This is the fourth in a series grading the Lakers’ efforts on their 2012-13 season.

Player: Pau Gasol, Lakers forward

How he performed: 13.7 points on 46.6 percent shooting and 8.6 rebounds in regular season; 14 points on 48.1 precent shooting and 9.8 rebounds in playoffs

The Good:Gasol proved that he’s still an elite player if the Lakers feature him correctly. In the last seven games of the regular season, Gasol posted three triple doubles. His 17.6 points per game average represented his highest scoring output whenever he and Dwight Howard played together in the starting lineup. All this happened because the Lakers featured Gasol on the low block instead of as a stretch forward. Such a move allowed Gasol both to facilitate out of double teams to Kobe Bryant for jumpers and Dwight Howard for lobs. It also put Gasol in a better position to play the roll man off pick-and-rolls plays, where he scored 48.9 percent of the time, according to Synergy Sports. And though Gasol didn’t always thrive well in the post (shooting 42.2 percent from the field), that strategy still boded superior than to shooting spot-up jumpers (40.6 percent).

More importantly, Gasol handled his demoted role with enough professionalism and grace. He openly disagreed with playing as a reserve for six games and for playing as a stretch forward. But he didn’t let that sour any of his effort. As a bench player, Gasol still 13.1 points on 53 percent shooting through seven games. Such an attitude led Kobe Bryant to vouch more strongly than in seasons past for the Lakers to feature him more in his comfort zone. It also helped Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni eventually change his sentiments on how to utilize Gasol. That’s why it’s hardly surprising Gasol left the final minutes of the Lakers’ Game 4 loss to San Antonio to a standing ovation from the Staples Center crowd.

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This is the third in a series grading the Lakers’ efforts on their 2012-13 season.

Player: Steve Nash, Lakers guard

How he performed: 12.7 points on 49.7 percent shooting and 6.7 assists through 50 games

The Good: When he was actually healthy, Nash showed plenty of remnants that makes him one of the best NBA point guards of his generation. His season averages (12.7 points on 49.7 percent shooting and 43.8 percent from three-point range, a 92.2 percent clip from the free throw line and 6.7 assists) are fairly similar to his last year in Phoenix where he averaged 12.5 points and 10.7 assists while shooting 53.2, 39 and 89.4 percent, respectively. Nash also decreases his turnovers with the Lakers (2.5) compared to his last season with the Suns (3.7). Add all those numbers up, and Nash managed to become the fifth player in NBA history to collect at least 10,000 assists.

The Lakers may have gone 5-11 in his 16 games sine his return from a fractured leg that kept him out of 24 games. But that had more to do with the team’s issues on defense than Nash, who posted 9.2 assists per game in that stretch. More importantly, Nash showed willingly adapted to any role, something that Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol showed more reluctance to do in Mike D’Antoni’s system. When the Lakers had an air-it-out meeting Jan. 23 prior to the their loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, Nash immediately embraced becoming an off-ball shooter in favor of Kobe Bryant playing the a facilitating role. That resulted in Nash posting double-digits in scoring in 27 of the next 31 contests.
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This is the second in a series grading the Lakers’ efforts in the 2012-13 season.

Player: Dwight Howard, Lakers center

How he performed: 17 points on 57.8 percent shooting and 12.4 rebounds per game.

The Good: Howard’s mere return to the lineup in mid October established two things. The Lakers immediately received more on their return in Howard than they ever would with Andrew Bynum, who missed the entire 2012-13 season with the Philadelphia 76ers because of persistent knee injuries. This also showed that beneath Howard’s charismatic persona lies a player willing to put in enough work to return four or five months ahead of schedule. So even if Howard’s points and league-leading rebounds still marked his lowest numbers since the 2006-07 season, it’s necessary to cut plenty of slack for Howard.

Nursing pain stemmed from offseason back surgery, Howard lacked the timing, explosiveness and conditioning that made him a three-time NBA Defensive player of the year in eight seasons with the Orlando Magic. He could’ve sat out more than six games because of a torn labrum in his right shoulder, but Howard opted to play through it even if he suffered repeated whacks to it every day.
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Only 24 days has passed since having surgery on a torn left Achilles’ tendon, and Kobe Bryant has already proven he can stand on his left foot without a walking boot.

“Foot on the ground!” Bryant wrote on Twitter before showing a picture via Instagram of him doing just that. Bryant then added the hashtags, pray4bear, standup, mambaarmy.

Bryant isn’t routinely walking on his left foot, though. The Lakers had estimated that he’d stay immobilized for at least a month. When he changed from a cast to a walking boot two weeks ago, Bryant indicated he’d wear the device for a “few months.” He even arrived at the Lakers’ practice facility last week in his exit interview resting his left left while riding a portable scooter.

Still, Bryant’s has shown enough progress where he can at least apply some pressure to his left foot without compromising his recovery, a process that could last at least another five to eight months.

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

This is the first on a series grading the Lakers’ efforts on their 2012-13 season.

Player: Kobe Bryant, Lakers guard

How he performed: 27.3 points on 46.3% shooting and 6 assists in 38.6 minutes per game in the regular season

The Good: So much for that whole theory that Bryant would face a physical decline. All it took was losing 16 pounds, stricter dieting and a sheer amount of Bryant’s will to ensure yet another productive season.

So the Lakers had little clarity on offense because of Dwight Howard’s injury limitations, Steve Nash’s long-term absence and Pau Gasol’s frustration in becoming a stretch four under Mike D’Antoni’s system. No problem. Bryant still lit things up with proficiency in November (27 points on 47.7 percent shooting) and December (33.8 points on 46.6 percent shooting).

So the Lakers griped about their offensive roles, including Howard (fewer touches) and Gasol (too much facilitating). No matter. Bryant and Nash switched positions. Nash became an off-ball shooter and Bryant morphed into a facilitator. The formula ensured Bryant’s highest assists totals (6) since the 2004-2005 season.
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Only a week removed from their early exit from the NBA playoffs, and the Lakers have already made changes.

Coach Mike D’Antoni told assistant coaches Bernie Bickerstaff and Chuck Person they would not return to the Lakers’ coaching staff next season, according to Lakers spokesman John Black.

D’Antoni had kept all of Mike Brown’s assistants after he was fired following a 1-4 start while hiring his brother, Dan, to help oversee his offense after spending time on his staff in Phoenix and New York. But it was expected D’Antoni would at least somewhat alter his staff after the season ended.

Bickerstaff went 4-1 as an interim coach following Brown’s firing, and has been considered one of Brown’s most influential mentors. Person remained the last connection to Phil Jackson’s staff. Brown kept Person when he was hired in May 2011, and was also kept upon D’Antoni’s arrival. Person’s main responsibility under Jackson and Brown mostly involved the team’s defense. Under D’Antoni, Person mostly worked on players’ shooting mechanics and specifically worked with Dwight Howard on post moves and free-throw shooting.

It’s possible some other changes will take place soon. Eddie Jordan left to take the Rutgers head-coaching position shortly before the Lakers’ first-round series started two weeks ago against San Antonio. Steve Clifford plans to interview with the Charlotte Bobcats’ vacant head-coaching position, according to sources familiar with the situation.

Yet, Dan D’Antoni, Clifford, Darvin Ham and Phil Handy are still on the Lakers’ staff.

Mike D’Antoni plans to finalize his coaching staff……One possible candidate could include former Clippers and Phoenix Suns coach Alvin Gentry, who’s been a longtime acquaintance of D’Antoni. But it’s possible Gentry could receive head-coaching offers from other teams.

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

Lakers assistant coach Steve Clifford is scheduled to interview for the Charlotte Bobcats’ vacant-head coaching position within the next two weeks, according to sources familiar with the situation. The Lakers have given the Bobcats permission to do so, according to one source familiar with the discussions.

Former Lakers coach Mike Brown hired Clifford from the Orlando Magic both because of his defensive expertise and his experience working with Dwight Howard. Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni kept all of Brown’s assistants, including Chuck Person, Bernie Bickerstaff, Darvin Ham, Eddie Jordan and Clifford. D’Antoni hired his brother, Dan, to help oversee his offense after spending time on his staff in Phoenix and New York. Jordan eventually accepted the Rutgers’ head-coaching position shortly before the Lakers’ regular-season ended.

The Charlotte Observer’s Rick Bonnell first reported the Bobcats’ interest in Clifford to replace the recently fired coach Mike Dunlap following a league-worst 21-61 record and have gone through five head coaches in franchise history since 2004. Bickerstaff had coached the Bobcats to a 77-169 record. And former Lakers assistants Brian Shaw and Quin Snyder interviewed for the position last year once Charlotte fired Paul Silas following a 32-88 record through two seasons.
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Kobe Bryant provides too many definitions to the vigorous worker.

He obsesses over basketball. Bryant finds various nuances to enhance his game and prolong his longevity. He follows rehab procedures to an exact science so that he can recover as swiftly as possible. Each championship ring and scoring accomplishment only enhances his hunger for more. Bryant’s torn left Achilles tendon that will sideline him for at least another five to eight months has only built his resolve.

Bryant’s achieved all that by learning how to temper his uber competitiveness into a philosophy he once learned from former Lakers coach Phil Jackson.

“Mental toughness is really about not getting too high or getting too low,” Bryant said in a recent video compilation put together by Youtube user theperson18. “It’s about staying pretty even keel. That’s kind of the trick to it not to get emotionally attached to the situation.”
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As part of his ongoing quest to promote mental health awareness, Lakers forward Metta World Peace and the Los Angeles County Department of Health have partnered up in a campaign beginning today that features his likeness on various billboards and posters throughout Los Angeles within the next month.

With the help of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the World Peace billboards, bulletins and posters will appear at MTA shelters, depots, buses and trainers with a message called “Talk it out” with versions in both English and Spanish. The signs will also have contact information for LACDMH’s 24/7 phone line (1-800-854-7771).

“It’s unnecessary stress if you’re holding things in,” World Peace said in a statement. “It can just bring unnecessary stress to your heart and to your mind. When you can release it and talk about it, you feel better – and that’s how it should be with anything.”

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Dwight Howard was advised in a doctor visit on Wednesday that surgery isn’t necessary to treat a torn labrum on his right shoulder. Howard consulted with Dr. James Tibone of the Kerlan Jobe Orthopaedic Group before vowing he’d

Whether Howard resigns with the Lakers remains another issue. But Howard’s visit with Dr. James Tibone of the Kerlan Orthopaedic Group marked the first step in his vow to ensure he spends this offseason fully recovering from the torn labrum in his right shoulder and a surgically repaired back.

Howard originally injured his shoulder Jan. 4 against the Clippers only to aggravate it a week later against Denver. He sat out for six games to prevent the shoulder from worsening, a decision that prompted both Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni and Kobe Bryant suggested Howard should play through it. Howard took offense to such an assertion considering the long-term implications an injured shoulder could provide only months after coming off of back surgery.

Howard averaged 17.1 points and a league-high 12.4 rebounds, but those numbers marked his lowest since the 2006-07 season. Howard attributed that dropoff mostly to the decreased conditioning stemmed from his back surgery and the persistent soreness his shoulder felt after contact.

Howard wore a Posture Shirt, manufactured by Santa Ana-based company Alignmed, which balanced his muscle and shoulder joints together. That made it easier for Howard to absorb contact. Although he reported improvement in his shoulder as the season progressed, Howard conceded he still felt pain during and after games.

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