Los Angeles Lakers Blog – Page 76 – NBA Blog

Metta World Peace clears up police-related conflict

Los Angeles Lakers forward Metta World Peace put on his Cookie Monster pajamas and came to the rescue of his nephew and brother who had been detained by police outside his condo complex earlier this week, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Unknown to World Peace, three men working for his Artest Media Group were shooting a scene about life on the streets and were staging a shootout with fake guns when the police showed up.

“I’m in my underwear, and my son says, ‘Hey Dad, there’s police at the door,'” World Peace told the Times on Wednesday. “So I jump out. I’m nervous. I see these police with rifles and scopes. I’m like, ‘What happened?’ I don’t know what’s going on at this point. ‘What happened, what happened?’ And then the police was like, ‘The building is being taken over by guys downstairs.'”

World Peace’s nephew and younger brother Isaiah had already tried to straighten out the situation but weren’t carrying identification, so they were detained by police. The men asked officers to verify their story with World Peace.

— Reported by ESPN Los Angeles

Dwight Howard looks more like himself in Lakers win over Boston

The recent All-Star break afforded him a rare amount of rest for his sore body stemmed from 10-month-old back surgery and an aggravated labrum in his right shoulder. That four-day stretch also coincided with Howard working with the Lakers’ training staff on various conditioning drills to improve his explosiveness and timing.

“It’s been tough because of the injuries,” Howard said. “But we’re just going to try to bust it out. I’m going to try to get into the best shape I can. The better shape I’m in, the more active I can be.”

But it’s not just about effort. It’s about execution.

The Lakers spent plenty of time during Tuesday’s practice ironing out how Nash and Howard would play the pick-and-roll. Nash often lamented the lack of time together. Howard often griped about how they couldn’t read the opposing team’s defenses. The Lakers’ coaches wished Howard would show a stronger effort and will to overcome such variables.

— Reported by Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Times (Blog)

Lakers GM again declares team is not trading Dwight Howard

Despite all that has gone wrong in Dwight Howard’s first season with the Los Angeles Lakers, general manager Mitch Kupchak says the team is still hitching its wagon to the All-Star center.

“Dwight is our future,” Kupchak told “The Herd with Colin Cowherd” on ESPN Radio on Wednesday. “Kobe [Bryant] has one more year on his deal [this year, plus one]. That’s all I can bank on or this organization can bank on. I have no idea if he wants to continue to play beyond next year. As of now, we’re looking at a two-year window, [and that] plays to the urgency of the situation and how we build the team. … This team’s window to win is this year and next year.”

Kupchak reiterated his public stance that the 27-year old Howard is off the market with the NBA trade deadline looming Thursday at 3 p.m. ET.

“We’ve been very consistent,” Kupchak said. “We’re not trading Dwight Howard. … He will not be traded and there’s nothing that anybody can do today to call me today and ask me, ‘Would you do this?’ and get a positive result.”

Kupchak called Howard the best center in the league and expressed how difficult it is to acquire talent like that, especially with the restrictions in place since the league’s new collective bargaining agreement was ratified.

— Reported by Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles

Kobe Bryant reflects on Dr. Jerry Buss

Kobe Bryant quotes on the late Jerry Buss

Q: On the impact Dr. Buss had on him and if he finds it ironic the Lakers will be facing the team he most wanted to beat the most on Wednesday (Boston):

Bryant: Yeah, I do. To me, personally, he obviously believed in me since Day 1 being a 17-year-old kid to where I am now. His competitive spirit, his vision where this organization should be and how it should go beyond basketball with the global outreach that he had on his mind. We talked quite a bit about that and we talked about the old times. He’s obviously had a profound impact on me, to say the least.

Q: On Dr. Buss having an influence in him staying with the Lakers:

Bryant: Of course. I think in 2007 was really the big one. I had to make a choice and believing in him, which wasn’t very hard to do once I took a step back and see everything that he accomplished. I had a chance to sit down with him and we talked about what his vision was and his vision for rebuilding this team and rebuilding this team quickly. It was easy for me because I was a Lakers fan growing up, so I saw how many championships he’d been able to win and see how many times he was able to rebuild. It was a pretty easy call for me.

Q: On his talk with Dr. Buss about rebuilding the team:

Bryant: He went into a little bit of the salary cap, free agents and all this other stuff, which, his memory was pretty remarkable in terms of what he was able to remember, the space he had available, who was available and how he was going to put it all together. When somebody has that kind of detail, it’s pretty easy to roll with.

Q: On if he’s concerned about the future of the organization:

Bryant: It’s tough. It’s tough to follow in those shoes. I think the important thing to do is to take the lessons he’s taught – and I’m sure there are many – and things that they’ve learned from him, and try to carry it on to the future.

— Reported by Trevor Wong of the Lakers.com Blog

Pau Gasol optimistic he can return before the season ends

Pau Gasol slowly but surely made his way to the interview table.

That’s because he’s used crutches ever since tearing the plantar fascia of his right foot during the Lakers’ win two weeks ago against Brooklyn, an injury that will keep him out for at least an additional four to six weeks.

Such a timetable means Gasol could return as early as March 22 when the Lakers host the Washington Wizards at Staples Center. At that point, the Lakers would have 13 games remaining on their schedule.

How optimistic does Gasol feel that he could return before the season ends?

“I hope,” Gasol said. “It’s a thing you take one day at a time and you go with the symptoms and see how well they go and quick the body is able to heal with a simple injury. It varies from different individuals.”

— Reported by Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News (Blog)

Kobe Bryant nixed trade to Pistons in 2007

Kobe Bryant a Piston?

It could’ve happened before the 2007-08 season, if Bryant would’ve waived his no-trade clause, according to a report by Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski.

The Pistons and Lakers agreed in principle on a deal but Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss, who passed away early Monday, and Bryant, who wanted out of Los Angeles but Detroit wasn’t one of his preferred destinations, passed.

A source confirmed the Pistons and Lakers agreed on a deal, which most likely included Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Amir Johnson and a future first-round pick for Bryant, who wound up being the 2007-08 MVP.

Another league source said former Piston Grant Hill, who was a free agent that summer as a member of the Orlando Magic, would’ve likely returned to the Pistons to fill Prince’s void at small forward.

— Reported by Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News

Jeff Van Gundy thinks Dwight Howard had it good in Orlando

If Dwight Howard knew then what he knows now, he would probably still be with the Orlando Magic.

Or so says ESPN and ABC analyst Jeff Van Gundy, who says Howard’s struggles with the dysfunctional Los Angles Lakers probably makes him pine for his glory days in Orlando.

“I think he thought he wanted a big market, but I think what he’s realizing is that he needs a smaller environment where the fans and media overlook whatever weaknesses he has,” Jeff said on our Open Mike radio show. “He had it great in Orlando, and I think only after you leave do you realize just how good you had it. Unfortunately, you can’t go back home again.

“Those years in Orlando, you could have made the case that no one was more valuable to a team than Dwight Howard was to the Magic. That guy could have been the MVP a couple of times and should have gotten stronger consideration for what he accomplished. For whatever reason, I think he’s lost his way.”

— By Mike Bianchi, columnist for the Orlando Sentinel

Lakers GM denies Dwight Howard for Rajon Rondo trade talks

Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak denied a CBSSports.com report that the Lakers and Celtics were in preliminary talks to trade Dwight Howard for Rajon Rondo.

“I haven’t talked to Danny Ainge in weeks,” Kupchak told ESPN The Magazine’s Chris Broussard. “I made the statement a week or two ago that we’re not going to trade Dwight Howard and that hasn’t changed.”

When asked if a possible Howard-for-Rondo trade was discussed when he spoke to the Celtics weeks ago, Kupchak again said no. He said at no point this season has a Howard-for-Rondo trade been discussed.

— Reported by ESPN.com

Clippers rout Lakers 125-101, clinch season series

The Los Angeles Clippers have no banners on the walls or in the rafters at Staples Center. They would need decades to measure up to the Lakers’ history.

And they don’t care. The past is easy to overlook in Hollywood. The present belongs to Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and the Clippers, who are running Staples Center with style this season.

Paul had 24 points and 13 assists, Griffin scored 18 of his 22 points in a spectacular first quarter and the Clippers cemented their supremacy in Los Angeles with a 125-101 victory over the Lakers on Thursday night.

Chauncey Billups hit five 3-pointers while scoring 21 points for the Clippers, who never trailed as they roared into the All-Star break by clinching the season series in their city rivalry for the first time in 20 years. The Clippers have won the Staples Center co-tenants’ first three games of the season, with Los Angeles’ longtime underdogs burying the 16-time champions in this latest meeting under a wave of 16 3-pointers…

Caron Butler had 13 points and eight rebounds for the Clippers, who lead Golden State by seven games atop the Pacific Division standings. The win was their fourth straight in an impressive five-night stretch heading into what could be a memorable All-Star game for Los Angeles’ teams, which are contributing four of the West’s five starters this weekend in Houston…

Kobe Bryant had 20 points and 11 assists for the Lakers, who head to the break in 10th place in the Western Conference, four games below .500 with little reason to suspect things will get a whole lot better – particularly without Pau Gasol, who’s likely out until April with the latest in their series of serious injuries…

The Clippers lost Lamar Odom in the second quarter when the longtime Lakers big man got poked in the left eye. … The Lakers’ Jodie Meeks converted a four-point play late in the third quarter.

— Reported by Greg Beacham of the Associated Press

Dwight Howard to work on conditioning during All-Star weekend

In theory, NBA All-Star weekend will give plenty of Lakers time to clear their minds and rest their dinged up bodies.

But not Dwight Howard, and the reasons go beyond his plan to participate in what will be his eighth All-Star appearance despite having a aggravated right shoulder and a surgically repaired back.

“Our team trainers are going to come and we’re going to get a lot of work in while I’m there,” Howard said. “I’m trying to get into better shape. That’s my main goal. All the stuff I’ll be doing, I’ll do just to make sure I get into better shape.”

— Reported by Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News (Blog)