Through Purple and Gold Frames

Lakers Hype

Clutch Points

The Los Angeles Lakers are heading into a dice roll of an NBA season, having secured the biggest free agent of the summer in LeBron James and surrounding him with a plethora of supporting pieces on one-year deals. Lakers head coach Luke Walton is optimistic about his team, though, even going as far as thinking they have championship potential down the stretch. While there are sure to be plenty of growing pains that come with assembling a new team and figuring out players’ roles, Walton thinks the Lakers will be well-oiled enough to make a run for the title.

Clutch Points

Luke Walton: “September, probably not. Do I think come April, come playoff months? Absolutely I think we are,” said Walton as a guest in an ESPN LA Radio special: An Evening With The Lakers. “It takes time. You never just put a team together and they’re instantly a championship contender. That’s what the regular season is going to be all about this year. That’s what these guys coming in every day, playing together, getting to know each other, lifting weights together, is about.”

Cleveland Plain Dealer

Son Rich and daughter Riley had some nerve, refusing to sleep through the night while dad was trying to help the Cavs beat the Pacers. There was also the matter of playing alongside LeBron, in what turned out to be his last year in Cleveland, with his Finals streak on the line. Losses were magnified. Wins were expected. Every shot was either taken by LeBron or facilitated through him, or so it seemed. Hood doesn’t use those items as excuses, exactly. It’s just, well, that’s what was happening around him while he was dealing with the worst stretch of his pro career.

NBC Sports

LeBron James long hung in dramatic fashion in Cleveland as the former Cavaliers star was the highlight of the sporting world in Northeasten Ohio. Now LeBron is a member of the Los Angeles Lakers and the Cavaliers — along with the city of Cleveland — needed to find a way to replace the iconic banner hanging at Ontario Street and Huron Road. The solution is apparently going to be a photomosaic of Cavaliers fans constituting a “Guardian of Traffic” that stands over a local bridge.

Clutch Points

This offseason, a number of people floated the idea of Kobe Bryant making a return to the court for the Los Angeles Lakers. Former teammate Shaquille O’Neal recently chimed in on his show, The Big Podcast with Shaq: “He will never go to the Big 3 before he does the NBA. Everybody knows who Kobe is. You’re telling me Kobe can’t give somebody a nice 15-20 minutes a game. If you align all the dots and align all the moons and oceans… if he came back at 40 then the announcement would be the biggest sports announcement in history. The jersey thing would triple in one day. Everybody would be talking about it. He wouldn’t even need to play great, just come play 15-20 minutes a game as a Laker…

Silverscreenandroll.com

Rajon Rondo can’t really help with the physical side of things, but he can help Kuzma figure out what to look for in any given situation. So it’s pretty great to hear from Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka say during an appearance on ESPN 710 that such lessons are already taking place. Pelinka started by praising Rondo, the thinker. “When you look at guys like Rajon Rondo, he’s a basketball savant. All the players in the league know that. He was on our court a day ago and I was watching from my office. He was working on one play for two hours. That’s that Kobe-level of detail at breaking down plays.”

Lonzo Wire

However, according to Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka, Ball has been putting in extra work in the weight room as a result: “With Lonzo, of course, he hasn’t been able to play five-on-five basketball because he had to have a scope on his knee,” Pelinka said in an interview with John Ireland and Mychal Thompson on ESPN LA 710, “but just the way he’s stayed dedicated to reshaping his body and making sure that if he’s playing against a really strong point guard like a Russell Westbrook, who’s going to come at him with his aggressive nature and give him a bump, Lonzo will be able to take it or even bump him back and you’ll see that in his physique.”

lebronwire.usatoday.com

LeBronWire: You had something of a boomerang year from Cleveland, to Los Angeles and then back to Cleveland. You played well with Cleveland then you got traded and now you’re back. Can you recap what that was like for you? Channing Frye: “Well I think first of all, this is a business. The hardest thing in this league is to not take things personally. I’ve been traded to places where I get a call and they say ‘you’re gonna do great at this next place’ and then that’s the end of it. But having the relationships I do with the guys on that team, regardless of LeBron, and the relationship I had with the city and the fan base like that for me, I looked at free agency and said, I’m 35. I’m at the end of my career. Am I going somewhere where somebody is going to have to learn who I am, what I can do and what I can’t.”

lebronwire.usatoday.com

LW: With LeBron not being there, have you envisioned how different the vibe is going to be? Channing Frye: “Yes and no. The first time him leaving was one thing. But the second time the team was way more prepared. I think the fact they still gave Kevin that big contract, they’re trying to sign some young up and coming guys. We have a nice solid core of guys that have been in the trenches but are still growing themselves. […] We have the same team that went to the Finals four years in a row we just got a lot younger. It’s not like these guys don’t know how to win. When he left the first time it was a bunch of young guys and rookies and a different coach. Now you got a championship coach with a championship pedigree team, we’re not just resetting the clock. We’re just taking it back a little bit to compete and contend for the next 5-10 years.”

lebronwire.usatoday.com

LeBron Wire: In your time with the Lakers, what was your impression of the Lakers young guys? Channing Frye: “I’ll tell you this: they’re arguably the most talented group in the NBA. And I mean talented in terms of experience, years playing in the Western Conference and their overall position. I think the thing they’re going to come to and I think a lot of guys are going to have to deal with this. There’s who you expect to be and then who you are when you play with LeBron. It’s two different things. I don’t know if they truly understand what it’s like to play with him because there is no room for mistakes. Because in all actuality, he could do it himself. He could lead a team to 40 wins by himself.”

lebronwire.usatoday.com

“I was really trying to get him mad, really trying to win the game, get him unfocused,” Stephenson said. “And I was trying anything, and for you to do something to somebody and they don’t respond, they keep continuing playing hard, it’s like: ‘yo, how do I…’ I was just trying to find stuff. LeBron was such a good player, you know, I was trying to do anything to get him frustrated,”he added. “It’s going to be different, being friends with LeBron, you know what I mean?”

Metro

As a Lakers fan, you must be pumped about the LeBron news. Do you see a renewed L.A.-Boston rivalry, considering LeBron’s rocky relationship with Kyrie Irving? Ice Cube: A little bit, yeah. I think the Lakers have a lot of work to do to get to where the Celtics seem like they’re already at. I think it’s going to be cool just because Kyrie vs. LeBron is always going to bring some attention nowadays. It’s great because both of those great players are on storied franchises, so that’s going to be good. But until the Lakers get into playoff contention, contending for a title like the Celtics are, then it’s going to be like “Come on, hurry up to the party.” The Lakers have some work to do.

HoopsHype

How tough was it not to hear your name called on Draft night? Joel Berry II: It was pretty tough. It’s always a dream to hear your name get called, but honestly, I’ve always taken the path where I was always overlooked and my game is not the flashiest – I just win – and that speaks more than being a flashy player. I necessarily don’t get looked at like other guys. It hurt for a little bit, but then I realized that’s the path that I’ve always taken and that’s what’s gotten me to where I’m at today. This is why I work so hard. I realized the path I had to take to get to where I want to be.

HoopsHype

As an incoming rookie, what are some personal goals you’ve set for yourself as you begin your NBA journey? Joel Berry II: I’ve set high goals for myself. My first plan is just to make the official roster. But having to take the path I’m taking – being undrafted and having to do a lot of pre-draft workouts – getting a chance with the Lakers was the first goal of mine. So now it’s taking it step by step, making the roster and once I get on the roster, I want to be able to contribute and play. My goal is not just to make it to the NBA, but be somebody one day. That’s what I’m striving for. I’m going to set high goals for myself and I want to be in the talks of winning Rookie of the Year. I know that’s a long way and I have to do a lot, but those are the goals I want to set for myself.

lebronwire.usatoday.com

James spoke for the first time with the media on Monday during the opening of his ‘I Promise’ public school in Akron, Ohio. In an exclusive interview with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols, James said that he wasn’t at all disappointed yb George’s decision to remain in Oklahoma. “I didn’t have many conversations with Paul, and I think Paul did what was best for him,” James told Nichols. “And I think that’s what everybody should do as players, they should do what’s best for them and their family. You shouldn’t get too pressured by anybody. If there’s somebody they want to play with, and they have the opportunity to do it, then go for it. I think we all see that he made the best decision for himself and his family.”

NBA.com

A few weeks later, on Sunday afternoon via his Uninterrupted platform, LeBron made his first public comments about his imminent donning of purple and gold. “You look at the Lakers,” he said. “Being able to play for a historic franchise with so much history, and now being able to partner with Magic Johnson, someone I kinda like looked up to when I was younger and wanted to make no look passes like Magic, wanted to get on the break and be Showtime like Magic and then for it to all come to fruition at this point…”

ESPN

But while there was a unified front — sentimental yet appreciative — between the fans and the Cavs’ key decision-makers when it came to processing James’ plans, the rest of the league had mixed reactions to the news. Those reactions — culled from more than two dozen players, coaches, executives and agents contacted by ESPN — weren’t always as sunny as the Southern California locale James is embarking for. “He wanted to come to L.A.,” one Western Conference player said. “They just had to not f— it up. Jerry West just said it, and I was like, ‘Finally.’ He’s not coming to the Lakers. He came to L.A.”

ESPN

West, now an advisor for the LA Clippers, told Sports Illustrated that, “LeBron was not a tough free-agent signing.” While the player’s swipe — like West’s — was aimed more at the Lakers than at James, the four-time MVP also had his motives for the move questioned. “My thought was, ‘Good luck. You must really want to live in L.A.'” one prominent agent said. “Playing Western Conference teams night in and night out is not going to be the same. You don’t get a ‘night off.’ I would not want to end my career just making the playoffs.”

mavs.com

When it comes to trainers, Dallas Mavericks head athletic trainer Casey Smith is arguably the LeBron James of NBA trainers. Smith is so highly sought after that he’s been on the training staffs of the USA Basketball Men’s National Team for the Pan American Games in 2003, the World Championships in 2006 and ’10, and the Olympics in ’08 and ’12. That means, on a daily basis, he’s constantly dealing with the world’s best players while helping them stay physically fit. “He’s the best of the best, in my opinion,” Mavs assistant coach Jamahl Mosley said. “I’m not taking anything away from anyone else, but I just love how he approaches all of it.”

Boston Globe

Mo Evans: “It’s crazy that you asked what I remember, because recently I was looking at the stat sheet somewhere in some old little folder, a little scrapbook. Seeing how he played, seeing that I had 14 points or something like that [he had 10], it was fun to look back. Because does it matter who won or lost? Being in on that experience and not even realizing that it was the beginning of history in the making.” LeBron James: “We didn’t win as much as I wanted to. I remember that.”

Boston Globe

AJ Guyton, Spurs guard: “I don’t know anything about LeBron James being in that summer league. I really don’t. I don’t remember! I can’t believe I missed it! I’m pissed!” Fifteen years later, the league itself is missed by those who were there. No one knew it then, but that would be its last summer in Boston. It was put on hiatus in 2004 because of the complicated logistics of having the Democratic National Convention in the city at the same time. The hiatus never ended.

NBA.com

Also participating in the game will be NBA assistant coaches Bill Bayno (Indiana Pacers), Harold Ellis (New York Knicks), Adrian Griffin (Raptors), Mark Hughes (Clippers), B.J. Johnson (Houston Rockets), Patrick Mutombo (Raptors; Democratic Republic of the Congo) and David Vanterpool (Trail Blazers), Raptors President Masai Ujiri (Nigeria), Lakers General Manager Rob Pelinka, Magic Director of Player Development and Quality Control Becky Bonner, Magic scout Prosper Karangwa (Rwanda), athletic trainers Will Sevening (Spurs) and Stanford Williams (Phoenix Suns), as well as NBA referees Tony Brothers and Derrick Stafford.

Cleveland Plain Dealer

I talked to several NBA people who are familiar with the Cavaliers (and don’t work for them), and virtually all of them said the team was smart to sign Kevin Love to an extension that means his contract is now $145 million for five years. All of them mentioned how it’s hard to attract free agents to Cleveland. Or as one executive said to me, “Let’s make that free agents who didn’t grow up in Akron,” meaning LeBron James. While James has played more games than any player in franchise history and spent 11-of-15 seasons here, he also has left twice.

ESPN

George said he privately decided to return to the Thunder several weeks before free agency began on July 1. He also acknowledged having an expectation that NBA star LeBron James would sign with the Lakers as a free agent. So why didn’t George give the Lakers a meeting in free agency? “It was absolutely tempting,” George said. “Honestly, I wanted to come back home. But again, I got traded to Oklahoma. Loved the situation. Loved where I was at. I decided to stick around a little longer. …

Oklahoman

Speaking at USA Basketball minicamp in Las Vegas on Thursday, George said he fell in love with Oklahoma in his first season with the Thunder. “When I told the Pacers I wanted to play [in Los Angeles], that was true feelings,” said George in a Sports Illustrated piece by Ben Golliver, who grew up about an hour and a half northeast of L.A. in Palmdale, Calif. “I wanted to come back home. To play for home, to put that jersey on for family and for what I grew up watching. I wanted to carry that legacy. But I went to Oklahoma, fell in love with it and I’m happy with the decision.”

Oklahoman

His statements about both teams echoed some of what he said in the ESPN document “Paul George: My Journey” in early July. “My feelings for the Lakers are the same. I love the organization, I love the history, I love the legacy,” George said. “But being around Sam, being around Russ, being around [coach] Billy [Donovan], Dre [Andre Roberson], Steven [Adams], I gained a brotherhood. [Giving that group only] one year just didn’t sit well with me. I went to war, I went to battle, we made the playoffs, we were in the hunt, and we stuck together all year long. You never heard of any turmoil, no matter how we played, in the locker room. We built a real brotherhood there and I didn’t want to walk away from that.”

ESPN

With LeBron James now with the Los Angeles Lakers, the Celtics are considered among the favorites to win the Eastern Conference entering the season. “Nothing but excited to lead that group. I mean, we haven’t started [yet, so] everyone is zero-zero right now. … The most important thing right now is finding our cohesion,” Irving said, pointing out that he and Hayward basically haven’t played together in a game yet. So finding that [cohesion] is going to be a process, which I am looking forward to doing with Danny [Ainge], Brad [Stevens], everybody.”

NBC Sports

Anthony Davis on ESPN, asked whether the Pelicans checked with him on their handling of Cousins: “They did. There’s a lot of different stories out there, but for me, there’s nothing we can do about it now. I just move forward and try to worry about the team that we have now. You can’t dwell on whether they should’ve came back or Rondo, whoever it is. You’ve just got to move forward with the team I have now and try to find a way to make the playoffs as well and make some noise. Of course it was tough, but at the same time, I’m past it. Like I said, there’s nothing we can do about it. The team kept me in the loop. Whatever happened on their end happened on both sides. And now we’re here. So, like I said, we just have to move forward and try to figure out how we can be successful with the team we’ve got now.”

lebronwire.usatoday.com

In a promo for the show, LeBron James said that he regrets giving his son, LeBron James Jr., his name. “I still regret giving my 14-year-old (LeBron James Jr. turns 14 in a few months) my name because of that,” James said in response to a question from former Daily Show host Jon Stewart about his son having to live up to his name. “When I was younger, I didn’t have a dad, so my whole thing was when I have a kid, not only is he gonna be a junior, I’m gonna do everything that this man didn’t do. They’re gonna experience things that I didn’t experience. The only thing I can do is give them the blueprint, and it’s up to them to take their own course whenever that time comes.”

ESPN

Michael Beasley defended the array of personalities the Los Angeles Lakershave added around LeBron James this offseason and said Monday that he doesn’t like the idea of people judging them on their personas or reputations. “I think it is going to come together like a basketball team,” Beasley said on a conference call when asked how he thinks the Lakers will mesh with the new additions. “You got [14] guys other than LeBron James that know how to play basketball, and I think you got 29 teams that [are] overlooking the fact that they know how to play basketball.”

Sports Illustrated

Hart, who exploded for 37 points against Cleveland and averaged 22.4 PPG while leading LA to a 6-1 Summer League record, wasn’t in the mood to discuss his MVP after the blowout loss, even though Lakers president Magic Johnson suggested the second-year guard could compete for a starting spot in the fall. “It was cool,” Hart said of winning tournament MVP. “I’ll talk more about that later down the line. We came in and missed shots and we fell in the hole and we couldn’t find a rhythm. After this horrible game today, I can’t wait to get back to training camp and wash this taste out of my mouth. That time can’t come soon enough.”

ESPN

The Lakers were already high on Hart’s defensive and rebounding abilities, but Hart feels he has shown some of the other things he has worked hard on this offseason with assistant coach Miles Simon. “Probably my handle,” Hart said by telephone when asked what he feels he has put on display this summer. “My ability to shoot off the dribble. Those are the two main things that I have really been working on the last several months. Hopefully guys see that and say, ‘Oh man, JHart is really working.'”

Sole Collector

Talking with TMZ, Nike Vice President of Innovation Tinker Hatfield confirmed that there’s buzz about [LeBron James’] move at Nike and seemed particularly excited about the new storytelling opportunities it provides. “I think we’re all excited about the fact that LeBron is really still interested in winning more championships,” said Hatfield. “He’s coming to LA to do that. We’re all excited to participate. If we can help him do that by, first of all, designing a product that helps him play at his highest level, that’s job one. Job two, of course, is how can we leverage his personality moving to LA and kind of build a nice story around that. And then, of course, from that, style can be unique and interesting and it can be what I would call a groundbreaking kind of product.”

Uproxx

“I was in the Hamptons and I was sitting next to a couple really good friends, and I just looked down at my phone and said ‘Oh, Bron just signed a $154 million contract with the Lakers,’” Love said. “I said ‘Ok, gotta make a few calls,’ so I stepped out and that was that. Texted him later that night, told him I loved him, told him I appreciated him and good luck.” Who knows? Perhaps down the road, James and Love will be teammates again. The Lakers could use some shooting, you know.

Uproxx

“I was in the Hamptons and I was sitting next to a couple really good friends, and I just looked down at my phone and said ‘Oh, Bron just signed a $154 million contract with the Lakers,’” Love said. “I said ‘Ok, gotta make a few calls,’ so I stepped out and that was that. Texted him later that night, told him I loved him, told him I appreciated him and good luck.” Who knows? Perhaps down the road, James and Love will be teammates again. The Lakers could use some shooting, you know.

Vimeo

Luke Walton on the Lonzo Ball-Rajon Rondo dynamic: “I think it will be great. I know Rondo and I know Zo, and they’re both very competitive people. To me, that’s how you get the most growth and how you get a team that can reach its full potential – when you have people going at each other and pushing each other in practice. They key is to make a culture where they go at each other, but they also have a brotherhood within the locker room so as soon as they’re not competing in practice, [they’re part of] that family atmosphere where they’re pulling for one another in the games and learning from one another and teaching each other.”

ESPN

Lonzo Ball believes his brother, LiAngelo Ball, will be drafted in the NBA Draft later this month. LiAngelo recently worked out for the Lakers in a pre-draft workout with other prospects. “I thought he did pretty well,” said Lonzo, who was with his brothers and father at the Big Baller Brand Junior Basketball Association media day on Monday. “I have high hopes for him. I think he is definitely going to get drafted. I definitely would love to play with him, love to have him [with the Lakers].”

mavs.com

A little over a week ago, Dallas Mavericks forward Harrison Barnes saw first-hand how much fans in China love the National Basketball Association. Barnes was in China to celebrate the NBA Finals with Chinese fans and to help support the continued growth of basketball in China. The Los Angeles Lakers’ Kyler Kuzma and former San Antonio Spurs superstar David Robinson joined Barnes in spreading some NBA cheer in China. […] “It was pretty cool to kind of see where the game is in different countries and the excitement and the passion,” Barnes said. “That was pretty cool to watch that”

Orange County Register

It won’t bother James to be in Houston rather than a glamor capitol like Los Angeles. If the best players usually want the brightest lights and the biggest stage, Bron is 180 degrees different. It has always a personal conceit that wherever he is is a marquee market. He wasn’t even 21 as a young NBA player when he began convening an annual marketing conference—in his home town of Akron, not even nearby Cleveland—obliging his sponsors to show up there. It’s true that LeBron owns two pricey homes in Brentwood, suggesting that he is, indeed, thinking about the Lakers… but that may mean little in the end. “These days it doesn’t matter because you can be known and be a star from anywhere-–anywhere in the world,” Maverick Carter, Bron’s point man, recently told syndicated talk show host Rich Eisn. “I mean, could he sell a few more sneakers if he was in a gigantic market like Boston, Chicago, New York, or L.A.? Maybe. But not as much as if he wins. What matters the most is if he wins. When you win as an athlete, that matters the most.”

HoopsHype

LaVar, who recently spoke with HoopsHype’s Alex Kennedy, is concerned about his son’s injuries. However, he seems to blame the Lakers’ head trainer Gunnar Peterson for the issues that arose throughout Lonzo’s rookie season. “My expectation for Lonzo is for him to be twice as good as he was this year, and to be more healthy,” LaVar told HoopsHype. “He understands, he went through it. If you’re going to be doing those rubber-bands like that dude Gunnar has him doing, that bullsh*t training. That’s what I call it. Sh*t, he wasn’t like that when I brought him over there. When he first came , he never got hurt. He was never hurt.”

HoopsHype

After one season, LaVar was far from impressed with his son’s training regimen in the NBA. “Now, you’ve got these guys talking about, ‘Well, I’ve got this special workout for Lonzo…’ No! Lonzo’s gotta lift that pig iron, that real iron, and he’s gotta run some hills. That’s stuff they don’t have him doing,” LaVar said. “Some of these guys try to act like they’re the best trainers in the world because they trained some people with some God-danged names. But me? I ain’t worried about the names. I want to see your production! You have all these players coming through. Well, why are they getting hurt?”

ESPN

LiAngelo, 19, hopes to show the Lakers that he can not only play at the next level but that he will be a good fit alongside his brother, who earned second-team All-Rookie honors after averaging 10.2 points, 7.2 assists and 6.9 rebounds in 52 games last season. “The Lakers are my priority, for sure,” LiAngelo said recently on the Marcellus and Travis show on ESPNLA radio. “I want to play with my brother. Ever since I played with Zo, we went undefeated. When we get older, we will get stronger, faster and a better feel for the game.” “I’m willing to play for other teams, but my priority is to play with my brother.”

The Vertical

Julius Randle on his impending restricted free agency: “I try to separate emotions from business. I know sometimes they go hand in hand, you spend four years in a place, it kind of goes hand in hand. But honestly, I’m just so focused on my craft and continuing to get better as a player. It’s an exciting time to be a [restricted] free agent, it’s an exciting time. Even more exciting for me is the ability to get better and build off this year. So I mean it might be an emotional time, I don’t know, I’ve never been through this process before but I’ll try to separate [business and emotion] and really just try and enjoy the process and things and educate myself. My team, my agent, everybody has done a great job of educating me on the whole thing and I feel prepared.”

The Vertical

Julius Randle on what he values as far as culture when he considers teams in free agency: “I just feel like culture is important. I feel like having an identity as a team of who you wanna be is really important. You look at the teams who are in the conference finals right now: Boston has an identity and a culture, Houston, Cleveland Golden State, those teams have a culture that makes them successful. I think a reason we had success was because we bought into the way we wanted to play every night with the Lakers. So I feel like identity, culture and direction are really important, and I feel like if you get all the players to buy into that, then everybody has success. Because then you know what you’re working for and how you fit into that.”

The Vertical

Julius Randle on the Lakers not negotiating an extension with him last summer in favor of holding onto their cap space: “I feel like I really had no choice but to separate it [his feelings from the business side of basketball]. I think the extension [had] to be done the day before the season, but I really didn’t have a choice. I had to focus on what I could control. I couldn’t control not getting that extension or whatever happened throughout the year with coming off the bench. I could just control what I could control. That’s just like my preparation, the work that I put in, my focus, my attention, my energy, you know, all those things I could control. I knew that I put in the work, so it was only a matter of time before everything would line up and I just feel like I’m in a better position anyway this summer than if I had worked out an extension last summer. So I guess it’s just funny how life works.”

The Vertical

Julius Randle on the locker-room dynamic in Los Angeles with the team prioritizing cap space over keeping the team together, and whether not it was weird: “Not weird, I thought it was, I felt like everybody thought it was funny, like it was jokes. Like constantly, nobody ever took any report or anything that was coming out being said seriously. We weren’t focused on it, because I think a part of being a player is you realize really quickly that you only have so much you can control. So you can’t control being in trade talks, you can’t control contract negotiations, you can only control that with your play. And everybody just bought into each other, tried to build something and win games.”

Lakers Nation

As for their experience, Johnson and Pelinka have enjoyed the process of developing relationships with players and the coaching staff. “For me it’s really just learning the players, understanding one through 15, one through 12, their mentality. Watching them in practice, how they practice, how they go about their job,” Johnson explained. “Just talking to them, also to getting a chance to know Luke and the coaching staff. We came in, we didn’t know anybody so we had to get to know everybody. For me, that was the biggest learning curve. Rob brought in knowledge of the (salary) cap and all of those type of things, so we had that covered.”

Lakers Nation

Despite inexperience in their respective positions, Jeanie hiring the tandem to lead the Lakers front office appeared to be a strong fit on paper, and it’s carried out in reality. “Magic has a keen ability to, just like when he played, in the heat of the battle, in the heat of the moment, he’s running the break and there’s five different options and he’s got to choose one,” Pelinka said. “I like to be the guy that’s bringing the five options to the table. There’s been a harmony and a beauty from the trades we’ve done to the roster decisions we’ve made, it’s been a real joy for me to work side-by-side with him.”

Lonzo Wire

During a Sunday appearance on FOX Sports Radio’s “Chris and Caron,” Bryant cautioned against splitting up the club’s young core in favor of a more expedient return to title contention via free agency, with the likes of LeBron James and Paul George in L.A.’s crosshairs. “If you want to be a dynasty or a team that has longevity, those things take time, and generally are grown from within,” Bryant said (h/t Silver Screen and Roll’s Christian Rivas for the transcription). “You slap a couple All-Stars together, you can maybe win two of three, but eventually players get traded. But if you build a team organically, that dynasty team tends to stay together longer.”

San Francisco Chronicle

A member of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity at Howard University, Ted Cook loved Michael Jordan, a fellow Omega Psi Phi brother at North Carolina, and the Lakers, who wear Omega Psi Phi’s signature purple and gold. On school nights, when Quinn was in elementary and middle school, Ted often let his only son stay up past midnight to watch Lakers games on TV. “Ted was the coolest,” said Pacers guard Victor Oladipo, one of Quinn’s best childhood friends. “He was just one of those cool guys where everyone loved being around him, especially those young hoopers who were coming up in the area. If you ever needed anything, he was there for you.”

Lonzo Wire

Kyle Kuzma’s trip to Atlanta is the gift that keeps on giving—especially as far as the Los Angeles Lakers Troll Wars are concerned. When asked who he would start, cut and bench for his squad in the popular multiplayer game “Fortnite,” Kuz chose fellow rookie Josh Hart for the first of those designations and saved the last two for Lonzo and LaMelo Ball. “I’m gonna cut Lonzo because he’s played with my little brother before and he’s told me that he’s terrible,” Kuzma said. “And Melo is the bench. I’m guessing Melo is second because he’s in Lithuania right now and there’s nothing else to do but video games.”

Yahoo! Sports

The company is expected to send Crawford new merchandise, including shoes, this week for the NBA playoffs. Crawford became the first NBA player — besides Los Angeles Lakers guard Lonzo Ball — to wear the brand this season and has continued to do so in the postseason. At this point it isn’t a normal endorsement deal for Crawford, but he would sign a contract with Big Baller Brand down the line that would allow him to be under the brand yet have the freedom to pursue his own personal endeavors.

Lakers Nation

Walton’s improvement and maturation as a coach throughout the season has seemingly flown under the radar, however, as he has made significant strides in the handling of his players. Channing Frye has witnessed this first hand since being traded. He was asked whether James would want to play for Walton and eventually opened up after some initial trepidation. “Am I allowed to talk about that?” Frye asked aloud before continuing. “I’m going to say this, I think any superstar would like to play for Luke. I think he’s a players’ coach. I think when you talk about the continuity with the president, owner, GM, a lot of guys are looking for that.

Miami Herald

“I don’t know what will happen in terms of [Isaiah Thomas’] contract, but he deserves to make money in this game,” said Olynyk, who signed a four-year, $50 million deal with the Heat this summer. “He’s brought a lot to the game, brought a lot to that city in Boston. Anywhere he goes, he gives his heart and soul to the game of basketball. Last year, [during our playoff run] we didn’t know it, but he was sacrificing his own career for everybody in that city. No one knew that at the time.

New York Times

It’s an uncomfortable place for Nowitzki to be after the 12 50-win seasons he’s so proud of, especially with his beloved franchise also in the midst of absorbing significant (and justified) criticism for the toxic workplace atmosphere on the business side revealed by a recent Sports Illustrated investigation. But Nowitzki remains determined to return for one more Mavericks season, which would break a tie with the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant for the longest N.B.A. run while wearing only one jersey. It won’t be official until some point in the off-season, after Nowitzki steps away next month for a telling round of consultation with his wife Jessica and Geschwindner as well as a thorough evaluation of his health. Yet all signs point to a 21st consecutive season with the Mavericks, the only N.B.A. team he’s known. “As of now, I’m planning to come back,” said Nowitzki, who turns 40 on June 19. “I feel great. I’ve only missed one game all season. I signed a two-year contract because I wanted to play two more years. And here we are.”

Lonzo Wire

After shooting 8-of-54 (14.8 percent) from three over an eight-game stretch, Lonzo Ball tried just one triple at Little Caesar’s Arena on Monday. And while the Los Angeles Lakers might have stolen a win from the Detroit Pistons with a few more long bombs from the rookie out of UCLA, head coach Luke Walton was no less pleased to see the Crown Prince of Chino Hills show off his burgeoning midrange game while shooting 7-of-8 from the field, albeit in a 112-106 defeat. “He was under control all game,” Walton said afterward. “The ones he was hitting were good shots, which I think kind of shows how much he’s been working on his game. Those are shots he wasn’t even shooting earlier in the year.”