SS: That's a nice looking dunk!
The NBA season is fast approaching and if this dunk is any indication, Shannon Brown is in midseason form.

The Lakers and Warriors were in Anaheim last night in preseason action and midway through the 2nd quarter with the Lakers up 8, Shannon Brown got a steal and took it coast to coast, ending with a complete and total posterization of Mikki Moore.

I know that we are in the middle of the football season and the baseball playoffs are underway, but I for one am really looking forward to the NBA season.

Sporting News' NBA Athlete of the Decade: Kobe Bryant, SG, Lakers

Our choices for seven athletes of the decade--one in each sport we cover--sparked some intense debate. In the NBA, Kobe Bryant edged the Spurs' Tim Duncan.

Sporting News

Thursday, Sep. 24, 2009 - 1:18 a.m. ET

Count on this: Ring No. 4 isn't going to make Bryant complacent.

We say...

Is he the next Michael Jordan? Can he win a title without Shaquille O'Neal? Is he still better than LeBron James? When it comes to Bryant, the talking points have always missed the mark. No player in the history of the sport has been as hell bent on muscling up and improving his game every offseason. Bryant continues to set the bar on hard work, and there's no sign of anyone reaching his level in that regard.

The numbers say...

Bryant: 28.2 points per game, 5.9 rebounds, 5.2 assists, one MVP, four titles
Duncan: 21.2 points per game, 11.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists, two MVPs, three titles

You say...

SportingNews.com voting
Bryant 55%
Duncan 45%

They say...

Former Lakers teammate Shaquille O'Neal's case for Bryant: "The thing about Kobe is that, over the course of my career, I have never played with anyone who was as fierce as he is. By fierce I mean just having that extra killer instinct that you know when the game is on the line he is not going to shy away from the big shot, he is not going to make excuses. If we would go into the fourth quarter, playoffs or just some game in the season and we were within a little bit of the other team, Kobe was not going to shy away from the challenge of getting the win. He was going to take the shots."

Bryant says...

Our pick's memory of the decade: "This year meant a lot. We won a championship. It was satisfying, very satisfying, because we put in a lot of time and effort to fix things and get better. It's a great memory. I feel that we just had such a great team, such a fun team, from our chemistry to the way we executed. We went through some years and years of frustration to get to that point."

 

SN PLAYERS OF THE YEAR

2001: Allen Iverson
2002: Tim Duncan
2003: Tim Duncan
2000: Shaquille O'Neal
2004: Kevin Garnett
2005: Shaquille O'Neal
2006: LeBron James, Steve Nash
2007: Dirk Nowitzki
2008: Kobe Bryant
2009: LeBron James

--Contributing: Sean Deveney, Steve Greenberg

A longer version of this story first appeared in the Sept. 28, 2009, edition of Sporting News magazine. If you are not receiving the magazine, subscribe today, or pick up a copy, available at most Barnes & Noble, Borders and Hudson Retail outlets.

Player of the Decade: Kobe Bryant

.

From L.A.’s PR desk:

Los Angeles Lakers guard and 2009 NBA Finals MVP Kobe Bryant is Sporting News‘ NBA player of the decade.

The honor is part of a 14-page tribute to the athletes, coaches and teams of the 2000s in the new issue of the magazine, which arrives this week at all Barnes & Noble, Borders and Hudson Retail outlets. SN honored one athlete in each sport and enlisted the help of teammates, coaches and legends to make a case for both the winner and runner-up.

Said former teammate Shaquille O’Neal of Bryant: “The thing about Kobe is that, over the course of my career, I have never played with anyone who was as fierce as he is. By fierce I mean just having that extra killer instinct that you know when the game is on the line he is not going to shy away from the big shot, he is not going to make excuses. If we would go into the fourth quarter, playoffs or just some game in the season and we were within a little bit of the other team, Kobe was not going to shy away from the challenge of getting the win. He was going to take the shots.”

Bryant was SN’s player of the year in 2008. But 2009 was his favorite. “This year meant a lot,” he told SN. “We won a championship. It was satisfying, very satisfying, because we put in a lot of time and effort to fix things and get better. It’s a great memory. I feel that we just had such a great team, such a fun team, from our chemistry to the way we executed. We went through some years and years of frustration to get to that point.”

Bryant also made SN’s NBA all-decade team:

FIRST
G Steve Nash
G Kobe Bryant
F Tim Duncan
F LeBron James
C Shaquille O’Neal

SECOND
G Allen Iverson
G Dwyane Wade
F Dirk Nowitzki
F Kevin Garnett
C Yao Ming

SS: I like the mentality on Ron's part....he knows he's got to keep it together to make things happen and that the pressure is on him to perform and act within the team concept. Oh and also not to act CRAZY! Let's see if he can do it.....will be a super interesting season!

Artest: My fault if Lakers titleless in '10

SAN DIEGO -- Pardon Ron Artest if he's a bit geographically challenged and had no idea that San Diego has a big league baseball team, even though he was wearing a Padres cap.

This much he's sure of -- if his Los Angeles Lakers don't repeat as NBA champions, fans can point their fingers at him.

"They should. That's exactly what should happen if we don't repeat," the star forward said during a visit to promote the Lakers' exhibition game against the Denver Nuggets at the San Diego Sports Arena on Oct. 23.

[+] Enlarge

AP Photo/Philip Scott AndrewsRon Artest, professing his newfound affection for Southern California, signed a five-year deal worth $33 million as a free agent in July.

"They won last year, and I'm the new addition. The fans expect to repeat. Everybody in L.A. expects a second ring. And if we don't then yeah, they should point it right at me, throwing tomatoes and everything."

Artest joined the Lakers as a free agent on July 8, signing a five-year deal worth about $33 million. He is the team's only addition, essentially switching places with Trevor Ariza, who left the Lakers to take Artest's spot with the Rockets.

Artest said he was proud to be making his first promotional appearance for the Lakers. He wore an all-black Kobe Bryant jersey as a tribute to his new teammate.

"It makes me more excited, gives me a better understanding of what jersey I'm actually putting on," Artest said. "So today I decided to wear the black Kobe Bryant jersey, because he is the 'Black Mamba,' and I'm really happy to be a part of this team and I'm really excited just to be an addition, an asset, to the guy, to the [Derek] Fishers and the [Andrew] Bynums and all the rest of the players."

During a wide-ranging news conference at the San Diego Chargers' media trailer, Artest drew some laughs with a few slip-ups.

"I didn't realize how far L.A.'s tentacles, or whatever you want to call them, extend, all the way to San Diego. I thought I was going to be getting some Golden State Warrior fans, because I didn't know where I was at. Most of the fans are Lakers fans, so that's great.

"And I'm also here to say that next year I'll be trying out for the San Diego Chargers, so I look forward to that. Hopefully I can play some baseball. Is there a baseball team here?"

“The fans expect to repeat. Everybody in L.A. expects a second ring. And if we don't then yeah, they should point it right at me, throwing tomatoes and everything. ” -- Ron Artest

You're wearing the hat, he was told.

"I know I'm wearing the hat. I just love the SD. The logo looks great. I didn't realize there was a baseball team in San Diego."

A tough, physical defender, Artest had some spirited moments against Bryant when the Rockets pushed the Lakers to seven games in the second round of the playoffs.

"That was friendship what you saw out there with me and Kobe," Artest said. "That's like hard-core friendship, you know, like back in the days -- fight against your best friend when you were younger and go out and get some ice cream later? That's what that was. It was just so competitive.

"I just knew that my team was going to win. Of course we lost Yao [Ming], which hurt the Rockets. And Kobe wanted to win, and he knew his team was going to win. It was like, 'OK, I know you but I don't care nothing about you, maybe I have to step on your toes and give you a couple of elbows and get you ejected twice, whatever it takes to win, that's what I'm going to do.'"

Artest was ejected from Games 2 and 3 against the Lakers. In Game 2, he received a technical and was ejected after pointing and making a gesture near his throat after complaining that Bryant had elbowed him in the throat under the basket.

Artest was ejected from Game 3 after a flagrant foul on Pau Gasol.

It's all good now that they're all teammates.

"That's what I love about Kobe. He's so tough," Artest said. "He was great when he was younger, but he's much more competitive now. I didn't envision myself playing with him. I always wanted to play against him. I always wanted to beat Kobe Bryant. But I'm more than happy to be playing with Kobe."

A native New Yorker, Artest said he's turning into a West Coast kind of guy.

"I'm learning a lot of different ways of California. Is this Southern California?" he said, apparently not realizing San Diego is as southern as it gets. "It never rains in Southern California, huh? I'm turning into a Southern California guy. I'm happy to be a Southern Californian, or whatever you want to call it."

The Lakers open training camp Sept. 29 at their headquarters in El Segundo.

Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press

Tip-Off Timer: There Will Never Be a Greater Laker Than Chick Hearn

Posted Sep 21, 2009 10:00AM By Nate Jones (RSS feed)

Tip-Off Timer counts down the days until the first game of the 2009-10 season. On Monday, there are 36 days remaining.

If you lived in Los Angeles at anytime from the time the Lakers moved to L.A. in the early 1960's to the last of the Shaq/Kobe championships in 2002, you are probably quite familiar with Francis "Chick" Hearn. And even if you aren't from L.A., you might still be familiar with Chick, as he was probably the greatest play-by-play man in the history of basketball.

Chick was most known for his famous catch phrases known as "Chick-isms". The most famous of those Chick-isms is probably "slaaaam dunk" (yes, he invented the word "slam dunk").

In all my years of watching basketball, Chick might be the only play-by-play man that was able to keep up with the pace of the game. Of course his rapid fire style was born out of his pre-television days. Without television, radio play-by-play announcers had to paint a picture of the game with their words. Chick called his play-by-play style his "words eye view", and it was most certainly that.

For a time my family didn't have cable television, so I had to listen to the radio to catch Lakers home games. Trust me when I say there wasn't much of a difference between watching the games on television with Chick Hearn calling them and hearing Chick call the game on Lakers radio. He was that good. In fact, Chick was such a prolific announcer that when the Lakers played national television games, I would mute the television and turn on the radio to hear Chick call the game. I know this was a common thing for most fans to do in Los Angeles.

Outside of being the best at what he did, Chick was great because he was a consummate professional. From all accounts he loved his job and was the first Lakers employee at the arena, always preparing for work several hours before tip off. Although he loved the Lakers, he did not allow that to cloud his judgment and never fell into the blatant homerism that is epidemic amongst today's local play-by-play men. In fact, he was probably the Lakers' harshest critic. If the Lakers were stinking it up, you would here about it. If the Lakers were playing a great player, Chick wasn't afraid to give that player the proper compliments.

Chick's biggest was probably "the streak". Chick was the Lakers play-by-play man from the 1961 season until the end of the 2002 season. Before the 2002 season, he only missed TWO Lakers games. The last game he missed was in 1965. He wouldn't miss another game for 36 straight years. So from the end of 1965 until the end of 2001 Chick didn't miss one single Lakers game, calling 3,338 consecutive games. That is a streak that almost certainly will never be broken.

When asked to name the greatest Laker of all-time, most fans would probably name Magic Johnson or Jerry West. I always think Chick Hearn. He's the one constant through every single Lakers season in Los Angeles prior to 2002. He's the thread that goes from Elgin Baylor and Jerry West, through Magic Johnson and Kareem, all the way to Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. He's also the main reason I love basketball.

Below is a clip of Chick at work:

You can find more videos of Chick at the OldGoldenThroat Youtube page.

SS: I know this is old, but I just came across this and was really surprised....

Ranking the NBA Finals teams: 1-10

John Hollinger, ESPN.com

Ranking the NBA finalists: 1-10 | 11-20 | 21-30 | 31-40 | 41-50 | 51-60 | 61-66

 

The Formula

For both the regular season and playoffs, I looked at two factors: win-loss record, and average scoring margin. Every regular-season win was worth two points, with the 1999 participants having their wins prorated to an 82-game season. Similarly, every playoff win was worth four points, but each playoff loss docked a team four points -- this helped differentiate between champions who went 15-2 (like the 1991 Bulls) and those who went 15-9 (like the 1988 Lakers).

For scoring margin, I took the team's season scoring margin and divided by 15 -- basically, a one point per game increase was worth 5.47 points in this formula. For playoff scoring margin, I did the same thing but multiplied by four -- since most teams played about four times as many regular-season games as playoff games, this made the two virtually equal.

Finally, I added 15 points to the score of each team that won a championship. Why 15? (A) Because that amount meant that every champion rated ahead of the runner-up from the same season; and (B) Because the valuation seemed about right -- the same as 7.5 regular-season wins.

From there, only one other tweak was necessary -- adjusting for those teams in the earlier years who didn't have as many early-round playoff games in which to rack up points. Teams who didn't play a first-round series got 12 extra points; teams that played a best-of-three got six points; teams that played a best-of-five got three points. That's an approximation, obviously, but it mirrored what other teams in their situation actually did.

We've had 33 NBA Finals matchups since the NBA-ABA merger, so we at ESPN.com decided to rank all 66 teams that have played on the NBA's biggest stage in the modern era.

Of course, that means we're sorting out the greatest of the great, and you can find those teams listed below.

But it also means that we have to find a place for an NBA Finals team that finished the season with a 40-42 record, believe it or not -- you can find them here.

And, yes, we've figured out the worst NBA champions of the past 33 years -- no, it's not the 2006 Miami Heat, though they were close.

As you might have guessed, I devised a little formula to help me get through this task.

My premise is we want to look at three factors in rating greatness: regular-season performance, postseason performance, and finally, whether the team won a championship. See the box to the right for all the gory details.

As you'll see, the way the numbers shook out produced a ranking that conformed very much with conventional wisdom, with a few interesting exceptions.

In other words, the list below is how I'd rank them even without a formula, more or less, but it's nice to know the numbers have my back.

Now, on to the list:

 

1. 1996 CHICAGO BULLS                                                                                                        SCORE: 327.9
	KEY FACTS Regular-season record: 72-10 Postseason record: 15-3 Avg. scoring margin: +12.2 Avg. scoring margin, playoffs: +10.6 Finals result: Beat Seattle, 4-2	LEADERS (regular-season stats) Scoring: Michael Jordan, 30.4 ppg Rebounds: Dennis Rodman, 14.9 rpg Assists: Scottie Pippen, 5.9 apg Coach: Phil Jackson Finals MVP: Michael Jordan

 

Hands down, the greatest team of all time. How can you choose another when these guys won 72 regular-season games and 14 of their first 15 in the postseason? The Bulls were so good they were first in both offensive and defensive efficiency, and outscored their opponents by 12.2 points per game.

 

With names like Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, and Toni Kukoc, not to mention a coach like Phil Jackson, this team was pretty much unbeatable -- in fact, seven of its playoff wins were by 17 points or more. The only nit to pick was the Bulls' consecutive losses to the Sonics in the Finals, but they were up 3-0 by then and seemingly bored with how good they were.

 

2. 1987 LOS ANGELES LAKERS                                                                                             SCORE: 301.5
	KEY FACTS Regular-season record: 65-17 Postseason record: 15-3 Avg. scoring margin: +9.3 Avg. scoring margin, playoffs: +11.4 Finals result: Beat Boston, 4-2	LEADERS (regular-season stats) Scoring: Magic Johnson, 23.9 ppg Rebounds: A.C. Green, 7.9 rpg Assists: Magic Johnson, 12.4 apg Coach: Pat Riley Finals MVP: Magic Johnson

 

Fittingly, the great Lakers and Celtics teams are in a virtual dead heat for second place. (You'll note that I just call the Lakers "Los Angeles" in this list -- no risk of confusing them with the Clippers here.) This L.A. team nudged ahead of Boston by virtue of winning 65 games in the regular season and then trashing the West -- 11 wins in 12 games -- to make the Finals. The Lakers beat the Celtics in six, and for the playoffs as a whole outscored their opponents by 205 points -- the best of any team on this list. Seven different players averaged double figures, led by Magic with 23.9 points per game.

 

 

3. 1986 BOSTON CELTICS                                                                                                         SCORE: 301.1
	KEY FACTS Regular-season record: 67-15 Postseason record: 15-3 Avg. scoring margin: +9.4 Avg. scoring margin, playoffs: +10.3 Finals result: Beat Houston, 4-2	LEADERS (regular-season stats) Scoring: Larry Bird, 25.8 ppg Rebounds: Larry Bird, 9.8 rpg Assists: Larry Bird, 6.8 apg Coach: K.C. Jones Finals MVP: Larry Bird

 

The Celtics won 67 games in '86 behind the best frontcourt ever assembled -- Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish and Bill Walton -- and followed it up by stampeding through the playoffs in 15 games. They rank behind L.A. mostly because their victory margin wasn't as strong in the playoffs. On the other hand, this isn't a bad list to be No. 3 on. And few teams will ever have five players averaging at least 15 a game in the playoffs, as Boston's legendary quintet did in this postseason.

 

 

 

4. 1991 CHICAGO BULLS                                                                                                           SCORE: 294.5
	KEY FACTS Regular-season record: 61-21 Postseason record: 15-2 Avg. scoring margin: +9.1 Avg. scoring margin, playoffs: +11.6 Finals result: Beat Los Angeles, 4-1	LEADERS (regular-season stats) Scoring: Michael Jordan, 31.5 ppg Rebounds: Horace Grant, 8.4 rpg Assists: Scottie Pippen, 6.2 apg Coach: Phil Jackson Finals MVP: Michael Jordan

The Bulls' first championship team "only" won 61 games, but had a very impressive victory margin (plus-9.1 per game, the sixth best on the list) and absolutely romped in the playoffs. Chicago's 15-2 mark in the postseason was amazing considering it knocked off a two-time champion in four games (Detroit) followed by a four-time champion in five (the Lakers). The Bulls' plus-11.6 playoff victory margin ranks second among the 60 teams. Only three players averaged double figures, but I guess that's not a problem when one of them scores 34.0 per game.

 

 

 

 

5. 1997 CHICAGO BULLS                                                                                                            SCORE: 287.1
	KEY FACTS Regular-season record: 69-13 Postseason record: 15-4 Avg. scoring margin: +10.8 Avg. scoring margin, playoffs: +5.5 Finals result: Beat Utah, 4-2	LEADERS (regular-season stats) Scoring: Michael Jordan, 29.6 ppg Rebounds: Dennis Rodman, 16.1 rpg Assists: Scottie Pippen, 5.7 apg Coach: Phil Jackson Finals MVP: Michael Jordan

 

So much for championship hangovers. The '96 Bulls were the best ever, but their successors weren't exactly chopped liver. Chicago won 69 games -- which would have tied the record were it not for the 72 wins the previous season -- and the Bulls' plus-10.8 average victory margin was also second only to the '96 edition. Their longest losing streak was two games, for crying out loud. They weren't quite as strong in the playoffs, needing six tough games to outlast the Jazz in the Finals and dropping two other postseason games, but they were plenty good. Amazingly, Jordan and Pippen were the only Bulls to average more than eight points a game in the postseason -- but 11 guys saw regular action.

 

 

 

6. 1988 LOS ANGELES LAKERS                                                                                                SCORE: 280.3
	KEY FACTS Regular-season record: 62-20 Postseason record: 15-4 Avg. scoring margin: +7.4 Avg. scoring margin, playoffs: +10.7 Finals result: Beat Boston, 4-2	LEADERS (regular-season stats) Scoring: K. Abdul-Jabbar, 22.0 ppg Rebounds: K. Abdul-Jabbar, 7.9 rpg Assists: Magic Johnson, 12.6 apg Coach: Pat Riley Finals MVP: K. Abdul-Jabbar

 

The Lakers were so good in '85 and '87 that it's hard to fathom how they lost in five games to Houston in the year between. This edition won 62 games, went on an 11-2 romp through the Western Conference playoffs, then slew the leprechauns by winning Game 6 in Boston Garden to claim the title.

 

For the postseason, L.A.'s average scoring margin narrowly missed topping the list -- amazing considering the Lakers lost the "Boston Massacre" 148-114 in Game 1 of the Finals. But 10 of their 15 playoff wins came by 16 points or more -- including a win by 24 points or more in every round -- showing just how dominant these Lakers were.

 

7. 1992 CHICAGO BULLS                                                                                                          SCORE: 277.3
	KEY FACTS Regular-season record: 67-15 Postseason record: 15-7 Avg. scoring margin: +10.4 Avg. scoring margin, playoffs: +6.2 Finals result: Beat Portland, 4-2	LEADERS (regular-season stats) Scoring: Michael Jordan, 30.1 ppg Rebounds: Horace Grant, 10.0 rpg Assists: Scottie Pippen, 7.0 apg Coach: Phil Jackson Finals MVP: Michael Jordan

 

These Bulls had a great regular-season run, winning 67 games and joining the '96 and '97 editions as the only teams on the list to have an average scoring margin of plus-10 or more in the regular season. The playoffs were a different story, however -- the Knicks nearly knocked them off in Round 2, and they lost by 26 at home to Cleveland in the conference finals before righting their ship and winning the title. Their seven postseason losses are the most of any team in the top 15. As with the '97 team, everyone got involved -- the Bulls used 11 players regularly and clinched the title in Game 6 against Portland when 12th man Bobby Hansen led a huge fourth-quarter rally.

 

 

 

8. 1999 SAN ANTONIO SPURS                                                                                                   SCORE: 267.1
	KEY FACTS Regular-season record: 37-13 Postseason record: 15-2 Avg. scoring margin: +8.1 Avg. scoring margin, playoffs: +7.2 Finals result: Beat New York, 4-1	LEADERS (regular-season stats) Scoring: Tim Duncan, 21.7 ppg Rebounds: Tim Duncan, 11.4 rpg Assists: Avery Johnson, 7.4 apg Coach: Gregg Popovich Finals MVP: Tim Duncan

A forgotten great team because of the lockout, the Spurs began the year 6-8 … and then went 46-7 the rest of the way, with nary a losing streak. An awesome defensive squad led by big men David Robinson and Tim Duncan, San Antonio's 84.7 points allowed per game is far and away the least of any of these 60 squads. That 15-2 postseason mark ain't too shabby either, including sweeps of the Blazers and Lakers. So stingy was the defense that only twice in 17 playoff games did San Antonio's opponent muster 90 points.

 

9. 2009 LOS ANGELES LAKERS                                                                                       SCORE: 267.1
	KEY FACTS Regular-season record: 65-17 Postseason record: 16-7 Avg. scoring margin: +7.7 Avg. scoring margin, playoffs: +7.2 Finals result: Beat Orlando, 4-1	LEADERS (regular-season stats) Scoring: Kobe Bryant, 26.8 ppg Rebounds: Pau Gasol, 9.6 rpg Assists: Kobe Bryant, 4.9 apg Coach: Phil Jackson Finals MVP: Kobe Bryant

 

Kobe Bryant's first title team sans Shaq -- and Phil Jackson's record 10th as a coach -- was also the best of the Jackson era. That may surprise some who saw Shaq's teams steamroll to three straight titles, but those squads never had a dominating regular season and a dominating playoff run in the same season. This edition of L.A. was pretty strong in both respects, winning 65 times in the regular season and losing only seven times in the postseason; L.A.'s +166 playoff scoring margin is seventh all time.

 

10. 2008 BOSTON CELTICS                                                                                         SCORE: 263.3
	KEY FACTS Regular-season record: 66-16 Postseason record: 16-10 Avg. scoring margin: +10.3 Avg. scoring margin, playoffs: +5.2 Finals result: Beat L.A. Lakers, 4-2	LEADERS (regular-season stats) Scoring: Paul Pierce, 19.6 ppg Rebounds: Kevin Garnett, 9.2 rpg Assists: Rajon Rondo, 5.1 apg Coach: Doc Rivers Finals MVP: Paul Pierce

 

The Celtics set a record for a champion with 10 postseason losses, so it's a bit of a surprise that they cracked the top 10. But a strong postseason combined with an impressive average margin in the playoffs put them ahead of every Bird-McHale team but one. Certainly helping the Celtics' cause was the 132-93 rout of the Lakers in the clincher, but they also won playoff games by 14,16,19, 23, 25 and 34.

Ranking the NBA finalists: 1-10 | 11-20 | 21-30 | 31-40 | 41-50 | 51-60 | 61-66

Kobe Bryant: 31 Moments

Mike Trudell
Lakers Reporter |  August 26, 2009

With an Amazon River-long list of accomplishments already to his name, it would seem that Kobe Bryant would at least be old enough to run for President, right?

Nope. Not for four more years of moment-building, anyway (by then the list could be closer in length to the Nile).

Bryant turned 31 on Sunday, August 23rd, prompting us to enlist the help of Lakers fans – via our @LakersReporter Twitter account – to amass a list of 31 highlights from the 2009 NBA Finals MVP’s career. At the end of the day, no list can fully encapsulate one of the world’s best athletes, but hopefully we detailed many of Kobe Bean Bryant’s best moments and most impressive accomplishments:

1) It began 16 years ago, with Bryant’s off-the-charts pre-draft workout for Lakers GM Jerry West. Previously, the wonder kid had destroyed the Pennsylvania high school league by averaging 30.8 points, 12.0 boards, 6.5 assists, 4.0 steals and 3.8 blocks as a senior at Lower Merion HS (including a state championship). Kobe received nearly every national honor (USA Today Player of the Year, Naismith POY, Gatorade POY and McDonald’s All-American) and subsequently dominated the summer camp circuit, earning MVP honors at the 1995 Adidas ABCD Summer Camp and the Beach Ball Classic in South Carolina.

 

2) On July 11, 1996, the Lakers traded Vlade Divac to the Charlotte Hornets for the rights to the No. 13 pick: Kobe Bryant.

3) Pulling dunk highlights from Bryant is pretty superfluous, but this YouTube clip (video) of a teenaged Kobe rising high into the sky for a preseason thunder dunk over Ben Wallace in Las Vegas is among the best:

4) With the fans firmly in his camp, Bryant defeated Ray Allen and Michael Finley, among others, in the 1997 Slam Dunk contest (video).

5) A high moment of Bryant’s rookie season occurred when he scored 22 points in Game 3 of the First Round playoffs against Portland, the most points for an L.A. rookie in the postseason since Byron Scott dropped 26 in 1984.

6) For Kobe, there was nothing quite like facing his idol, Michael Jordan (video). During his second season, the youngster stuck 33 points in the box score at United Center on Dec. 17, 1997… But MJ countered with 36 in leading his team to a 104-83 victory.

7) At the tender age of 19, Bryant became the youngest All-Star in NBA history in 1998. The Philly/Italy product was voted into the game despite not starting for the Lakers. He averaged 15.4 points, 3.1 boards and 2.5 assists in 26.0 minutes per game in his second season.

8) With 10:28 remaining in Game 7 of the 2000 Western Conference Finals, L.A. found itself down by 15 points to a tough, deep Portland squad. Minutes later, however, Bryant found Shaquille O’Neal underneath the rim with a high-arching alley-oop (video)as part of a 29-9 run to close the game and the series. In the previous round, Kobe had nailed a hanging, double-clutch, game-winning jumper over Jason Kidd and Phoenix.

9) A defining moment of Bryant’s early career came after he missed most of Game 2 and all of Game 3 of the 2000 Finals against Indiana with a badly sprained ankle, but returned in Game 4 to push the Lakers to a victory (video) and a 3-1 advantage. Despite what he then described as “throbbing” pain, Bryant scored eight OT points with Shaq fouled out on the bench, including three-straight hoops when Indiana had cut L.A.’s lead to one, not to mention a game-sealing tip in of Brian Shaw’s miss with 5.9 seconds remaining. The net result: L.A. would lock up the series in Game 6 for the franchise’s first title since the Showtime era.

10) Bryant put a 26-point, 12-rebound, 6-assist line on Philadelphia in Game 5 of the 2001 Finals to lock up a second title, setting his playoff averages at 29.4 points, 7.3 boards and 6.1 assists in 16 contests. A near-untouchable Lakers’ squad (16-1) lost but one game when Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers stole Game 1 of the Finals. Bryant was deadliest in a four-game sweep of San Antonio in the Conference Finals, posting 33.3 points, 7.0 boards and 7.0 assists in 42.0 minutes.

11) En route to L.A.’s third-straight championship to close the 2001-02 season, Bryant averaged 26.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists in 19 postseason games, highlighted by consecutive games of at least 30 points and 10 boards in the Western Conference Finals against Sacramento. L.A. swept an overmatched New Jersey Nets team in the final as Bryant played at least 42 minutes in each contest.

12) With 21 points in a luminary fourth quarter performance (video), Bryant led the Lakers from 30 points down at the half against Dallas for a 105-103 victory in the midst of a tough team start to the 2002-03 season. Bryant put a bow on his performance by nailing the game-winning jumper with 8.4 seconds remaining to establish the biggest comeback win in franchise history.

13) Not only did Bryant hit a ridiculous buzzer-beating three to force OT (video) in the 2003-04 regular season finale at Portland, he then dropped an even more phenomenal fall-away triple to win the game in double OT.

14) The lone bright spot of a nearly universally disappointing 2004 Finals against Detroit came in Game 2, when Bryant nailed a game-tying three (video) with 2.1 seconds left. He didn’t let up in OT, leading L.A. to its only win of a 4-1 series loss after finishing with 33 points and seven dimes.

15) During his 35.4 points per game season in 2005-06 (the 8th highest scoring average in NBA history), Bryant exploded for 62 points against Dallas on Dec. 20 … In three quarters. He sunk 18-of-31 shots, plus 22-of-25 free throws in 33 minutes before taking a seat to watch the fourth. His 30 points in the third quarter established a franchise record, but the beauty of the game was that Bryant outscored the Mavericks 62-61. He also amassed a franchise-record 27 games of 40-plus points that season, as well as six 50-plus games.

16) A Bryant dunk from the first round of the 2006 playoffs, when he rose, hung and followed through (video) in vicious fashion over Steve Nash, was particularly fun.

17) In Game 4 of the same series against Phoenix, Bryant nailed a buzzer-beating leaner (video) as the clock expired at STAPLES Center to put the Lakers up 3-1. L.A., however, would fall in seven games.

18) Perhaps the moment that first comes to mind for Kobe's career is the 81 points he scored (video)… in a game. His feat was the second-greatest scoring performance in NBA history (Wilt Chamberlain, 100), coming against Toronto on Jan. 22 of 2006 behind 28-of-46 shooting from the field and 18-of-20 free throws.

19) For the fourth-straight game in March of 2006, Bryant dropped at least 40 points on an opponent. Throughout his career, Bryant has reached the 40-point mark 96 times in the regular season and 10 times in the postseason.

20) From March 16-23 of 2007, Bryant amassed an absurd 225 points in four games, going for 65, 50, 60 and 50, respectively. He wouldn’t need to score that many points over the next two seasons due to the increased skill of his teammates (Pau, anyone?), and though KB would score over 50 just once in 2008-09, he still ranks third all time (Chamberlain, Jordan) with 24 games of 50-plus points.

21) Mid 2007-08, when L.A. was still trying to establish itself as a Western threat after Andrew Bynum went down and before Gasol came to town, Bryant went off for 48 points at Seattle, including an 18-footer with 4.3 seconds remaining to rescue the Lakers.

22) In the midst of a fierce Western Conference seeding race in late April of 2008, Bryant had one of his best all-around games of the season with 29 points, 10 boards and eight assists in a 107-104 victory over New Orleans to tie them for first place in the West. Bryant also may have punctuated his coming MVP award with a fierce reverse dunk in the fourth quarter.

23) Early in the 2008 playoffs, David Stern flew to L.A. to award Bryant with his first NBA MVP award as his teammates encircled him. Kobe joined three other Lakers in attaining the league’s top regular season honor: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the all-time leader, who won three times each for Milwaukee and L.A.; Magic Johnson, whose three awards came in 1987, ’89 and ’90 to tie him with Larry Bird and Moses Malone for fifth all time; and Shaquille O’Neal, who won his only award for the 1999-2000 campaign.

24) Bryant led the Lakers on an impressive and fluid run to the Finals in 2008 after series victories over Denver (4-0), Utah (4-2) and San Antonio (4-1), only to fall short against the Boston Celtics when it counted (4-2). Kobe averaged 30.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists in 21 playoff games.

25) After leading L.A. on a torrid 21-3 start to its revenge-seeking 2008-09 campaign, Bryant earned Western Conference Player of the Month honors for both December and January, the 10th and 11th time in his career that Bryant took monthly honors.

26) One game after L.A. lost center Andrew Bynum to a knee injury, Bryant made a personal statement of team strength by scoring an NBA-season-high 61 points at Madison Square Garden (video) in L.A.’s 126-117 victory. He made 19-of-31 shots and all 20 of his free throws.

27) Throughout his career, Bryant has been involved in hundreds of polls and contests against fellow players, but his domination of the “Sports Illustrated” NBA player poll in February of 2009 was telling: Asked which player would you want to take the last shot, 76% of the 190 pro players answered “Kobe Bryant.” In second place was Chauncey Billups, with 3% of the vote.

28) Bryant punctuated a third Western Conference Player of the Week award with a dagger three-pointer at San Antonio and 18 fourth quarter points at Houston, averaging 28.5 points, 5.0 assists and 5.0 boards as L.A. went 3-1. It was the 22nd POW award in Bryant’s career out West, though he added two NBA POW accolades prior to the award being divided between conferences.

29) Behind more than 2.8 million votes, Bryant started the 2009 All-Star game in Phoenix for the 11th straight time. He capped off the experience by earning his third MVP award alongside Co-MVP Shaquille O’Neal, then with the host Suns.

30) Bryant dissected Denver with a 35-point, 10-assist assertion of personal dominance (video)in a 119-92 Game 6 road win to clinch the Western Conference Finals. His 30.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.65 steals helped the Lakers defeat Utah (4-1) and Houston (4-3) before beating Denver in six games, setting up the Finals matchup with Orlando.

31) On June 14, 2009, Kobe Bryant was named MVP of the NBA Finals after his Lakers defeated the Orlando Magic 99-86 for a convincing 4-1 series victory. In the Finals, Bryant averaged team-high 32.4 points and 7.4 assists, plus 5.6 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks on 45.7 percent shooting. He’d also earn All-NBA honors for the 11th time in 13th seasons (All-First Team, seventh time) while making an All-Defensive team for the ninth time (All-First team, seventh time).

So, what did we miss? Feel free to let us know via Twitter at @LakersReporter or @Lakers.

Lakers pull offer to Lamar Odom

Jerry Buss reportedly is upset that the free-agent forward and his agent have not responded to Lakers' offer of $9 million a season.

By Broderick Turner
July 15, 2009

The Lakers have pulled their offer off the table to free-agent forward Lamar Odom, according to a team official who is not authorized to speak publicly about the negotiations.

Lakers owner Jerry Buss is upset that Odom and his representative, agent Jeff Schwartz, haven't made contact with the organization regarding its $9-million per season offer for three years, one source said Tuesday.

Neither Schwartz nor Odom could be reached for comment. Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak said, "I wouldn't comment on negotiations."

The source also said Buss was not happy that Odom and Schwartz have been having talks with the Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat about a deal, but have refused to talk to the Lakers.

The Heat and Mavericks can offer Odom only the mid-level exception of $5.8 million, but can give him a five-year deal up to $34 million.

It was widely known that Odom, who will be 30 in November, would have to take a pay cut because of his age, the declining economy and the small number of teams that were far enough under the NBA salary cap to make a legitimate offer to him. He was on the Lakers' books for $14.1 million last season, the final year of a six-year, $63-million contract he signed with Miami in 2003.

He proved his worth during the Lakers' championship run in the playoffs by averaging 12.3 points, third-best on the team, and 9.1 rebounds, second-best on the team.

He averaged 32 minutes a game in the playoffs, a lot of it because center Andrew Bynum was either in foul trouble or ineffective. In those cases, Pau Gasol moved to center, Odom came off the bench to play power forward and the Lakers were often a better team.

Odom was solid against Orlando in the NBA Finals, helping the Lakers win their 15th championship by averaging 13.4 points and 7.8 rebounds. He had 17 points and 10 rebounds in Game 5 as the Lakers clinched the title with a 99-86 victory.

Odom was also impressive in the last two games of the Western Conference finals, helping the Lakers emerge from a 2-2 series tie with a physical Denver Nuggets team. Odom averaged 19.5 points and 11 rebounds in the two games.

Known as a friendly face among teammates and always available to talk to reporters, Odom represented an important part of the Lakers' team chemistry.

Odom wasn't thrilled before the season about the prospect of being a reserve, saying last October that Lakers Coach Phil Jackson "must have woke up and bumped his head."

But he grew accustomed to his backup role and helped keep the Lakers atop the West when Bynum went down with a knee injury.

He logged 31 games as a starter and saw a dramatic uptick in his statistics after Bynum's injury Jan. 31, averaging 13.9 points and 11.1 rebounds in 34 minutes a game. Before Bynum's injury, Odom was averaging 9.4 points and 6.2 rebounds in 26.4 minutes.

Staff writer Mike Bresnahan contributed to this story

broderick.turner@latimes.com