Ronny Turiaf got up from the bench and danced when his team scored big points late in games, at the same time as the rest of the bench leaped to their feet and jumped up and down cheering.

Lebron dances during a time-out and on the free throw line, and brings a camera so he and his team mates can clown around and pose for group photos during the conference play-offs.

Please tell me I’m not the only one who thinks there’s a difference…?

Kobe is averaging 36.9 minutes per game so far this year.

I think Kobe’s minutes are fine.

On a basketball note, while I’m thinking other teams, I think Lawson is really in the perfect situation. Not that he’s not good – he’s an excellent player. But I think we’d see his flaws a lot more if he was playing 40 minutes a night in Memphis or something. Coming off the bench behind Billups, only being required to use his natural talent (speed) to change the pace of the game and provide a spark (Farmar of a couple years ago) really is the best role for him now. I think over time his game will expand.

Ask Kurt to open up the trade discussions for a day, and you’ll see that the Lakers will end up with LeBron James for Jordan Farmar.

MJ averaged 37.7, 37.9, and 38.8 minutes per game in his final 3 seasons with the Bulls. He averaged 34.9 and 37 minutes per game in his last two seasons with the Wizards. Kobe is right in line with that.

Part 4 is out.. with some interesting comments about Pau..

MH: Everybody was telling me “I don’t care what you get for him. Just get rid of him.” I kept saying I think he’s one of the best big men in the NBA, getting double and triple teamed every night. If he played somewhere else he’d be a star. He’s one of the best big men in the league.

Nobody wanted to hear that. They just wanted me to get rid of him. It was everywhere in the media and people were booing him. It was just tearing his heart out. He liked Memphis. His family was working for St. Jude’s. His brother was going to school here. That family likes Memphis. We had everything going for them but the pressure on him was huge. At that point I made a decision.

Now look at him. In L.A. he’s spectacular. Why is he so good in L.A.? I’ll tell you why. It’s a simple reason. He plays on one side of the court with Kobe. Now you’ve got a choice. You’ve got two or three guys on that side of the court so who are you going to double team: Pau or Kobe?

Did you see what he did in the championship game last year? He was one on one and no one can handle Pau one on one.

He also sounds pretty sour about missing the #1 pick for lebron in 03.. even though he traded the #2 pick instead of drafting wade melo or bosh.. Matt moore @ HP also had more analysis of his comments and the other gasol as a franchise player.