Jim Buss, son of Lakers owner Jerry Buss Even if Phil Jackson wants to return to the Los Angeles Lakers, and even if everyone from Kobe Bryant to Mitch Kupchak to Dwight Howard to Paul Gasol endorses the move, does that necessarily mean he will get the job? The man with the ultimate answer is pictured to the left. He is Jim Buss, son of majority owner Jerry Buss, and sister of Jackson’s significant other, Jeanie Buss. Yes, it is
A funny thing happened on L.A.’s way to oblivion…. Actually, the L.A. teams didn’t go anywhere, even if they wrote them off as the new backwater of the West and whatever other insults and Skid Row photos they threw into their dumb stories. OK, I was the one who did the backwater story a while back. OK, it was just two days back—or put another way, just before the Lakers got Steve Nash–becoming even older and slower (their starters will be 38-34-32-32-25) but
Skid Row, downtown Los Angeles Meanwhile, along the old, deserted, weed-infested, beer bottle-strewn route into the setting sun…. Welcome to L.A., backwater of the West, with the road to the Finals now running through towns in Oklahoma and Texas, far from the glitter of Staples Center. Wait, you’re not talking about the Lakers and Clippers, home of four starting West All-Stars, are you? OK, backwater might be a bit much, but stay tuned. Whatever it is, it bears less and less
The year the NBA got over the hump, even if it didn’t initially look like it was possible … Let’s just say it was a good time for a memorable postseason, with the improbable rise of the precocious Thunder, until going up 1-0 over the Heat, which didn’t turn out to be comprised of choking, mercenary divas, after all. Otherwise, the 2011-12 season would have gone down as the one when the NBA locked the players out until Christmas, then jammed 66
Game 4 of the NBA Finals had quite a number of memorable moments, from Russell Westbrook’s incredible scoring outburst (overshadowed by late blunder) to LeBron James’ “Wills Reed” moment (kind of). Our Moke Hamilton explains why the duel was so great but the ending wasn’t. Find all the coverage below, plus updated news about the Magic, Wizards and Hornets. Berry Tramel explains why the officiating of Game 4 wasn’t as bad as people claim: “Game 4: Really good. Scott Foster, Mike
Last week, we showed you a snippet of Phil Jackson’s interview with HBO Real Sports, where he claimed he would never have accepted the coaching job of the New York Knicks due to their clumsiness. Since then, plenty more of the Zen Master’s thoughts on some of the most relevant matters have popped up, from why he ultimately left the Los Angeles Lakers and what he really wanted from Kobe Bryant. Jim Buss and Phil Jackson had a philosophical difference: Asked if Jim
If there is one thing we have learned over the past couple of years about Jim Buss, the son of owner Jerry Buss, is that since taking greater control of the team’s personnel moves, he is loyal to the guys he has brought into the Lakers organization. The old-timers in the organization? A bunch of them have been let go in the past two years. Even before that, when the Lakers had a chance to trade Andrew Bynum for Jason Kidd
LOS ANGELES — L.A. uber alles…. As in days of yore, we are once more the center of the basketball universe with two (2) of the NBA’s remaining eight teams! Actually, it only turned out to be one day of yore… from Sunday afternoon when the Clippers upended the Grizzlies in Game 7 to Monday night when the Lakers, who had just escaped the Nuggets in their Game 7, took the floor in Oklahoma City. By Tuesday night when the Spurs wore down