FanHouse Derekfisher

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.

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

Actor Tom Arnold has been a longtime NBA fan. In fact, you can say he is far from the fly-by-night Hollywood "fan". In this FanHouse exclusive we talk to Tom about being Shaq's next-door neighbor, who is the best player in NBA history (the answer will surprise you), and who, in his opinion, should start for the Lakers.

Check out the video after the jump.

Hornets guard Chris Paul may not be worried about replacement referees coming to the NBA, but Paul's union apparently feels differently. Derek Fisher, the Laker who heads the National Basketball Players Association, put out a statement Tuesday supporting the referees union in its labor dispute with the league.

In the statement, Fisher called the implementation of B-level referees "unacceptable" and said that replacement refs "could compromise the integrity of the game." He also asks the league to treat the refs fairly, presumably because Fisher would like the league to treat players fairly in ongoing collective bargaining agreement negotiations.

Shaquille O'Neal may be headed to Cleveland or may team with Amar'e Stoudemire to push the Lakers in the Pacific Division next year. Either way, it appears his beef with Kobe Bryant is officially over.

After the Lakers cruised to a 99-86 win for their 15th NBA championship and Bryant's first without O'Neal, the Big Aristotle gave props to Kobe via Twitter:

They have to win four.

I mean, we all know they will. You could point to several moments when this NBA season ended, but Derek Fisher draining a pull-up-jumper-in-transition three was pretty much the final nail in the coffin. You can't blow leads like the Magic did. But they did. But if the Lakers and Kobe Bryant want to cement themselves as everything we've already anointed them as, they have to win four games.

So here we are, and tonight will either be a mercy-killing as the Lakers end it and begin celebrating yet another in a long line of championships, or Orlando will kickstart the ticker and pray for a miracle. Join us for the celebration/funeral, at 8PM EST.

Bloggers knee-jerking on the phone + roundtable style = RoundCast.

The Lakers advanced to the NBA Finals on Friday, by eliminating the Nuggets in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals.

Matt Moore and I welcomed Josh Tucker of Silver Screen and Roll to the RoundCast, to discuss L.A.'s big win, as well as what might lie ahead for the Lakers on their road to redemption in this year's Finals.

Are the Cavs or the Magic the better matchup? Can Lamar Odom continue to play to his potential? Will Derek Fisher ever stop shooting the PUJIT?

We have no idea. But we'll discuss it all, as well as give you our Finals preview, without even knowing who the Lakers will face once the championship round begins. Yes my friends, sometimes, it's that easy.

Cherry Picking recaps yesterday's NBA playoff action.

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.

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The undermanned Rockets were able to battle their way into a Game 7 with the heavily-favored Lakers, and this turn of events left much of the NBA world doubting L.A.'s championship aspirations.

On Sunday, however, there was absolutely no doubt who would be advancing to the Western Conference Finals. Behind huge games from Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum (and a not-so-great one from Kobe Bryant), the Lakers finally completed their expected elimination of the Rockets.

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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.

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Coming into Game 4 against the Lakers, and playing without Yao Ming, the Rockets knew that they'd have to out-work, out-hustle, and out-shoot L.A. for 48 minutes if they were going to have a chance to win.

That's exactly what they did.

Houston jumped on the Lakers from the opening tip, and led by as many as 29 points on their way to evening the series at two games apiece.

So, how exactly did this happen?

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