- The Lakers elected to go in a completely new direction last season and Kobe Bryant‘s former agent turned general manager, Rob Pelinka, was at the forefront of that change. With young talent in abundance and ample resources, Pelinka feels the team can soon lure the right players to the city of angels, USA TODAY’s Sam Amick writes. “We have as much cap flexibility, or cap health, as any team in the league. We know that this is a destination city for players to want to be in,” Pelinka said. “We have a legacy with our franchise that really can’t be duplicated, and we’ve got a pass-first, ball-sharing point guard (in Lonzo Ball), which players want to play with. So I think the culmination of all those forces is, like you said, we feel like we’ve become a destination again. Now it’s going to be Magic’s job, and my job with Jeanie’s guidance to complete the puzzle with the right pieces as we move forward.”
Hampered by knee and leg injuries earlier in his NBA career, Lakers center Brook Lopez has been relatively healthy in recent years, having not missed more than 10 games in a season since 2013/14. However, that streak appears to be in jeopardy.
Lopez left Monday’s game with an ankle injury, and has been diagnosed with a moderate ankle sprain, the team announced today in a press release. According to the Lakers, Lopez will be reevaluated in three weeks, so he’ll be sidelined until sometime in the new year.
X-rays on Lopez’s injured ankle were negative, and an MRI confirmed that the veteran big man isn’t dealing with a more serious injury, but it makes sense that the Lakers would play it safe, given Lopez’s injury history.
With their starting center out of the lineup, the Lakers figure to lean more heavily on Julius Randle, Larry Nance Jr., and Kyle Kuzma in the coming weeks. Andrew Bogut, Ivica Zubac, and Thomas Bryant are also available for frontcourt depth purposes.
Tonight, Kobe Bryant will become the first player in NBA history to have two different numbers retired by the same franchise. Bryant, who played for 20 seasons, all with the Lakers, is widely considered to be one of the greatest players in NBA history. Together with Shaquille O’Neal, Bryant helped lead the Lakers to three straight championships from 2000 to 2002 before leading the team to two more championships in 2009 and 2010 without the services of The Big Aristotle, with Bryant being named NBA Finals MVP in both 2009 and 2010.
Bryant’s 33,643 career points put him third all-time behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone, his 18 All-Star Game appearances are second only to Abdul-Jabbar, and his 15 total All-NBA selections tie him with Abdul-Jabbar and Tim Duncan for the most all-time. Primarily known as one of the greatest scorers in NBA history, Bryant was also an elite defender, tied for second most all-time with 12 All-NBA Defensive Team selections. Accordingly, there is certainly no debate that Bryant deserves to be ranked in the hierarchy of NBA greats. The only question remaining is where/how high?
Obviously, no list would be complete without household names such as Michael Jordan, Abdul-Jabbar, Duncan, LeBron James, Bill Russell, or fellow Laker great Magic Johnson (in no particular order). Other popular selections often include Bryant himself, former teammate O’Neal, Malone, Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain, Hakeem Olajuwon, Jerry West, and Oscar Robertson, again in no particular order.
So what do you think? In light of tonight’s ceremony, tell us where you think Bryant ranks within the hierarchy of the all-time NBA greats. Is he top-5, top-10? Does he even crack your top-20? Join the discussion and let us know!
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope missed the Lakers’ game Thursday in Cleveland and will sit out a few more as he resolves a legal issue, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.
Caldwell-Pope was sentenced to 12 months’ probation after pleading guilty in May to a misdemeanor offense of allowing someone to operate his vehicle while under the influence. He had been cited with operating a vehicle while intoxicated, but pleaded down to the lesser charge. On Thursday, he began what Shelburne described as an “intensive” 25-day program that will result in an early end to the probation.
Caldwell-Pope is not permitted to leave California until the program is completed, tweets Tania Ganguli of The Los Angeles Times. The Lakers have just three games outside the state during that time — Wednesday and December 31 in Houston and January 1 in Minnesota.
“While a member of the Detroit Pistons last year, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope plead guilty to a misdemeanor offense of allowing someone to operate his vehicle under the influence,” read a statement released by attorney Jeffrey Lance Abood. “As a condition of that plea, he was subject to extremely strict and challenging compliance terms by the court. Kentavious complied with most of the terms of his probation and he has had no further driving or other infractions since that time.
“As a result of his professional basketball work schedule, the court has modified the sentence and released him from probation early so long as he completes an intensive program over the next 25 days. There will be some travel restrictions, but we are pleased that Kentavious will now continue with his NBA season and move forward in a positive manner from this experience.”
Caldwell-Pope, who signed with the Lakers in July, was suspended for the first two games of the season under the NBA’s personal conduct policy. Shelburne reports that he is expected to rejoin the team this weekend for practice.
He is averaging 14.2 points in 24 games, all as a starter, and is shooting a career-high 42% from 3-point range.
“I am grateful for the Court’s consideration and for the support of the Los Angeles Lakers and all involved in allowing me to continue with my NBA season while I complete the strict requirements set by the Court,” Caldwell-Pope said in a prepared statement. “I understand the seriousness of this matter and I apologize for my past actions that have created this situation. Now I am committed to becoming a better person and professional from now on.”
Andrew Bogut broke his leg less than a minute into his Cavaliers debut last March, prematurely ending his 2016/17 season, Cavaliers tenure, and possibly his career. After a long summer of rehab, Bogut signed a one-year deal with the Lakers and has served as a mentor for the young NBA team, ESPN’s Nick Metallinos writes.
Bogut has not played much this season; he is averaging a career-low 7.7 minutes per game. He also has taken a DNP in 10 of the Lakers’ 26 games. Still, the Australian big man said he understood playing time would be limited when he signed with the team.
“I knew there wasn’t going to be a whole lot of minutes because I was the 15th guy signed to the roster,” Bogut said to ESPN. “I’ve just been trying to mentor some of the younger guys. We’ve got a really young and inexperienced team that bring a lot of energy and talent, so just some direction is needed every now and then and being one of the elder guys, [I’m] just trying to help them in the locker room.”
The Lakers are built on young talents such as Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram, and Jordan Clarkson. In his age 33 season, Bogut said that being a mentor is more important than having minutes.
Check out other news coming out of Los Angeles:
- Lakers rookie Josh Hart had an impressive first NBA start on Wednesday against the Cavaliers, posting 11 points and 10 rebounds in the loss. After four collegiate seasons at Villanova, Hart said he is prepared for the big stage and head coach Luke Walton agrees, Bill Oram of the Orange County Register writes.“It showed where he came from as a college player winning a national title and playing with a big-time program for many years,” Walton said of Hart’s performance. “That big stage did not faze him at all today.”
- After missing two months due to a foot injury, Clippers point guard Milos Teodosic will be on a minutes restriction as the organization tries to keep him healthy, Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times writes. “Milos, because of the minutes restrictions, we can’t play him on back-to-backs,” Clippers head coach Doc Rivers said. “So we have to sit him.” However, Rivers noted that this is temporary and that Teodosic’s minutes restriction should be lifted later in the season.
For much of 2017, there have been rumblings about the possibility of LeBron James leaving the Cavaliers in the summer of 2018 to head west to Los Angeles. With the Cavs hosting the Lakers on Thursday night, it was as good a time as any for Ramona Shelburne and Brian Windhorst of ESPN to check in on James’ upcoming free agency, passing along a few notes and tidbits they’ve picked up from various sources. Here are some highlights from their piece:
- Despite the constant speculation and L.A.’s efforts to create massive cap room for 2018, the Lakers look a “long shot” to sign James for now, league sources tell Shelburne and Windhorst.
- According to ESPN’s report, when James reached free agency in 2014, his reps told contending teams to be prepared to offer a maximum salary contract, and not a penny less. It’s too early to lock anything in for 2018, but don’t expect James to take a Kevin Durant-esque discount on his next contract, per Shelburne and Windhorst. Sources tell the duo that James’ stance on max contracts hasn’t changed, meaning potential suitors will need to be able to offer a projected starting salary of approximately $35MM.
- A recent report cited the Rockets as a threat for James, and LeBron’s longtime friendship with Chris Paul is a reason to take Houston seriously, according to Shelburne and Windhorst. Still, league sources tell ESPN that the idea that James and Paul badly want to end up on the same team is an “overstated assumption.”
- While we’ll certainly hear plenty more about James’ free agency in the coming months, it’s unlikely that we’ll hear much from the man himself — or agent Rich Paul. “LeBron is focused on this season and winning a championship,” Paul told ESPN. “At the appropriate time, we will explore all the options. Now is not the time.”
After Lonzo Ball‘s outspoken father, LaVar Ball, recently made critical comments of the Lakers and head coach Luke Walton, the organization held a private meeting with LaVar, asking him to tone down his remarks, ESPN’s Ramon Shelbourne writes.
The elder Ball confirmed the meeting — which was organized by Lakers president of basketball operations Magic Johnson and general manager Rob Pelinka — took place and said both sides finding common ground is critical to both his son and the team.
“It was the best thing, man. Everybody’s going to try to make it an ego thing, like I’m trying to tell them what to do or they’re trying to tell me to tone it down,” LaVar said of the meeting. “It’s not about that. It’s about coming together and to get a solution to this problem.”
Among LaVar’s criticisms were Walton not playing Lonzo for long enough stretches, adding that he could coach his son better. Walton downplayed LaVar’s comments in recent days and has praised Lonzo’s team-first mindset and contributions. As the season — and Lonzo’s career progresses — LaVar said he would continue speaking his mind with the goal of helping his son improve.
“It may sound crazy to other people, but I really just want the best for Lonzo, and the best for Lonzo is going to be what’s best for the organization,” LaVar said. “Because if everybody winning, we good.”
Read up on more news coming out of Los Angeles:
- Former Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant has made several comments about Lonzo in recent days and his latest take on the 20-year-old point guard directly addressed his father, Bill Oram of the Orange County Register writes. Bryant said that pressure placed on Lonzo is “completely inconsequential” as long as he proves himself on the court. “The only time that matters is when he has to think of an answer,” Bryant said. “What matters is what he does in the gym before practice, during practice and after practice. That’s the only thing that matters.”
- Michael Lee of Yahoo Sports profiled Clippers rookie point guard Milos Teodosic, chronicling his journey from one of the most creative passers in the game as an international player to a starter in the NBA.
- Danilo Gallinari returned to the Clippers lineup after missing 13 games with a glute injury and he will now likely miss several games with a new glute injury, ESPN’s Lawrence Murray writes. Injuries have allowed Gallinari to appear in just 11 games this season, averaging 13.4 PPG. “It’s been that type of season thus far,” head coach Doc Rivers said. “Things can change. Right now, they are, they keep changing back to somebody getting hurt.”
Having spent the 2017 offseason clearing long-term salary from their books and signing new players to one-year deals, the Lakers haven’t hid the fact that they’re looking to make a huge splash in free agency in 2018. However, during an appearance on Spectrum Sportsnet’s “Connected With” series, president of basketball operations Magic Johnson suggested that the Lakers could save a portion of their cap room for 2019 if the club is unable to land two stars in 2018, per Harrison Faigen of Lakers Nation.
“We have cap space for probably two max guys, but that’s not to say we’ll use both of them,” Johnson said. “We want to if we can, but we have a Plan A and we have Plan B. Say we only get one of those guys, then we’ll make a decision on not to use the cap space. We can do that and save it for the class that’s coming the next year. We’re not going to give money away just because we have the cap space. I’m not about that.”
Although the Lakers have set themselves up to create a huge chunk of cap room for 2018, the team still has nearly $50MM in guaranteed salary on its books for next season, so additional moves would be required to clear enough room for two maximum-salary players. Waiving Luol Deng and trading Jordan Clarkson would likely do the trick for the Lakers, but if the team recognizes that it won’t be able to land two stars in free agency, it might make sense to hang onto Deng and Clarkson a little longer, potentially jettisoning them down the road.
Having been fined earlier this year for tampering with Paul George and the Pacers, Johnson won’t make the mistake of again discussing specific targets for the summer of 2018, but he pointed to the Celtics’ acquisition of Kyrie Irving as an example of a star player helping to take a young team to another level. That’s the sort of player Johnson and the Lakers will be targeting in free agency, with George, LeBron James, and DeMarcus Cousins among the stars likely to be on the club’s shopping list.
If the Lakers can’t land a player or two of that caliber, it would be smart to maintain flexibility for the summer of 2019. As Faigen notes in his piece at Lakers Nation, contracts like Deng’s and Timofey Mozgov‘s were the result of the 2016 Lakers using up all their cap room on non-stars, so that’s not a mistake the club’s new management group wants to repeat.
Outside of a few standout performances, Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball‘s first professional season has been inconsistent at best. The Lakers’ season has mirrored Ball’s inconsistency as the team is 10-15, good for 10th place in the Western Conference. If the franchise and Ball want to achieve success, Lakers legend Kobe Bryant believes the 20-year-old point guard needs to improve now.
Speaking to Chris McGee on Spectrum SportsNet’s ‘Connected With’, Bryant said that Ball and the Lakers cannot wait and plan for several years to see improvements. Instead, Ball — and several of his young teammates — needs to take initiative and improve on his own accord.
- There have been no shortage of proven winners for Lakers coach Luke Walton to take lessons from over the course of his NBA journey. Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN explores his path to where he is now.
- There’s growing speculation that Nerlens Noel could end up in Los Angeles, Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype writes. The big man shares an agent with LeBron James who has been linked to the Lakers over the course of the past year.