Category: Los Angeles Lakers Blog

The 34-year-old Lakers star addressed his retirement after practice Tuesday, saying he remained uncertain if he would play beyond his contract that expires after the 2013-14 season.

“We’ll see where it goes,” Bryant said. “It will be a lot of basketball being played.”

Bryant has logged 1,161 regular-season games and 42,377 minutes in his career. He has two years and $58.3 million remaining on his contract and probably would have to take a steep discount to return for an additional season.

What might there be left to play for at that point? One possibility would be catching or surpassing the number of championships won by Michael Jordan, who has six titles on a resume widely considered the best in NBA history.

Bryant has won five championships.

What would it take for him to come back after his contract expires?

“How the hell do I know?” Bryant said. “It’s three years from now.”

— Reported by the Los Angeles Times

“It’s very different to be in a situation where you are not in the middle of the hurricane as far as rumors, where there’s a big chance of you not being part of the team you’ve been through so much with,” Gasol said in a quiet moment Sunday before the Lakers’ exhibition opener. “With all that now aside and the addition of great players, it makes it much more enjoyable.”

Gasol didn’t have fun last season. He was shoved outside the key more often than not to make way for Andrew Bynum’s less-fluid presence down low. It was great for Bynum, not so much for Gasol. His three-year run as an All-Star ended.

“We all know how competitive and how hard it is to make the All-Star team, but we weren’t doing great as a team,” Gasol said with a sigh. “Obviously, I like to make the All-Star team every single year because I like to consider I’m one of the best players in the league and the world.”

Even the Lakers seemed to sympathize last March. “This has been a really hard, hard period for Pau,” said Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak, who was put in the awkward position of welcoming Gasol back after the Paul trade fell through. — Reported by Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times

Dwight Howard is getting closer to full clearance in his recovery from spinal surgery, taking part both Wednesday night and Thursday afternoon in some 5-on-5, limited-contact action in Lakers practice.

Howard still is not approved to advance to full-scale scrimmaging and won’t play in the exhibition opener Sunday night in Fresno against the Golden State Warriors, Lakers spokesman John Black said Thursday.

That’s in keeping with the careful rehabilitation from April 20 back surgery that the player and team agreed upon, but the Lakers don’t see much that Howard can’t do already.

“Doesn’t look like he’s hurting a bit,” Lakers forward Pau Gasol said.

— Reported by Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register

The Los Angeles Lakers have signed forward Chris Douglas-Roberts, it was announced today. We assume this is just a training camp signing.

Douglas-Roberts, a three-year NBA veteran out of the University of Memphis, was originally selected by the then-New Jersey Nets in the second  round (40th overall) of the 2008 NBA Draft. Douglas-Roberts has appeared in 155 NBA games (53 starts) for the Nets and the Milwaukee Bucks, recording career averages of 7.7 points and 2.2 rebounds in 20.6 minutes.

Most recently, the 6-7 forward spent the 2011-12 season playing for Virtus Bologna of the Italian League. In 34 games, Douglas-Roberts averaged 12.3 points and 3.0 rebounds in 27.0 minutes.

The Los Angeles Lakers have signed center Ronnie Aguilar, it was announced today. We assume this is just a training camp signing.

Aguilar, a 7-1, 250 pound center, played two seasons at Colorado State University before transferring to California State University, Dominguez Hills.  Most recently, Aguilar played in six games for the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA Development League during the 2011-12 season, averaging 2.2 points and 4.2 rebounds in 11.5 minutes.

Lakers backup power forward Jordan Hill avoided jail time and was sentenced to one year of probation Thursday after pleading no contest to assaulting his former girlfriend in February.

Hill, 25, agreed to pay a $500 fine, undergo domestic-violence counseling, make a $100 donation to the Harris County Violence Fund and avoid any contact with the alleged victim, Darlene Luna. The assault charge was reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor before 339th District Criminal Judge Maria Jackson, according to a report by the Associated Press in Houston.

On Twitter on Thursday, Hill wrote: “Man I can’t wait for training camp to start…need to get dis show rolling boy!!!!”

Hill is charged with assaulting Luna on Feb. 29 at his apartment in Houston while the former first-round draft pick was playing for the Rockets.

— Reported by Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register