The Orange County Register (Kevin Ding) reports: The reason Lamar Odom writes those names on his sneakers before every game is to remember his dearly departed: his mother when he was 12, his grandmother when he was 20, his infant son when he was 26. He’s making ’em proud now. If the message is that he remembers all that they gave before their time came, Odom is right on it. Odom is seizing his days now and filling them with admirable personal development. Even though this is the year he will turn 30, Odom is showing that you don’t have to be as young as Andrew Bynum to make substantial upgrades in your game. Odom is rebounding like crazy, for sure, and he’s got a dreamy eye on a 30-rebound game before the season’s done.
Category: Los Angeles Lakers Blog
Lakers blog – Los Angeles Lakers blog
Odom shines, Lakers beat Wolves 111-108
The AP reports: Lamar Odom had 25 points and 14 rebounds, and Kobe Bryant scored 28 to move past Elgin Baylor into 20th place on the NBA’s career scoring list in the Lakers’ 111-108 victory Sunday night. Pau Gasol added 25 points for the team with the league’s best record, which is 9-1 since Bynum went down with a torn MCL in his right knee on Jan. 31… Ryan Gomes had 20 points and seven rebounds and Craig Smith scored 19 on 9-for-10 shooting for the Timberwolves, who are 1-4 without Jefferson and have lost six straight home games… Bryant also had seven assists and six rebounds.
Lakers score 39 in 4th quarter, beat Warriors 129-121
The AP reports: Kobe Bryant scored 30 points, Pau Gasol added 24 points and 13 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers roared from behind in the final 5 minutes for their 13th victory in 15 games, 129-121 over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night.
InsideHoops.com notes: The Lakers had 33 free throw attempts, hitting 28, while the Warriors had 19 attempts, connecting on 17. As a team the Lakers had a slight edge in rebounds and assists.
For the Warriors, Corey Maggette, coming off the bench as usual, shot 10-of-16 for 24 points and 4 assists. Stephen Jackson scored 24 but on just 10-of-24 shooting. He also had 6 assists, 9 assists and 2 blocks, but 6 turnovers. Jamal Crawford scored 23 and only needed 10 shots to do it. Monta Ellis had 15 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. A nice story for the Warriors is Anthony Randolph, who started at power forward and shot 7-of-13 for 14 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocks.
Lakers trade Chris Mihm to Grizzlies
The Los Angeles Lakers have traded center Chris Mihm to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for a conditional 2nd round pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, it was announced today by General Manager Mitch Kupchak.
Mihm, currently in his 5th season with the Lakers, is averaging 2.0 points, 1.9 rebounds and 5.8 minutes in 18 games this year. His best campaign came in the 2005-06 season, when he averaged 10.2 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.
“The last two years have been difficult and frustrating for Chris in coming back from his ankle injury,” said Kupchak. “But Chris has handled himself with true professionalism the entire time. With the depth of our roster, especially at the center position, Chris has not had the opportunity to play that he deserves. At this point in his career, and especially as someone who will be a free agent this summer, we felt it was in his best interests to go to a team that would give him a chance to play. Chris has made significant contributions to our team over the past five years. We’d like to thank him and wish him the best of luck for the remainder of his career.”
Gasol’s triple-double leads Lakers past Hawks
The AP reports: Having owned the Western Conference’s top spot through the first half, the Lakers got started on maintaining their status with a 96-83 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night… Pau Gasol had 12 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists for his third career triple- double, and Lamar Odom had 15 points and 20 rebounds, Derek Fisher scored 14 points, and Trevor Ariza and Jordan Farmar added 10 points each for the Lakers. With his teammates carrying the load, Kobe Bryant scored a season-low 10 points… All-Star Joe Johnson scored 14 points and Josh Smith added 13 for the Hawks, who had their three-game road winning streak end on the first night of their five-game West Coast trip.
Andrew Bynum out 6-10 more weeks
The Los Angeles Times (Mike Bresnahan and Broderick Turner ) reports: Andrew Bynum is expected to be sidelined six to 10 more weeks because of a torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee, which keeps Gasol and Odom in the forefront of every discussion if the Lakers want to stay ahead of the Celtics and Cavaliers. Since Bynum went down seven games ago, Gasol and Odom have stepped up their production. Both have played at a high level with Bynum out, increasing their scoring, rebounding and minutes. Jackson was asked whether the Lakers needed Gasol and Odom to sustain their pace. “Yeah,” Jackson said. “It takes the load off Kobe scoring.”
NBA to borrow $175 million
The Sports Business Journal (Daniel Kaplan and John Lombardo) reports: The NBA is set to borrow $175 million Feb. 26, marking one of the first league financings since the implosion of the credit markets last fall. The money, which will be available to 15 teams, supplements an existing $1.7 billion leaguewide credit facility that uses the NBA’s media contracts as collateral to secure loans for the clubs. The NBA surveyed its teams, and 15 responded they would like to tap into the new borrowing. While the league said it is pleased to borrow in an extremely illiquid credit market, the deal came at a cost, with interest rates up to 8.27 percent, hammering home the notion that the era of cheap money in sports is over. The 15 teams can use the money for any purpose, but covering operating losses may be high on the list.
InsideHoops.com editor says: Loan me three fiddy. I want some ribs.
Shaq would happily join Knicks
The New York Daily News (via blog) reports: From what I gather from people close to Shaquille O’Neal is that the Suns center would welcome a trade to the Knicks if such a deal could be worked out. Shaq’s contract – he’ll earn $20 million next year in the final season of his deal – fits into the Knicks’ free agent plans for 2010… But with Eddy Curry not expected to be much help this season, the Knicks are looking to make a move for a big man. The Sacramento Bee reported today that Brad Miller, who Donnie Walsh once had in Indiana, remains on the Knicks’ radar.
Shaq Jabbawockeez dance at 2009 All-Star game introduction
Shaq sentimental about possible last All-Star game
The Boston Globe (Marc J. Spears) reports: Suns center Shaquille O’Neal is sentimental about playing in tonight’s All-Star Game since he knows it could be his last. “I’m soaking it in,” O’Neal said. “I’m getting real happy about knowing it’s all about to end. I remember when I was [young], I looked at people and said I wanted to do this. When it’s all said and done, I’ll be able to say I’m in the top five in scoring, not bad, the top 10 in blocks, not bad, four different teams, not bad, hell of a player, everybody liked him, not bad. I was able to accomplish more than I wanted to accomplish.” O’Neal will be reunited with Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant on the West team tonight. They won three titles together with the Lakers, but after several verbal battles with Bryant, O’Neal was dealt to Miami in the summer of 2004. “To us, it’s really not that big of a story,” Bryant said. “I’m not revisiting that. It wasn’t a fun time for me, so I’m not about to revisit it.”