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Lakers Notes: Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Steve Nash

July 21st, 2012 at 5:47pm CST by Daniel Seco

The Lakers have been busy this offseason ever since falling to the Thunder in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs in May. By shedding dead weight and adding a few key pieces, Los Angeles has put itself in a position to challenge for a championship heading into 2012/13. Let's head to the Staples Center to catch up on the latest news and headlines surrounding the men in purple and gold…

Pau Gasol was a trade candidate last year and the Lakers were reportedly shopping him aggressively before the draft. Yet Kobe Bryant, once a critic of Gasol, seems firmly in his corner, saying, "As long as I'm there, he's going to be there," tweets Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press. On the topic of Bryant staying in Los Angeles, the future Hall of Famer spoke about his future earlier this week and alluded to the fact that he may retire at the end of his current contract in 2014.
Lakers officials also have a renewed excitement about seeing how Steve Nash's playmaking ability can enhance Gasol's performance, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Prior to playing with Ramon Sessions for the second half of the season, Gasol was forced to rely upon the skills of Derek Fisher and Steve Blake to get him the ball from the point guard position.
Bryant understood that the Lakers needed to use Gasol as trade bait in order to obtain a point guard, but knows that Gasol isn't going anywhere given the team's acquisition of Nash, tweets Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com.

Kobe Bryant Considering 2014 Retirement

July 17th, 2012 at 8:21am CST by Luke Adams

Kobe Bryant is under contract for two more seasons, and when he becomes a free agent in the summer of 2014, he isn't 100% sure he'll keep playing. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Bryant was reminded that during his rookie season he said he'd retire at age 35, and acknowledged that "it's still probably accurate" (link via Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Times).

Nine Assured Of Team USA Spot; Odom Withdraws

July 3rd, 2012 at 11:41am CST by Chuck Myron

TUESDAY, 11:41am: Blake Griffin is expected to take Chris Bosh's spot on the U.S. roster, tweets Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com. As Goodman adds in a second tweet, that would leave five players competing for the final two spots.

Lakers Notes: Kobe, Draft

June 23rd, 2012 at 6:49pm CST by Sean Highkin

For the second consecutive year, the Lakers were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs. Now, they will look to vault back into title contention this summer. They do not have a pick in the first round currently, having traded Dallas' and their own at the March trade deadline. Here are a few news updates on the Lakers:

Odds & Ends: Spoelstra, Lakers, Krstic, Marshall

June 8th, 2012 at 4:32pm CST by Luke Adams

The Heat are certainly in better position to advance to the NBA Finals than they were 24 hours ago, but they aren't out of the woods yet, with a Game 7 looming. Given the high expectations in Miami, ESPN.com's Chris Broussard (Twitter link) polled 27 NBA executives on 20 clubs on whether they'd fire Erik Spoelstra if the Heat lose the series to the Celtics — 17 said no, while 10 said yes. While we await tomorrow's winner-take-all matchup and prepare for a night without NBA action, let's check in on some other updates from around the Association….

Los Angeles Notes: Paul, Gasol

May 20th, 2012 at 8:24pm CST by Sean Highkin

The latest news and notes from around the Clippers and Lakers on Sunday evening:

Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com writes that, whatever the outcome of the Clippers' second-round series against the Spurs, the arrival and impact of Chris Paul has made this season a success.
Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register wonders whether the Kobe Bryant/Pau Gasol partnership is on its last legs.
ESPNLosAngeles.com's Dave McMenamin implies the same thing, pointing to Bryant's public blaming of Gasol after the Lakers' Saturday loss to the Thunder.

Odds & Ends: Pistons, Kobe, Nelson, Nene, Nets

May 2nd, 2012 at 3:14pm CST by Luke Adams

Some Wednesday afternoon items from around the NBA:

Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News identifies John Henson as a potential fit for the Pistons in the draft and explores the team's upcoming amnesty-related decision.
Prior to last season's blood-platelet therapy, Kobe Bryant was seriously questioning his basketball future, says Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
In addition to conducting a Cavaliers-centric chat this afternoon, Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio examined a few potential NBA coaching openings.
Chad Ford of ESPN.com also answered questions in a chat that featured a number of interesting draft tidbits.
The Magic and their fans shouldn't let the Dwight Howard saga overshadow Jameer Nelson's future in Orlando, argues Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel.
Michael Lee of the Washington Post writes about the positive influence Nene had on the Wizards' young players following the deal that sent him to Washington in March. When I previewed the Wizards' offseason yesterday, I noted that finding another strong veteran presence like Nene could have a strong impact on the team's young nucleus.
Fred Kerber of the New York Post wonders which of the Nets' free agents will be re-signed this summer.

Odds & Ends: Vujacic, Lee, Love, Wall

April 25th, 2012 at 9:37pm CST by Michael Pina

In a tweet, ESPN.com's Marc Stein says that the Raptors have no interest in former Net and Laker, Sasha Vujacic. Here are the rest of the evening's updates:

The Warriors shut forward David Lee down with what they called a groin injury earlier this month. At the time, the team was well out of the playoff picture, and the Warriors' main goal down the stretch was to lose as many games as possible in order to try and get their first round draft pick back from the Jazz. Lee's injury was treated as a convenient way to tank games, and the announcement was viewed with a skeptic eye by many. Now it appears Lee will have surger on Thursday to repair a torn abdominal muscle, according to the team.
MercuryNews.com's Marcus Thompson II breaks down what the Warriors need to do if they want to keep their first round draft pick.
Stephen Curry underwent successful surgery on his ankles today. He's expected to be ready for action in 3-4 months, NBA.com's David Aldridge reports in a tweet.
The Plain Dealer's Bill Livingston points out the significance of what a third MVP for LeBron James would mean.
Even before Dwight Howard and LaMarcus Aldridge suffered injuries that will prevent them from participating in this summer's Olympic games, there was a strong chance Kevin Love would make the 12-man roster. The Timberwolves forward feels more confident than ever before that he'll make the team, according to TwinCities.com's Ray Richardson.
Kobe Bryant fully expects the Lakers to win the title, writes ESPNLosAngeles.com's Dave McMenamin.
John Wall spoke to his friend Kevin Durant about what it took to turn one of the league's worst teams into one of the best, writes FoxSportsFlorida.com's Chris Tomasson.
The Timberwolves will receive the Jazz's first round draft pick now that Utah is heading to the playoffs, according to the StarTribune's Kent Youngblood.

Western Notes: Hornets, Salary Cap, Bryant

April 21st, 2012 at 7:09pm CST by Daniel Seco

The Suns set themselves back in what was once a four-team race for the two remaining playoff spots in the Western Conference by falling at home to the Nuggets, who are now playoff-bound with the win. The Jazz, left to compete with the Suns and the Rockets for the final spot, take on the Dwight Howard-less Magic in Salt Lake City later tonight. Let's check in with the rest of the conference to see what else is making headlines on this Saturday evening.

Hornets head coach Monty Williams plans to give his younger players more playing time in team's final three games of the season, writes John Reid of The Times Picayune. Williams hopes the extra minutes will give players such as forward Gustavo Ayon and guard Greivis Vasquez an extensive opportunity to work on fundamentals in an in-game setting rather than practice. The Hornets may be able to get a better sense of their myriad roster needs with a potentially busy offseason looming as the team looks to rebound from an especially trying season.
Jason Fleming of HoopsWorld considers the best and worst case salary cap scenarios for all of the teams in the Western Conference heading into the offseason.
Kobe Bryant and Steve Blake vocally demonstrated their support for current National Basketball Players Association president Derek Fisher as he faces scrutiny for demanding an independent audit of the union's business practices, reports The Oklahoman's Darnell Mayberry. “What’s wrong with doing an audit?” Bryant asked. “I’m very curious about that. Extremely. We all should be.” Blake, the Lakers' player representative, reiterated Bryant's sentiments by expressing his confidence in Fisher's leadership skills both on and off the court.

Jim Buss Talks Lakers, Bynum, Kobe, CBA

April 18th, 2012 at 9:30am CST by Luke Adams

Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com conducted an extensive, two–part Q&A session with Lakers executive vice president of player personnel Jim Buss, in which Buss discussed a number of Lakers-related topics. Here are a few highlights from the interview, which is a must-read for Lakers fans:

Andrew Bynum is "obviously going to be our center for a long time," says Buss. The young center will be eligible for unrestricted free agency after next season, and Buss says the Lakers aren't concerned with Bynum's injury history or any attitude issues.
Buss and the Lakers have considered the direction of the franchise post-Kobe Bryant, but Buss isn't sure at this point whether Kobe will want to keep playing for another year or two (or more) when his current contract expires or whether he'll retire.
Buss and Bryant "talk all the time now," and Buss says he has some regrets about not involving Kobe more in last year's coaching search.
Making "prudent decisions on everything" will be crucial in keeping the Lakers headed in the right direction under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, says Buss. He also suggests being more aggressive in the draft will be a way to deal with the more punitive penalties on taxpaying teams.
Here's Buss on how he, his father (Lakers owner Jerry Buss), and GM Mitch Kupchak make major decisions: "The three of us will have an opinion, we’ll argue our opinion and then eventually, it gets hashed out to where we’re all on board or one guy isn’t (and) two are and it doesn’t really matter which two or which one. Except for my dad. If it’s two against him, then we’ll probably lose that battle."