With NBA basketball still over a month away wouldn't it be nice to get a sneak peak at what the season is going to look like? At least the first ten games for the Clippers. That's impossible you say? Read on. 39 days. It feels like an eternity, I know. I imagine there have been other NBA seasons as highly anticipated as the one coming in 2019-20, but it doesn't feel like it. So many big names changed teams this off-season. The Raptors are the defending champions. The Raptors! From Canada!! In short, there is a lot to look forward to, especially in Los Angeles. LA is home to four of the top 10 NBA players according to  Sports Illustrated.  Incidentally, do you think it bothers LeBron James to come in at #3? I mean, does it motivate him? Does he need motivation at this point in his career? I am honestly curious to know if he even cares.  Anyway. The Clippers, with Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, are poised for the best season in their history. I'm not sure it will be their

We idolize our sports heroes, sometimes blindly. Is it time we as fans begin to re-think our adulation? I know from the get-go that this is a sensitive topic. So that being said if you are uncomfortable with me talking about it, then that's a start. You should feel uncomfortable about it. Rape is a hot button issue, especially in today's #metoo climate. As well it should be. It is at the top of the list of the most horrible crimes a human being could commit. Get that discomfort out the way so we can talk about this. If me talking about athletes getting away with rape makes you uncomfortable then watching them go free and then go play for and make millions of dollars off of your favorite sports team should be giving you hemorrhoids. With the most recent Antonio Brown case all over sports media the past few days, I almost said here now that "this sort of thing has been in the news a lot lately ", but upon further thought it would be more accurate to say it has been in

Dwight Howard is used to being a star in a star-driven league. Will he be able to handle a lesser role in pursuit of a Championship? The first time Dwight Howard signed with the Lakers he was expected to fill Shaquille O'Neal's shoes or at least Pau Gasol's. We all know how that turned out. Howard is a 6'11, 265 pound cry- baby diva, who has the coordination of a five year old on steroids. The Los Angeles spotlight was too hot and bright for Dwight; he melted under the scrutiny and couldn't handle the pressure of being compared to Shaq and the greatest of all time, Kareem.( Yes, by the way I think Kareem is better than Jordan.) This time around NO one is expecting Howard to fill Shaq's shoes because we all know now that that's impossible. Anthony Davis this time around will try to fill that role. Can Howard handle not being the star player on a team with brighter stars? If I was the coach I would tell Howard that, "You do not have the green light Dwight

So, Kobe said some things. Were they justified? Where they realistic? Did they need to be said? In Part I we looked at his use of the word "I". Here in Part II we dig deeper into how realistic 12 rings really was for Shaq & Kobe. Are you ready to explore this possibility? I hope so because I had a really good time creating it. In  this universe Shaq works harder. To be honest, even writing that feels offensive. I believe Shaq worked hard. There is no way he does what he did without hard work. Diesel says it best when he said: "You don't get statues by not working hard." Yup. We present the following under the assumption that Kobe meant Shaq would have stayed dominant  longer . That he would have worked on his game in some magical way. In short, Shaq stays Shaq longer is how we are deciphering Kobe's "work harder" statement as it relates to O'Neal. Other assumptions relate to players the Lakers had. Remember that without trading O'Neal,

Derek Fisher is known to many as a great former Lakers player and more recently as the coach of the LA Sparks. Before that he left a lasting impression on a youth basketball camper, our own Kyle Graves. It all started at the Wimp Sanderson Basketball Camp at The University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) in the summer of 1995, a day that will forever live in infamy in my eyes. The Arkansas Razorbacks were in their prime, appearing in back to back National Championship games, which is great and all, but I am from Little Rock and my team was then and still is the UALR Trojans. The best player on that UALR team was a little point guard by the name of Derek Fisher, have you heard of him? Before he was the Head Coach of the Sparks, before he won all those rings with the Lakers and wetted up the Spurs with that game winning baseline fadder and before he lost all his hair. Back when he had a high top Bart Simpson, Kid N' Play, House Party box fade, Derek Fisher was the star player of th

There is nothing like being there live, but, over the years Staples Center has become $taples Center for Lakers fans. Jack Nicholson. Denzel Washington. Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. These are three true, die-hard Lakers fans. You see them at multiple games throughout the year, cheering on the purple and gold. They’re also well-off celebrities, so they have no issues when it comes to the cost of a Lakers ticket. But what about the average fan? The cost of a Lakers ticket has consistently risen year after year, even though the team has failed to make the playoffs for six straight seasons now. That means the casual fan is usually not able to be there in person to cheer on their team. What you normally see on TV is a large contingent of movie stars and musicians that are there not because they are true fans, but simply for show. When you look at median ticket prices over the last few years, the average ticket price for the 2017-2018 season, before LeBron James joined the team, was