Day: June 3, 2010

John Calipari insists he will remain at Kentucky

David Jones of Florida Today reports:

Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari insisted once again at the Southeastern Conference’s spring meetings on Wednesday that he will be coaching the Wildcats next season and not LeBron James.

Rumors have swirled for weeks that Calipari could be James’ next coach in a variety of locations, but Calipari looked almost bored with the continued questions as he stood near a hotel elevator and talked about his status for a few minutes.

“I didn’t deal with it because I made my statement,” Calipari said. “The only people that seemed to not believe me were you guys (media). But I said I was going to be at Kentucky next year. I didn’t need to say anything else.”

Andrew Bynum hurting as Finals begin

David Lassen, special to the Press-Enterprise, reports:

Andrew Bynum hurting as Finals begin

Andrew Bynum was limping, with his injured right knee heavily bandaged, after the Lakers’ practice Wednesday, raising new doubts that the procedure to drain fluid from the swollen joint would make a difference.

“Whether it was successful in keeping his knee not swollen over this period of time, you know, that may not happen,” Jackson said.

Bynum had limited participation in Wednesday’s practice, but said he can “do anything when it comes to a game. There’s nothing I physically can’t do; it’s just the pain level and the muscle shutting down. But come game time, all that goes out the window.

“In practice, it’s more just preventing a major injury.”

Lakers driven by memories of 2008 NBA Finals loss to Celtics

David Lassen, special to the Press-Enterprise, reports:

As the Lakers open the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics tonight at Staples Center, they are driven by the memory of their six-game loss to the Celtics in the 2008 Finals, yet careful to note these teams — winners of the past two NBA championships — are not the same ones that squared off two years ago.

Lakers driven by memories of 2008 Finals loss to Celtics

“That thought of defeat is the first thing that comes to your mind,” said Pau Gasol, looking back to 2008, “so that triggers a point that is sore, and should get us going.”

Kobe Bryant casts the memories of 2008 less in terms of the pain of defeat and more as the lesson that helped propel the Lakers to their success against Orlando last year.

“It’s things that we’ve carried with us from the series,” Bryant says, “in terms of how to play as a unit at both ends of the floor, the kind of tenacity you need to play with.

“Those are the kind of things that we learned from there that we still carry with us.”