It was another good day for the Los Angeles Lakers. The team received their 2008-09 championship rings and then proceeded to defeat the Los Angeles Clippers by a final score of 99-92.
In the first quarter, the Lakers outscored the Clippers 32-22 and never looked back. Kobe Bryant (who else?) led the way with 33 points, eight rebounds, four steals and three assists. Andrew Bynum, who started at center, had 26 points and 13 rebounds for the Lakers.
The Clippers, who learned late on Monday that rookie phenom Blake Griffin would miss up to six weeks with a broken kneecap. were led …read more

The Golden State Warriors handed the Los Angeles Lakers a 110-91 drubbing. Luckily for the defending NBA champions, this was only a preseason contest.
Monta Ellis led the way for the Warriors by scoring 24 points and handing out eight assists. Anthony Randolph, who is starting at power forward for Golden State this season, had 18 points, eight rebounds and two assists in 41 minutes.
For the Lakers, Kobe Bryant (15), Andrew Bynum (19) and Pau Gasl (12) were all in double figures. The game, which was played in Los Angeles, saw the Warriors outscore the Lakers 58-43 in the second half.
While …read more

 Who will guard Kobe?
Rookie Courtney Lee will likely get his shot at the Black Mamba in the beginning, provided Lee is in the starting lineup. Otherwise, when Mickael Pietrus is in the game, he will no doubt be regarded as the ‘Kobe Stopper’. How well he can stop Kobe is debatable, but my guess is Pietrus will do a better job than Ruben Patterson ever did.
Wouldn’t surprise me to see Hedo Turkoglu or J.J. Redick get some cracks at Kobe here and there, but it probably won’t end well for them.
Can Andrew Bynum step up his game against Superman?
If Bynum …read more

Andrew Bynum, the center for the Los Angeles Lakers who has missed the last 32 games due to a torn MCL in his right knee, is set to return to the lineup against the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night. The Lakers, who have already clinched the best record in the Western Conference, would become even more dangerous.
This rumor is courtesy of Chris Broussard at ESPN The Magazine. According to Broussard, his source is close to the Lakers.
With the NBA playoffs beginning on April 18th, the Lakers will likely try to accelerate Bynum’s acclimation back into the fold. In fact, head …read more

In the NBA, 2009 has been the year of the injury. It seems like every time you turn on ESPN, someone else is going down. Virtually every team in the league is dealing with at least one injury.
Here are the five most devastating NBA injuries that could have an impact on the 2009 NBA championship:
5. Tyson Chandler, New Orleans Hornets
It’s a bad sign when a team trades for you without giving up much of anything and then they rescind the trade due to health reasons. That’s exactly what happened to Chandler after being traded to the Thunder. If Chandler doesn’t …read more

Andrew Bynum, who was really supposed to be back playing by now, is just starting to run on a treadmill. This treadmill workout marks his most strenuous physical activity yet. It also marks the first I’ve heard of a $75,000 treadmill.
The Lakers’ athletic training staff leased the $75,000 treadmill in order to help speed the recoveries of Bynum, Trevor Ariza (broken foot) and Chris Mihm (heel).
Bynum, Mihm and assistant coach Brian Shaw used the treadmill Tuesday.
They ran without the pounding they would normally experience on a regular treadmill or on the court, which gives their legs a break.

Now, how this …read more