Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Bryant puts offseason criticism of Lakers behind him
By David Leon Moore, USA TODAYEL SEGUNDO, Calif. — There were no flip-flops from Kobe Bryant on Monday, and no hard feelings from the teammates he criticized during the offseason.
At the Los Angeles Lakers' media day, the first time all the players and coaches had gathered since Bryant made offseason headlines about wanting to be traded because the Lakers didn't have enough good players and lacked the willingness in the front office to make improvements to the team, it was all happy talk.
"I want to bring a title back to Los Angeles," Bryant said. "That's priority No. 1."
Bryant declined to show any frustration Monday about the team's inability to pull off a major deal in the offseason. And he said his trade demands are a thing of the past.
"When the season starts, it's not my place to say, 'Here's what we need to do here, here's what we need to do there,' " he said. "That's not my job. My job is to come out on the floor and help us win ballgames."
Bryant said he regretted the way things occurred in the offseason after the Lakers lost 27 of their last 43 games and finished 42-40, then lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Phoenix Suns.
"I was frustrated, so I blew up," he said.
Lakers coach Phil Jackson said he doesn't think Bryant has caused irreparable damage to the team's chemistry. "That (Bryant's criticism) was said back in June," Jackson said. "Now here we are in October."
Jackson, entering the final season of a three-year contract, said he asked some players if they thought Bryant's comments needed to be addressed as a team. They said no.
"They seem perfectly at ease with him," Jackson said.
Center Andrew Bynum, the main player singled out in criticism by Bryant, shrugged off any hurt feelings.
"I didn't think it was that big of a deal," Bynum said.
Jackson and Bryant would have preferred to open camp with an additional veteran star, perhaps Kevin Garnett or Jermaine O'Neal. But they are pleased with the return of veteran guard Derek Fisher, who won three NBA titles playing in a Lakers uniform with Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal.
Fisher, who played two seasons in Golden State and one in Utah since leaving the Lakers, hopes to take a leadership role on this team. In that regard, he said, he needs Bryant's input. "I need to know what he thinks about this team, about the personnel, if I'm going to provide some leadership," Fisher said.
The Lakers' second-best player, forward Lamar Odom, said he doesn't think there will be a chemistry problem this season. "Not at all," he said. "Being a Laker, you're on center stage. Everybody knows the importance of giving maximum effort.
"Of course, if there was a problem, I'd lie to you."
Kwame Brown Arrested In Valdosta
WALB: An NBA player was arrested in Valdosta over the weekend. Twenty-five-year-old Kwame Brown, a power forward with the LA Lakers is charged with disorderly conduct and interference of a law enforcement officer.Police say Brown was the passenger in a car driven by 23-year-old Charles Edward Warren, Junior.
They were pulled over at the intersection of East Hill Avenue and North Patterson Street around 2:00 Saturday morning.
Warren was driving the wrong way down a one way street. Investigators say Warren was drunk and driving on a suspended license.
They say Brown was arrested when he got out of control during the investigation. “He would have been interfering with the investigation the officer was trying to conduct at that time,” says Lt. Bobbi McGraw with the Valdosta Police.
Both Brown and Warren are originally from Brunswick. They are out on bond.
A spokesperson for the Lakers say Brown showed up on time for their media day this morning and no punishment has been handed down from team officials.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Lakers 07 - 08 Schedule
Javaris Crittenton
Javaris Crittenton "Pms" radio interview
2007 NBA Draft Backcourt Breakdown
Catching Up with Javaris Crittenton
by Ty Nowell September 12th, 2007
Lakers.com caught up with rookie guard Javaris Crittenton to talk about his transition to Los Angeles, how he fared in the Summer League, and what's on the horizon. So what have you been up to since the Vegas Summer League? I’ve been back and forth between Atlanta and LA since the draft, but I got out here for good about a week ago and I’m just happy to be out here. I found a place and it’s just exciting times being a part of the Lakers right now. LA is starting to feel like home so I’m just working hard to get ready for the season. You find any favorite spots yet? I’m still trying to get a feel for the area. I’ve been driving around and getting lost a lot, just trying to learn the streets and the places to go to. My nav system in my car has been helping a lot. Has an
ything stuck out in your mind or reminded you of being back in Georgia? (Los Angeles) is kind of a fast city with a lot to do and a lot of celebrities. Atlanta and LA are similar, but in a lot of ways they’re very different. Atlanta has a lot of traffic and LA has traffic, but this traffic out here is a beast, I’ve never seen anything like it before. Traffic… on like 1pm on a Sunday… Your Mom had mentioned during your signing press conference that she would be helping with the transition, is that still in the plans? She’ll be coming out here to visit. I got her a house down in Atlanta so she’s pretty set right now. My little sister has been transferring schools a lot over the past three years so it’s time for my Mom to just focus on her now. I’m a grown man now, not to say that I don’t need my mother’s advice or help, but it’s time for her to focus on my baby sister and I didn’t want my sister transferring schools all the way to another coast and having to get adjusted to schools out here. Plus my whole family basically resides in Atlanta. What kind of things have you been doing off the court? Man, I’ve just been in the gym you know. I went to some of my teammates' houses, Andrew Bynum & Jordan Farmar, hanging out with those guys. I’ve been hanging out with Brian Cook, we did a commercial for Amare Stoudemire’s video game together. Hanging out with Kwame (Brown). I’m just trying to get adjusted to my teammates and the city. I also had a little “Welcome to LA” party, but that’s about it besides being in the gym and getting ready for training camp and the season. It’s a big season for me, it’s the NBA, there’s no room to take breaks like that. How was your experience in the Summer League? Summer League was fun. It was my first NBA experience so I just went out and played hard to show my organization and the coaches and the GM what I could do. I think I played okay. I think everyone was pretty happy with how you performed. What was playing for Kurt Rambis & Brian Shaw like? Those guys are funny. It was fun being around them, but at the same time they’re my coaches and we had serious times where they tell us what to do and we do it, we execute. It’s good being around coaches that you can talk to and tell a few jokes here and there to make you laugh instead of being around coaches that are just serious all of the time and never crack a joke. It was just fun. You and Jordan Farmar are both point guards, but in Summer League you found yourself on the floor at the same time quite a bit, how was that? It was good because in our offense the guard spot is going to change. It was good for me to learn both spots. Playing with Jordan was fun to me. I got to play with one of my teammates and even though we play the same position it was great being on the court with one of my teammates. The Summer League team used a simplified version of the Triangle, but did you see any similarities or differences from what you’ve run in the past? It wasn’t a big difference. Certain things like where you get into the triangle from or where you normally set it up from and knowing what to do, but that was about it. In high school it was the same way exact way – hit the wing, get to the corner. I played the same position in high school. I’m sure Phil (Jackson) has got quite a few things to add to it for you when you get to training camp. Have you had a chance to talk with him? Yeah, I’m sure he will. I haven’t really talked with him a lot outside of “How are you doing, Coach?” and telling him congratulations on his induction to the Hall of Fame. I sat in my room and watched it. I was flipping around the channels and had forgot that it was going to be on, then I saw it was like, “Hey that’s my Coach.” What specific skills have you been working on this summer? I’m just trying to be injury free going into training camp. I’ve been working hard on my jump shot, conditioning, hitting the weights, ball handling, everything you can think of. I’ve been playing pickup games to stay in shape and to work on my moves. You can work on drills all day, but if there’s not anyone out there guarding you it’s not the same. You need to have someone out there guarding you, competing, pushing you. Where have you been playing at? I was playing in Atlanta, down at Georgia Tech, up in those spots. Then when I got out here I was up at UCLA and working out over here (at the Toyota Sports Center). I would come in here late at night, since I was right next door in the hotel, when no one was here and put up shots. Have you talked to any fellow Georgia Tech players about the transition to the NBA? I talk to Kenny Anderson every now and then. Everyone’s just really happy for me right now and haven’t really been telling me how to live or what to do. They know I’m a hard worker so I just have to keep that same work ethic and listen. Me and (Portland Guard) Jarrett Jack talk, he comes back a lot. So you bought your mom a house and you got yourself a car, any other big purchases with that first NBA check? Really just getting my Mom her house and I got my car. Those were the main two things that were on my list to do first when I got situated. I’ve got my car and my place out here, that’s about it. I’ve done some other little things, but that’s really it. We’re a little more than two weeks away from training camp opening up in Hawaii. What do you imagine that is going to be like? I can’t really say. I’ve been asking my teammates about that, about what it’s like. We’ll just go over the plays and work hard. Overall, I’m just happy to be here. I’m happy to be a Laker. This season that’s coming up is very important to me. I can’t wait till I step out onto that floor (at STAPLES Center) wearing the gold with the Lights Out and the Lakers on the middle of the floor.
LAKERS SIGN ELTON BROWN
September 17, 2007
EL SEGUNDO - The Los Angeles Lakers have signed free agent forward Elton Brown, it was announced today. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not released.
Brown, a 6-9 forward out of the University of Virginia, finished 20th on Virginia’s all-time scoring list with 1,356 points and 13th on the all-time rebounding list with 660 rebounds.
Brown spent the 2005-06 season in Greece playing for Makedonikos Kozani, where he led the league in rebounds while being the only player in the league to average a double-double, averaging 13.3 points and 10.5 rebounds per game.
Brown was a member of the NBDL’s Colorado 14ers during the 2006-07 season, where he averaged 18.4 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 50 games.
