Lakers Lose Their Cool

Apparently, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning...or they are just classless thugs misrepresenting the most proud franchise in the NBA.

Odom got the tension started when he threw a big shoulder into the chest of the Mavs' Dirk Nowitzki while Dirk was attempting to set a pick for J.J. Barea. Then, moments later, Andrew Bynum went into the ribs of a driving J.J. Barea with an elbow, not even looking at the ball. After he was immediately ejected, Bynum pulled off his jersey and was walked off the court by Mr. Rogers himself, Ron Artest. Artest was ejected at the end of Game 3 for putting his elbow in the face of J.J. Barea.


I always knew the Lakers were a bunch of hot-heads, but this is the ultimate way to disgrace the game of basketball. I now know why the only guy I like on the Lakers is Pau Gasol. He's the only one on the squad that isn't bitching about every last thing. Sure, he isn't the most care-free player on the team but he wouldn't do things like this:



Mike Tirico said it best, "You have to lose like a champion too." That's the complete opposite of what the Lakers showed today.

There will be no 3-peat and good riddance for that.

The Lakers Aren't Moving Anybody

After the Lakers fell flat on their faces against the Boston Celtics on Sunday, Magic Johnson and General Manager Mitch Kupchack went into panic mode. They started talking about dealing players, and giving the team the spark that they need for the postseason run.  Kupchack also stated that they will not break up Kobe Bryant, Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol, or Lamar Odom... yeah about that.

If the Lakeshow wants to bring back some talent, they will have to give up Bynum, there is no question about that. Unless Kupcheck can pull off a Chris Wallace coup again, nobody is going to trade for Ron Artest, or Steve Blake. The only guy who will draw some interest is Shannon Brown. But do the Lakers really want to trade their top energy guy off the bench and Brown's contract isn't that significant.



I personally think this is a ruse because I used the ESPN Trade Machine only to find out I needed to deal Artest or Bynum for any trade to work. My humble opinion tells me that people are scared shitless of Bynum's knee problems. Honestly, this is his ceiling. He might improve a little bit, but I do not see him being one of the most dominant centers of the next decade. With Dwight Howard becoming a free agent in 2012, it makes perfect sense to trade Bynum because I feel Howard will probably come to L.A. But the question is will someone take that risk?  Probably with all the new technology that's out there, but I don't think he is perennial All-Star

At the end of the day, the Lakers will be fine without adding anybody. The West is stronger overall, but it isn't as top heavy as the Eastern Conference. The Lakers might not make the biggest splash at the deadline, but maybe they can figure out a smaller acquisition to help out like the Celtics and others have done in prior years.

-Charlie.