boston is a dog!!!!!!!!!
- Thread starter brewer
- Start date
Throwback420
Diehard L.A. fan
rayer
Throwback420
Diehard L.A. fan
where is this line heading ? i see Lakers -2. you think i can get lakers ML + money by tip ? you know every1 is gonna pound the celtics.
might make it a 10 unit play.
might make it a 10 unit play.
sportjunky
Follower of tha truddhist philosophy
even if the public pounds boston, if the line movies, I bet it reverses. It opened -2 for a reason :smiley_acbe:
Throwback420
Diehard L.A. fan
I hope and can get like +120 on lakers ml that would be nice
sportjunky
Follower of tha truddhist philosophy
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Throwback420
Diehard L.A. fan
sportjunky
Follower of tha truddhist philosophy
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Throwback420
Diehard L.A. fan
In Short
<TABLE class=data cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=2><TBODY><TR><TD class=datahl2b width="29%">10:00 PM ET </TD><TD class=datahl2c>W/L</TD><TD class=datahl2c>ATS</TD><TD class=datahl2c>H</TD><TD class=datahl2c>A</TD><TD class=datahl2c>O/U</TD></TR><TR><TD class=datahl2b>Boston </TD><TD class=datacellc>25-3</TD><TD class=datacellc>19-8-1</TD><TD class=datacellc>14-1</TD><TD class=datacellc>11-2</TD><TD class=datacellc>11-16-1</TD></TR><TR><TD class=datahl2b>L.A. Lakers </TD><TD class=datacellc>19-10</TD><TD class=datacellc>18-11-0</TD><TD class=datacellc>11-4</TD><TD class=datacellc>8-6</TD><TD class=datacellc>15-14-0</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Preview: Boston at L.A. Lakers
GAME: Boston Celtics (25-3) at L.A. Lakers Lakers (19-10)
DATE/TIME: Sunday, December 30 - 10:00 PM EST
SPREAD: Los Angeles -2 TOTAL: 200.5
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Phil Jackson pulled into a tie with Red Auerbach for seventh place on the career wins list earlier this weekend. On Sunday, he'll get a chance to take sole possession of that spot against the franchise that's synonymous with Auerbach's name.
Jackson and the Los Angeles Lakers go for their season-high fifth straight victory when they host the Boston Celtics, who are riding their own five-game win streak.
Jackson earned his 938th win as a head coach on Friday night, when the Lakers (19-10) beat Utah 123-109. He matched the career total of Auerbach, who recorded his last 795 wins with the Celtics.
Jackson, who's also tied with Auerbach for the NBA record with nine championships, downplayed the achievement.
"The longer you stay here, the more wins you're going to accumulate," he said. "But I've never really followed that stuff, you know?"
"Fortunately, I've had really good teams and they've accumulated a lot more wins in a short period of time. But still and all, it's really just longevity and it speaks for hanging in there."
Jackson's 938th career win was the Lakers' fourth in a row, matching a season high. Los Angeles has won 10 of 12 after dropping five of seven Nov. 21-Dec. 2.
Kobe Bryant had 31 points, seven assists, four rebounds and four steals in Friday's win, and has topped 30 points in three straight games for the first time this season. The two-time defending scoring champion is averaging 36 points during his hot streak while shooting 56.1 percent from the field and 50 percent (12-for-24) from 3-point range.
Continuing that surge could be a challenge against Boston (25-3), which has the NBA's best record thanks in part to its stellar defense. The Celtics are allowing just 86.7 points per game and allowing opponents to shoot just 41.7 percent from the field - both marks lead the league.
The Celtics were expected to be challenged on their first western road trip of the season, but they've won the first three games by an average of 11.3 points heading into Sunday's finale. They rallied from an eight-point third-quarter deficit to beat the Utah Jazz 104-98 on Saturday night - their 14th win in 15 games.
Paul Pierce was the key to the comeback. After being held scoreless without a rebound in the first half, he finished with 24 points and six boards.
"I was really mad at myself at the half," said Pierce, who has scored 50 points in the second halves of his last two games, compared to just 11 before halftime. "I knew I was going to come out more aggressive at both ends of the court. That's what I tried to do."
Boston coach Doc Rivers said he made a concerted effort to get the team's leading scorer more involved in the offense.
"We had to get him going," Rivers said. "Once he got it going, you know, you've seen Paul, it's tough to turn him back off."
Pierce had 20 points, nine assists and six rebounds as the Celtics won their first meeting with the Lakers 107-94 on Nov. 23 at TD Banknorth Garden. He was one of four Boston players with at least 18 points.
Bryant led the Lakers with 28 points in that game, but shot just 9-for-21 from the field.
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<TABLE class=data cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=2><TBODY><TR><TD class=datahl2b width="29%">10:00 PM ET </TD><TD class=datahl2c>W/L</TD><TD class=datahl2c>ATS</TD><TD class=datahl2c>H</TD><TD class=datahl2c>A</TD><TD class=datahl2c>O/U</TD></TR><TR><TD class=datahl2b>Boston </TD><TD class=datacellc>25-3</TD><TD class=datacellc>19-8-1</TD><TD class=datacellc>14-1</TD><TD class=datacellc>11-2</TD><TD class=datacellc>11-16-1</TD></TR><TR><TD class=datahl2b>L.A. Lakers </TD><TD class=datacellc>19-10</TD><TD class=datacellc>18-11-0</TD><TD class=datacellc>11-4</TD><TD class=datacellc>8-6</TD><TD class=datacellc>15-14-0</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Preview: Boston at L.A. Lakers
GAME: Boston Celtics (25-3) at L.A. Lakers Lakers (19-10)
DATE/TIME: Sunday, December 30 - 10:00 PM EST
SPREAD: Los Angeles -2 TOTAL: 200.5
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD id=_ctl0__ctl1_tdPreview vAlign=top width="98%">
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<!-- AddThis Bookmark Button BEGIN --><SCRIPT type=text/javascript>var addthis_pub = 'csampson';</SCRIPT><SCRIPT src="http://s9.addthis.com/js/widget.php?v=10" type=text/javascript></SCRIPT> <!-- AddThis Bookmark Button END -->Phil Jackson pulled into a tie with Red Auerbach for seventh place on the career wins list earlier this weekend. On Sunday, he'll get a chance to take sole possession of that spot against the franchise that's synonymous with Auerbach's name.
Jackson and the Los Angeles Lakers go for their season-high fifth straight victory when they host the Boston Celtics, who are riding their own five-game win streak.
Jackson earned his 938th win as a head coach on Friday night, when the Lakers (19-10) beat Utah 123-109. He matched the career total of Auerbach, who recorded his last 795 wins with the Celtics.
Jackson, who's also tied with Auerbach for the NBA record with nine championships, downplayed the achievement.
"The longer you stay here, the more wins you're going to accumulate," he said. "But I've never really followed that stuff, you know?"
"Fortunately, I've had really good teams and they've accumulated a lot more wins in a short period of time. But still and all, it's really just longevity and it speaks for hanging in there."
Jackson's 938th career win was the Lakers' fourth in a row, matching a season high. Los Angeles has won 10 of 12 after dropping five of seven Nov. 21-Dec. 2.
Kobe Bryant had 31 points, seven assists, four rebounds and four steals in Friday's win, and has topped 30 points in three straight games for the first time this season. The two-time defending scoring champion is averaging 36 points during his hot streak while shooting 56.1 percent from the field and 50 percent (12-for-24) from 3-point range.
Continuing that surge could be a challenge against Boston (25-3), which has the NBA's best record thanks in part to its stellar defense. The Celtics are allowing just 86.7 points per game and allowing opponents to shoot just 41.7 percent from the field - both marks lead the league.
The Celtics were expected to be challenged on their first western road trip of the season, but they've won the first three games by an average of 11.3 points heading into Sunday's finale. They rallied from an eight-point third-quarter deficit to beat the Utah Jazz 104-98 on Saturday night - their 14th win in 15 games.
Paul Pierce was the key to the comeback. After being held scoreless without a rebound in the first half, he finished with 24 points and six boards.
"I was really mad at myself at the half," said Pierce, who has scored 50 points in the second halves of his last two games, compared to just 11 before halftime. "I knew I was going to come out more aggressive at both ends of the court. That's what I tried to do."
Boston coach Doc Rivers said he made a concerted effort to get the team's leading scorer more involved in the offense.
"We had to get him going," Rivers said. "Once he got it going, you know, you've seen Paul, it's tough to turn him back off."
Pierce had 20 points, nine assists and six rebounds as the Celtics won their first meeting with the Lakers 107-94 on Nov. 23 at TD Banknorth Garden. He was one of four Boston players with at least 18 points.
Bryant led the Lakers with 28 points in that game, but shot just 9-for-21 from the field.
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Moving the other way better snap them up now. CRIS & Olympic both now have it at 2.5.
Throwback420
Diehard L.A. fan
so were looking at -3 or more b4 tip ?
sportjunky
Follower of tha truddhist philosophy
Mark Heisler
NBA
Close, but no cigars
Celtics are off to a big start, and they have been doing it without the arrogance of the great Boston teams of the past.
December 30 2007
SACRAMENTO -- What rivalry?
The Celtics are coming, all right, and they're no obligatory preseason feel-good story anymore but their old green monster selves.
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Early as it is, Boston, with a 25-3 record, looks less like the merely great Larry Bird teams of the '80s than the all-conquering Bill Russell teams that dispatched the Jerry West-Elgin Baylor Lakers in six NBA Finals in the '60s.
As if from instinct, the press (hello) is starting to awaken old rivalries, but at the moment, the hype is well ahead of the reality.
It's true, Celtics are always Celtics and Lakers are always Lakers (ask Kevin McHale, the Minnesota VP who sent Kevin Garnett to Boston for Al Jefferson, rather than to the Lakers for Andrew Bynum.)
On the other hand, these aren't your father's or your grandfather's Celtics.
Two of their Big Three, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, were born in California, grew up rooting for the Lakers and hated the Celtics.
For years after moving East, Pierce made a point of asserting his West Coast identity, wearing a Dodgers baseball cap that hardly enchanted Bostonians.
The coach isn't an old Celtic but Doc Rivers, whose Atlanta Hawks lost two playoff series to Boston in the '80s. Rather than embodying Celtic tradition, Rivers remembers what losing to them -- and hearing about it -- was like.
"Well, they inspired heartbreak for me," Rivers said last week at the start of their Western trip.
"You respected them, but you disliked them because they felt they were better back then. And they let you know it, so that bugged you. And I think it bothered you more because you couldn't do anything about it.
"Obviously, we're not there because we haven't won anything."
That's another difference.
The old Celtics lived to proclaim their superiority, from Red Auerbach's victory cigars to Bird's braggadocio.
(Not that they were alone. The Showtime Lakers set out to intimidate teams from the moment they ran out behind Magic Johnson, who affected a look so haughty, he seemed annoyed at opponents for taking up his time.) The Celtics had good teams and humble teams, but never at the same time . . . until now.
Last week, Allen not only discounted their chance of winning 70 games this season, he said talking about it would be "a slap in the face of the other teams."
Rivers hasn't gone three sentences since training camp without noting, "We haven't won anything."
Rivers' humility extends to pointing out his team isn't battle-tested like "the Detroits and Clevelands of the world who've gone through everything, Game 7s."
Cleveland?
Of course, however humbly they carry themselves, there's one problem:
THEY'RE STILL THE CELTICS!
During the Shaquille O'Neal-Kobe Bryant era, Phil Jackson delighted in upsetting Sacramento Kings fans, called them "rednecked semi-civilized barbarians."
That was nothing compared with the old Celtics, who didn't upset people, they haunted their lives.
No one took it harder than West, who later said of the Celtics' Game 7 victory in 1969, "It got to the point with me that I wanted to quit basketball. It was a slap in the face, like 'We're not going to let you win. We don't care how well you play.' I always thought it was personal."
Until the Lakers beat them in the 1985 Finals, the Celtics weren't a team but a curse.
After losing to the Celtics in the 1984 Finals, despite having led in the last minute of the first four games, Lakers Coach Pat Riley did everything but hire an exorcist.
"I had to educate my players who the Celtics were," Riley wrote. "I asked if anyone knew. Finally Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] raised his hand. He said the Celtics were a warring race of Danes who invaded Ireland.
"I had to explain that they were also a cunning secretive race. We had to learn to overcome the mythology of the Celtics."
Of course, Riley, himself was, as the saying goes, as Irish as Paddy's pig.
"I've gotten to know [Cedric] Maxwell, Chief [Robert Parish] and those guys pretty well," Abdul-Jabbar says. "They're great guys.
"It's funny. Bill Walton and I at one point weren't talking because of the rivalry. It was so silly. We laugh about it now."
No one was laughing then.
Riley had the water barrel emptied in Boston Garden. After someone set off a 3 a.m. fire alarm at their hotel, Lakers officials were detailed to call the Celtics' rooms in Los Angeles.
That was just life as the Celtics knew it, as they inspired similar loathing everywhere else, like New York in the '70s when Jackson was a Knick.
"We'd look up in the stands," Jackson once told the Boston Globe's Dan Shaughnessy, "and see the students from New York fighting the kids from Boston."
Improved as the Lakers are, no one expects another Boston-Los Angeles Finals, even if Commissioner David Stern would burn incense and chant to see it.
As for the Celtics, as you may have heard, they haven't won anything yet, but they're looking good.
Garnett, Pierce and Allen couldn't fit better if they were born triplets.
Their offense is good (No. 10 in scoring). Their defense is great (No. 1), packing the lane so determinedly, opponents have to pick their way through three of them to get to the basket . . . and one is usually KG.
Depth remains a concern, as does 21-year-old point guard Rajon Rondo.
Asked to account for Rondo's improvement, Rivers joked, "The three guys he's playing alongside," but Rondo has been fine, shooting 52%.
Of course, when Detroit's NFL-safety size Chauncey Billups overpowered Rondo on national TV this month in the Pistons' upset in Boston, the Celtics were knee-deep in applications, with retired Gary Payton signaling his availability and Travis Best calling from Italy.
Nevertheless, the Celtics are at least the equal of any of the Western powers, who have towered over the East's munchkins for years.
Best of all, they're the Celtics again. It's like the Dustin Hoffman line as Captain James Hook in "Hook," the takeoff on "Peter Pan":
"What would the world be like without Captain Hook?"
How did the NBA get along without the Celtics all these years?
In the '90s, it had Michael Jordan. After that, it didn't get along too well.
Whoever's in those green unies, it's great to see you. If today's Lakers-Celtics renewal isn't really a rivalry, it will do for a start.
mark.heisler@latimes.com
NBA
Close, but no cigars
Celtics are off to a big start, and they have been doing it without the arrogance of the great Boston teams of the past.
December 30 2007
SACRAMENTO -- What rivalry?
The Celtics are coming, all right, and they're no obligatory preseason feel-good story anymore but their old green monster selves.
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Early as it is, Boston, with a 25-3 record, looks less like the merely great Larry Bird teams of the '80s than the all-conquering Bill Russell teams that dispatched the Jerry West-Elgin Baylor Lakers in six NBA Finals in the '60s.
As if from instinct, the press (hello) is starting to awaken old rivalries, but at the moment, the hype is well ahead of the reality.
It's true, Celtics are always Celtics and Lakers are always Lakers (ask Kevin McHale, the Minnesota VP who sent Kevin Garnett to Boston for Al Jefferson, rather than to the Lakers for Andrew Bynum.)
On the other hand, these aren't your father's or your grandfather's Celtics.
Two of their Big Three, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, were born in California, grew up rooting for the Lakers and hated the Celtics.
For years after moving East, Pierce made a point of asserting his West Coast identity, wearing a Dodgers baseball cap that hardly enchanted Bostonians.
The coach isn't an old Celtic but Doc Rivers, whose Atlanta Hawks lost two playoff series to Boston in the '80s. Rather than embodying Celtic tradition, Rivers remembers what losing to them -- and hearing about it -- was like.
"Well, they inspired heartbreak for me," Rivers said last week at the start of their Western trip.
"You respected them, but you disliked them because they felt they were better back then. And they let you know it, so that bugged you. And I think it bothered you more because you couldn't do anything about it.
"Obviously, we're not there because we haven't won anything."
That's another difference.
The old Celtics lived to proclaim their superiority, from Red Auerbach's victory cigars to Bird's braggadocio.
(Not that they were alone. The Showtime Lakers set out to intimidate teams from the moment they ran out behind Magic Johnson, who affected a look so haughty, he seemed annoyed at opponents for taking up his time.) The Celtics had good teams and humble teams, but never at the same time . . . until now.
Last week, Allen not only discounted their chance of winning 70 games this season, he said talking about it would be "a slap in the face of the other teams."
Rivers hasn't gone three sentences since training camp without noting, "We haven't won anything."
Rivers' humility extends to pointing out his team isn't battle-tested like "the Detroits and Clevelands of the world who've gone through everything, Game 7s."
Cleveland?
Of course, however humbly they carry themselves, there's one problem:
THEY'RE STILL THE CELTICS!
During the Shaquille O'Neal-Kobe Bryant era, Phil Jackson delighted in upsetting Sacramento Kings fans, called them "rednecked semi-civilized barbarians."
That was nothing compared with the old Celtics, who didn't upset people, they haunted their lives.
No one took it harder than West, who later said of the Celtics' Game 7 victory in 1969, "It got to the point with me that I wanted to quit basketball. It was a slap in the face, like 'We're not going to let you win. We don't care how well you play.' I always thought it was personal."
Until the Lakers beat them in the 1985 Finals, the Celtics weren't a team but a curse.
After losing to the Celtics in the 1984 Finals, despite having led in the last minute of the first four games, Lakers Coach Pat Riley did everything but hire an exorcist.
"I had to educate my players who the Celtics were," Riley wrote. "I asked if anyone knew. Finally Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] raised his hand. He said the Celtics were a warring race of Danes who invaded Ireland.
"I had to explain that they were also a cunning secretive race. We had to learn to overcome the mythology of the Celtics."
Of course, Riley, himself was, as the saying goes, as Irish as Paddy's pig.
"I've gotten to know [Cedric] Maxwell, Chief [Robert Parish] and those guys pretty well," Abdul-Jabbar says. "They're great guys.
"It's funny. Bill Walton and I at one point weren't talking because of the rivalry. It was so silly. We laugh about it now."
No one was laughing then.
Riley had the water barrel emptied in Boston Garden. After someone set off a 3 a.m. fire alarm at their hotel, Lakers officials were detailed to call the Celtics' rooms in Los Angeles.
That was just life as the Celtics knew it, as they inspired similar loathing everywhere else, like New York in the '70s when Jackson was a Knick.
"We'd look up in the stands," Jackson once told the Boston Globe's Dan Shaughnessy, "and see the students from New York fighting the kids from Boston."
Improved as the Lakers are, no one expects another Boston-Los Angeles Finals, even if Commissioner David Stern would burn incense and chant to see it.
As for the Celtics, as you may have heard, they haven't won anything yet, but they're looking good.
Garnett, Pierce and Allen couldn't fit better if they were born triplets.
Their offense is good (No. 10 in scoring). Their defense is great (No. 1), packing the lane so determinedly, opponents have to pick their way through three of them to get to the basket . . . and one is usually KG.
Depth remains a concern, as does 21-year-old point guard Rajon Rondo.
Asked to account for Rondo's improvement, Rivers joked, "The three guys he's playing alongside," but Rondo has been fine, shooting 52%.
Of course, when Detroit's NFL-safety size Chauncey Billups overpowered Rondo on national TV this month in the Pistons' upset in Boston, the Celtics were knee-deep in applications, with retired Gary Payton signaling his availability and Travis Best calling from Italy.
Nevertheless, the Celtics are at least the equal of any of the Western powers, who have towered over the East's munchkins for years.
Best of all, they're the Celtics again. It's like the Dustin Hoffman line as Captain James Hook in "Hook," the takeoff on "Peter Pan":
"What would the world be like without Captain Hook?"
How did the NBA get along without the Celtics all these years?
In the '90s, it had Michael Jordan. After that, it didn't get along too well.
Whoever's in those green unies, it's great to see you. If today's Lakers-Celtics renewal isn't really a rivalry, it will do for a start.
mark.heisler@latimes.com
sportjunky
Follower of tha truddhist philosophy
Lakers find way to play nice
The family unit is showing signs of healing.
December 30 2007
Wait a minute! Hold on. What in the name of Sigmund Freud is happening with the Lakers?
Where's the anger, whining and complaining?
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Where are the sloped shoulders, the glazed eyes and the "I'd rather be any place but here" look that haunted the Lakers when they were imploding only a few months ago?
On Friday night, I watched them cold-cock the Utah Jazz, and I'm still rubbing my eyes. The final score was 123-109, but the game wasn't even that close. And it wasn't the first time lately that the boys in purple and gold have sent a team home wearing the blank look of a bully stunned by a punch to the jaw.
Once a troubled bunch, suddenly the Lakers are the Brady Bunch. They're getting along, feeling the mojo, helping each other -- and winning. So far, going into today's big game against Boston, they have 19 victories in 29 tries, a record that has them just a hair behind the Pacific Division-leading Phoenix Suns, whom they defeated on Christmas Day.
Just as important, in this city built on plastic surgery and pixie dust, the Lakers are looking good doing it. There's crispness to their play, a sense of symmetry, speed and style. The season is young, and things could change -- but right now this team is one of the most exciting to watch in the NBA.
Who could have expected this? When the season began, we heard daily about how Kobe Bryant wanted out, and how Mitch Kupchak had no clue, and how 7-foot Andrew Bynum would look splendid in another team's uniform.
So I used this platform to offer a remedy.
I suggested we consider the Lakers a family -- twisted, tortured, dysfunctional and in dire need of therapy. It was time, I figured, for a collective head check.
This being Los Angeles, with a shingle for a shrink on every other block, it was easy to find help. I phoned David Levy, a Pepperdine psychology professor who loves basketball and specializes in helping families out of mental muck.
The way he saw it at the time, the Lakers family had fallen into toxic roles. At the top was Jerry Buss, the wily grandfather and owner of the family business. Jerry West, the father and day-to-day manager, had gone missing. In his place stood Kupchak, a step-dad struggling to balance the books and get some respect.
The players were out-of-control grandkids. The most important, no surprise, was Kobe. Levy said No. 24 filled the classic role of the "golden child." That would be a supremely talented elder brother; loved but loathed, pampered but burdened by his family's overwhelming expectations.
Drop the poisonous roles, Levy suggested.
On Saturday, I called him again. He had just finished reading about Friday's blowout. He told me he wasn't sure whether the Lakers had taken his earlier advice -- but the good doctor, having paid close attention since we last spoke, said he was certain that something had changed in the team's collective psyche.
"Success breeds success," he said. "They're winning now, and there is no need to retreat to the old dysfunction, the blaming roles and finger pointing. Watching them, they seem to be an entirely different team from a psychological standpoint."
The youngest of the bunch, he said, was having the biggest effect.
"The most important thing is that the little brother is coming into his own." That would be Andrew Bynum. Last year, Bryant wanted Bynum traded for Jason Kidd. But Bynum is growing up, becoming a giant before our very eyes. He is a 20-year-old prodigy who will one day be among the most dominant handful of players in the league.
Who in his right mind would trade him for the aging Kidd?
Not me.
Not Levy. He said Bynum's tremendous improvement during the off-season, spent piling muscle on his monster frame, shows that the kid has pride.
Bynum wasn't about to come back and be a punching bag again. Beautiful.
"The great thing is that all of the older brothers seem genuinely proud of the little brother," Levy added. "It's like watching a 2-year-old begin to really start getting around. The brothers are proud, and that shows that their egos are strong. . . . They aren't threatened."
Being the youngest of four boys, I can relate.
But I also know how important big brothers are. Levy's assessment of Bryant? "He's getting it now. He's doing just a great job of being a good older brother to his teammates. . . . You don't hear him making disparaging remarks. The way he is helping Bynum and the others, he is trusting, supportive and setting the right tone."
It helps that Kobe has someone at his side this year. Imagine a respected brother who had been studying in Europe and has returned astute and enlightened. That's Derek Fisher. "He's marvelous," Levy said. "A healing presence. The wisest sibling, the one people turn to because with him there is not the sense that he is out for himself."
It's all fitting together.
Even Phil Jackson, the family consigliere. He is moving the Lakers in just the right direction. He has taken hits in the past for not developing young players. Now, with youngsters such as Sasha Vujacic, Ronny Turiaf, Jordan Farmar, Luke Walton and Bynum pushing past expectations, critics can toss their remarks in with what's left of the yule log and torch them.
While they're at it, they also can toss in the scorn they've heaped on Kupchak. The Lakers' future is suddenly looking very bright, thanks largely to his draft picks and his patience. Sometimes even stepdads know their stuff.
"Doc," I told Levy, "it looks like this team is healed. Cancel those future appointments."
Not so fast, Levy said.
He likened the Lakers to a bickering couple who see him for a few sessions and the counseling pays off. Thinking their problems are over, the couple stop coming. But unless they conduct a careful inner inventory and understand exactly what they have done to heal, their old patterns of blame, anger and pain are likely to return.
Right now, when things are going smoothly, "is actually a very important moment for the Lakers," Levy said. "They have to be careful. . . . They might think it happened almost by magic, but it doesn't work that way. . . . They need to be pragmatic and look at themselves closely and identify exactly what they have done to make things work.
"Now that they are winning, this is their challenge."
OK, I replied. "Meanwhile, what about the Clippers . . . "
But then I stopped myself.
The Clippers need a shaman, not a shrink.
Kurt Streeter can be reached at kurt.streeter@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Streeter, go to latimes.com/streeter.
The family unit is showing signs of healing.
December 30 2007
Wait a minute! Hold on. What in the name of Sigmund Freud is happening with the Lakers?
Where's the anger, whining and complaining?
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Where are the sloped shoulders, the glazed eyes and the "I'd rather be any place but here" look that haunted the Lakers when they were imploding only a few months ago?
On Friday night, I watched them cold-cock the Utah Jazz, and I'm still rubbing my eyes. The final score was 123-109, but the game wasn't even that close. And it wasn't the first time lately that the boys in purple and gold have sent a team home wearing the blank look of a bully stunned by a punch to the jaw.
Once a troubled bunch, suddenly the Lakers are the Brady Bunch. They're getting along, feeling the mojo, helping each other -- and winning. So far, going into today's big game against Boston, they have 19 victories in 29 tries, a record that has them just a hair behind the Pacific Division-leading Phoenix Suns, whom they defeated on Christmas Day.
Just as important, in this city built on plastic surgery and pixie dust, the Lakers are looking good doing it. There's crispness to their play, a sense of symmetry, speed and style. The season is young, and things could change -- but right now this team is one of the most exciting to watch in the NBA.
Who could have expected this? When the season began, we heard daily about how Kobe Bryant wanted out, and how Mitch Kupchak had no clue, and how 7-foot Andrew Bynum would look splendid in another team's uniform.
So I used this platform to offer a remedy.
I suggested we consider the Lakers a family -- twisted, tortured, dysfunctional and in dire need of therapy. It was time, I figured, for a collective head check.
This being Los Angeles, with a shingle for a shrink on every other block, it was easy to find help. I phoned David Levy, a Pepperdine psychology professor who loves basketball and specializes in helping families out of mental muck.
The way he saw it at the time, the Lakers family had fallen into toxic roles. At the top was Jerry Buss, the wily grandfather and owner of the family business. Jerry West, the father and day-to-day manager, had gone missing. In his place stood Kupchak, a step-dad struggling to balance the books and get some respect.
The players were out-of-control grandkids. The most important, no surprise, was Kobe. Levy said No. 24 filled the classic role of the "golden child." That would be a supremely talented elder brother; loved but loathed, pampered but burdened by his family's overwhelming expectations.
Drop the poisonous roles, Levy suggested.
On Saturday, I called him again. He had just finished reading about Friday's blowout. He told me he wasn't sure whether the Lakers had taken his earlier advice -- but the good doctor, having paid close attention since we last spoke, said he was certain that something had changed in the team's collective psyche.
"Success breeds success," he said. "They're winning now, and there is no need to retreat to the old dysfunction, the blaming roles and finger pointing. Watching them, they seem to be an entirely different team from a psychological standpoint."
The youngest of the bunch, he said, was having the biggest effect.
"The most important thing is that the little brother is coming into his own." That would be Andrew Bynum. Last year, Bryant wanted Bynum traded for Jason Kidd. But Bynum is growing up, becoming a giant before our very eyes. He is a 20-year-old prodigy who will one day be among the most dominant handful of players in the league.
Who in his right mind would trade him for the aging Kidd?
Not me.
Not Levy. He said Bynum's tremendous improvement during the off-season, spent piling muscle on his monster frame, shows that the kid has pride.
Bynum wasn't about to come back and be a punching bag again. Beautiful.
"The great thing is that all of the older brothers seem genuinely proud of the little brother," Levy added. "It's like watching a 2-year-old begin to really start getting around. The brothers are proud, and that shows that their egos are strong. . . . They aren't threatened."
Being the youngest of four boys, I can relate.
But I also know how important big brothers are. Levy's assessment of Bryant? "He's getting it now. He's doing just a great job of being a good older brother to his teammates. . . . You don't hear him making disparaging remarks. The way he is helping Bynum and the others, he is trusting, supportive and setting the right tone."
It helps that Kobe has someone at his side this year. Imagine a respected brother who had been studying in Europe and has returned astute and enlightened. That's Derek Fisher. "He's marvelous," Levy said. "A healing presence. The wisest sibling, the one people turn to because with him there is not the sense that he is out for himself."
It's all fitting together.
Even Phil Jackson, the family consigliere. He is moving the Lakers in just the right direction. He has taken hits in the past for not developing young players. Now, with youngsters such as Sasha Vujacic, Ronny Turiaf, Jordan Farmar, Luke Walton and Bynum pushing past expectations, critics can toss their remarks in with what's left of the yule log and torch them.
While they're at it, they also can toss in the scorn they've heaped on Kupchak. The Lakers' future is suddenly looking very bright, thanks largely to his draft picks and his patience. Sometimes even stepdads know their stuff.
"Doc," I told Levy, "it looks like this team is healed. Cancel those future appointments."
Not so fast, Levy said.
He likened the Lakers to a bickering couple who see him for a few sessions and the counseling pays off. Thinking their problems are over, the couple stop coming. But unless they conduct a careful inner inventory and understand exactly what they have done to heal, their old patterns of blame, anger and pain are likely to return.
Right now, when things are going smoothly, "is actually a very important moment for the Lakers," Levy said. "They have to be careful. . . . They might think it happened almost by magic, but it doesn't work that way. . . . They need to be pragmatic and look at themselves closely and identify exactly what they have done to make things work.
"Now that they are winning, this is their challenge."
OK, I replied. "Meanwhile, what about the Clippers . . . "
But then I stopped myself.
The Clippers need a shaman, not a shrink.
Kurt Streeter can be reached at kurt.streeter@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Streeter, go to latimes.com/streeter.
Throwback420
Diehard L.A. fan
good reads.
Capt. Slap
1st year apprentice of Sammy
This aint the same Celtics son
Celtics by 10+
Celtics by 10+
sportjunky
Follower of tha truddhist philosophy
=
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A
abcs
Guest
illow:GoBucksIndy
Pretty much a regular
Celtics +3. Sharps are overthinking this one.
