This is the thirteenth and final part of a series grading the Lakers’ efforts on the 2012-13 season.

Lakers front office

The Good:You can’t fault the Lakers for the offseason moves they made. Despite punitive luxury taxes on the horizon, the Lakers scoffed at the NBA’s new labor deal and devoted a $100 million payroll in hopes to secure another NBA championship (it also helps to have a lucrative deal with Time Warner Cable). But the Lakers have never been just about throwing money at players. They’ve been good at securing top level talent through smart and calculated risks. They somehow flipped the trade exception stemmed from the controversial Lamar Odom deal into acquiring Steve Nash from the Phoenix Suns to a three-year, $27 million deal. The Lakers provided a happy ending to the “Dwightmare” saga by acquiring Dwight Howard from the Orlando Magic in a four-team, 12-player deal that only involved Andrew Bynum going to Philadelphia 76ers and Josh McRoberts and Christian Eyenga and a flurry of draft picks to the Orlando Magic. And, by the way, they did this while keeping Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Metta World Peace.

The Lakers may have been pretty limited in bolstering their bench. Yet, they somehow did that too. They acquired elite secondary scorer Antawn Jamison to the veteran’s minimum ($1.4 million). The Lakers improved their three-point shooting by getting young gunner Jodie Meeks. They re-signed some reserves with promising futures (Jordan Hill, Devin Ebanks, Darius Morris).
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No other man possessed the greater perspective regarding the endless debate on Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan.

Phil Jackson used to go to great lengths at avoiding the topic, out of reverence for both of the stars he coached in separate stints with the Lakers and Chicago Bulls. But he hardly holds back in his upcoming book, “Eleven Rings,” co-written by Hugh Delehanty and available next Tuesday.

“Even Jordan has said that Kobe is the only player who can be compared to him, and I have to agree,” Jackson wrote. “Both men have an extraordinary competitive drive and are virtually impervious to pain. Michael and Kobe have both played some of their best games under crippling conditions – from food poisoning to broken bones – that would sideline lesser mortals for weeks. Their incredible resilience has made the impossible possible, allowing each of them to make game-turning shots with packs of defenders hanging all over them. That said, their styles are different.”

Still, it’s clear through Jackson’s 339-page book who he’s favoring.

“Michael was more charismatic and gregarious than Kobe. He loved hanging out with his teammates and security guards, playing cards, smoking cigars, and joking around,” Jackson said in the book, which was obtained in advance by this newspaper. “Kobe is different. He was reserved as a teenager, in part because he was younger than the other players and hadn’t developed strong social skills in college. When Kobe first joined the Lakers, he avoided fraternizing with his teammates. But his inclination to keep to himself shifted as he grew older. Increasingly, Kobe put more energy into getting to know the other players, especially when the team was on the road.”

Early in Bryant’s career, it seemed he felt otherwise.

Jackson recalled Bryant telling teammates he wanted to win 10 NBA championships. Jackson also described Bryant as “hell bent on surpassing Jordan as the greatest player in the game.” So much that Jackson revealed Bryant said in his first meeting with Jordan, “You know I can kick your [butt] one on one.”
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This is the twelfth in a series grading the Lakers’ efforts on the 2012-13 season.

Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni

The Good: The Lakers’ 28-12 mark to close out the regular season correlated with the team’s health improving in Pau Gasol (knees, feet) and Dwight Howard (back, shoulder). But it also coincided with D’Antoni featuring both of them together and allowing the Lakers to play at a slower pace. Although it’s fair to wonder why this didn’t happen sooner, D’Antoni deserves some credit for eventually catering to his personnel instead of forcing his up-tempo system onto a veteran-laden roster.

Such change traces back to when the Lakers had an air-it-out meeting late January against Memphis. D’Antoni prompted the meeting because everyone from Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Dwight Howard and Antawn Jamison directly and indirectly criticized how he was coaching the team. This ranged from his insistence at playing at too fast of a pace, Gasol coming off the bench, not using the post-game enough and of course sitting out some players such as Jamison for unknown reasons. Team accounts say that meeting became a breakthrough because it allowed everyone to openly express their grievances in hope that everyone will eventually solve them.

D’Antoni would get overly emotional at times, but he also never lost his fight and will to make things better during never-ending adversarial situations. That ranged from having no training camp after replacing Mike Brown, significant injuries to Steve Nash (fractured left leg) and Steve Blake (lower abdominal) and handling competing agendas among players. D’Antoni should also be credited for helping reserves, such as Steve Blake, Jodie Meeks and Darius Morris, something Brown failed to do.
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This is the eleventh in a series grading the Lakers’ efforts on the 2012-13 season.

Player: Chris Duhon

How he performed: Averaged 2.9 points on 38.2 percent shooting and 2.9 assists through 17.8 minutes in 46 regular-season games; averaged 5.5 points on 36.4 percent shooting and 3.5 rebounds through 34 minutes in two playoff games

Verdict: Duhon was nothing more than a throw-in as part of the Lakers’ deal that brought them Dwight Howard from the Orlando Magic. But he suddenly was asked to do more. A slew of injuries to Steve Nash (fractured left leg) and Steve Blake (fractured left leg) thrust him into the starting lineup for nine games where Duhon averaged 6.9 points, 5.4 assists and a 42.1 percent mark from 3-point range. It also helped that Duhon thrived under Mike D’Antoni in New York, averaging a career-high 11.1 points on 42.1 percent shooting and 7.2 assists. But Blake’s return in late January and D’Antoni’s want for a tighter rotation pushed Duhon out of the lineup.

Grade: C. Duhon could hardly match the void Nash and Blake left with their respective injuries. But Duhon fulfilled his role always in a professional manner, regardless of whether he was on the court. It’s likely the Lakers will buy out his $3.5 million contract by June 30th.
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Kobe Bryant and an auction house that wants to sell memorabilia from his high school days and early pro career are heading for a trial in Camden, N.J., next month, unless they can work out a deal before then.

U.S. District Judge Renee Bumb set June 17 as a trial date, but also set a court-guided mediation session for Friday in a case that’s the manifestation of an ugly family dispute that all sides seem to want to resolve quickly.

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

As a reminder of both the Lakers’ star power and the challenges the front office faces dealing with a bloated payroll, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol rank among Sports Illustrated’s list of the 50 highest-earning American athletes.

Kobe Bryant ranked fourth overall with $27.85 million in salary and $19 million in endorsements. Dwight Howard finished 31st with $19.5 million in salary and $2.4 million in endorsements. And Pau Gasol slid in at 37th with $19 million in salary and $2.1 million in endorsements.
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Don’t read this while you’re at the breakfast table. It might cause you to spit your cereal out or choke on a piece of toast.

Providing yet another reminder of the severity of his torn left Achilles’ tendon, Kobe Bryant tweeted out a graphic picture on Instagram receiving surgery on it exactly a month ago.

Bryant’s come a long way since then. He arrived at the Lakers’ practice facility Tuesday to receive treatment on his Achilles, an injury the Lakers believe will keep him sidelined for at least another five to seven months.

Former Lakers forward Mark Madsen, who was introduced Tuesday as the new D-Fenders coach, also spent time at the facility catching up with Bryant.

“His injury was a freak thing,” Madsen said. “The one thing I know about Kobe is if they say he’s going to get back in nine months, he’ll get back in six months. If they say it’s going to take five months, it’s going to take 2 ½ months. That’s the type of dedication and professionalism that Kobe approaches this game with. I’m excited for him to get healthy and excited for him to come back.”

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 plans to meet with Charlotte Bobcats officials next Monday and Tuesday regarding their vacant head-coaching position, according to a league source.

Clifford had interviewed Monday with the Milwaukee Bucks for their head-coaching spot, according to league sources. No offer was made and a follow-up interview wasn’t immediately scheduled. But Clifford could still be in the mix. According to one league source, Milwaukee also interviewed Nate McMillan and Houston Rockets assistants Kelvin Sampson and J.B. Bickerstaff.

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As he begins rehabbing from a procedure that reduced the tendonosis in both of his knees, Lakers forward Pau Gasol has immediately penciled himself out of the Spanish National team during the FIBA European Championship taking place Sept. 4-22 in Slovenia.

“My priority aim is to recover myself [of] next season [with the Lakers],” Gasol said on his personal website. in the next season and to be ready, if I’m asked to, for the next challenge with the national team, the World Cup of Spain 2014.”

The Lakers expect Gasol to stay sidelined at least for 11 more weeks before participating in basketball-related drills. He underwent the so-called “Fast Technique” procedure Thursday, involving a probe going into both of his knees to eliminate scar tissue without damaging the healthy tissue. Gasol missed 33 games due to various ailments, including knee tendinitis that sidelined him for eight contests in early December. Gasol, who’s slated to earn $19.3 million in the final year of his contract, averaged last season a career-low 13.7 points on 46.6 percent shooting and 8.6 rebounds.

Gasol led Spain to a silver medal after losing to Team USA in the final of both the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics. He also guided Spain to three gold medals (2006 FIBA World Cup, 2009 and 2011 FIBA European Championships), two silvers (2003 and 2007 European Championships) and one bronze (2001 European Championship). Gasol last sat out of competition with the Spanish national team in the 2010 FIBA World Championships where it finished in sixth place, opting for rest because of fatigue and injury concerns.

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

Before he’d gush about becoming the D-Fenders’ head coach, former Lakers reserve Mark Madsen had a score to settle.

Madsen fondly recalled first driving to the Lakers’ practice facility in 2000 in a Toyota minivan and sporting khakis, only for Shaquille O’Neal to rip his fashion choices and force him to go shopping. Apparently, the tables have turned after Madsen saw O’Neal recently on set as a TNT analyst.

“Shaquille, I saw that last suit you were wearing on TNT,” Madsen said Tuesday at the Lakers’ practice facility in El Segundo. “Let’s just say your wardrobe needs a fresh set of eyes. I’m happy to be that guy.”

Madsen sounded more than happy to earn his first head-coaching gig after spending two assistant coaching stints both at his alma mater Stanford (2012-13) and with the Development League’s Utah Flash (2009-10). But considering he became a fan favorite during the Lakers’ 2001 and 2002 championship runs partly because of his goofy dancing in team parades, it was inevitable plenty of the press conference would center on that facet.

Namely, would Madsen dance again if the D-Fenders win a championship?

“I’m not going to divulge what’s going to happen,” Madsen said with a smile. “That is the goal to win a championship with the D-Fenders. But if I see some media members out there dancing, it could motivate the coaching staff more.”

Or perhaps backup center Robert Sacre could convince him. It’s likely the Lakers will resign the second year center because of his cheap price tag. If he returns, Sacre would likely play in at least a few D-League stints. He became a fan favorite this season for his colorful celebrations on the bench.

“He’s at a nice level,” Madsen said. “I’ll have to text my contacts with Dancing at the Stars and send them along to Robert.”

RELATED:

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