October 2008 Archives

The Lakers were united in their congratulations for Andrew Bynum, who signed a four-season contract extension worth $58 million on Thursday. Lamar Odom was eligible for an extention, but did not get one by Friday's deadline. He said he didn't feel snubbed by the Lakers. Here's some of what Odom said of his own contract situation:

""I'm not worried about it. I can't worry about that. ... My contract is up next year, not this year. I get paid to play basketball this year. I can't complain. I'm in a good position. I can't let what happened for Andrew affect me, you know what I'm saying? I saw him today outside the building and I couldn't wait to congratulate him,
"That's what they decided to do, and I'm all for it (Bynum's extension). ... Me, I'll just keep playing and doing what they need me to do. ... That's not going to stop what I do. It's easy to do because I'm playing on a championship-caliber team. I'm good."

Odom is now eligible to become an unrestricted free agent July 1, which means he can sign a new contract with any team, including the Lakers.

Andrew Bynum has signed his contract extension ($42 million over three years plus a team option for a fourth season that's worth another $16 million, making the deal potentially worth $58 million). It's turning out to be quite a week for Bynum.

"This has been a fantastic week for me so far, turning 21, winning our first two games of the season and now getting this contract signed," Bynum said. "This gives me and my family financial security, and more importantly, cements my future with the Lakers. ... I couldn't be happier."

Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak had this to say: "We're extremely happy to have signed Andrew to this extension, which will secure his immediate future with the franchise. Andrew has shown a vast array of skills for a player his size and if he continues to stay dedicated and work hard to improve, he has an excellent chance to develop into one of the top players in the NBA."

The Lakers and Andrew Bynum are close to an agreement on a three-season contract extension worth $42 million, according to a report this morning on ESPN.com. Bynum is signed through the end of this season, and is eligible for one of those so-called max deals. In his case, it could be worth more than $80 million over five seasons.

However, the Lakers are believed to be concerned enough about Bynum's season-ending left kneecap injury last Jan. 13 to be wary of such a long-term commitment. The two sides face a Friday deadline to complete an extension. If it can't be done, then they must wait until next summer, when Bynum can become a restricted free agent.

There's been little public comment on the matter. Bynum's agent, David Lee, traveled from New York to meet with GM Mitch Kupchak almost two weeks ago. Lee said then that the sides were "miles apart." But as often happens, the negotiations take on an added sense of urgency when a deadline approaches. If the ESPN.com story is accurate, then that appears to be what's happened.

If Bynum were to become a restricted free agent next July 1, then he could sign with another team but the Lakers would have the right to simply match the other club's offer and retain his services. Bynum also could re-sign with the Lakers. Or he could accept a one-season qualifying offer from the Lakers and become an unrestricted free agent after the 2009-10 season.

Wow, blowout city, routsville.

The Lakers used a 17-0 run during the second quarter to turn the Clippers' season opener into a nightmare. The Lakers trailed, 33-32, then calmly, coolly and collectively raced away from the Clippers for a 117-79 victory to improve their record to 2-0.

Think of it, the Lakers outscored the Clippers by a staggering 85-46 after trailing by a point with 9:05 remaining in the second quarter. Their 17-0 run propelled them to a 49-33 with 4:09 left in the quarter.

Seven Lakers scored 10 or more points, led by Kobe Bryant with 16. He also had eight rebounds and three assists. Derek Fisher and Jordan Farmar scored 15 apiece. Pau Gasol had 13 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Andrew Bynum had 12 points and nine rebounds. Trevor Ariza had 11 points and Chris Mihm added 10.

The Lakers' biggest lead was 40 points. It was their fifth straight win over the Clippers. They outrebounded the Clippers by 51-32 and outshot them by 51.3 percent to 38.5.

Quoteworthy: "We don't expect to win by 20 and 40, but maybe we do," Gasol said, referring to the Lakers' 20-point win over Portland on Tuesday and their 38-point win over the Clippers. "Maybe we do have to expect that and to push ourselves to get to that level every game. We're capable of doing it like we just proved in the first two games. Maybe it won't be easy, but we're going to work against everyone we face."

The Lakers actually trailed briefly in the first half for the first time in two games, falling behind by a point a couple of times. They held the Clippers to 43.2 percent shooting while shooting 55 percent. The Lakers outrebounded the Clippers, 21-17.

Derek Fisher had 13 points at the half, and Andrew Bynum added 10 for the Lakers.
Trevor Ariza provided a spark off the bench, scoring eight points and taking four rebounds in 11 minutes, 25 seconds.

Here's an interesting pregame observation from Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy on Lamar Odom, the Lakers' new sixth man: "He's like the queen on a chess board. He can move from position to position, except maybe center."

Here are a few pearls of wisdom from Phil Jackson before the Lakers' first road game of the season. OK, it's against the Clippers at Staples, so it's not really a travel day at all.
Anyway, here's Phil on a variety of topics, including the Lakers-Clippers rivalry.

The Lakers held Portland to the fewest point total (76) in the history of their rivalry. The previous low total was 79 points. How did they do it?

``We talked to each other, we helped each other,'' point guard Jordan Farmar said. ``Defense is a team thing. I learned that at UCLA. You have to hold every person accountable. It has to be all five working at the same time, rotating, shifting and making it tough on them.''

The Trailblazers noticed.

`` I think they just bought into what he (Phil Jackson) is telling them. I don't know if individually they really got better, but they really believe in their system,'' Blazers forward Channing Frye said. ``That's the same thing that happened in Boston. I mean, who thought Ray Allen or Paul Pierce were like that. But it's their defensive system and they've stuck with it and got a lot of their offense through that.''

The Blazers shot just 34.5 percent on the night.

``You look at a lot of possessions and there was nothing open on the floor,'' Farmar said. ``You give up nothing but contested jumpshots and you're going to win more times than not.''

The days past slowly for some, went by in the blink of an eye for others. But after 133 days of summer, the Lakers finally tore off the plastic wrap on their new season Tuesday night with a dominating defensive performance in a 96-76 win over the Portland Trailblazers at the Staples Center.

Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 23 points, 11 rebounds and five assists. Pau Gasol added 15 points and seven rebounds.

It was Game 1 in what they're hoping will be another nine-month journey, Step 1 in their quest to return to the NBA Finals, where their season ended so sourly last June.

Since then, they've searched their souls, their games, and just about anything else that might offer a code to crack the riddle the Celtics used to befuddle them. Five weeks of training camp have offered a few answers and some space to help cleanse their palettes. But just as most of the Lakers players arrived at Staples Center Tuesday afternoon, video of the Celtics raising their 17th championship banner to the rafters of TD Banknorth Arena in Boston streamed across the television screens throughout the building.

``It feels great to start the season, but there's some mixed emotion because the last time we played a real game it was the Finals,'' Lakers guard Sasha Vujacic said. ``It's still painful ...that's why we have to make a statement right away.''

How painful?

``I'm not wearing green this year,'' Vujacic said. ``No green. I'm serious. Anything with green is in the back of my closet now.''

Direct revenge against the Celtics will have to wait until Christmas, so on Tuesday night the young, up-and-coming Trailblazers would have to do and the Lakers wasted no time in announcing their supremacy.

``It's been a long summer, but it's here now,'' Lakers point guard Derek Fisher said. ``There's a certain adrenaline that flows (on opening night) that doesn't flow on any other day.''

It was scheduled for opening night, presumably, to showcase what many feel could develop into one of the best rivalries in the league.

But of course that depends on whether Portland actually develops into the fearsome team many believe they could be with young stars Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge and Greg Oden, last season's No. 1 overall draft pick who missed all of last season following microfracture surgery on his knee.

``The Lakers are the Western Conference champions until someone knocks them off,'' Roy said. ``It's great to measure yourself against the best team in your first game.''

Early on, the Lakers showed just how large the gap Portland will have to close, jumping out to a 24-14 lead at the end of the first quarter behind nine points from Pau Gasol. Their commitment to defense was evident from the opening tip as coach Phil Jackson rotated in nine players during the first 12 minutes so there would be fresh legs to pester the young Blazers into poor shots, decisions and situations.

Portland made just seven of its first 24 shots (29 percent) in the first quarter. By halftime, the Lakers had stretched the lead to 49-34. Portland made a little run at the start of the third quarter, but the Lakers had a quick answer, extending the lead out to 67-46 with 2:36 remaining in the third quarter.

Oden, who only began playing 5-on-5 again at the start of training camp, got into early foul trouble and was not a factor, missing all four shots he took in the first half, and did not come out of the locker room after halftime with a right foot injury.

The Lakers young, potential franchise center, Andrew Bynum, got off to a slightly more auspicious start with a nice lay-in off a Vladimir Radmanovic miss, but still looked to have some wrinkles to iron out, missing a lob from Lamar Odom and struggling to find scoring opportunities.

It's a rivalry many feel could become one of the best individual match-ups in the NBA, but Tuesday night it seemed a long way off and a little forced.

``This is really the first time we've played against each other,'' Oden said.

There had been reports the two big men had played against each other as sixth graders, but Oden said he had no memory of the meeting.

``Honestly, it was a long time ago for me,'' Oden joked. ``I came across a lot of people in the sixth grade. I couldn't tell you what he was like.''

Bynum finished with eight points points on 4-of-10 shooting, three rebounds and five fouls in 27 minutes of action.

A win would be nice, but how funny was Lamar Odom's pass to Sasha Vujacic, umm, when Sasha was on the bench.

So much for the Andrew Bynum-Greg Oden showdown. Oden did not come out for the second half with what is initially being reported as a sprained ankle.

OK, the regular season is really here, though we'll probably be a little late in getting off the ground here tonight since the Boston-Cleveland game is going a bit long and the Lakers won't start until it's finished. But just to get you ready, here is the starting lineup for tonight, as well as the inactives. Elliott and I will be doing this before every game, usually about 30-40 minutes before the game starts.

Those of you into fantasy hoops know just how valuable that can be...

GASOL
BYNUM
RADMANOVIC
BRYANT
FISHER

Inactive: DJ MBENGA, SUN YUE

I've been meaning to write this for weeks but never found the right outlet and just can't bear to keep it in the can any longer because it's too funny. But the other day, a bunch of us reporter types were chatting with Sasha Vujacic after practice, mostly about the Lakers season, what they could do, what the expectations are for the team. Then we got into how last season ended and Sasha immediately got serious, proclaiming pretty resolutely that he's taken a personal vow not to wear green, the Boston Celtics colors, this year.

Seriously, no green. Not a thread of it.

``I'm serious about it,'' he said, very seriously. ``No green.''

You can always tell things are getting serious around Lakers camp when the size of the pack of reporters at the training facility swells from a manageable 8-10 to a madhouse 20-30, as there were today as the Lakers finished their final practice before tommorrow's season opener against Portland.

Really though, things have been pretty serious for the last month or so as Phil Jackson put the team through one of its more rigorous training camps in recent memory. All told, the Lakers skipped just two scheduled practice sessions. They went through all six days of double-days, which is quite rare around the NBA. And on several occasions, spent extended time after practice doing extra conditioning or shooting.

Why the boot camp mentality?

``I think he (Phil Jackson) wanted to make sure that even though he anticipated we were going to be even hungrier to go this year, as a coach he has a responsibility and he wants to make sure we respect the fact that we're not going to just walk back to the NBA Finals, we're going to have to work to get there,'' point guard Derek Fisher said.

``That's the message to us. There really aren't any days off in an NBA season. You can take a day off from practice, but there's still have to mental and physical preparation off the court that's necessary to remain at the top of your game.

``We don't mind it. We want to be champions and we know that putting the work in is a part of it.''

The Lakers have waived guard Coby Karl to get their roster down to 14 players. Karl, in contention for a roster spot throughout the preseason, averaged 1.8 points and 0.8 rebounds in 4.2 minutes in 17 games last season.

Interesting article in the Memphis Commercial Appeal on Pau Gasol's younger brother Marc, who was a part of the trade that brought Pau to Los Angeles last year.

Here's an excerpt:

The Grizzlies tried telling anyone who would listen that the 23-year-old Gasol, Pau's younger brother, was more than just a throw-in to complete the infamous February trade between Memphis and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Now, teammates and coaches not only count the ways Marc is different from Pau, but believe his attributes make him a more-than-serviceable player to man the middle.

Albeit in only a month, Marc Gasol has revealed unabashed toughness, passable rebounding and defense, gifted passing skills and a feathery shooting touch from mid-range.

The 7-1, 280-pounder dominated an unscientific, team-wide poll, making Gasol the pick for the fourth-annual Don Poier "Pride of Training Camp" Award. Gasol earned an honor not sanctioned by the team but intended to recognize consistency and growth on the cusp of a new season.

Lamar Odom says he's embraced his new role as the sixth man.
Here's what he had to say before Friday's exhibition finale, a win over Oklahoma City:
"Really comfortable. Whatever the team needs me to do, that's what I'm going to do. To be successful and play for championships, that doesn't come around too often, you know what I'm saying? Whatever it takes. You know, I'm a humble dude. I put my ego aside.
"Playing quality minutes and helping a team, everybody knows the guys who help out and play a big part on the team. No matter whether I start or finish or fall in between, whatever I've got to do to help the team that's what I'm doing.
"The beautiful thing about my game is that I can fill any role. Not too many players can do that. Not too many players have the humility to come off the bench without a problem after they've started their whole careers."
Odom had eight points, four assists, three rebounds and three steals in 21 minutes during the Lakers' victory over Oklahoma City in Ontario.

Derek Fisher, Trevor Ariza, Luke Walton and Coby Karl are among the athletes expected to attend a fundraiser for presidential candidate Barack Obama Sunday night in Hollywood.

Other guests include: Cuttino Mobley, Al Thornton, Steve Francis and James Blake.

Fisher has been an active supporter of the Illinois Senator. In late September, before the Lakers opened training camp, Fisher stumped for Obama at two Indian reservations in Montana.

Here's an excerpt of the story in the Great Falls (Mont.) Gazette:

The Los Angeles Lakers point guard was on the reservation on behalf of the Barack Obama campaign. Fisher said he volunteered his services to campaign officials, thinking he would be dispatched to events in southern California or his hometown of Little Rock, Ark.

"I had no idea it would turn into these type of opportunities," he said, adding that he is humbled by the campaign's trust in him.

The Lakers put a merciful end to training camp and exhibition play with a 105-94 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder at the new arena in Ontario. Andrew Bynum showed what he can do when the opposition has no one big enough or strong enough to keep him out of the paint. Bynum had 23 points on 10-for-15 shooting and eight rebounds in 29 minutes.
Scary numbers.
Here are a few other random thoughts:
--Jordan Farmar continued his fine play with 14 points on 7-for-9 shooting. He's playing with a newfound confidence that bodes well for him and the Bench Mob.
--Kobe Bryant played only the game's first 7:55 and reported no troubles with his hyperextended right knee. He was hurt in Tuesday's win over the Charlotte Bobcats in San Diego and could not play in Thursday's victory over the Bobcats in Anaheim.
After the game, Bryant said:
"I felt great. That's what I wanted to see, how it felt. It felt fine. It was important to get off it, ice it down. ... Just making sure the rhythm was good and the knee was good. ... It felt good. It felt fine. I just wanted to test it out, making sure it was OK."
--Trevor Ariza continued to make his case for extended minutes, scoring 10 points and taking eight rebounds.

The Clippers released 1,000 seats in all price categories previously held for package sales for the October 29 game against the Lakers. To purchase tickets, call 800-4-NBA TIX or visit www.ticketmaster.com

Kobe Bryant will play in tonight's exhibition finale against the Oklahoma City Thunder after sitting out Thursday's victory over the Charlotte Bobcats because of swelling stemming from a hyperextended right knee. Bryant was hurt in Tuesday's win over Charlotte.
Meanwhile, Sasha Vujacic will make his exhibition debut after missing the first seven games because of a left ankle injury. He sprained his ankle on the opening day of training camp Sept. 30, and a subsequent MRI exam revealed an existing avulsion fracture.
The Thunder used to be the Seattle SuperSonics before they left the Emerald City for Oklahoma City during the offseason.

Right now, second-year guard Coby Karl is the bubble boy around Lakers camp. Will he or won't he make the team this year? It's incredible pressure to be under, but having been around this kind of stuff his whole life --his dad is George Karl, coach of the Denver Nuggets -- Coby has some idea of the decisions and factors involved.

``I think it's hard actually because I know the processes the coaches go through,'' he said. ``I know that sometimes even if they do like a player, they have to get rid of him. ... My dad went through that a couple years ago in Denver with a couple players. I understand that. It's tough to understand those things, but I love these guys and the opportunity I've been given here in Los Angeles and I hope I continue to have that opportunity.''

Karl's contract doesn't become fully guaranteed until January 10. He's only partially guaranteed up to $100,000, which, if he makes the team, he'd hit rather quickly. In some ways, this is a good thing for Karl because it gives the club the flexibility to keep him around without the obligation of paying him an entire year right now. In other words, it gives them more time to decide if they want to keep him around. Let's say a couple guards get hurt this season, it would be beneficial for him still to be on the team. Then, on January 10, the team decides whether it still needs him for the stretch run.

``Yeah, it gives the organization some flexibility, and it gives me more of an opportunity to be around and make good impression on them,'' Karl said.

Karl said that he's been working on his strength, defense and maximizing his scoring opportunities. But that the biggest thing he needs to do, right now, is just hit (outside) shots.

``I think currently it's making shots,'' he said. ``I haven't been able to do that this year yet, but I think my track record has shown that I can hit shots.''

The final exhibition games of an NBA preseason usually resemble summer league more than an NBA game. But don't be surprised if a couple Lakers starters play extended minutes tonight against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

While praising Pau Gasol's preseason last night, acknowledging that Pau looks to be in ``midseason form,'' Lakers coach Phil Jackson mentioned that he'd like to see how Pau did in extended minutes.

``He's played well both passing the ball and shooting the ball. But we haven't extended any minutes out there yet for these guys,'' Jackson said. ``Nobody's played a 30 minute game, so we're going to have to push it a little bit for these guys and get them over 30 minutes.''

That said, Phil seemed impressed by what he had seen from the Barcelonan bomber this fall:

``He's right in midseason form. I think the experience of the Olympics and the break off for a month, then coming back into camp. He's still shooting the ball pretty well and looking really good out there offensively.''

Remember just a few weeks ago when it looked like Trevor Ariza was going to get serious consideration as a starter at small forward this year. It was, at the time, the reason Lamar Odom was potentially being moved to the bench. The thinking being that Ariza's athleticism, defensive ability against other small forwards and 3-point shooting was more of what the Lakers needed out of their starting small forward than Odom's all-around game.

In recent games though, Phil Jackson seems to be leading more toward starting Vladimir Radmanovic at that spot, as he did at the end of last year. It's not for sentimental reasons though.

Right now, it's looking like the Lakers first unit --Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Vladimir Radmanovic, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum -- is going to be a more half-court oriented group. And with two 7-footers in the post, Jackson needs a legitimate 3-point threat to stretch the defense and keep teams from packing it in down low on Bynum and Gasol. While Ariza can shoot 3s, he's not as feared, or established as Radmanovic.

``He's an accurate 3-point shooter, though i wouldn't say right now that he's known as a 3-point shooter,'' Jackson said of Ariza. ``His tendency is not to shoot the ball, whereas Vlade's tendency is to pull a defense out.''

Jackson, it seems, prefers to let Ariza's athleticism shine on the more uptempo second unit led by Jordan Farmar and Lamar Odom.

``I don't want to squelch Trevor's ability by putting him on the first unit. It would be a disservice to his game,'' Jackson said. ``He's much better having the opportunity to play a much more wide-open, quicker game with the second unit. They move the ball well, they run the court well, have a lot of fun on the court. The first unit is more half-court, more settled in and I think that Vlade gives them a great outside shooter to spread the defense so we can run the interior game.''

I'd heard a few weeks ago that Andrew Bynum is a car guy. Normally in the NBA, that means a guy spends a bunch of his rookie contract on fancy, tricked out, fast cars. But in Bynum's case there's a little more to it. Apparently, when he grows up, or finishes his NBA career, whichever comes first, Big Drew wants to become a mechanical engineer and build cars.

``I like cars alot. I work with them on the weekends,'' he said. ``That's something I think I want to get into after I'm done playing. Maybe go to school and become like a mechanical engineer.

``I really like it. I like how they work.''

These days, Bynum can be seen scooting around town in either a Yukon Denali, his BMW M-6 or Nissan Skyline.

Kobe Bryant decided against playing Thursday's exhibition against the Charlotte Bobcats at the Honda Center because of lingering swelling behind his hyperextended right knee. He was hopeful the swelling would subside and he could play in Friday's exhibition finale against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Ontario's new arena.
Here's what Kobe had to say before Thursday's game:
"We're just going to knock that out and make sure the swelling is out of there, which it should be soon. Then I'm OK. I feel fine. I lifted weights this morning for my legs. I did lunges and jumps and all that kind of stuff. I'm all right. I just want to get the swelling out. It feels fine. Right now it feels OK. It's just a little puffy in the back. I want to get it out. Playing on it tonight, and having the swelling be there and having to manage it, that's the kind of stuff you do during the regular season. Not in preseason. I don't know (about playing in Ontario). We'll see. If I can get the swelling out in the morning, which we should be able to do, hopefully. If not, it's no big deal. After seeing the injury on TV, I'm surprised it's not worse, to be honest with you. That thing didn't look too good. So ...."
Bryant did not undergo an MRI exam. Asked why not, he said:
"Well, if I can run, if I can jump, if I can do lunges, if can do leg curls, if I can do leg extensions, chances are there's no structural damage."

It's taken me a few hours to get to this post, the result mostly of my fear at not being able to do the scene justice with words alone. There are some people who are good at humorous writing, I'm probably not one of them. But since space on this blog is relatively unlimited, and I can't call our staff's unofficial humorist Tom Hoffarth in for a consult, here goes.

After Lakers practice today, several of us writer types were standing around, shooting the breeze with Kobe Bryant after we'd poked and prodded every possible angle related to his right knee injury. Normally after we get done with the Q&A session, Kobe makes a pretty quick exit into the training room, presumably to beat the afternoon traffic on his drive home to Orange County on the 405 South. But today, he stuck around, talking about the World Series, the passion of Lakers fans in the 300 level seats, and why he'd never want to meet the Red Sox in a dark alley.

Anyway, the point is, he stuck around a while. Which meant he was there when Sasha Vujacic finished his after-practice shooting. And if you've ever tried to wait out one of Sasha's after-practice shooting sessions, you know just how long that is.

So as Sasha's coming off the court, he grabs a ball and decides to hurl a hook shot from about 50 or 55 feet away, and yells out, ``Take that Kob'' ... And it clanks off the rim.

The door, was quite clearly, wide open for a challenge.

``I'll give you $20 bucks if you make that,'' Kobe yelled out to Sasha. ``I got $20 bucks in my sock right now.''

``Twenty bucks?'' Sasha said. ``No problem.''

There was a rack of basketballs sitting along the baseline. One-by-one Sasha started hurling them to the basket. Some were close. Really close, off the front of the rim, one foot in front, just off the iron. Some where not close at all. Behind the backboard, off the shot clock on top, you get the idea.

After about 10 tries, we all assumed Sasha would give up. Then we realized this was Sasha Vujacic we were dealing with. The Machine. A guy who has never finished a practice without sweating through his entire shirt. A guy who tires out the person rebounding for him in shoot-around. A guy so competitive, if you held a staring contest between him and a wall, you'd almost bet the wall would give up first.

Anyway, after the first 10 or so tries, Sasha runs across the court and starts picking up the balls, then runs back to the spot and starts throwing up another round of 50-foot hook shots.

``We're going to have to get you a rebounder,'' Kobe yells out.

Sasha, completely focused at this point, just keeps shooting until eventually one of the Lakers staffers comes out from the training room and starts rebounding for him.

Sasha keeps going. Another 10 or 20 tries. Literally every third or fourth ball clanking off the rim. The whole gym is rolling with laughter.

``You need your man-band to make this, your hair band,'' Bryant says. ``We might be here all night. Come on Sampson.''

At one point, we all start to wonder whether he's right. Ten, 20 more tries and it's almost getting tragic. How can the ball clank off the front of the rim so many times and not go in?

``Come on! It's unbelievable,'' Sasha says, about ten times throughout the whole session, clearly dumbfounded at how close he's come so many different times.

``Here, you shoot. You try,'' Sasha says to Kobe.

``It's your shot,'' Kobe says back. ``You're the one taking the shot, not me.''

It's about this point when we all realize that Mirjam Swanson of the Press-Enterprise has been filming this whole thing.

``You know this is going up on YouTube, Sasha,'' one of us scribes yells out.

About 10 minutes into the ordeal, the Lakers staffer who'd come out to rebound gets tired and goes back in.

``You know, you may not be mentally strong enough to make this,'' Kobe yells out.

Sasha keeps shooting, and shooting and shooting. And when he needs more basketballs, he sprints across the court to go get them himself.

``This would make a great Snickers commercial,'' Kobe yells to Sasha. ``You know, if you want to quit you can quit.''

Sasha, stone-faced and stubborn, keeps shooting.

No one was leaving. Least of all, Sasha or Kobe even though it was coming up on 2 o'clock and the traffic on the 405 was getting thick.

``Man, I'm going to have to call home and tell (them) I'm going to be late because of you,'' Kobe yells out to Sasha, clearly getting very good at getting under his skin by now. ``You better make one. I'm going to take this personally if you don't make one.''

Finally, after what seemed like 15 or 20 minutes, Sasha finally nails one. Straight through the net from 50 or 55 feet away and the whole gym erupted in laughter and cheers.

Sasha runs toward Kobe, grabs a high five and yells out, ``Take that, take that.''

Kobe, laughing as loud as everyone else in the gym, turns to all of us and says, ``See, this is what I gotta deal with every day.''

No word yet on whether the $20 has been exchanged.

NBA general managers predict the Los Angeles Lakers to defeat the Boston Celtics in The Finals according to respondents of the Seventh Annual NBA.com GM Survey. The complete NBA.com GM Survey results are now posted on NBA.com.

Forty-six percent of GMs believe the Lakers will win their 15th NBA title in 2009. The defending NBA champion Boston Celtics received 19 percent of the vote, followed by the New Orleans Hornets with 12 percent. For the first time in five years, the majority of GMs did not select the San Antonio Spurs (eight percent) to win the title.

Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James (56 percent) was selected by GMs for the third consecutive year to win the regular season MVP. Reigning MVP, Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers received 37 percent of the vote and the New Orleans Hornets' Chris Paul garnered seven percent.

For the seventh consecutive season, Bryant (89 percent) was selected by GMs as the player they most want taking the shot with the game on the line. Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks (67 percent) was voted the top international player and James (67 percent) was voted as the top player GMs would sign to start an NBA franchise.

Here's some other fun answers:
· Spurs' Gregg Popovich - best head coach in the NBA (54 percent)
· Utah Jazz - best home-court advantage (44 percent)
· Celtics' Kevin Garnett - best defensive player (44 percent)
· Lakers' Andrew Bynum - most likely to have breakout season (19 percent)
· New Orleans Hornets - most fun team to watch (27 percent)
· Portland Trail Blazers and Miami Heat - most improved team (each 26 percent)
· Knicks' Mike D'Antoni - head coach that runs the best offense (54 percent)
· Hornets' Chris Paul - fastest player with the ball (37 percent)
· Blazers' Rudy Fernandez - which international rookie is most ready to contribute this season (52 percent)

Just a quick update for all you breathless Lakers fans out there awaiting word on Kobe Bryant's knee injury today. According to Bryant, his hyper-extended right knee still feels a sore behind the knee, and he did experience some swelling, but other than that Kobe is OK and might even play in Thursday's exhibition game in Anaheim.

``If it feels good, I'm going to go. I don't see any reason not to,'' he said.

Just found a video clip of Kobe Bryant's knee injury Tuesday night. It looks harmless at first, but when they slow it down and spot-shadow Kobe and Josh Powell knocking knees, it's clear Kobe's knee bends in a way it did not enjoy bending.

Click here to watch:

Kobe Bryant said his hyper-extended right knee was sore, but he didn't have much else to report after the Lakers' 102-98 victory Tuesday night over the Charlotte Bobcats at the San Diego Sports Arena. He said he would know more Wednesday afternoon. He's scheduled to be re-examined by the team's medical staff. The team termed him day-to-day.
Meanwhile at Staples Center, where the Clippers played host to Phoenix, Suns center Shaquille O'Neal told our own Ramona Shelburne, "Wow, I hope he's OK. That's my guy."
The Lakers didn't seem overly concerned about Bryant's injury immediately after the game, with Phil Jackson saying rather playfully that the league's reigning MVP would "maybe" play in Tuesday's regular-season opener against Portland.
Said Derek Fisher when asked if Bryant would play Tuesday, "Definitely."
Bryant was hurt with 3:08 left in the first half, when he landed awkwardly while chasing after a rebound. He left for the locker room and didn't return to the game. He watched the second half from a seat near the bench while dressed in street clothes.

Kobe Bryant left the Lakers' exhibition game against Charlotte with 3:08 remaining in the half because of a hyper-extended knee. The Lakers trailed the Bobcats, 54-48, by halftime. Bryant scored four points on 2-for-4 shooting in 14 minutes, 24 seconds in the first half.
He did not rejoin the team on the bench for the second half.

The Lakers are set to take on the Charlotte Bobcats in the sixth of their eight exhibition games this month. They're here in San Diego, one of America's finest cities, playing inside the beat-up and beat-down San Diego Sports Arena.
The Clippers used to play here.
The San Diego State Aztecs used to play here, too.
The old barn is now more famous for playing the role of a 1970s arena in the movie "Almost Famous," Cameron Crowe's autobiographical film about his teenage years writing for Rolling Stone magazine in the early '70s. Funny thing, it doesn't look like they have updated much of anything in the place since the '70s.
For instance, there's a giant mural of the late "Greatful Dead" guitarist Jerry Garcia on one of the walls near the press workroom. So the arena has that going for it.
Rock on!

OK, it wasn't exactly a posterizing dunk, but for a 6-foot-2 point guard going up against a 6-foot-10 shot-blocker like Chris Bosh, it wasn't half bad.

Here's what Jordan Farmar had to say about his dunk over Bosh on Sunday night.

``It is what it is. I just go and try to be aggressive. That's all I was trying to do,'' he said. ``I just tried to run up and dunk. It's not rocket science.''

Ronny Turiaf is off in Golden State. Sasha Vujacic is working his way back form an ankle injury, but the Lakers so-called ``Bench Mob'' is still the Bench Mob until further notice.

``Absolutely,'' point guard, and Bench Mob headliner Jordan Farmar said, when asked if the unit was keeping it's name, despite losing Turiaf to the Warriors. ``We do miss him though.''

Personality-wise, there's probably no one in the league who could completely fill Ronny's shoes. But on the court, now that Lamar Odom seems to have joined the youthful gang, the Lakers second-unit might even be better.

In Sunday's exhibition win over the Raptors, the second unit turned a 70-70 tie into a 112-89 blowout win.

``I've always said, We're only going to be a great team when we play well when Kobe is out of the game, because that instills fear in teams,'' Odom said. `It gives them confidence when he's (Kobe's) the one who's doing everything. When we're out there moving the ball, playing well off the bench, it really destroys teams mentally.''

Apparently, the repairman was able to fix things on the Lakers ``Machine'' a bit ahead of schedule. Sasha Vujacic (ankle) returned to practice Monday morning, a bit ahead of schedule and was able to complete almost the entire practice.

``I did take a little break, I don't want to go too crazy,'' Vujacic said. ``But I didn't feel any sharp pain, so that's good. There was a little discomfort, which is normal. We'll just have to see if it swells up. If it does, we have to slow it down. But it feels good now.''

Vujacic has been out most of training camp with a sprained ankle, which he suffered on the first day of camp. After the ankle was slow to heal, he was re-examined and an avulsion fracture --where a thin piece of bone is peeled away by a ligament or tendon --was discovered. At that point, he was projected to miss 10-14 days. That was just six days ago.

``My goal is to be ready for the first game (on October 28),'' he said. ``And it's going to take me two or three days of practice to come back into shape.''

The Lakers trimmed their roster down to 17 Monday by requesting waivers on free agent guard Brandon Heath.

In five preseason games with the Lakers, Heath averaged 1.4 points in 8.6 minutes.

Sasha Vujacic said Sunday night that he's going to try and return to practice on Monday. How much he'll be able to do is still to be determined.

``I'm going to see what I can do. It may not be 5-on-5 stuff,'' he said Sunday.``We'll just have to see.''

Vujacic sprained his ankle on the first day of camp. At the time, it was thought to be a minor issue. But when it was slow to heal, more tests were done and team doctors concluded he had what is called an avulsion fracture, which is when a tendon or ligament pulls away thin piece of bone is pulled away, and would miss 10-14 days.

Well, it hasn't even been a week and Vujacic is already trying to make a return. Though judging by how anxious he seemed to get back into practice last week during practice, it's not all that surprising.

Vujacic was constantly working out, whether it was biking, swimming or lifting weights. He'd shoot free throws or 3-pointers after practice and was still one of the last guys to leave the Lakers training facility every day.

Basically, because his contract took a little while to get done over the summer, Vujacic only went home to Slovenia for seven days. Then he was back in LA, working on his game and getting ready for training camp. After all that, with the excitement around the Lakers season at a fever pitch, he gets hurt on the first day of practice.

The Lakers have three exhibition games this week. Sasha wouldn't commit to how many he'd play in, but said his goal was to get some rhythm back before the Lakers season opener on October 28.

Here's what Toronto coach Sam Mitchell had to say about the Lakers front court of Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol:

``They make our two big guys (Jermaine O'Neal and Chris Bosh) look small. But again, the good thing is that we play them only twice a year. The Lakers are obviously the best basketball team with or without Bynum. It just makes them bigger and athletic, which is the reason why they went to the Finals last year.''

The Lakers second unit of Lamar Odom, Jordan Farmar, Chris Mihm, Luke Walton and Trevor Ariza, has been strong once again. Since the group came win with 2 minutes, 41 seconds to go in the third quarter, the Lakers have outscored the Raptors 22-10.

With 7:31 to go in the game, it's Lakers 92, Raptors 80

Tonight's opponent, the Toronto Raptors, is also breaking in a new pair of 7-footers. Toronto acquired Jermaine O'Neal in a trade with Indiana over the summer and he's joined Chris Bosh to form what could be the most prolific offensive power forward-center combo in the league.

Whereas the Lakers have only sparingly played Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol together, the Raptors have played Bosh and O'Neal heavy minutes.

In Saturday's win over the Clippers, Bosh played nearly 36 minutes and O'Neal played 33 minutes.

Early in the fourth quarter of tonight's game, Bosh has played 29 minutes, O'Neal 21.

Gasol has played 24 minutes, Bynum just 18

I normally don't post non-Lakers related news, but when one of the premier point guards in the Western Conference gets hurt, it's worth a mention.

Utah guard Deron Williams suffered what appeared to be a pretty serious ankle injury Saturday night in an exihibiton game in Chicago. According to our old buddy, Ross Siler at the Salt Lake Tribune, Williams is scheduled to have an MRI on Monday.

It was subtle this time, but apparently MVP status doesn't make Kobe Bryant immune from a few jabs from his ever-pugilistic coach Phil Jackson. Friday in practice, Jackson commented that Bryant's shot still seemed a bit flat to him, and that Bryant might still be a little tired from all his summer activities.

``Kobe still looks to me like his legs might be a little tired,'' Jackson said.

Well, Saturday night Bryant answered that jibe both on and off the court, scoring a team-high 28 points on 10-of-14 shooting in the Lakers 108-104 win over FC Barcelona. Then afterwards in the locker room, when I playfully asked him what he'd thought of Jackson's comments about him, Bryant laughed, shrugged his shoulders, then said: ``I think it's the other way around to be honest with you. I think Phil's a little tired. I feel fantastic.''

Josh Powell did not play tonight because he missed Friday's practice due to the death of his father-in-law. Powell dressed but did not play in the win over FC Barcelona.

If the Lakers hold on to beat FC Barcelona, NBA teams will be 65-9 all time against foreign teams.

Not that it's a huge deal, considering how deep the Lakers are this year, but Phil Jackson reminded everyone that the Lakers must trim their roster down to 15 by Tuesday. It currently sits at 18, so the guys on the bubble are likely: CJ Giles, Brandon Heath, Coby Karl and Joe Crawford.

Giles has looked impressive and athletic in the few times we've seen him pay in practice and exhibition games, and Phil Jackson has spoken glowingly about him on several occasions. But that doesn't necessarily mean that he'll make the team.

``He's really talented young man,'' Jackson said of Giles. ``He has recognition troubles sometimes but he's the only one who really wasn't here during our summer league. He came in right before preseason started so he didn't have the opportunity to learn as much as the other guys so he's been behind a little bit, but his athleticism makes up for it.''

Contracts also figure into the equation. Giles and Heath are free agents, with no guaranteed money. Sun Yue received $100,000 after passing his physical and becomes fully guaranteed for the rest of the year if he's on the opening day roster. Karl becomes guaranteed if he's on the roster January 9, as does Josh Powell.

I just got done interviewing FC Barcelona's Juan Carlos Navarro, who played in the NBA last season with his best friend Pau Gasol, but returned home to Spain in the offseason for a reported five-year, $15 million euro contract.

Earlier in the day, I'd asked Kobe Bryant what he thought of Navarro's game and he said: ``I think (Navarro) is a great player. I think he'd be great in this kind of system, the way he moves without the basketball, he's a great shooter.''

When told of Bryant's praise, Navarro had a quick laugh.

``I think so too,'' he said. ``If Kobe wants to pay for my buyout (approximately $10 million euro), I'll come.''

The Lakers won Pacific Division and Western Conference titles last season with a starting five of Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher, Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol and Vladimir Radmanovic.
So why would Phil Jackson mess with success? Because he can? Because he wants to see what else might or might not work now that Andrew Bynum is back from his kneecap injury?
Everyone assumes that Bryant, Fisher, Odom, Bynum and Gasol might be the Lakers' starting five for opening night Oct. 28. However, Jackson let it slip after Friday's practice that he might just go back to last season's starting five when the Lakers open 2008-09 against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Jackson could still play Bynum and Gasol together. He could still play Bryant at small forward and Odom at point guard. He could still use Trevor Ariza and Luke Walton in the backcourt. He can do all these things because the Lakers have exceptional depth.
So, stay tuned because this is when it starts to get interesting.

I had a feeling this situation could get a little sticky all the way back in July when I checked in with Bynum's agent, David Lee and he said, ``I know what we want, I know what the rest of the league thinks of Andrew. I just hope the Lakers are on the same page.''

That was a not so subtle indication that Lee was going to pursue a max contract for his young client and was going to be disappointed if it didn't get done before the season began. Still, Lee said he understood the club's position that it wanted to see Bynum in training camp and evaluate his recovery from the knee injury which ended his season last January.

OK, so here we are in mid-October, midway through training camp and two weeks until the October 31 deadline to get the contract extension done. If it's not done by then, Bynum becomes a restricted free agent at the end of the season. At which point, the club would likely make him a one-year qualifying offer, which he has the option of accepting or declining. If he accepts it, he would then become an unrestricted free agent after the 2009-10 season. If he declines it, he has the right to sign an offer sheet with any other club but the Lakers would also have the right to match that offer.

So here are the questions that must be answered:

1. Have the Lakers seen enough from Bynum in training camp to feel confident in the health of his knee?

2. Have the Lakers seen enough from Bynum in his three seasons with the club to sign him to a maximum contract over five years between $83 and $88 million depending on how much the salary cap increases?

3. Would Bynum risk playing this season without an extension?

4. Would Bynum risk playing two seasons without a long-term extension in the hopes of becoming an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2010?

There are three other dynamics you have to consider:

1. The Lakers have invested heavily in Bynum and would like to see him continue to develop into a franchise cornerstone.

2. Lamar Odom is an unrestricted free agent after this season. And Kobe Bryant has the right to opt out of his contract at the end of his season, meaning he could command another huge payday if he were to subsequently re-up with the Lakers. Whatever the Lakers do with Bynum also affects what they will do with Odom, and to a lesser extent with Bryant.

3. Just about every team in the league is trying to clear enough cap space for the summer of 2010, when LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade will all be free agents. If Bynum takes the risk of playing two seasons without the longterm extension, there could be a number of teams with the cap space in that summer to make him a maximum offer. And for a team that misses out on Bosh, James or Wade, wouldn't Bynum make a nice consolation prize?

The last thing that factors in is really pretty intangible and hard to quantify. But there are some franchises in the NBA known for ``taking care of their guys'' and the Lakers are generally one of them. For another example, think Washington with Gilbert Arenas last summer, where the Wizards gave Agent Zero a max deal (which he then was asked to reduce a bit so the team could sign some other players too) even though he was coming off knee surgery. It was the ultimate sign of respect, and you'd be surprised how much weight that can carry with an NBA player, particularly one who fancies himself a superstar. Anyone remember Elton Brand and his early termination option (ETO)?

In today's stories about the situation, several times David Lee is quoted talking about the loyalty Bynum has showed, about respect, and things of that nature.

It should be pointed out that there's a huge difference between Bynum and Gilbert Arenas. Bynum, as Phil Jackson correctly pointed out in his preseason media gathering, has had three great months in the NBA. Arenas is a perennial All-Star. Then again, Bynum is a 7-foot tall center with soft hands, great athleticism, a growing maturity and a ridiculous 7-foot-6 wingspan for blocking shots and there aren't very many of those guys floating around the NBA.

So basically, it's complicated. That's about as succinctly as it can be summed up. And because of that, and Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak's deliberate style (deliberate doesn't mean bad, just deliberate), I'd say the most likely resolution to all this will also be complicated, deliberate and take just about all of the two weeks remaining to get this done. But one way or another, here's guessing Bynum is in purple and gold for a very long time.

I did some checking on a few of the figures we've seen connected with Andrew Bynum's potential extension. First off, it should always be noted that the potential maximum extension Bynum could sign is 5 years, $88 million is just that, potential. It is contingent upon the salary cap and where it's set.

With normal growth of about 5 percent, that's what it would be. However, that's normal growth and we are not exactly in a normal growth cycle economically in this country. With no ``growth'' the max Bynum could sign for would be $83.2 million.

Also, there are several reports out there saying the Lakers are hoping to land Bynum for closer to $78 million. I just spoke to a league source, with knowledge of the negotiations, who said that the Lakers and Bynum are ``so far off on money that they haven't even talked `years' yet.'' In other words, if the Lakers are hoping to land Bynum for around $78 million, which could indeed be the case (the Lakers had no official comment today) that hasn't been communicated to Bynum's camp yet.

If and when they do talk years, there is always the possibility that Bynum could sign a contract that gives him the potential of becoming a free agent after three years, as LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh did a few years ago. That's advantageous because after seven years in the league, a player can sign a maximum contract for 25 percent of the salary cap. After eight years, that maximum contract can be for 30 percent of the salary cap.

I'll have a longer breakdown of the Bynum situation later tonight so check back around midnight.

Phil Jackson suggested he might play forward Luke Walton at guard in upcoming exhibitions. Walton has yet to play in an exhibition after undergoing left ankle surgery during the summer. He is not averse to the idea, willing to play anywhere at any time.
"We're loaded all over the court, at every position," Walton said. "We have versatile people who can play multiple positions. You know, with the triangle, the (small forward) and the (power forward) are pretty much the same position out there. The (point guard) and the (shooting guard) are the same position out there. I know all five positions.
"It's going to be interesting to see how (Jackson) works it. As a player, all you can do is work hard and try to get opportunities to do something."
Walton sounded positively giddy at the prospect of playing Saturday night against Regal FC Barcelona, a Spanish club team, at Staples Center.
"I can't wait to play," he said.

Andrew Bynum's agent said Thursday morning that he would be traveling to L.A. on Friday to speak with Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak about a new contract for his client. Bynum is signed with the Lakers through the end of the season, but is eligible for a five-year extension worth $88 million. The deadline to complete a deal is Oct. 31.
"We shall see," Lee told me when asked if he expects to get the deal done. "I'm not very optimistic, but you never know."
Lee also said he has had some "very, very, very brief" talks with Kupchak.
Bynum said after Thursday's practice that he understands it might take a while to get the deal done. He smiled and laughed and indicated he wasn't particularly concerned about the lack of progress thus far.

The Lakers' crack media relations staff hosted the annual training camp dinner with the beat reporters at a swanky restaurant high atop a swanky hotel Tuesday night. As ever, the highlight of the evening was when the writers put their season forecasts for the Lakers to paper. Names have been omitted for legal reasons, but I can say that I predicted the Lakers will go 60-22 this season. Predictions ranged from 66 wins on the high end to 55 on the low. Last season, they went 57-25. As I recall, I predicted they would win 44 games.

One of the biggest issues for the Lakers this year, as it is for every team coming off an extended playoff run from the year before, is getting the engines revved up in time for the regular season after such a short offseason.

Take too long, especially in the tightly bunched Western Conference, and you could be climbing out of a hole the rest of the season. In years past, like, say when the Lakers were winning three straight championships at the start of this decade, the team had a habit of slow starts and stumbling into the playoffs as a lower seed. This year, that's not an option, Fisher says:

``I think it could be like that again this year where there's a five-game difference between 1-8,'' Fisher said, when asked if the Western Conference would be as tough this season. ``So you can't take November and December off and think, `We'll turn it on at the All-Star break' or you'll be too far behind. We have to be ready to go in two weeks.''

The Lakers held an open practice for 1,200 or so season ticket holders Wednesday at Staples Center, lulling their fans into a near-comatose state while performing drills to start the workout and then bringing them to the edge of their seats during a lively scrimmage.
Kobe Bryant concluded the scrimmage by accepting a lob pass from Lamar Odom and dunking, bringing the fans to their feet. Sensing it was probably a good idea to end the workout then and there, Phil Jackson halted the practice.
"I'm not a daytime television actor so I don't know much about performing in front of live audiences on a regular basis," Derek Fisher said of practicing in front of the fans. "It was different. I think Phil tries to set up the practice in a way that's more entertaining. This is no way close to a representation of the practices we've been having. No. We'd still be here for a couple of hours."

Last week, Andrew Bynum conceeded that he and Pau Gasol occasionally run into each other at the offensive end because each is so accustomed to playing the five (center) spot in the Lakers offense. We took that to be a bad thing, but Gasol isn't so sure.

``Yeah, sometimes (we run to the same spot). So we just have to communicate a little better. But I think it's a goot thing, because if we're both being aggressive in the post, demanding the ball, that's a good thing,'' Gasol said. ``I think it'd be worse if we both were fading away or letting the other always take that initiative.''

Sasha Vujacic will miss the next 10-14 days of training camp after further tests on his sprained left ankle revealed an avulsion fracture, a team spokesman said Tuesday.

The injury, which doctors believe existed before the ankle sprain during the first week of training camp, occurs when a tendon or ligament attaches to a bone and pulls a thin piece off the bone. Vujacic will be shut down for at least 10 days as a precautionary move, though he said Tuesday that he hopes to be back sooner.

``It's nothing to worry about, but if you're not smart about it, you could miss a month so I'm going to take some pressure off it for a little while,'' Vujacic said. ``It's better to sit out a week or two now than later on.''

Vujacic sat out of most of Tuesday's practice, but stayed afterwards --which is not uncommon for him -- shooting free throws and running shots off of his right foot. He walked without a noticeable limp.

``I'm one of those guys who can't stay away. This is killing me not to be playing,'' he said. ``I want to be there for opening night, so I'm going to do whatever I can to be ready.''

The Lakers reached the NBA Finals last season with Vlad Radmanovic as their starter at small forward, remember? It's easy to forget when most of the attention this training camp has focused on whether Kobe Bryant, Trevor Ariza or Lamar Odom is best suited to starting in that spot.

But after a couple weeks of tinkering, Lakers coach Phil Jackson has gone back to dancing with the small forward who brung him, starting Radmanovic in Sunday's exhibition victory over Sacramento and playing him with the first unit for extended stretches during practice.

``He's the starter,'' Jackson said. ``Right now.''

However, when asked whether that meant anything had been decided, or even whether Radmanovic would start in Saturday's exhibition game against FC Barcelona, Jackson was noncommittal.

"Weekend is a long ways away," he said. "We just go one day at a time, see how that works."

Kobe Bryant delivered another MVP performance Monday, and like many of his athletic feats, it was something only he could pull off.

But this was no crazy high-flying act or off-balance fall-away jumper as the clock ran down.

No, only a guy like Bryant, with MVP cache could get away with this one.

At the end of the Lakers marathon, three-and-a-half hour practice Monday afternoon, and the Lakers going through what seemed like the 50th conditioning drill of the day, Bryant intervened on his teammates behalf.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson had sent the team on what's called an ``indian run,'' where the team runs in a single line around the court and the last person in line has to sprint to the front of the line. When that person gets there, the next person at the end of the line has to sprint to the front of the line until the coach stops the drill.

About four laps in, Bryant took matters into his own hands, sprinting on the inside of the line -- by far a shorter distance than outside the line -- came to an almost complete stop in front of Derek Fisher at the front of the line and bought his teammates an extra five or ten seconds of rest.

``The veterans taught me that, I'm just passing it on,'' Bryant joked afterwards. ``Thats just how you do it. Phil (Jackson) teaches us to run together so you have to have a collective effort and one mind so our one mind was to slow the hell down.''

A couple minutes later, Bryant really put the team on his back, sinking a free throw to end the days' practice.

After playing in Las Vegas Sunday night, one might have assumed Jackson would just run an easy practice Monday. If anything, the opposite was true.

``We're going to work hard. Thats what training camp is about, getting in shape, getting in condition, it's not so much about the games,'' Bryant said. ``I don't think anybody out here is exhausted or anything.''

Also: Luke Walton (ankle) will likely play in Saturday's exhibition against the Spanish club FC Barcelona. Walton said that his surgically repaired ankle feels strong and hasn't bothered him when he makes cuts, but still gets a little sore. He probably could've played in Sunday's game in Las Vegas, but the training staff wanted him to go through a full week of practice first. ... Sasha Vujacic (ankle) was limited to light activity and shooting Monday and wasn't able to practice with the team in full-court activities. ... Jackson said that the next roster cuts will likely take place later this week. The Lakers currently have 18 players in camp.

Lamar Odom has always been one of the most candid, genuine guys to talk with in the NBA. To say he wears his heart on his sleeve would be an understatement. It was pretty revealing then, that after two weeks as the butt of coach Phil Jackson's jabs, Odom stayed late after practice Monday, speaking openly and deeply about why he'd like to remain in Los Angeles for the rest of his career.

"I'm loyal, really loyal. People that show me love, I can't help but show them love back,'' Odom said. ``I love doing things here. When I go out in L.A., I get receptions just from being here so long, going through trials and tribulations, good times and bad times, and I think people respect that, especially people that have been through tough times."

Odom will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season. He'll turn 29 on November 6, meaning that his next contract will likely be his last, big payday.

``My family has sacrificed. Especially my kids, as far as living in New York, living without me, so this will probably be my last go-round,'' Odom said, when asked how much longer he'd like to play. ``Maybe 34, 35 years old, I'd still be young, I'd love to go home and be able to take my daughter to volleyball games, go to parent teacher night, take my son to his basketball games, football games.''

Does this loyalty mean Odom would give the Lakers a so-called hometown discount?

``Possibly,'' he said. ``But I also have to make a wise business decision according to my family and what needs to be done to keep or to start an Odom tradition.''

The Lakers defeated the Sacramento Kings, 94-89, on Sunday night in Las Vegas for their first exhibition victory in three tries. Pau Gasol scored 12 points and had six rebounds in 22 minutes, 10 seconds. Gasol and fellow 7-footer Andrew Bynum started together for the first time. Bynum had nine points and five rebounds in 22:18.

Here are a few postgame thoughts from Derek Fisher, who had eight points:
"I think we did some things better on the defensive end. Sacramento is a good passing team. They move the ball well. We had to key in on the defensive end. I think we did a better job. We still gave up a lot of penetration on screen-and-rolls. With so many different lineups and personnel changes going on, you can expect some mix-ups at times."

Coach Phil Jackson used Lamar Odom in a new role as the Lakers' sixth man. Odom had four points, nine rebounds and three assists in 21:40. Jackson seemed pleased, telling reporters after the game:
"He had initiative. He came off the bench, and I liked that. He came off the bench with six minutes to go in the first quarter and didn't get stiff sitting on the bench. He came out and played hard, and I liked that."

Odom had this to say about playing a reserve role:
"It's been such a long time, but it was cool. This just happens to be the third game. Whether I'm a starter or not, I'm going to feel a lot more comfortable every game we play, whether it be starting or coming off the bench."
FYI: Odom said the last time he played regularly as a backup was when he was in the ninth grade, playing on an AAU team in New York City. He and Ron Artest, now with the Houston Rockets, were reserves. Odom also said he was a substitute for a time while at Christ the King High School in Queens, N.Y.

The Lakers lost their second exhibition game, falling to the Clippers by 107-80 in Fresno two nights after losing to the Utah Jazz, 99-90, in Anaheim. The Lakers were outworked in dramatic fashion by the Clippers, who won a battle of the backups in the second half.
Other random thoughts after two exhibitions:
First, Lamar Odom hasn't been properly engaged in either game, but especially against the Clippers. He hasn't had the expected impact while trying out a new position as point guard. He did not score against the Clippers and took only one shot. He also had three rebounds and one assist in 16 minutes.
Second, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum haven't jelled. Of course, they have played something like nine minutes together and Gasol rightly suggested the pairing of the 7-footers is going to take a while.
Third, Trevor Ariza continues to make the case that he should remain a starter when the regular season begins Oct. 28. He didn't shoot all that well against the Clippers, going 3-for-9 while scoring 10 points in 23 minutes. But his energetic play, particularly defensively, sparked the Lakers to a brief run in the third quarter.

Phil Jackson made the trip to Fresno after missing Tuesday's exhibition opener in Anaheim because of swelling and soreness in his lower legs. The cause of the ailment remains something of a mystery, but Jackson arrived with the team for its game against the Clippers.

Just got done watching an excellent interview with Shaquille O'Neal on ESPN.

The Big Saguaro, or whatever he's going by these days, said that he's been reflecting on his time with the Lakers recently and come to some interesting new conclusions.

``I was fun the whole time. All that hoopla, being part of that little sitcom,'' O'Neal said. ``One day I just sat there and thought about it. You know how Phil does the psychological thing, and he never jumped in? Why Magic (Johnson) never jumped in? I think it was all done by design, and it actually worked.

``If I had to do it all over again, I would probably bring it up more, I would probably start more fights with him (Kobe Bryant). I was putting up great numbers, he was putting up great numbers, it made him all pissed off and he's one of those (guys) where when he gets pissed off, he can go on and score 80 points.

``I think we were the greatest one-two punch in the game, greatest little man, big man punch in the game. Period.''

Why then, did Shaq rip Kobe in that infamous freestyle rap over the summer?

``That was my bad, a bad thing to do,'' O'Neal said. ``I just threw his name in at the end, it was a bad move on my part.''

O'Neal said he called Kobe shortly after the video hit TMZ.com and apologized, Bryant accepted the apology and the two have put it behind them.

Sasha Vujacic (ankle) said that he wasn't sure if he'd accompany the team to Fresno for tonight's game. He took part in practice Wednesday, but said his ankle is still sore. ... Derek Fisher sat out a significant portion of Wednesday's practice, but was just being given some extra rest.

No, this post isn't going to be all about Andrew Bynum's shoes. But it was kind of funny when he came out after practice wearing size 18 Uggs slippers.

Bynum left the Honda Center Tuesday night without speaking to reporters. No big deal. He's only 20 years old, after all. But still, inquiring minds wanted to know how his first game since mid-January felt.

``It felt great. It was definitely fun just to get back out there and play,'' Bynum said. ``I still haven't gotten to play with Pau (who only played a few minutes Tuesday). I'm looking forward to that. But all I can say is that in practice, when we're together, we haven't lost a game. ''

Then he offered his thoughts on why Lakers coach Phil Jackson was calling his interactions on the court with Gasol ``clumsy.''

``It is a little confusing sometimes. You have a guy who played 5 all last season and I've been playing the 5 here the last three years, so we run to same block sometimes,'' Bynum said. ``We just need to talk about how we're going to do things, as far as giving each other space, not crowding each other, not posting up on top of each other.''

The Los Angeles Lakers waived free agent guard Dwayne Mitchell Wednesday afternoon.

Mitchell, a 6'5" 220-pound guard out of Louisiana Lafayette, was a member of the Lakers 2008 Summer-Pro League team in Las Vegas, where he averaged 6.7 points and 1.5 rebounds in 15.0 minutes over six games.

Mitchell practiced with the team on Wednesday morning and said that he was feeling good again after being limited for a few days with some soreness in his knee.

The Lakers roster now stands at 18.

After skipping last night's exhibition game versus the Utah Jazz, Lakers coach Phil Jackson was back at the team's practice facility Wednesday and well enough to put the team through an extended practice. Jackson said that the cause of the swelling and soreness in his lower legs is still ``mysterious'' and didn't commit to attending tommorrow night's exhibition against the Clippers in Fresno. A decision on whether Jackson will accompany the team on its flight to Fresno will be made in the morning, according to Lakers spokesman John Black.

Jackson appeared to be in good spirits Wednesday. He sat on a large, foam pad for most of practice --which isn't uncommon -- but walked over to the team afterwards and addressed them on the court.

``He was messing with me, poking fun at me, like he always does,'' Lakers guard Sasha Vujacic said. ``I thought that was a good sign.''

So, how did Lamar Odom's trial run at point forward go Tuesday night? Apparently the Lakers won't be cutting him much slack as he adjusts to his new role (s).

``Fair to middlin, maybe even poor,'' assistant coach Kurt Rambis said after Tuesday's exhibition loss to the Utah Jazz. ``He didn't seem focused out there.''

When told of Rambis' assessment, Odom tried to laugh it off and seemed to take it in stride.

``It's the first game of the year, ain't nobody want to score a career high the first game of the year,'' he said. ``There's no need to be frustrated. He's my coach. Coach is always right.''

Teammate Kobe Bryant got a good chuckle too.

``Sheesh, it's one preseason game,'' Bryant said. ``(Lamar's) fine.''

Daily Breeze crime reporter Larry Altman just forwarded me the mug shot of the 34-year old El Segundo woman, Stacy Beshear, who has been charged with one misdemeanor count of stalking Lakers forward Luke Walton.

akers coach Phil Jackson did not accompany the team to Anaheim for it's exhibition opener against the Utah Jazz Thursday evening, due to soreness in his lower legs.

Assistant Kurt Rambis is coaching in his stead.

``We do not anticipate it's anything serious at all," team spokesman John Black said. "We felt, and he felt, it would be better for him to stay at home and watch the game on TV."

While Jackson isn't in the building, he did make one very important decision for Tuesday's game: Andrew Bynum is not in the starting lineup.

"The starting lineup was Phil's decision," Rambis said. "Andrew's had some good moments, but one of the things we've been trying to impress on him is that he has to extend those good moments. He has to be ready to play at both ends of the court at all times."

Just got back from Clippers practice and learned that new center Marcus Camby might not play in Thursday's exhibition game against the Lakers up in Fresno.

Coach Mike Dunleavy said he hadn't decided yet whether Camby, who missed most of last week with the flu, will play. But said it's possible Camby will sit out, or play very few minutes.

Also, the Clippers first-round draft choice Eric Gordon is unlikely to play. Gordon sprained his ankle last week and is expected to be limited the rest of this week.

Derek Fisher has picked up more than a few tricks in his 12 seasons in the league. How to take charges without completely selling out his body, how to draw fouls or lead a team. But this summer he picked something new up.

After the Lakers long, deep playoff run, and with his odometer sitting at age 34, Fisher knew he needed a different approach to his offseason training. Going full-out, six days a week was going to be pushing it.

Instead, he went hard four days a week, then rested and recovered the other three. The results were fantastic.

``It was actually probably my best summer, if not the best in terms of how my body felt overall,'' Fisher said. ``I didn't feel weak or run down or anything.

``The biggest difference is the way I approached my training. I used to feel like I had to go hard, 5-6 days a week. Now I just make it four days and take three days off.

``I try to convince Phil to approach my usage in practice that way, to practice a few days then have a few days off, but it's not quite working that way yet.''

Here's a sneak peek at a story, written by the Daily Breeze's crime reporter Larry Altman on Luke Walton's stalker.

An El Segundo woman who believed she was supposed to marry Los Angeles
Lakers forward Luke Walton has been charged with stalking him at his
Manhattan Beach home and at basketball practice.

Stacy Elizabeth Beshear, a 34-year-old woman who is 6 feet, 210 pounds, was
arrested Sept. 18, Manhattan Beach police Sgt. Steve Tobias said Monday.

Walton filed a report late last year that Beshear was harassing him in
November and December.

"He reported that the woman was using a Sharpie marker and writing on his
car," Tobias said. "She was following him. She'd park in front of his home
and wait for him to leave and return. She told him that, 'You are supposed
to be the person I marry.'"

At that time, he received no threats.

That changed on Sept. 15, Tobias said.

Beshear followed Walton to the house of fellow Laker Jordan Farmar and
pulled up next to him. She simulated making a gun with her hand and moved
her thumb as if she was cocking the weapon, Tobias said.

"She had made other gestures including extending her middle finger," Tobias
said. "He had indicated that she had a very serious and angry look on her
face when she was doing this."

The District Attorney's Office's Stalking and Threat Assessment Team charged
Beshear with one misdemeanor count of stalking. Beshear, who was released on
bail, pleaded not guilty on Sept. 19 and is scheduled to return to Torrance
court on Nov. 6 for trial.

Beshear's family members said she had no comment.

Walton told the Orange County Register in an article published Monday that
Beshear parked outside his home for hours and hours, even in the middle of
the night. He would drive out and see her, worried that she would break into
his house and steal his dog.

"When she pulled up to my house and started yelling at me after she fired a
fake gun at me, I couldn't help but to start yelling back at her," Walton
said. "She was in my driveway. But when we were interacting, I could tell by
the stuff she was saying that she's not all there in the head - which makes
me feel bad for her. At the same time, most people who go on killing sprees
are people who aren't all there in the head."

Walton said "she told me that we belong together.

"And then she started flipping out about all sorts of stuff. She said she
wanted to move to San Diego, but people wouldn't let her. I was like, 'What
people?' She's like, 'The people! The people in the universe! They won't let
me move, because they say you and I are supposed to be together.' I was
like, 'Oh, wow. She's crazy.'"

Great story in today's Orange County Register on a 34-year old El Segundo woman who has been stalking Luke Walton for over a year.

Luke tells how the woman went from eager fan waiting for an autograph outside of the team's practice facility to obsessed stalker who'd follow him from practice, sit for hours outside of his Manhattan Beach home, and at one point, pointed her finger in the shape of a gun and mimicked a shooting motion.

That's when Luke knew he needed to take action so he called the police and filed a temporary restraining order. A court date is set for next month.

``It's bananas," Walton told the Register. "I'll be going to sleep at night and just randomly look out the window. Just to check. Just because. She has been out there at 12:30, 1:30 in the morning. She would park outside my house for hours and hours.

"I would drive out, and I would see her peeking through. It would suck, because I know I'm leaving my home, and I know she's still there. What am I supposed to do? Is she planning on breaking in? Am I going to come home one day and she's sleeping in my bed? Is she going to steal my dog?''

It's early still. Way too early to tell anything, though the potential is certainly there. Players coming off the court practically drool over what this year's Lakers team could develop into.

At one point durring Saturday's scrimmage, the Lakers went with a lineup of Kobe Bryant (6-foot-6), Trevor Ariza (6-foot-8), Lamar Odom (6-10), Pau Gasol (7-0) and Andrew Bynum (7-0)

``When we had our arms out, you couldn't even see the paint,'' Bryant said before Monday morning's practice. ``There's just so much length.''

Still, it's far from a finished product, and before anyone starts talking about potential or Twin Towers or a return trip the NBA Finals, coach Phil Jackson laid out a word of caution.

When asked how the Bynum and Gasol pairing has worked out thus far, Jackson seemed less than impressed.

``It depends on how they work together,'' he said. ``Right now they're very clumsy, they're not working well together. We've got a group that played together very well last year, there's some things we have to discuss and see how long we drag this out and how quickly we can facilitate it. Because I think we have the ability to play exceptionally well if we use all our skill and all our talented players.''

Now, whether that was an honest evaluation, an attempt to motivate Gasol and/or Bynum, something in between or a little bit of both is hard to determine. It is Phil Jackson after all, as much a media master as the Zen Master.

The first public peek at how the new dynamics are playing out comes Tuesday night in a preseason game against Utah at the Honda Center.

Jackson said Bryant would likely play about half the game, Gasol a bit less than that, and 15 players would dress.

Chris Mihm talks about regaining his game after three surgeries on his right ankle that forced him to sit out all but 82 games over the last three seasons. The 7-footer is locked in a battle with DJ Mbenga for playing time as the backup center behind Andrew Bynum.

Phil Jackson gave three-fifths of his starting lineup a break from today's morning workout. Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher and Pau Gasol sat on the sidelines while their teammates went through the first of two practices. Jackson is determined to give Bryant and Gasol, in particular, extra rest after their hectic summers with their respective Olympic teams.
Bryant and Team USA defeated Gasol and Spain for the gold medal in Beijing.
In addition, Sun Yue (mono) started the morning practice, but had to sit down after participating in the first few drills. Sasha Vujacic (sprained left ankle) returned to practice after sitting out for three days. Sunday marks the end of two-a-day practices.

He's quieter. A lot quieter.

And he's not big on dancing along the sidelines, or pounding his chest.

But as far as energy, rebounding, hustle and defense, the Lakers may just have found a pretty good replacement for Ronny Turiaf in the form of free agent forward Josh Powell.

Even coach Phil Jackson, who has never had much of a taste for bursts of excessive praise, seems impressed with the way the 6-foot-9 former Clipper has played during the first week of training camp.

``He seems to have an idea of what we're trying to do even though he's been here (this week). He seems relatively comfortable playing in our offense,'' Jackson said this week. ``He's creating a lot of problems with our big guys. They know they've got a tiger down there after the rebound.''

Powell says he's just playing the way he always has, and tried to downplay the comparisons to Turiaf, but outside of their personalities (Turiaf is one of the league's loudest characters, Powell is decidedly more reserved), the similarities are striking ... from their style of play, jersey number (No. 21) to their hair styles.

``I just try to work hard defensively, to rebound, hustle and do all the little things that make a different,'' Powell said. ``I'm not trying to be Ronny (who signed a four-year, $17 million contract with Golden State in the offseason). Ronny's in a different area code now, a different place. I'm here and I'm just trying to be me.''

One thing that's helped Powell make the quick transition is his familiarity with the triangle offense. He made a point of brushing up on it over the summer, sitting down with game tapes and studying them.

``I've been trying to get a feel of what's needed from me,'' Powell said. ``It's been going good. I think I'm picking it up quickly.''

Powell signed a partially-guaranteed contract in the offseason.

Rookie guard Sun Yue made his first appearance at training camp Friday morning. Yue has been sidelined after being diagnosed with mononucleosis last week.

Just a little housekeeping matter to report here. Lamar Odom's contract is frequently reported to be for $14.1 million this season. Apparently that's incorrect. $14.1 million is his salary cap number. In other words, how much his salary counts against the Lakers salary cap. His actual salary --how much he's being paid by the Lakers this year -- is $11.4 million, according to a team spokesman.

Odom received a significant amount of money from a ``trade kicker'' clause in his contract after he was dealt from Miami, but that money was paid in a lump sum up-front. For salary cap purposes, it is parcelled out each year, but he is actually only being paid $11.4 million this season.

So much of the talk this week has been about Kobe Bryant and/or Lamar Odom potentially shifting to play small forward that last year's starting small forward Vladimir Radmanovic has been flying under the radar a bit.

So just where does Radmanovic fit into the Lakers plans this year? How much will he play?

``As an athlete, you always want to play, but we have have to take a look at the big picture and the big picture this year is winning a championship,'' Radmanovic said. ``Some guys are going to play more minutes, other guys will play less minutes. But you just have to do what the coach asks of you, and play the role the team needs you to play.''

For Radmanovic, that generally means being a consistent outside shooter and enough of a defensive presence that other players don't have to leave their men to help him out. Radmanovic, who at 6-10 is actually a lot quicker than many people give him credit for, said he's worked hard on his defense during the off-season.

``As you get older, that's one of the things you realize is important,'' he said. ``So I've really tried to work hard on that.''

If Phil Jackson was going to be gun-shy about offending Lamar Odom after the minor flap that erupted earlier this week from his admission that Odom could come off the bench this year, it certainly didn't seem so on Thursday.

Jackson was asked how his other experiment with Odom, the one in which Odom handles the ball as a point-forward, is going, and took it as an opportunity to comment on Odom's conditioning.

``It's OK. Lamar's not in shape. Lamar's not ready to play,'' Jackson said.

Earlier in the week, Odom had said that he didn't do much during the offseason, preferring instead to relax and give the tendinitis in his knees time to heal.

Was that a good idea?

``He has to find that out for himself,'' Jackson said. ``In our exit meetings with Lamar, he said he hasn't had an opportunity to work on his body for three or four years. This was a chance for him ...''

Sasha Vujacic (ankle) didn't practice this morning, but was able to do some stuff on the side and said that he's hopeful to return to practice within a few days.

``I can walk, so that's good. I can't go sideways,'' he said. ``I still can't practice. I can walk, that's a good thing. I'm not limping anymore."

Trevor Ariza has a problem just about everyone would love to have. The Lakers wiry small forward keeps trying to gain weight, but it just doesn't stick.

``I think my metabolism is way too high,'' Ariza said. ``I really wanted to put on weight (in the offseason) but I only gained like five pounds. I ate everything, steak, potatoes, peanut butter and jelly, but it just wouldn't stay on.''

In addition to trying to pack on the pounds, Ariza said he lifted weights and worked on his outside shooting. His injured foot, which caused him to miss about two months of last season, ``feels 100 percent.''

Sasha Vujacic went down with an ankle injury in last night's evening practice and is officially day-to-day, though judging by the way he was getting around the team's practice facility in El Segundo this afternoon, the injury doesn't appear to be serious.

``I just got done with my second treatment of the day. I'll do another one later. So hopefully I can get back out there soon,'' Vujacic said.

Vujacic was injured during a collision with teammate DJ Mbenga, who he said ``was trying to take a charge'' but ``was totally moving.'' Mbenga, who was within earshot of Vujacic's conversation with reporters, had little sympathy. He just laughed, used his hand to dismiss Vujacic's ribbing, and walked out the door.

A couple minutes later, Lamar Odom joined in.

A reporter asked Odom how Sasha got hurt, and Odom, ever-ready with a quick comeback (especially for Sasha), said, ``Probably tanning or something.''

I normally try and keep this to Lakers news, but since this is Robert Horry we're talking about, Laker hero and then Laker killer, I thought I'd make an exception and point out a great little update on Big Shot Bob in the San Antonio Express-News.

Here's an excerpt:

"My body just knows when it's time for training camp," he said. "Physically and mentally, it's still there. I couldn't see not being a part of one."

What Horry can still see is a call, perhaps in February or March, from a title contender in need of a savvy veteran for the stretch run. The Celtics signed 38-year-old P.J. Brown out of retirement last season on Feb. 28. He helped them win the 2008 title.

Horry's playoff savvy and proven ability to make a big shot should make him every bit as valuable an addition next February as Brown was then. He promises to stay in good enough shape to come out of retirement if the call comes.

"I won't be filing official retirement papers any time soon, that's for sure," Horry said. "You'll probably see me on somebody's roster before the season is over."

OK, so what's really going on behind the Lamar Odom-Phil Jackson situation? Is it a story or a trial ballon? Another Phil Jackson Jedi-mind trick? Or a real, major rift in their relationship?

And is Phil really even serious about having Lamar come off the bench? Or is this more like the idea he floated the idea of starting Ronny Turiaf last season?

It's way too early to draw any real conclusions, but here's a little background I dug up while reading through some of my notes from last season (this conversation took place before Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals in Utah) that speaks to the nature and health of Odom and Jackson's relationship.

``Phil is different and I guess if you know him, I guess (you need to) know him to understand him, and I feel like I know him,'' Odom said. ``We talk all the time, about all kinds of stuff, about life, everything...''

Odom was then asked how he and Jackson communicate on the court, how Jackson lets him know if he's pleased with the way Odom is playing or not.

``I don't expect him to say, `Oh, Great game Lamar.' But he lets me know in his own way. Mostly with eye contact. During the games, me and Phil make a lot of eye contact. He kind of lets me know through his eye contact how I'm doing, what I need to work on.

``The bad look is like a strong look, and then a quick look away. The good look is a strong look that kind of stays on you and gets it across, keep doing what you're doing.''