the highly anticipated showdown, might … [Read more…]