Lakers' Kobe Bryant injured in exhibition

Kobe Bryant has experienced just about every injury in a pro career spanning 37,519 minutes, but this was a new one.

Bryant sustained a hyperextended right knee and was listed as day-to-day after banging knees with Lakers forward Josh Powell in the second quarter of Tuesday's 102-98 exhibition victory over the Charlotte Bobcats. Bryant was injured while going for a rebound off Sun Yue's missed shot from the wing. Bryant bumped into Powell, his knee was hyperextended and he landed off balance.

Bryant immediately signaled to the bench that he was injured, and a timeout was called with 3:08 left in the second quarter. He walked over and sat at the end of the bench for a few moments before heading to the locker room under his own power, with trainer Gary Vitti closely behind.

Bryant did not return for the second half and will be re-evaluated today. The injury is not considered serious, and an MRI exam is not scheduled for today unless he wakes up and experiences pain.

"We'll see how it feels [today]. It's sore," Bryant said in a brief...read full article

"The Machine" is working again.

Sasha Vujacic participated through the entirety of Monday’s practice, saying that he had a little discomfort in his ankle but no sharp pain. He didn’t want to push off it too much, and won’t play in L.A.’s preseason game in San Diego on Tuesday. However, he does feel good about his progress and will see how the ankle responds to a day’s worth of activity.

Click here see the Vujacic interview on video.

WOULD YOU RATHER: ANDREW BYNUM/JORDAN FARMAR

We played a game of “Would You Rather” with Andrew Bynum and Jordan Farmar, with names like Kimbo Slice, James Bond, Jessica Alba and Mr. Belding coming into play.

If you can figure out whose answers are better, let us know. I’m undecided.

MT: ... Would you rather fight Chuck Norris in a cage match or Kimbo Slice on the street?
Bynum: Chuck Norris. He’s a little bit smaller than Kimbo. I’m going to be able to stay away from Chuck a little bit, and I don’t want Kimbo to be touching me. 
Farmar: Chuck Norris, because I like organized sports. I don’t play basketball in the streets really anymore … I like being in a gym with refs. I’ll take my chances with Chuck.

MT: ... Be James Bond for a day ... Or Hugh Hefner for a day?
Bynum: James Bond. All day. You get the cars, you can shoot very well, you’re an ace, you’re a ladies’ man … You have the total package. 
Farmar: James Bond. Come on, he’s a highly-trained assassin/double-agent. He does his thing, and he still gets girls. He drives the hot car, he’s young, he’s fly, athletic, coordinated … Plus I’m not a Playmate kind of guy.

MT: ... Be able to communicate with animals, or be able to read women's minds?...read full article

Farmar backboard alley hoop pass to Ariza for the slam!

The Lakers are looking like the team to beat already. If you missed the Lakers vs. Raptors game on Sunday, here's a clip to show you that the Lakers are taking it all the way this year. Jordan Farmar to Trevor Ariza for a fast break backboard alley hoop slam!

Lakers' Kobe Bryant still needs some legwork

MVP might be a little fatigued from the Olympics and Phil Jackson is keeping an eye on him.

Long after the NBA Finals ended in mid-June, Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol took center stage in an international theater, helping their respective countries to gold and silver finishes at the Beijing Olympics.

Has there been a carry-over effect from almost two months' worth of overtime? Gasol seems to be faring fine on the court this month, but Bryant has looked fatigued at times, Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said.

"Kobe still looks to me like his legs might be a little bit tired," Jackson said. "So I constantly ask him if he wants to take a day off or if he needs a day off. I check in with him."

Bryant sat out a few practices the first week of training camp and was sidelined for the second part of Friday's practice after feeling a twinge in his back. He is not expected to miss preseason games tonight and Sunday at Staples Center.

Bryant's shot has been somewhat flat in preseason play. He is shooting 36% (nine for 25) in three exhibition games.

"That's all legs," Jackson said. "He's got to get his legs into it."

Bryant also had a subpar exhibition season a year ago, but he snapped back to life with a 45-point effort in the season opener against Houston and eventually won his first...read full story

Lakers' Luke Walton may be scrambling for court time

The team has a logjam of talent at small forward and Jackson is still trying to define the forward's role.

Once, Luke Walton was the starting small forward for the Lakers, seemingly putting him on the path to success.

He was awarded a six-year, $30-million contract during the summer of 2007 after having a career year during the 2006-07 season in which he started 60 games, and all five of the Lakers' playoff games. But now Walton is in a struggle to find minutes because of the log jam of talent at his position. And it hasn't helped that Walton fell behind in training camp while recovering from ankle surgery.

"My job is to go out and play. His job is to determine who plays where, when and how much," Walton said of Lakers Coach Phil Jackson. "That's out of my control."  When Walton was a starter during the 2006-07 season, he averaged career highs in points (11.4), rebounds (5.0), assists (4.3) and minutes (33.0).

Last season he played in 74 games, but only 31 as a starter.

Walton's role this season has yet to be determined.

"I really don't know," Jackson said today after practice. That's because Lamar Odom, Trevor Ariza, Vladimir Radmanovic and even Kobe Bryant all will spend time at the small forward position.

Andrew Bynum's agent disappointed with contract talks with Lakers

The center is in the final season of his contract and could become a restricted free agent next year if the Lakers don't sign him to an extension by Oct. 31.

Andrew Bynum turns 21 on Oct. 27. Then comes an even bigger date. The Lakers have until Oct. 31 to sign Bynum to a five-year contract extension, though discussions with the team have been "few and not significant," according to Bynum's agent, David Lee. "I just don't get it," Lee said. "I do not understand certain things that happen. Andrew has taken everything the Lakers have thrown at him, including criticism. He doesn't do anything to respond other than go on the court. He just goes on with his business."

Lee is traveling from New York to meet today with Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak in hopes of working out a deal.

Bynum, who will make $2.8 million this season in the final year of his contract, can sign a five-year extension worth up to about $85 million, a figure that won't officially be determined until the NBA's salary cap for the 2009-10 season is announced next summer.

The Lakers currently do not plan on offering Bynum a maximum deal, and they want to gauge his health and on-court prowess over the final five exhibition games.

Bynum has said his surgically repaired left knee feels fine. He also said he didn't think too often...read full article

Derek Fisher wants the Lakers to play with urgency

The 13-year veteran guard knows the Lakers have a chance to win a championship this season and he wants his teammates to understand that.

Derek Fisher always has been a calm, steady influence for the Lakers. He has been a rock for his younger teammates, a coach on the floor and a friend for Kobe Bryant in his times of need. That hasn't changed, but Fisher senses the gravity of what's at stake and that is to win an NBA championship sooner rather than later and that has changed his way of dealing with his teammates.

"It used to be 100% calm and pretty chill," Fisher, 34, said after practice today. "I guess in my old age, it's dwindled down to about me being 75 to 80% calm and chill. But I mix in 20 to 25% of a little fire in there just to let guys know that this is important and that this is our job . . . and we've got to take it seriously. I try to make sure that I keep that on our minds." He spent his first eight years in the NBA with the Lakers before playing two years with Golden State and one season with Utah.

Fisher re-joined the Lakers a year ago as an elder statesman who has learned during his 13-year career how to become a leader.

"I feel like as a team we have a great opportunity," Fisher said. "I feel like individually I can help the team take advantage of the opportunity and I feel great about this time in my career, I really do."

Fisher was an integral part of the Lakers team that won three consecutive...read full article

Lakers probably will start season with 15 on roster

Early in training camp, the Lakers considered carrying just 13 players, but now it appears DJ Mbenga has earned a roster spot and that rookie guard Joe Crawford will get the nod over Coby Karl.

All indications are that the Lakers will open the season with 15 players, the maximum allowed by the NBA. Early in training camp, the Lakers considered carrying 13 players, which would have given the team flexibility to pick up another player or two during the regular season. But now it appears, based on their play in training camp, that backup center DJ Mbenga has earned a roster spot and that rookie guard Joe Crawford will get the nod over Coby Karl, who made the team last season as an undrafted rookie free agent.

Guards Brandon Heath and forward C. J.Giles also are pushing for a spot that may be hard to come by.

The Lakers already have 13 players under contract who are assured of making the team.

Crawford was drafted out of Kentucky in the second round by the Lakers with the 58th pick in the NBA draft. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard has to make the team for his contract to be guaranteed.

"It's definitely more pressure coming in not guaranteed," Crawford said. "You don't know what these guys [the Lakers' coaching staff] are thinking every day. You just have to stay confident. You're going to have some bad days, but you have to be strong and...read full story

Lakers Coach Phil Jackson sets priorities beyond winning in exhibition play

He sees it as a time to give young players a chance, tinker with lineups, challenge some veterans and see which players will round out the end of the bench this season.

The Lakers are 1-2 in exhibition play, not that Phil Jackson is worried about it. The Lakers coach has had one winning exhibition season in eight prior attempts with the Lakers, and he didn't exactly fret when asked if this would be a winning one. "I haven't really thought about that," he said recently.

After all, this is a time for the young ones, not the veterans, in Jackson's mind. It's a time to tinker with lineups, zing 6-foot-10 ball-handling forwards about not being in shape and see which players will round out the end of the bench.

"We always know that our game is going to take a little longer time to gel than most other teams," he said. "We do have most of our veterans back, but this is a time for us to play some younger players that we want to look it. Until the last of the exhibition games, I won't be playing the regulars in heavy minutes."

Jackson was 16-24 in exhibition games in his first tour with the Lakers and, after going 6-2 in 2005-06 in his first year back, the club went 4-4 and 3-4 the last two seasons.

Jackson, however, is not giving the team much time off, despite almost a week passing between games before the Lakers play Regal FC Barcelona on Saturday at Staples Center.

"There's a possible day off in a couple weeks -- the Sunday before the season starts," Jackson said.

The players have to comply, like it or not.

"We've had a couple long practices already," Kobe Bryant said. "It's an opportunity...read full article

Pau Gasol sees Andrew Bynum as a complement

The duo of seven-footers hope that in time they can dominate the paint together.

It wasn't a demand -- not like the ones Shaquille O'Neal once made. Rather, it was a point of emphasis by Pau Gasol. Gasol is 7 feet and 250 pounds and Andrew Bynum is 7 feet and 285 pounds, a duo that will form a Twin Towers for the Lakers that can be devastating, but only if the Lakers utilize them in the low post.

"We have to play like we have two seven-footers that dominate the paint. That's how you take advantage. If you don't do that, then you might as well not have it," Gasol said.

When O'Neal played for the Lakers, he demanded the basketball and let it be known that if the big dog wasn't fed, he wouldn't guard the porch, which was code that O'Neal wouldn't play defense if he didn't get the ball on offense.

Gasol isn't saying that.

Gasol and Bynum each take high-percentage shots, are good passers and can make life easier on their teammates with an inside-out game.

The two started for the first time together in the exhibition season Sunday night and had some...read full story

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