Laker Nation

We have teamed up with our new friends over at Mophie to giveaway a couple of their amazing Juice Pack Plus (purple or yellow) rechargeable cases for your iPhone. To put it simply, the Juice Pack Plus is a rechargeable external battery and protective, shock-resistant case for the iPhone 4, all rolled into one (if you think that means it's big and bulky, think again).

David Brickley, Jason Riley and Kevin Figgers are back for another episode of VOTN: Fastbreak. This week, the guys discuss the summer of Kobe, LeBron and more!

In an effort insisted on by Kobe Bryant, the Lakers pooled together a percentage of their playoff bonus from last season and split it between a pair of long-time staff members who were released by the Lakers earlier this summer. Chris Bodaken and Patrick O’Keefe, who were both part of the Lakers video staff, reportedly split $65k.

Bryant was involved in a minor altercation on Sunday with a churchgoer who he believed was taking pictures of him with his phone. Reportedly, Kobe confronted the man (who has not been identified yet), grabbed his phone and after seeing no pictures on the phone, returned it and quickly left the Church.

The L.A. Times caught up with Andrew Bynum after a workout in Hollywood yesterday, and for maybe the first time in his career, Drew is saying exactly the right things.

LakerNation.com caught up with Ron Artest (a.k.a. Metta Worldpeace) at Matt Barnes' Athletes vs. Cancer Celebrity Golf Tournament and asked him about the NBA lockout, his name change to Metta Worldpeace and all the reality show rumors.

Lakers Forward Matt Barnes will be hosting the Athletes vs. Cancer 3rd Annual Golf Classic this Friday, Aug. 12, 2011 at Trump National Golf Course on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Spectator tickets are available for purchase, and proceeds go to help a great cause!

Kobe Bryant was spotted at the Happy Nails Salon in Newport Beach last week to get some, eh, therapy on that troublesome shooting hand.

According to the L.A. Times, Metta World Peace (e.g. Ron Artest until August 28th) will be joining the Cheshire Jets of the BBL for the 2011/12 season, which begins on September 30th.

During a charity game in Louisville last weekend, Lakers backup center Derrick Caracter rotates a tad late, and ends up paying for it by way of a poster.

According to reports, Besiktas finally made an official offer to Bryant this morning, who was not at the meeting. Talks were reported as positive, and Kobe will be attending a follow up meeting this afternoon.

Tonight, Brickley, Figgers and Riley take a look at the latest from the NBA lockout, Kobe coming to LeBron's defense and what exactly he meant when he said that "Mike Brown buttons things out".

It was a rivalry that was, well… never really a rivalry to begin with. Even so, that hasn’t kept Kobe and LeBron from sharing the same headline this week. During Bryant’s sit-down with ESPN on Sunday, he went on the defensive for the much-maligned King James.

So you didn't win USA Light's Kobe VI Shoes Giveaway last week (this guy did). Nothing a $100 Visa Gift Card can't solve, right? ... Good, because that's exactly what we're giving away TODAY!