The Miami Heat are favored to win it all in 2012
Last season the Miami Heat came into the year as arguably the most talented basketball team in the NBA. With the free agent additions of superstars LeBron James and Chris Bosh alongside the re-signed Dwyane Wade, the Heat were a scary sight for any team on their schedule, but even though they were able to make it all the way to the NBA Finals, the Dallas Mavericks were the better and pulled off the upset.
Coming into this shortened NBA season which should get underway on Christmas Day, the Miami Heat have been favored to win it all at +250. Just behind the Heat are the Los Angeles Lakers at +550 followed by the Chicago Bulls (+550), Oklahoma City Thunder (+800) and the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks (+900).
If you aren't much of a sports bettor or believe that the shortened season is unpredictable, there are other ways to earn some extra money like online cash bingo games. Personally, I believe taking the Lakers to get back on track and win it all would be a great bet! With Kobe Bryant all healed up and motivated to get back to form and Pau Gasol looking to prove that he is one of the best forwards in the game, the Lakeshow should be fun to watch this season and incredibly tough to stop if things go right in the Mike Brown era in Los Angeles.
With that being said, I believe the Lakers will surprise some people this season as they could be much better than anticipated and run the table in the Western Conference.
Kobe Bryant gets punched in episode of ‘The Simpsons’
Over the last 20+ years that "The Simpsons" has been on TV, numerous movies stars, celebrities and professional athletes have appeared on the show as the guest star or just as a joke.
Recently, Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant made an appearance on the show, but probably not the way he would've wanted to.
Check out the video clip below with Kobe Bryant on "The Simpsons":
Kobe Bryant’s Italian Nike commercial
Kobe Bryant might still be negotiating a contract with Italian basketball team Virtus Bologna which could be signed as early as the end of the week, but he has already got his face out there appearing in an Italian Nike commercial. Check out the new Nike commercial staring Kobe Bryant below:
Kobe Bryant Flashback: Kobe scores career-high 81 points against Raptors
Photo by Noah Graham, Associated Press
With the NBA lockout still underway, there is no telling how much basketball will be missed during the upcoming NBA regular season, but in the meantime here is a little flashback from Kobe Bryant's greatest game when he lit up the Toronto Raptors for an unbelievable career-high 81 points.
Not only was Michael Jordan never able to score more than 69 points during his prime with the Chicago Bulls, but scoring 80+ points was something that no one thought could be done in today's game. The only player to score more was none other than the Los Angeles Lakers legendary center Wilt Chamberlain who scored 100 points back in 1962 with the Philadelphia Warriors.
Checkout Kobe Bryant scoring all 81 points in just three minutes:
Italian club Virtus Bologna offers Kobe Bryant contract worth $6.7 million
Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
The NBA regular season is supposed to be right around the corner with teams around the league starting training camps and getting ready for the NBA preseason, but recently the NBA decided to cancel all 43 preseason games and postpone training camps until further notice. With that being said, the consensus is that the regular will not start on time which might force players to start to seriously consider signing with teams overseas.
One NBA star that has already signed with a team in Turkey and begun his season is perennial All-Star Deron Williams (New Jersey Nets). It didn't take long for Williams to be convinced to sign with Turkish club Besiktas as he was the first to do so, but now the plot has thicken with NBA superstar Kobe Bryant getting an extremely lucrative offer from Italian team Virtus Bologna.
This new contract offer given to Kobe Bryant is one of the most aggressive moves yet by a team overseas to lock up an NBA star. With four different options, Kobe can pick and choose how long he wants to stay in Italy with Bologna and will be paid handsomely for it.
Reportedly, the one-year deal that Virtus Bologna is offering Kobe Bryant is worth up to $6.7 million. Even though that might be enticing for Kobe if the NBA lockout continues, the other options might be even more appealing as the team is willing to pay the Lakers star about $740,000 per-game. This is option that I believe Kobe will go for, but there also options of one to two months.
Perhaps the best part about this contract offer and all four options is the fact that Kobe Bryant can come back to the Los Angeles Lakers immediately after the NBA lockout ends. This might be enough to convince the Black Mamba to head to Italy until the NBA owners and NBPA can come to an agreement on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
Magic snap Lakers win streak at four with big win in Orlando
Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images
The two-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers were rolling coming into Sunday's matchup with the Orlando Magic winning the first four games of the seven-game road trip. As if the win over the Celtics (92-86) in Boston this past Thursday wasn't impressive enough, the Lakers were able to get another big win the following day by heading the Big Apple to blowout the New York Knicks (113-96) on their home floor at Madison Square Garden.
Not only were the defending champs able to get back on track with four straight wins on the road, but they were able to do it against arguably the best team in the league in the Boston Celtics and against an up and coming squad in New York. These two wins were able to give the Lakers a little bit of breathing room with all the trade rumors floating around Lakerland involving Carmelo Anthony.
Following the big win over the Knicks, the Lakers had just one day to rest before they had to get right back at it against Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic on their home floor. Even though the Magic have taken a backseat to the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference as of late, Orlando still has a solid squad and will be a force to be reckoned with come playoff time.
With that being said, the Lakers had their work cut out for them on Sunday in this rematch of the 2009 NBA Finals. The consensus coming into this game was that the defending champs would be a bit sluggish after such an emotional win over the Celtics and a dominant performance against the Knicks, but were confident that they could go into Orlando and come out with the win.
Unfortunately, the Lakers were sluggish and couldn't get anything going against the Magic. Not only was Dwight Howard almost unstoppable in the paint (31 points, 13 rebounds), but the Lakers' perimeter players could hit a shot to save their lives.
Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum finished with a team-high 17 points for the Lakers, but that wasn't enough to overcome the horrible shooting for the team as a whole as they shot just 39.4% from the floor (33-84). Bynum did get off to a good start and at one point looked like he might be in for a career game, but he just couldn't keep up with Howard in the long run as the Magic cruised to a 89-75 victory.
Lakers-Magic Highlights
NEXT LAKERS GAME: Los Angeles Lakers @ Charlotte Bobcats Mon. Feb. 14, 2011 4 p.m. PST
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