Tag: Los Angeles Lakers

Kobe officially back for tonight’s game

Kobe Bryant went through a complete shootaround practice with the Lakers this morning at the ATT Center and will be ready to play tonight against the Spurs.

and Los Angeles Times beat writerboth report that Bryant will return to the Lakers’ lineup for the first time after missing seven games with a bruised shin. The Lakers have notched a 5-2 record since he left the lineup, including splitting two games with the Spurs.

It will be interesting to see how quickly it takes the NBA’s leading scorer to get his bearings in the Lakers’ rotation.

Just a guess from here. But I’m betting it will take less than a quarter.

TP ranked as fourth most disliked player in NBA

Spurs guard Tony Parker’s brush with the tabloids during his marriage to Eva Longoria has left a mark on his popularity.

Forbes Magazine reports that Parker ranks as the in a poll commissioned by Nielsen Media Research and E-Poll Market Research. Players had to have a minimum 10% awareness level from the public to have been considered in the vote.

Earning tabloid mention or playing on the Miami Heat appears to be the fastest way to zoom up the list. New Jersey forward Kris Humphries, who was married to pop tart Kim Kardashian for 72 days this summer, ranks at the top of the list. LeBron James was second.

Here’s a list of the top 10 finishers in the poll.

1. New Jersey F, 50 percent disliked

2. Cleveland F , 48 percent disliked

3. Los Angeles Lakers G , 45 percent disliked

4. San Antonio G , 37 percent disliked

5. Los Angeles Lakers F , 36 percent disliked

6. Miami F , 34 percent disliked

7. New York F , 27 percent disliked

8. Boston F , 25 percent disliked

9. Miami G , 23 percent disliked 

10. Dallas F , 21 percent disliked

From the looks of the list, Parker is in some pretty select company. Even if some fans dislike these players, they also have been among the most  successful in the league in the last several seasons.

And I’m a little surprised that if the list included owners and veteran players  that Mark Cuban and Kevin Garnett didn’t show up somewhere.

Stern speaks out on CP3 trade

David Stern was careful to avoid the national radio sports talk shows this morning.

But Stern finally has spoken on his controversial decision that nullified the three-way trade that would have moved Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Here’s what Stern had to say, courtesy of a statement released by the NBA.

“Since the NBA purchased the New Orleans Hornets, final responsibility for significant management decisions lies with the Commissioner’s Office in consultation with team chairman Jac Sperling. All decisions are made on the basis of what is in the best interests of the Hornets. In the case of the trade proposal that was made to the Hornets for Chris Paul, we decided, free from the influence of other NBA owners, that the team was better served with Chris in a Hornets uniform than by the outcome of the terms of that trade.”

But Dallas owner Mark Cuban said he was against the trade  for “basketball reasons.”

“The message is we went through this lockout for a reason,” Cuban said Friday on ESPN Dallas 103.3. “Again, I’m not speaking for Stern. He’s not telling me his thought process. I’m just telling you my perspective, having gone through all this. There’s a reason that we went through this lockout, and one of the reasons is to give small-market teams the ability to keep their stars and the ability to compete.”

Cuban said he was against the trade because it was with the lockout.

“We just had a lockout, and one of the goals of the lockout was to say that small-market teams now have a chance to keep their players, and the rules were designed to give them that opportunity,” Cuban said. “So to all of a sudden have a league-owned team trade their best player, particularly after having gone out and sold a ton of tickets in that market, that’s not the kind of signal you want to send.

“Then, part two of that is all the rules of what you can and can’t do under the new CBA weren’t finalized until yesterday, so how do you really make a strategic decision until you know all the rules?”