Lakers guard Kobe Bryant posted a video on his Instagram account that shows him running Monday on an anti-gravity treadmill (Michael Owen Baker/L.A. Daily News)

Questions remain on when Kobe Bryant will actually step foot onto a basketball court. But he provided yet another example Monday on how he’s made tangible progress surrounding his surgically repaired left Achilles tendon.

Bryant posted a video on his Instagram account that showed him at the Lakers’ practice facility running on a weight-bearing treadmill. Bryant then added the hashtags, “#mambamental” and “#vinoclock.”
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Kobe Bryant recently scoffed at ESPN ranking the Lakers 12th in the Western Conference for next season. (Michael Owen Baker/L.A. Daily News)

Within a one-year span, the sentiment regarding the Lakers evolved from heavy championship favorites to one that may even struggle making the playoffs.

There’s an easy explanation for this.

The Lakers lost Dwight Howard, Metta World Peace, Earl Clark and Antawn Jamison in the offseason. Uncertainty remains regarding the health of Kobe Bryant (torn left Achilles tendon), Steve Nash (right hamstring) and Pau Gasol (knees). The Western Conference boasts much younger and faster teams, such as the Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets. It also doesn’t help that the Lakers are a season removed from a first-round sweep to the San Antonio Spurs, a time that featured player agendas sometimes conflicting with Mike D’Antoni’s fast-paced philosophy and overlapping injuries.

Still, plenty on the Lakers have sounded incredulous over a panel of ESPN writers ranking the team in 12th place in the Western Conference. After all, the Lakers still have veteran-top heavy talent in Bryant, Nash and Gasol. Given the team’s financial limitations, the Lakers acquired a veteran center (Chris Kaman), athleticism (Young, Jordan Farmar) and a dependable perimeter defender (Wesley Johnson). D’Antoni showed more willingness in the latter half of last season to cater his system to his personnel rather than the other way around. And even if Howard’s departure leaves the Lakers without a definitive franchise player following Bryant’s eventual retirement, the Lakers could benefit short-term without the frustrations surrounding his role.
Continue reading “Will Lakers make playoffs next season? (Poll questions)” »

Underneath Steve Nash’s down-to-earth personality and zeal to make his teammates comfortable stands a man with an incredibly dry and goofy sense of humor.

He made an appearance on Jeremy Lin’s recent YouTube video that parodies how the fame stemmed from “Linsanity” forever changed the young Houston Rockets guard, sparking laughs for numerous reasons.

One, he’s wearing a Team USA track and field sport despite being a Canadian citizen and general manager of the country’s basketball team. Second, Nash tells Lin’s apparent middle school basketball friend to “take a hike” after the 39-year-old and 17-year NBA veteran was dismissively described as “grandpa.” Third, one can only imagine that Howard’s name had to come up between cuts considering Nash hardly enjoyed playing with him and Lin will ear the same uniform next season.
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Lakers guard Nick Young considered ESPN ranking the team 12th out of 14 teams in the Western Conference to be “disrespectful.” Young recently participated in a “Call of Duty: Ghosts” promotional event at L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles. (Photo by Jonathan Leibson/Getty Images for Activision)

There’s a number that continues to bother Nick Young, and it goes beyond finishing in last place against a pair of Marines in Call of Duty: Ghosts this week during a promotional event in L.A. Live.

According to a panel of ESPN writers, the Lakers are favored to finish 12th place out of 14 teams in the Western Conference.

“At first I thought it was 12th in the whole NBA. I thought that was decent,” Young said in a phone interview with this newspaper. “But 12th in the Western Conference out of 14 teams? That’s terrible and that’s disrespectful.”
Continue reading “Nick Young on Lakers’ 12th-place ranking in West: “It’s disrespectful”” »

Once it all ended, Jerry West told those around him that he just saw the best workout he ever witnessed.

The former Lakers general manager saw a promising young star named Kobe Bryant hold his own against Michael Cooper and perform dazzling move after dazzling move. Questions remained on how quickly Bryant could adjust to the NBA straight out of Lower Merion High, a suburban school outside of Philadelphia. But West didn’t need to see anymore. He’d do everything he could to land Bryant on the Lakers.

West received his wish. The Lakers traded Vlade Divac in the 1996 NBA Draft so they could received the rights to Bryant after Charlotte selected him with the 13th pick. Five NBA championships and a fourth-place standing on the NBA’s all-time scoring list suggests this was a no brainer.

But another team in L.A. apparently didn’t feel the same way.

“I had a really good workout with the Clippers,” Bryant said Thursday night at the Nokia Theatre during Kobe Up Close Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel,” with the the proceeds benefitting the Kobe & Vanessa Bryant Foundation to fight homelessness.
“They told me, ‘This is the best workout we’ve ever seen.’ I’m like ‘Oh man. I’m excited. I’m going to L.A. All right, are you going to draft me?’ ‘No.’
Continue reading “Kobe Bryant explains why the Clippers avoided drafting him” »

The folklore involving Kobe Bryant playing for Duke had he not opted to join the NBA out of high school runs pretty deep.

Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski and Bryant developed a strong bond both through the recruiting process and through two U.S. Olympic gold medal runs. Bryant asked the Lakers to hire Krzyzewski in 2004 after parting ways with Phil Jackson. Even Bryant has openly suggested he would’ve played for Duke.

Apparently not.

Instead, Bryant would’ve chosen their arch rival down Tobacco Road.

“If I had to make a decision I probably would have went to Carolina because of the competition,” Bryant said Thursday night
at the Nokia Theatre during Kobe Up Close Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel,” with the the proceeds benefitting the Kobe & Vanessa Bryant Foundation to fight homelessness. “The year before, Vince Carter had played for Carolina and was the best guard in the country and I wanted to test myself against him and play against him every day in practice.”
Continue reading “Kobe Bryant says he would’ve attended North Carolina over Duke” »

Kobe Bryant may have clashed on and off the court with Dwight Howard. Bryant may have unfollowed Howard on Twitter the instant he left the Lakers for the Houston Rockets. Behind the scenes, both may maintain ill will toward each other stemming from their contrasting personalities and basketball philosophies.

But with comedian Jimmy Kimmel and a crowd ready to hear Bryant rip Howard during a one-hour sit-down interview Thursday at the Nokia Theatre, the Lakers’ star relented.

With ticket proceeds benefited the Kobe and Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation to help end homelessness, Kimmel asked, “If there was only one homeless person in the world, would you be happy if it was Dwight Howard?”

The audience roared, but Bryant didn’t take the bait. Well, not completely. Bryant didn’t launch an insult toward Howard in the same way executive Jim Buss said when he said recently that “he was never really a Laker.” But Bryant still offered a subtle jab.

“Dwight is a great kid,” Bryant said, nearly drowned out by boos. “We have different perspectives on what it takes to win. and be successful. Because of that we didnt always see eye to eye.”

Continue reading “Kobe Bryant: “Dwight is a great kid”” »

Despite making steady progress surrounding his torn left Achilles, Kobe Bryant expressed uncertainty on when he’d actually return to the basketball court.

“I don’t know if I’ll be ready for opening night. I really don’t know,” said Bryant, referring to the Lakers’ season opener Oct. 29 against the Clippers. “I know I’m really, really ahead of schedule.”
Continue reading “Kobe Bryant unsure if he will play in Lakers’ season opener” »

The Lakers signed undrafted rookie free agent Elias Harris three weeks after agreeing to terms on a two-year deal. Harris’ contract involves a partial guarantee at the veteran’s minimum his first season, while the Lakers hold a team option on the second season.

Harris averaged 10.2 points and 5.6 rebounds in five games with the Lakers in Las Vegas Summer League. The 6-8. 240-pound forward averaged 14.6 points and 7.4 rebounds last season at Gonzaga.

The Lakers currently have 12 players signed under contract for next season. Second-round draft pick Ryan Kelly is likely to stay with the team, bringing that number to 13. The Lakers are also expected to invite Marcus Landry to training camp after leading the team’s summer league in scoring. NBA teams are allowed to field a maximum of 15 players on their roster.

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Follow L.A. Daily News Lakers beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter. E-mail him at mark.medina@dailynews.com

Since when have we seen Kobe Bryant resist taking on the challenge?

He does it with game-winning shots. He does it at times by forcing the issues. He does it by fighting through countless injuries. He does it by evolving his game.

So it’s hardly surprising that Bryant refused to back down from a chopsticks competition during his recent Nike promotional tour in China. But even Bryant’s basketball talent aside, it’s pretty surprising he completely dominated a game he needed instructions on moments before competing.

But that’s Kobe Bryant, never resisting a challenge and always ensuring he succeeds at them.

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Follow L.A. Daily News Lakers beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter. E-mail him at mark.medina@dailynews.com