Good tidbit. Kobe admits it is indeed harder to get to the hoop than during the Jordan era. What? Another Jordan vs. Kobe debate? Not quite, but Kobe does make some valid points…
Sports Illurtraded: Bryant said he has relied more on his jumper because of the NBA’s defensive rules — and not because of his advancing age.
“The rules are completely different now,” said Bryant, comparing his era to Jordan’s. “I’ve always been able to shoot the ball, but the rules have changed since he played in terms of playing a zone defense. You have to be a jump shooter now because there’s no way you can get to the basket — particularly myself because they just stack guys up. I wish we had the rules they had back in the day where you could isolate guys and you could go to the basket anytime. But now you have to be able to shoot.”
Shocking, aint it?
L.A. Times: Question: What is the likelihood that the Lakers finish the season with all three centers? Will one of them be packaged in a trade to try and get Kobe some help?
– Tim Creef, Gaithersburg, Md.
Answer: First and foremost, Andrew Bynum will not be traded . . . at all.
Second and secondmost (it’s OK to make up words sometimes, no?), Chris Mihm is still trying to catch up to the game after a year away from it.
Then you get to Kwame Brown.
He is in the last year of a three-year contract that pays him $9.1 million this season.
Phil Jackson loves his defense in the post, but other teams might love the fact he has an expiring contract that will be off the books after the season. Not to mention that the Lakers will have paid two-thirds of that $9.1 million by the time the Feb. 21 trade deadline rolls around.
In other words, of the three, my money would be on Kwame getting sent somewhere else.
In case you missed it, Melo was ejected for choking and throwing Sasha to the ground. I uploaded the video for all to see it and Sasha had some pretty great post-game comments about the incident coming off of his career high in scoring…
Rocky Mountain News: With the Lakers leading 105-87, Anthony was ejected after he hit Lakers guard Sasha Vujacic in the throat area and he went down. But minutes later Vujacic was laughing in front of the Lakers bench.
“He did a little bit of acting,’’ said Anthony, an opinion Karl agreed with after Karl said team executive Mark Warkentien reviewed the tape. “He knew what time it was. He knew I didn’t try to choke him out or anything like that. I’m done with that (having served a 15-game suspension last season for fighting).
“I did grab him, but not intentionally. His neck was right there at the time. I put my hand out.’’
Officials, per rules, reviewed the flagrant foul. It, and the ejection, stood.
“I think I’ve got to give him the DVD of European soccer,’’ Vujacic, who scored a career-high 22 points, said when told Anthony called it a flop. “Then he can really see the flops . . . I was surprised he grabbed me.’’
[youtube RzqkEm_jwpg]
SI.com: It took Andrew Bynum 17 years to become a wanted NBA commodity; it took 24 seconds to become a punch line. That’s all Kobe Bryant needed to tell a couple of amateur video makers in a shopping center parking lot that the Lakers should “ship out” their young center if it would bring someone such as Jason Kidd in return.
But one month into 2007-08 season, it appears general manager Mitch Kupchak, in refusing to part with Bynum for Kidd at last season’s trade deadline, may not have been as incompetent as Bryant suggested he was in the same video.
In his third NBA season, Bynum, who turned 20 in October, is more than holding his own against men a decade older. Following Tuesday’s victory against the Sonics, Bynum was averaging 11.1 points on 58.5 percent shooting, 10.1 rebounds and 1.4 blocks a game.
“You don’t really know what to do when you hear something like that,” Bynum said of Bryant’s barbs and being mentioned in trade rumors. “I was in kind of a messed-up situation, being only 19 years old. It makes you feel good that other people want you, but it also makes you feel good that the Lakers didn’t pull the trigger.
“I understand [Kobe's comments] were just coming out of frustration, because nobody wants to win more,” Bynum added during a telephone interview. “We talked about the situation and everything is buried in the dirt, so everything is cool right now. [But] it motivated me to work hard over the summer with my personal trainer, and right now I’m approaching games with a lot of energy.”
Continue reading ‘He’s a keeper’
LA Times: Coach Phil Jackson has decided to sign a contract extension that keeps him with the Lakers for two more seasons.
Jackson met Wednesday with Jerry Buss and informed the Lakers owner of his decision.
Jackson, 62, will get a modest raise from the three-year, $30-million contract he signed in June 2005, which was the richest per-annum coaching deal in U.S. pro sports history. Jackson is expected to make $11 million or $12 million a season in his new deal.
“Everyone connected with Phil is pleased with his decision, something that only he could make after considering all aspects of what it means to be a head coach,” said Jackson’s agent, Todd Musburger. “Obviously, he’s up for it. There is a spring in his step.”
Jackson declined to comment this morning, saying there would be an official announcement later in the day.
He will preside over a team brimming with the potential of 20-year-old Andrew Bynum, but also fraught with uncertainty until the Kobe Bryant situation resolves itself. Bryant has not stepped back from a trade demand and can terminate his Lakers contract in summer 2009 if he is not traded.
But Jackson has found an extreme comfort level with the Lakers. He gets along well with his coaching staff, lives only a few miles from the team’s El Segundo training facility, and is a longtime companion of team executive Jeanie Buss.
Continue reading ‘Phil agrees to 2 Year Extension’
Kobe, a 12-year vet, scoffs at idea that he’ll slow soon. Do you think he’ll slow down in 3-4 years from now? Sound-off in the comments and tell us what you think!
Sports Illustrated: How many years can Kobe Bryant remain a dominant star? As a 29-year-old in his 12th NBA season, the assumption has been that he senses his biological clock ticking away and that he may have only three years of supremacy left in him — which would explain why he’s in such a hurry to win now.
But Bryant doesn’t see it that way. He takes offense at predictions that he’ll begin to decline at 32.
“You’re telling me I only have two or three years left,” he said when I approached him with the theory last week. “Tell me that. I want you to.”
In other words, he’s happy to use the shrinking-window theory as inspiration to prove everyone wrong.
The issue of his longevity is hard to assess because the league is still trying to define players like Bryant, who jumped to the Lakers from high school as an 18-year-old in 1996. Does the league take his birth certificate at face value? Or is he viewed as being 32 or 33 in NBA years because he started his career so much earlier than the college-raised players of previous generations?
“Kobe’s won three championships in a row from October to June, and that’s a lot of basketball at a high level. So there is a lot of mileage,” said Nets point guard Jason Kidd, who teamed with Bryant for USA Basketball in August. “But seeing him this summer and the way he takes care of himself, he’s always preparing himself to play and be the focal point.
“It would be interesting if you compared his minutes. Don’t look at the field goal attempts — just the minutes, and that will be what it’s all about.”
Continue reading ‘Endurance Test’
What the… this can’t be true! Didn’t Kobe say he was shocked to find out that Caron was traded? Why would Kobe want to trade one of his close friends? Is Simmons pulling our tail? Sound-off in the comments and tell us what you think!
SportsNation Bill Simmons: (1:12 PM ET ) I agree with Kobe in that the team is wasting his prime by pseudo-rebuilding with young players (Bynum, Farmar, Crittendon, Kwame, etc.), but at the same time, he wanted his own team and he never should have allowed them to give away Butler for Kwame, which was one of the five worst moves of this decade. From what I hear, Kobe has been allowed to okay EVERY major Laker move starting with the Shaq trade and they run everything by him. If he wanted to block Kwame-Butler, he could have. But he didn’t. So it’s his own fault.
Loading ...
Lakers Defeat Nuggets In Blowout
Vujacic shot 6-for-14 in 21 minutes of action. Andrew Bynum had 12 points and 13 rebounds and Luke Walton added a career-high 14 points in 27 minutes. The Lakers’ much-improved second unit played so spectacularly and efficiently down the stretch that Bryant didn’t play in the fourth quarter — despite the fact that the Lakers only had a six-point lead after three. The reserves outscored their Denver counterparts 63-29.
Carmelo Anthony led Denver with 23 points and Allen Iverson had 21. The loss was the Nuggets’ third straight, following a 7-1 stretch.
J.R. Smith opened the fourth with a layup that cut Los Angeles’ lead to 81-77. The Lakers then went on a 24-8 run that extended the margin to 105-85. Vujacic scored the Lakers’ last seven points of the rally — two free throws, followed by a 3-pointer and then a 20-footer with 6:41 to play.
Earlier in the run, Vujacic was fouled by Eduardo Najera behind the 3-point line and sank all three free throws.
Anthony was ejected with 6:18 remaining after committing a flagrant foul against Vujacic, hitting him in the throat away from the ball.
Continue reading ‘Lakers Defeat Nuggets In Blowout’