Did Matt Barnes Throw A Punch Or Not...?

((HT: KCBS-TV/KGO-TV))

Last year, apparently, in the San Francisco Pro-Am league Lakers forward Matt Barnes took a swing at an opposing coach...

This year, he may or may not have taken a swing at an opposing player in the same league...

Here's Barnes stalking around the court shortly after performing whatever action he did or didn't do...
((HT: CiEZ420))


"They got tangled up," a San Francisco police officer who was in attendance told ESPN.com's Diamond Leung. "A couple guys took swings. Both connected. It got broken up. They didn't eject him. Different rules here, I guess."

Barnes said one thing to Leung about not taking any cheap shots, but denied it to KCBS-TV's Jim Hill...

Here's the phoner with Jim Hill...

Ron Artest Ripping Off Lloyd Free

((HT: Youtube/NBAE))

Okay, when we saw this story all we really thought of was this...



Sorry, this act was already conquered when Lloyd Bernard Free became World B. Free...

Ron Artest, for what it's worth, wants to change his name to Metta World Peace and he wants "Peace" or "World Peace" on the back of his jersey next season...

Artest's attorney filed a petition in LA Superior Court seeking the change from Ronald William Artest Jr. to MWP...

In the court documents, Artest cites personal reasons for wanting to make the change.

An August 26th court date was set to consider the petition...

Can the HQ deny it on the grounds of "been there, done that, better player...?"

Robert Horry's Daughter Ashlyn Dies At 17

Since birth in April of 1994, Ashlyn Horry battled a rare genetic condition with severe respiratory issues and other complications. She eventually was diagnosed with a disorder that years later became known as the 1p36 Deletion Syndrome, caused by the missing part of chromosome No. 1.

The Ashley Horry Foundation was organized a few years ago to help support other families with children battling similar illnesses.

But, today at the age of 17 Ashlyn lost her battle against the disease from what was termed “severe respiratory issues and a host of other complications requiring a six month stay in Texas Childrens Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit...”

Here's some video that was put together by the Robert Horry Foundation on the works of Big Shot Bob toward his daughter...


Here's a story the LA Times did when Horry was playing for the Lakers on a very young Ashlyn...

Mike Brown to coach the Lakers...Why?

Mike Brown/Courtesy: cavsnews.com

((ht: latimes)

You know, it's a funny thing about the NBA. It's a business where if you have ever been a head coach, you will always have a shot at being a head coach any time a job comes up.

No, they don't think outside the box very often.

The Los Angeles Times is reporting the L.A Lakers are set to hire former Cleveland Cavaliers coach Mike Brown as their next head coach. Brown would replace the retiring Phil Jackson.

Other job candidates appeared to be former Houston and Sacramento head coach Rick Adelman and Lakers assistant Brian Shaw.

More from the LA Times their own selves RIGHT HERE

We aren't sure we get this, though we don't necessarily have to. Brown did a decent job in Cleveland, but he had LeBron James there too. It was his first head coaching gig. He got the Cavs to the NBA finals once...in 2007, but could never get back.

We think the Lakers could do better, because whether they like it or not, they are going to need a roster overhaul. They were exposed during the playoffs this year as an old, slow team. We are very curious to see how Brown, and team G.M Mitch Kupchak plan on dealing with that.

Here's Mike Brown doing what all good unemployed coaches do until they get their next job, work as a game analyst for ESPN:

Lakers implosion: Did Kobe's wife cause Gasol's heartache?

Pau Gasol and Sylvia Lopez/Courtesy: sports.rightpundits.com

Already the internet-sphere is rampant with rumors as to what caused the Los Angeles Lakers to implode while getting swept by the Dallas Mavericks.

Part of it was age. Part of it was the Mavs may be better and part of it seems to be the apparent discord amongst the Lakers team. A lot of the vitriol and blame seems to be headed to Lakers forward Pau Gasol, who seemed to be in a funk for most of the series. And Gasol himself admitted as such, though he denied it affected his game.

But there's more to it.

The prevailing thought is that the cause of Gasol's lack of effort and enthusiasm during the series was a break up with his long-time girlfriend.

That's been reported already.

What is starting to come out is that the cause of said breakup may have come from teammate Kobe Bryant's wife.

That inference is made in this story from the LA Times RIGHT HERE

It's reinforced in Times columnist Bill Plaschke's story RIGHT HERE

Interesting.

While Kobe has been acknowledged by most of the media as the "Leader" of the Lakers and has never been questioned as their best player, it appears his wife is a bit of a meddler. Karl Malone accused her of doing something similar to him a few years ago.

Now. To say Pau Gasol was the reason the Lakers lost is absurd. Not having him certainly didn't help, but this was a flawed team that kept buying into the Hollywood-ness of being the Lakers. And it's caught up with them.

The one thing the sweep against Dallas should reinforce is the team needs to be rebuilt. Bryant, while still an elite level player, has a ton of mileage on his wheels and its starting to show. Someone made the comment today that Michael Jordan wouldn't have let that happen when he was 32. That's stupid. At that age, Jordan certainly had a lot of mileage, but he didn't become a pro until he was much older.

The prevailing theory is Gasol may not have the ability to deal with the LA limelight. Him reacting the way he did in the series would seemingly back that up.

The bigger question is how the team could cover their discord for so long. Looking back now, this all makes some sense, but what is it that people say...."Your never realizing you're seeing a problem until after it happens" or something like that.

That would apply here.

Here's video of Pau Gasol doing the Hollywood thing on Jimmy Kimmel's show:

Mavs Blow Up Lake Show, 4-0 Sweep...

((HT: NBA.com/ESPN on ABC/youtube))

Simply put, it was just one of those days where everything the Mavericks did worked, and everything the Lakers did did NOT work...

If you look at it strictly from a numbers standpoint, the Mavs hit almost 61-percent from the floor. The Lakers hit almost 38-percent.

They were 20-for-32 from 3-point range while the Lakers were 5-for-24...
And things got bad...

Lamar Odom set an illegal screen on Dirk Nowitzki with 9:06 left and plowed him... He was tossed...

The Mavs lead grew to 32 and Andrew Bynum got tossed for spearing and/or cross-checking J.J. Barea in the ribs about 45 seconds later.

Bynum took his jersey off, in a classless move, as he walked off the floor...

Here's Mike Tirico and Hubie Brown calling the Bynum play...
((HT: ESPN on ABC/dolobeats.com))


Here's your highlights... if you're a Mavs fan, anyway...


Next up: The retirement of Phil Jackson...
Maybe...
((HT: NBA/SI))

Lakers magic missing, Mavs win 2 in L.A

And....it may be over. The L.A Lakers may not be defending their 2 NBA Championships. Heck, they may be going back to square one soon.

The Dallas Mavericks opened a commanding 2-0 lead in their best of 7 series by beating the Lake-show at home...for the second straight time, 93-81. A game that apparently featured Laker forward Ron Artest auditioning for a role in the WWE, when he clotheslined Maverick guard J.J. Barea late in the game.

The next two games of this series are in Dallas. The only question is will the Lakers put up a fight...or are they just plain done.

Your highlights from SI.com/NBA.com:

Monday NBA Playoffs: Surprise, Surprise, Surprise

How many people had Dallas beating L.A and Atlanta beating Chicago in the first game of their respective series...as the visitors?

Yeah, thought so.

Well, they did. The Hawks got 34 points from Joe Johnson and some solid defense from forgotten backup point guard Jeff Teague and took care of the heavily favored Chicago Bulls 103-95.

The schizophrenic Hawks took control early and never really relinquished the lead. Most so-called "Experts" had them getting swept and beaten in 5 games. And while the 5-game part is still an outside possibility, the Hawks seem to have stood up and said "We ain't going down without a fight".

Your highlights from SI.com/NBA TV:



As for Dallas, the Mavs woke up the Lakers too. Dirk Nowitzki dropped 28 on the Lakers in L.A. with some good defense and making Kobe Bryant try and be the man by himself. Which is probably the only way you have a chance against the Champs.

While the win doesn't forebode a Mavericks trip to the finals, it at least, much like the Hawks-Bulls series says "Ok, we're here to play, you better be ready".

Your highlights again from SI.com/NBA TV:

Derrick Caracter shows a lack of "Character" and gets arrested

Derrick Caracter/Courtesy: nba.com

Can we first get this out of the way...."Dumbass".

Los Angeles Lakers forward Derrick Caracter was arrested early Sunday morning at an IHOP on Canal St. in New Orleans after he was accused of hitting a pregnant waitress.

According to reports, the rookie forward was drunk and acting disorderly inside the restaurant on the morning before the Lakers took on the New Orleans Hornets.

His charges, battery, public intoxication and resisting arrest.

The story from NOLA.com RIGHT HERE

Caracter didn't play in Sunday afternoons game agains the Hornets. He will probably be back in the Big Easy soon, whether his team is...or not.

Hornets sting Lakers, Bryant injured: NBA Playoffs

This is becoming interesting. Chris Paul and his New Orleans Hornet teammates are giving the defending champion LA Lakers all they can handle, beating LA 93-88 on Sunday and tying their series at 2 games a piece.

The key for the Hornets, CP3. Chris Paul had a triple double, 28 points, 13 rebounds and 15 assists and led his team to the win. As for the Lakers, their main man, Kobe Bryant, 17 points. Bryant was seen leaving the game on crutches, but said he'd be ready for game 5.

Either way, this series is quickly becoming a lot of fun, we'll see who can pull it out.

Your game highlights from SI.com:

What Is This Western Conference You Speak Of...???

To quote Lawrence Welk... a one anna two...

Both go down...
What in the wide world of sports happened there...???

Chris Paul showed why the Atlanta Hawks made a mistake in not taking him in the draft as he and his New Orleans Hornets in Los Angeles...
((HT: NBA/ESPN/nba.com))


And, to go even one better, who are these Memphis Grizzlies...??? Being all pesky and knocking off San Antonio like that in Game 1 of their series...???
((HT: NBA/TNT/nba.com))


If you just wanna see the Battier three, here it is...
((HT: Yahoo!Sports))

He also became a father Sunday...
Here's local coverage from our friends at MyFoxMemphis...

Grizzlies Stun Spurs in 1st Playoff Win: MyFoxMEMPHIS.com

Oh, there was SOME normalcy as the Thunder held off Denver...
Durant and Westbrook combined for 72 in the win...
((HT: NBA/ESPN/nba.com))

Kobe Says Some Bad Words... Fined 6 Figures...

((HT: NBA on TNT/youtube))

Let's just say that the Mamba was not happy that he got a techincal foul in last night's game against the Spurs..

He sat down, and if you're a lip reader, you can figure it out...


UPDATE: Kobe was fined $100,000 and apologized hoping he didn't offend anyone...

Here's Kobe discussing with Mason and Ireland...
((HT: ESPN/ESPN 710 Los Angeles))

Basketball Fight!: Mavericks vs. Lakers

We are guessing that they'll be some suspensions handed out after last nights Mavericks vs. Lakers game, a game that got, well, a bit chippy.

To set things up, Lakers guard Steve Blake drives to the hoop and gets the ball knocked away, its followed by a pretty blatant looking shove by Dallas guard Jason Terry, Blake gets up, expresses his rage and a few other teammates get into the debate...and, well, chaos ensues.

Here's your video:

Kobe's New Endorsement... Turkish Air...???

((HT: MyFoxLA))

Yup...

The thought is that this opens up the idea that The Black mamba can hold basketball camps there with this act of attaching one's name to a country's national airline...

We think...

FOSG Liz Habib has the breakdown...

Kobe Bryant's Turkish Airlines Gig Takes Flight: MyFoxLA.com

Clippers And Lakers Fight It Out

More like push, grab, shove, and jaw-jack...

But when the Clips are taking out the Lakers, the world seems to tilt on its axis, anyway... so, the only other natural thing to happen would for the two tenants to square off...

Randy Foye made a free throw to put the Clippers ahead 99-90 with 6 seconds left. Blake Griffin was locked underneath Lamar Odom's left arm for position.

"Maybe I overreacted, but I just feel like if you're up 9, a ram in the back at that point?" Odom asked. "Any other time, I get it. You play hard, you're strong, whatever, but the ram in the back [while] up 9? I don't get it, so I'm just going to have to react."

Here's the ending...
((HT: FSWest/NBA/Youtube))


The Clippers have their ninth win in 13 games after a 5-21 start...
Amazing what one player will do for you...

Lakers Pound Cavs By 55

The HQ really isn't in to hoops until playoff time, but this one couldn't be ignored...

The Lakers had seven players score double-figures last night as they destroyed the ((now)) 8-30 Cavaliers 112-57...

Here's your highlights...
((HT: FSLakers/NBA/Youtube))


How bad was this game...???

It was 92-41 after three quarters. It's the fewest points the Cavs have ever scored in a game and the fewest the Lakers have allowed in the shot clock era. It was the Cavs' 11th consecutive loss.

"It can't be any worse than this. If it is, someone will have to help me because I don't know how much of this I can take," said Antawn Jamison, who had six points. "This by far is rock-bottom. It's definitely by far one of the most embarrassing moments that I've been a part of as far as basketball."

The Cavs shot 30 percent, were outscored 52-28 in the paint and committed 19 turnovers. The loss was their 21st in their last 22 games. They fell to 3-18 on the road and 1-5 against the Western Conference.

In a Twitter update posted early Wednesday, Cavs guard Mo Williams tweeted, "I feel like I can't even show my face in Cleve."

The HQ thinks that may not be far from the truth...

Magic Divests From Lakers, Hawks Next...?

This is just something we're putting out there after talking to a few of our own sources...

In the past few days, it was announced that Earvin Johnson was divesting himself of his shares in the Los Angeles Lakers franchise and selling them to local SoCal philanthropist and doctor, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, a season-ticket holder for 25 years.

Johnson paid a reported $10 million for his stake in ownership in 1994.

The Lakers did not say what percentage of the team Johnson owned, but some in the industry report put it as high as 5 percent, which could put the value of his stake at almost $30-million.

There was talk that Johnson was interested in the Pistons and the LA Dodgers- both of which he has publicly denied to the LA Times' Broderick Turner.

But the HQ isn't dumb. We all know what denials are good for...

Johnson was also linked to a possible percentage in the Golden State Warriors, but those talks didn't go anywhere, either.

So, that brings us to Atlanta...

The team is up for sale, regardless as to what Atlanta Spirit, LLC is saying publicly. They lack the capital to compete on various levels with any and all of their properties. The HQ even knows of an investigation by a CPA firm of the value of the Spirit properties within the last year.

We know the firm and the location of the investigation...
And, no, we're not telling you...

Don't be surprised if any move involving Joe Johnson is a sign-and-trade eventually. New Thrashers GM Rick Dudley has deftly waded through the Spirit waters to create a competitive team at a little over US$46M- US$17 under the cap. Donald Brashear's US$1.4-million buyout is included in that US$46-million.

Only 11 players on the current 25-man roster have signed on the line which is dotted for the 2011-12 season, and only five of those are under a deal for anything longer than that...

If the Thrashers are in no position to make the playoffs, most of Chicago South could be dealt by the trade deadline.

The NBA desperately wants a marquee name in Atlanta. Magic has had both his theater and fast-food franchises anchored in Atlanta at any given point of his entrepreneurship. He could gravitate toward the Pistons if Joe Dumars continues to flounder in his front office post.

But the opening in Atlanta is too large to ignore...
Just letting you know...

Lakers celebrate with a low budget parade....

More money was spent on Michael Jackson's funeral last year.

The LA Lakers got to do what all teams who win their professional championship get to do. They had a parade.

It wasn't quite as extravagant as parades in years gone by. No, this one was relatively spartan. Why you ask? Because the Lakers had to pay for it.

More from NBC Los Angeles RIGHT HERE

((Laker Parade//Courtesy: blogs.laweekly.com))

Sure, the guys were on floats (sort of) and they had about a two mile route with close to a million people around to see it. But gone were the speeches of years gone by. Gone were the bands and dancing cheerleaders.

Fans got to see their favorite players drive by and, well, that was it.

Enjoy your coverage from ABC7 in LA.



If you are a fan and missed getting to here speeches then we have taken it upon ourselves to remind you of a classic LA Laker speech moment. Listen to Mark Madsen go Spanish...back in 2001. Thanks You Tube:

BREAKING NEWS: Lakers Repeat As NBA Champs

Sasha Vujacic's two free throws with 11.7 seconds left in regulation gave the Los Angeles Lakers an 83-79 victory over the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

The Lakers, winning the series four games to three, give Phil Jackson his 11th title as a head coach...

The 25-year-old Slovenian guard gave the Lakers a 25-for-37 night from the line... it is the 16th World Championship for the team.

More when we know more...

Catch local coverage ((and, probably, some crimes happening on live television)) here...

CBS2/KCAL9
KABC-TV/ABC7
Fox11-KTTV

In the meantime, enjoy a chance meeting between Kevin Garnett and some guy named Nicholson who, for some reason, always ends up at Laker games...
((HT: NBA/ABC))

Lakers Take Game One Over Celtics

((HT: NBA.com/ABC))

Here's your abbreviated look at Game 1...
The HQ has no idea who's voicing the highlights, it's not FOSG Beau Estes...

That much we do know... unless he's channeling Robert Downey, Jr.'s character in "Tropic Thunder..."