The Lakers legend, who died on Sunday, delivered five championships and countless brilliant plays. We run down some moments to savor from his careerFrom throwing paper in a trash can, to playground horse games, to high school, college and professional games, you’re bound to hear someone shout ‘Kobe!’ Bryant’s cold and calculated playing style became the stuff of legend over a glittering 20-year career. Here are some memorable moments from his time on court. Continue reading...
The bad chemistry and bad fortune undoing the Lakers have wrought the unthinkable: an NBA playoffs without LeBronIt’s looking like LeBron James in the NBA playoffs isn’t the forgone conclusion we’ve come to presume.On Monday, the Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Clippers, 113-105, slumping to a ho-hum 30-34 record, six games adrift of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference with 18 games left in the regular season. Not only will James almost certainly fail to extend his preposterous streak of eight consecutive NBA finals appearances, it’s looking more and more likely that he’ll miss the playoffs altogether for the first time since the 2004-05 season, when he was a 20-year-old in his second year. The...
The end of the NBA season is approaching, which means it’s time for fans of teams out of the playoff hunt to start rooting for lossesSomething disastrous happened to the LA Lakers on Sunday: they actually won a game. Before beating the Memphis Grizzlies 108-103, things had been going fairly well for the Lakers: they were on a four-game losing streak, and were playing badly enough that they could have conceivably lost their remaining games of the season. With the win, however, the Lakers’ chances of getting a top three pick in this year’s NBA draft lottery took a huge hit, dropping below 50%. That’s a huge deal, because if their pick ends up being No4 or lower, it will...
The New Orleans Pelicans took a step forward, the Sacramento Kings took a step back, the LA Lakers hit the reset button – and the Boston Celtics went nowhereHeading into NBA trade deadline day, there was a very real fear that the biggest move of the year had already been made. But while nothing was likely to top the New Orleans Pelicans’ deal for DeMarcus Cousins, there was still plenty of talk that either the Chicago Bulls’ Jimmy Butler or the Indiana Pacers’ Paul George could find their way to a contender before the 3pm ET deadline. Related: NBA trade deadline day: Mavericks get Noel from 76ers – as it happened ⌚️ Continue reading...
Magic Johnson has always been one of the NBA’s most transformative figures, but he can become the league’s ultimate renaissance man if he fixes the LakersFrom the moment he came into the NBA as a point guard in a power forward’s body, Magic Johnson was a transformative figure. If he can build the Lakers into champions again, the way he did as a player, he will become the league’s ultimate Renaissance man.Few athletes have re-invented themselves in as many ways as Johnson, who has treated each life moment as another no-look pass on a fast-break dunk. In the four decades since he and Larry Bird forever changed college basketball with their 1979 NCAA championship game, he has led the Lakers...