Results tagged “basketball”

Lakers and UCLA great Kareem Adbul-Jabbar is fighting a rare type of leukemia. Diagnosed in December, he is taking oral medication, seeing his specialist every other month and getting his blood analyzed regularly to fight the leukemia. He has a Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia where blood and bone marrow produces cancerous cells. Despite the stigma of the word "leukemia" many patients who are treated for chronic myeloid leukemia can control the disease without it advancing and should be able to lead a normal productive life. Abdul-Jabbar said the disease should not interfere with his work as special coach for the Lakers. Best wishes to the Captain.

Clippers' center Chris Kaman was named Western Conference player of the week for games played from November 2 to November 8. In three games played he averaged 24.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2 blocks. The 7-foot 265 pound center has been a disappointment due to injuries after signing a contract following the Clippers playoff run in 2005-2006. However when healthy he did show glimpses of what he could contribute. Coming into this season Kaman has been healthy and fit. After starting off the season 0-4, Kaman has been a contributing factor for the Clippers being 3-4. They face the freefalling New Orleans Hornets at Staples Center tonight.

It's a big night for downtown Los Angeles, more specifically L.A. Live. 6 p.m.: "This Is It," the Michael Jackson documentary, premieres (some wonder if some movie premieres will move from Hollywood to downtown. The movie 2012 will premiere here next week.). | 7 p.m.: Lakers and Clippers open basketball season at the Staples Center | 9 p.m.: L.A. Live's newest addition, Regal Cinemas opens to the public.

Arguably the best coach in sports history, former UCLA men's basketball head coach John Wooden turns the big 99 today. Born on October 14, 1910 in the tiny town of Hall, Indiana, his family would move to Martinsville, IN where he would play in the state high school championships for the Martinsville High School basketball team 1926-1928 winning only once in 1927 against Muncie Central 26-23.

Not only was Mark Madsen recently traded to the Los Angeles Clippers, he also bought a pretty nice sounding web domain on eBay--www.P2P.com. Too bad, it was stolen, reports the Associated Press. A 25-year-old New Jersey man apparently hacked the website, took ownership and then sold it to Madsen for $100,000 over the auction based site. No word from Madsen yet--he's a big Twitterer--but alleged hacker Daniel Goncalves faces "felony charges of theft by unlawful taking or deception, identity theft, and computer theft," which could carry 10 years for each count. The case is reportedly the first ever criminal prosecution of domain theft.

Despite the rumors that circulated yesterday, Trevor Ariza did not end up backing out of his oral agreement with Houston to join LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal in Cleveland. Today the former Laker made it official signing on the dotted line of his multi-year deal, making him a Rocket.

It's 6 a.m. and beginning right now, you can park at the Coliseum for the noon rally that will last until 1 p.m. The later it gets, the more street and freeway onramp closures you'll face. Gates open at 9:30 a.m. and space is limited to 95,000 (it could definitely fill up). When the parade begins, Coliseum attendees will be able to watch it on big screen TVs.

Under pressure not to spend nearly a million dollars in city money for the Lakers parade tomorrow, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa raised $850,000 from private donors to offset costs. "If we hadn't had a parade, you've have had a whole bevy of other people criticizing," he said.

Blue Line trains will run every 6 minutes from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. tomorrow to help move the hundreds of thousands of people expected at tomorrow's Lakers victory parade. Additionally, the Red and Purple Lines will carry extra train cars and Gold and Green Lines are prepared to add more trains to service if needed. "Metro Bus services will be significantly impacted in the event area, especially bus lines that either run on or cross Figueroa, Flower or Grand streets, between Olympic and Martin Luther King boulevards," the agency said in a statement. "Delays can be expected beginning about 10 a.m. and will continue until the end of the parade for all passengers riding in the Metro Bus lines: 28, 30, 31, 35, 37, 38, 40, 42, 55, 70, 71, 76, 78, 79, 81, 96, 102, 200, 204, 335, 355, 378, 439, 442, 444, 445, 446, 447, 450x, 460, 484, 485, 550, 714, 728, 730, 740, 754, 770."

After Game 1, I said that the Magic's outside shooters would not miss all of those shots again. Well the Lakers survived the Magic's improved shooting in Game 2 101-96 in overtime. After being non-factors in Game 1 Rashard Lewis and Hedu Turkoglu showed up in Game 2 knocking down 34 points and 17 points respectively. Lewis knocked down six three-pointers in the Magic's effort to steal one game on LA's home court. The effort would come up short.

This is just... darling. "I don't see how you guys stand a chance. It's going to take some magic for you to come even close to us," Los Angeles Congresswoman Maxine Waters told Congresswoman Corrine Brown of Florida yesterday. Waters was right, Lakers kicked some ass, beating the Magic 100 to 75.

I still say the Lakers will defeat the Denver Nuggets in six games. But it's not this series that I'm finding all that compelling. Out in the east, we are witnessing an Orlando Magic team that is tearing apart the Cleveland Cavaliers. Aside from the Magic's 10-point victory in game three, all games have been close: one point margins in games one and two and a two point victory by the Magic in game four.

       

LA has a diverse cast of characters. Whether it's the characters with stirring stories or interesting occupations or the people who are just simply characters, this town has them all. In an effort to get to know some of those characters a little better, we've created "Seven Questions with..." If you have a suggestion for a future Seven Questions subject send us an email.

That had to be one of the most frustrating Lakers playoff series in recent memory. The undermanned Houston Rockets team sans Tracy McGrady, Dikembe Mutombo and as of game three Yao Ming had no business being in that series. That should have been at worst a five-game series. But the Lakers sometime lackadaisical play kept the Rockets in the series making superstars out of Luis Scola, Shane Battier and Aaron Brooks.

I really don't know what's wrong with the Lakers. If anyone did surely it would be head coach Phil Jackson and his coaching staff. Then Lakers fans wouldn't be sitting in a pit of 780.7, the ICM-9 code for malaise.

In game one the Lakers tried to be physical but ended up being pretenders. The Rockets despite being the ones battered and bloodied got the first knock out. Shane Battier’s bloodied face and Yao Ming’s bumped knee wouldn’t detract the Rockets into getting away from their game plan. They just stuck with it while the Lakers just took shots in hopes of getting something to stick.

A week after the Lakers sent the Utah Jazz packing, they embark on the second round of the playoffs against the Houston Rockets.

Now that the real NBA season has started, those Laker flowers have started to bloom. At the Dodger game Friday night the evidence of the germination was seen as several cars were seen with the Laker flags flying.

Last night's victory for North Carolina over Michigan State not only brought the Tarheels their fifth national championship in school history but it also gave one lucky LAist reader an XBOX 360 Elite. Brian Flanagan, also known as "Brifdog," and his "Brif Defeats LAist 09" bracket racked up a total of 148 points to beat out the field of LAist readers and staff members. Congratulations Brian and thanks to everyone for playing. Also, thanks to the good people at Microsoft for hooking us up with a very sweet prize.

We are counting down to the madness. One of the most exciting days in sports and the least productive work days on the calendar, the opening round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Championships, is less than 24 hours away.

The LA Times is reporting that Trevor Ariza will not be suspended for his flagrant two foul that send Portland Trail Blazer's Rudy Fernandez to the hospital Monday night at the waning seconds of the third quarter. The NBA however is still looking into whether or not Lamar Odom stepped outside of the bench area in the ensuing fracas. If they find that he did, Odom could be suspended for Wednesday night's game against the Houston Rockets.

In a press release just issued by the Lakers, 21-year old center Andrew Bynum suffered a tear in his medial collateral ligament in his right knee after a collision with Kobe Bryant in Friday night's game at Memphis Grizzlies. He is estimated to be out for eight to 12 weeks. Just about this time last year, Bynum suffered an injury to his left knee that kept him out for the rest of the season and the playoffs. He is averaging 14 points, 8 rebounds and 1.9 blocked shots per game this season and was named NBA's player of the week from January 19 through January 25. AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill

This was another statement game for the Lakers, and the Lakers answered.

USC and UCLA, Lakers and Clippers, Angelina and Jennifer, Pink's and Carney's. Rivalries are as much a part of LA as the smog filled air we breathe.

                

We took a visit to Gladys Park in Skid Row to watch the Central Station LAPD play another game against the Skid Row 3 on 3 League All-Stars. In last year's game Skid Row took it to the LAPD. However, this time around the LAPD got the best of Skid Row. It was a great game and the crowd (including some very interested policemen) were into it. More importantly though, it showed the positive programs that are trying to take root in the much maligned area. The League Commissioner Manuel "OG Man" Compito and his associates put a lot of work into the game and the event and it showed. He states that the game between LAPD and a team that includes some known gang members " is a testament to the great community spirit that Skid Row has." We agree... and look forward to more! For more information about the league and future events or how you can help, you can contact OG Man via email. Here is some of what we saw.

December's Skid Row Neighborhood Watch Walk was lightly attended, likely due to the tree lighting events happening at LA Live. As always, the walk went on, and as always, the walk was unlike any prior walks. While feelings of sadness, confusion and hopelessness had ensued after previous walks, this one offered a new, fresh and somewhat hopeful perspective. One of the most intriguing aspects of the walk is having the chance to meet, talk to and walk with the individuals that have a true passion and dedication to Skid Row and those who make up the community.

While filling in for injured starter Josh Howard, the Dallas Mavericks' Jose Juan Barea surprisingly strung together four straight double-figure scoring efforts including a 22 point performance against the Atlanta Hawks on December 9th. The unexpected output of the 5-11 guard in his third year out of Northeastern University has not gone unnoticed by the NBA media, including Los Angeles Times NBA columnist Mark Heisler. Yesterday, Heisler recognized the play of Barea in his NBA Rankings, calling the Dallas guard a "Mexican smurf." While "smurf" isn't exactly the most becoming word to call a sub-six-footer it is actually the more accurate of the two words used by Heisler to describe Barea, who is a native of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.

Health and fitness: it's a gift category upon which one must tread delicately. Give the wrong person a piece of fitness equipment and you risk wreaking havoc upon a fragile self-esteem, or simply having your gift received with the silent treatment and a single, lonesome tear rolling down their cheek.

The ever-lovable Clippers just made a trade with the New York Knickerbockers according to Lisa Dillman of the LA Times. The Clippers get forward Zach Randolph and guard Mardy Collins for guard Cuttino Mobley and forward Tim Thomas. Randolph is averaging 20.5 points and 12.5 rebounds for the Knicks and has three years and $48 million left in his current contract.

San Antonio Spurs defeat LA Clippers 86-83. As unwatchable as this game was at least it was more interesting than Monday Night Football. Basically the game was like this: bad team A plays bad team B. Bad team B ties the game very late in the game but gives up a 3-pointer to bad team A with eight seconds left to go. Bad team B loses. Before Roger Mason made that three for the Spurs, the last time the Spurs scored was with 5:20 left to go in the fourth quarter. Both offenses are horrible. Fortunately for the Spurs Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli come back next month.