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.
Magic Rewind: Magic Johnson’s last All-Star game in 1992
It would be hard to argue that Magic Johnson wasn't the greatest Laker of all-time with every that he brought to Los Angeles and how he single-handedly turned around the storied franchise after getting drafted with the number one overall pick in the 1980 NBA draft. With five NBA titles and three NBA MVPs to his credit, Magic Johnson was a God in Los Angeles during the 80s and considered to be the best point guard in the league with the ability to be triple-threat every single night on the stat sheet.
Despite Magic being one of the greatest NBA players of all-time and arguably the greatest Lakers of all-time (Kobe Bryant might disagree), the end of Magic's prime in the NBA was tragic to say the least after being diagnosed with HIV and having to retire from the game.
Even though he made a short-lived comeback in 1996 and gave coaching a shot, Magic's career in the NBA as an elite player finished when he was named the MVP of the 1992 All-Star game where he put on one last show for his NBA fans.
Check out Magic Johnson's amazing performance against the likes of Isiah Thomas and Michael Jordan:
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 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:
NBPA president Derek Fisher gives an update on NBA lockout negotiations
Los Angeles Lakers guard Derek Fisher has been a very busy man of late as he might very well have the worst job in sports right now trying to convince NBA owners to agree upon a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) in order to end the NBA lockout.
Here is a video of Derek Fisher giving an update on The Jim Rome Show about the current negotiations:
Can NBPA president Derek Fisher end the NBA lockout without losing regular season games?
Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images
The NBPA (National Basketball Player's Association) doesn't seem to be any closer to agreeing upon a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the NBA owners that would end the NBA lockout and get things back on track in the league. With the NBA regular season just around, the pressure is on the NBPA to come to a compromise with the NBA owners or the league could be in serious danger of missing games and seeing a lot of players going overseas to earn some paychecks.
With the recent news of the lucrative contract offered to Kobe Bryant from Italian team Virtus Bologna and the cancellation of all 43 preseason games, the negotiations between the two sides have to come to an agreement within the next few weeks to avoid what could be a repeat of the 1998-1999 NBA season where only 50 games were played.
The one guy that has a lot on his plate right now is none other than five-time NBA champion and Los Angeles Lakers point guard Derek Fisher. Not only is Fisher a Lakers legend, but he is a very busy man off the court as the NBPA president. Fisher's task during this off-season has been a tough one as he has been the voice of the NBA players in this negotiation and at this point there is a good chance that he is regretting taking this job.
Something that seems to be an ongoing theme in these talks is the NBA owners not willing to budge. Not only are the owners are the owners being stubborn about their stance in the current negotiation on a new CBA, but reportedly there has been some problems between a few owners on the new deal which makes things even more complicated than they already are.
In my opinion, Derek Fisher is made for these kind of situations and he will definitely have a future after basketball in the political arena, but whether or not he has what it takes to convince these owners to come to an agreement remains to be seen. Fisher definitely has the confidence of the fans and players around the league, but he will have a tough task ahead if he wants to end this NBA lockout and get back to business as usual.
It will be interesting to see what goes down in the coming weeks with big-name players like Kobe Bryant considering playing overseas and the scheduled start of the NBA regular season rapidly approaching.
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
Should the Lakers trade Ron Artest?
The two-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers have had arguably their toughest season since winning the NBA title a couple of years ago. Even though the Lakers have been one of the best teams in the league over the last three seasons or so, it is becoming more and more apparent that a change might be needed if they want to pull off the three-peat in Phil Jackson's farewell season.
Obviously, after this season, the Lakers will be going through a drastic change with the departure of arguably the greatest NBA head coach of all-time, but this team and GM Mitch Kupchak are focused on winning right now. The one name that has been mentioned in Lakers trade rumors has been defensive specialist Ron Artest.
Other big-names have come up from time to time like Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum, but with Ron Artest just having an awful season with his numbers down in almost every category, the Lakers are ready to send him elsewhere.
The one team that Artest has been linked to recently is the Charlotte Bobcats. Reportedly, the Lakers have offered Artest to the Bobcats in exchange for either Stephen Jackson or Gerald Wallace. The trade details aren't really clear on which player the Lakers would get in return, but my guess is it would be Jackson.
Even though Jackson is a solid player, especially on offense, I believe that Wallace would be a good fit in Los Angeles. Not only can Wallace do multiple things on the basketball floor at both ends, but he won't be a headache like Jackson who is known for not getting along with head coaches.
The Lakers obviously seem interested in making a trade before the NBA trade deadline on Feb. 24, but who they will make a deal with and what players will be involved remains to be seen. One thing is for sure, the Lakers will make a deal.
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