Previously unheralded outside of hardcore hoops circles, Tom Thibodeau is now being feted as a defensive genius and the architect behind the resurgence of the Boston Celtics. As Karl Rove was to GWB, TT is to Doc Rivers. How else do you explain it? A bottom rung defensive team, populated with defensive sieves like Paul […]
A Rivalry That Spans Generations
It’s the late 50’s and a pattern begins. It involves an emerging professional basketball league, and a team that is about to drag it out of the smoky arenas and into the consciousness of the American sports fan. It involves a team that will draw attention to the new league by its singular and, in […]
Golden State Warriors: Chat and Preview
“I think we’re the front-runner. If we had a healthy roster, I’d be very much more comfortable saying that. But at this point, given our schedule, I think we have a real good opportunity.” –Phil Jackson Records: Lakers 48-21 (1 seed), Warriors 42-26 (8 seed West) (4 seed East) Offense Ratings: Lakers-109.7 (3rd), Warriors-109.4 (4th) […]
Forum and Powder Blue
“When the Lakers arrived in Los Angeles in 1960 basketball was very much an unknown factor in the city’s sport’s psyche.” –Roland Lazenby Over the past 40 plus years the combination of Bruin and Laker basketball has brought the game from a single paragraph in the back page of the Times to the most viewed […]
Suns Preview
W-L: 26-12 PF: 109.8 PA: 104.9 Home: 13-4 Road: 13-8 Streak: Lost 1 Last 10: 7-3 The injury to Bynum has thrown the Laker’s fan base into a frenzy. What this proves is how far Bynum has come in his importance to the team. Kobe’s “We’re a championship caliber team with Andrew” comment bares out […]
Blessed to be a Witness
I met his car in the parking lot. His driver opened the door, and I helped him out of the car and into a wheel chair. I introduced myself and let him know that I would be here all day long to help him with anything he needed. “Coach Wooden, I’ll be your host today.†[…]
Sonics Preview
“Pretty scary, it felt like my knee twisted all the way around…I didn’t hear any pops…I’m fine, I can put weight on it…not as bad as I thought…they put ice on it, and it felt better right away.” Seattle: PG Earl Watson, Sg Kevin Durant, SF Jeff Green, PF Nick Collison (game time decision), C […]
One on One with the Legends
Indulge me on an off day (for Kurt and the boys), so I can burden you with a little City of Los Angeles history. It’s for a good cause, and it does involve the Forum Blue and Gold. Los Angeles mayor James R. Toberman holds the distinction of switching on the city’s first electric streetlights. […]
Ted Stepien and the James Worthy Rule
Ted Stepien, a former owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers…died Monday at his home in Willoughby Hills, Ohio. He was 82. Stepien paid $2 million for 37% of the Cavaliers in April 1980 and soon became the majority shareholder. The Cavaliers went 66-180, dropped to the bottom of the league in attendance and lost $15 million […]
Nonstop-gesticulating, chair-kicking, sideline-pacing Butch
Former Laker coach Butch Van Breda Kolff, who had a sometimes controversial but always colorful career on the sidelines with 13 teams in three professional leagues and at various colleges over a span of nearly four decades, has died. He was 84. Imagine a 2003 Shaquille O’Neal being traded to last year’s Phoenix Suns. He’s […]