Los Angeles Lakers center Andrew Bynum might undergo exploratory
arthroscopic surgery on his injured left knee if there is no
significant improvement in the next three to four weeks.
Lakers spokesman John Black said Bynum was examined Wednesday by Dr.
Steven Gecha in Princeton, N.J. Black said the team was told there had
been some improvement in the 20-year-old center’s knee, but Gecha’s
recommendation was exploratory surgery if there wasn’t more in the
upcoming weeks. [ESPN]
Sure, it's an unfortunate situation... but it's for the better. That's already been discussed here.
Regardless of the news, I'm still hearing "Just wait until they get Andrew back. They're going to sweep through the playoffs." Well, as of now, they are sweeping through the playoffs, and looking rather good doing so.
Some good news on the defensive front: Trevor Ariza was cleared to play on April, 27.
"A week from now, I can start doing a little bit of contact. And then a week later I can start playing." Theoretically, this means that Trevor should be good to go as soon as Sunday's game four, however reports earlier this week were hinting towards something sooner.
And, just a reminder: (Lakers up 2-0)
Game Three Friday - 5/9 Lakers @ Jazz 6:00pm - ESPN/KCAL
Game Four Sunday - 5/11 Lakers @ Jazz 12:30pm - ABC
*Game Five Wednesday - 5/14 Jazz @ Lakers TBD - TNT
*Game Six Friday - 5/16 Lakers @ Jazz TBD - ESPN/KCAL
*Game Seven Monday - 5/19 Jazz @ Lakers TBD - TNT
A couple of reasons for Lakers fans to breath a little bit easier going into EnergySolutions Arena where the Jazz had a 37-4 record: In their last meeting in Utah, the Lakers snapped a 19-game home winning streak with a 106-95 victory, anchored by Kobe's 27, and Lamar's 21 and 12. The Lakers are 3-1 in the season series. All four games were played without Pau Gasol in the lineup. Also, if the first round means anything, despite winning games one and two in Houston, the Jazz lost game three at home by two.
We all know where I stand on the situation, so without further ado, here's the quote: "I doubt there's going to be a comeback this year," Andrew Bynum said
Friday. "I've got to get my knee straight. At this point, I'd have to
train for a good month just to be able to go out there and play." [LA Times]
For those of you crazies out there, one month from now is June, 2. That would be just before the Finals start. So, basically if the Lakers get that far and if you believe Andrew's guestimation, then you might see him this season. As for now, the Sigma Nu house at UCLA is your best bet.
The Lakers handled the Nuggets with relative ease to close out round one of the playoffs--broom in hand. Well, it turns out, Andrew Bynum was having a good time this weekend as well. Iggy Cohn of the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat's blog, "Cohn vs. Cohn" (also a UCLA student) had this to say:
Thursday night my fraternity, Sigma Nu, threw its quarterly house
party. Andrew Bynum, the injured center for the Los Angeles Lakers, the
twenty-year-old former 1st round pick, was at the party. Word started
to spread around the party of his presence, but no one could find him.
Then suddenly he emerged from one of my friend's rooms with two girls
and a small entourage of Sigma Nus following behind him. Everyone who
had a camera or a cell phoned rushed towards him to get a picture.
Bynum walked out of the hall, down a flight of stairs, and into the
center of the dance floor, where he danced with the two girls. I don't
know what this means about the state of his knee, or if he'll be able
to play for the Lakers this post-season. But I do know that he can walk
down stairs and dance to fast paced hip hop. [Santa Rosa Press-Democrat] Now, I'm not a big fan of muckraking into athletes' personal lives, but I do find this interesting. Fortunately, the media hasn't beat him up over it, and I don't think something like this will come back to bite him... It's not like he's rolling with Lachey. All in all, he is a 20 year old kid. Had he attended college (and not left early), he'd still be there. Reports are saying that he's been doing just about everything shy of 'full-contact' workouts, so I doubt a little bit of dancing is going to throw anything off. The best thing of all is that Bynum was said not to be drinking. At all. Which I believe, considering his comments from the past on drinking, smoking, and tattoos.
The majority of Lakers fans don't seem to care about this situation, and in my entirely unbiased opinion, I don't either. I don't even like calling it a "situation," however, since it didn't make it to the major news sources (and rightfully so), I'm anxious to see what you all think.
He's been dancing around the questions for the past few moths, offering tight-lipped answers, really leaving the fans to draw their own conclusions. Well, today Kobe was direct about his aspirations to spend the rest of his career in Los Angeles:
“Absolutely,” Bryant said the day after the Lakers beat the Denver
Nuggets 128-114 in their playoff series opener. “I’ve always wanted to
be here. I just felt like I was in a position where I didn’t really
have a choice. They wanted to go in an opposite direction. My legs
aren’t as young as they used to be. Just let me know.
“I love the weather. I love my ‘63 drop-top Impala. I love the 405 (freeway). I love my guys.” [HoopsVibe]
This may instill hope amongst the Lakers faithful, however, we know how fast things can change. I can't lie though. I wouldn't mind seeing the 24 hang from the rafters.
It turns out today was a pretty busy day as far as news from the Lakers' camp.
More Andrew Bynum drama:
When asked after practice if there was a risk of messing up team
chemistry by playing 7-footers Bynum and Pau Gasol at the same time,
Jackson replied: “I think without a doubt that Andrew would come off
the bench and we would play him a little bit off the bench if there was
any chance that he could come back and play again, but it’s such a
remote thing. We’re not seriously thinking about it." [ESPN]
Also, some bad news for the Mbenga fans out there:
Center DJ Mbenga got caught up with some of the other participants
and ended up on the floor with a look of agony on his face as teammates
and team medical personnel gathered around.
DJ had a CT scan and was diagnosed with bruised ribs. He is officially listed as Day-to-Day. [Lakers Basketblog]
Randoms from the LA Times Lakers Blog: 1. Ronny Turiaf was sent home today, suffering from some sort of ailment 2. Kobe commented on those "DUI" chants raining on Melo on Sunday, calling them "uncalled for." 3. That above noted injury that DJ Mbenga duffered was from a knee to the ribs. Ouch.
Jonathan Abrams/LA Times: As the Lakers wrapped up their final practice before Sunday's
first-round playoff game against the Denver Nuggets, Andrew Bynum and
Trevor Ariza sat together on a large medicine ball.
Sunday and throughout the first round, the injured pair figure to be sharing a spot on the bench.
The odds of Bynum returning for the series from his knee injury were already small and Lakers Coach Phil Jackson ruled him out.
"I'd say it's fair to say that," Jackson said today. "
No surprise here. I wasn't expecting his return any time soon, but there is still the internet contingent that is still basing the Lakers destiny on the presence of Andrew. It's already known that if Andrew gets back this season, he will most likely come off the bench... yet another fact that bothers the internet.
More on Ariza as well: As for Ariza, Jackson did not say the defensive-minded small forward
was definitely out, but his chances of returning from a foot injury to
face the Nuggets are slim.
"I'm not ruling out Trevor," Jackson said, later adding: "He's going to
have to do some things, but this is a pretty long series and we have
some games in between."
There we have it. The story also mentioned that Coby Karl would be on the bench tomorrow, but it's likely that Ira Newble will get the final spot on the 12-man roster. He better.
If you're out of the loop, the Lakers play tomorrow at noon pacific on ABC. You can also check out my preview on the series for stats, historical numbers, matchups, ect...
[edit 11:29am - Sunday] The latest rumors floating around he internet is that Bynum is currently suffering from Chondromalacia, which is the irritation of the cartilage of the undersurface of the kneecap. This is also known as Runner's Knee. Again, this is from a ClubLakers.com's forum post, so, you be the judge:
"(via Phil Jackson after Bynum reports from the doctor in NY)
His pain is caused from an irritation in his kneecap after the healing
of the dislocation. This is known as Chondromalacia or Runner's Knee.
He may have got this from working out so soon after healing. What he
really needed was a gradual return to activity to avoid any of the
inflammation of the knee (which we have been seeing so much, and why
he's not practicing.) It's not so much of torn cartilidge, more
damaged. And the only way he returns is if this irritation stops
bothering him and play and he feels comfortable with the natural
basketball movements he's used to like pivoting and landing. Right now,
it's just waiting.
"
It's been eight long years since the Lakers achieved such a feat.
That was the 1999-2000 season. We remember what happened then.
You can call it wishful thinking, or you can call it forecasting, but I am awfully giddy. I haven't been this giddy since the Pau trade back in the beginning of February.
The Lakers just took down the Kings by a score of 124-101 in the 82nd and final game of the regular season, to clinch the #1 spot in the Western Conference. I had my doubts about this game. Heck, my last post was addressing the potential that the Kings had to pull a little bit of an upset to make the #1 race a little more interesting.
Well... Kobe, Pau, and Lamar proved my speculation wrong. The Lakers never had a huge run, but the gap was comfortable the entire time. This was the game fans needed before nervous time starts this weekend. It was a nice reflection on a terrific 57-25 season.
One thing came to me tonight.
I know I'm no authority on the matter, but Lamar proved himself to me tonight. My dislike for Lamar in previous seasons was leading me to turn my head to the numbers he's been putting up lately. Lamar has the third most double-doubles in the league since the All-Star break. Granted, a lot of them haven't been much above 10 and 10, Lamar has shown a ton of improvement in his new role as the third option. People have been saying it all season long. Lamar Odom is contributor, not a leader. The removal of the Lamar from the spotlight of being a second scoring option has been the best possible elixir for his previous lack of production. There's no telling if he'll be re-signed in the off-season, but, pending his performance in the playoffs, we might see Lamar sticking around.
The Lakers played proficiently tonight, Sunday, and Friday. It was nothing short of a dream conclusion to the regular season. Hopefully these final few games have satisfied the fans with the current line-up. I spent the afternoon trolling some Lakers chat rooms and forums. People are still hung up on the Bynum and Ariza situation. It's been said around here by a few people (notably in LF19II's post), including myself; Bynum and Ariza won't make a huge impact on the post-season picture. This team is solid as is. Sure, Bynum will be a body, but the subluxation is a serious injury. If Bynum comes back not fully-recovered, the patella has the potential to do the exact same thing as it did on January 13. All I'm trying to say is that Bynum is a guy to build the franchise around once Kobe is past his prime. Let's not mess that up.
Finally, the Lakers' round one matchup is still in the balance. Their opponent will be Denver unless the Nuggs can swing a win against Memphis paired with Dallas losing to New Orleans. It's really a toss-up right now. We'll see what happens.
Oh yeah, Is this the final validation for the Kobe for MVP camp? I believe the votes go in on Thursday, and the results are released Friday.
Well, here's some rather disheartening news for the Lakers faithful: "Lakers center Andrew Bynum was examined yesterday in New York by knee
specialist Dr. David Altchek and has not been cleared to progress to
full practices or contact drills, it was announced today.
“This should not be seen as a setback in any way,” said Altchek.
“Andrew will continue with his therapy program and workouts with the
Lakers’ training staff and will continue to be monitored until he can
return to playing status.”
There is no target date for Bynum’s return."
Nobody really knows how to interpret this news. Altchek says "this should not be seen as a setback in any way," but with the rumors of Andrew's possible return this weekend, that statement sounds a little off. People are freaking out in the comments section of the LA Times Lakers Blog's ####t. I guess only time will tell. I'll keep this updated as/if more news comes out.
[edit: 6:17pm] Uh, look what TheLakersNation.com is saying: There’s a rumor circulating Clublakers.com
that our very own Andrew Bynum might be out *gulp* another SIX WEEKS!
Plus, this L.A. Times article states that he isn’t even clear to play
this season nor be available for the start of the playoff. How can this
happen? What?
[edit: 7:32pm] Well, it turns out TheLakersNation is blowing a comment in a thread on ClubLakers WAY out of proportion. Thats teh internetz for you.
The Lakers' woes appear to be in the rear-view mirror.
I say appear, because we all know how crazy this season has been thus far and there's always the propensity for it to get crazier.
If things go as planned, the Lakers will have both of their big men on the floor in a matter of games. Not weeks, not months. GAMES.
First order of business--Jonathan Abrams at The LA Times is reporting:
"The Lakers received their most upbeat medical report in weeks after
practice on Tuesday: Pau Gasol is expected to play tonight when the
Lakers play host to the Portland Trail Blazers, after missing nine
games because of a sprained left ankle.
Gasol underwent a full practice Tuesday, afterward labeling his ankle a little sore but showing progress.
His ankle is not fully healed but good enough to give it a go tonight.
"That's
the main question, right?" Gasol said. "If nothing crazy happens and
the ankle responds well to the work today, I think it's a pretty good
guess that I'll be out there."
Gasol is averaging 18.9 points
and 8.5 rebounds. He has played 19 games at center for the Lakers,
filling in for injured Andrew Bynum, since being acquired in a Feb. 1
trade. The Lakers are 15-4 with Gasol in the lineup, and were 5-4 in
his absence as Ronny Turiaf and DJ Mbenga played center and the team
slipped a bit in a tight Western Conference race."
So, one piece to the puzzle is back. To boot, the news on the second piece to the LONG AWAITED twin-tower front line is good as well.
We know Andrew Bynum will be traveling on the Lakers upcoming two-gamer through Sacramento and Portland on Sunday and Tuesday. "It's not really connected to his injury per se. It was just the amount
of work that he's started to be able to do, which is impressive,"
Jackson said. "I told him to expect to go on the trip to Sacramento and Portland. Whether he can play or not, it
may not be that time, but he's going to go through the workouts and
practices and the pregame and whatever we have."
I wouldn't expect either Pau or Andrew to be 100%, but their returns are definitely going to be instrumental to the team's performance coming down the stretch.
Also, some rather niche things for the Lakers fans:
-If you didn't catch the news yesterday, the Lakers signed Ira Newble for the rest of the season. Newble only saw action in his first game in a Lakers uniform, scoring two points and pulling down two rebounds in 3:46 on March 21.
-Derek Fisher is listed in the Lakers' injury report as day-to-day with that partial tear of a tendon in his right foot. Fisher, who is expected to play, played through the pain on Sunday, scoring 17 points in 32:53.
Finally, for those of you as interested as I am about the $75,000 Alter-G Treadmill that has been making headlines, Lakers.com put out a video explaining the machine.
With a 13 point loss to the Bobcats and Kobe's anger management issues fresh in the minds of Laker Nation, here's some potentially good news.
Today, Lakers.com posted a video documenting Andrew Bynum's rehab process. If you don't have three minutes to blow on, basically, music video of a dude working out, here's a synopses:
"On Monday, Andrew continued to workout the knee through a series of of
weight-training exercises aimed at strengthening the area where the
injury occurred. The center also ran for several minutes on the team's
Alter-G treadmill that simulates low gravity situations. Since the
machine controls what percentage of body weight a player runs on, it is
less physically demanding for an athlete returning from an injury."
The knee has had 11 weeks of healing, and from the looks of thing in the video the recovery is going smoothly.
The high point of the video was finally getting to see this $75,000 treadmill that we've been hearing about for the past few months.
Also, after reports of Pau Gasol's return being pushed back to Wednesday, the LA Times is reporting:
"Center Pau Gasol might return Sunday against Washington after a pain-free day with his sprained left ankle.
He did some one-on-one drills Thursday with assistant coach Kurt Rambis
at the team's training facility. Some post moves still bothered him
when he made quick turns, but he felt "pretty good," he said. "I'll
just wait until probably Saturday to go through a full practice, see
how it feels."
Finally, Kwame Brown will make his return to Staples tonight. Kwame hasn't seen minutes in the Grizzlies' last four games, but when he does, he's good for anywhere from 0 to 8 points -- 8 being his high since the trade. On the other hand, Javaris Crittenton might be factor of sorts in this game. Since the trade, J-Critt's high is 22 points and he's seen increased playing time in the past couple of games. Regardless, I'm excited to see Crittenton ball again... AND, I'm more excited to see the greeting Kwame gets IF he manages to sneak into the game. Grizzlies at Lakers [Fox Sports]
[edit: 7:14pm] Well, when it rains it pours. Derek Fisher has been diagnosed with a partial tendon tear in his right foot.
"If this happened during the middle of the season or something like
that, he would probably rest for six to eight weeks in order to heal,"
Lakers spokesman John Black said. "It's a pain and inflammation thing.
If he can play, he'll be on anti-inflammatory and pain medication and
try to play through it."
So there we have it. Both members of the Lakers back-court are now "playing through pain."
Official Press Release: "After MRI tests and an examination by team doctor Steve Lombardo of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Group earlier today, it has been determined that Lakers center Andrew Bynum suffered a subluxation of the patella and a bone bruise of his left knee in last night’s game. Bynum is expected to be out a minimum of eight weeks. Bynum is expected to make a full recovery."
There we have it. The final verdict is a "subluxation of the patella and a bone bruise of his left knee." This is not nearly as bad as we expected when we saw Andrew on the floor unable to put any weight on his left leg, however, after seeing his post-game interview, we thought that just maybe it was a sprain.
The Lakers now face the daunting task of starting Kwame Brown. I could go on for another week about my (and just about everybody else's) dislike for Kwame, but I won't waste your time. These next eight weeks will extremely trying on the Lakers, especially heading into a nine games in 14 days road trip at the beginning of next month. There's no doubt that Ronny Turiaf will need to step up his game at the 5 coming off the bench.
There is also hope among Laker nation that some type of trade could possibly go down to either ship Kwame out, or beef up the center position, however no rumors have surfaced as of now, and I realistically don't see anything coming to fruition at this point in time.
Lakers fans... these next two months are going to be a grind.
More on Patellar Subluxation (via knee1.com): The patella, or kneecap, rests on the groove between the femur and the tibia. Subluxation is a partial dislocation, which occurs when the patella slides partially off track.
[8:07 PM] Andrew Bynum went down with 8:52 in the third quarter. As of now, no information has come out of the locker room, but we do know it is his left knee. He was down for quite some time, and once he did get up he wasn't able to put any pressure on it.
[8:17 PM] The LA Times Lakers Blog, live-blogging from Staples Center: "To say the energy has gone out of the building a little would be an understatement."
[8:22 PM] Patrick O'Neal just reported that an X-Ray was taken and came out negative. The staff says it is most likely a sprain, but Andrew will get an MRI tomorrow morning. The MRI always provides a more precise and clear picture, so it now turns into a waiting game.
[8:40 PM] Yahoo Sports (via TICKER) reports: With just under nine minutes left in the third, Bynum went up for a rebound. As he came down, his left foot landed on top of teammate Lamar Odom's foot, causing his left knee and ankle to turn awkwardly. [story]
[9:01 PM] Bynum's departure nearly lead to the Lakers' demise tonight. After blowing a comfortable lead going into the final minutes, Kwame Brown bricked a dunk on a potential three-point play with just seconds left in the game. The Lakers took a one point lead going into the final Grizz possession where, ironically enough, Kwame nearly blew the game again by clearly fouling Kyle Lowry on what would have resulted in free throws and potentially the win... I say "what would have" because, thanks to the horrific officiating all night, there was no foul on the play. The Lakers got a gift tonight on the wings of what has to be the lowest point, morale-wise thus far in the season. Final Score: Lakers 100, Grizzlies 99. | Leaders: Kobe Bryant: 37, Lamar Odom: 10 and 10, Andrew Bynum: 10 and nine, Jordan Farmar: 10. | MEM Leaders: Mike Miller 27, Pao Gasol: 21 and 18, Rudy ####: 11.
[9:40 PM] Good news out of the locker room:
There you have it. It's really starting to look like a sprain, but we'll get the final verdict tomorrow morning pending his MRI.
Andrew Bynum, fresh off of rebounding to a career high, let the good old F-bomb fly in tonight's post-game interview with Patrick O'Neal on FSN. Now, it is a suppressed F-bomb, and he does realize what he said almost in mid-word, but nevertheless; AB can say whatever the heck he wants. He's giving LA its first exciting center since you-know-who left town.
Warning kids, this video contains foul language.
This might bring Lakers fans back a few years to Shaq's infamous interview with John Ireland. - Again, foul language, but this time in a much more intimidating and angry manner.
Oh yeah, the Lakes won their 24th game tonight, beating the Bucks 110-105. Bynum pulled down 17 rebounds on his way to 25 points. Kobe, reportedly ailing from an Upper-Respiratory Infection, lead the team with 37 points. The Lakers are now a half-game behind the Suns for command of the the Pacific Division.
If you caught tonight's match-up between the Lakers and the Sixers while channel surfing through League Pass, or browsing through the night's scores online, you most likely registered the Lakers' 124-93 victory as nothing more than a huge win. Well, those following the game, or those lucky enough to have taken a look at the box score just may have noticed something special.
Andrew Bynum rebounded from his weak showing on Sunday; literally, pulling down 16 boards en route to 17 points. The big lead allowed for the bench mob to get some crucial playing time. Rookie, Javaris Crittenton shattered his season high, scoring 19 points in just 23 minutes, Jordan Farmar contributed with 16, and Trevor Ariza (robbed of his starting job) put up 11.
D-Fish tacked on 17, Kobe, along with Ronny Turiaf added 15 a piece. Turiaf, starting for the suspended Lamar Odom shined in the spotlight with the pressure on, adding five blocked shots to the mix and leaving my dad and I with validation of the "there's no need for Lamar Odom" theory.
However, the truly awesome element of tonight's box is the simple fact that, with 15 points, Kobe Bryant was tied as the fifth leading scorer for the team. Please don't take this as Kobe hating, because I do try to shy away from some of the more rudimentary aspects of blogging about the Lakers; rather, take this as a novelty... something that hasn't happened in my memory of Kobe as a super-star, and will likely never happen again... unless, of course the stars align as they did tonight; and I'm not talking about the star on the back of Lamar's head.
via: NY Daily News by way of Ben Maller's NBA Rumors "As has been the case in recent years, trade rumors are swirling around
the team. After his controversial "headache" last week, Jason Kidd's
name has popped up in those rumors most often. Team president Rod Thorn
has admitted to receiving numerous proposals involving Kidd, but is
unlikely to pull the trigger on a deal unless he gets an overwhelming
offer. Although sources have indicated the Lakers may be interested, they may be reluctant to give up the player the Nets want most, Andrew
Bynum, despite coach Phil Jackson's recent harsh criticism of the
20-year-old center's conditioning. Bynum reacted to Jackson's remark by
matching his career-high with 20 points against Golden State Sunday
night. It seems there are very few other teams that might have what it
takes to land Kidd. Though sources have indicated that Nets officials
are upset with Kidd's recent actions, including his missing a game
against the Knicks, Thorn never has been one to act quickly."
I was pleased to find this information this morning. I don't want to Jason Kidd in a Lakers uniform any time soon; especially if Andrew Bynum is the price to pay.
The idea seemed somewhat sensical over the summer, you know, when Kobe freaked out about it on video in front of an Orange County strip mall. But now is not the time; Andrew has proved the doubters wrong this season, and fresh off of a 20-point game against the Warriors, I don't see how you could not love him.
Adding to the fire is the sole fact that the very man who detested Bynum's existence over the summer; Kobe, now seems to be gelling with him better than anyone else on the team.
I know people will disagree with me here, but Bynum has the potential to be a Shaq... and if you look at it, a Shaq has been the missing link for this team since 2004. Bynum is only 20 years old. This is the same kid that played his first preseason games as 17 a year old child. We love him here, and getting rid of him for an old, yet proven veteran just might anger some people.
Finally, there's no place for Kidd on the Lakers. The Lakes have one of the most solid point guard staffs in the league. Derek Fisher has the experience and talent, Jordan Farmar carried over his leadership qualities from the UCLA team that made it to the championship game in 2006, and finally, Javaris Crittenton has proved to hold his own as a rookie. I honestly don't see where Kidd could smoothly fit into the roster without essentially backtracking on the offseason work to improve the PG position.
The Lakers unveiled their latest throwback tonight; the 1987-1988 World Champion rendition. Showtime was restored in La Cuidad, and the Lakes met the challenge, winning 123-113 over the Warriors, who were paying homage to the '75 team.
The Lakers posted SEVEN in dubs: Kobe (28), Andrew Bynum (20 and 11), D- FIsh (15), Vlad Rad (14), Lamar Odom (14 and 10), TREVOR ARIZA! (11), and Ronny Turiaf (10).
In my opinion, the unis stole the show. I typically lean more toward the technical side of the game, but tonight, the visions of my youth were re-hashed (read that in an elegant tone). It was good to see the Lakers rock the old digs, even though the only thing that's different is the color scheme on the numbers, and the absence of the v-neck. The casual observer may not have even noticed the difference, but long-time Lakers fans couldn't help but admire tribute to jersey worn by the Lakers from the mid-70s to 1999.
I'm a realistic observer of the vast world that surrounds the Los Angeles Lakers. You can thank Nick Van Exel, Eddie Jones, Elden Campbell, Cedric Ceballos, and Vlade Divac for making that possible. The greatest person of all time is Francis Dayle "Chick" Hearn. There's no getting around that. Me? I'm eighteen years old and working my way to a journalism degree.
I lied. 
the fans to draw their own conclusions. Well, today Kobe was direct about his aspirations to spend the rest of his career in Los Angeles:
You can call it wishful thinking, or you can call it forecasting, but I am awfully giddy. I haven't been this giddy since the Pau trade back in the beginning of February. 
double-doubles in the league since the All-Star break. Granted, a lot of them haven't been much above 10 and 10, Lamar has shown a ton of improvement in his new role as the third option. People have been saying it all season long. Lamar Odom is contributor, not a leader. The removal of the Lamar from the spotlight of being a second scoring option has been the best possible elixir for his previous lack of production. There's no telling if he'll be re-signed in the off-season, but, pending his performance in the playoffs, we might see Lamar sticking around. 
First order of business--Jonathan Abrams at The 
There we have it. The final verdict is a "subluxation of the patella and a bone bruise of his left knee." This is not nearly as bad as we expected when we saw Andrew on the floor unable to put any weight on his left leg, however, after seeing his 
[8:07 PM]
If you caught tonight's match-up between the Lakers and the Sixers while channel surfing through League Pass, or browsing through the night's scores online, you most likely registered the Lakers' 124-93 victory as nothing more than a huge win. Well, those following the game, or those lucky enough to have taken a look at the box score just may have noticed something special. 
