Category: Los Angeles Lakers Blog

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Baron Davis tells InsideHoops how great Kobe and LeBron are

I was with Baron Davis in Miami after Friday’s Warriors-Heat game for an exclusive InsideHoops mini-interview, and here’s part of what was said:

InsideHoops.com: What’s the official Baron Davis vote for the league’s MVP? Other than you or anyone on your team, of course.

Baron Davis: LeBron and Kobe. I mean, Kobe and LeBron, in that order. Kobe and LeBron… you talk about the most valuable players. That’s how I look at it.

InsideHoops.com: How about LeBron’s game the other day? Insane; 50 points, 8 assists, 10 rebounds.

Baron Davis: Yeah. He’s a monster. He makes monster music. He’s a monster. He’s a beast and he’s only 23, so imagine what he’s going to be when he hits his prime.

The rest of the mini-interview is here.

LeBron, Kobe win Players of Month

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James and the Los Angeles  Lakers’  Kobe  Bryant  today  were  named  the Eastern and Western Conference  Players  of the Month for games played in February.

James,  who wins the award for the second consecutive month, led the league in  scoring  in February, averaging 30.2 points and adding 8.9 rebounds and an  Eastern  Conference-best  8.5  assists. Cleveland was   8-6 mark on the month  as  James became the first player since Magic Johnson (1988) to post triple-doubles on consecutive days twice in the same season (Feb. 19-20 and Nov.  24-25).  James became the youngest player to reach 10,000 points with his 19th point at Boston on Feb. 27

Bryant  led the Lakers to a 13-2 mark, averaging team highs in points (27.2 ppg),  assists  (5.9 apg) and steals (2.07 spg). Bryant, who shot .507 from the  field,  scored  at  least 30 points on eight occasions and netted more than 40 points twice.

Other  nominees for Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were Detroit’s  Chauncey  Billups,  Golden  State’s  Monta  Ellis, Houston Tracy McGrady, the Los Angeles Clippers’ Corey Maggette, Orlando’s Dwight Howard, Philadelphia’s Andre Miller and San Antonio’s Manu Ginobili.

Brandon Roy out Tue and Wed

Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy did not accompany the team to Los Angeles, and will sit out Tuesday’s game at the L.A. Lakers and Wednesday’s game at the L.A. Clippers with a right ankle sprain.

The injury, which originally occurred Feb. 13 at Dallas, was aggravated during Sunday’s game vs. Boston. Roy left the Celtics game in the third quarter and did not return.

He is listed as day-to-day for Friday’s home game vs. the Lakers.

Lakers recall Coby Karl from D-League

The Los Angeles Lakers have recalled guard Coby Karl from the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA Development League, it was announced today.

Karl, who became the 11th NBA player assigned to a D-League affiliate earlier this season on November 28, was re-assigned to the D-Fenders February 14.

During his first assignment, Karl played in 10 games with the D-Fenders from November 29 – December 22, averaging 18.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 38.4 minutes while shooting .435 from three-point range and .492 from the field.

In three games during his second stint with the D-Fenders from February 14 – February 19, Karl averaged 14.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists in 37.2 minutes.

In 13 total games with the D-Fenders this season, Karl is averaging 17.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.7 assists in 38.1 minutes.

Should Karl play in tonight’s game versus Atlanta, he would join Lakers second-year guard Jordan Famar as the only other player in league history to see action in same-day D-League and NBA games.  Farmar, who first did so on April 1, 2007 by playing in the D-Fender’s 2:30 pm contest versus Anaheim and then logging time in the Lakers 7:30 pm game versus Sacramento, also played in D-League/NBA double-headers April 3 and April 12, 2007.

Signed by the Lakers as an undrafted rookie free agent on July 30, 2007, Karl has appeared in 11 games this season, averaging 1.3 points and 0.9 rebounds in 3.7 minutes.

Last season, the 6’5” guard averaged 14.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.0 assists as a senior at Boise State and was named First Team All-WAC.  Karl, who left Boise State as the all-time leader in games played (127) and three-point field goals made (266), ranks third on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,698 career points.

San Antonio wins Shooting Stars competition

Team San Antonio, with Tim Duncan, David Robinson and Becky Hammon, won the 2008 NBA All-Star Weekend Shooting Stars competition Saturday night. After the team got through the regular shots, Tim Duncan quickly hit the half-court shot.

The other team in the Shooting Stars second and final round was Team Chicago, with Chris Duhon, Candice Dupree and B.J. Armstrong. They did well with the regular shots and easily could have won, but took forever to hit the half-court shot, losing it for that reason.

Team Los Angeles wasn’t too hot. And Team Phoenix had potential, but Eddie Johnson struggled.

Report: Kobe wants out of All-Star

The New York Post (Marc Berman) reports: Kobe Bryant has said he doesn’t want to play in tomorrow’s All-Star Game because of a pinkie injury, but likely will be forced to make a cameo, according to a league source. An NBA rule says a player can’t skip the All-Star Game if he plays the game before and the game after. That would subject him to a suspension. “I’m not going to play,” Bryant said. “The important thing is for me to get as healthy as I possibly can within the rules of the NBA and get ready for Tuesday.” The Lakers and league officials have been in negotiations for two days to figure out how to handle this. Having Bryant miss the game entirely would be a massive blow to the event, as he’s the leading candidate for MVP this season and the league’s most electrifying and best-known player.

Kobe interview about his injury

Friday afternoon Kobe Bryant talked about his injury. Here’s a bit of what he said:

Q: Kobe, can you tell us how your finger is and your injury?

Kobe Bryant: It’s sore. Just trying to rest it. Doing what we can to try to get it as healthy as we can for the second half of the season.

Q: So you were offered surgery as an option, and didn’t like it?

Bryant: Well, no, that’s bad timing. I’ve been playing with it, so it’s kind of routine to do that. But we have a great medical staff and we’ll stay on top of it.

Q: Can you protect it more than you did at Minnesota?

Bryant: You’ve just got to be careful. It’s tough though. Especially when you’re rebounding, offensive rebounds. It’s always tough. But what more can I do? It’s torn anyway.

Read the full interview here.

Kobe hounded by ‘reporter’ at All-Star about voicemail

At Friday’s media avilability at 2008 NBA All-Star Weekend, a stack of reporters were interviewing Kobe Bryant, but one in particular who I won’t identify kept interrupting valid questions to try to ask Kobe if he would record a voicemail message for him. It was ridiculous, listening to real reporters ask Bryant about his injured finger and about All-Star in general, only to have one fringe reporter keep busting in asking Kobe things like “Will you record a voicemail message for me on my phone?”

Now, sure, that stuff could be entertaining, and there’s a time and a place for that, but people wanted to know the latest on if Kobe was definitely playing, and if the NBA world will be without him in the event he does decide to have surgery.

Anyway, Kobe said that as of today he does still plan on trying to play through the injury and avoid having surgery during the season.

Dirk replaces Kobe in 3-Point Shootout

Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki will replace Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant (dislocated pinkie finger, right hand) in the 2008 NBA Three-Point Shootout, to be held on NBA All-Star Saturday Night, Feb. 16, at New Orleans Arena.

Nowitzki, who won the Three-Point Shootout in 2006 at All-Star in Houston, will compete in the event for the fifth time. He also competed in 2000, 2001, and 2007.

Although he is unable to participate in the Three-Point Shootout with the injury, Bryant will play in Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game.

The Three-Point Shootout will be televised live nationally as part of the NBA All-Star Saturday Night, which will also feature the Shooting Stars, Slam Dunk and Skills Challenge. TNT and ESPN Radio’s national coverage will begin at 8 p.m. ET from New Orleans Arena. The NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, Feb. 17, will air live on TNT, ESPN Radio and in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.