Looking back at the first week of the 2009-10 NBA season, someone missed a golden opportunity for a Halloween costume.
Wouldn't it have been great if two Lakers fans had gone as Shannon Brown and Josh Powell with the fan who was Brown holding onto a rim (a Nerf rim would have been fine) and sitting on Powell's shoulders?
LOS ANGELES -- An excited, capacity crowd anxiously awaited the final chance to celebrate last season's NBA Championship with its beloved Lakers. The team held a ring ceremony, before unveiling their 15th championship banner, which was hanging behind a black curtain high on the back wall of the Staples Center.
It was an exciting start to the night, but the excitement ended there, as the quality of the opening night opponent (or lack thereof) made it easy on the defending champs and a yawner for those in attendance. The result was a lackluster, comfortable 99-92 win for the Lakers in their first game of the 2009-10 NBA season.
The Lakers have until October 31 to offer Jordan Farmar a contract extension, but a report in the Los Angeles Times says the team isn't planning to do so. What that means for Farmar, of course, is that this season will be one where he'll be trying to increase his value on the semi-open market, by putting up some numbers that are larger than his career averages of 7.8 points and 2.4 assists per game.
Playing on a very deep team that's looking to defend a championship (rather than showcase individual talents), this is going to be very difficult to do. And that has to make you wonder if Farmar will still be on the Lakers' roster once the trade deadline for this season has come and gone.
The Lakers opened the preseason on Wednesday, and while the story lines going in were mainly about Ron Artest and Andrew Bynum (who both looked fabulous), when it was over, all anyone was talking about was Shannon Brown.
Since most teams in the league haven't even played two preseason games yet, I don't think it's an exaggeration to call Brown's insane dunk over the seven-foot tall Mikki Moore the highlight of this very, very young season. And judging by the reaction on the internets, this play might stay at the top of the list for quite some time.
Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.
Shannon Brown, a member of the World Champion Los Angeles Lakers, is one of the most popular players on the team. Besides his basketball skills, Shannon gets a lot of attention, especially from his teammates, because of his resemblance to singer Chris Brown. In this FanHouse exclusive we hear from Shannon, Josh Powell, Jordan Farmar and Sasha Vujacic as they all tell us about the Shannon Brown - Chris Brown saga.
Three-point shots often play a critical role in an NBA playoff contest. But in Denver's win over the Lakers in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals, the threes that were made (and missed) by both teams came at such key moments, that they ended up defining this game.
Video: Billups Inbounds Off Kobe's Back RoundCast: Are the Lakers Now "Screwed?"
If it's true the two most important positions in basketball are the point guard and the center, than the L.A. Lakers are going to be in for a doozy of a Western Conference final.
OK, so technically the Lakers haven't quite advanced that far yet. But after their 118-78 Game 5 blowout win over the Rockets, is it really going out on a limb to say L.A. is going to get there? Ditto for the Denver Nuggets, who lead the Mavericks 3-1 in the conference semifinals and have two cracks at putting them away on their home floor to close out the series.
HOUSTON -- The way Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals was setting up, the Los Angeles Lakers seemed vulnerable to the Houston Rockets on Friday night.
But fighting through adversity that included the one-game suspension of its starting point guard and coming into a hostile environment after the Rockets had stolen home court advantage, the Lakers reclaimed momentum in the series with an impressive 108-94 win at the Toyota Center. Los Angeles has now won two straight in the best-of-seven series to claim a 2-1 edge heading into Sunday's Game 4.
A win Sunday would all but deliver the series to the Lakers and quiet any chatter about the re-emergence of Clutch City in Houston.
Cherry Picking recaps the previous day's NBA playoff action.
It truly is the end of an era, as one by one the old guard is falling down. The first to fall was Shaquille O'Neal, who missed the playoffs for the first time since 1993. Next up? The Pistons, ousted over the weekend by the Cavaliers, marking the first time in seven years they've failed to play in the Eastern Conference Finals.
And then on Tuesday night the Spurs were the next to go, ungraciously dumped from the playoffs on their home floor by the Mavericks. It's the first time since 2000 that the Spurs have failed to win at least one playoff series, and it's the first postseason of Tim Duncan's career that he's actually played (he missed the 2000 playoffs with a knee injury) and lost in the first round.
The Lakers versus the Jazz was a competitive and physical second round series a season ago, but this year it looks to be (on paper) one of the most lopsided matchups of the first round. So what's changed? Well, while the Lakers have gotten better with the return of Andrew Bynum, injuries and a lack of continuity have sent the Jazz limping to the finish line.
Looking back at the first week of the 2009-10 NBA season, someone missed a golden opportunity for a Halloween costume.
The Lakers have until October 31 to offer Jordan Farmar a contract extension, but a report in the Los Angeles Times says the team isn't planning to do so. What that means for Farmar, of course, is that this season will be one where he'll be trying to increase his value on the semi-open market, by putting up some numbers that are larger than his career averages of 7.8 points and 2.4 assists per game. 
Shannon Brown, a member of the World Champion Los Angeles Lakers, is one of the most popular players on the team. Besides his basketball skills, Shannon gets a lot of attention, especially from his teammates, because of his resemblance to singer Chris Brown. In this FanHouse exclusive we hear from Shannon, Josh Powell, Jordan Farmar and Sasha Vujacic as they all tell us about the Shannon Brown - Chris Brown saga. 
Cherry Picking recaps yesterday's NBA playoff action.
HOUSTON -- The way Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals was setting up, the Los Angeles Lakers seemed vulnerable to the Houston Rockets on Friday night.
Cherry Picking recaps the previous day's NBA playoff action.
