The Los Angeles Lakers!!!

[dxjayrock2008]

Phil Jackson: 'It's like Christian holidays don't mean anything to (the NBA)'

By Kelly Dwyer
Because Phil Jackson still doesn't care what you think, and because he still identifies himself as a "Zen Christian," the Lakers coach has taken to the religious angle in what has become a yearly tradition around this time of year.
No, not the Christmas holiday. Phil Jackson complaining about having to coach on the Christmas holiday.
The Lakers have played a nationally televised game on Christmas for the last 12 years, 11 of which came with Jackson coaching the team. They didn't play on Christmas in 1998, because of the NBA lockout, but they did play on Christmas in 1997. Jackson didn't coach that game, because he was in Chicago coaching his Bulls against the Miami Heat. Throughout Jackson's tenure with Chicago, he had to work on Christmas in a nationally televised setting. So that's two unaffected Christmas days in two decades, both because of brief retirements.
[Related: Kobe Bryant's Grinch-styled shoes for Christmas game]
And because his complaints about working on the holiday have fallen on deaf ears throughout that run, Jackson is taking another (however well-worn) route. Acting, um, persecuted.
As transcribed by FanHouse's Chris Tomasson:

"It used to be Phoenix and L.A. and New York and Boston and New York or Philly or somebody on the East Coast,'' Jackson, speaking before Tuesday's game against Milwaukee at the Staples Center, said of the once much more reduced NBA schedule on Christmas. " Now, I see they have like six games (actually, five) on Christmas. It's like Christian holidays don't mean anything to (the NBA) anymore. You just go out and play and entertain (on) TV. It's really weird.''

Oy. I don't know where to start.
You'd like to shake Phil by his broad shoulders, for one. Then you'd like to go practical, and point out that the Christmas games are a huge part of the league's financial makeup, and without those games the Lakers might still be able to afford Kobe Bryant(notes) and Pau Gasol(notes); but perhaps not someone like Lamar Odom(notes). So, you got Lamar Odom for Christmas, Phil, but you still have to work that day. I have to work that day, too. Ignoring the Christmas cheer in order to crop photos and stay on the ready to post something in case David Arquette runs on the court or something.
[Related: LeBron James also against Christmas games]
So, yes, it kind of stinks that the NBA sets up five big games on Christmas even while it decides to take a day off on the night of the NCAA Final, or go easy on nights head-to-head with "Monday Night Football," or only schedule a couple of NBA games for me to watch (my personal version of Chinese food and a movie on Christmas) on the night of the NCAA Final Four.
But you've also been pretty well aware of this from the time you took over for Doug Collins back in 1989, Phil. And you've signed quite a few contract extensions since then. It's not an easy life, being away from your family and with this circus for (in Los Angeles' usual case) nearly nine full months; but it's also what you signed up for. It's why Lamar Odom gets paid a lot of money, because he's unique to the general population. And your situation, while unfortunate, is unique; and it's also why you are just one of 30 guys to be rewarded so handsomely.
Let's not sully your good case with miserable musings.
Merry Christmas, Phil. We appreciate the hours put in. Now kindly remove your crown of thorns.

[dxjayrock2008]

Ron Artest describes Jesus Christ's basketball skills

By Eric Freeman

Like few other problem children before him, Ron Artest(notes) has come to terms with his imperfections to a startling degree. He realizes who he is and isn't shy about it, either to the press or in life in general.
Tuesday night, following Kobe Bryant's(notes) ejection from the Lakers' surprising 98-79 home loss to the Bucks, Artest decided to teach everyone a little bit about the nature of perfection, and the one man who never got ejected from a basketball game. From Chris Tomasson at FanHouse:

"It happened in the past, it happened in the present, it happened in the future,'' Artest said. "Not just for him. All players (get ejected). That happens a lot of times. You see guys get ejected. Rip Hamilton got ejected (recently) in Detroit. Bob Cousy got ejected ... The only person who never got ejected was Jesus.''
Artest was asked if he had checked Jesus' box scores.
"No ejections,'' Artest said. "He was 10 for 10s, a lot of 20 for 20s (in shooting). Perfect from the free-throw line. Infinity rebounding stats.''

There you have it: Only Jesus Christ can be perfect on the basketball court, although I'm not quite sure how it is possible to get infinite rebounds in a 48-minute game. I guess that's why Jesus is the alpha and omega and I'm just a stupid blogger.
However, we may not be able to take Artest's quoted figures at face value. In The Onion's 1996 piece "Christ Returns to NBA," Jesus averaged a mere 18.2 points and 7.3 assists over the first 10 seasons of his career, far worse than what Ron-Ron suggests. How do we register a final judgment on this argument? Perhaps that decision can only come later.
For now, heed Artest's advice when it comes to criticizing players for ejections. In the words of the best basketball player ever, let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

[CKR13]

Kobe Bryant needs 411 points to surpass Hakeem Olajuwon for 10th All-Time in the combined NBA/ABA Scoring Leaders. While Bryant is also 102 assists away for recording 5000 Career Assists Totals.

[Khalid80]

Kobe Bryant needs 411 points to surpass Hakeem Olajuwon for 10th All-Time in the combined NBA/ABA Scoring Leaders. While Bryant is also 102 assists away for recording 5000 Career Assists Totals.

Another feat Kobe should be able to accomplish before the All Star game. By the end of the season Kobe will surpass all these names to be 6th on the all time NBA scoring list right behind Shaq (Dominique Wilkins, Oscar Robertson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Elvin Hayes, and Moses Malone).

N.B: Or 8th on the all time NBA/ABA list since he can surpass Dan Issel. Moses Malone is 6th on the NBA/ABA all time scoring list and has a total of 29580 points

[dxjayrock2008]

Kobe fumes after blowout loss to LeBron

By Marc J. Spears, Yahoo! Sports 2 hours, 23 minutes ago




LOS ANGELES – Kobe Bryant(notes) walked into the locker room after LeBron James(notes) and the Miami Heat had finished their Christmas humiliation of the defending champs, and it was clear he didn’t have much of a pep talk for his teammates.
“We’re playing like [bleep],” Bryant shouted.
It’s only 30 games into the season, but Bryant and his big-headed Los Angeles Lakers didn’t have much reason to smile after the Heat blasted them 96-80 at Staples Center in what promised to be one of the season’s most-watched games. And this came just four days after the Lakers lost by 19 points at home to the Milwaukee Bucks.
More From Marc J. Spears

LeBron James dealt Kobe Bryant and the Lakers an embarrassing loss on Christmas for the second year in a row.
(NBAE/Getty Images)

The Lakers are a respectable 21-9, but just 2-4 against teams with winning records. Bryant doesn’t have to search long for the reason why.
“Complacency,” Bryant told Yahoo! Sports. “We play too straight.
“We got to nip that [bleep] in the bud now.”
The Lakers have run into this problem before. A year ago, James brought his Cleveland Cavaliers into Staples Center on Christmas and crushed the Lakers. “We always suck on Christmas,” Bryant said in his news conference after Saturday’s loss. “They should just take us off today.”
In each of the past three seasons, the Lakers still finished with the Western Conference’s best record. Yet after winning back-to-back championships, the Lakers admit they’ve entered this season with an overconfidence that’s unusually high even for them.
“Part of our problem is we’re cocky and we feel like we shouldn’t lose, we can’t lose,” Lamar Odom(notes) said. “That’s been our problem, I think, this season, especially early on in this season. We were overconfident. …That’s the way we came in. It started in training camp.”
Said Bryant: “We know what we’re capable of doing. That’s the problem.”
The Lakers believed they had a good practice Thursday. But come Friday, the coaches still didn’t feel their players had the right focus. Bryant refused to speak to the media for the second straight day after Friday’s practice. Pau Gasol(notes) even called the Heat game a “must win.”
“I felt after the loss we had by Milwaukee, losing by [19] points, this was a game we should have done anything and everything in our power to win,” Gasol said.
The Lakers also knew how much attention this game was receiving with James, Dwyane Wade(notes) and Chris Bosh(notes) making their first trip to Staples Center since joining together. Scalpers were offering tickets for more than $15,000 each. Sylvester Stallone, Snoop Dogg, Kanye West and Cameron Diaz were among the celebrities who showed up. The only people who didn’t seem excited were the Lakers.
They scored just 14 points in the opening quarter and never really had an answer for Bosh, Wade or James, who finished with a triple-double. The only heart the Lakers seemed to show came when Bryant and James engaged in a heated trash-talking duel in the fourth quarter.
Afterward, Jackson was critical of Gasol and acknowledged that center Andrew Bynum(notes) is far from returning to form after knee surgery.
“It’s no fun to go out there and have a game like we had today,” Jackson said. “You have to go out there and sit three or four hours for a televised game. You get hemorrhoids sitting there long enough.”
The Lakers should get another tough test on Tuesday when they face the San Antonio Spurs. Los Angeles is now tied with the Utah Jazz for third place in the West, a half-game ahead of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Said Bryant: “We could be playing Minnesota – yeah I said it – and still be concerned.”
Bryant appeared offended when asked if his team was bored with the process of playing an 82-game season. But he also said the Lakers need to toughen up in practice before they take the court again.
“I’m going to kick some ass in practice…” Bryant said. “It’s going to get through. You beat it into their heads until it gets through.”

[Petronilo]

LA in that early season disarray mode can they bounce back?

[CKR13]

The Los Angeles Lakers have assigned rookie forward Devin Ebanks to their D-League Affiliate, the Bakersfield Jam.

[dxjayrock2008]

Lamar Odom responded to his first time out of the starting lineup this season by scoring 24 points, and the Los Angeles Lakers convincingly ended a three-game losing streak with a 103-88 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday night. Kobe Bryant added 20 points, while Andrew Bynum, who started for Odum, scored 18 points. Pau Gasol added 11 points and 12 rebounds as the Lakers snapped out a funk in which they had lost by 15 or more points in their previous three games.

[NorCal]

The Lakers are looking absolutely horrible right now. Artest has been awful on offense, and the early season production of Gasol has slowed down significantly.

They did a similar thing last year around this time but they are playing with fire. Supposedly they have had the easiest schedule in the league so far. If they don't get their collective act together they could be looking at a 4-5 seed in the West playoffs which would mean they'd presumably have home court advantage only in the first round.

I couldn't be happier about all of this.

[CKR13]

Kobe Bryant scored 17 points to help the Los Angeles Lakers coast to a comfortable win over the Detroit Pistons 108-83. Also, Bryant has surpassed Dominique Wilkins to move as number 10 in the NBA's All-Time Leading scorer with Bryant having a current total of 26,671 of career points scored.

[CKR13]

Lamar Odom confirmed that he will try to play on the Lakers' game against the New Orleans Hornets on Friday despite the soreness and occassional pain on his left shoulder. Odom incurred the injury on their last game against the Phoenix Suns where Odom took a hard fall on the second quarter, but managed to stay in the game.

Odom's status is listed day to day.

[CKR13]

Los Angeles Lakers 101 New Orleans Hornets 97

Kobe Bryant scored 25 points to surpass Oscar Robertson to be the 9th among the All-Time Scorers. Pau Gasol had 21 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists.

Meanwhile, the Lakers lost reserves Matt Barnes (sprained right knee) and Steve Blake (sprained left ankle). Both will be evaluated to determine their playing status.

[CKR13]

Matt Barnes has a tear on his right knee's lateral meniscus as a MRI test have revealed. Barnes is scheduled to undergo reconstructive surgery next week and a timetable of return will be evaluated after surgery.

[giljr]

Lakers is still playing good in the League. They still play better. The team are really good. Kobe and his team are still playing great. I really love to see them play.

[Khalid80]

Los Angeles Lakers 109-87 New York Knicks

Kobe Bryant scored 27 points, Andrew Bynum added 18 points and seven rebounds before getting ejected in the fourth quarter, and the Los Angeles Lakers mixed it up with the New York Knicks in their fourth straight victory.

Pau Gasol had 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Lakers, who thoroughly dominated undersized New York in the paint and on defense during their seventh straight win over the Knicks.

[CKR13]

Matt Barnes has a tear on his right knee's lateral meniscus as a MRI test have revealed. Barnes is scheduled to undergo reconstructive surgery next week and a timetable of return will be evaluated after surgery.

The Los Angeles Lakers have announced that Matt Barnes will be sidelined for atleast two months.

[Khalid80]

Los Angeles Lakers 112-57 Cleveland Cavaliers !!

The Lakers really destroyed the Cavs in this game with a 55 point win....

Artest and Bynum led the Lakers with 15 points each in what seemed to be more of a practice rather than an NBA game...

(I'm waiting to see the summary of this game to find out whether there were any new records that were set)

Edit: No real record per se but here is what was mentioned...

The Lakers humiliated the Cavs while sending them to their 11th straight loss, rolling to a 112-57 victory on Tuesday night in their best defensive performance of the shot clock era.

It was the Lakers' third-largest margin of victory since moving to Los Angeles, with the two biggest coming in 1972 and 1966.

[dxjayrock2008]

Los Angeles Lakers 112-57 Cleveland Cavaliers !!

The Lakers really destroyed the Cavs in this game with a 55 point win....

Artest and Bynum led the Lakers with 15 points each in what seemed to be more of a practice rather than an NBA game...

(I'm waiting to see the summary of this game to find out whether there were any new records that were set)

Edit: No real record per se but here is what was mentioned...

That's what I call a MASSACRE. Lol.

[CKR13]

The Los Angeles Lakers losing to the Dallas Mavericks tonight 109-100. The Lakers were out-scored 30-17 by the Mavericks in the third quarter.

[CKR13]

Kobe Bryant will be the first athlete to have a Hand and Foot print ceremony in the Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood.

The ceremony is scheduled on February 19, 2011; a day before the NBA 2011 All-Star Game at the Staples Center.