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Lakers All-Star center Andrew Bynum was asked for his opinion of Kings center DeMarcus Cousins.
I guess he feels bad for Cousins.
“He’s a good player, definitely coming up,” Bynum said. “It’s terrible that he has to play in Sacramento. He could take his talents somewhere and really help a team.”
Terrible?
“Yeah,” Bynum said. “It’s not working out.”
— Reported by Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee
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The Lakers would like the NBA to take a closer look at Brendan Haywood’s hard foul against Pau Gasol late in Thursday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks. Haywood knocked Gasol to the court with a double forearm shiver to the head.
Brown said he believed it should have been ruled a flagrant foul, with Haywood perhaps drawing an ejection for thumping Gasol.
The officiating crew, led by veteran Mike Callahan, whistled Haywood for a shooting foul, however.
“After reviewing it on tape, I think the refs missed that,” Brown said. “I don’t know how anybody could think he was going for the ball. I don’t think it was intentional, but that’s not the definition of a flagrant foul.”
Brown said he expected a league review.
“That was definitely not a normal foul,” he said.
— Reported by Elliot Teaford of the LA Daily News
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Shawn Marion is a good defender, but Kobe Bryant wasn’t about to give the Mavericks’ defensive anchor any credit.
After the Lakers’ shootaround, Bryant held court – pulling about 20 media members away from coach Mike Brown just as Brown was getting going with his interview scrum – and his best line came when he was asked about Marion and the Mavericks’ touting Marion as a defensive player of the year candidate.
“Oh, man, I agree,” Bryant said, sporting a grin. “I think tonight they should not double me at all or zone me. Just play one on one because he’s such a terrific defender, he doesn’t need any help.”
The sarcasm was dripping.
— Reported by Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News
More than 20 years after he last played pro basketball, former Lakers star Magic Johnson is ready for a whole new game: running his own TV network.
The Hall of Famer, who has become a successful business mogul, is preparing to launch Aspire, a 24-hour channel with a focus on what Johnson called positive, uplifting images of African Americans. The basic cable outlet will join other channels targeting black viewers, such as BET and TV One, and will offer opportunities for blacks who have struggled to find work in mainstream Hollywood.
“This is so exciting for me, I’m pinching myself,” Johnson said in a phone interview. “This is big for myself, for the African American community and the African American creative community. I wanted a vehicle to show positive images and to have stories written, produced and directed by African Americans for our community. Aspire — that’s how I’ve been leading my life.”
Aspire’s mix will include film, TV, music and comedy, with a combination of acquired projects and original programming. “There will some performing arts and shows about faith,” Johnson said.
— Reported by Greg Braxton and Meg James of the Los Angeles Times
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In response to comments made by Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol after last night’s game against the Phoenix Suns, Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak issued the following statement today:
“As a former player, I understand how the days leading up to the trade deadline can be nerve-wracking for an NBA player. Nonetheless, as General Manager of the Lakers, I have a responsibility to ownership, our fans and the players on this team to actively pursue opportunities to improve the team for this season and seasons to come. To say publicly that we would not do this would serve no purpose and put us at a competitive disadvantage. Taking such a course of action at this time would be a disservice to ownership, the team and our many fans.
According to the Los Angeles Times Blog, Kobe had said the following: “It’s just tough for a player to give his all when you don’t know if you’re going to be here tomorrow. I’d rather them not trade him at all but if they’re going to do something, I wish they would just … do it.”
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The NBA trade deadline is March 15. Don’t expect a major deal, Timberwolves’ basketball president David Kahn says.
“The likelihood of us doing something dramatic is miniscule,” Kahn said after the Wolves’ victory over Charlotte on Wednesday night at Target Center that moved them to within two games of a playoff spot.
“That doesn’t mean that maybe we do something minor. But the last thing I want to do is send a message to our players that they should be looking over their shoulders right now.”
The Wolves (14-16) are just three victories away from their total of last season. A rumor that has resurfaced is the Lakers trading Pau Gasol to Minnesota. The Pioneer Press reported last month that the Lakers offered Gasol to the Wolves as part of a proposed trade for Kevin Love before Love signed a $62 million contract extension. The Wolves never considered the deal.
— Reported by Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press
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The 17-12 Los Angeles Lakers have decided they don’t need Devin Ebanks and might as well provide him with some game minutes down in the D-League.
The team today assigned the second-year forward to the Los Angeles D-Fenders, the Lakers’ NBA Development League affiliate. The assignment marks the 37th time an NBA player has been assigned to his NBA D-League affiliate during the 2011-12 season and is the second assignment for Ebanks of his career.
According to the Los Angeles Daily News blog, “The moves comes a week after the Lakers waived backup power forward Derrick Caracter in a move to open a roster spot and also save the on payroll. Caracter’s contract of roughly $750,000 would have become guaranteed had he been on the roster as of last Friday.
Ebanks (6-9, 215, West Virginia) has appeared in 12 games for the Lakers this season, averaging 2.7 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.5 assists in 12.6 minutes.
Originally selected by the Lakers in the second round (43rd overall) in the 2010 NBA Draft, Ebanks appeared in 20 games for L.A. last season, averaging 3.1 points and 1.4 rebounds in 5.9 minutes.
Ebanks returns to the NBA D-League following a six-game assignment to the Bakersfield Jam last season when he averaged 16.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.5 steals in 27.7 minutes.
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Shaquille O’Neal says it would be a “travesty” if Dwight Howard leaves the Orlando Magic.
O’Neal also says Howard’s situation is not like his was when he left for the Lakers in 1996, because he says he wanted to stay with the Magic but had a better option.
— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press
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Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who was vocal in his opposition to the proposed trade that would have sent Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers, still doesn’t think the NBA-owned New Orleans Hornets ended up with a decent deal.
The right deal, in Cuban’s opinion, would have been none at all, even if that meant losing Paul for nothing at the end of the season.
“You’re better off just taking the cap room, or whatever,” Cuban said.
Paul ended up being traded to the Los Angeles Clippers, who visited the Mavericks at the American Airlines Center on Monday night.
“I don’t think it was about the Lakers, per se,” Cuban said before the game. “I think it was just the way they did the deal, which was ridiculous. I don’t think it was about which team. I think it was the fact that, even with the Clippers, we just went through this whole (collective bargaining agreement) and said the incumbent team still has the advantage and then the team the league owns (wimps) out. And look how it’s worked out for them.
“Bad management gets you bad results.”
— Reported by Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas
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Kobe Bryant told me after Lakers practice on Wednesday the torn ligament in his right wrist is completely behind him. “I got through it,” Bryant said.
When I asked him if he would use the term “healed,” Bryant said: “Yes.”
Bryant said he stopped using the pregame injection that would numb the wrist to pain two games ago in Utah on Saturday night. He then played in Philadelphia on Monday night without the supportive tape he has used all season on the wrist. Without the tape, Bryant can return to his usual shooting mechanics with full follow-through, which is particularly helpful to him on 3-pointers.
“I’ve got more flexibility on the shot,” Bryant said.
— Reported by Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register
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