Tip-Off Timer counts down the days until the first game of the 2009-10 season. On Sunday, there are 44 days remaining -- the same number the Lakers retired in 1983 for Jerry West.
Sometimes the basketball gods smile upon you even if you're not really part of the game. That's what happened to me on Nov. 12, 2004.
OK, so maybe it wasn't any kind of hoops deity that hooked me up; it was Raymond Ridder, the Warriors' director of public relations. Still, I remember to this day my brick of a cellphone ringing that cold morning in Memphis with Ridder at the other end.
"You want to go to lunch with Jerry West?" he asked. Ridder had worked for the Lakers and knew West from his days in L.A., so they were going to catch up. And I was coming along.
Over the weekend, the Boston Globeoffered up a report suggesting the Clippers could be looking to replace Mike Dunleavy as general manager this summer. In 2006, Dunleavy, you may remember, signed a fat extension that pays him more than $5 million a year and runs through 2011. Either way, Clippers owner Donald Sterling is willing to take on the losses by either canning Dunleavy or forcing him to reliniguish his personnel duties and have him focus on coaching.
You may not know what he looks like, who he was and why people felt he was special enough to teach them but Pete Newell was one of the best coaches college basketball has ever seen.
Newell died yesterday at the age on 93.
Newell was a legend and held the respect and admiration of the game's other legends. Newell coached for 14 years at San Francisco, Michigan State and California. He compiled a 234-123 record and won the 1959 NCAA Tournament while at Cal. His final head coaching gig came the very next year when he took an Olympic team with Oscar Roberston, Jerry West and Jerry Lucas to a gold medal.
He also beat UCLA's John Wooden the last eight times they met.
He's legacy lives on with his "Pete Newell Big Man Camp". The camp has been going on for over 30 years and has taught the likes of Lew Alcinder, Bill Walton, Shaquille O'Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson. The camps have become a mandatory stop for any big man wanting to get into the NBA.
It would be very easy to assume that Jerry West had his grubby little old man hands all over trade that sent Pau Gasol to the Lakers for what some important NBA people, like Gregg Popovich, are calling "beyond comprehension." He is, after all, the strongest possible link that you could find between the Lakers and Grizzlies. But in reality, West's hands are probably as far from grubby as they get and he had absolutely nothing to do with the deal, if you're willing to believe him.
Mitch Kupchak's acquisition of 7-footer Pau Gasol from the Grizzlies for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton and two first-round draft picks -- a trade West said he was not involved in, contradicting the rumors and conspiracy theories that have buzzed around the Internet -- was a good one, he believes.
West also added that it was a "... terrific deal for the Lakers ..." and a "... steal for the present ..." Well, I think everyone has heard more staunch denials (at least act like it was good for both sides, Jerry), but West, in my book, has enough cred to trust his word. On the other hand, it's pretty freaking ludicrous to try and ignore the fact that West has worked with and molded two organizations, Los Angeles and Memphis, over the recent years, and those two teams just happened to be involved in a blockbuster deal that got them both exactly what they wanted. Then again, when has force feeding Chris Wallace a fifth of Grey Goose over the course of eighteen holes and having him sign "your scorecard" at the end of the round* actually count as being "involved" in anything? Seriously though, even if West called Wallace up and told him to take the Lakers' deal ... who cares? Since when has being in the business world not been about who you know?
Not to disparage Memphis general manager Chris Wallace, but no one saw this coming. And by 'this,' I mean 'doing a passable job heading up the Grizzlies.'
I mean, Memphis lost the lottery. They had a 50/50 chance of landing Greg Oden or Kevin Durant, and it was practically impossible for them to slide out of the top 3. In true Grizzlies form, they slid out of the top 3. That leaves them with an unhappy superstar (Pau Gasol) and no one to replace him should you bend to his will and trade him. Oden/Durant gave Memphis options; Mike Conley, sadly, did not.
Chris Wallace, though, fresh off one of the least inspiring front office runs ever in Boston... he pulls through. Need another big? Let's get Darko Milicic to cover Pau on defense. Need to get Pau happy? Let's get his best friend Juan Carlos Navarro. The most insane things are the price tags. Darko? $7 million for three years. Navarro? The worst case is giving Washington the #13 pick in 2013.
Wallace pillaged the Magic and robbed the Wizards. (He's, like, Voldemort.) This is a really nice looking young team he's put together overnight. Only one of the key players (Mike Miller) is 30. Rudy Gay, Conley, Kyle Lowry, and Hakim Warrick are all under 25 and cheap for a few more years. Mike Miller and Navarro are just entering their prime. I'm not ready to give up on the Sonics, but this squad could turn some heads before Durant and Friends.
Wallace's improbable performance proves the NBA's new slogan. Or, it proves Jerry West's mind control ability is greater than we'd thought.
An exceptionally well-connected league insider once told me the story of how Brian Cardinal got his mid-level. Seems Memphis owner Michael Heisley, frustrated by general manager Jerry West's lack of activity, walked into West's office one day and asked why he hadn't signed anyone yet. So an exasperated West picked up his phone, called Cardinal's agent and offered the mid-level on the spot. Then he turned to Heisley and said something along the lines of "There, you happy now?"
And you wonder why Memphis is having a hard time getting behind its NBA team.
Wallace had been the rumored leading candidate for a few weeks now. The slow process can be partly attributed to some golf in Scotland for Memphis bosses Michael Heisley and Jerry West.
Probably the biggest news tied into this story, though: West will apparently stay on as a consultant following the end of his tenure on June 30. That's good news for Memphis, obviously... and it's terrible news for Lakers fans. Remember Kobe Bryant's stipulation that West be brought back to Los Angeles as a condition of the withdrawal of KBB's trade demand? Something tells me The Logo won't be allowed to consult for two teams... just a hunch.
I thought the rhetoric coming out of Kobe's camp couldn't get more feverish. But we're about to see it happen.
As for the Grizz: Wallace doesn't come off as an inspired hire; he's an unsuccessful retread, more or less. The inability to lure David Griffin from Phoenix was obviously painful. But keeping West there to mentor and help Wallace is a boon, no doubt. All in all, it might end up being a wash.
There are a few thoughts that have run through my mind since Kobe Bryant announced that he would like to be traded. The one that's really sticking with me is the thought that Kobe Bryant has become a public relations mastermind. I think the years of Kobe being butchered by the media has taught him how to manipulate the media in his favor.
Yesterday, Kobe went on a public relations rampage, trying to turn the tide in his favor. And from the current buzz around the internets, I think his ploy is actually working.
In one day, Kobe has demonized the entire Lakers organization. He worked his magic to paint the Lakers front office staff as lying, incompetent bunch (there's a very good possibility that they are indeed all of those things). He stated that the L.A. Times Article which quoted a Lakers insider as saying that he was the reason Shaq was traded is what set him off. But maybe, just maybe, that was the perfect opportunity for Kobe to get what he really wanted.
So what does Kobe want? In my opinion, he just wants to play for a contending team. I think he only sees two ways to get that: Either by the Lakers hiring Jerry West (the only person he actually trusts to build a contending team right away) or via a trade to a contender (In my eyes, the Bulls are the only team he'll be willing to be dealt to. And I wouldn't be surprised if Kobe's agent, Rob Pelinka are already working together to make that happen).
And what should the Lakers do? In my eyes there are only two steps available to the Lakers:
1) Call Kobe and his agent in for a meeting immediately. Scratch that, drive down to Kobe's Newport Beach home and meet with him immediately. See if there is anyway to rectify the situation. They didn't do that with Shaq, and they are still paying for it today. I'm sure the only way to convince Kobe to stay is through hiring Jerry West. If Dr. Buss wants to keep Kobe, he has no choice but to do that. I don't know what it would take to make it happen. But whatever it is, they need to do it NOW.
2) If after their meeting they conclude that there is no way to fix the rift, they need to find the best deal possible for Kobe. Don't worry about sending him to another conference. Just get the best damn deal you can get. The only problem is that Kobe has to be in agreement with wherever they decide to send him because of his no trade clause. Not a nice situation for the Lakers to be in.
One last thought: If Kobe is traded what happens to Phil Jackson end up? Because you know he's not going to want to coach this team without Kobe.
Kobe just went OFF on the Lakers front office on both L.A. Radio stations within the last few hours. Number 24 is upset about numerous things:
1) The Lakers told him they were going to build a contender around him when he re-signed, yet Phil Jackson revealed to Kobe today that the Lakers front office told him (after they fired him in 04) that they were going to build for the future (with a 5-6 year plan). Kobe says he only re-signed because he was assured they would be trying to build for now and not the future.
2) The Lakers staff keeps throwing him under the bus for the Shaq deal. Kobe stated that Lakers owner Jerry Buss told him in February of 2004 that they were trading Shaq no matter what because they didn't want to pay his salary. Basically in the middle of the 04 season, Buss had already decided to trade Shaq. In today's L.A. Times, Mark Heisler quoted a Laker insider as saying that Kobe is the reason Shaq is not playing for the Lakers anymore. Kobe is furious about this saying he thinks the Lakers have been content with him taking the bullet for the Shaq fiasco for years and that he's not going to sit back without speaking up about that anymore.
3) They traded his best friend Caron Butler (without even so much as consulting him) for Kwame Brown. Kobe stated that he and Butler were working out together that entire summer in anticipation of playing together during the next season. I'm of the opinion that the Lakers didn't want to extend Butler to a long term deal (which Washington did after they traded for him).
"It's like pitching pennies. It's grossly unfair to the team, but I've said it before, I don't think the lottery is fair. I never liked it. I don't think it's a good system at all, period.
"There have been a lot of picks in the lottery that have [failed]. There are two in the lottery this year that are not going to fail. There are two superstars in the draft. I think for the teams fortunate enough to get them, the fortunes of their franchises have changed forever."
Berger categorized the comments as "sour grapes", stating that Mr. West only made the comments because his team lost the lottery. However, being the media watch dog that I am, I know that Jerry West had been urging the league to change its current lottery system long before Tuesday's draft lottery. In fact, in a podcast with Chad Ford back in early April, Mr. West spent half of the interview talking about how terrible he thought the system was.
Tip-Off Timer counts down the days until the first game of the 2009-10 season. On Sunday, there are 44 days remaining -- the same number the Lakers retired in 1983 for Jerry West.
Over the weekend, the Boston Globe 
You may not know what he looks like, who he was and why people felt he was special enough to teach them but 
It would be very easy to assume that Jerry West had his grubby little old man hands all over trade that sent Pau Gasol to the Lakers for what some important NBA people, like 
Not to disparage Memphis general manager 
How big are 
Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial-Appeal reports that 
There are a few thoughts that have run through my mind since 
Kobe just went OFF on the Lakers front office on 
After reading 
