How Far Can This Laker Team Go This Post Season?

By Haz Bey
The Los Angeles Lakers are a brand new bunch these days.  With Lamar Odom & Shannon Brown leaving, the Lake-Show had to incorporate some new faces to the Purple & Gold.  Troy Murphy & Josh McRoberts joined the team in the off-season and are actually playing very well this season.  Neither one of them can never fully fill the void left by the departure of Odom & Brown, but by them contributing in a different way via on the boards and hustle plays, the Lakers seem to be in good shape moving forward.  The teams hugest problem right now is the health of Kobe Bryant.  The Black Mamba is clearly the toughest player in the league, with out a doubt.  The man was playing with a torn ligament on his shooting hand and ended up averaging 27.9 ppg to finish the season.  16 long years in the league and he is still putting up MVP-type numbers, but he never complains.  Kobe's model, "Just do your job."  So if he isn't letting up, no one else on the team should either.  Andrew Bynum & Pau Gasol got the message and both played at an All-Star level including both 7-footers averaging high double-doubles.  Andrew & Pau are 2 of the 3 best big men in the league hands down.  Bynum is a straight up beast down-low & Pau can dominate a game from the inside out. That is an advantage teams will have nightmares preparing against and 1st up is the young Denver Nuggets.  I would put the Lakers "Big 3" against anybody in the league, if the Lakers want to win a title this year, newly acquired point guard Ramon Sessions will have to cause havoc on both ends of the floor.  Not since Nick "The Quick" Van Exel has the Lakers had a dynamic point guard that can get to the rack with such explosion.  He will be key to make sure Kobe, Bynum & Gasol receive the ball in their sweet spots and to put pressure on the defense from the top of the key. If the Lakers can just stay afloat with Metta World Peace out on suspension, then we will see if they can make a true run at the World Title.  That would be their 4th trip to the Finals in 5 years and if they win it all, a 3rd title in 4 years. That's dynasty status and not to mention the fact that winning the "17th Banner" would tie hated rival Boston for the most in NBA history.  That's goal for this team.  It is still championship or bust in L.A.  That will never change, but if the Lakers play to their potential, there might not be a team in the league that can stop them.

Hollywood Shuffle

Goodbye Lamar

Haz Bey

The Los Angeles Lakers dealt Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom to Houston and New Orleans respectfully for the All-Star point guard Chris Paul.  Hold up, wait a minute...  David Stern vetoed that trade.  So the Los Angeles Lakers welcomed back Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom to organization, but wait there's more.  The Los Angeles began to rework the deal to bringing in Chris Paul to Hollywood by sending away Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom, but once again David Stern made it clear that for the Lakers to receive Chris Paul via trade, they would have to give up more than just Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom which was too much for the Lakers to handle, so Lakers gm Mitch Kuptcak pulled out of that deal, but the damage has been done.  Lamar Odom felt unwanted and disrespected.  He felt the relationship between player and organization has been ruined and he wanted out.  Lamar requested to be traded no matter if the Lakers receive Chris Paul or not.  So once the Chris Paul deals was over for the Lake-Show, they dealt the reigning 6th Man of the Year to the defending NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks for a trade exception and a 2012 1st round pick.  That same Mavericks team that dismantled the then 2-time defending World Champion Lakers in 4 games in last year's semifinal round of the Western Conference Playoffs.  Laker captains and 5-time NBA Champions Kobe Bryant and Derrick Fisher are flat out upset by the move and can't find any logical reason for the Lamar's departure.  The Lakers by already losing Shannon Brown to the Phoenix Suns by free agency and now Lamar via trade to Dallas, the Lakers are now considerably weaker than they were when they got bounced out the playoffs by Dallas and nobody knows what direction they are going to improve the roster.




Dwight Howard & Chris Paul

Yes we all think now that the Chris Paul trade failed that the attention focuses on Dwight Howard, but nothing has heated up at least through the media about a deal like that.  Now the Lakers definitely have the pieces to get the deal done.  They have the 2nd best pure center in the league in Andrew Bynum and the best power forward in Pau Gasol, so it is not like a deal can not be made, but something is holding the deal up.  The Magic are so reluctant to send Dwight Howard away, because they have a new arena that has to be filled to capacity every home game and without a main attraction in the likes of a Dwight Howard, the Orlando Magic will be in danger of losing a lot of money throughout the next 5 to 10 years.  With that being said, The Los Angeles Lakers are the best team in the NBA when it comes to acquiring talent and the top talent in this league will always want to come to Hollywood to play on the that big stage.  It is just a matter of time until the Lakers next huge move is made that will send the NBA into a frenzy.  Let the countdown begin.

It's Like Magic!

November 7, 1991: The Announcement

It's been 20 years since Earvin "Magic" Johnson announced to the world that he would have to retire from the Lakers due to the fact that he had contracted the HIV Virus.  It was November 7, 1991 and as a 9 year old boy during that time I felt such sadness for a player that I looked up to so much.  He was the best player on the most exciting team in basketball.  The man ran an offense called "Showtime" I mean how cool is that, but his announcement caught me completely off guard.  The first thing that came to my mind is that  "Magic was going to get very sick, skinny & die."  I went on to play my first year of little league basketball and what felt like fate, I was drafted by a team called the Lakers.  I picked Magic's number 32 as my uniform and dedicated my season to him.  I then led my team to winning the league championship by defeating a team called the Celtics just like Magic and the Showtime Lakers used to do it.

Magic & wife Cookie

Magic's announcement really hit home to me, because I knew first hand by watching my own uncle fight with the disease and as time went on he only got worst, but Magic Johnson 20 years later defied the odds.  He is living a healthy and productive life.  He is still on TV when that infectious smile and warm personalty.  He is a very successful business man and has provided jobs to the urban community.  Most importantly, Magic Johnson raised awareness on HIV and AIDS.  He proved it just wasn't a "Gay" man's disease, but everyone, no matter race, gender or creed was able to contract HIV and AIDS.  Magic's announcement saved the lives of many and his successful fight has given hope to people living with the virus even to this day.  Magic Johnson is a hero in my eyes, but not for what he did on the court, but for the fact that he proved that with a positive attitude, daily exercise & a strict medication regiment, anyone can life a long and productive life even with such a chronic disease. 

Haz Bey

Lake-Show in the Offseason, So Far

Nasty

Blog by Haz Bey

Well, this offseason is different from recent ones.  Mainly due to the fact that the Lakers season ended in May rather than June.  After 3 straight NBA Finals appearances, it is time to shake up this team, a little bit.  We lost Philly-Phil to retirement and now former NBA Coach of the Year Mike Brown will try to lead this team to another championship run.  Kobe Bryant had a rare procedure done to his surgically-repaired right knee to speed up the healing process, but we have not heard from him about the signing of Coach Brown.  Derrick Fisher has helped lead the NBA to it's 1st lockout in 13 years as the NBPA President.  Ron Artest is in the process to becoming the one & only "Metta World Peace" (Ron said on PTI that his name will appear as "World Peace" on the back of his uniform).  Lamar Odom & Pau Gasol was the talk of trade talks up until the draft.  Matt Barnes exercised his player's option, but Shannon Brown opted out of his.  Long story short, there is a lot going on in Hollywood this summer and with the lockout in full swing, who knows how it will affect this talented group.  We all know that this team's window has not shut yet, but as lazy & complacent as this team can get, lets just hope that if we miss games due to the lockout, once it's over, this Laker team can find the focus to climb back up the mountain to reclaim the title.

Take That, Take That!!!

Big Plays from Kobe in the Clutch

People tend to forget how clutch Kobe has been for much of his Hall-of-Fame career.  Here are some of his best moments.  Enjoy it.

Blog by Haz Bey

Lakers Out of Contention in May.... Oh No, Oh No, Oh No, Oh No..... OOOOH YEAAAAAH!!!!

Blog by Haz Bey



Gone too soon...



The Finals will not have the Lakers participating for the first time since 2007.  No one could have expected this, not even the Mavericks.  And believe me, the Mavs are just as shocked as anyone on how the swept the 2-time defending champs.  How do you think the Lakers will respond next season?  My guess is that Kobe will work himself to death this summer and will come back stronger with a huge chip on his shoulder.  He might have an MVP-type season and we all know he deserves one from 2006 when he was robbed of that title by 2-time MVP Steve Nash. 

Pau Must Man-Up Next Year

Pau Gasol had such a bad playoff, that all Laker fans, including myself, wanted to part ways with him.  But lets be real.  His contract is so huge and he can't possibly play any worse then he did this post season, right?  Lamar Odom needs to play 35 plus minutes next season.  Derek Fisher, well, you know we love you.  You have hit some of the biggest shots in Lakers history, but you can't guard anyone anymore.  Age has caught up with you and you are hurting us defensively.  We need some young blood with Kobe in the back court next season, hopefully we get it.  Brian Shaw needs to be head coach.  He has Kobe's respect, plus he will run the triangle.  We will bring back our core group, so maintaining stability with running the same offense is a must.  Hey, we do not need to blow the project up.  We just need a little upgrade on the perimeter and a solid back-up center.  We are more than poised to win again.  So to the rest of the NBA, have your fun now, because come next season, the "Purple & Gold" will be back to reclaim the title.