In trying to promote his new reality show “Shaq vs.” (which premiers tonight) he said that he would like to play out this final year of his contract in Cleveland, then see if returning to the Lakers is an option for next year.

Great marketing comment. Not in the least based in reality, but a great marketing comment. Already one LA television morning program talked about it today, I’m writing about it and you can bet sports talk radio will squeeze that in between Brett Favre talk today. And every time it’s mentioned his new reality show gets another free plug.

But Shaq is not coming back to the Lakers. There are as many reasons as Shaq has had nicknames though his career.

First, remember the preseason game before Shaq was traded to Miami when he ran down the court screaming at Lakers owner Jerry Buss, “Pay me! Pay me!” because he wanted a contract extension. I guarantee you that Buss does, and that he still fumes a little at that. Those comments greased the rails for Shaq’s slide out of town, and Buss does not forgive that easily.

Continue reading ‘Shaq Says Next Year He Wants To Return To Lakers’

Sports Media Watch: ABC saw mixed results for coverage of the opening weekend of the 2009 NBA Playoffs.

Game 1 between the Pistons and Cavaliers drew a 2.7 overnight rating on ABC Saturday afternoon, down 27% from a 3.7 for Suns/Spurs Game 1 in the same timeslot last year. The 2.7 is also off 4% from a 2.8 for Heat/Bulls Game 1 in ‘07, but matches a 2.7 for Wizards/Cavaliers in ‘06.

Meanwhile, Sunday’s Game 1 between the Jazz and Lakers drew a 4.0 overnight rating, up 3% from a 3.9 for Nuggets/Lakers in the same time slot last year, and the highest overnight for an opening weekend NBA Playoff game since ‘03.

The Lakers have waited a year to get back to the playoffs and come out of them with a different outcome. The Lakers played this season with the single-mindedness of purpose and emerged as one of the leagues best and are prepared to show the world that they’re ready to win it all.

It took a year to get back in position to play for an NBA championship; the Lakers made it there without any regrets. The journey to play for a title starts against the Utah Jazz.

The Lakers beat Utah on Tuesday and in the process made a strong statement with the 125-112 win. The loss was Utah’s sixth straight on the road. The 13-point beat down sent the Jazz and the NBA as a whole a strong message that can be simply translated “we’re healthy, at full strength and in ‘09 we will not be denied!”

This match-up places two of the best half-court offenses in the league on display. The Lakers getting everyone involved with their triangle offense and the Jazz incorporating their methodical pick and roll offense led by Deron Williams, one of the best point guards in the league.

The Lakers will see a lot of pick and roll plays from the Jazz and some zone defense but the Lakers have seen it all year and will be prepared for it. The Jazz don’t have the size to compete with the length of the Lakers front line.

Normally the Jazz run a high or low pick and roll play which makes Deron Williams extremely dangerous going to the basket or setting up one of his teammates for an open jump shot or a cut to the basket.

One difference that we’ll see in this series is Utah getting either Pau or Andrew involved in defending the pick and roll play, with Mehmet Okur stepping out to shoot from behind the arc. This depends on Okur playing which doesn’t look like it will happen in game one.

The Lakers will be led by Kobe & Pau and will use excellent player movement and excellent ball movement and outwork the Jazz. The scary thing is that the Lakers have played well but will turn it up and play better in the playoffs.

Los Angeles will establish Pau in the post and allowing him score and most importantly his passing skills to set the table for the rest of the team. As evidenced by Tuesday’s game Andrew will be a factor aided by passes from Kobe, Pau and Lamar.

On defense limit the Jazz to one shot per possession, control the tempo, glass, get back in transition and rotate out to three point shooters. Work for a high percentage shot on every trip down the court.

Tipoff: 12:00 PM PST

Television -

• Los Angeles: ABC
• Utah: ABC

Radio -

• Los Angeles: AM570 KLAC (Spero Dedes & Mychal Thompson)
• Utah: KFAN 1320 (”Hot” Rod Hundley )

Injuries -

Lakers:

• None to report.

Jazz:

• C.J. Miles (Dislocated Finger)
• Mehmet Okur(Hamstring)

OCRegister:  “Beyond your comprehension,” he says. “I’m obsessed. It keeps me awake at night.” And Bryant believes this team can accomplish the task. No Celtics or Cavs will stand in their way this time because, the Lakers, like the Celtics last season, have those “hungry veterans.”

There was much debate over the off-court dress code that David Stern imposed in 2005. Stern said it was a step toward making the league more professional. Players said they had a right to express themselves through the way they dressed.

The result was a wonderful combination of both, as players can now be seen on the sidelines wearing suits that certainly have their own unique, shall we say… flair?

Well it looks like the NBA and hip-hop have found another successful merger, as seen in the new NBA Playoffs ad to the music of Kanye West. The spot features several highlights of postseasons past, including appearances by the Los Angeles Lakers’ own Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal.

Stern and the NBA are hoping that the always-polarizing Kanye will help reach a wide audience. I’m sure there was a clause in Kanye’s contract that made sure there were no fish sticks in the commercial.

SLAMOnline: Oddly enough, the only real second thoughts I had on this award came last week when I was talking to, of all people, Stephon Marbury. I was up in Boston working on a story for the next issue of SLAM, and before I drove back to NYC, I managed to meet up with Steph for dinner in Waltham, where the Celts’ practice facility is located. We were talking about all kind of stuff, off the record kinds of stuff, but at one point I asked him who he thought was the best player in the NBA, LeBron or Kobe.

“Come on man, are you serious?” Steph said.

I told him not only that I was indeed serious, but that I also suspected the best player in the NBA this year was LeBron James.

“I think Kobe’s the best player on this planet, forget the NBA.” Steph said. “Think about this: Which player do you want to take the last shot?”

Man, I missed him. Bynum is back! He is definitely missing a step, but it sure beats this offense two weeks ago.

This was a semi-sloppy game even though the turnovers didn’t show it. Both teams struggled from the field, especially behind the arc as they shot a combined 10-45.

The difference in the game was the paint; where the Lakers seemed to dominate. The Lakers big three, Kobe, Bynum, and Pau took the game over and scored 76 points tonight.

The new-look bench with Lamar also came up weak with poor shooting, but they played good defense.

Welcome back, Bynum!

Now, the bests of the night…

Top 3 Laker Performers -

1) As good as Kobe was, Bynum gets my number one for suiting up. He also had 16 points and 7 boards, but 5 fouls in limited minutes.

2) Kobe took the game over tonight with his 33 points.

3) Pau dominated from the start with 14 and 9 early to finish with 27 and 19 boards!

Lakers Smush of the Day (Note: STD denotes the Laker that played the poorest): Fisher was in foul trouble all night and did nothing.

Play of the Game: Bynum’s free-throw line jumper. I just missed the guy.

What to Look for Next Game: A high scoring game going down to the wire in Portland.

Ticket Info: Playoff tickets are moving fast so lock yours in today! E-Mail me at Steve@AveryTickets.com or call 213-221-7681 and mention TLN for tickets.

Go Lakers!!!

ESPN: The growing sense in Dallas is that there are only two threats to the Mavericks’ hopes of re-signing Jason Kidd this summer.

1. Kobe Bryant convincing big-guard-loving Phil Jackson and the Lakers to make a run at his dear friend Kidd with L.A.’s midlevel exception.
2. LeBron James convincing the Cavs to make a run at his dear friend Kidd with their midlevel exception.

82 Games:  Kobe Bryant leads the NBA in “clutch baskets” with 56.7% of his points in the 4th quarter or overtime, less than 5 minutes left, neither team ahead by more than 5 points. LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony are tied for second, while Dwyane Wade is 4th. Chris Paul of the Hornets round out the top five. Biggest surprise? Zach Randolph of the paper clips is 10th

Yahoo.com: For the better part of the evening, Kobe Bryant had bided his time, surveying the Houston Rockets’ defense for cracks, holstering his own shot as the confidence within his teammates grew. Finally, the moment called for him.

Shane Battier buried a 3-pointer to press the Rockets closer to the Los Angeles Lakers. Bryant took the ball on the left wing, measured the distance between him and Battier, and let fly with his 25-foot answer. Twenty-eight seconds later, Bryant skirted off a pick and quickly fired another 3-pointer over the head of Battier.

This time, Bryant paused to watch the shot slide through the net, holding his right hand aloft as he admired his work. The Rockets’ shoulders slumped, but Bryant’s daggers pierced far deeper than the opposing bench. Some two hours earlier, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers had jetted out of Orlando on the heels of a 29-point loss that James called “embarrassing.” By the time the Cavs touched down in Cleveland, they knew this much:

Kobe isn’t ready to concede the MVP race – or home-court advantage – to LeBron just yet.

Only three days earlier, the Cavs seemed to have all but locked up home court through the NBA Finals after the Lakers followed a loss in Atlanta with another in Charlotte. But that was before the Washington Wizards delivered one of the season’s biggest upsets by beating Cleveland. The Cavs were further humbled by the Magic, trailing by as many as 41 points.

Now?

Home court is up for grabs. The MVP award might be as well….

If nothing else, Bryant’s performance against the Rockets should now make voters hold onto their ballots until the final day of the regular season. The Lakers also beat the Cavs in both of their meetings, a talking point that figures to occupy the top line of Bryant’s résumé should the teams finish the season with the same record….

Continue reading ‘Kobe shows MVP race far from over’