Metta World Peace (or Panda’s Friend, if you prefer) has been adamant about the Los Angeles Lakers being a playoff team this year, and they did him proud by beating the Atlanta Hawks on the road 114-109. Swaggy P is back!!!!! 5-8 seed ??? Lakers???? They played a great game today!!! — mettaworldpeace.com (@MettaWorldPeace) November 19, 2014 It’s unclear if the former NBA player is being serious with some of the claims he has been making as of late, but you’d hope that
LOS ANGELES — It’s a standard scene in every old war movie. A ragtag, weary outfit, battered and bruised, is charged with holding a key bridge in order to save France from the advancing German army. If the bridge goes, the free world goes with it. For the Lakers, entering Sunday’s game at Staples against the Charlotte Hornets sitting at 0-5 for the first time since 1957 and facing run of high end opponents over the next 10-plus days, Sunday’s game was
We all know that Stephen Curry is a wizard when it comes to doing things on offense. The gifted point guard, who puts fear into the opposition with his ability to pull up for a shot at any given moment – with pinpoint accuracy – can also pass with the best of them. Because his ability to handle the ball has gotten better just about every year since he entered the league, Curry is one of the most unique and challenging
LOS ANGELES — “You can only control what you can control. That’s really tough to process, it’s tough to let that go. But it’s the truth, man.” That was Kobe Bryant at the podium Tuesday night after his Los Angeles Lakers dropped their season opener to the Houston Rockets, a 108-90 home loss that wasn’t as competitive as even the lopsided score might indicate. Small picture, he was speaking specifically about the spirit-crushing injury – a broken right tibia – suffered by
Alex Kirk, the 2014 undrafted Cleveland Cavaliers rookie center, was signed to a contract back in August. He had a fair showing in the preseason, averaging five points, three rebounds and just under one block in nearly 15 minutes of play. Over the weekend, he was informed that he had made the team’s 15-man roster. The former University of New Mexico college starter will likely see time with the team’s D-League affiliate, the Canton Charge, before he gets time with the
Steve Nash’s unfortunate injury deprives Jeremy Lin the opportunity to learn on the court from one of the greats. Jeremy Lin now has some epic level shoes to fill. There was always a very real chance that Steve Nash may not get the opportunity to see any action this season. After all, in his two previous seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, he has only managed to play in a combined 65 games — including a dismal 15
Over the last 35 years, the Los Angeles Lakers have been the gold standard for success, not just in the NBA, but across the Big Four sports in America. That’s the big picture. Little picture? The Lakers last season set a new standard for futility: 55 losses, more than any other team in franchise history. Nearly from start to finish, the 2013-14 campaign was a disaster of injuries and ire, much of it directed at owner and basketball operations head Jim
On Thursday, we gave you our All-Breakout Team for the upcoming season for the Eastern Conference. Today, we bring you our Western Conference All-Breakout Team. These are the players we believe are on the verge of breaking out or standing out. We used the same parameters – five players, one at each position, but no rookies. Let’s get right to it.