From Dave McMenamin, ESPN Los Angeles: After everything the season brought for Gasol – Mike Brown wanting him to play the facilitator; Mike D’Antoni wanting him to play back-up center; a laundry list of injuries, including a concussion, knee tendinitis and a torn plantar fascia in his foot causing him to miss the most games of his 12-year career — he still chooses to identify himself as a Laker and everything that is supposed to stand for. Being traded from the Memphis Grizzlies to the Lakers made Gasol a champion. It lifted him from being remembered like the Grizzlies’ best franchise player before him, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, as a very good player on a middling team, to a great player on a great team. To Gasol, the Lakers’ lore is real. While Dwight Howard seemingly has struggled to grasp what it means to be the next in the line of great big men following George Mikan, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O’Neal, Gasol got it from the get-go, helping the Lakers to three NBA Finals appearances and two rings in his first two-and-a-half seasons. When asked about the crowd’s ovation for him during his postgame news conference, Gasol teared up. ”I am very appreciative and thankful for our fans and the support they show and their loyalty and their appreciation that they have for me,” Gasol said.

From Kurt Helin, Pro Basketball Talk: Dwight Howard‘s final game as a Laker was ugly. San Antonio early on in its series against the Lakers took to the strategy of fouling Howard hard every time he went up for a shot. San Antonio fronted him in the post, was physical in taking away his position on the block, they collapsed on him (which they could do because there were no healthy Lakers guards to really fear), then finally when Howard would get the ball and start to make a move the Spurs would just foul him. Hard. Howard put up decent numbers through the series — 17 points per game on 61 percent shooting with 10.8 rebounds a contest — but he wasn’t the dominant force the shorthanded Lakers needed against the Spurs, either. He got frustrated early in the second half of Game 4, pickup up his second technical, and got ejected. He watched the end of the Lakers season from the locker room. Late Sunday night/Monday morning, Howard took to twitter to apologize to Lakers fans.

From Ben Bolch, LA Times: Staples Center held Pau Gasol in a warm embrace late in the fourth quarter Sunday, as fans stood to applaud when he left a game that had long been lost. Kobe Bryant then rose from his seat behind the Lakers’ bench to tenderly place two hands on his teammate’s shoulders. It was gracias, Gasol. It also felt very much like adios. The power forward who prompted Lamar Odom to exclaim, “The Beatles are back, baby!” on the day the Lakers acquired Gasol in February 2008 probably has played his last game as part of a not-so-Fab-Four. He stayed classy throughout the Lakers’ season-ending 103-82 loss to the San Antonio Spurs in Game 4 of their Western Conference first-round series, remaining on the court to congratulate conquerors who had swept him out of the playoffs.

From Drew Garrison, Silver Screen & Roll:The season has ended for the Los Angeles Lakers after the San Antonio Spurs swept L.A. in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. For the Lakers, it means the organization can finally focus on moving forward instead of trying to salvage a broken present. The 2013 off-season could be very interesting for the Lakers as they prepare for a new season that, hopefully, puts the nightmarish 2012-2013 season in the distance.

From Arash Markazi, ESPN LA: There have been many times over the course of this season when one could have wished to be a fly on the wall in the Los Angeles Lakers’ locker room, their training room or even the Buss family living room. The moments are far too many to number at this point and in the aftermath of the season just blend together like a marathon showing of “Jersey Shore.” But perhaps the most fascinating moment came Sunday night as Dwight Howard was inexcusably ejected from a game in which he was one of only two players from the Lakers’ regular rotation able to walk. Howard already had received a technical in the first half for complaining about a call, then picked up a second technical a little less than two minutes into the third quarter with the Lakers down 55-34. Many Lakers fans hadn’t even made it back to their seats from halftime as Howard walked back to the locker room.

From Stanley Lee, Lakers Nation: This postseason has most definitely not been what we all expected when this team began their post-All Star break turnaround. The injury bug has bitten the Lakers all year, but the list of hurt players is piling up like never before at the worst possible time. Already missing four guards—Kobe Bryant, Steve Blake, Steve Nash, and Jodie Meeks— in Friday’s humiliating loss to San Antonio, starting forward Metta World Peace now joins the list. After one of the most embarrassing losses in Laker postseason history in which the Lakers fell to the Spurs by a score of 120-89, Mike D’Antoni would once again be forced to trot out one of the worst lineups he has fielded all season—forced to start Darius Morris and Andrew Goudelock against a champion-level Spurs team.

From Dave McMenamin, ESPN LA: The scoreboard was technically 0-0 when Game 2 between the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs tipped off Wednesday, but a quick glance at the injury report on the front page of the game notes had the Spurs going into the night with an 8-1 lead.Eight players on the Lakers came in with a pre-existing injury they were dealing with, most notably Kobe Bryant out for the season because of an Achilles tear, while just one player for San Antonio – Boris Diaw, out while recovering from back surgery — had any sort of trauma listed next to his name. Of course, it only got worse from there.

From Mike Bresnahan, LA Times: Maybe Kobe Bryant should go back to tweeting during games. Maybe Metta World Peace should try harder to get in touch with the Dalai Lama. Maybe the Lakers’ injuries will finally recede, because they’re quickly running out of backcourt players. The sky continued to fall amid too many maybes Wednesday, the Lakers losing to the San Antonio Spurs, 102-91, in Game 2 of their first-round Western Conference series. Then they lined up in the trainer’s room, seemingly one by one. Steve Blake will get an ultrasound exam Thursday after sustaining a strained right hamstring on a fourth-quarter drive. Steve Nash will get another epidural injection in his back after his hip-hamstring injury flared up in the first half. And Jodie Meeks will get an MRI exam Thursday because of a sprained left ankle that kept him out of Game 2.

From C.A. Clark, Silver Screen & Roll: Without Kobe Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers entered their first round Western Conference playoff series with the San Antonio Spurs as heavy underdogs. Two double digit losses have done little to quell the expectation of a rather quick and easy series for the Spurs.Steve Nash is so hobbled, he might as well take the court with a cane, and now, with the added injury troubles of Steve Blake and Jodie Meeks, the Lakers do not have a single healthy guard in the rotation of four they relied on during the 28-12 run that got them into the postseason. As they say in Charles Dickens novels, things look bleak.

From Kurt Helin, Pro Basketball Talk: I strained a hamstring just watching the Lakers lose to the Spurs Wednesday night. Like Odysseus just trying to get home, the basketball gods are not done throwing obstacles in the Lakers way. And obstacles in this case are more injuries. So here is a rundown of the Lakers injuries as of postgame Wednesday night. Make yourself comfortable, this could take a while.

From Daniel Buerge, Lakers Nation: After falling to the Spurs in Game 1 of their first round series, the Lakers were back in action on Wednesday looking to even up the series. After all the talk over the last two days involving Kobe tweeting, injuries and everything other than actual basketball, the team was able to get back on the court after a two-day hiatus. After the Lakers struggled mightily to score in Game 1, they were hoping to put up a bit more of a fight in Game 2. A lot of that would depend on whether or not they could contain Manu Ginobili, who was a huge factor for the Spurs in Game 1.

From Mark Heisler, Lakers Nation: REALITY CHECK, Tex.–Well, it was fun while it lasted. This season was such a bummer for Laker fans, it’s not surprising that they seized upon, or imagined, a ray of hope when the team finished 28-12 and, Kobe or no Kobe, made the playoffs as a No. 7 seed. Unfortunately for the Lakes, there were two (2) great teams in the West so they’d have had to get up to No. 6 to gain a meaningful advantage. The Lakers would have been underdogs with Kobe Bryant. Without him, the Spurs were 8 1/2 point favorites Sunday and won by 12. If it’s any consolation for the Lakers, the game was hardly one-sided.

From Mike Bresnahan, LA Times: The Lakers left the site of Monday’s practice, a local high school, muttering that the court was a little too hard, forcing some unexpected bounces. In other words, it looked just like Sunday’s game against San Antonio. The Lakers committed 18 turnovers in their 91-79 loss, nothing out of the ordinary for them during a season in which they almost always had more miscues than their opponents. The problem now is that their scoring is so low without Kobe Bryant, they can’t afford to give the ball away when they have it. They’re pledging to be more careful in Game 2 of their first-round series Wednesday.

From C.A. Clark, Silver Screen & Roll: ”He’s a fan right now.”"A fan??? lol #microphonetalk” Two sentences. 10 words. 48 characters and one hashtag. That’s all it took to create another stupid, pointless situation that puts the entire Lakers franchise back in the throes of the dumbest soap opera in sports. It’s been running in Los Angeles since at least the late 90s and the latest cast of characters sure looks poised to continue the string for far longer.The top quote of course, is Mike D’Antoni’s. Complete with an eye roll, Coach Mike was venting a little frustration at being asked about the tweets of one Kobe Bryant. It was a stupid thing to do, because it exacerbated an awkward situation and turned it into a full on event. It was a pot shot at his best player, the guy he rode to death just to make the playoffs, at a guy who has far more credibility and sway and love in the city of Los Angeles, at the guy who can make his life a living hell if he wants to. Of course, he was frustrated because Kobe was already doing that last part.

From Dave McMenamin, ESPN LA: Long before Kobe Bryant got into a bizarre postgame tête-à-tête from 1,350 miles away with Los Angeles Lakers head coach Mike D’Antoni on Sunday, Bryant glowed about the man, calling him an “offensive genius” back in November. D’Antoni called Bryant, who was live-tweeting the Lakers’ Game 1 against the San Antonio Spurs from his home in California as he rehabs after Achilles surgery, a “fan” for his 140-character contributions from afar. Probably a poor word choice from D’Antoni, one that Bryant chalked up to a “#nervousresponse” in one tweet, but one that stuck in his craw nonetheless when he later tweeted sarcastically that he would be watching Game 2 “from the crib again in a pau jersey and laker face paint.” Whatever adjustments D’Antoni makes for his team on the offensive end, after the Lakers lost to the Spurs 91-79 in Game 1, will determine if “genius” was as poor a word choice by Bryant.

From Kurt Helin, Pro Basketball Talk: And it was — they were putting his tweets up on the broadcast during the game. Players and Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni were asked about Kobe’s comments after the game. (And before you tell me this was a “media driven” story, we have done just one post on it before now and looking at the numbers you REALLY care about this.) So Kobe is done tweeting during games.

From Sam Amick, USA TODAY: It made perfect sense that the San Antonio Spurs could be in trouble in their first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Lakers.They were barely worthy of being a playoff team down the stretch of the regular season, which means they may as well have been, well, the Lakers. They were vulnerable, ailing, on the decline, ripe for the sort of first-round upset that the Lakers said they were capable of as they found a way to survive without Kobe Bryant and surged into the postseason after all these tumultuous months. Or, perhaps, not.

From Dave Mcmenamin, ESPN LA: Long before Kobe Bryant got into a bizarre postgame tête-à-tête from 1,350 miles away with Los Angeles Lakers head coach Mike D’Antoni on Sunday, Bryant glowed about the man, calling him an “offensive genius” back in November.D’Antoni called Bryant, who was live-tweeting the Lakers’ Game 1 against the San Antonio Spursfrom his home in California as he rehabs after Achilles surgery, a “fan” for his 140-character contributions from afar.Probably a poor word choice from D’Antoni, one that Bryant chalked up to a “#nervousresponse” in one tweet, but one that stuck in his craw nonetheless when he later tweeted sarcastically that he would be watching Game 2 “from the crib again in a pau jersey and laker face paint.”

From Kurt Helin, Pro Basketball Talk: Even 1,300 miles away lying in bed, Kobe Bryant was still the story for the Lakers Sunday. Kobe watched the game just like you did… well, his house is bigger than yours and he had more painkillers in his system than you did (probably). But he watched it on television (recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon) and tweeted about the game, just like I and you and a lot of others did. Except Kobe’s tweets became the story. Because he’s Kobe.

From Mike Bresnahan, LA Times: Something was missing. Actually, someone was missing. It had a lot to do with scoring, as in not enough of it for the Lakers, in a grueling, often boring 91-79 loss Sunday to theSan Antonio Spurs. Kobe Bryant was present only on Twitter, watching from his home as the Lakers missed shot after shot and committed 18 turnovers in their playoff opener at AT&T Center. Yawn. Stretch. Head for the locker room. Game 2 is Wednesday in San Antonio. It was worth checking futility records when the Lakers entered the fourth quarter with a meager 57 points. Their mark for fewest points in a playoff game is 66 against Detroit in the 2004 NBA Finals.

From Elizabeth Benson, Lakers Nation: Without Kobe Bryant in the lineup for the postseason, we all knew that the Lakers must continually feed the bigs (Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol) and revolve their game plan around their post play. As Magic Johnson stressed before, during and after Game 1 on Sunday, Howard and Gasol are the Lakers’ biggest advantage and maybe their only one over the Spurs. The funny and quite ironic aspect of Sunday’s playoff opener for the Lakers was that it was their offense that was problematic and not their defense. In fact, the Lakers held the Spurs to just 37.6 percent shooting (third consecutive game L.A. has held they opponent to under 40 percent shooting). However, the Spurs played defense too, and the Lakers couldn’t seem to buy a bucket in Game 1.

From Mike Bresnahan, LA Times: Kobe Bryant was right about his guarantee. The Lakers made the playoffs. He didn’t need to be present to see it happen on the last day of the regular season. Then the Lakers one-upped him, turning their good start to Wednesday evening into a better one, the equivalent of improving their hand in Texas hold ‘em. The Lakers beat the Houston Rockets in overtime, 99-95, earned a first-round playoff series against San Antonio and managed to avoid top-seeded Oklahoma City, a horrible matchup for almost every Western Conference team, especially them. So the seventh-seeded Lakers (45-37) begin a best-of-seven series Sunday at No. 2-seeded San Antonio, the team they defeated last Sunday, 91-86, and played well against in two close losses this season (by two points in November and three in January).

From C.A. Clark, Silver Screen & Roll: In a season filled with turmoil, tumult and, sometimes, even terror, the Los Angeles Lakers have ended the toughest 82 game season in my memory with a slightly different kind of emotion: Hope. In defeating the Houston Rockets by the final score of 99-95, the Lakers ensured not only that their season will not end with game 82, but that they have the slightest of chances of actually doing something with all the games that come after. Such is the importance of playoff match-ups, and such is the nightmare that loomed if the Lakers could not forge past the 8th spot in the playoff race. Forge past it they have; the Lakers will start the playoffs Sunday as the 7th seed, matched up against an old friend and familiar foe, the San Antonio Spurs.

From Arash Markazi, ESPN LA: Last week, before the Lakers’ already nightmarish season seemingly veered completely of the tracks with Kobe Bryant’s ruptured Achilles tendon, Bryant was still confident that the Lakers wouldn’t just make the playoffs but that they could win a championship. As he sat in front of his locker following the media scrum he said, “Look at what the Kings did last year. They got into the playoffs as the eight seed and won the Stanley Cup. We’re trying to do the same thing.” Bryant attended a number of the Los Angeles Kings’ playoff games with his daughters during their magical and improbable run to the Stanley Cup last summer and didn’t understand why it couldn’t be duplicated on the basketball court this summer. “There’s no reason we can’t do it,” Bryant said. “Everything resets in the playoffs.”

From Kurt Helin, Pro Basketball Talk: Bad news for those Lakers fans who have chosen to scapegoat coach Mike D’Antoni for the Lakers disappointing season: He’s going to be back next season. That’s not my opinion, that comes straight from Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak, speaking to the Los Angeles Times. “Yeah, he’s back. I think he’s done a great job,” Kupchak told The Times. “There’s been no discussions otherwise. “He’s made adjustments. He’s been flexible. He’s evaluated how he coaches as the season’s progressed. He’s listened to the players. He’s very easy to work with and we think in particular since the meeting the day of the Memphis game, yeah.”

From Marc Spears, Yahoo Sports: Kobe Bryant won’t be joining the Los Angeles Lakers in the postseason, but there is growing optimism Steve Nash will be on the court as early as Sunday’s playoff opener against the San Antonio Spurs. A strained right hamstring and hip soreness forced Nash to miss the final eight games of the regular season, including Wednesday’s 99-95 overtime victory over the Houston Rockets. The win gave the Lakers the Western Conference’s No. 7 seed and a first-round matchup with their old rival, the Spurs. Nash said he had two epidural injections in his lower back on Tuesday, which has begun to alleviate his hamstring pain. The Lakers announced Tuesday an MRI exam confirmed Nash is dealing with “several preexisting issues related to his hip and back, which are causing nerve irritation and contributing to his hamstring pain and weakness.” Nash and Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak both expressed optimism Nash would be able to play on Sunday.”It really depends on whether the two epidurals work,” Nash said. “If they kick in, I have a good chance to play.”