around the nba
as we are around the mid point of the nba season, let me reflect upon this dynamic journey through the labyrinth of multi dimensional and multi-layered complications and intricacies involved in seeing which group of young men can pass a ball through a hoop more times than the other group of young men

when one, over a period of time develops an attachment, an emotional bond, with a particular group of young men that play basketball, he finds himself, as i did thursday night, sitting alone in a hotel room at 4 am, focused intently upon his computer screen (extraordinarily grateful for the technology -- i.e. league pass broadband - that has bought this moving image into his hotel room) screaming his guts out like some sort of untethered beast of a human, flecks of spit flying, profanities spewing forth, and various superstitious positions being assumed in front of the computer screen (sit cross legged, put new kobe shoes (dopest!) up next to the computer, only think positive thoughts, bathroom visits quickly during time outs, bad luck to not get back in time before commercial ends, etc.......) this sort of erratic behvior can only be explained by a deep and long lasting love by me for the los angeles lakers and all they represent for me.

so anyways, today, adorned in my best vintage magic johnson t shirt and my new kobe shoes, galloping through heathrow airport like o j simpson, i finally arrive at the gate covered in sweat, i chat with an amiable young man named joey who it turns out sings with the group 'new kids on the block' and is from boston.........as soon as i realize he is from the enemy state of massachusetts i smile arrogantly and say 'lakers won last night", smirking like a cheshire cat. he takes it well, ........we chit chat about hoops for a bit and go board the airplane.............as we get seated he then whips out his phone and shows me a picture taken around june of last year which is an image of him in the celtics locker room hugging and kissing the championship trophy......"this is the win you want" he tells me, with a look of true joy in his face.

aaaaahhhhhh.......oooohhhhhh......aye yay yay, he is so right...........yes the lakers have swept their regular season engagements with the celtics this season, and yes last night and christmas day were great wins, stopping the celtics streaks dead in their path, and putting doubt in the celtics heart, they surely fear the finesse and power of the los angeles lakers but oh there is a deep seated feeling an undeniable thirst for revenge and for the release of tension and the incredibly uplifting feeling that would come with victory at the end of this baskeball season.

god i love basketball.

this has been an outstanding basketball season for the lakers with a few things i would like to discuss.......

firstly, i would like to speak about lamar odom
everytime the lakers lose people begin to speak poorly about lamar and to tell you the truth it really gets mu goat
i hear and read all sorts of ridiculous comments, lamar spaces out too much, lamar doesn't try hard, lamar doesnt bring it every night blah blah balh

lamar odom is a great great basketball player and a soulful dude whom the lakers are extremely fortunate to have in their organization lamar odom is my favorite laker...............geez, sometimes the guys has an off night, we all have off nights, he is a great player and if the lakers ever traded him it would really bum me out........the guy has had countless incredible nights as a laker, and it seems he never gets the credit for them yet everyone is ready to jump all over him if he has an off night................DO NOT TAKE LAMAR ODOM FOR GRANTED.....the guy is a straight up basketball player and deserves all the accolades......he makes the team feel good, and has played an enormous part in the laker's success, we need lamar......a 6 foot 10 guy that can handle the ball, drive to the hole and go with either hand, a great passer, great rebounder, shoot from the outside, he is self effacing and humble.....you gotta be kidding me, lamar is a national treasure......

kobe has been, as usual, off the charts unreal. the greatest basketball player on the planet never ceases to amaze......he is chalking up the triple doubles, getting double figures in assists when he feels like it, huge scoring nights when he feels like it, lock down defense on the other teams best player, he is relentless he is amazing. i love kobe like i love igor stravinsky, or yohann sebastian bach, or charlie parker. .......people who are absolutely the best at what they do....and it ain't no accident either.......stravinsky was a great composer cause he got up everyday and composed, he dedicated his life to fulfill his mission, to give an amazing gift of greatness to the world, i do not discount the spiritual and other wordly things at play when something so great happens, but the intellect and willpower to work so hard at something, is a thing that deserves all of our applause....enjoy it while it is there, it is a thing to ease the burdens of life that we all face

the lakers are just a great team this year, game in game out they are amazing (if only they could break the bizarre voodoo curse placed upon them by the charlotte bobcats).......i just love em top to bottom......d fish, so underrated as a point guard delivers every night, pau's an all star, trevor ariza a hige x factor for the lakers brings the aggression and atheticism, filling a huge void that the lakers were missing it goes on and on from kobe to didier mbenga i love em....mitch kupchak has really done it right.........at one point i was gonna write a song for the lakers sunday t.v. show but i never ended up doing it, and my friend gage freeman was gonna write the lyrics .........

it has been a sinking feeling, a sad and glum feeling came over my house when andrew hurt his knee. That guy is out of this world and on the verge of being the best center in the league.....to have him derailed again mid season is really hard to accept, with him healthy and playing the way he had built up to, the lakers are the best team in the nba without question. .it is time now to just think positively, to hope he heals up in time to get enough regular season games under his belt so he can regain his monentum before the play offs begin......andrew, it is just an unlucky couple of injuries brother, you are gonna be rockin at full steam, and be the best center in the league we all have the faith....

the moves andrew had been busting out lately have been phenomenal, grabbin 15 boards a game, awesome....... the kid is unreal, not to mention smart and nice, and of course not to mention that he has the same birthday as my 3 year old daughter

clearly i don't pay as much attention to the other teams around the league but here are some thoughts

the phoenix suns have really lost their identity when they got shak and got rid of d'antoni....as much as d'antoni got mu goat, talking trash about the lakers and being snippy with the great philjackson, the guy had a great and unique coaching style with the suns that was widely copied around the league and that team just isn;t as fun anymore...............steve nash is a magical basketball player, one of the best point guards to ever step on the hard wood.....to not let him work his magic in the open court is not only hurting the team, but depriving all basketball fans of one of the most exciting things to see in the nba.....even when i was hating the suns for beating the lakers, i really loved to watch them play, and steve nash is the magician that made it happen....let steve nash run free and do his thing,,,geez they were competing at the highest level before....they made it to the western conference finals even without amare that one year, and they would have gone to the finals had it not been for those crazy suspensions when they got into it with dallas a few years back......LET STEVE NASH DO HIS THING....the guy baffles and confuses other teams he is a basketball genius.....

it is a really great rookie class this year, o.j. mayo on fire, both westbrook and love out of ucla really making an impact, but i gotta say my favorite rookie is derrick rose.....when the bulls came to get beat by the lakers at staples this year that kid really blew me away. the speed, the decision making, the intensity, that kid is a superstar

portland's youth movement looks really good too........

as usual the clippers are just a bad team, everyone who knows basketball knows why i dont need to write it down, but you can bet your booty that as soon as the good players on that team can leave they will.....

anyways i just love the lakers

so glad they whupped the green devils last night and those fans all left the joint staring at their shoes..........

go lakers