If you have any Lakers related news or even your own article you'd like to submit to us, please feel free to e-mail us, and if you have suggestions or a question you want to throw at us, please e-mail the staff.

Archive for the '2008 Off-Season' Category

Kobe to announce his surgery date for finger on Monday

Published by LD2k on September 5, 2008 in 2008 Off-Season and Kobe Watch. 12 Comments

Kobe will announce on Monday, from his Website KB24.com, his date to have surgery…

O.C.Register: Lakers guard Kobe Bryant has announced that Monday he will specify the date he intends to undergo surgery to repair ligament damage in his right pinky finger. Bryant plans to reveal the news on his website kb24.com.

Recovery time is expected to last at least six weeks, so if Bryant had immediate surgery, the soonest he likely would be back on the court would be the second week in October. The Lakers open training camp Sept. 27 at their El Segundo practice facility.

Lamar played through pain in playoffs

Published by The Nugget on September 3, 2008 in 2008 Off-Season and 2008 Playoffs. 50 Comments

O.C. Register: After averaging 18.2 points and 11.7 rebounds, while averaging a team-high 42.8 minutes during the Lakers’ six-game Western Conference semi-final playoff series elimination of the Utah Jazz, Lakers forward Lamar Odom’s production took a nose dive in the next two rounds.

In the five-game Western Conference finals against the San Antonio Spurs, Odom averaged 12.8 points and 9.6 rebounds and then in the NBA finals, in which the Boston Celtics defeated the Lakers in six games, Odom averaged 13.5 points and nine rebounds.

It turns out that there was a justifiable reason why Odom’s numbers dipped. By the time the Western Conference finals rolled around, he was suffering badly from tendinitis in both of his knees.

Odom’s condition in his right knee became so bad that he seriously considered having arthroscopic surgery this summer.

However, he opted for an extended rest and the pain dissipated. His knees improved to the point where Odom was able to spend a portion of August working out in Las Vegas with a number of other NBA players, including newly-signed Clippers guard Baron Davis and NBA finals MVP Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics.

In addition to his knee condition, Odom suffered another slight setback this summer. The day before his youth basketball camp, held at the new Hangar Athletic Xchange, Odom was strickened with food poisoning.

However, his stomach has stopped churning and with his knees healthy, Odom is expected to be at full strength when the Lakers open training camp in four weeks.

Lakers Impressed By Bynum’s Recovery

Published by LD2k on August 29, 2008 in 2008 Off-Season. 25 Comments

Wow, this is amazing news. Bynum is going to spread fear throughout the league. Here is a major update on the “Incredible Bynum”…

Sports Illustraded: Lakers’ center Andrew Bynum is reportedly looking bigger and stronger than ever, and, more importantly, is showing no ill effects from the knee injury which ended his season in January of this year, according to a report by Marty Burns of Sports Illustrated.

“He looks to be in great shape. He looks ready to go,” Kupchak said in a phone interview Thursday. “There’s no reason to believe he won’t be 100 percent for training camp.”

Alhough Bynum did not play five-on-five basketball during a two-day visit by Lakers’ GM Mitch Kupchak, Kupchak said he watched the 7-foot, 280-pounder go through a strenuous workout that included running, jumping, and various agility drills.

“That’s the reason I went there,” Kupchak said. “I wanted to see him run unencumbered, go through agility drills, jumping drills, the things players do… You hope they don’t limp or favor a leg. He did not. That was number one.”

“On top of that, I was impressed by what he did with his body to get in shape and get stronger. It was obvious to me he had been in the weight room.”

Continue reading: ‘Lakers Impressed By Bynum’s Recovery’

Roster numbers grow/Shaun Livingston?

Published by The Nugget on August 28, 2008 in 2008 Off-Season. 51 Comments

With two spots still to fill, it is not too late for the Lakers to strongly consider bringing in unrestricted free agent guard Shaun Livingston. What are you thoughts? Sound-off…

Lakers Blog: The Lakers’ signing Wednesday of their second-round draft pick, Joe Crawford, brings the number of players now under contract to 16.

Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak has stated that the plan is to bring 18 players to training camp, which begins Sept. 30, at the Lakers’ regular-season El Segundo practice facility.

With two spots still to fill, it is not too late for the Lakers to strongly consider bringing in unrestricted free agent guard Shaun Livingston, who has been rounding into training camp shape at Tim Grover’s Attack Athletics training facility in Chicago.

If Livingston indeed will be healthy enough to play this season - as Grover vowed to me last week he would - then Livingston would be a asset to whichever NBA team signs him.

In the case of the Lakers, they have no one on their roster with the playmaking ability and court vision that Livingston possesses.

And consider this. Yes, really consider this.

Subtracting this past season, which Livingston missed entirely, to rehabilitate his surgically-repaired left knee, he still has three NBA seasons under his belt.

Yet, at the age of 22, he is two years younger than Coby Karl, who was a rookie last season, 18 months younger than four-year veteran Sasha Vujacic and three years younger than Dwayne Mitchell, who was signed this summer as a rookie free agent.

Livingston is just nine months older than the rookie Crawford, 14 months older than two-year man Jordan Farmar and two months older than the Lakers’ second-round pick of last year, Sun Yue, who recently was signed to a contract.

Kupchak goes to Atlanta to check on Bynum

Published by The Nugget on August 28, 2008 in 2008 Off-Season. 20 Comments

O.C. Register: Andrew Bynum is running on the track. He’s hitting the weights. He’s doing basketball drills. More importantly, the young Lakers center shows no signs of any lingering problems from his knee surgery.

Bynum has spent the past month down south, working on his conditioning following surgery in June to repair a partially dislocated left kneecap he suffered Jan. 13. He was cleared to begin drills after a month of rehabilitation, and is expected to be 100 percent for time training camp in October.

“Andrew has dedicated another summer to getting into the best possible shape,” Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said. “A month ago he was cleared from the knee surgery he had and at that point he began working on conditioning and getting into shape and I thought he looked like he has made progress.”

Kupchak didn’t rely on second-hand reports. He traveled to Atlanta earlier this week to check on the fourth-year player from New Jersey and said he liked what he saw.

“I could see improvement in his body, his conditioning and mobility,” Kupchak said. “I didn’t see any signs of effects from the surgery.”

Kupchak said he expects Bynum to report to training camp at full strength, considering camp doesn’t start for another month.

“He told me that he is ready to comeback (to L.A.) to start playing full-court drills,” he said. “He sounded eager to play.”

Continue reading ‘Kupchak goes to Atlanta to check on Bynum’

Mbenga receives minimum offer from Lakers; wanting more from Heat?

Published by LD2k on August 27, 2008 in 2008 Off-Season. 13 Comments

So here is some “Daco” news. Mbenga has received an offer from the Lakers. However, he is looking for something bigger from the Heat and it could come today…

MiamiHerald: And I’m told Mbenga, who worked out in Miami on Monday, has a minimum-level offer to return to the Lakers.

Lakers officially sign Joe Crawford

Published by LD2k on August 27, 2008 in 2008 Off-Season. 18 Comments

Lakers.com: The Los Angeles Lakers have signed guard Joe Crawford, it was announced today. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not released.

Selected by the Lakers with the 58th pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, Crawford, a 22 year-old native of Detroit, Michigan, played four seasons at the University of Kentucky, averaging 11.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 127 games (76 starts).

As a senior, Crawford ranked fourth in the SEC in scoring with a team-high 17.9 points per game, scoring 20-plus points 13 times while topping 30 points on three occasions.

Earning Second Team All-SEC honors from league coaches as a senior, Crawford finished his collegiate career as Kentucky’s 19th all-time leading scorer with 1,438 points while ranking seventh all-time in three-point field goals made (186).

Additionally, the 6’5” Crawford started all six games for the Lakers Summer League entry in Las Vegas this past July, averaging 11.3 points including .455 (5-of-11) shooting from behind the arc, 2.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 32.7 minutes.

Kobe “contemplating” pinky surgery

Published by LD2k on August 26, 2008 in 2008 Off-Season. 23 Comments

Here is a small update on Kobe’s pinky surgery. They estimate it will take about 4 weeks to heal. Yet, as of now, no date has been set and Kobe is rethinking the surgery…

O.C. Register: Eventually surgery will have to be performed on Kobe Bryant’s right pinky finger. The procedure is necessary to mend the ligament damage that he incurred during the past NBA season.

However, Lakers spokesman John Black reported Monday that Bryant has not decided when he is going to have his finger mended. According to Black, Bryant planned to take a few days to contemplate the situation, upon his return from the Beijing Olympics.

Bryant’s post-surgery recovery likely will take at least four weeks. Prior to leaving for China, Bryant said he expected to be ready for training camp the opening week of October.