So it turns out Phil Jackson isn't coming back after all. Instead, the Lakers signed Mike D'Antoni's to be the 25th coach in franchise history. And while he isn't the guy who topped the wish list of most fans he's not a bad consolation prize either. That's because the move is just as important to the club's future as it is to the present. If the most important offseason issue facing this team will be whethe ...

The other day I wrote about the truth behind the Derek Fisher, Steve Blake, Chris Duhon rumors. In short, the Lakers are looking at every opportunity to save money and both Blake and Duhon are paid exorbitantly when you factor in luxury taxes. Since I posted it, additional information has come out to explain the timing of those rumors. Last Monday, Leandro Barbosa told the Boston Herald that he and his agen ...

That didn't take long, did it? The Lakers start the season with an unattractive style of play and an uninspired effort and Mike Brown is right back to being public enemy number one. I understand it's the first week of the season but I also understand that this is the Lakers and this current group of guys has an expiration date on it. Before you expect anything to happen anytime soon, Mike Brown is in the se ...

I recently got into a conversation on Twitter with a Lakers fan named Elijah Obasanya, who took issue with something I'd written. What I took away most from our conversation was that he believes that Kobe winning his sixth ring would be a bigger deal than the Lakers tying the Celtics by winning their 17th. And while Kobe can't win a sixth ring without the Lakers winning their 17th, there's still a differenc ...

When James Harden was traded to the Houston Rockets on Saturday, a small ripple from the trade made it's way out to Los Angeles. That's because the Lakers present, as well as their future, were affected by the trade. For starters, the Thunder were considered the favorites by most to repeat as Western Conference champions. How many of those pundits now consider the Lakers to be the favorites is yet to be see ...

I remember October 28, 2003 like it was a yesterday. In fact, I still have the "Lakers Reloaded" poster that was handed out at Staples Center to those of us who were lucky enough to attend the first meaningful game featuring four future Hall of Famers: Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone, and Gary Payton. I remember how that season began, how it ended, and everything that happened after it. So when I ...

I didn't really need ESPN's Marc Stein to tell me the Lakers had made Steve Blake and Chris Duhon available to any team interested in a trade. For starters, every player outside of the top-6 on this season's Lakers team is essentially costing them double when you factor in the luxury tax. So if the Lakers could find a taker for the final two years and $8 million left on Blake's deal, they would jump at the ...

It's impossible to ignore the dozens of things that Shaquille O'Neal accomplished in his 19 years as a professional basketball player. But it seems as if Big Shaq waited until after his playing days were over before setting out to accomplish something that's never been done before. By the looks of things, Shaq is trying to become the first athlete in the history of professional sports to get booed during hi ...

I did something over the weekend that I'm not proud of. I allowed a few idiots to get under my skin on Twitter. They decided to take our conversation to the gutter and instead of either ignoring them or trying to keep things civil, I allowed myself to stoop to their level. It all started when I wrote my open letter to Kobe Bryant last week. The premise of the letter was that I don't feel there's anyone left ...

With training camp still a few days away, we can finally allow ourselves to get excited about this upcoming Lakers season. This was one of the more strange off-seasons I can remember. For starters, it still feels like summer outside my window. Since we're not really allowed to complain about the weather in L.A., most people still have no idea that this past month's heat has been brutal. But it isn't just th ...