to move up and down
Kobe Bryant took to Facebook in the wee hours of Saturday morning to vent about the Achilles tendon injury that likely ended his season, writing the “frustration is unbearable” but the setback will not end his career.
The Lakers’ star felt a pop as he pushed off his left foot making a move during Los Angeles’ victory against Golden State on Friday night. The team, in a final push to make the playoffs, is all but certain Bryant tore his Achilles. He is to have an MRI on Saturday.
The 34-year-old Bryant posted about his “rage” on his Facebook a few hours after being hurt: “Why the hell did this happen ?!? Makes no damn sense. Now I’m supposed to come back from this and be the same player Or better at 35?!? How in the world am I supposed to do that?? “
He added: “Maybe this is how my book ends. Maybe Father Time has defeated me…Then again maybe not!”
“One day, the beginning of a new career journey will commence. Today is NOT that day.” (Photo: Mark J. Terrill/The Associated Press)
Kobe Bryant is out indefinitely after landing on Hawks defender Dahntay Jones as he tried to put up a baseline jumper. Bryant is not happy - as you can imagine - and accused Jones of playing dirty.
‘He Jalen Rose’d me,’ he told reporters after the game. (Photo: Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/via The Associated Press)
Jerry Buss, the Los Angeles Lakers’ playboy owner who shepherded the NBA team to 10 championships from the Showtime dynasty of the 1980s to the Kobe Bryant era, died Monday. He was 80.
He died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, said Bob Steiner, his assistant.
Buss had been in hospital for most of the past 18 months while undergoing cancer treatment, but the immediate cause of death was kidney failure, Steiner said. With his condition apparently worsening in recent weeks, several prominent former Lakers visited Buss to say goodbye.
“The NBA has lost a visionary owner whose influence on our league is incalculable and will be felt for decades to come,” NBA commissioner David Stern said. “More importantly, we have lost a dear and valued friend.”
Under Buss’s leadership since 1979, the Lakers became Southern California’s most beloved sports franchise and a worldwide extension of Hollywood glamour. (Photo: The Associated Press)
LeBron James ran a few steps behind the play, knowing exactly what was coming. The lob from Norris Cole arrived, and the NBA’s reigning MVP rose for a catch and dunk.
He made it look easy.
He’s making everything look easy right now.
(Photo by Wilfredo Lee/The Associated Press)
Kobe Bryant was not feeling so hot last night, except for the fact he scored 40 points vs. the Pacers, with the flu. Kobe outscored the rest of his team combined.
He missed the Lakers’ morning shootaround on Tuesday when he fell ill. He spent the day in bed, drinking fluids and listening to Bob Marley, before giving another high-scoring performance, albeit with 10 turnovers and 12-for-28 shooting.
In news that surprised no one, Lakers coach Mike Brown has reportedly been fired after posting a 1-4 record to start the season. The Lakers, who picked up Canadian guard Steve Nash and forward Dwight Howard in the off-season, went 0-8 in the pre-season.
Well, they tried: Toronto was a little disappointed yesterday when Steve Nash ended up with the Lakers. The Post’s Bruce Arthur writes on why the Canadian star doesn’t owe Toronto anything:
Someone will call him a traitor. Some people already have. Steve Nash is a Los Angeles Laker today, as far from Toronto as he ever was; he will not come and save the Raptors, even though they asked. Someone will boo him when he comes to Canada to play, wearing purple and gold. Sadly, it’s inevitable.
And they will be wrong. Nash’s entire career is based on two overriding instincts: Smart decisions, and unselfishness. He has led the league in assists five times; he has been responsible for a higher percentage of his teams’ total assists over his career than Magic Johnson was for his. Nash has altered his passing technique in certain situations because he figured the ball would get there a tenth of a second faster. If Steve Nash is on your team, he’s here to help.
But he was never overly interested in helping the Toronto Raptors, even if he would have been handsomely paid to do so. The team’s three-year, US$36-or-so-million offer was plunked on the table on Sunday, and sat untouched and lonely as he negotiated with New York and then unexpectedly approved a sign-and-trade to the Lakers on Wednesday night, along with a reported three-year, US$25-million deal. He did this despite a reported plea from Wayne Gretzky to do what he could never do, which was come back to Canada. He left the Raptors, and general manager Bryan Colangelo, to fend for themselves.
And that’s OK. It really is. Lord knows there are those who have lashed out at him before — primarily for leaving the Canadian national team after a decade of year-in-year-out service, and after they fired his friend and mentor, Jay Triano. Because Nash didn’t sign with Toronto there are going to be some who will blast him for a lack of patriotism, even after he has accepted the job as GM of Canada Basketball.
Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant goes head over heels during Game 1 of their first round NBA Western Conference basketball playoff game against the Denver Nuggets. Photo: REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
Professional sports do not house compassion very well.
Metta World Peace, nee Ron Artest, seems to have attempted to legitimately better himself in recent years, especially since the Malice at the Palace in November 2004. The world in which World Peace grew up in should not be forgotten when considering the player and his actions.
It would be nice to be able to place this under consideration when World Peace’s vicious elbow to the side of James Harden’s head on Sunday is evaluated. Unfortunately, you cannot. Regardless of the reason World Peace acted with such force — whether it was a malicious shot to Harden or a celebration gone awry — he must be punished sternly.
