L.a Lakers

The Lakers probably have more journalists covering them than any team other than maybe the New York Knicks but the most insightful Lakers' beat writer/commentator is Kevin Ding. While national media members relentlessly focus on Kobe Bryant's shot se...

It may seem like ancient history to some people but little more than a week ago Magic Johnson, among others, stated that Mike Brown was being outcoached by George Karl in the first round prior to the L.A. Lakers' game seven win over Karl's Denver Nug...

Kevin Ding is one of the few NBA beat writers who not only can write a basic game recap but also uses his close access to the NBA to provide genuine insight about the sport. Ding's latest column explains the major difference between an all-time great...

Kobe Bryant will apparently return to action on Friday as the L.A. Lakers face the San Antonio Spurs in a game that has significant seeding implications for both teams: the Spurs are trying to hold on to the top spot in the West, while the Lakers are...

The "stat gurus" say that LeBron James is by far the best player in the NBA and that Dwyane Wade is--depending on which "stat guru" you ask--at least a top five player and quite possibly the league's second best player. "Advanced basketball statistic...

I would be the first person to say that broad conclusions should not be drawn based on a small sample size of data--but it is equally important to draw proper and correct conclusions based on objective observations and analysis. The L.A. Lakers are n...

"With all thy getting, get thee understanding."--Proverbs 4:7Heart. Confidence. Determination. Preparation. Those qualities cannot be quantified but they separate winners from losers. It is foolish to believe that basketball can be completely underst...

On Friday night, Kobe Bryant led the L.A. Lakers to a 97-92 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers by scoring 42 points on 15-31 field goal shooting. In the seven games since Bryant had his worst shooting game in nearly two years--and thus renewed the...

Prior to an important game, Coach Bill Parcells once placed a gas can by the locker of one of his older players, thus asking a wordless but not so subtle question: "Do you have anything left in the tank?"Before this season began it was only logical t...

A large percentage of what is reported about the NBA in general--and the Lakers in particular--consists of various kinds of nonsense: biased commentary, statistics that are either irrelevant and/or based on insignificant sample sizes, gossip, etc. On...

On January 1, Kobe Bryant had his worst shooting game (.214 field goal percentage) in nearly two years. Considering all of the obvious extenuating factors--Bryant is a 33 year old, 16 year veteran playing in his third game in four nights while trying...

I watched every minute of every game of the NBA's season-opening Christmas Day quintupleheader and thus in a span of roughly 13 hours I saw one third of the league's teams perform. Most of what I observed confirmed what I already thought about these...