Archive for the 'Players' Category

Bryant Opts Not to Opt

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on July 1, 2009
in Kobe Bryant and Off-Season
. Closed

Kobe BryantKobe Bryant did not opt out of his current deal and remains under contract with the Lakers for two more seasons, according to Lakers spokesman John Black.

The Finals MVP will once again have an option to opt out of his contract at the conclusion of the coming 2009-10 season, while the team is guaranteed to Bryant through 2010-11.

This information, confirmed due to the July 1 deadline for the ETO (early termination option) clause in Bryant’s contract, came as no surprise. Bryant had steadily insisted throughout the season and in his exit interview that his contract was not an issue: “You know I’m not going anywhere,” he said.

As Josh Powell and D.J. Mbenga are now under contract through next season and the team has until August 1 to decide whether or not to terminate Sun Yue’s contract, the Lakers currently have 11 players under contract for 2009-10.

Unrestricted free agents Lamar Odom, Trevor Ariza and Shannon Brown are allowed to speak with any interested parties - including the Lakers - during the ongoing free agency moratorium period which lasts through July 7.

Powell, Mbenga Back for 2009-10

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on July 1, 2009
in DJ Mbenga, Josh Powell and Off-Season
. Closed

ts_090701powellmbengaPower forward Josh Powell and center D.J. Mbenga will remain on the Lakers’ roster for the 2009-10 season after L.A. opted not to terminate their respective non-guaranteed contracts by the July 1 deadline, according to Lakers spokesman John Black.

Powell and Mbenga each had a year left on their contracts, and since neither was acted upon, the 6-10 and 7-0 post players are guaranteed through the coming season.

Powell averaged 4.2 points and 2.9 rebounds in 11.7 regular season minutes and 2.1 points with 1.2 boards in 5.2 postseason minutes during L.A.’s championship run. He showed his value when afforded ample playing time, highlighted by a 17-point, 9-rebound performance on March 11 at Houston when the Lakers were without Andrew Bynum (injury) and Lamar Odom (suspension).

Mbenga won the rights to L.A.’s third center position as the Lakers sent Chris Mihm to Memphis for a draft pick, and made the most of his 7.9 minutes per game in the regular season by blocking 1.04 shots in that time. He even inspired his own cheering section of the upper deck with fans often sporting “Banging with Mbenga” t-shirts.

Mbenga will join the Belgian National Team this summer in preparation for EuroBasket 2009, while Powell, star of J-Peezy’s Playlist, is currently working out in his hometown of Atlanta.

Sun Yue Update

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on July 1, 2009
in Off-Season and Sun Yue
. Closed

Rookie guard Sun Yue currently has one year left on his two-year, non-guaranteed deal with the Lakers, and according to team spokesman John Black, L.A. has until August 1st to decide whether or not to terminate his contract.

In the meantime, Sun said in his exit interview that he’s deciding whether or not to play with the Chinese National Team this summer.

Wait … Shannon Brown Doesn’t Lift Weights?

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on June 30, 2009
in Off-Season, Podcast and Shannon Brown
. Closed

Shannon BrownWhen you watch “Forrest Gump,” it takes just a few seconds to realize that Tom Hanks can do a bit of acting.

Observe President Obama give a speech, tune in to see Albert Pujos hit a baseball or listen to Jay-Z perform one of his songs, and your conclusion makes itself in a flash.

That’s about how long it takes to notice that Shannon Brown is some kind of a freakish athlete, and upon further consideration, literally one of the world’s best.

Surely if you observe the raw, explosive nature of Brown’s body movements going up and down the basketball floor, it’s easy to imagine an extensive weight lifting and training program that’s been followed for years and maximized in the NBA. After all, this is the guy you saw raise up to destroy a Mario West layup attempt in February and climb over the outstretched arms of Chris Andersen for a hammer dunk in the Western Conference Finals.

His 44.5-inch vertical - measured prior to his rookie season at the Lakers’ predraft camp - was in part of gift of genetics, but it would be assumed that Brown’s well-muscled arms didn’t just appear from nowhere. We assume he lifts some serious weights. Right?

Not really.

In fact, late in the season, Brown explained to us that while he did do some lifting in high school and at Michigan State, he has basically stayed away from weight training since entering the NBA.

Huh?

“Whatever Shannon accomplishes or doesn’t accomplish in the NBA is not going to be for lack of athleticism, and the risks involved with trying to be too clever with him would be ridiculous,” explained Lakers Director of Athletic Performance, Chip Schaefer. “We’re very open ended and we like to listen to the athletes, so when Shannon came … I had no problem with him sticking to (his program).”

Schaefer, who’s in charge of the team’s strength and conditioning, instead worked to supplement Brown’s routine with some fine tuning. Accordingly, to get a better understanding of why Brown sticks mostly to push ups and does little to nothing with his legs, we sat down with Schaefer for a podcast:

 
icon for podpress  Chip Schaefer on Shannon Brown [7:45m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

In the (Championship) Locker Room: Brown

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on June 29, 2009
in Finals and Shannon Brown
. Closed

Shannon BrownUp next in our run of post-championship locker room series is Shannon Brown, who came to the Lakers midseason from Charlotte before realizing his childhood dream.

I’m really numb, to be honest. My teammates were holding me back telling me not to cry. It’s just something you work so hard for. This is why you play the game, to be a champion on the highest level of basketball, to be considered one of the greatest teams ever to do it … I can’t explain it. I’m numb man. I’m numb.

Sure enough, Brown was particularly emotional while trying to sum up his feelings, leading in part to our calling up his father Chris to really understand Shannon’s journey.

Alas, to watch the locker room interview, CLICK HERE.

In the (Championship) Locker Room: Farmar

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on June 29, 2009
in Finals and Jordan Farmar
. Closed

Jordan FarmarIt’s already been 15 days since the Lakers used a 99-86 drubbing of the Orlando Magic to win the franchise’s 15th NBA Championship.

A lot’s happened since then, including the NBA Draft, exit interviews, the comical premiere of “Real World Cancun” (year 22?!) and even the melancholy passing away of the King of Pop.

Thus, in case you need a memory refresher, we’ll be posting periodic videos from the immediate postgame locker room, starting with a conversation with Jordan Farmar just minutes after the final buzzer when he said this:

Growing up in L.A. watching the Lakers do this for years before I got here was special, I felt part of it as a fan,” said Farmar. “To go through so much this season, have an injury, fluctuating playing time and all types of adversity makes it all worth it. This is what we all sacrificed for from day one. I can’t even put it into words right now.

To watch the full video, CLICK HERE.

Ariza Invited to Team USA Mini Camp

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on June 25, 2009
in Off-Season and Trevor Ariza
. Closed

Here’s a release from USA Basketball detailing Trevor Ariza’s invitation to Team USA Mini camp in Las Vegas:

Twenty-five top rising NBA players have accepted invitations from USA Basketball to participate in the 2009 USA Basketball Men’s National Team mini-camp that will be conducted July 22-25 in Las Vegas, Nev. The selections were announced by USA Basketball Chairman Jerry Colangelo.

The July USA Basketball Men’s National Team mini-camp will feature practice sessions on July 23 and July 24 at Valley High School, and the mini-camp will be capped by the USA Basketball Showcase, a Blue-White intra-squad game, on Saturday, July 25, 8 p.m. (PDT) at the Thomas & Mack Center on the campus of UNLV.

Tickets are now on sale for the 2009 USA Basketball Showcase, with seats priced at $10 to $75. Tickets can be purchased through www.UNLVtickets.com or 702-739-FANS.

Accepting an invitation to attend the July 22-25 mini- camp were: LaMarcus Aldridge (Portland Trail Blazers / Texas); Trevor Ariza (Los Angeles Lakers / UCLA); D.J. Augustin (Charlotte Bobcats / Texas); Jerryd Bayless (Portland Trail Blazers / Arizona); Ronnie Brewer (Utah Jazz / Arkansas); Glen Davis (Boston Celtics / LSU); Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder / Texas); Rudy Gay (Memphis Grizzlies / Connecticut); Danny Granger (Indiana Pacers / New Mexico); Jeff Green (Oklahoma City Thunder / Georgetown); Blake Griffin (University of Oklahoma); Devin Harris (New Jersey Nets / Wisconsin); Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers / Arizona); Kyle Korver (Utah Jazz / Creighton); David Lee (New York Knicks / Florida); Brook Lopez (New Jersey Nets / Stanford); Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves / UCLA); O.J. Mayo (Memphis Grizzlies / USC); Paul Millsap (Utah Jazz / Louisiana Tech); Greg Oden (Portland Trail Blazers / Ohio State); Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls / Memphis); Brandon Roy (Portland Trail Blazers / Washington); Josh Smith (Atlanta Hawks / Oak Hill Academy, Va.); Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder / UCLA); and Thaddeus Young (Philadelphia 76ers / Georgia Tech).

USA Basketball announced on May 21 that Toronto Raptors head coach Jay Triano, Utah Jazz assistant coach Tyrone Corbin, Detroit Pistons assistant Dave Cowens, former New Orleans Hornets assistant Kenny Gattison, and innesota Timberwolves assistant Jerry Sichting, would serve as the staff for the 2009 USA Basketball Men’s National Team mini-camp.

“While we look to continue to build continuity within the USA national team program and continue to improve, in 2009 we will get a look at some of the top young NBA players who haven’t been involved in USA Basketball at the top national program level previously. Although some of these players have represented USA Basketball in the past, this is their opportunity to be considered for the next generation of players who will help make up the USA Basketball National program. As was the case in 2005-08, the roster for the national team program will be fluid in 2010-2012 and we will make adjustments to the roster each year to help insure we have the strongest program and the strongest teams possible,” said Colangelo.

Twenty-one of the expected 25 mini-camp participants have prior USA Basketball team experience.

Brown’s Basketball Roots

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on June 23, 2009
in Podcast and Shannon Brown
. Closed

blog_090623chrisbrown1For a perspective that only a father could have, we dialed up Shannon Brown’s dad Chris to talk about his son’s journey from Maywood, Illinois to the NBA Championship, including a nugget about Shannon breaking the glass after a freshman-year-of-high-school dunk.

 
icon for podpress  Brown's Basketball Background [24:09m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Proviso East High Backboards

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on June 22, 2009
in Lakers.com News and Shannon Brown
. Closed

During a coming-soon podcast we did with Shannon Brown’s father Chris, we learned that during Shannon’s freshman year, his father received a call from Proviso East High School asking him to come on down to the Maywood, Ill., location.

When Chris, a police sergeant, showed up, he saw that his son had smashed one of the school’s backboards with a dunk. Yeah, he was a bit concerned about the prospect of paying for it, but he couldn’t deny a bit of pride crept in.

As it were, Proviso East - home of Michael Finley, Doc Rivers, Reggie Jordan, Brown’s teammate Dee Brown and others - saw a 6-foot something freshman, not a visiting monster like Dwight Howard, smash the glass.

Apparently a 44.5 inch vertical helps?

Stay tuned later this week for the podcast.

Kobe Bryant: Exit Interview

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on June 19, 2009
in Kobe Bryant
. Closed

blog_090619kobebryantAll-Star Co-MVP; First Team All-NBA; NBA All-Defensive First Team … And, the big one, NBA Finals MVP after L.A.’s championship victory over Orlando.

The accolades describe Kobe Bryant’s 2008-09 quite well, as do the numbers: 26.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.9 assists with 1.46 steals on 46.7 percent from the field, 35.1 percent from three and 85.6 percent from the line in 36.1 minutes per game. In the playoffs, Bryant picked his numbers up to 30.2 points, 5.3 boards, 5.5 assists, 1.65 steals and 0.91 blocks on 45.7 percent from the field, 34.9 from three and 88.3 from the charity stripe in 40.9 minutes.

Bryant’s focused drive to the championship that began in the offseason filtered its way through his teammates, and ultimately, his fourth title was the result.

Here are the highlights from Bryant’s exit interview:

- His immediate plans: “I’ll take a couple months off. I’m going to enjoy (myself), it’s going to be very relaxing, no evil flashbacks. Everything is very positive.”

- On how he’s feeling after all the work: “Extremely satisfying because you put in a lot of time and effort to fix things, and to see it finally happen, it’s great. It’s a great memory.”

- Bryant, who notoriously doesn’t sleep much, said he’s looking for activities to do at six in the morning.

- He said his daughters want him around the house all the time, and recognize that the season is over. So his “Daddy has to do an exit meeting” was met with a “I thought you said it was over!”

- On Trevor Ariza and Lamar Odom coming back: “Extremely critical. Those are pieces that are tough to find. We have such a great team from chemistry down to execution. It’s rare you find guys that are so talented that are willing to sacrifice themselves for the benefit of the group.”

- Meeting for Kobe, Phil and Mitch is all “BS ing.” They already know each other, he says, there’s nothing to talk about. It’s not like Kobe needs any basketball tips.

- On his finger: “I won a championship, I’m not fixing a damn thing.”

- Kobe went with his “I can’t even read” defense when talking about his contract and whether or not he would opt out. “I’ve been deflecting that all year, I ain’t gonna stop now. I’m not going anywhere, you know I’m not going anywhere. It’s a waste of our breath.”

- Bryant says he will “definitely” go watch his favorite soccer team, FC Barcelona, when they come to L.A.

- On how far the team has come: “Ownership made the necessary steps to put us in this position. They made the sacrifices to get the necessary players in here.”