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.......

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. Laker GM Mitch Kupchak called into the Dan Patrick Show on AM 570 KLAC this......

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......

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. Did I say ask? Actually number 8, err 24 is demanding the doctor brings back the architect of the Lakers dynasty or else...he wants to be traded. "The Logo"......

"Do something and do it now. Personally for me, it’s beyond frustration — three years and still being at ground zero. This summer’s a big summer. We have to see what direction we want to take as an organization and make those steps and make them now." --Kobe Bryant Wednesday night Kobe Bryant is frustrated. He should be. When the Kobe/Shaq feud reached the point that one of them had to go three years ago......

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. Times 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......

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. It had long been assumed Buss would leave the team to his children. However, he almost lost the Lakers to Phil Hellmuth in a late night, big money pot recently at the Mirage, but got bailed out with an inside straight on the......

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......

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. Two weeks from today (Feb. 22) is the NBA trading deadline, so for the next fortnight fans on Web sites and sports talk radio hosts will dream up ways the Lakers could trade for Dwyane......

Is anyone else concerned about the Lakers point guard situation? Sure, we were glad to see Chucky Atkins pack his bags, but we assumed another point guard would be taking his place. So far all the Lakers have done is sign Smush Parker. 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.......

It's been reported that the Lakers are interested in acquiring Kwame Brown from the Washington Wizards in exchange for Caron Butler, another player, and possibly a draft pick. Say what? 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......

At last, Draft day is upon us! And today, Mitch Kupchak makes the most important draft choice in his Laker GM tenure. Speculation is rampant as to who the Lakers will take. No one seems to know the answer. 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,......

According to reports, the Lakers have made contact with Flip Saunders about their coaching vacancy. 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. Saunders is a fine coach, who did an excellent job in Minnesota turning an NBA joke into an NBA title contender. Saunders developed Kevin Garnett, and......

The Chucky doll of the Lakers came out with his weapons last night as point guard Chucky Atkins had some harsh words for Kobe Bryant. Atkins was asked what moves he would make to improve the Lakers in the offseason. "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."......

Just when you thought Laker media storms had subsided, for a few years at least, we get a coaching crisis. With Rudy Tomjanovich reportedly on his way out, Phil Jackson is said to be "mulling" a return. 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]......

The Gary Payton era in LA sure didn't last long. The playoff stiff was traded today to the Boston Celtics along with Rick Fox and a draft pick for Chris Mihm, Chucky Atkins, and Marcus Banks. 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......

With the Lakers desperate for a big man, Vlade Divac told ESPN.com's Marc Stein that he would like to rejoin the Lakers. From Vlade to Shaq to Vlade again? Divac is 36 years old and a shell of his former self. And while his former self was an above average NBA player, he still became a Laker liability at times in his final two seasons in LA. Vlade's free throw misses against San Antonio......

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. Both sides have made their last-minute maneuvers. For the Lakers, Phil Jackson is gone. Shaq is now officially gone too. The Clippers may play 10-12 games in the Pond to accommodate......

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. Without Coach K, Kobe Bryant may......

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. The move is something of a shock. It had been reported for weeks that Rudy Tomjanovich was the front-runner for the job. Today, the LA Times added......