Lakers Season Preview from ESPN

Lakers Dominate in Opening Preseason Game

The Los Angeles Lakers filled up the box score at the Honda Center Wednesday night against the Golden State Warriors in their preseason opener.

It was great to see Andrew Bynum playing at 100%. Bynum finished with 24 points, 5 boards and was 8-9 from the FT line. Kobe Bryant picked up right where he left off scoring 22 points, 9 rebounds in 26 minutes.

In his Lakers debut, Ron Artest put up some impressive numbers. He finished with 12 points, 9 boards and 7 assists in 23 minutes. The Lakers won easily 118-101.

The play of the night was this dunk by Shannon Brown. 

I cannot wait for the regular season!

Cuban Hating on Artest and the Lakers

Dallas Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban, is known for being vocal and controversial. These are the attributes that make Cuban one of my favorite NBA owners. Cuban’s more recent opinion about Ron Artest joining the Lakers pumps me up for the Lakers v Mavericks game.

Cuban made an appearance at ESPN radio in Dallas on 10/2 and voiced his opinions about Ron Artest. “If you would have said, what one player…would you like to see on the Lakers? – Ron Artest,” Cuban said during the interview. Cuban was implying that Artest is going to destroy the dynamic of the Los Angeles Lakers. Follow this link to read the ESPN article and hear the podcast radio interview.

I’m not going to hate on Cuban for his opinion, I will let the Lakers play do the talking. Mark your calendars for Friday, 10/30 on ESPN when the Lakers trounce the Mavs!

Kobe – The Most Popular Player in the World?

The jerseys don’t lie my friends. The Los Angeles Lakers guard, Kobe Bryant, for the second year in a row has the number one selling jersey in Europe. In addition to Europe, Kobe dons the number one selling jersey in the USA and China as well!

NBA player’s top 5 jersey sales breakdown in Europe:
1) Kobe Bryant
2) Kevin Garnett
3) Pau Gasol
4) Lebron James
5) Dwyane Wade

Congrats to Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol – 1st and 3rd!

Referees Vote Down Latest NBA Proposal

The NBA is turning to its replacement referee’s after the latest attempt to mend the relationship with the National Basketball Referees Association (NBRA) failed. According to an ESPN article, 43-14 locked out NBA referees voted to decline the NBA’s latest proposal.

As a Lakers fan, I hate to see replacement referees for two reasons:
1) The flow of the game is key. No fan wants to have busch league refs making terrible calls creating frequent stoppage of play.
2) The Los Angeles Lakers are notorious for complaining on calls! I must say this is one of my pet peeves about the Lakers. They all complain! Especially Kobe Bryant and Sasha Vujacic. Kobe, As the leader of the team, you need to shut your mouth and play...Lead by example!

Expect to see the NBA cave before the start of the regular season and give the NBRA a worthwhile proposal.