Ronny!

Izy no Ronny Turiaf aminy. One of the most entertaining players today. Just watch this:

BUSTA RHYMES ft. LINKIN PARK - We Made It

This song is the theme of this year's NBA Conference Finals. You can see Lamar Odom, Los Angeles Lakers' forward, in the video!(2:08) YEAH!!
Check out TNT introductions of Game 1 and Game 2 of the Lakers vs Spurs series on JD2K.

LAKERS TO THE FINALS!

Ayy!! They did it man! Not only the Lakers beat the defending champs, the San Antonio Spurs, the team that defeated the Suns and the Hornets, but Kobe and his crew did it in only five games!!! Now they're heading to the NBA Finals... Unbelievable. It feels good to be the West champs, but as Kobe said after the game, "the real season starts now!"
I'm pretty confident about those Lakers right now, no matter which of Boston or Detroit they will match up against next week. Kobe won't let them waste that chance. Finish the job! GO LAKERS!!!

LAKERS BACK IN THE WEST FINALS

Ayy! Kobe and the Lakers ended the series against the Utah Jazz, in the West semifinals, with a game 6 win on the road! YEAH! Very nice game! Strong efforts by all starters.
They'll matchup against the winner of monday's game 7 between the New Orleans Hornets and the defending champs San Antonio Spurs. The Lakers crew can rest until the West Finals game 1 wednesday.
GO LAKERS!!!!

MVP! MVP! MVP!

It's official, Kobe's NBA 2008 Most Valuable Player! We won MVP guys, finally!! YEAH! PLUS, the Lakers did really good in the 1st round sweeping the Denver Nuggets, and beating Utah in Game 1 of the 2nd round. Feels good to be a Lakerfan!! We're definitely gonna win it all!

Lakers Team Photo Shoot

Radman the space cadet!

Lupe's Superstar KOBE REMIX

It's Kobe Bryant Blog Day!!!

(Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)

Let's all celebrate the Mamba... MADAGASCAR loves Kobe Bean Bryant!

Kobe Vectorized!

Lakers around the Web

Some recent talks about Kobe Bryant, the Force, the MVP award, JeBron Lames, Phil and the Coach Of The Year... Interesting.



(Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

Josh Tucker at Respect Kobe
Much has been made of LeBron James’ clutch performances this year. And rightly so. His improvement in that area has been astounding, as he has proven, game after game, that he can handle the pressure. But amidst all the buzz about James, many have forgotten about Bryant.

They’ve forgotten that Bryant has already done what James is doing, time and time again. They’ve forgotten that he’s done it at a higher level, and on a bigger stage, than James has. And they’ve forgotten that he’s been doing it for the last decade.

Until now.

Now they realize that it wasn’t that Bryant had lost his edge, and it wasn’t that LeBron had surpassed him. It was simply that, by leading his team to more blowout wins than any other team in the league save Boston (both LA and Boston have won 29 games by 10 points or more), he hasn’t needed to do this very often this year.

For Bryant, any personal achievements are meaningless — winning is all that matters. But for everyone watching, this was a reminder: Kobe Bryant is still the most clutch player alive.


JTbatahk at Respect Kobe (comment #2)
Lebron supporters think of him as some good guy, saint-like character, and pin their hatred for Kobe purely for issues of character, whether they believe they are or not.

However, Bron-bron ain’t no saint whatsoever. Comments from people that have met him aside, he is no different from Kobe, possibly much worse. It is a very rare exception for the wealthy and celebrated to be free of arrogance. It is practically a given that they are. Yet Nike, and Bron fans, try to portray him as a humble, basketball loving individual that actually cares when his goal-in-life, in his own words, is "I want to be the first billionaire athelete."

His many actions since he entered the league completely support the premise that he is every bit as pompous and arrogant as any celebrity, and as much of a "poor teammate" as people portray Kobe to be:

- His celebrated, over-the-top pre-game hand powder routine
- Calling out his Cavs team while playing for Team USA (a topic you touched upon)
- Sitting away from the team huddle in a recent loss
- Last year, leaving the court for the locker room, WHILE the game was STILL BEING PLAYED, in the last seconds of a close loss. This was heavily critisized by Barkley, Miller, Magic, AND his Airness for the lack of class, but was quickly swept under the table by ESPN and other sport news outlets.
- Avoiding, and basically refusing, to shake the hands with the Pistons’ players in last year’s conference finals

These are just some rarely reported tidbits that go to show LeBron is JUST AS MUCH, if not MORE SO, an egotistical person than Kobe. Yet Kobe gets knocked for his drive to want to be the best, while LeBron is celebrated for it. And the media just plays right into it.

Hollinger is a prime example. Everyone should read his comments on his latest chat.

He states that LBJ is, by far and away, the best player in the league, and deserves the MVP this year.

A fan then suggested that this year’s Cavs were the Lakeshow of the previous 2 seasons, a great player with scrubs, which Hollinger agreed with. Someone then popped the question; if he had voted for Kobe in ‘06 (35-6-6, 62 in 3 and 81 pt season). He said he voted for LeBron, even in a year when Kobe dominated statistically. Last year, he voted for Dirk, and we all know where that lead.


David Neiman at Sports HubLA
If you’re going to make a case for LeBron James, focus on LeBron James and his virtues. Emphasize why he is the league’s most valuable player. Why bother trying to disparage Kobe (or Chris Paul, for that matter) when what both are doing is amazing in its own right? It’s totally unnecessary, and more than anything, detracts from any compelling argument instead of advancing it. In fact, aside from mentioning that Kobe and Chris Paul are viable MVP candidates, there really is no other reason to mention them at all.

Take into account that LeBron has no scoring help, that he’s leading the league in scoring, is shooting 49 percent from the field, and that he’s essentially defeated some of the best teams in the West this season by himself — nearly all of which are points made by Dwyer — and you’ve got yourself an argument that stands on its own.

Is it convincing? Is anything going to convince a die-hard Bryant supporter that his guy isn’t deserving? Probably not, though I would contend that a column emphasizing what LeBron has done — rather than what Kobe has not, or has not done as well — has a lot better chance of making a Kobe Bryant fan pause, if only for a moment.

In the end, the reality is that there is no objective way to decide the MVP, regardless of what statistics you use, unless the choice is obvious. It’s an inherently subjective award. Personally, I think Kobe is deserving at this point — not because of his statistics, skills, clutch shooting and so forth, but because to me, this season really represents a quantum leap for him as a player, teammate and leader.

But if LBJ or Chris Paul won it, would I be up in arms?

Not really. The Force is strong in both of them.


Mike Bresnahan at LA Times
The Lakers are legitimate contenders in the Western Conference, with Bryant contributing across the board. He is averaging 28.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 2.0 steals after Tuesday's game. He is shooting 46.4%, his best field-goal percentage since 2001-02.

Bryant's scoring is down from his combined average of 33.5 points a game the previous two seasons, but Lakers Coach Phil Jackson stated the platform for Bryant as MVP.

"He's playing a more rounded game than perhaps the end of the last two seasons, just measuring what the team needs and how to get it done including his teammates," Jackson said. "Defensively, his game has improved a lot. He could be defensive player of the year simply on the improvement between last year and this year on his defense."

Bryant wanted to leave the Lakers last summer, though Jackson said there had been a full commitment to the team since the season began.

"His teammates were worried about him obviously," he said. "They were concerned about being left behind or being ditched, if I can use that term. But he's been totally there."

The Lakers started out 9-8, but have turned it up since then. Bryant has had the league's highest-scoring individual effort this season with a 52-point outburst Sunday in the Lakers' 108-104 overtime victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

"His game has improved as he's gone through the season," Jackson said. "His involvement with his teammates -- you can see them playing off of him and [see] his appropriate movements through a ballgame, whether it's scoring or passing, whatever he needs to do to help win a game."


Mike Bresnahan at LA Times
In the same way that Kobe Bryant gets mentioned as one of the front-runners for league most valuable player, Jackson also faces the possibility of being recognized.

The Lakers (43-18) have overcome blase expectations to rise above the Western Conference, although Jackson didn't seem to want to address his chances of winning a coaching award.

"I think the best interview usually gets coach of the year," he said wryly. "Usually it's a team that's a surprise team. Favorites aren't usually given coach of the year."

What else?

"At one point in the '80s, it was an honor of doom, because the next two years, the guy was going to get fired from his job," Jackson said.

Jackson, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame last year, was coach of the year in 1995-96, when the Chicago Bulls with Michael Jordan set an NBA record by going 72-10 on the way to another championship.

Jackson's players, though biased, would support him winning a second time.

"How many championships has he coached? For him to only win it one time and have nine championships is kind of crazy," forward Lamar Odom said. "When did he get it, when he won 72 games? It might be tough this year, know what I'm saying? It's crazy."

Why Kobe Bean Bryant is the MVP

Kobe Bryant. I didn't like him when he entered the NBA. Too cocky and too arrogant. But the kid has become a man. A champion. And now a leader. At age 29, Kobe Bryant is one of the best NBA player EVER, if not the best. I picked up three recent articles that can explain the fact better than me. It's long but worth reading even if you're not a Lakers fan. To read these articles in their entirety simply click on the links.

(Photo by Jennifer Pottheiser/NBAE via Getty Images)

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Let's Be Honest: Kobe Bryant Deserves To Be MVP

By William Smith, Bleacher Report

He plays both ends of the floor. His defense is lock-down and he's quite possibly a candidate for defensive player of the year.

If you don't believe me ask Yao Ming, Andre Kirilenko, Dwayne Wade, and countless others that Kobe's simply embarrassed with his defense this year.

In addition to his offensive and defensive production come Kobe's intangibles. "Doesn't make his teammates better?" Hogwash. This is a guy who led a team with Smush Parker as its starting point guard, a guy who doesn't even get playing time on the ailing Miami Heat now, to the playoffs in the always competitive Western Conference.

Kobe's leadership has allowed guys like Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic, Luke Walton, Andrew Bynum, and Lamar Odom to grow and strive over the past couple of years.

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He’s Beethoven Bryant… Now Hear the Music!

By Ted M. Green, SportsHubLA

You wouldn’t think a man who seems to have everything would need anything.

You wouldn’t think a man loved by millions might need a friend.

Kobe Bryant has oodles of talent, tons of money, a pretty wife, beautiful young family and the respect, if not unconditional affection, of most of his peers. So what could a man with all that possibly need?

Oh, just understanding, appreciation and, finally, an end to the hating.

Understand what, you say?

That he is the best player in the NBA by eons and quite possibly more skilled than even Michael Jordan.

Appreciation? Yup, by finally naming him MVP of the league.

And hating? That’s right, it’s time to put a merciful end to the petty envy and ugly jealousies, time to stop holding Colorado over his head, time to stop penalizing him because he’s ridiculously gifted and kinda comes across like he knows it.

The rap in the past that he didn’t make his teammates better? Bullfeathers. He passed to them. They missed. What was he supposed to do, shoot it in the basket for them?

Look at the Lakers now: If you don’t think Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic and Ronny Turiaf are all light years better than a year ago, you’re just not paying attention. Heck, playing in the backcourt with Kobe, Derek Fisher at an age (33) when lots of guys are fading, is having a career year, with all-time bests in every shooting category. Coincidence? Not hardly.

What I’m REALLY talking about is, for Kobe’s detractors, the haters, to drop the pretense and stop the posturing and just admit that as a shooter, driver, finisher and defender, as the ultimate basketball Jedi master as we speak here in the late winter of 2008, Lebron James with all his Nike marketing power and funny/cutesy Old Man commercials, can’t hold Kobe’s jock. Or gym bag.

Oh, he can hold it, all right, but only if he asks real nicely.

It is absolutely incomprehensible to me, but yet fully expected given the history of Kobe Bryant, that not one major national NBA writer, far as I know, has been smart enough, fair enough or honest enough to come out right now and say what is now startlingly obvious:

That if Bryant isn’t the MVP this year, that award needs to be put on the shelf forever, never to be dusted off again.

In the real, un-spun NBA, it’s Kobe’s world and everybody else is just living in it. And if you don’t believe me, ask the players. Trust me, they’ll tell you.

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Kobe Bryant: MVP

By Respect Kobe

Over the past two years, Kobe Bryant has done everything humanly possible to help the Lakers win — leading a team even worse than this year’s Cavs to a better record in a better conference. He has performed minor miracles on a daily basis. But despite his heroics, he was unable to lead what amounted to a D-League team to 50 or more wins.

Now, that is changing. As Bryant continues to do everything anyone has ever asked of him, and more, his Lakers are on pace for anywhere from 56 to 62 wins.

Bryant has led the Lakers past the Suns for the Pacific Division lead, currently one game behind New Orleans for the best record in the West, with the hardest part of their schedule behind them. He has the Lakers on an overall pace for 56 wins. However, since the Pau Gasol trade, the Lakers have won 7 of 8 (and 9 of their last 10) — a pace that, if maintained, could result in an astounding 62-win season. If they continue to play as they have since Gasol’s arrival — especially after the return of Bynum — the Lakers could very possibly finish the season with the best record in the West.

This removes the only remaining excuse MVP voters have had for not giving Bryant the Award: the Lakers sub-standard record of the past couple of years. He has sacrificed his personal stats for the benefit of the team — taking 7 fewer shots and scoring 7 fewer points than he did two years ago — while trusting his teammates in ways that his critics claimed he never would. Now, if the universally acclaimed best player in the world leads his team to 55 or more wins in what experts are calling the most competitive conference ever, the voters will have no remaining excuses for not giving him the MVP Award he rightly deserves.

But there’s more.Not only does Kobe have the Lakers on track for a very impressive win/loss record, but he has kept the Lakers playing .500 basketball after Andrew Bynum’s injury and before Pau Gasol’s arrival — during a time when many thought the Lakers might even fall out of the playoff race. Overall, the Lakers are 12-6 since Bynum’s injury.

Of the 5 losses suffered during the post-Bynum/pre-Gasol period, all were to teams with winning records, and four were against 4 of the top 5 teams in the NBA: Phoenix, San Antonio, Dallas, and Detroit.

These accomplishments — the Lakers overall record, and their recent record without Bynum — are even more impressive in light of the multitude of injuries the Lakers have suffered. In addition to Andrew Bynum’s 8-week absence, defensive swingman Trevor Ariza is also out for 8 weeks (now looking more like 12 or more weeks), Chris Mihm continues to struggle with injury, and Vladimir Radmonovic and Luke Walton have each missed a number of games with ankle injuries that are still not fully healed. Meanwhile, Pau Gasol did not arrive on the scene until very recently. Thus, Kobe’s ability to keep the Lakers on pace for 55+ wins despite the constant flux in the roster around him cannot be overlooked.

In addition to constant injuries to those around him, Kobe has himself been hit with food poisoning, flu, wrist injury, shoulder injury, ankle injury, upper respiratory infection, and dislocation of the pinky finger on his shooting hand — and has played through all of it, not missing a single game. Aside from the first two games following his initial pinky injury (in which he made up for poor shooting with very high assist totals), he has played excellent basketball in all of these games.

Now, having aggravated his pinky injury, he is currently playing through an injury on his shooting hand that will require surgery, with his pinky finger taped to his ring finger. He intends to do this through the rest of the season, the Playoffs, and the Summer Olympics.

The significance of this cannot be emphasized enough. This is what MVPs do. Compare this to LeBron’s lesser injury to his non-shooting hand earlier in the season: LeBron sat out six games, all of which the Cavs lost.

Were this the East, Kobe could probably afford to have the surgery, miss six weeks, and return for the Playoffs. But with 4.5 games separating the 8 playoff teams in the West, the Lakers cannot afford to play without Kobe Bryant. It could mean falling out of the Playoffs entirely.

Thus, if Kobe is able to successfully play through an injury that would result in a minimum 6-week absence for any other player, and in so doing leads the Lakers to one of the best records in the NBA, there will simply be no way for the voters to deny him any longer.

In addition, Kobe’s Lakers have the surprise factor going for them, much like Chris Paul’s Hornets. Before the season started, many thought the Lakers would be hard pressed to make the Playoffs. Many others assumed Kobe’s days as a Laker were numbered. All expected this season to be grim, tense, and full of frustration. As it turns out, none of the above has been true.

Kobe has formed closer bonds than ever with his teammates, has become a stronger leader, and the Lakers were considered one of the best teams in the West even before the Gasol trade! As such, the Lakers may be an even bigger surprise than the Hornets.

Also like Chris Paul, Kobe and the Lakers have achieved all of this in the ultra-competitive Western Conference. Again, I couldn’t possibly overstate the significance of this. Were this Lakers team in the Eastern Conference, they would likely be on pace for 65 wins — or more! The West has long been drastically better than the East, but this year it is also drastically better than previous Western Conferences. To be achieving such success at such a time as this in the Western Conference is truly impressive.

Unlike Paul, however — not to mention Garnett — Kobe has accomplished all of this without any All-Star help. Pau Gasol only recently arrived, and Andrew Bynum, while significantly improved and a dramatic upgrade over Kwame Brown, was nonetheless averaging numbers similar to Cleveland’s Zydunas Ilgauskas — 13 points and 10 rebounds — before his injury. While his potential is seemingly limitless, he is not an All-Star yet. And while these numbers are similar to Tyson Chandler’s 12 points and 12 rebounds, Bynum is not yet the defensive presence the Chandler is in the paint.

And while the Hornets’ fourth-best player is Peja Stojakovic — averaging 16.3 points per game and leading the league in 3-point shooting — the Lakers top scorer from behind the 3-point line is, in fact, Kobe Bryant himself.

As for negatives, I can think of nothing to detract from Kobe’s MVP candidacy. He does not play in the weaker East, like LeBron and Garnett. He does not have the luxury of playing along side other All-Stars, like Paul and Garnett. He has played through every type of injury and ailment imaginable, unlike any other candidate — and plans to play for the next several months with a shooting hand that needs surgery. And he is leading the Lakers to one of the best records — perhaps the best record — in the West.

Kobe shines against The Big Cactus as the Lakers top the Pacific

This was the most exciting game of the season and by far. Shaq's debut in a Suns uniform was ruined by Kobe, Pau, Lamar, Sasha and co. I'm happy to see that these newlook Lakers (minus Bynum and Ariza) can get the upper hand on a Phoenix team (plus The Big Cactus). At full strength. On the second night of a back-to-back. In Phoenix! That is impressive. We don't look that young and immature anymore, do we? O'neal had an OK game though, giving a hard time to the Lakers bigs. Ask Mbenga! They dominated on the boards. Shaq, Stoudemire and Grant Hill grabbed 9, 15 and 10 reb. Lamar had 11 for the Lakers, but Gasol only 3. So how come the Suns' biggest lead was no more than 3 small points? Well, you know, that guy who only played 3 min in the All-Star game... Kobe. He was just too much, on both ends. He dunked over 3 Suns, cleanly blocked dunk attempts by Boris Diaw and Shaq, was flawless in the fourth... Man, if this guy isn't the MVP... "He's the best player in the league," O'Neal said. "He really is. I've been saying that since I've played with him. Fabulous player." (from LA Times) Funny moment when Shaq knocked Raja Bell out of the game, HA! You guessed it. Lakers fans don't like Raja Bell. Can't wait for them to meet again, in the playoffs maybe. GO LAKERS!!!

LeBron better than Kobe? SHUDDUP!

Why you people keep on comparing lebron to kobe?

-- Yahoo! Answers

for KB24: *3-time NBA Champion: 2000, 2001, 2002 *2-time Scoring Champion: 2006, 2007 *10-time NBA All-Star: 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 *2-time NBA All-Star Game MVP: 2002, 2007 *9-time All-NBA Team *7-time All-Defensive Team *All-Star Slam Dunk Champion: 1997 *2nd most points in a Game: 81 *Youngest player to ever reach 10,000 & 20,000 career points. *Youngest player to be named to the NBA All-Defensive Team (1999-2000) *Youngest Slam Dunk champion (18 years, 175 days), after winning the contest at the 1997 NBA All-Star Weekend. *Most three-point field goals made, one game: 12 *Most three-point field goals made, one half: 8 *Most consecutive three-point field goals made, one game: 9 *Most free throws made, one quarter: 14 *Most free throws attempted, one quarter: 16 *Kobe Bryant holds or shares 29 LA Lakers franchise records For LBJ23: *Rookie of the Year: 2004 *All-Star Game MVP: 2006 *4-time All-Star: 04,05,06,07 *3-time All-NBA Team KB24 the best! Additional Details Ultimate GM: we're comparing between lebron and kobe. not jordan and kobe.. 29's KB24 Lakers franchise records Points: * Season: 2,832 (2005-06) * Game: 81 (January 22, 2006 vs. Toronto Raptors) * Half: 55 (2nd half, January 22, 2006 vs. Toronto Raptors).[29] *Quarter: 30 (twice, most recently on November 30, 2006 in 3rd quarter vs. Utah Jazz) *Games scoring 50 points or more, all-time: 21 *Games scoring 50 points or more, season: 10 (2006-07) *Games scoring 40 points or more, all-time: 89 *Games scoring 40 points or more, season: 27 (2005-06)[31] *Consecutive games of 50 points or more: 4 (March 16–23 2007) *Consecutive games of 40 points or more: 9 (February 6–February 23, 2003) Field goals made: *Half: 18 (2nd half, January 22, 2006 vs. Toronto Raptors).[34] *Quarter: 11 (February 2, 1999 vs. Seattle SuperSonics) Free throws made: * Game: 23 (twice, most recently on January 31, 2006 vs. New York Knicks) * Half: 16 (January 30, 2001 vs. Cleveland Cavaliers) * Quarter: 14 (3rd quarter, December 20, 2005 vs. Dallas Mavericks) * Quarter, playoffs: 11 (tied with 3 players; May 8, 1997 vs. Utah Jazz). * Consecutive: 62 (January 11–22, 2006) Three-point field goals made and attempted: * Career: 1,004 (1996–present) * Career, playoffs: 145 (1996–present) * Game: 12 (January 7, 2003 vs. Seattle SuperSonics). *Half: 8 (1st half, March 28, 2003 vs. Washington Wizards). * Consecutive: 9 (January 7, 2003 vs. Seattle SuperSonics). *Season attempts: 518 (2005-06) *Game attempts: 18 (January 7, 2003 vs. Seattle SuperSonics). Steals: *Half: 6 (tied with 3 players; February 13, 2006 vs. Utah Jazz). * Quarter, playoffs: 3 (tied with 6 players; May 17, 1999 vs. San Antonio Spurs) Cobra Status: lebron? he needs to improve his perimeter shot and ft percentage. i know his doing great ryt now but when he gets old, he can't do the same what he's doing ryt now.. like a game winner layup? he can't do that anymore when he turns 30+ because he has an ugly jumper and low percentage... Best Answer - Chosen by Asker cuz they're Kobe haters and are desperate for ANYONE to be better than him..... No one there yet!!

Reactions to the Gasol trade

Jereo ny reaction-ndra Kobe rehefa kôzian'lé journalist hoe "if you look at Bynum coming back, you, Lamar, Gasol..." Haha! Faly ho an'i leiry ah lé.

Breaking News: Lakers get PAU GASOL!!!!!

Lakers trade Kwame Brown for Grizzlies' Gasol

By Mike Bresnahan, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
11:56 AM PST, February 1, 2008

The Lakers have acquired forward-center Pau Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies for center Kwame Brown, guard Javaris Crittenton and a series of draft picks between the two teams, The Times has learned.
Gasol, 27, is averaging 18.9 points and 8.8 rebounds this season for the Grizzlies. -- Los Angeles Times

Okay leisy ra Kwame a! Nahafinaritra ihany nijery ny hatsikana nataon'i leiry fa saingy tsy possible ho lasa lavitra ny Lakers raha mbola leiry no back-up an'i Bynum. Ra Crittenton ndray efa nampoizina ihany satria efa assurer-n'i Fisher sy Farmar ny post-na PG. Lay power forward io no tena nanodrana. Odom sy Turiaf samy tsy mamono bôl.


Milaaaaay be zn lé. Go Pau! GO LAKERS!!!!!

What a great pic

(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Kobe speaks on Lakers

Tsy hitanareo otrn niova zn ve ny expression an'i leiry?
Taloha leiry otrn somokotra be foana zany, tsy dia mitsiky, tsy dia miresaka.
Mahafinaritra ka.

Tsy efa niteny ah?

Los Angeles Lakers 116 - Denver Nuggets 99
Box Score Recap ESPN Video Kobe-to-Ronny

(Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

What's more exciting than the Lakers sweeping their season series against Denver (first time since 2002-03) in an overwhelming manner? They did it without their 2nd best player in Bynum, without Ariza and without Kobe taking more than 7 shots! Ya, the same #24 who attempted 44 vs the Sonics.

From the very beginning, Kobe (17 pts) and Odom (15 pts 11 reb 7 ast) were looking for their teammates. That gave Kwame (7 pts 11 boards) exactly what he lacks, some confidence.

In total, Kobe dished out 11 ast including 4 straight to Fisher and Farmar (19 pts 0 to) for three, and a magnificient Nash-like behind-the-back to Turiaf (11 pts 3 blk) for the lay-up to make it a 91-81 game late in the third.

But the player of the night has to be Derek Fisher. Somebody had to step up in the offensive end - no one did in their last two games - and he clearly took the challenge, knocking 6 of 7 treys in key moments. En route to a season-best 28 pts.

Always feels nice to have him back.

The game was already in the refrigerator when he entered the court. But in only 5 minutes Mbenga made 2 mblocks (nangalariko io, haha!) 1 stl and 3 fouls! Enough to make the Staples center happy : free tacos!

Welcome to Hollywood mbuddy!

Go Lakers!



UPDATE:
A very interesting breakdown of Kobe's game at Forum Blue And Gold. First time I hear about these Gretzky assists. :D

Kenny Smith talks about the Lakers without Bynum

(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Click here to watch the video (Yahoo! Sports). Saika niteny ratsy leiry eny afovoany eny (01:36), haha!

All in all, I agree with Kenny Smith. I like what he says about Kobe trusting his teammates.

Everybody started to say that the Lakers will suck hard with Bynum sidelined until March. Kenny Smith reminds us that last year these guys were doing fine with Kwame and SMUSH (!) in the starting lineup and Drew only playing restricted minutes. That was before the injuries. People also tend to forget that this team is much much stronger now with the additions of Trevor Ariza and of course Derek Fisher.

LA Lakers top the West but lose Drew (at least for two months!)

Last night's thriller against the Sonics was the Lakers' 7th straight win. Not the easiest cos it took 48 pts from Kobe. 44 SHOTS including a game winning jumper with 4.3 left in OT! But damn, injury strikes again. The night before they lost 20 y.o. Andrew Bynum who sprained his left knee vs the Grizzlies and probably won't return until March. Kiiii!!! Kwame started in his place and was backed up by PF Turiaf. And Seattle scored 56 pts in the paint. Hum... The Lakers who already miss Mihm, Radman and The Face are now looking for a big man which may be... Chris Webber??? He's too old I think. "We're going to look at replacement players and if there is a way to get another big player that can help us win games. Can you replace Andrew? Of course not. The list is short on the kind of players that if you picked them up, they would play and help you win, but we'll look at it." -- Mitch Kupchak Nonetheless, the Lake Show continues as they have won 17 of their last 20 tries. A margin of +10.20 in their last ten. They rank 1st in NBA.com's power rankings, 3rd in Hollinger's, 4th in Marc Stein's. And what else? Oh, Lakers' 26-11 record put them in 1ST PLACE of the Western conference - tied with the Phoenix Suns. This "reign" won't probably last long, but hey, it's been a loooong time (4 years, man! Four!) since they played at this level. What an achievement! So proud to be a Laker fan! Keep your heads up! The best player on earth is still there. So is Derek. And Bynum will be in top form before the playoffs. "We’re trying to focus on what we can do with the opportunities. These are opportunities for people and we’ve got to make the most of it when that happens and that’s why we have a bench and that’s why we have a roster as deep as it is. Guys can step up and play." -- Phil Jackson