Basketball can be a fickle friend, for franchise stars who are ultimately consigned to the journeyman’s path and for systems, coaches and executives who fall out of favor for any number of reasons. Consider the case of Phil Jackson who disappeared like morning dew after his very public flameout as president of the New York […]
Lakers History
Lakers News: Elgin Baylor to have Statue dedicated to him at Staples Center
Elgin Baylor was an amazing player. He was a pioneer, a player whose style of play is a building block of the modern game. The “godfather of hang time”, Baylor was a do-it-all wing who glided across the lane and to the rim, popped jumpers from all over the floor, rebounded like a maniac, and […]
Kobe Bryant Isolation: The Crazy Data Behind the NBA Legend
In an age of teams relentlessly focusing on efficiency and team basketball, the Kobe Bryant isolation brand of ball is frowned upon more and more. Shots with an insane degree of difficulty, many from mid range, and especially in isolation will just drive coaches and analytic heads like me insane. But Kobe was different. No, […]
Mamba Day, One Year Later
It was one year ago today that Kobe Bryant played his last NBA game. Around the league, it was #MambaDay – a celebration of a player whose 20 year career influenced the league like few have. Kobe did not disappoint in his farewell performance, either. Scoring an astounding 60 points on an equally astounding 50 […]
In Appreciation of Shaquille O’Neal, A Lakers Legend
I still remember watching the press conference and not really believing what I was seeing. There was Jerry West standing next to a 24 year old and in his prime Shaquille O’Neal, posing for pictures after announcing he had signed with the Lakers. The entire thing seemed surreal. Before Kobe was Kobe, Shaq was the […]
Say Goodbye to 2016 by Watching this Kobe Highlight Video
2016 brought a lot of memories for Lakers’ fans. Mostly bad ones. The losses piled up and as the 2015-16 season wore on fans became more interested in whether the team would keep their top-3 protected draft pick than anything that happened on the court. Game after game many fans either actively cheered for losses […]
These Lakers are pretty easy to love
Last night, one team we watched during Rockets-Lakers will only go as far as its star will take them. The other was the Lakers, and boy, was that fun. We might’ve witnessed the birth of a new era, or we just were able to catch one of the few fun games this unit will play […]
Lakers’ history with high rookie talent gives reason for excitement
You can’t hear people talk about the Lakers without at some point catching one word: excitement. It makes sense, new is exciting. Youth is exciting. Fun is exciting, especially when the humor about the team is not of the ironic type. You know what makes this young core all the more thrilling? Given the franchise’s, […]
Shaq’s Lasting, Indellible And Rarely Noted Impact
Next time Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley deride the current NBA for shooting too many threes and lacking dominant centers, instead of sarcastically mocking their antiquated standards for style of play, we should maybe credit the former for what we’re watching. He deserves as much credit for it as just about anyone. Crazy, right?
The Showtime Lakers vs. Today’s Warriors
The Warriors look to be well on their way to their 2nd NBA championship in as many seasons. Their combination of offensive firepower, excellent defense, positional versatility, and top level coaching are the marvel of the league and have teams scrambling to try and replicate a formula which may not even be replicable. Roughly 30 years […]