For a time, I could not help but feel some sympathy, and a little admiration, for LaVar Bell and his big plans for his sons and for himself. Here was a father deeply (very, very deeply) involved with his sons’ lives, overseeing their training and practice in an effort to see all three of them […]

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As a native of Southern California, I knew all about the Los Angeles Clippers. They were bad, except when they were horrid. They didn’t have fans, per se; their games were attended by bargain-hunters who could not afford to see the Lakers or were supporters of whatever NBA team the Clippers happened to be playing. […]

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A shoving match broke out during the Los Angeles Lakers’ game in Phoenix last night. It was an entirely forgettable, silly display, as most NBA fracases are. A little post-whistle bump here (by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope), a modest shove there (by Tyler Ulis of the Suns) … and teammates rushing in to separate the “combatants”. Noticeable […]

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It is fun when we discover a new sports star/superstar. Just when we get conditioned to the usual roster of the elite, boom, there he is: Another potentially great player. Which is where Joel Embiid comes in. Embiid is a 7-footer with quickness, dexterity and a fine shooting touch who plays center for the Philadelphia […]

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Los Angeles Lakers fans presumably saw the stat line from the NBA debut of savior/point guard Lonzo Ball. It was scary. The headline espn.com ran on the Associated Press report began like this: “Deflated Ball”. Couldn’t argue with that. Lonzo was unable to escape the enthusiastic defense of Clippers guard Patrick Beverley and the rookie […]

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I already feel sorry for Lonzo Ball. What we can reasonably expect from the Los Angeles Lakers’ 19-year-old NBA rookie bears no resemblance to what most fans and even many “experts” seem to expect from him. One of those self-professed experts is his father, LaVar, who does Lonzo no favors when he suggests — well, […]

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By population, the city of San Diego ranks No. 8 in the country, with approximately 1.4 million residents. By professional sports teams, however, San Diego now ranks perhaps No. 40 in the U.S. It has baseball’s San Diego Padres … and we are done talking about Big Four U.S. sports teams based in one of […]

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We will never forget Shaquille O’Neal. Even six years after his playing career ended. How could we, when the Big Pitch Man is appearing on television all the time? I count at least three advertising campaigns he is leading — for The General insurance company, for Icy Hot pain-killing lidocaine cream and patches (10 years […]

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Lonzo Ball’s first game with the Lakers, in an NBA Summer League game in Las Vegas last night, was a disaster. The stuff of nightmares. The No. 2 pick in the 2017 draft, the “next Magic Johnson”, stunk it up. Two-for-15 shooting from the field. One-for-11 from three. Welcome to the league, Lonzo. Or the […]

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How hard must it be to be the top brass of the Los Angeles Lakers, at this moment? They have the No. 2 pick in the draft, but no first-round pick next year, and they have some hard decisions to make — with the very real possibility if they get things wrong, come Thursday, their […]

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