Los Angeles Lakers Blog – Page 131 – NBA Blog

Jerry West open to NBA front office return

Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com reports:

Jerry West with a prominent role in the new Golden State hierarchy will apparently remain interesting what-could-have-been, but the legendary former personnel boss of the Lakers and Grizzlies confirms he is open to returning to the front-office world.

That could have been with the Warriors if Oracle boss Larry Ellison had bought the team. West has known Ellison for years and said the two talked several months ago about His Logoness as part of a possible management team in Oakland, West confirmed publicly for the first time. It appealed to West because of the relationship with Ellison and the proximity of an hour plane ride from West’s permanent home in Los Angeles, but became moot once Joe Lacob and Peter Guber beat Ellison to the Warriors in a surprise outcome.

Lakers sign Derrick Caracter

The Los Angeles Lakers have signed forward Derrick Caracter, it was announced today. Per team policy terms of the agreement were not released.

Caracter, a 22 year-old early entry candidate selected by the Lakers with the 58th pick in the 2010 NBA draft, played two seasons at Louisville before transferring to the University of Texas at El Paso, where he averaged 14.1 points and 8.1 rebounds in 27 games as a junior with the Miners. Named Second Team All-Conference USA last season, the 6’9” forward ranked second in the conference and 16th nationally in field goal percentage (.567).

Ranked as the best player in the country by some recruiting services heading into his senior year of high school, Caracter averaged 8.2 points and 4.3 rebounds in 53 games (14 starts) over two seasons at Louisville. For his college career, Caracter averaged 10.2 points (.560 FG%) and 5.6 rebounds in 80 games (36 starts).

Most recently, Caracter started all five games for the Lakers 2010 Summer League entry in Las Vegas, averaging 15.4 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 33.3 minutes.

Lakers sign second round rookie Devin Ebanks

The Los Angeles Lakers have signed forward Devin Ebanks, it was announced today. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not released.

Selected by the Lakers with the 43rd pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, Ebanks, a 20 year-old early entry candidate out of West Virginia University, played two seasons for the Mountaineers, averaging 11.2 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 69 games. Named to the Big East All-Rookie and All-Tournament team as a freshman and selected All-Big East Third Team as a sophomore, the 6’9” forward posted 16 career double-doubles at West Virginia and led the team in rebounding during each of his two seasons.

Additionally, Ebanks started all five games for the Lakers 2010 Summer League entry in Las Vegas, averaging 15.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 33.3 minutes.

Lakers re-sign Shannon Brown

The Los Angeles Lakers have re-signed free agent guard Shannon Brown, it was announced today by General Manager Mitch Kupchak. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not released.

“Shannon was an important member of our team and played a valuable role in helping us win the last two NBA championships,” said Kupchak. “We’re aware that he had several attractive offers from other teams and are very happy that he chose to remain a Laker.

Brown, a two-time NBA Champion with the Lakers, was originally acquired by the team on February 7, 2009 as part of a trade with the Charlotte Bobcats. He appeared in 82 regular season games including seven starts last season, averaging a career-best 8.2 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 20.7 minutes. In 23 postseason games, Brown averaged 4.9 points and 1.3 rebounds in 14.1 minutes.

A participant in the 2010 Sprite Slam Dunk Contest during All-Star Weekend, Brown led the Lakers in scoring this past season on three occasions and recorded his first career double-double with career-highs in points (27) and rebounds (10) in a February 16th victory over Golden State.

Tina Thompson becomes WNBA points leader

The AP reports:

Tina Thompson scored 23 points to become the WNBA’s all-time scoring leader Sunday night in a 92-83 loss to the San Antonio Silver Stars.

She surpassed Lisa Leslie’s career total of 6,263 points. Leslie, who played for Los Angeles for her entire career, retired last year.

Shannon Brown will stay with Lakers

The Los Angeles Times reports:

Lakers free agent guard Shannon Brown has agreed to a two-year contract worth about $4.6 million to stay with the team, his agent, Mark Bartelstein, said Thursday.

“Obviously, the process took a while, but Shannon wanted to be here and they wanted him,” Bartelstein said. “Shannon had a number of other opportunities out there, but he had been in L.A. for two years and they won two championships. The chance to go for a three-peat is very special to him.”

Bartelstein said Brown was in “serious talks” with about half a dozen teams throughout the summer, and that he could have made more money elsewhere, but that the allure of a third straight title was too much.

InsideHoops.com editor says: Shannon Brown fact — While the rest of the Lakers fly somewhere, Brown exercises by leaping alongside the plane. This also saves fuel costs.

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.

Celtics sign Shaquille O’Neal

The Boston Celtics announced today that they have signed free agent center Shaquille O’Neal. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“It is not every day that you can add a player of Shaquille’s caliber to your team,” said Danny Ainge, Celtics President of Basketball Operations. “His past experience speaks for itself and we believe that he is a great fit for our roster.”

O’Neal, a 7’1” center, posted averages of 12.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and shot 56.6% from the field last season in 53 games for the Cleveland Cavaliers. The former Louisiana State Tiger is a three-time NBA Finals MVP (2000, 2001, 2002) and former NBA MVP (2000). He has been named to 15 All Star games and also has been named All-Star Game MVP three times. His 15 All-Star appearances are the second most all-time behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 17. He is a member of four NBA Championship teams (3, Los Angeles Lakers, 2000, 2001, 2002; 1, Miami Heat, 2006). One of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA history (he was youngest member of this team, at the age of 24, when it was named in 1996), O’Neal also is one of just three players in NBA history to be named league MVP, All-Star Game MVP and Finals MVP in the same season (1999-2000).

“I am honored to be joining the Celtics,” said O’Neal. “I have played against Paul, Ray, Kevin, Rajon, and Jermaine for many years and it will be great to be able to call them my teammates. I cannot wait to get to Boston to get started in pursuit of another championship.”

The first overall pick in the 1992 NBA Draft by Orlando, O’Neal has posted career averages of 24.1 points, 11.0 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game. He also has appeared in 214 career playoff games with averages of 24.5 points, 11.7 rebounds and 2.1 blocks. O’Neal is the fifth leading scorer in NBA history (28,255 points) and is 14th in NBA history in total rebounds (12,921).

Lakers add Chuck Person to 2010-11 coaching staff

With the return of head coach Phil Jackson for the 2010-11 season, the Los Angeles Lakers have retained Jim Cleamons, Frank Hamblen and Brian Shaw as assistant coaches while adding Chuck Person to the staff, it was announced today by Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak.

Person, who assisted the Lakers coaches and Jackson during their championship run last season, spent the previous four seasons as an assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings (2007-09) and Indiana Pacers (2005-07). Prior to that, he served two seasons as a special assistant to the CEO/president of basketball operations for Indiana, working with Pacers and Indiana Fever (WNBA) players, both on and off the court. Additionally, he spent one season with the Cleveland Cavaliers before joining the Pacers’ coaching staff.

An alumnus of Auburn University who concluded his collegiate basketball career as the Tigers’ all-time leading scorer, Person has been in the NBA for 25 years; 13 as a player and the last 12 in the front office or coaching.

A first round selection (fourth overall) by the Pacers in the 1986 NBA Draft, he averaged 18.8 points and 8.3 rebounds in his first season and was named NBA Rookie of the Year. He spent six seasons with Indiana and ranks 10th on the team’s all-time scoring list with 9,096 points. He recorded 34 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists against New York on Feb. 20, 1986, becoming the first Pacers rookie in franchise history to record a triple-double. Person also played for Minnesota, San Antonio, Charlotte and Seattle over his 13-year NBA career. His career averages include 14.7 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.

Andrew Bynum has right knee surgery

Los Angeles Lakers center Andrew Bynum underwent successful arthroscopic surgery to repair a tear of the lateral meniscus in his right knee, it was announced today.

The surgery was performed in New York by Dr. David Altchek.

Bynum, who suffered the tear in Game 6 of the Lakers’ First Round series with Oklahoma City, started each of the team’s 23 postseason games despite the injury, averaging 8.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.57 blocks in 24.4 minutes.

In 65 regular season contests, Bynum averaged a career-best 15.0 points on .570 shooting from the field, 8.3 rebounds and 1.45 blocks in 30.4 minutes.

Bynum is expected to be available on a limited basis at the start of training camp and make a full recovery by the start of the regular season.

If you can`t intimidate Kobe, join him

Janis Carr of the Orange County Register reports:

Ron Artest messed with Kobe Bryant during a game and a year later he found himself playing alongside the Lakers star.

Now, Matt Barnes, the Orlando guard who tried to intimidate Bryant by shoving a ball in his face and generally got under his skin during a loss to Orlando last season, has joined the Lakers. What’s up with that?

In both cases, the players came at Kobe’s urging, because he wanted them on his side.

“He said, ‘Anyone crazy enough to mess with me is crazy enough to play with me,’ ” Barnes said with a laugh Tuesday.