Kobe Bryant has signed a two-year contract extension with the Los Angeles Lakers, which means he likely will have a 20-year career. The Lakers did not announce financial terms. Bryant is the highest-paid player in the NBA this season, making $30.4 million. He and Michael Jordan are the only NBA players to make $30 million in one season. Bryant was eligible to receive 105 percent of his current salary, which would put his 2014-15 earnings at almost $32 million. However, reports out
Attention Lakers fans: Andrew Wiggins’ first game for Kansas is Oct. 29 against Pittsburg State. A couple weeks later, he goes up against Mike Krzyzewski and Duke at the Champions Classic in Chicago. He could be all yours, Lakers Nation, if the ping-pong balls drop correctly. And pick your own theory about which superstar free agent is going to come running to play alongside him and Kobe Bryant. We have heard all the speculation – everyone from LeBron James (ain’t happening)
When the Golden State Warriors made it to the 2013 NBA playoffs for the first time in six years – and just the second time in 19 dreadful years – it appeared the team was finally headed in the right direction. From ownership, management, coaching and the talent level, you could sense that what the Warriors were building was legitimate and lasting. This was going to be more than just another short-lived “We Believe” season. The Warriors continued in that direction in
For the first time in what feels like forever, there is legitimate optimism and unabated excitement over this season’s Sacramento Kings. For one, they stayed. I wish I were more excited about the basketball moves that the Kings made over the offseason, but make no mistake about it; Sacramento had a better offseason than any other NBA city. It wasn’t easy. A lot of very smart people put a lot of time and energy (and funds) into keeping this team out of
The upcoming season is an evaluation campaign for the Phoenix Suns in every respect. They will introduce a new offense designed by former Sun Jeff Hornacek, a new defense spearheaded by Mike Longabardi and at least six new rotation players acquired via the draft and trades by new general manager Ryan McDonough. With the recent trade of Caron Butler – who never played a game for the team – the Suns have only one player in his 30s: Channing Frye, who
Caron Butler was in Phoenix hardly long enough to work on his tan. Traded by the Los Angeles Clippers to the Suns earlier this summer, Butler was shipped to his hometown Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday in a deal that landed Ishmael Smith and Slava Kravtsov. The trade also created more cap room for the Suns, who exchanged Butler’s expiring $8 million deal for the combined $2.5 million of Kravtsov ($1.5 million) and Smith ($950,000). “This deal gives us significant cap space as well
The Los Angeles Clippers won a franchise-record 56 games and had the NBA’s third best scoring differential last season. Then after taking a 2-0 lead on Memphis, they proceeded to lose four straight, making an unexpected and disappointing first-round exit. Which begs the question – were last season’s Clippers the regular season contender or the postseason pretender? The team did not rest on its regular-season laurels during the offseason, adding a coach with a championship ring in Doc Rivers, a new set
This just in from Clipper Nation, where the home team can take its pick among top coaching candidates Lionel Hollins, Jeff Van Gundy, Byron Scott and Brian Shaw. And the winner is … Let me get back to you on that. No decision may soon be forthcoming from owner Donald Sterling, as none was for weeks after his people recommended firing Vinny Del Negro, a no-brainer they had set up that way with Sterling’s help. It’s hard to to handicap the Clippers with officials