Andrew Bynum wasn't a natural selection for Lakers

The best of times were a memory and the worst of times had just begun in the spring of 2005 when the Lakers drafted 17-year-old Andrew Bynum out of high school in what seemed the maraschino cherry on the sundae of their dysfunction.

Dysfunction was a popular word around them after eight years of Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, but those now seemed like the good old days.

O'Neal was gone. Jerry West was gone. Chick Hearn was gone.

Rudy Tomjanovich, hired to replace Phil Jackson, had come and gone, fleeing within months to be replaced by . . . Jackson, who had been gone but was back.

Owner Jerry Buss, who had let Jackson go and was obliged to rehire him, seemed out of touch, musing that his 34-48 team could be in the Western Conference finals in "a couple of years."

In fact, Buss was more detached than ever, involving his son Jim in decisions, which, as far as Lakers fans were concerned, was like Jed Clampett turning the Beverly Hillbillies over to nephew Jethro.

The real heat was on General Manager Mitch Kupchak, whose challenge -- build a dynasty from the ashes of the old one -- was the NBA equivalent of "Mission: Impossible."...read full article

Change in store for Kobe and Lamar

Phil Jackson says he plans to reduce the 30-year-old Bryant's minutes this season, and suggests Odom could end up coming off the bench if he struggles at small forward spot.

Phil Jackson looked loose and relaxed, having let the sting of last season's championship failure roll off his back and disappear into the waters of the Flathead River during an off-season spent at his Montana home.

The Lakers' coach, who turned 63 last week, met with reporters for almost half an hour Friday, touching on Andrew Bynum's health, possible reductions in Kobe Bryant's playing time and a front court that might or might not include Lamar Odom as a starter.

Bryant also spoke briefly with a handful of reporters in the players' parking lot at the team training facility. He smiled a lot and seemed upbeat while detailing why he skipped surgery that would have required a 12-week recovery period for a torn ligament in his right pinkie.

"That was too long," he said, splaying out his fingers and saying that enough scar tissue had built up in the pinkie to make it less dicey to play with this season. "It was riskier last season than it is now."

Between Bryant's...read full article

Phil Jackson talking to Media

We'll have some video later in the afternoon, but in the meantime you can kill the rest of your Friday with some quotes from Phil Jackson, who met with the media in El Segundo this afternoon ahead of Monday's media day. Clean-shaven and (relatively) spry, PJ seemed eager to get going on what looks to be an interesting season. Not that he was dancing a jig or anything, but that's not really how he rolls.

You can watch casually once the film is up ... until then, we'll all have to make do with the printed word. A lot of ground is covered, but given the serious jones for anything meaty, I figure you can absorb it. Some excerpts:

On upcoming season:
"We're excited about our year. A lot of the same players back again. There haven't been a whole lot of changes. Obviously Andrew (Bynum) coming back is a change, is a difference. We think that we're healthy coming into this training camp. Obviously we have some things that are going on -- Luke is still recovering a little bit from an operation, he'll be a little slow -- but for the most part we're relatively healthy, as opposed to last year, when we had players who couldn't compete right away. We think some of our players have played probably a little too much basketball this summer, with Kobe and Pau (at the Olympics), so we'll generate a camp around their limited work, at least this first week."

On Kobe's deciding against surgery on the torn ligament in his pinkie finger:
"I think it was a good idea. Regardless of the correction that might have been done by the surgery, he's still susceptible (to injury). I don't think there's any more of a risk than there would be if he had surgery, then got his finger caught in a jersey again. There's the same risk factor. There's probably going to be a little less strength there, or whatever, but he's going to be fine. He's played all summer with it. I wasn't happy with the way he shot the ball particularly, but I think he's adjusted to all that."

read full article

DJ Mbenga's 2 year deal

Good info from Eric Pincus at Hoopsworld regarding the contract of DJ Mbenga.  Turns out it's a two-year deal, with the first being guaranteed.

"... He'll make $880,658 this season, fully guaranteed.  He's also under contract for next season, although his $959,111 is either partially or non-guaranteed.

At a little over $880, Mbenga is getting more than the league minimum, which means the Lakers lose out on a league payment that goes to teams for players signed with the veteran's minimum (a sliding scale based on the number of years).  The team used their Non-Bird Exception to retain Mbenga, leaving the Lakers with their unused Mid-Level and Bi-Annual Exceptions.

With both Sun Yue and Mbenga locked in for the year -- and with forward Josh Powell guaranteed $200,000 of his deal -- the Lakers have 14 players who are all but set in stone for opening night..."

That leaves one open roster spot, should the Lakers decide to...read full article

Sun Yue has Mononucleusis

Sun Yue tested positive for mononucleosis, delaying the start of his Lakers career for an indefinite period.

Sun, 22, appeared to be in good spirits while meeting with media members Wednesday afternoon but was taken to a Los Angeles-area hospital a few hours later. He will not be ready for the start of training camp Tuesday, and there is no date for his return."It varies on the severity of it and the individual," Lakers spokesman John Black said Thursday. "We simply don't know."

Sun skipped an unofficial practice with Lakers teammates Wednesday morning because he felt lethargic, which he attributed to jet lag after arriving in Los Angeles from China a few days earlier.

Mononucleosis can require several weeks of recovery, if not longer. Sun will rest this weekend and visit team doctor John Moe on Monday, Black said. If Sun is not considered contagious at that time, he can sit in on...read full article

Sun Yue's Press Conference Signing

Here are some highlights from Sun's meeting with the media. Watch the video to see the full press conference.

Sun introduced himself as a 6-9 point guard.

His nickname is "Q-Tip" but doesn't mind being called "Q".

The transition shouldn't be that difficult because he was in America in 2005 with his previous team, Aoshen. The competition will be better, but culturally it shouldn't be a problem.

Sun talked to Kobe after China played Team USA in the Beijing Olympics. Kobe just said "see you in training camp." He was able to meet some of his new teammates on Sunday when he came to meet with GM Mitch Kupchak, but Kobe is the only one that he's played against.

On his goals for this year: "Just try to practice hard and do everything that the coach wants. That's my goal for the first year because I am a rookie and I can't ask for too much."

On what his biggest adjustment will be: "I think it's (my) body because my body is too skinny for (the) NBA."

When asked about his strengths as a basketball player, Sun answered very humbly saying that he wasn't spectacular at anything, but also doesn't have many deficiencies.

"I think I'm an average player. I do all the things on the basketball court. I like to do all the things on the basketball court. When I (play) defense, when I pass the ball, when I block, I enjoy it because basketball has made my life so happy. I'm average. Not one skill that's very, very good, but no one skill that's very, very bad."

The guy he's looking forward to playing against the most: LeBron James. "I like his style of play. He's very unselfish."

As mentioned in a previous article, Sun will have a driver when he's in Los Angeles. "I know how to drive. I have a Chinese drivers license, but that doesn't work here. I don't think I have the time to go to learn how to drive in America."

On the LA traffic: "2005 when I came here I saw that if you want to go to the supermarket, thirty minutes. If you want to go shopping, one hour-thirty minutes."

To catch more from Sun, watch his full press conference. 

Buy Lakers Tickets here

The Los Angeles Lakers have re-signed free agent center Didier “DJ” Ilunga-Mbenga, it was announced today by General Manager Mitch Kupchak.

Mbenga, a 7-foot, 255 pound native of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, signed a pair of 10-day contracts with the Lakers last season on January 21 and February 1 before signing for the remainder of the year on February 11.

In 26 games with the Lakers, Mbenga averaged 2.0 points, 1.7 rebounds and 0.62 blocked shots in 7.8 minutes while totaling four points and five rebounds in 10 minutes over seven postseason games.

Earlier in the season, Mbenga signed with the Golden State Warriors on November 17 after spending three seasons with the Dallas Mavericks prior to their request for waivers on him October 30. In 16 games with the Warriors prior to his release January 6, Mbenga averaged 1.2 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.63 blocked shots in 8.1 minutes.

After signing with Dallas as a rookie free agent in 2004, Mbenga, 27, played 79 games over three seasons with the Mavericks, totaling 106 points, 75 rebounds and 35 blocked shots in 374 minutes. In his rookie year of 2004-05, he averaged 4.10 blocks per 48 minutes played while improving to 5.00 blocks per 48 minutes in 2005-06. In 2006-07 he was limited to just 21 games after missing the first 16 games of the year with a left foot tendon strain and suffering a torn right ACL 2/7/07 vs. Memphis.

In 121 career games including two starts, Mbenga is averaging 1.6 points, 1.2 rebounds and 0.50 blocked shots in 5.8 minutes.

The Lakers preseason roster now stands at 19.

Mitch Kupchak Interview about Sun Yue

Q: What has been the process in bringing Sun over to the Lakers?

MK: We drafted him a year ago and our feeling at that time was that because we had 2 picks in the second round, the other being Marc Gasol, we felt that if we drafted players who were not from our country we could encourage them to play internationally because we really didn't have room on our roster in 2007-08 and if we would have drafted an American player, he probably would have come to camp and we probably would have had to cut him, even if he was pretty good. So we wanted to draft guys that we could encourage to stay in Europe or in Sun's case, in China, to play, because our roster wasn't flexible enough and in Sun's case we thought he needed another year of play. As it turns out, Marc Gasol had another year of play also and he blossomed as a player; he really had a good year in Europe. We also knew that we would have room this year on our...read full article

"Rome is Burning" with Kobe Bryant

Some of you might have seen this interview already but if you haven't...you can get a chance to watch it here.  It's a great interview.  Rome was asking all the right questions.  They were talking about Shaq's rap, the olypics at beijing, Kobe's pinkie,  even about Kobe taking about wanting to play overseas in Europe.  Find out what he said in the video below and write a comment and tell me what you think.

Part 1

Part 2

Great interview, right?

Kobe Bryant on Jimmy Kimmel Live

Kobe fans...if you missed the Jimmy Kimmel Live with Kobe Bryant because you were at work or you just couldn't stay up late...here it is.  Listen to what he says about his "injured" pinky.  And you got to watch the ending when they show the edited video of Kobe jumping over the Aston Martin.  That was fuuuunny!

LAKERS TO RAISE TICKET PRICES

The Lakers will be raising their ticket price by an average of 5.5%.  It can be anywhere from $10 to $250 more a ticket depending on what game and where you sit.  The Lakers said that the extra profit will be use "to offset our increasing our payroll costs"  If you're a hardcore Laker fan and you want to buy tickets now...this is the best place to get it at an affordable price.  You don't want to get it anywhere else.  Buy tickets now

Lakers sign another: C.J. Giles

Another day, another Lakers signing.  C.J. Giles, a forward out of Oregon State, signed with the Lakers Friday, a day after Brandon Heath, bringing the number of players on their roster to 20.  Not all have signed, however.  Giles spent two seasons as Kansas before transferring to Oregon State, where he average 6.3 points and 5.6 rebounds last season.  Of all the players the Lakers have signed this summer - Dwayne Mitchell, Josh Powell, Sun Yue, Joe Crawford, Heath and Giles, only Powell's and Sun's contract are guaranteed.  Training camps open September 30 and competition for the roster spot should be fierce among the newest players.  The backcourt are crammed and Giles will be looking for a spot behind Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Luke Walton, and Trevor Ariza, Vladimir Radmonovic and Ira Newble.  Newble, a free agent, however, might have seen his last game as a Laker.

Janis Carr, OCRegister.com

There's no magic in Sun Yue

Lakers guard Sun Yue said he doesn't want to be referred to as "China's Magic Johnson" but if he has to have a nickname "The Monkey King" is fine.  "I don't want to be called the next Magic Johnson," Sun told the China Daily of the nickname giving him by the Chinese Press.  "He was a great player, and he has everything you could ever ask for in a coach but I don't think I am going to pattern my game after him in my rookie year," he said of Magic Johnson, a part-owner of the Lakers.  Sun was signed by Los Angeles Lakers to a multi-year contract after he helped China to an 8th place finish at the Beijing Olympics.  He averaged 6.8 points and 2.5 assists at the Games.  "Monkey King is a legendary simian hero of the Chinese Buddhist literary classic "Journey to the West."  "If they want to name me after the fighting Buddhist master then I guess that will make me a bit more literary," Sun said "For the fans to already have these kinds of plans (to name me monkey king) is really great support for me."

Janis Carr, OCregister.com

Summer Forecast: Who will win the NBA title?

Is it L.A.'s turn again?

Yes, it is, according to about half of our panel of 25 ESPN writers, editors and contributors.

Just as they have been throughout most of NBA history, the Los Angeles Lakers are a force again -- and now the preseason favorites to win NBA title No. 15.

Of course, that means 13 members of our panel predicted the Lakers will not win the 2008-09 NBA championship, and the top challenger in our voting will surprise some: the up-and-coming New Orleans Hornets, not the Boston Celtics.

And, don't forget, the Lakers were also favored going into the Finals in June, and we all saw how the Celtics fed on the skepticism about their chances.

But the difficulty of repeating, especially with an older lineup, is reflected in the voting results below: Only 16 percent of our panel sees the C's going back-to-back.

For the full results, including the surging expectations for the Hornets and the dark-horse candidacies of the Rockets and Cavaliers, see below:

2008-09 PREDICTIONS: NBA CHAMPS
RANK		TEAM	PREDICTED RECORD	VOTES
1		Los Angeles Lakers	55-27 (.671)	12
2		New Orleans Hornets	54-28 (.659)	6
3		Boston Celtics	55-27 (.671)	4
4		Houston Rockets	53-29 (.646)	2
5		Cleveland Cavaliers	50-32 (.610)	1

The Lakers might win the 2008-09 NBA title if ...read full article

 

Shaquille O'neal...done in 2010?

By Kelly Dwyer

Don't look now (actually, look now), but Shaquille O'Neal has a chance to see his name in the same sentence as the words "tact" and "class," without having a "less" affixed to the rear end of either of those two words. 

News out of Florida has the Phoenix Suns center retiring in 734 days, when his contract expires following the 2009-10 season. Normally this bit of news would have us sadly lamenting the tail part of the career of what may have been the game's most dominant force (at times, let's say), but after a few years of boorish behavior, Shaq's hardly on anyone's good side these days.

Between pointlessly rehashing a moronic feud with Kobe Bryant (under the guise of playful joshing, or dealing in some supposedly proud tradition of trading rude rap verses with someone), struggling to get up and down the court at times, while pulling in huge gobs of cash (20 million a year), O'Neal's career has taken a rather inglorious turn of late.

And it probably should have felt a bit more inglorious earlier on, if O'Neal weren't so damned charismatic. And so productive in June. As it stands, and now that the...read full story

Walton's Wish: Getting Back on the Court

Lakers forward recovers slowly from ankle surgery.

Without any clocks inside the gym, it was easy for Luke Walton to lose track of time. An hour, then another slipped by without him knowing.  The Lakers forward was captivated by the sloppy pick-up game he watched while running on a weight-resistant treadmill. If only he could play a pick-up game, he thought.  If only Walton could be out on the court, running plays and making baskets. If only he could dish off to Andrew Bynum like he used to and watch wide-eyed as the Lakers center slammed the ball in. If only he could run without worry on his surgically repaired right ankle.  Walton expects to get medical clearance Wednesday from the doctor, giving him the go-ahead to begin more rigorous workouts. He ran Tuesday on a wind-bubble treadmill that reduces body weight on joints, the first time he has tested his ankle since having surgery less than two months ago.

"I'm keeping my fingers crossed and if I get it (clearance), I'm going to start...read full article

"Don't call me Magic...call me Monkey King"

Okay...The Lakers acquired Sun Yue from China in the summer and everyone kept calling him the Magic Johnson of China.  I've seen him play and he's pretty good but I don't think I would compare him with the great Magic Johnson.  We'll see though.  And wussup with the nickname he calls himself.  I don't know if  got his name from that one movie with Jet Li and Jackie Chan...oh...The Forbidden Kingdom but I don't like it.  He should take it as a compliment that he's called the Magic Johnson of China and leave it as that.  I hope he can jump like a monkey though and dunk over Paul Pierce on Christmas Day.

To buy tickets to the Lakers-Celtics rivalry showdown on Christmas Day...click here

"Kobe is not the best player in the world...I am."

Paul Pierce said "Kobe is not the best player in the world...I am."  Get out of here Paul.  You're not even the best player in you're team.  When you didn't have Kevin Garnett or Ray Allen...you couldn't even make it to the playoff.  Kobe took his team to the playoff with Kwame Brown!!  Oh...did I mention that you don't have a gold medal.  The country didn't even want you to play for them.  Get out of here Paul.  We'll see this Christmas who the best player in the NBA is.

Kobe bristles at recovery time, opts to not have surgery

LOS ANGELES -- Reigning NBA MVP Kobe Bryant will not have surgery on his right pinkie because recovery would take too long. Bryant has played with damaged ligaments in the finger since February, but said Tuesday that he won't have surgery after seeking opinions from hand specialists. "When the doctors told me recovery from a procedure could be 12 weeks, I just decided now was not the time to have surgery," Bryant said on the Web site kb24.com. "What it really came down to for me is that...read full story

Kobe Bryant won't have surgery on his injured finger

The Lakers guard will report to training camp as scheduled when it begins later this month.

By Lance Pugmire, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
6:30 PM PDT, September 9, 2008

Kobe Bryant will forgo surgery on his right pinkie finger and report to training camp as scheduled when it begins later this month, the Lakers guard and reigning NBA most valuable player announced Tuesday on his website.

Bryant said on that he consulted with "numerous hand specialists" before making his decision, and opted not to endure a post-operative recovery period that would cause him to miss the start of camp on Sept. 27...read full article

JakeyPost: KOBE....DUNK OF THE YEAR!!!

I wanted to share this video with the world cuz it's the best dunk I've seen kobe do last season.  I remember at that moment when I was watching the game and he did that dunk...you guys remember those glasses with the eyeballs popping out?...that's how my eyes were.  I can't wait to see kobe dunk over shaq this season and rap "Tell me how my ass taste?"

If you guys have not seen the video where shaq was at a club rapping crap about kobe.

Watch this!!!  

Wooooow!!!  When I heard this...I lost so much respect for shaq.  I know he plays around sometimes but dang....this is a little too much don't you think?