--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 ›

Trailblazers 112, Lakers 108 - When your best player wins the All Star MVP award and a guy from the bench scores 23, things should be clicking. Instead, the Lakers lost their sixth in a row. This is the longest loosing streak in Phil Jackson's career. When he joined the Lakers in 1999 there was a distant memory of a five game loosing streak with the Bulls. He added another five game streak last season.... more ›

The fact of the matter is that the Shaq trade has been a total disaster. While we never pretended that it was possible to get equal value for Shaq, LAist did think that Lamar Odom and Caron Butler would play better. 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 ›

LAist can be sympathetic to Tomjanovich if his decision is health-related. We can't imagine it's easy to jump back into the rigors of NBA coaching after suffering through bladder cancer. And in that case, LAist wishes him well as he goes Rick Majerus on us. more ›

In a conversation with Kobe Bryant, Tomjanovich suggested the Lakers switch to the triangle (out of freakin' nowhere) after Rudy wasn't down with Kobe's suggestion of the Princeton offense (thank goodness). more ›

It was a game where it seemed like Kobe was about to come out on top. Kobe got Shaq to foul him three times, including twice in the fourth quarter, for Shaq to foul out. At that point, with 2:15 left in the game, Kobe had outscored Shaq 42-24, and the Lakers seemed poised to win. But then Kobe stopped playing smart basketball. He fell asleep on transition defense, took bad shots, and never scored again. Instead Dwayne Wade stole the show and carried the Heat to victory. more ›

Kobe Bryant was impressive, not with his 25 points, but with his seven assists. Many of those passes allowed Chris Mihm to score 23 points. Lamar Odom also added 13 rebounds. 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 ›

The beautiful Ms. Buss answered tough questions from the LA Times' Steve Springer the other day as part of a very entertaining interview. more ›

So now let's recap everything for you: 1.) Gary Payton takes less money to play for the Lakers knowing full well they run the triangle offense, that in all likelihood he'll be 4th (or at best 3rd) option, and that he's expected to play the great defense which earned him the nickname "The Glove." more ›

LAist has already commented on Rudy T several times. At this point we recognize he's probably the best coach out there if the Lakers want to feign competitiveness next season, even though he may not be the man who can keep Kobe and Shaq together. more ›

As the Lakers put the finishing touches on a contract for new coach Rudy Tomjanovich, we don't anticipate too many "Ru-dy" chants at STAPLES Center if Kobe Bryant is not wearing Purple and Gold. more ›

All indications are that the Lakers will hire Rudy Tomjanovich as their new head coach. 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 ›

While Tomjanovich is no Phil Jackson, this is good news for Lakers fans. In today's NBA, there is no coaching job more strenuous and complex than the Lakers', and Jerry Buss could not get away with handing the keys to the franchise over to a less-experienced coach like Jim Cleamons, Kurt Rambis, or Brian Shaw. more ›