Category: Los Angeles Lakers Blog

The Press-Enterprise (Jeff Eisenberg) reports: Kobe Bryant looked relaxed and rested Monday as he ambled around the Lakers practice facility during the team’s annual media day, cracking jokes with teammates and reporters and making funny faces for the armada of cameras that escorted him throughout the room. The Lakers star spoke with reporters on the eve of training camp about a litany of hard-hitting topics such as winning Olympic gold, celebrating his 30th birthday and why he’s just so gosh, darn smiley these days. “There’s just a lot to be happy about, a lot to be thankful about,” Bryant said. “We’re in a much better position than we were. That’s one thing I tell the guys — we’re the favorites for a reason. We’ve got all the tools here, all the pieces of the puzzle, and now it’s on us to make it work.”

The Press-Enterprise continues:  Bryant also took time to dispel the idea that he might opt out of his Lakers contract at the end of the season to sign with a European team for $50 million, a story originally sparked by an offhand comment he made to a reporter during the Olympics.

Lakers guard Sun Yue, who arrived in Los Angeles from China on Sunday, was taken to the emergency room of a local hospital last night after becoming ill. He has tested positive for mononucleosis, it was announced today by the team.

He is not expected to be ready to practice by Tuesday when the Lakers open training camp and will be out indefinitely. His condition will be monitored on a regular basis.

InsideHoops.com editor says: I hope he didn’t catch mono from kissing random Los Angeles girls. And I will immediately point out that I’m kidding and have no idea if he’s single or married or whatever, so don’t go spreading that as a rumor or something you crazy wackos.

The Los Angeles Lakers have signed free agent forward CJ Giles, it was announced today. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not released.

Giles, a 6-11 forward who finished his collegiate career at Oregon State after playing two seasons at Kansas, averaged 6.3 points and 5.6 rebounds in ten games last season for the Beavers.

InsideHoops.com editor says: The Lakers continue to sign players who were pretty unimpressive in college, or played overseas yet didn’t do particularly well and weren’t even the best player on their team, etc. It’s unusual. But this is an end-of-the-bench signing that will likely end during or right at the end of training camp so it doesn’t matter too much. At least Giles gets a chance to prove himself, even if it doesn’t lead to being signed just yet.

The Los Angeles Lakers have signed free agent guard Brandon Heath, it was announced today. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not released.

Heath, a 6-3 guard out of San Diego State spent last season playing in France for Entente Orleans 45 where he averaged 12.0 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 25 games.

Most recently, Heath played for the Los Angeles Clippers 2008 Summer-Pro League team in Las Vegas, averaging 5.6 points and 1.0 rebounds in five games played.

InsideHoops.com editor says: This is presumably a “training camp” signing, meaning there’s a 99% chance Heath will be cut before the regular season starts. Also, this continues the Laker trend of signing players most fans have never heard of.

Now we know why Kobe Bryant was taking so long to have surgery on his finger. Because he wasn’t sure about even having it. Here’s the Associated Press today:

Lakers star Kobe Bryant says Tuesday on his Web site that he plans to forgo surgery to repair ligament damage in his right pinkie finger. Bryant says on kb24.com that he opted not to have surgery after learning recovery could be 12 weeks.

Although I play a doctor on television (and play husband to multiple supermodels in real life), I’m no expert on ligament issues in fingers. But let’s consider this. The regular season starts in around 7.5 weeks. If Kobe was out 10 weeks, that’s not so bad. Missing 12 is obviously a bit worse. And, it could always take more than 12. Could the Lakers still win and hang around for a playoff spot while Kobe was out? If so, Kobe should probably have the surgery now. If not, he’s probably doing the right thing in delaying it. And then the worry is if the finger will hold up all season and through the playoffs.

Here’s what Bryant said today on his official website:

“I have always felt that I can still focus and play at a high level even through various injuries. That’s really just part of the game. When the doctors told me recovery from a procedure could be 12 weeks, I just decided now was not the time to have surgery. What it really came down to for me is that I just didn’t want to miss any time ‘punching the clock’ for the Lakers, given all we are trying to accomplish as a team this NBA season. I am just really excited and looking forward to being there with the guys when camp opens in a few weeks. That is a real bonding process and if I can avoid being on the sidelines for that, God willing, I will,” said Bryant.

I think the Lakers, featuring Pau Gasol, a healthy Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom, would do OK for a few weeks without Kobe. Not great, but they’d hang around the 6th-9th West playoff spot. So, I’m not sure Kobe is making the right move by delaying the surgery. But again, medical info about the finger will help. I’m sure articles quoting medical experts will come out today and in the next few days, and I’ll be sure to quote everything worth knowing on the NBA Rumors page.

–Jeff

Kobe Bryant needs surgery to fix ligament damage in his right pinkie finger. This has been known for a long time.

For reasons I cannot even guess, he still hasn’t had the surgery, and is instead just making announcements. First he made an announcement as to when he’ll announce what he’s doing to do about the surgery. Now he’s announced that he will have the surgery, and announced that he will announce a date, sometime soon.

What the hell is going on?

Am I missing something?

Is there a medical reason for not having the surgery as quickly as possible? If so, I haven’t seen it mentioned by anyone covering this. It’s just weird.

Training camps open in a bit over three weeks.

–Jeff

InsideHoops.com editor says: I like this dude. I think he’s got the competitive ability to help a team’s deep bench. I’ve seen him play just enough to feel he’s worth a shot. Here’s the news release:

The Los Angeles Lakers have signed guard Joe Crawford, it was announced today. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not released.

Selected by the Lakers with the 58th pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, Crawford, a 22 year-old native of Detroit, Michigan, played four seasons at the University of Kentucky, averaging 11.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 127 games (76 starts).

As a senior, Crawford ranked fourth in the SEC in scoring with a team-high 17.9 points per game, scoring 20-plus points 13 times while topping 30 points on three occasions.

Earning Second Team All-SEC honors from league coaches as a senior, Crawford finished his collegiate career as Kentucky’s 19th all-time leading scorer with 1,438 points while ranking seventh all-time in three-point field goals made (186).

Additionally, the 6’5” Crawford started all six games for the Lakers Summer League entry in Las Vegas this past July, averaging 11.3 points including .455 (5-of-11) shooting from behind the arc, 2.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 32.7 minutes.