Lakers OFF-SEASON IS A WRAP

Antidope said:

 
http://www.bet.com/video/bet-experi...Betcom-LatestVideos+(BET.com+-+Latest+Videos)

Kobe and Jemele Hill interview live.

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Lakers look to acquire a big man as they set the table for next year

This was supposed to be the warmup summer, the one during which the training wheels get slapped on and everybody practices for the Real Summer of Kevin (Durant, not Love).

The Lakers, though, have already turned lemons into something sweet, moving up in the draft despite the gnashing jaws of Steve Nash-shaped despair and grabbing dynamic point guard D'Angelo Russell second overall.

All their financial eggs now go into the big-man basket. They want to talk to LaMarcus Aldridge, he wants to listen, and if all goes well for both sides, the four-time All-Star signs a four-year, $80-million deal to be the Lakers' power forward.

Free agency begins Tuesday and Aldridge turns 30 two weeks later, a minor asterisk for a player who averaged a career-high 23.4 points last season and also 10.2 rebounds.

Portland made it past the first round once in Aldridge's nine years there, and though the Lakers were coming off their worst season ever (21-61, ugh), you can bet they'd pitch him on a rapid revival.

Aldridge already owns a home in Orange County, his initials are tailor-made for the Lakers, and it just so happens that his good plays were rewarded at Portland home games by an audio snippet of Randy Newman's "I Love L.A."

The Lakers have enough money for only one big-name free agent, gathering about $23 million in spending power after declining the $9-million option on free-agent center-forward Jordan Hill in a couple of days. Aldridge would make almost $19 million next season after pulling down $16.3 million last season.

The Lakers' only big men going into free agency are Tarik Black and Robert Sacre after they presumably make the latter's sub-$1-million contract guaranteed by Tuesday's deadline.

They boxed themselves into a big-man corner by passing on Duke center Jahlil Okafor to draft Russell, putting the Ohio State point guard next to promising Jordan Clarkson while setting up the Lakers' backcourt "for the next 10 years," according to a near-giddy team source.

Perhaps a quick shot of reality is needed.

The Lakers have had problems getting free agents to take their money in recent years. Dwight Howard spurned them for less money in Houston, Carmelo Anthony said thanks but no thanks, and Pau Gasol took less to go to Chicago.

The only big name they signed lately was Kobe Bryant, who accepted a two-year, $48.5-million extension in 2013 before returning from a torn Achilles'.

The Lakers need a Plan B if Aldridge says no. Two teams from his home state, San Antonio and Dallas, will reportedly court him too.

It would take some persuasion to get Clippers center DeAndre Jordan to take less money and leave L.A.'s more talented team. The Lakers love his rebounding and shot-blocking, like many teams, and Dallas will also recruit him heavily.

It's harder to figure what to make of Love, who had an off year in Cleveland and said in February there was not a scenario where he'd play for the Lakers. He might meet with them next week even if it's only a ploy to ensure a maximum offer from the Cavaliers, reportedly the favorites to retain him.

Marc Gasol has no interest in the Lakers because of the uneasy last few years his brother spent with them, according to numerous people familiar with the situation. Versatile big man Greg Monroe, oft-injured Brook Lopez and his workman-like brother, Robin, are other alternatives at center.

If the Lakers strike out, they could try re-signing Hill for less and chase swingman Jimmy Butler, who could ease into the hole vacated soon by Bryant. The problem is Chicago's expected action of matching any offer sheet the restricted free agent signs.

Whatever happens, it's simple table-setting for a year from now. The Lakers will have double the fun when Bryant's contract is off the books ($25 million next season) and the salary cap jumps from $67 million to about $90 million with the NBA's gigantic new TV deal.

Even if the Lakers sign a max free agent now, they'll have more than enough to join the Durant free-for-all and add another big-name free agent too.

Their only players currently on the 2016-17 cap are Russell, fellow first-rounder Larry Nance Jr., Nick Young (remember him?) and Julius Randle, assuming they pick up his third-year option. It adds up to only $15 million, though money must be earmarked for Clarkson, who becomes a restricted free agent after only two seasons because he was a second-round draft pick.

This summer has already been entertaining. The real show comes in a year.

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KingJaffeJo said:

Haha that actually might be pretty accurate besides DLo's inflated stats lol.

I want next year to look something like:

Russel
Kobe
Durant
Randle
LMA

Clarkson
Brown/Ellington
Young
Black
Upshaw

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thirdtimearound said:

In the past 20 years, what point guards have won Finals MVPs besides teams that really played team ball?

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DarthSka said:

Going, going

Back, back

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DarthSka said:

Next week.

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CP1708 said:

Also, I don't think we pull LMA to play PF. I think we try to land him as our Center.

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DarthSka said:

I'll be in the SD area, but if there will be escorts at the summit, I'll be wherever it's held.

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MR J 858 said:

 

DarthSka said:

I'll be in the SD area, but if there will be escorts at the summit, I'll be wherever it's held.

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Make sure you bring your passport with you so you can head down.

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Kobe: Friends can come and go, but banners hang forever


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Earlier this year Kobe Bryant said that “being a ‘great friend’ is something I will never be.” The Los Angeles Lakers star guard explained that comment at an event Saturday, saying, “I meant that friends can come and go, but banners hang forever.”

Bryant, a five-time NBA champion, made his remarks at the BET Experience held at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles during a sit-down interview with ESPN's Jemele Hill.

The question posed by Hill alluded to Bryant’s comments made in a GQ Magazine piece that was published in March 2015.

“It’s crazy, right?” Bryant said Saturday, speaking of his mindset. “It’s like, ‘This dude is nuts.’ But when you grow up, I loved the game so much. It wasn’t on purpose to be a bad friend or not to be as good of a friend. It takes time to do that. It takes a lot of energy to do that.

“Consciously, all my energy was focused on one thing [basketball]. It’s like, friends, I have friends that have known me since I was 11. They know that that’s how I am. But nine times out of 10, that’s how they are too. Because they’re as driven at what they do as what I am. It works out.”

Hill asked Bryant about what he has learned from his many strained relationships with various teammates over his 19-year NBA career.

“Don’t be an a-hole,” Bryant said, laughing. “No, I mean, I’ve never been the most patient person in the world and one of my pet peeves is laziness or people who make excuses. I can’t stand it. Working with Shaq, the guy, he’s a freak of nature. He’s mean when he plays, which I relate to.

“But there are other parts that I just didn’t relate to. So there are certain things that were strengths of his, like putting his arm around the guys and helping them be better emotionally and giving them support. I wasn’t very good at that.

“But my strengths were my focus and my dedication to the game. I had to sit back and say, ‘We have these disagreements, but what can I learn from him? What does he do well?’ And once I was able to look in the mirror and say, 'OK, maybe you are being an a--hole?' [Then] you’ve got to self-assess. All this stuff ain’t coming from [nowhere]. It’s not just made up. So once I learned that, I think we were able to go to a higher level as a team.”

Did Bryant un-learn how to be, as he put it, an “a-hole”?

"There’s two ways to do that,” he said. “One, you can stop. Or two, you can just be extremely consistent and then the people will get used to it. So when I said, 'I stopped being an a--hole,' what I’m really saying is people just got used to me being an a--hole. Then it was like, ‘OK, that’s just him.’”

On the subject, Bryant then recounted a memorable interaction with a former Lakers teammate.

“Honestly, I remember Rick Fox said something in a meeting that stuck with me forever,” Bryant said. “Because we were having a discussion and he said, ‘Kobe, we just want to feel like you’re a part of us.’ And I never looked at it that way. I thought, ‘What do you mean? I am. I’m practicing hard every single day.’

“But that’s not what he meant. For me, stop being an a--hole really meant you’ve got to start approaching the game on a human level and understand that we are people and we need to have that connection versus this hard drive all the time. Because no matter how skillful you are, it’s an emotional game. If you don’t have that emotional connectivity with somebody or with a group, you’re not going to get at your highest level of potential.”

Bryant said he’s still close with several of his former teammates, such as Lamar Odom, Derek Fisher, Ronny Turiaf and Shannon Brown.

“Now, to them, if you ask them, they’ll sit here and say, ‘No, he’s not an a-hole,’” Bryant said. “But if you go to some of the other guys who show up to practice an hour later. You know what I’m saying? You know them. They’re easily identifiable. Those guys will say, ‘Yeah, he’s a big a--hole.’”

He added, “Your job is to imprint a DNA on a team. You have to push buttons. The trick is figuring out when to push them and how to push them. You’ve got to do that.”

What's the worst thing Bryant has ever said to a teammate?

“Oh, Jesus,” he said with a laugh. “Uh, let me think. I’m not sure if the fact that I’m thinking about the worst things that I’ve said really means that I haven’t said that many or maybe I’ve said too many. I’m scrolling through them [in my mind]. I’m like on iPod shuffle.

“I have made somebody cry before.”

Who?

“There’s certain players that I’ve made cry,” Bryant said. “If I can make you cry by being sarcastic, then I really don’t want to play with you in the playoffs if that’s making you cry.

“But let me see. There was one teammate that was just so bad. He was so bad. It wasn’t Kwame [Brown]. Kwame wasn’t actually that bad. I tease Kwame. It wasn’t Smush [Parker]. It was a player that you guys won’t even remember if I said who his name was. I can’t even pronounce his name. It was some European kid.

“But he was really, really bad. I said, ‘Dude, you might want to reconsider what your life purpose is. Maybe it’s not this.’ It came out that way. I was like, maybe 20-something years old. I don’t know, really young.

“You know how you think one thing in your head, like, ‘I’m going to say this and it’s going to sound like this.’ Then it comes out and it’s like, ‘Oh, s---. That’s not what it sounds like. That is not how I envisioned it coming out.’ No, I meant, maybe you’re not reaching your highest potential by doing this. Maybe it’s something else.”

Bryant was asked to explain where the perception first developed that he is difficult to play alongside, a well-documented perception that has reportedly deterred several free agents from coming to play for the Lakers as long as he’s on the team.

“From people that want to take the easy route with stuff,” Bryant said. “You want to come? You want to play and play your heart out and compete and win? We’ll have no issues. It’s the people that ... say these things and the people that don’t show up to practice and the people that don’t want to work hard and the people that aren’t committed to it. We will never have anything in common. We just won’t. I’m completely fine with that. I’m completely OK with that. We can’t converse.”

Bryant also said growing up in Italy influenced not only his playing style but also his relationships with people.

“It shaped a lot,” he said. “In that situation, you wind up being in isolation a lot, so you have a lot of time to think. I gravitated to basketball even more because of the lack of common ground that I had with friends over there. So I wound up playing the game a lot by myself, imagining and dreaming and envisioning.

“But also, on the flip side of that, it makes you play things closer to the chest. Which is why I’m more comfortable shooting the ball off the double-team than passing to somebody in the corner for a game-winner. No joke. Because you grow up really relying on yourself. So I had to learn, no, it’s OK to work with others. But when you grow up in isolation, especially in pressure moments, you always kind of go back to your nature.”

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MR J 858 said:

When it comes to Lakers beat writers Kevin Ding & Ramona Shelborne>Woj.

Both of them are based in LA and knew D'Lo Russell was going to be taken over Okafor the day of the draft.

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MR J 858 said:

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That squad should be able to win the Vegas summer league championship.

All Lakers summer league games will be televised on Time Warner Cable SportsNet and Time Warner Cable Deportes, as well as NBA TV.

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DaddyRabbit251 said:

Whole squad in the summer league. Damn good look

Really hope J6ix continues to grow and improve. Keep that chip on his shoulder

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4 hours ago - via Los Angeles Times
Marc Gasol has no interest in Lakers
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Marc Gasol has no interest in the Lakers because of the uneasy last few years his brother spent with them, according to numerous people familiar with the situation. Versatile big man Greg Monroe, oft-injured Brook Lopez and his workman-like brother, Robin, are other alternatives at center.
Free Agency, Marc Gasol, Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies

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