He may have only been considered as a shoe-in as part of the Orlando deal that brought Dwight Howard to the Lakers. It’s unclear if Chris Duhon will even return to the Lakers, considering his minimal role and the possibility the Lakers could buy out at least part of his $3.75 million contract for next season.

But as a teammate with Howard both on the Magic and the Lakers no one has greater perspective than Duhon on whether the Lakers center will want to stay with the purple and gold.

“He could be happy here,” Duhon said. “Why not. It’s a great city and great town. Obviously it’s an organization and great tradition and proude and be one of those guys to get the statue.”
Continue reading →

Even if he’s offered a lower salary and fewer years compared to other offers, Earl Clark maintains he’d prefer re-signing this offseason with the Lakers.

“It’s not always about the money,” said Clark, who earned $1.2 million this season. “You could go somewhere with more money and be in a bad situation. I’m not trying to do that.”

Clark’s sentiments are simple. At first, the Lakers considered him to be no more than a throw-in from the Orlando trade that brought them Dwight Howard. But Clark had a breakout season, averaging a career-high 7.3 points on 44 percent shooting and 5.5 rebounds after Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni liked his athleticism and energy. Clark still struggled, averaging only 3.5 points per game in the playoffs and showing a steep learning curve in executing the Lakers’ offensive sets.

But Clark hopes his willingness to have a relatively cheaper contract than possibly other teams would offer will convince the Lakers to allow him to develop with them,

“I want to have a consistent role on a team that believed I could help them win every night,” Clark said. “Hopefully I’ll be here. I want to be here. I like the way we play. I think it fits me. We’ll see. I hope Mitch feels the same way.”

That would be Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak, who faces plenty of tough decisions to make this offseason. Clark hopes he’s not one of those tough decisions.

“I want to be with the Lakers and not be known with a team that was the worst in history,” Clark said. “This sucks.”

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

In the first step in trying to rehabilitate his image, Dwight Howard took to Twitter to apologize for his ejection in the Lakers’ 103-82 Game 4 loss Sunday to the SAn Antonio Spurs.

Im still upset about tonights game and the way this season ended. Im mad I lost my cool. Im sorry for letting my team and our fans down when

— Dwight Howard (@DwightHoward) April 29, 2013

Continue reading →

He began his first season here with the Lakers aspiring to reach greatness. Instead, Dwight Howard ended his first season with the Lakers showing shame.

Even before the Lakers’ 103-82 blowout Game 4 loss to the San Antonio Spurs officially ended the team’s disastrous season, Howard already ended his 22 minutes beforehand. Howard earned an ejection with 9:51 left in the second quarter after mouthing off to an official.

“I have to do a better job trying to keep my cool,” Howard said. “It was very tough to be out there playing. It was an emotional game and no one wants to lose. When things don’t go your way, sometimes you react the wrong way. I have to keep my cool.”
Continue reading →

The moment Pau Gasol walked off the floor, he heard a roar from the Staples Center crowd that suggested more than just a sendoff marking the end of a season.

It could also mark the last time Lakers fans will see him wearing purple and gold.

“There is a sense that might happen,” Gasol said following the Lakers’ 103-82 Game 4 loss Sunday to the San Antonio Spurs. “That is not something I have thought a lot about. I always try to play my best as if it is my last game. I am very thankful for our fans and the support they show.”

Gasol nearly choked up when he said those words, but it remains to be seen whether the Lakers front office will feel just as nostalgic.

The Lakers’ offseason mostly hinge on Dwight Howard’s future. If he stays with the Lakers, he would receive $117.8 million over five years. If he signs with any other team, he will get a four-year deal worth $87.6 million. Meanwhile, the Lakers could shed Gasol’s $19.3 million left on his contract through a trade or the amnesty provision.

Does Gasol sense his future hinges on what Howard does?

“They will try to get Dwight and extend him. That’s why they brought him here,” Gasol said in an interview with this newspaper. “But I don’t think everything is set in stone in the sense that if he stays, I’m definitely gone or if he goes, I’m definitely here. Ownership has to answer that.”
Continue reading →

In what may have marked his last game in a Lakers uniform, Dwight Howard was ejected in Game 4 of the Lakers-Spurs first-round series.

Howard was ejected as the Lakers trailed 55-44 with 9:51 left in the third quarter after arguing with a referee. His first technical happened with 50 seconds left in the first quarter after elbowing San Antonio guard Cory Joseph. Howard had collected four technical fouls during the Lakers’ playoff series against San Antonio.

Howard, who finished with seven points on 2 of 2 shooting and eight rebounds, shook hands with a few teammates before leaving the entrance tunnel. The Lakers trail 3-0 against San Antonio and entered the fourth quarter trailing 78-58. If Howard signs with the Lakers, it would be for five years worth $117.8 million. If it’s another team, it will be four-years, $87.6 million.

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

FINAL: Spurs 103, Lakers 82

This was supposed to end in championship glory. Instead, the Lakers XX Game 4 loss to the San Antonio Spurs marked the second playoff sweep in the past three seasons. This year ended with a bust, too many injuries to count and an endless list of questions surrounding this offseason.

The most pressing one: will Dwight Howard re-sign with the Lakers? He could for five years and $117.9 million instead of a four-year, $87.6 million deal with another team. Sorry Laker fans, who keep clamoring for Phil Jackson to coach. Mike D’Antoni, who has two more guaranteed years worth $8 million, won’t need to worry. Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said last week D’Antoni will return next season, crediting how he managed a 40-32 record his first season despite no training camp and persisting injuries, notably to Nash (fractured left leg).

The Lakers won’t have much clarity elsewhere.

They could use the amnesty provision on Bryant ($30.5 million), Gasol ($19.9 million), World Peace ($7.7 million) or Blake ($4 million). World Peace might opt out of his player option in hopes for a longer but less expensive contract, although that runs the risk of the Lakers letting him walk.

The Lakers also will have expiring contracts to Antawn Jamison, Clark, Morris, Goudelock, Robert Sacre and Devin Ebanks, although the latter is sure to leave considering he’s rarely played all season.

The Lakers will have some relief from the $6.5 million to $7 million they owe over the next two seasons after firing Mike Brown, who just became head coach at Cleveland. It’s likely the Lakers won’t calculate the total savings for another month after reviewing Brown’s contract, but a source familiar with the situation said the savings are a “grain of salt.”
Continue reading →

Kobe Bryant showed he could win five NBA championships. He showed he could score 81 points in a game. He showed he could seemingly play through almost any injury. He even showed that, despite nursing a torn left Achilles’ tendon, he could make two free throws before hobbling off the floor.

Two weeks into his rehab period that the Lakers estimate will last six to nine months, Bryant wants to show he can do more. He wants to show this devastating injury will only build his resolve. He wants to show he can return to the court. He wants to show he can still play at an elite level.

Hence, why Nike unveiled a timely newspaper ad showing just that. Meanwhile, a fan-made video produced by YouTube user iSportsGaming2012 features that ad mixed in with highlights surrounding Bryant’s career. It gives you the feeling Bryant will indeed “show us again.”

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

This underachieving season has worn on Pau Gasol in every way imaginable.

In what he described as a “roller coaster,” Gasol navigated plenty of highs and lows. He faced reduced offensive role under Mike D’Antoni’s system. The Lakers coach even featured Gasol as a reserve for six games. Of course, Gasol also faces a 0-3 deficit in the Lakers’ first-round series against the San Antonio Spurs and an uncertain offseason.

But Gasol said he’s experienced the most frustration nursing never-endining injuries including knee tendinitis, a concussion and plantar fascia in his right foot, ailments that sidelined him for a total of 33 games. Even if he’s suiting up Sunday for Game 4 against the Spurs, Gasol said he’s far from healthy. So much that he said he will explore various non-surgical procedures to treat the knee tendonosis in both of his knees.

“It’s something I’ve dealt with all year, but I have to do something to regenerate the tissue,” Gasol said, “so I don’t have to play with this pain.”

Kobe Bryant went to Germany two years ago to have a derivation of the platelet-rich plasma procedure on his right knee, which entailed involves blood being taken from the patient and isolating the components in hopes of accelerating the healing process and relieving pain. Would Gasol go to Germany, too?

“I’ll go to wherever I need to go,” Gasol said. “It’s a possibility.”

Gasol said the tendonosis in both of his knees has created dead tissue and inflammation with most of the pain reserved for his left leg. Unfortunately for Gasol, he primarily uses that leg to jump when he’s post position. Although he has healed from the plantar fascia enough to return to the lineup in late March, Gasol said the pain in his right foot “is still bothering me.”

“It has been limiting but at the same time, I’ve been performing pretty well,” said Gasol, who has averaged 17.5 points on 51.3 percent shooting in the last eight regular season games in April. “I want to continue to fight and continue to leave it out there on the floor.”

Gasol has had mixed success though.

Through three games in the Lakers’ first-round series against the Spurs, Gasol has averaged 13.3 points on only 42.5 percent shooting. He’s also largely struggled guarding Spurs forward Tim Duncan, who’s averaged 19.7 points on 53.1 percent shooting in the postseason against the Lakers.

“It’s difficult, but nothing has been easy this year,” Gasol said. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

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

Metta World Peace wasn’t playing coy or throwing the white flag when he said he’d sit out Game 4 on Sunday of the Lakers-Spurs first-round series.

Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni reiterated that stance because of World Peace has nursed a popliteal cyst in the back of his left knee. Even though he had it drained Friday morning, World Peace struggled heavily in the Lakers’ 120-89 Game 3 loss Friday to San Antonio where he finished scoreless on six field-goal attempts.

World Peace’s play was so bad that he sat out the second half and suggested afterwards that he would sit out in hopes to heal his knee enough for a possible Game 5 in San Antonio. Lakers forward Earl Clark will start in World Peace’s place.

“He wanted to give it a go, but he was dragging his leg,” D’Antoni said of World Peace. “We didn’t feel like he could go.”

The Lakers are already nursing various injuries. That includes Kobe Bryant (season-ending left torn Achilles tendon), Steve Blake (strained right hamstring), Steve Nash (sore right hamstring) and Jodie Meeks (partially torn ligament in left ankle). D’Antoni said “there’s no way” Blake, Nash or Meeks could play in Game 4, leaving the Lakers with a starting lineup featuring Dwight Howard (center), Pau Gasol (power forward), Clark (small forward), Darius Morris (shooting guard) and Andrew Goudelock (point guard).

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