FanHouse JerryBuss

Dennis Hof is a poor man's Hugh Hefner. Who? Exactly. Perhaps it would be easier if I just said, "Air Force Amy." (NSFW, obviously). We're talking about the fat "not really a pimp" guy from the Bunny Ranch specials on HBO. Excellent.

Well, turns out, he has no problems going on the radio to talk about the people that roll through his little legal brothel. And one of those people is Lakers owner Jerry Buss! (Sort of.)

All has been fairly quiet on the Lamar Odom front for the past week or so -- too quiet, in fact, for those hoping that the Lakers would re-sign the heart and soul of their championship team to a new contract. Sure, there were reports leaked that Odom personally called team owner Jerry Buss to try to reopen the negotiations, (as well as a rumor that Kobe Bryant made a similar call to try to get the two sides talking), but nothing concrete for the hand-wringing masses of Laker fans to be able to hang their hats on.

Until today, that is. The L.A. Times is reporting that the two sides once again began talking on Wednesday. But with the Lakers likely offering less than they did at the beginning, is a deal any more likely this time around?

Lamar Odom still doesn't have a new contract with the Lakers. For observers like us, every day with no movement is another step to the grave. That's how it is for high-profile free agents -- take Trevor Ariza, for example. If something isn't done relatively quickly, there's a decent chance nothing with ever get done. It should be easy for the defending champions and their key players.

The Lakers and Odom aren't finding it easy, with the latest news out of L.A. being that the Lakers have pulled their most recent offer -- a $9 million annual salary -- off the table because Odom's camp didn't bite. The previous thinking had been that Odom wanted $10 mil and L.A. offered $8 million. But the new hesitation from L.O. stems from contract length: L.A. is only offering three years.

The Lakers celebrated their 15th championship as a franchise on Wednesday with a parade through the streets of downtown Los Angeles. The event culminated with a rally in front of 80,000-plus at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum, but one person noticeably absent from the festivities was the team's owner, Jerry Buss.

Buss wasn't sick or out of town or anything, it's just that parades aren't really his thing. And actually, while all of this was going on, he was spotted sitting alone at a poker table inside a nearby casino.

Maybe Ron Artest will be connected with the Lakers so regularly this offseason he'll just be acquired by osmosis. As annoying as the microreportage might become, we at FanHouse feel obligated to keep you as knowledgeable as possible about every detail of the Ron-L.A. courtship.

That said: two interesting data points. Sam Amick of the Sacramento Bee -- who has owned this story in the traditional press -- apparently went on the radio in Southern California last week to report a lower-level member of the Buss family (owners of the Lakers) told L.A. general manager Mitch Kupchak to get Artest in a Laker jersey.

ESPN.com's Marc Stein backs this up.

Word is L.A. believes that any fears about Artest's reliability can be assuaged by the fact that Phil Jackson would be coaching him and that Kobe Bryant would be his teammate. Kobe and Ron-Ron share a mutual respect that suggests no threat to the Lakers' pecking order.

Insists one source close to the process: "[Lakers owner] Jerry Buss actually likes Ron Artest's game and his personality."

Buss might be the only person in existence who could make that claim. (I kid, sorta. I'm not a hater, Ron!)

To wrap this up, let's go with the truly bizarre from a Bee blog post by Scott Howard-Cooper, in which, for the first time in his career, Artest doesn't say too much in an interview.

Gambling, in Las Vegas, is perfectly legal. And poker is fun. Especially seven card stud. Jerry Buss would, in theory, agree with all of those statements, considering he spent most of the weekend in Las Vegas, playing in a World Series of Poker seven card stud tournament.

Lakers owner Jerry Buss entered a $10,000 7-card stud tournament in Las Vegas on Saturday, the day before his team played the Boston Celtics in Game 2 of the NBA finals.

The three-day tournament was part of the World Series of Poker being played at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. Buss was eliminated on the first day.

Because of the legality of playing poker in Las Vegas, there is nothing wrong with this on the front (especially considering Buss apparently plays in these things all the time).

Of course, it would not be a huge stretch to at least ask why Buss, the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, is spending the entire first weekend of the NBA Finals in Las Vegas. Particularly when the team he owns and operates is involved in this monster sports betting event that the NBA holds every year in June.

Not to say that Jerry Buss is in anyway gambling on or against the Los Angeles Lakers, but motive and opportunity mean a lot in speculation and both are at least present here. I suppose what I am primarily trying to say is that this seems like a bad weekend to be hanging out in Las Vegas if you own an NBA basketball team.

Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke hits the goldmine by following around suddenly sunny Lakers owner Jerry Buss for a day. There is California Pizza Kitchen, there is the statement that he knew his current 24-year-old girlfriend six years ago (carry the one... hmm), and then there is this:

We forget that he had the smarts to help engineer the NBA's deal of the season by getting rid of Kwame Brown ... because, well, you see that seemingly empty house across the narrow street from his house?

"Kwame Brown lives here," Buss says, shrugging. "Seriously. We used to hang out. We're friends."

I despise the Lakers. You think you hate the Lakers? Get in a time machine, set the ray to Sacramento, May 2002, and tell me you hate the Lakers. I hate the Lakers. But ...

With all due respect to Kevin Garnett and LeBron James and cupcakes and Supermen everywhere, this Lakers team is the greatest thing to happen the NBA in a long time. It is going to be one giant party until May, and then it's probably going to be another long party to June. And, my hatred aside, I cannot wait.

All reporters and columnists in the Los Angeles area, your mission (should you choose to accept): Please capture all this stuff. Cut the D.C. bureau, shrink the city beat and focus efforts of rebuilding American morale by giving us pages and pages of happy Kobe Bryant and happy Jerry Buss and happy Phil Jackson. We need this... even us yokels in Sacramento.

Back when Boston traded for Kevin Garnett (replete with a rather fat extension), we noted the Celtics had forfeited all breathing room for three shots at a title. (And everyone involved surely thinks it was worth it.) Los Angeles has the same deal going with today's trade for Pau Gasol.

The Lakers stand to sit over the luxury tax threshold for 2008-09 by a few million dollars... with nine players locked up. Ronny Turiaf will cost about another million, and the Lakers have several second-round picks this summer to fill in the slots. But -- unless Mitch Kupchak frees up some room via trade -- every signing will cost double his salary when you add in the luxury tax.

There's one more thing: This summer, Andrew Bynum is eligible for a contract extension, which would kick in for the 2009-10 season. If L.A. does not sign him this summer, he would a restricted free agent in 2009. That fat contract (starting around $13 million/year) will negate any relief from Lamar Odom's contract expiration after 2008-09. In that summer, Kobe Bryant can also take an extension or opt out for a bigger maximum contract. So unless Kobe takes off (which allofasudden seems unlikely), this team should be paying the luxury tax and scraping to fill roster spots for three more years.

This shouldn't be a problem for Jerry Buss, and all told the depth on this roster today (Luke Walton, Jordan Farmar, Derek Fisher, Trevor Ariza, Vlad Radmanovic) is phenomenal. Also, with Bynum so young, the team is in decent shape once the primes of Kobe and Gasol have passed (especially in comparison with Boston, whose top youngsters are... Rajon Rondo and Glen Davis). When KG's done, Boston's done. When Kobe's done, L.A. will still compete. At this moment, it appears Mitch Kupchak's outmanuevered Danny Ainge (and both have destroyed the rest of the contenders).
Sorry, No Photos

Phil Jackson cannot tell a lie. He said he'd make a decision about his future with the Lakers around Thanksgiving, and according to Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times Jackson has signed an extension to keep him at the helm of The Show through 2009-10 2008-09...

... which is precisely one year after when Kobe Bryant can opt out of his contract and flee for more competitve pastures. Does P-Jax's signature have any bearing on what the L.A. front office is thinking on Kobe? Jackson told reporters last month his own Lakers fate was not hinged on #24 staying in town, so it's conceivable the two situations (Phil's contract, Kobe's trade demand) do not correlate. But can you imagine Jackson eagerly coaching a Luol Deng-Andrew Bynum core next year and the two seasons after when he seems to be aging so fast?

Of course, contracts for coaches mean little in the NBA. Markets as small as Sacramento and Minnesota have paid coaches to go away in the past year. I think Jerry Buss can handle it should Phil revolt if Kobe gets shipped out. To me (and what do I know?), this means nothing in the grand scheme. If Phil would have declined the extension offer? Then we'd have something.

(NOTE: This entry was updated to correct the date Jackson's new contract will end.)

John Paxson thinks the whole Kobe Bryant trade saga has gotten out of hand, and he pulled the plug on it all today, according to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune (via Blog-a-Bull).

"It's time to put it to rest," Paxson said. "Today sends a message that our guys don't have to worry about anything anymore."

That's all well and good for the Bulls, who have been the absolute epicenter of all this business. Inside reportage has shown the trade talks were doing nothing good for the players Chicago actually has right now. But (unfortunately?) this isn't the end of the Kobe saga.

Notice neither Jerry Buss nor Mitch Kupchak are coming out with any sort of definitive statements. Phil Jackson has said if the Lakers are going to trade Kobe, they need to do it soon to give the new roster time to percolate. (And it'd seem Buss and Kupchak would have incentive to keep Phil on their side throughout the ordeal.) Chicago may be out of the way for now, but Kobe still apparently wants out and Buss still apparently wants Kobe out. Sadly, this will continue to be NBA Story #1 until it's resolved... and barring Buss' heart melting, only a trade will resolve the matter.