The TNT Inside the NBA crew shows Kobe Bryant their rendition of the viral Nike HyperDunk video. Funny stuff!
Kenny Smith jumps over Aston Martin
Worries over economic downturn are nowhere to be found as money flows at playoff time at Staples Center.
L.A. Times: Even though Shona Jones’ seats were near the ceiling, she couldn’t stop smiling.
Jones had driven from her San Diego home to Staples Center on Sunday with her two kids and one of her best friends.
She took a breather before going to her seats, time enough to tally the damage. Tickets, gas, parking, hot dogs, sodas, T-shirts and Lakers Crocs for the kids — she estimated that all together the day would cost near $1,000, a hefty chunk for a legal clerk and her waitress pal.
“It’s the playoffs,” she said. “Kobe and Iverson.”
But $1,000?, she was asked. That’s a lot for one game.
“I wouldn’t miss this for anything,” she said, her smile tightening. “It’s just so much fun, and worth the memories . . . even in times like these, you can’t put a price on that.”
Absolutely.
These are tough times. It’s the economy, the war, the election, the environment. Pessimism rules. The doomsayers crow.
But inside Staples Center on the day of a Lakers playoff game, where the cheap seats run $200, tough times seem far away.
Sports Illustrated: The best way to describe Lamar Odom as a player might be to think of him as Kevin Garnett Lite.
He isn’t as dominant as the Celtics’ star and doesn’t have the same defensive presence, but the overall effect he has on a game is unmistakable in a Garnett-like way. He just does whatever has to be done and he does it in a quiet, efficient way.
To put it bluntly, the Lakers wouldn’t be the top seed in the Western Conference if it weren’t for Odom, who without much fanfare is having the best season of his nine-year career. He is a facilitator — the guy who makes everybody else look good by doing a little bit of everything.
“He’s absolutely scary good,” ABC analyst Mark Jackson said during the Lakers’ 128-114 victory against the Nuggets in the opening game of their first-round playoff series. While Pau Gasol was dominant with 36 points, 16 rebounds, eight assists and three blocked shots, and Kobe Bryant was Kobe Bryant with 32 points, Odom was his usual steady and reliable self with a complementary 17 points, 14 rebounds, six assists, two steals and only one turnover in 39 minutes. Six of his rebounds were at the offensive end.
“There isn’t one thing on the basketball floor that he can’t do,” Jackson said. Lakers point guard Derek Fisher called Odom “the consummate team player.”
AllHipHop.com: Los Angeles Lakers forward Lamar Odom hopes to celebrate two career milestones this summer: not only his first NBA championship, but also the successful emergence of his label Rich Soil Entertainment and re-emergence of the label’s marquee artist, Ali Vegas.
Odom announced the forthcoming release of Vegas’ debut, Generation Gap 2: The Prequel, due out in August through a partnership with Asylum Records.
Featuring production by a number of Hip-Hop heavyweights, including DJ Premier, Scott Storch, Cool & Dre, and Midi Mafia and appearances by Akon, Styles P. and R&B songstress Deemi, Generation Gap 2 marks the culmination of nearly decade long career for 24-year-old Ali Vegas
I thought it was classless. Melo went to the line to chants of “DUI.” It really actually upset me. When opposition aruond the league talks about “classless fans” we shouldn’t be on that list. Like booing Kwame earlier this season, I thought the chants were CLASSLESS. Odom didn’t like it, what did you think?
Rocky Mountain News: Players on both teams, though, believe Game 2 will be clean. Lakers forward Lamar Odom is hoping fans won’t continue to yell “DUI” at Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony because of his recent arrest on suspicion of drunk driving.
“That’s tough,” Odom said. “You don’t like to see that.”
Bryant also admonished Lakers fans for chanting “D-U-I” when Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony was at the free-throw line. “I thought it was uncalled for,” he said. “But it’s fans being fans.”
According to ESPN’s NBA Daily dime, at around 4:10 mark you’ll hear them discuss it.
How do you feel about this? He was nearly almost a Kings head coach, and with the Knicks organization looking to compeltely do a 180, bringing in a proven champion wouldn’t be a bad idea. Personally, I love Shaw and hope he stays with Los Angeles. How do you guys feel about it?
Sound off!
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