[::OFFICIAL LAKERS 2010-11' SEASON THREAD Vol. It Was Fun While It Lasted::]

Kobe just got off the DP Show...says he will be at a 100% in about a week or 2
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From the OC Register


EL SEGUNDO – Magic Johnson: 13.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West: 14.

Kobe Bryant is entering his 15th Lakers season and is seeking his sixth NBA championship.

Kobe Bryant: 15.

Shortly after the newest championship banner is unveiled Tuesday night at Staples Center, Bryant will stretch out that knee, secure protection over that finger and say the little prayer he does when the spotlight goes off him just long enough to do so.

He will begin his 15th NBA season, all with the Lakers.

No one has been a Laker longer.

He is the constant ... remarkable for so many reasons and so many seasons. Only five players in NBA history have stayed home for longer – John Stockton (19 seasons), Karl Malone (18), Reggie Miller (18), Hakeem Olajuwon (17) and John Havlicek (16) – and none comes close to Bryant's combination of stardom and success.

The present question is whether Bryant can star and succeed even more, starting with this season. And if there could be just one basic platform from which Bryant has done everything before, it would boil down to this:

He is not afraid to try.

He will try and fail in air-ball fashion in Utah or try and succeed with back-to-back NBA Finals MVP trophies – and either way, he will try to adjust. What he has known even before defending his first championship a decade ago is that in these situations of repeating, it's not really about repeating anything.

It's about finding out how to be great this time.

"Taking this group of guys and taking it to the top of the mountain," Bryant said.

Before Bryant starts digging at the fresh snow, though, he gets to savor one last flag-planting moment Tuesday night. With the players wearing special warmups with satin patches commemorating 16 championship banners on their backs, the Lakers will receive their new championship rings.

It will be a unique ceremony, with a format meant to reflect the deeper bonds that go into being back-to-back NBA champions. After Lakers coach Phil Jackson receives his championship ring, he will take the Staples Center public-address microphone and do a brief, self-scripted introduction of the first Lakers player. Each player will come forward to receive his ring – and then perform his own individual introduction for the next player.

In the same way the best wedding ceremonies show something real about the people who'll wear those rings, this will be far more personal than forming a line and shaking some hands.
It'll require additional creativity and teamwork to pull off, but the Lakers proved in winning again last season that they are capable of scoring in transition.

"The strength of our team," Lamar Odom said, "is our time together."

Already in training camp, there has been an unmistakable double entendre when the Lakers have broken every post-practice huddle with the old chant from previous seasons: "1-2-3-ring!"

Winning a third consecutive championship is the obvious challenge, and even though All-Stars Bryant and Pau Gasol figure to remain in place for future years, there is a sense of finality about this journey, too.

Jackson's only frame of reference is winning titles in three-packs, and Bryant is more convinced than ever that Jackson means it this time when he says he's going to retire after this season.

For the Lakers to be the greatest they can this season, they can't completely dismiss the spirit of the past after the ring ceremony. This is, bottom line, as good as it's going to get: having the greatest coach in professional sports history at the helm, with opportunity lying in front of the players to capture Jackson's Zen spirit of being great not for history or posterity or to rival Miami, but being great for the sake of being great right now.

"What has worked well for us and will work well for us again," Derek Fisher said, "is to stay within our bubble."

That means perfecting their own art, mastering this new mix that includes the fresh talents of understated, pass-happy Steve Blake, who has already found a natural connection on the court with Odom. Two rookies, Devin Ebanks and Derrick Caracter, won't play much, but already their energy and humility have added something new to one of the oldest teams in the NBA. There remains the chance, despite the negativity surrounding Andrew Bynum for not having his knee ready for the first month of the season, that Bynum achieves newfound dominance this season at age 23.

Bryant, 32, will still do what he does with his trusty arrow and sling, but he'll need to gauge exactly what this group needs from him.

He will need to measure how much that surgically repaired right knee and arthritic right index finger are prepared to do early in this season that feels considerably different for him than a year ago, when he could confidently crack his neck and say: "I feel better now than I've felt since I was 26 or 27." Needing rest and preservation, Bryant will be on the practice court with his teammates less than ever before, challenging his cohesion with them.

Can he do it again? Or more accurately, can he do it now with these teammates against this competition?

He is an expert mountain-climber who has reached the summit five times.

No Laker has ever made it six.
 
From the OC Register


EL SEGUNDO – Magic Johnson: 13.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West: 14.

Kobe Bryant is entering his 15th Lakers season and is seeking his sixth NBA championship.

Kobe Bryant: 15.

Shortly after the newest championship banner is unveiled Tuesday night at Staples Center, Bryant will stretch out that knee, secure protection over that finger and say the little prayer he does when the spotlight goes off him just long enough to do so.

He will begin his 15th NBA season, all with the Lakers.

No one has been a Laker longer.

He is the constant ... remarkable for so many reasons and so many seasons. Only five players in NBA history have stayed home for longer – John Stockton (19 seasons), Karl Malone (18), Reggie Miller (18), Hakeem Olajuwon (17) and John Havlicek (16) – and none comes close to Bryant's combination of stardom and success.

The present question is whether Bryant can star and succeed even more, starting with this season. And if there could be just one basic platform from which Bryant has done everything before, it would boil down to this:

He is not afraid to try.

He will try and fail in air-ball fashion in Utah or try and succeed with back-to-back NBA Finals MVP trophies – and either way, he will try to adjust. What he has known even before defending his first championship a decade ago is that in these situations of repeating, it's not really about repeating anything.

It's about finding out how to be great this time.

"Taking this group of guys and taking it to the top of the mountain," Bryant said.

Before Bryant starts digging at the fresh snow, though, he gets to savor one last flag-planting moment Tuesday night. With the players wearing special warmups with satin patches commemorating 16 championship banners on their backs, the Lakers will receive their new championship rings.

It will be a unique ceremony, with a format meant to reflect the deeper bonds that go into being back-to-back NBA champions. After Lakers coach Phil Jackson receives his championship ring, he will take the Staples Center public-address microphone and do a brief, self-scripted introduction of the first Lakers player. Each player will come forward to receive his ring – and then perform his own individual introduction for the next player.

In the same way the best wedding ceremonies show something real about the people who'll wear those rings, this will be far more personal than forming a line and shaking some hands.
It'll require additional creativity and teamwork to pull off, but the Lakers proved in winning again last season that they are capable of scoring in transition.

"The strength of our team," Lamar Odom said, "is our time together."

Already in training camp, there has been an unmistakable double entendre when the Lakers have broken every post-practice huddle with the old chant from previous seasons: "1-2-3-ring!"

Winning a third consecutive championship is the obvious challenge, and even though All-Stars Bryant and Pau Gasol figure to remain in place for future years, there is a sense of finality about this journey, too.

Jackson's only frame of reference is winning titles in three-packs, and Bryant is more convinced than ever that Jackson means it this time when he says he's going to retire after this season.

For the Lakers to be the greatest they can this season, they can't completely dismiss the spirit of the past after the ring ceremony. This is, bottom line, as good as it's going to get: having the greatest coach in professional sports history at the helm, with opportunity lying in front of the players to capture Jackson's Zen spirit of being great not for history or posterity or to rival Miami, but being great for the sake of being great right now.

"What has worked well for us and will work well for us again," Derek Fisher said, "is to stay within our bubble."

That means perfecting their own art, mastering this new mix that includes the fresh talents of understated, pass-happy Steve Blake, who has already found a natural connection on the court with Odom. Two rookies, Devin Ebanks and Derrick Caracter, won't play much, but already their energy and humility have added something new to one of the oldest teams in the NBA. There remains the chance, despite the negativity surrounding Andrew Bynum for not having his knee ready for the first month of the season, that Bynum achieves newfound dominance this season at age 23.

Bryant, 32, will still do what he does with his trusty arrow and sling, but he'll need to gauge exactly what this group needs from him.

He will need to measure how much that surgically repaired right knee and arthritic right index finger are prepared to do early in this season that feels considerably different for him than a year ago, when he could confidently crack his neck and say: "I feel better now than I've felt since I was 26 or 27." Needing rest and preservation, Bryant will be on the practice court with his teammates less than ever before, challenging his cohesion with them.

Can he do it again? Or more accurately, can he do it now with these teammates against this competition?

He is an expert mountain-climber who has reached the summit five times.

No Laker has ever made it six.
 
Literally got chills thinking about how excited I am for tomorrow. The start of another year, and can literally feel the 3-peat
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Literally got chills thinking about how excited I am for tomorrow. The start of another year, and can literally feel the 3-peat
pimp.gif
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So apparently Ebanks will be in the rotation at the beginning of the season.

I am cautiously optimistic about this. Hopefully it means that he's able to contribute.
 
So apparently Ebanks will be in the rotation at the beginning of the season.

I am cautiously optimistic about this. Hopefully it means that he's able to contribute.
 
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