There have been three true NBA dynasties, but only one that is attributable to an owner. Red Auerbach, a coach and general manager, gets all the credit for Boston’s dominance in the 1960s; Michael Jordan merits the same in Chicago for his pair of three-peats with the Bulls, and Jerry Buss, who died Monday at age 80, deserves major props for what he did with the Lakers. [Read more…]
And what a first half it was! Even crushing the Thunder in Oklahoma City to finish it on a 7-0 run left the defending champion Miami Heat with the No. 3 record, although – unlike the days when every misstep prompted charges that LeBron James was a choking mercenary – there was no outcry at all. Bron ended that with last year’s title before going to heights he hadn’t even been to – and no one else may have – scoring at
The Lakers go into the All-Star break with one major immediate concern and one major long-term concern. Short-term, how do they measure up against their hallway rivals, the Clippers? We’ll find out Thursday night, and as Mark Heisler reports in this video with CineSport’s Noah Coslov: “It’s more significant than they would like. One way or the other, it’s going to be a real big upper or a real big downer.” [Read more…]
Now that Kobe Bryant has publicly called out Dwight Howard, pleading with and prodding the big man to play through the pain in his injured shoulder, have we reached a tipping point in this crazier than crazy Lakers season? [Read more…]
A slow start for Moneyball, NBA style. With 34-year-old Grizzlies owner Robert Pera shocked – shocked! – to learn the team he paid $377 million for in June was in financial peril, they began shopping Rudy Gay, even if moving him would break up the group that had risen from No. 15-14-11 finishes from 2007-2009 to within one win of the Western Conference finals in 2010. [Read more…]
Heaven knows how many takeouts I did on sunrises and sunsets in the Phoenix Suns’ heyday from Steve Nash’s return in 2004 to their last hurrah in 2010, when they revolutionized NBA offense. Their heyday really ended in 2008, when coach Mike D’Antoni left, to be succeeded – for 41 games, anyway – by Terry Porter, fired over the All-Star break in an exciting development for the whole league since the Suns were the host team. [Read more…]
If Dwight Howard refuses to make a long-term verbal commitment to the Los Angeles Lakers, what are they going to do? Roll the dice and hope he warms up to the place? Trade him before the Feb. 21 deadline? [Read more…]
R.I.P., Lakers. You can’t kick dirt in their grave if they’re not dead yet, but in your modern sportswriting biz, we like to cover all eventualities just in case, starting with the most spectacular. It doesn’t come more spectacular than the Lakers, who now resemble a centuries-old redwood toppling over, picking up speed as it goes. I’ve been fortunate to have covered these guys for the better part of 20 years. Aside from being great most of the time, they were gourds most of