Kobe Bryant Shares Picture From Achilles Surgery
Cringes
Kobe Bryant decided to share a surgery picture of his right leg/heel on Instagram Tuesday. He had an operation last month to repair the Achilles tendon, which he tore against the Golden State Warriors on April 12.
Metta World Peace’s son selling Dwight Howard jersey
$8,500???
The Los Angeles Lakers season has come to a close in disappointing fashion, and it appears that Metta World Peace’s son is reacting accordingly. World Peace posted a photo of a collection of stuff that he claimed his son is selling because he wants to buy a pair of $8,500 sneakers.
“My son is trying to sell all this for a pair of shoes! $8,500″ World Peace wrote along with the photo you see above. “I told him to get a job. This kid is nuts!”
Included are some basics that a kid who is looking to make a buck would try to sell a keyboard, a guitar, some shoes. Oh yeah, and it also appears his Dwight Howard jersey has been thrown into the mix.
Kobe Bryant not happy about Derek Fisher’s return to the NBA
Remember Where You Were?
After Wednesday’s practice in El Segundo, Kobe Bryant was asked about his old and close friend Derek Fisher latching on with the Oklahoma City Thunder for the second time in two seasons. Bryant didn’t bother hiding any distaste for seeing Fisher don the unformi of a rival.
Asked if he was glad Fisher was back in the NBA?
Bryant: responded with a one word no.
Asked if he was surprised he was back?
Bryant said “No.”
Asked if he was surprised he came back with Oklahoma City?
“Well, that’s probably why I’m not happy about it.”
Kobe Bryant responds to Mark Cuban Amnesty thought
Style & Profile
After Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban explained Sunday why he suggested the Los Angeles Lakers cut their star, Kobe Bryant provided a brilliant counterpoint in a 103-99 win against Cuban’s Mavericks. He finished with 38 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists as the Lakers won their third in a row and improved to 8-3 in February.
“Amnesty THAT,” Bryant tweeted after the game, referring to the amnesty clause that Cuban suggested would let the Lakers avoid paying his contract.
“I’m sure if (Cuban) wants to amnesty Dirk (Nowitzki), that’s something we’ll be willing to entertain,” Bryant told news reporters after the game.
Kobe Bryant scolds fans on Twitter
Style & Profile
Kobe Bryant, who was fined two years ago for using a gay slur toward a referee, scolded two Twitter users for using homophobic language over the weekend.
He tweeted: “Just letting you know @pacsmoove @pookeo9 that using ‘your gay’ as a way to put someone down ain’t ok! #notcool delete that out ur vocab.”
Bryant was responding to a message from user @pookeo9, a 16-year-old Canadian, and a subsequent response from @pacsmoove.
The first tweet was directed to the @kobebryant handle and read, “Let’s make out in bed Kobe.”
@Pacsmove retweeted that message, adding “you’re gay” to the beginning.
Bryant responded with the admonishment, then acknowledged his past issues with using homophobic language when confronted by another Twitter user.
“Exactly,” he wrote. “That wasn’t cool and was ignorant on my part. I own it and learn from it and expect the same from others.”
Bryant was fined $100,000 in April 2011 for using a slur toward a referee.
Bryant’s tweet didn’t make an immediate impact on the two young men he addressed. The first defended his “joke” and the second said he was “mad as hell” that Kobe embarrassed him.
Lil Wayne claims Heat arena security kicked him out for rooting for Lakers
No Homo
Lil Wayne is at odds with another NBA franchise.
The rapper tweeted that he was kicked out of the Los Angeles Lakers-Miami Heat game on Sunday in Miami because he was rooting for the purple and gold.
“So I’m @ da Heat game right, rootin 4 da Lakers kuz dats my team & would u believe they got police 2 make me leave?! Wow! F#€k da Heat”
A fan named Danny Vega, who said he was near the rapper, had a different version of the incident:
“Random guy yelled at Lil Wayne at #MiamiHEAT game, Weezy looked back, gave him a mean stare & gestured he had a gun,” tweeted Vega, who said he was at the game and sitting near Lil Wayne. “Weezy just got into argument with security at the #MiamiHEAT game. He got kicked out for gun gesture.”
Kobe Bryant posterizes two Brooklyn Nets
“I felt like Moses,” is what Los Angeles Lakers Kobe Bryant said after posterizes Kris Humphries and Gerald Wallace of the Brooklyn Nets.
Metta World Peace throws punch in Detroit
Metta World Peace turned back the clock in his return to Detroit’s Palace of Auburn Hills arena and threw a sneaky jab while initiating the contact with Brandon Knight. Peace was given a flagrant foul on the play.
Lakers reportedly went at each other in team meeting
Hollywood
The soap opera that is the 2012-13 Los Angeles Lakers apparently took another juicy turn Wednesday as players “went at each other a little bit” during a team meeting in Memphis, according to a report by the Los Angeles Times.
According to a person who witnessed the meeting, things got a little heated when Kobe Bryant asked Dwight Howard if the big man liked playing with the Lakers star.
Here’s how things played out, according to the report:
Coach Mike D’Antoni started it by saying he was tired of reading newspaper stories about players questioning his offense or wanting more touches. Bryant and Howard each fell under that category after the Lakers’ lifeless 95-83 loss Monday in Chicago: Bryant said the offense needed to slow down while Howard expressed displeasure after taking only five shots.
D’Antoni then told the team to stop worrying about offense and start playing better defense. The Lakers are fifth in scoring (102.6 points a game) but 26th in defense (101.4 points a game).He then asked players to speak up. Steve Nash went first.
Nash, in his first season with the Lakers, said he didn’t care how they played, whether it was via pick-and-roll or fastbreak or whatever. He just wanted everybody to be comfortable in the system. It was seen as a sacrifice by Nash, who played four seasons under D’Antoni’s run-and-gun offense in Phoenix and won two NBA MVP awards while doing it.Bryant also spoke up, acknowledging he could be “hard to play with” and asking Howard if that bothered him.
Howard’s answer was unclear, though he did not engage Bryant in nearly as vocal a manner as Bryant engaged him.”He didn’t go back at Kobe,” said the person who witnessed the meeting.
The meeting apparently didn’t help the Lakers on the court as they fell to the Grizzlies on Wednesday night for their fourth straight loss.
Referee Bill Kennedy admits to stalling Lakers-Spurs game
NBA fans watching the Los Angeles Lakers-San Antonio Spurs game on Wednesday caught a glimpse of a referee Bill Kennedy admitting on TV that he was stalling for a commercial.
Lakers broadcast creates all-Kobe Bryant lineup
Top 5
NBATV might have created Kobe Bryant’s dream lineup. Sure, the Lakers were shorthanded going into Tuesday night’s game against the Rockets. But this just seems … excessive.
Rockets announcer says Lakers have just pooped their big boy pants
Houston Rockets radio announcer Craig Ackerman said the Los Angeles Lakers loss to his bosses team was on epic proportions.
“The game is over! The game is over!” Ackerman shouted as the final seconds expired. “The Lakers have just pooped their big boy pants and the Rockets have come from 17 down to win it, 107-105!”
Joey Crawford dances after foul call
Joey Crawford, the longtime NBA referee made one of the most emphatic and unintentionally hilarious foul calls in recent memory on Tuesday, when he whistled Los Angeles Lakers backup guard Chris Duhon for blocking late in the fourth quarter against Indiana Pacers.
Floyd Mayweather wins $275K bet on Spurs-Lakers
Imagine What He Would Earn If He Fought You Know Who
Danny Green became Floyd Mayweather’s best friend Tuesday night. Green drained a go-ahead, eventual game-winning three-pointer with 9.3 seconds left to help the San Antonio Spurs narrowly defeat the Los Angeles Lakers.
While Green helped most Spurs fans win the small feat of happiness, the 6-6 guard helped Money Mayweather win a lot more.
A lot more…as in $275,000.
Mayweather, who was in attendance at Staples Center, might have been the only non-Spurs fan jumping for joy. It surely wasn’t his biggest bet ever placed, but it was still a huge win. And this was actually a smart bet, too. The Spurs are 7-1 and the Lakers are obviously going through a coaching change after firing Mike Brown. That’s a much safer call than when Mayweather most famously lost $3 million by betting on Michigan against Alabama. The Wolverines lost that game 44-14, but Mayweather lost a lot more.
“Kobe Bryant is a living legend but I bet $275k on Spurs and Danny Green got me that green,” he tweeted.
Kobe Bryant flys Steve Blake to doctor in his helicopter
Style & Profile
Kobe Bryant owns a helicopter and uses it all the time in his everyday life. On Monday, he used his chopper to take Steve Blake to the doctor.
Bryant did not speak to reporters after practice Monday because Los Angeles Lakers point guard Blake suffered an abdominal strain and could only get an appointment with an Orange County doctor in the early afternoon, so Bryant flew him there in his helicopter to avoid any irksome traffic on the 405.
If you’re super interested in Kobe’s helicopter then this 2010 GQ profile is must-read. A sample:
He takes a private helicopter from Orange County, where he lives with his wife and two children, to every home game. It’s a nice dash of glitz, a touch of showbiz that goes well with the Hollywood sign in the hazy distance. But sexy as it might seem, Bryant says the helicopter is just another tool for maintaining his body. It’s no different than his weights or his whirlpool tubs or his custom-made Nikes. Given his broken finger, his fragile knees, his sore back and achy feet, not to mention his chronic agita, Bryant can’t sit in a car for two hours. The helicopter, therefore, ensures that he gets to Staples Center feeling fresh, that his body is warm and loose and fluid as mercury when he steps onto the court.
DeAndre Jordan, Antawn Jamison attend Twilight opening
Team Edward or Team Jacob
The Los Angeles Clippers DeAndre Jordan and Trey Thomkins and the Los Angeles Lakers Antawn Jamison were out late for the Twilight: Breaking Dawn 2 world premiere in Hollywood last night. There’s proof, via Twitter thanks to Jordan, who labeled the event “insane.”
Thomkins tweeted a bevy of hilarious pictures, including one with Taylor Lautner (that’s Jacob) and it said “one of the coolest dudes I’ve ever met.”
Lamar Odom Still Thinks He Plays With Lakers
Lamar Odom is in his first season with the Los Angeles Clippers this is coming after a season in which he started it off with the Los Angeles Lakers but before the new year could come about was traded to the Dallas Mavericks. He was later sent home with full pay by the Mavericks but it appears his heart is still with the purple and gold, even though he was drafted by the Clippers the team he currently plays for.
Steve Blake Cussed Out Son Of Shoe Mogul
Los Angeles Lakers guard Steve Blake was fined $25,000 on Tuesday for berating a fan during Friday’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers. The fan whom Blake cussed out is Lance Jackson, the son of L.A. Gear chairman Steve Jackson.
Dwight Howard Nickname: Superman Out, Iron Man In
Back To The Drawing Board
“Superman” is dead. That’s the message that Dwight Howard had for reporters last night when asked about the infamous nickname that he shares with Shaquille O’Neal. Looking to shed the comparisons to Shaq once and for all. Howard says he has been thinking about changing his nickname for awhile now and that he thinks he has found a suitable replacement. That replacement nickname? “Iron Man.”
Of course, he’s going to have trouble getting Los Angeles Lakers fans to ride for that one. Former Lakers star A.C. Green was nicknamed Iron Man during his playing days because he played in an NBA record 1,192 straight games.
Kobe Bryant Says He Might Retire In 2 Years
Help Me
Kobe Bryant was second in the NBA in scoring and fourth in MVP voting last season. But the Los Angeles Lakers star sees the finish line.
In a wide-ranging and excellent interview with CBS Sports Bryant made it sound as though he doesn’t anticipate playing beyond the length of his current contract, which expires in two seasons.
“It’s just that three more years seems like a really long time to continue to stay at a high, high level of training and preparation and health,” Bryant said. “That’s a lot of years. For a guard? That’s a lot of years.”
Stan Van Gundy Rips The Orlando Magic On Local Radio Stations
Luigi Help
Former Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy has recently fired back at Magic CEO Alex Martins comments that Van Gundy “couldn’t relate to the players.”
Van Gundy told Mike Bianchi’s show on 740 AM:
“It’s a typical lack of understanding from someone who has no sports knowledge, who has never coached or played, who has never been in a lockeroom….it’s a naivete,” Van Gundy said of Martins Monday morning on Mike Bianchi’s show on 740 AM.
“….I’ll stand on the relationships with players based on the results we got.
“I think Alex’s comments are based on the fact that Dwight and maybe others didn’t like me…and thinking somehow that’s important.”
Martin fired Van Gundy after the team’s early first round exit of the playoffs, last season. At lot of the circus that surrounded the Magic last season revolved around diva center Dwight Howard, and Van Gundy believes the Magic’s values and goals were compromised to keep their star happy.
Van Gundy said that everything changed after former CEO Bob Vander Weide retired, and admits to being extremely unhappy with the way Martins handled the situation.
“When Bob left, it really became Alex over everything,” Van Gundy told 740 AM.
Van Gundy admitted that he wasn’t blameless in the circus atmosphere.
“I’ll take my share of the blame and management needs to take theirs,” he said.
Van Gundy said the way the Magic handled the Howard drama “wasn’t good.”
“The Dwight thing was so big….in an effort, I guess, to make Dwight happy and everything else, we compromised a lot of the culture and values we had before that. It’s always a mistake when you compromise those things…everything goes South. It was no longer a team-first thing,” he said. “It was inevitable things would not go as well.”
Van Gundy did admit to having his issues with Howard. He said he has no doubt that the rumors of Dwight asking the Magic to fire him were true, claiming that upper management confirmed to him Dwight said he would not say unless they got rid of Van Gundy. When asked who told him he had this to say:
“Basically everybody that was above me…to the top level. In my mind, there’s no real dispute that that happened. There’s been people trying to run from it and cloak it in different ways.”
It first came out when Magic owner Rich DeVos told the Orlando Sentinel that Howard had come to management asking that there be a coaching change.
The Magic had a chance to trade Howard, and Van Gundy believes that former GM Otis Smith saw how the Howard situation would play out and could have traded Dwight before Van Gundy was fired.
“There were various times it could have happened….(Smith) saw this whole thing coming long before the season started,” Van Gundy said. “It ultimately ended up not being his choice.”
When Dwight said he wouldn’t follow in the footsteps of former Orlando Magic-turned-Los Angeles Laker center Shaquille O’Neal, Martins and the Magic faithful thought they had a chance to resign Howard. In the end, Howard’s flip-flopping game proved to be just that–a flop, and Magic fans were left disappointed once again.
Van Gundy said he definitely wants to coach again, but he will do as his brother Jeff Van Gundy did and become a television analyst, until the right opportunity presents itself. There has been no report as to which broadcast he would join.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Not A fan Of Andrew Bynum
History Class 38,387
If anyone knows what it takes to be a superstar center in Los Angeles it would be Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. And the Hall of Famer says Dwight Howard has the goods and Andrew Bynum did not.
Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, Jabbar said of the trade that bought Howard to town and sent Bynum to Philadelphia 76ers as “nothing short of a coup.”
Jabbar said Howard will thrive without changing “his game that much” and that he’s “is very committed to playing and winning. Andrew has been up and down on that issue. There are times he wants to play, do a great job and he goes out and does it. Then there are other times where it seems like he’s not focused.”
Jabbar worked with Bynum for a few years after the Los Angeles Lakers drafted the 7-footer in the first round of the 2005 draft.
“When I first started working with him, he was eager to learn,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “He appreciated me shortening the learning curve. Once he figured he did everything he wanted to do in terms of learning, he didn’t want me to bother him constantly going over the fundamentals.”
WTF: Magic Johnson
Where's Cookie
Rihanna was chilling on a boat over the weekend with her girls and decided to take a picture to remember the occasion however thats when Los Angeles Lakers great and Los Angeles Dodgers owner Magic Johnson stumbled into the frame and photo bombed her and her crew.
Steve Nash Reacts To Grant Hill Clippers Signing
Who Farted
New Los Angeles Lakers guard Steve Nash posted a photo on Twitter of his reaction to finding out former teammate Grant Hill had chosen to play in Los Angeles, just not with the Lakers but the Clippers.
