Kobe Bryant never passes. Few NBA tropes are more tried and true and yet so tired—or have been since the late Bill Clinton Administration—than this one. But just because something can be true (and when your most trusted second option is this ... (Continue reading)
As big a basketball no-brainer as it seemed for the Los Angeles Lakers to acquire All-Star center Dwight Howard ahead of the 2012-13 season, the trade still required a massive amount of faith. Specifically, the notion that no one—especially someone of ... (Continue reading)
The end of the NBA preseason is rarely fruitful terrain for bandying bold predictions, but here’s one that most should feel safe in making: The Los Angeles Lakers won’t win the NBA championship. Not this year, not next year and—barring some ... (Continue reading)
From the not-so-magnanimous media coverage to his much-ballyhooed return from injury, Kobe Bryant has lately found himself under a microscope of nearly unprecedented intensity—and that's saying something. Scorching spotlight though it may be, Bryant has at least one stalwart in his ... (Continue reading)
Over the course of their preseason slate, the Los Angeles Lakers have looked every bit a lottery-bound team—a collection of ill-fitting pieces and cast-off talent few believe is capable of crashing the Western Conference playoff party. Lack of stakes aside, L.A.’s ... (Continue reading)
Ever since Phil Jackson assumed control of the New York Knicks front office this past March, one question above all has dogged Carmelo Anthony: How would his triangle stint stack up against those of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant? Anthony will ... (Continue reading)
Hubris isn’t exactly a scarce commodity in the world of professional sports. If anything, it’s a prerequisite for any championship-caliber psyche—the mental pillar on which the world’s best athletes and coaches will inevitably lean in times both boom and bust. But ... (Continue reading)
While many an NBA franchise immersed themselves in this summer’s free-agency frenzy, the Los Angeles Lakers—long the standard-bearer for big signings and splashy trades—has remained ear-splittingly silent. LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Kevin Love: strikeouts all for L.A., leaving Kobe ... (Continue reading)
When you can count in your midst one of the two best shooting guards in NBA history, lack of wing depth shouldn’t be very high on the concern scale. But that’s precisely what the Los Angeles Lakers face in the weeks ... (Continue reading)
Dating back to their 1947 establishment in Minneapolis, the Los Angeles Lakers have won an NBA championship roughly once every four years. There are a couple of ways one could process this information. Either such consistent fortunes instills within you, the ... (Continue reading)