Hmm. Not sure it was supposed to work out like this. Well, then again, maybe it was, once unrestricted free agent Paul George re-signed with Oklahoma City. If the Lakers were intent on providing LeBron James with a superstar-level wing man for his debut season in Los Angeles, and they were trying, it was going […]

[Read more →]

During the Watergate scandal of the mid-1970s, the Washington Post source known as Deep Throat told a reporter that he needed to “follow the money” to unravel the story. When it came time for LeBron James to choose where he would play for the 2018-19 NBA season, and beyond we could have homed in on […]

[Read more →]

I knew this was coming. I read the stories in which the spineless commissioner Adam Silver said it was on the way … and shook my head. And now it is here, and most of Season 1 of The New Thing is done … and I hate the advertisements that appear on the left shoulder […]

[Read more →]

Two things I believe about sports autographs. 1) No one past the age of 12 should ever ask for one. Adults don’t ask for the signatures of other adults — unless they plan to sell them on for more money, which is vile, and another good reason why adults should not ask for autographs. And, […]

[Read more →]

That was reality that slapped the Los Angeles Lakers in the face. Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka, the duo responsible for the club’s roster, apparently have been disabused of the notion that a free-agent superstar or two is keen to join their team this summer. According to espn.com, the Lakers no longer are banking that […]

[Read more →]

If you live in France and get a batch of English-language programming on your TV deal … you can watch a ton of NBA games. There are the ESPN nights, and the TNT nights and whoever has the weekends … and it feels like I can count on an NBA doubleheader at least four nights […]

[Read more →]

Remember when Lonzo Ball looked special? Back during his one season at UCLA? Wow. Look at that pass. And he can make some threes despite that tragic shooting stroke! That kid is someone the Lakers can build their team around. Yeah. Yeah. And then the world got a load of Trae Young, likely a one-and-done […]

[Read more →]

Not a good sign when you just assume your neighborhood NBA team is tanking. Because they have been doing it so long. Take the Los Angeles Lakers, nuked 133-96 by the Oklahoma City Thunder tonight at Staples Center. Those acclimated to seeing a Lakers defeat and thinking, “ah, good” … well, it is sometimes difficult […]

[Read more →]

This is not an exercise in academic rigor. I did not have someone sitting with a note pad writing down literally the first 10 facts I could recall pertaining to sports in 2017. But … it is a fairly accurate recreation of a fairly quick trip through my brain to see what stuck from the […]

[Read more →]

No, not Lonzo Ball. The jury is out on him … and may remain sequestered for a year or three. No idea how that verdict will come down. Talking here about Kyle Kuzma, the 27th pick in the first round of this year’s NBA draft. The 6-foot-9 forward Kyle Kuzma who scored 38 points and […]

[Read more →]