It's looking like Ron Artest will not be a Laker next season. Assuming the 12-year veteran forward has his way, he'll don the purple and gold with a new identity: Metta World Peace. Ronald William Artest, Jr., 31, filed a petition in Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday to legally change his name. more ›

Suns 106, Lakers 98 - Maybe Mitch Kupchak isn't a cupcake, but an evil genius. After mis-managing the Lakers in recent years, it turns out he was right about Andrew Bynum. He refused to trade the young center, and all of a sudden the kid got GOOD. Unfortunately, he's out with an injury and his backup was worthless against Phoenix (hence the evil part). Kwame Brown had seven turnovers and missed an open dunk. Bravo. He was already being booed in the first quarter, and was booed when he sat down for good in the third after committing his fifth foul. It's a tough cowd, and he's got large shoes to fill. Literally. As for the rest of the game, Kobe had a typical 30 point night, and Steve Nash had a typical 20 assist night. more ›

What to do, Lakers fans! As the countdown to tip off commences against evil vampire leader Steve Nash and the rest of the Suns (ironic, isn’t it? That they’re named the Suns? Because Vampires HATE sun!), the faithful should cherish the Laker’s tentative hold on that first place spot in the western conference. We ain’t gonna have it long, folks. more ›

He was a dominant force at Westchester High School. He was part of the first year of Ben Howland’s turnaround at UCLA. And now he is a Laker. Trevor Ariza has come home, bringing with him some amazing dunks, good defense and a high-energy game that should fit in well with the young core of the Lakers. He was traded for veterans Brian Cook and Mo Evans. Call us crazy, but this is the rare... more ›

Kobe Bryant has made a bold demand to the Lakers front office. According to ESPN's Ric Bucher, the disgruntled diva shooting guard is asking owner, Dr. Jerry Buss to dig into the franchise's past and bring back Jerry West to replace Mitch Kupchak as general manager. more ›

--Kobe Bryant Wednesday night more ›

Now that the Lakers have been eliminated from the playoffs after last night’s 119-110 loss to the Phoenix Suns, local sports writers weighed in this morning about where to place the blame. columnist J.A. Adande joins a growing number of people who are looking to coach Phil Jackson for some answers. Jackson is a Hall of Famer and is considered by many to be one of the best coaches in NBA history, but lately some have been questioning the efficacy of his triangle offense with the current Lakers team. Adande thinks the Lakers certainly have the right players, but proposes that Jackson rethink his coaching style. “Something different than the erratic, three-point jacking under former coach Rudy Tomjanovich, but not as limited as what they’re doing now,” he suggests. more ›

In a shocking move, Jerry Buss has sold the Los Angeles Lakers franchise to famed New York real estate tycoon Donald Trump, setting off a chain reaction of events within the organization. more ›

Ice hockey isn't the most popular game in a land of beaches and palm trees, especially when you're losing. With this town's reputation for bandwagon fans, it's no surprise that the Kings -- dead last in the Western Conference and playing like jokers -- have been shuffled to the bottom of the deck. They even tossed away an ace, team captain Mattias Norstrom, in a gamble to add future draft selections (they now have 21... more ›

For the next two weeks, daydreaming will be the favorite pastime of NBA fans. They will try hard picture what Kevin Garnett would look like in a Laker uniform, or what Jason Kidd would look like running the Clippers offense. more ›

Now Smush Parker may be a fun player, and LAist thinks the second-year man from Fordham has a decent game, but when he's your best point guard you've got a problem. Aside from Parker, the Lakers have unproven Euro Sasha Vujacic, rookie Von Wafer, and former Cincinnati guard Tony Bobbitt on the roster. That's it. more ›

LAist has trouble believing this is for real. We have no problems with the Lakers trading Caron Butler. He's a one-dimensional scorer with little interest in defending, plays a position where the Lakers are stocked, and he's LA's most tradable commodity because his salary is low. We get that. We're also fine with the Lakers adding in a Chucky Atkins or a Devean George to match salaries in a trade. And we'd love to see the Lakers add a decent big man. more ›

For a while, it seemed like North Carolina point guard Raymond Felton was destined to be a Laker at No. 10. But that no longer seems to be the case for two reasons. First off, Phil Jackson likes bigger point guards, and Felton is probably too small for him. Secondly, Felton has climbed the draft board in recent weeks, and could be a top-five pick anyways. more ›

Assuming Phil Jackson doesn't want to reenact his Kobe Soap Opera, and assuming that Larry Brown is too tied up to leave Detroit, Flip Saunders is about the best the Lakers could do. more ›

"I ain't the GM of this team," Atkins said. "Kobe's the GM of this team. Ask Kobe. You've been watching this [stuff] all year. You've been watching it and I've been playing in it." more ›

Jackson is vacationing in Australia with Luc Longley and brought up a return in an e-mail, writing: "[I am] mulling that over in my mind. Luc and I are going for a swim this p.m. [in the] Indian Ocean." more ›

The truth is that "The Glove" never fit in LA. Despite coming to the Lakers knowing they ran the triangle and that he'd be the third or fourth option, he complained relentlessly about the triangle and being the third or fourth option, once saying "I didn't sign up for this s---." But by the time the NBA Finals rolled around even he admitted a lack of confidence as his uncharacteristically porous defense led to Chauncey Billups picking up a Finals MVP Award. more ›

With the Lakers desperate for a big man, Vlade Divac told ESPN.com's Marc Stein that he would like to rejoin the Lakers. more ›

So it all comes down today. When the Lakers find out if their bold offseason plan to build around Kobe Bryant will pay dividends. Bryant reportedly will announce at a noon press conference whether he will sign with the Lakers or the Clippers. more ›

After turning the basketball world upside down for the past few days, Mike Krzyzewski has calmed everything down, by opting to remain at Duke. Perhaps Coach K really does want to go to the NBA, but has little interest in being a part of the Lakers psychodrama. Perhaps, he's just happy ruling over college basketball. But whatever the reason, this is probably not great news for the Lakers. more ›

According to ESPN.com, Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski is in "serious discussions" with the Lakers about their head coaching vacancy. Jim Gray added on SportsCenter that Mitch Kupchak (a North Carolina alum) was in the Tar Heel State today visiting Krzyzewski and has offered him the job. more ›