Laker Nation

ESPN.COM: If you needed another reminder that the NBA is unlike any other realm on Earth, it came this weekend from, of all places, the Women’s World Cup. After Hope Solo called out her coach’s decision-making and threw her teammate under the Greyhound, Solo was told to skip the team’s final game and go to her room. These things happen [...]

HOOPSWORLD.COM: On Monday the Los Angeles Lakers will open their doors to the media before heading off to training camp in Hawaii. The offseason was a tumultuous one, headlined by Kobe Bryant’s trade demand early in the summer. While some were adamant Bryant had played his last game as a Laker, it appears the team’s superstar will indeed report. A [...]

Special thanks to John ‘Fatty’ Fatland for writing this take and giving us the privilege to add it to TheLakersNation.com. Again, if you guys see anything Lakers related that you think deserves to be put up, just e-mail us at articles@TheLakersNation.com. Monday the Lakers are gathering for a meeting with the media at the Lakers El Segundo Training Facility. And [...]

Lakers.com: What are your goals for this season? Just to come in and contribute, to help the organization any way I can, doing whatever the coaching staff and the front office want me to do. Just play my role. Have you spoken with Phil about what you specifically need to do this season? Not into specifics yet. We have spoken [...]

Fox Sports: The time has come for Kobe Bryant to end months of silence regarding the Los Angeles Lakers.That’s assuming he joins his teammates Monday at media day in suburban El Segundo and then on the flight to Hawaii for the start of training camp Tuesday. Although Bryant is expected, his spokesperson Catherine Sebring declined comment when asked about his [...]

L.A. Times: Has a sports executive ever entered a season more outnumbered, outmanned and potentially out of his mind? On the court, the Lakers will be playing two-on-one. Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant are the two. Mitch Kupchak is the one. Off the court, the Lakers are sounding like two million-on-one. Laker fans are the two million. Mitch Kupchak is [...]

HOOPSWORLD.COM: By now, many of you have seen the video on the main-page in which I discussed the Los Angeles Lakers and GM Mitch Kupchak (I know because of all the e-mail I’ve received since it was posted at the beginning of the week). And yes, I really do believe that Kupchak has done a pretty decent job. And no, [...]

Lakers.com: Have you talked to Phil about the current depth chart within the team? Yes. We’ve met everyday since he’s been back, which has been about three weeks now. We talk every three or four days during the summer and of course he doesn’t leave for the summer until the summer has actually begun. There’s really not a (long) period [...]

Lakers.com caught up with General Manager Mitch Kupchak to discuss the 2007-08 Lakers as they head into training camp next week. Check back for part two tomorrow. Lakers.com: Has Kobe reached out to you and Phil and other teammates? I don’t know if he speaks to his teammates, I assume that he does. I know that he and Phil have [...]

SportingNews.com: There’s still no official word on the Shawn Marion-for-Lamar Odom swap detailed on SportingNews.com Tuesday. Marion told me he wants the deal to go down, and he sounded genuinely excited about the possibility of changing scenery. Marion also said he spoke with Kobe Bryant over the weekend and was left with the impression that Bryant supported the trade. The [...]

L.A. Times: OK, guys, big smile. Wait a minute, aren’t we missing someone? Or not. After a summer of wondering if Kobe Bryant would show up, the Lakers will fly to Hawaii for training camp after Monday’s media session, with Bryant expected to be among them. After demanding that the Lakers trade him in May and pointedly refusing to take [...]

We haven’t had a true point guard in years. Would Baron be the perfect fit? Uh, yeah… Sound-off in the comments and tell us what you think! Fox Sports: After his breakout postseason, Baron Davis is looking for long-term love. He’s got two years and about $33.5 million left on his deal with Golden State, but could opt out after [...]

O.C. Register: That conscious decision Kobe Bryant made to forget he was a Laker? It did help him survive and even enjoy the rest of his summer, but the time has just about come for him to remember. In one week, the Lakers reconvene for the next NBA season having not traded Bryant, as he sought, or traded for proven [...]

HOOPSWORLD.COM: Late last week HOOPSWORLD’s Eric Pincus contemplated a trade scenario that the Los Angeles Lakers were “rumored” to be pondering with the Miami Heat – a trade scenario that would bring Shaquille O’Neal back to the land of purple and gold. In his piece, Eric compared it to one infamous season finale to the television show Dallas, in which [...]