The NBA has suspended L.A. Lakers forward Lamar Odom one game for leaving the area of the bench during an on court altercation that broke out in the wake of the Type 2 Flagrant Foul committed by his teammate Trevor Ariza against Portland's Rudy Fernandez. Here is the play: The Odom suspension was au...

There have been ebbs and flows in terms of how Kobe Bryant is perceived and how he has been portrayed in the media but Bryant has never wavered regarding two things: (1) he has been misunderstood as a person; (2) he has not changed fundamentally as a player (even though "experts" insist that he has ...

Last night, the Lakers lost big to the Blazers. The Blazers are a fun team to watch–a talented, young group of guys coached into a really watchable brand of ball–and got up big in the first half. They continued their dominance in the third quarter against a positively Van Gundian defensi...

On a minute-to-minute basis, there's probably nobody on the Lakers' roster who has better taken advantage of his playing time than Josh Powell. Brought in to fill a backup power forward role when Ronny Turiaf left for Golden State, Powell hasn't matched Turiaf's level of enthusiasm on and off the fl...

Well, I wouldn't go that far- beyond the soccer skills, Pele is one hell of an actor- but Bryant proved he can pull off a solid bend in a pinch while... wait for it... kicking it with the LA Sol and their newest mate Marta, the Brazilian soccer star considered to be the best female soccer-ist on the...

I've spent the last 45 minutes or so scrolling through the various informational combinations available on NBA.com's Hot Spots feature, and I am only reminded of how addictive the thing is. We spend so much time talking about shot selection, guys playing to strengths, and so on. It's great to have a...

Many of you know about the documentary Spike Lee is working on centering around Kobe Bryant. (It airs, I believe, in May.) If you're interested in getting a little early information, check out this interview with Lee on WQXI in Atlanta. It opens with talk about shooting around Kobe and the Lakers, b...

What, no free XXXXXL white tee shirts, no halftime donkey shows, no Mariachi Band playing the "defense" song, no free admission with a ticket stub to cock fights in the IE, no "find the Virgin de Guadalupe in the pool of sweat" contest... How can the Lakers celebrate Latina Noche...

By Craig Kwasniewski Just a few thoughts from the past weekend in the NBA...  Losses by the Celtics and Lakers just add to the 1996 Bulls mystique:  Brace yourself for this "brilliant" remark... winnin' 70 ain't easy. Seriously, can we finally stop with the 70-win predi...

Sorry I haven’t posted this week. Recovery from the snow trip was followed by a dentist appointment (and the news I have to get a root canal!), followed by more recovery, followed by our crazy trip to see the Lakers on Thursday (more on that later – but it involved VIP tickets and getting stuck ...