Kobe Bryant has never known any team other than the Los Angeles Lakers. He started his career in Los Angeles as a teenager, and only once did he flirt with the idea of switching jerseys during his 17-year career. The guard has said throughout the latter part of his career that he would remain a Laker for life, but you never know how things can turn out in the NBA. This is the final year of Bryant’s current contract, where he
Remember when ESPN ranked Kobe Bryant as the 25th best player in the league? It sounds ridiculous, but what people didn’t realize was that the ranks had nothing to do with what the players did last season or in previous years. Rather, it was a projection of what the players may do in the upcoming season, with all things considered. In Bryant’s case, it was easy for analysts to bring down the expectations due to the unpredictability of his recovery from
There has been some back and forth between the two Los Angeles teams about the Clippers’ decision to cover up the Lakers’ banners during home games. Nick Young was the first to make headlines by saying Doc Rivers shouldn’t have so much power in only his first season with the team. Matt Barnes responded by saying no one not named Kobe or Pau should have any say on what the Clippers are doing to the banners. Meanwhile, Rivers said he had
Nearly four years ago, Greg Oden crumpled to the floor on a non-contact play in the Rose Garden. The once-promising center never saw action again in an NBA game, but made his triumphant return from the devastating knee injury that nearly ended his career on Wednesday against the New Orleans Hornets. His time on the floor was limited to just four minutes. During those minutes, he collected two rebounds, two turnovers, two missed free throws and one emphatic basket to show
With Kobe Bryant still nursing offseason surgery on his torn Achilles tendon, the Los Angeles Lakers are one of the more unpredictable teams this season in the Western Conference. If Bryant were healthy enough to start on opening night, the Lakers would be an interesting team. You can never count them out as long as the Vino is around. But with no timetable for when he may return to game action – and just as importantly, not knowing whether he can
Bill Simmons and Jalen Rose covered the Denver Nuggets in their latest Grantland video, and I am starting off this blog with the clip because it just might make you cry a little. In a good way. Simmons has the Nuggets listed at No. 13 and Rose thinks they should be ranked higher. It says here that Denver is unlikely to make the playoffs this season because: 1. They lost Iguodala and got nothing in return. 2. They lost starting center Kosta Koufos,
When LeBron James first joined forces with Dwyane Wade in Miami, some wondered whether they could really co-exist, given both players’ need to have the ball in their hands to be fully effective. By that time, as it turns out, Wade’s knees would prove to be in on the verge of giving him all sorts of problems, and playing alongside James may have been the best thing that could have happened to him. The player formerly known as “Flash” no longer
Are the New Orleans Pelicans taking the league by storm? It’s only preseason, but they are undefeated thus far with a record of 5-0 after beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 105-102 on Thursday. Four of those games have been on the road, and all of them went down to the wire – the largest margin of victory was four points against the Orlando Magic. October is the time when teams experiment and try combinations with players that will seldom see any playing