To say that January has been a rough stretch for the Los Angeles Lakers is saying just a little. Thursday marks the final day of the month and as ESPN’S Dave McMenamin notes, LeBron James will once again be watching from the sidelines (update: LBJ will play). Six wins and 11 losses have occurred since […]
Phil Jackson: Fading into View
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 […]
Spit-Balling the Los Angeles Lakers’ Bench Mob
If LeBron James was the dominant headline for the Los Angeles Lakers this summer, the who’s and why’s of his supporting cast are at least at a B-story. That’s true for those coming off the pine just as much as the starters. Here’s where the spit-balling begins, with a roster that has seen a massive […]
Lonzo Ball: Something Different this Way Comes
He is not yet 21 and his sophomore season in the NBA is still months away. The fanfare of being a No. 2 overall pick along with inherent expectations have faded to some extent. And while Lonzo Ball is not exactly the forgotten man, the arrival of a mythical storm god promises to send him […]
The Summer of the Lakers’ Mad Genius
The front office of the Los Angeles Lakers did exactly one thing this summer that played to conventional wisdom—they signed LeBron James. After that, the wheels of the free-agency bus seemed to go bumpity-bump, all through the league. But what if all this turns out to be the kind of mad genius that is so […]
Los Angeles Lakers, Running down the Stretch
But for a dismal nine-game losing streak that dragged from the end of last year to the beginning of this one, the Los Angeles Lakers would be planted squarely in the playoff hunt right now. Such are the vagaries of professional sports. Regardless, the team with the fastest pace in the league keeps on running—and […]
The Curious Case of Julius Randle and the Los Angeles Lakers
What on earth is going on with Julius Randle and the Los Angeles Lakers? The curious case is akin to an enigma wrapped in a riddle wrapped in a paucity of opportunities—a talented player whose duties keep getting shifted like a temp secretary in the steno pool, all while delivering the most efficient scoring attack […]
South Bay Lakers and the Evolving G League
I’ve been living in Austin, Texas the last several years, a place not known for Purple and Gold sightings. That changed last Saturday night when the South Bay Lakers visited the Austin Spurs—G League action in the fastest-growing city in the country. First, there’s an interesting difference when it comes to venues. The SB Lakers […]
Alex Caruso, a long way from College Station to the Lakers
Alex Caruso looks more like a used car salesman than an NBA baller. He’s paler than Toaster Strudel, with a pornstache, thinning hair and a total lack of ink. But here he is playing for the Los Angeles Lakers on a two-way contract—a new wrinkle in the marriage between NBA parent teams and the rebranded […]
Lakers Analysis: Tall Trees in a Changing NBA Landscape
A funny thing happened on the way to the Forum. I was 700 words into the plethora of Los Angeles Lakers tall trees heading into training camp, and the team went and signed yet another wooly mammoth—Andrew Bogut. The basketball world last saw the aging veteran when he snapped his tibia less than a minute […]