Phil Wallace

According to a report in the New York Daily News, the Lakers are considering Spero Dedes as their next announcer. Memo to Jerry Buss: Stop right there. Hiring Spero Dedes is a bad idea. He comes from what I like to call the "New York school" of basketball announcers, where everyone desperately tries to sound like Marv Albert. They all speak in short phrases, and throw a bit of a New York flair at...

It appears Shaq has taken exception to Jerry Buss' comments that the big man needed a trade for motivation to lose 60 pounds. "I didn't need motivation," O'Neal said. "I needed a real owner. ... I needed a real owner like Micky Arison. You can quote me on it." A real owner? Micky Arison? What has Micky Arison ever done that's so great? Unnecessarily handing over nearly 10% of his team to Pat Riley...

According to a report in the New York Daily News, the Lakers are considering Spero Dedes as their next announcer. Memo to Jerry Buss: Stop right there. Hiring Spero Dedes is a bad idea. He comes from what I like to call the "New York school" of basketball announcers, where everyone desperately tries to sound like Marv Albert. They all speak in short phrases, and throw a bit of a New York flair at...

It was announced today that Jose Valentin partially tore three ligaments in his knee, and he's out for 8-10 weeks. LAist never ever wants a player to get hurt. But is it possible this is a blessing in disguise for the Dodgers? This was the Paul DePodesta offseason move that we actually questioned the most. Valentin is a low-average, high-power player, and historically those players have been awful at Dodger Stadium. Additionally, his third...

The California State Assembly must have plenty of free time on their hands. Otherwise, how else would Tom Umberg of Garden Grove get to introduce the "Truth in Sports Advertising Act"? The bill was unanimously approved today, by the state assembly's Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism and Internet Media (say that six times fast), and will now come to a vote before the full assembly. The bill would require all California teams named...

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 Lakers have officially fired Paul Sunderland as their television play-by-play man today, bringing an end to a tenure marked by an average man's inability to live up to legend. We've commented on Paul Sunderland at length in the past. No one thinks he's a bad announcer. LAist thinks he's average, passable for most teams, and all-around good guy. But no broadcaster would ever want to follow the greatest basketball announcer of all-time, and...

The Lakers have officially fired Paul Sunderland as their television play-by-play man today, bringing an end to a tenure marked by an average man's inability to live up to legend. We've commented on Paul Sunderland at length in the past. No one thinks he's a bad announcer. LAist thinks he's average, passable for most teams, and all-around good guy. But no broadcaster would ever want to follow the greatest basketball announcer of all-time, and...

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 California State Assembly must have plenty of free time on their hands. Otherwise, how else would Tom Umberg of Garden Grove get to introduce the "Truth in Sports Advertising Act"? The bill was unanimously approved today, by the state assembly's Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism and Internet Media (say that six times fast), and will now come to a vote before the full assembly. The bill would require all California teams named...