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The Los Angeles Lakers have sent the draft rights to second round selection (42nd overall) Patrick Beverley to the Miami Heat in exchange for a 2011 second round draft pick and cash considerations, it was announced today.
Entering the 2009 NBA Draft, the Lakers held the 29th overall selection in the first round as well as two additional second round picks (42nd and 59th overall).
The New York Knickerbockers have acquired the draft rights to Toney Douglas from the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for a 2011 second-round draft choice and cash considerations. The forward was selected as the 29th overall selection in the 2009 NBA Draft.
Douglas, 6-1, 225-pounds, averaged 21.5 points for Florida State University in his senior year and was the runner-up as the ACC Player of the Year. The Tampa. FL-native was an All-ACC First Team selection and the ACC Defensive Player of the Year.
The San Francisco Chronicle (Scott Ostler) reports: Jerry West’s fingerprints are all over this shiny championship trophy, just like they’re all over the other nine. West hired Phil Jackson as Lakers coach. In ’96, West traded for just-drafted Kobe Bryant, a high school kid bypassed by 12 teams, including the Warriors. West has remained Bryant’s friend, confidant and adviser through some very hard times for Kobe, personally and professionally. It’s possible Bryant would have left the Lakers had it not been for West’s voice-of-reason counsel and friendship. The Lakers got Pau Gasol from the Grizzlies in ’08. West was the Memphis general manager from 2002 to ’07, and I know he has enormous respect for Gasol. You can bet that before that trade went down, West filled Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak’s ear about Gasol.
Economic conditions in Los Angeles, California and the country and world in general won’t prevent fans of the Lakers from getting to enjoy a championship parade. The Los Angeles Times (Julie Cart) reports:
In the end, the team and city will split the cost — each kicking in about $1 million for the festivities, which for the first time includes the significant expense of renting the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The city will pay for police, transportation and general staff, said Mark Szabo, spokesman for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. The mayor said Sunday that it was “untenable” not to have a parade, even though city officials had been meeting behind closed doors to find hundreds of millions of dollars in budget cuts.
The AP (Christopher Weber) reports: Hundreds celebrated in the streets outside Staples Center after the Los Angeles Lakers’ NBA title win Sunday night, with some revelers damaging police cruisers, throwing rocks and bottles at officers and setting bonfires in the street, authorities said. About 25 people were arrested, most part of a rowdy crowd that split off on to surrounding streets after police declared the gathering an unlawful assembly, officer Karen Rayner said. Several police cruisers were damaged and reinforcement officers were called in from throughout the city to help disperse the crowd, Rayner said. Aerial television footage showed people jumping on a police car, rocking vehicles attempting to pass through the crowd, setting small trees on fire and throwing fireworks and flares set up by police. No injuries were reported. A gas station was looted and several cars, buses and a news van were vandalized, police said.
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The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Orlando Magic 99-86 in Game 5 of the NBA Finals to win the 2008-09 NBA championship, the franchise’s 15th title.
Kobe Bryant led the way for Los Angeles, shooting 10-of-23 for 30 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 4 blocks.
Lamar Odom (5-of-12) had 17 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. Trevor Ariza added 15 points and 2 steals, Pau Gasol (6-of-9) had 14 points, 15 rebounds and 4 blocks, and Derek Fisher scored 13.
The Magic led by two after the first quarter, but the Lakers went on a huge run and won the second quarter 30-18. And the Magic scored just 15 points in the third quarter.
Orlando shot just 41.5% from the field and were an awful 8-of-27 from three-point range. And they hit a mere 10-of-16 free throws.
The Lakers won the rebounding battle, 47-36. They had 13 offensive rebounds, including 4 each from Gasol and Andrew Bynum. The team dished just 13 assists.
No one stepped up for the Magic. All five starters had double-digit points, and two players had 10 rebounds, but no one shined. Rashard Lewis led his team with 18 points (on 19 shots), 10 rebounds and 4 assists. Hedo Turkoglu, Rafer Alston and Courtney Lee each scored 12. Dwight Howard was very quiet with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks.
The 2009 NBA Finals MVP award was given to Bryant, who enjoys his 4th championship.
Lakers coach Phil Jackson now has 10 NBA titles as head coach, the most of any coach in league history.
Los Angeles Lakers head coach Phil Jackson has been fined $25,000 for criticizing game officials, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations. The Lakers were also fined $25,000 for their coach’s comments.
Jackson and the Lakers have been fined for his comments made on camera between the 1st and 2nd periods during Game 4 of The Finals.
The AP reports: Derek Fisher hit two key 3-pointers—one with 4.6 seconds left in regulation, the other with 31.3 seconds to go in overtime—as the Los Angeles Lakers moved within one win of their 15th championship by beating the Orlando Magic 99-91 on Thursday night to open a 3-1 series lead. The 34-year-old Fisher, in his second stint with the Lakers after stops in Golden State and Utah, was best known for his turnaround fling with 0.4 seconds left in the 2004 playoffs against San Antonio. He’s got two more shots that rank right with it… Dwight Howard was magnificent everywhere but at the free-throw line. He scored 16 points with 21 rebounds and a finals-record nine blocks. But he made just 6 of 14 foul shots, and it was his two crucial misses with 11.1 seconds to go in regulation that doomed the Magic… Trevor Ariza and Pau Gasol each had 16 for Los Angeles. Ariza, traded by Orlando to L.A. in 2007, had 13 of the Lakers’ 30 points in the third quarter.
The AP reports: Making easy shots and tough ones from everywhere, the Magic won their first game in two visits to the NBA finals as Dwight Howard and Rashard Lewis scored 21 points apiece in a 108-104 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3 on Tuesday night to pull within 2-1. Orlando shot a finals record 63 percent—including another record 75 percent in the first half—to snap a six-game finals losing streak and avoid falling into an 0-3 hole that 88 previous teams in postseason history have been unable to escape… Kobe Bryant, seeking a fourth title and his first since 2002, scored 31 points for the Lakers but the superstar had just 10 points in the second half and went only 4 of 15 from the field after the first quarter. He also missed five free throws, points that could have given the Lakers that 3-0 lead… Rafer Alston, who was just 3 of 17 from the field in the first two games, had 20 and Hedo Turkoglu and Mickael Pietrus 18 each… Pau Gasol scored 23 points but had just three rebounds and the Lakers were only 16 of 26 from the line.
The AP reports: Orlando rookie Courtney Lee missed a potential winning layup as regulation ended, giving Los Angeles another shot it didn’t waste. Pau Gasol scored seven points in overtime as the Lakers, so dominant in the series opener, survived with a 101-96 win over the Magic in Game 2 on Sunday night… Kobe Bryant scored 29 points, Gasol added 24 and 10 rebounds and Lamar Odom 19 points for the Lakers, who won Game 1 by 25 but needed 53 minutes to put away the Magic. Rashard Lewis scored 34—18 in the second quarter alone—and Dwight Howard had 17 points and 16 rebounds for Orlando… Bryant, who scored 40 in the opener, finished with eight assists and seven turnovers. Lewis transformed into Orlando’s version of Bryant in the second quarter, scoring 18 of the Magic’s 20 points to keep them close. The 6-foot-10 forward’s size and exceptional range make him an impossible cover, and the Lakers had no answer to stop him. With Howard unable to get open and Orlando’s other shooters still searching for their touch, Lewis carried the scoring load. He made four consecutive 3-pointers to end the half and the Magic, despite shooting just 32 percent, were within 38-35 at the break.