That said, the Lakers shouldn’t be overly concerned. There is one thing the team has to constantly keep in mind, and it is this: Steve Nash is still in street clothes. He is the reason why many endorsed the signing of Mike D’Antoni in the first place. As D’Antoni said when he was introduced as the team’s head coach, his track record isn’t so good without the Canadian point guard.
When the two-time MVP returns from his leg injury, everything will change for the team. Until then, the Lakers simply have to weather the storm of playing without a point guard in a system that requires a great one.
Meanwhile, here is the latest news around the league from Wednesday:
According to a “well-known” orthopedic surgeon, Andrew Bynum is likely to miss most of this season, if not all of it. Jason Wolf of The News Journal has details: “One internationally respected orthopedic surgeon, who is not involved with Bynum’s treatment and has not seen his MRIs, told The News Journal that all of the information that has been released by the player and the Sixers points to a likely diagnosis of osteochondritis dessicans lesions. The surgeon said that if this is the case, there’s a small chance that Bynum’s knees could heal sufficiently on their own in time for him to return for the playoffs this season, but called that scenario “wishing on a star.” While they can heal non-operatively, they can take a long time [four to six months] to heal, and in adult athletes, frequently they will require surgical intervention at some point if there isn’t adequate healing within the first several months of treatment,” the surgeon said.”
- As we predicted, Reggie Evans became the first player to be fined by the league for flopping, from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports:
For his second flopping offense, the NBA has fined Brooklyn's Reggie Evans $5,000, league source tells Y! Sports.
@WojYahooNBA
Adrian Wojnarowski
- Darko Milicic may be done in the NBA for a while after being waived by the Celtics, from Chris Mannix of SI:
Jason Kidd is not out to embarrass Jeremy Lin in any way when the Knicks face the Rockets on Friday, from Frank Isola of Daily News: “Clearly, there are hard feelings on both sides which have fueled speculation that some Knicks players, who might have resented Lin’s popularity last year, will enter Friday’s game intent on making life miserable for Lin. “We’re not looking to embarrass or lock anybody down,” Kidd said. “We’re looking to win on the road. Whatever we have to do to make it tough for Houston that’s what we have to do. But individually, you win and lose as a team. There’s no individual here. We’re an older team so we’re not going to fall into that trap.”
- Speaking of Kidd, one scout gave him huge credit for the Knicks’ early success, from NBA correspondent Ric Bucher: “Gives a tremendous amount of credit to Jason Kidd, for making the subtle, smart, unselfish plays that create chances without showing up in the boxscore — running hard to fill a lane on a break, then cutting to far side to open a lane for a trailer — that force his more stats-conscious teammates to be less selfish. I’ve never seen a player whose game has diminished so much, physically, still command that kind of respect. Kidd paired with Tyson Chandler also provides the leadership tandem behind the Mavs’ championship run.