Sticking with the Lakers theme, Magic Johnson is in the news for his remarks about Jim Buss: “Johnson made his latest brainless, whichever-way-the-wind-blows comments Wednesday in a meeting with Los Angeles Times staffers. His uneducated, shallow, fleeting assessments indicate he’s a bandwagon guy who mainly wants to make clear, in a trap a lot of older people tend to fall into, that the past was better. Jerry Buss was his benefactor, Jerry West was great, blah blah blah. If Johnson really cared, he’d be responsible with his comments. Whether or not Jim Buss deserves anyone’s defense, the reality is that Johnson has flip-flopped. Speaking with the LA Times in August 2012, Magic raved about Buss following the acquisitions of Steve Nash and Dwight Howard. Johnson went on to say the Lakers should get West back to be the face of the franchise to recruit free agents. With all due respect to West’s epic accomplishments in the past, “The Logo” is 75 years old, already an ownership consultant for the Golden State Warriors and hasn’t directly influenced the course of NBA history in 13 years. The only player left in this hip-hop league who reveres West is Kobe Bryant, and he’s the one guy the Lakers already have. The Lakers have a better chance of selling today’s free agents with West’s son, Ryan, whom they already employ as one of their scouting directors.”
Donnie Nelson does not hint at the Mavericks being a player for Andrew Bynum: “”That’s a long, long, long shot,” Donnie Nelson, the Mavs’ president of basketball operations, said. “He’s got lots of options and opportunies out there. “So at this point I wouldn’t look for that to happen.” Bynum was traded from Cleveland to Chicago last week, but the Bulls swiftly released the embattled 7-foot center in a cost-cutting move. The Mavs met with Bynum and his representatives this past summer in Dallas, but never gave him a contract offer.”
Nerlens Noel discusses his recovery and potential return: “The team made the decision after Noel, the No. 6 pick in last year’s draft, went last week with Sixers head athletic trainer Kevin Johnson to meet with well-renowned orthopedic surgeon to the pros, Dr. James Andrews, and his physical therapy chief, Kevin Wilk. Wilk, who managed Noel’s rehab program for about six months after Dr. Andrews performed the surgery last March, said the evaluation that tested his developments, deficiencies and on-court movements “went extremely well.” “I’m very excited,” Noel told Bleacher Report on Thursday, more than 11 months since he suffered the injury as a freshman at Kentucky. “I’m really excited to start playing and really show how much I care about his team, and how much I want to bring a lot of light to it and bring it back to that championship top.””
The Lakers reportedly held a meeting after Nick Young’s ejection Wednesday night: “”They’re fine,” coach Mike D’Antoni said after shootaround in preparation for the team’s game against the Boston Celtics. “We talked about it. It’s just, we need to be more aggressive. Not, per se, in fighting, but being more aggressive in playing. It really just kind of showed that we don’t have enough fight in the dog right now.” Young, who received a one-game suspension for throwing a punch at Phoenix’s Goran Dragic while retaliating to a hard foul from Suns rookie center Alex Len, said after the Suns game Wednesday that he was upset with his teammates for making him feel like it was “1-on-5” and not coming to his side when he was confronted by several Phoenix players. “I think we all know what to do now in situations like that,” Young said. “Once we talked, we aired it out and we’re all good.” Young said the Lakers resolved to “get in there” in the future if a teammate is in a shoving match with opponents. “You don’t have to fight, you just got to step in between,” Young said. “Nobody really wants to fight. Nobody wants to get beat up on national TV.””
Carmelo Anthony believes the lack of adjustments made led to a loss against the Pacers: “Melo shot just 1 of 9 after the opening quarter and sat out the fourth to await Friday’s Garden match against the Clippers. He had little help when the Pacers collapsed on him. “They made adjustments the way they played the pick-and-roll, the way they packed the paint and stayed with our 3-point shooters,’’ Anthony said. “They made that adjustment. We didn’t make the adjustment back to it.’’ After a brilliant 6 of 8, 18-point first quarter, Anthony ran out of gas and the Knicks’ barely defended the bigger Pacers, who took a commanding 63-48 halftime lead and sailed home in the second half. “It’s an embarrassing loss,’’ said Anthony, who finished with 28 points. “I don’t think no team is 30 points better than us. No way I believe they’re 30 points better than us. I don’t accept that. It was a frustrating loss. You’re on the road. I felt we could’ve played a lot better and harder. This was a big game against a big-time team and we didn’t bring it.’’”
