FanHouse Kobe Bryant

Trevor Ariza was a fan favorite during his days in Los Angeles, and an integral part of the Lakers squad that won a championship just a few months ago. So it's no surprise that when he returned on Sunday as a member of the Houston Rockets, fans greeted him with a long standing ovation, while his former teammates Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher presented him with the ring that he earned as a key member of that title-winning team.

Video of the brief but heart-felt ceremony, after the jump.

Just how bad was the beatdown that the Nuggets put on the Lakers Friday night? In case the 105-79 final score wasn't enough of an indication, try this on for size: Denver held L.A. to just 23 points in the second half, which was the lowest ever in the Lakers' franchise history.

The Nuggets were feeling pretty good about themselves after the win, and they should: it was a quality victory in which the home team executed on both ends of the court for 48 minutes. But they would also be wise not to get ahead of themselves. Because while L.A. was at the top of the standings heading in, honestly, the 7-1 record was a bit of a fraud.

The reality is, the Lakers right now are nowhere near that good, and are a far cry from playing like the team that finished last season as the world champions.

DENVER -- Final four week turned into a flop of finalists.

Meetings of last season's conference finalists got started Wednesday when Cleveland took a huge lead and clobbered defending East champion Orlando 102-93. An even bigger dismantling occurred Friday night at the Pepsi Center.

The way the Nuggets demolished the Lakers, you'd have thought they tried to smuggle coke into the building.

The Nuggets got some revenge against the defending West and NBA champions 105-79. It wasn't even that close.

"Hopefully, this is a big message, not just to the Lakers but to the whole NBA. We're a legit team,'' said Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony, who scored a game-high 25 points and outscored Lakers star Kobe Bryant 18-0 in the second half (no, that's not a misprint).

DENVER -- Do as I say and not as I do.

Or, at least not what Kobe Bryant once did.

While bound for free agency in the summer of 2004, the Lakers star openly spoke about teams he might consider. But Bryant now says Cleveland star LeBron James is making the right decision by deciding earlier this week to stop talking about his impending free agency.

"He doesn't need to,'' Bryant said in an interview with FanHouse while in Denver for Friday's 105-79 loss to the Nuggets. "He did the right thing by not talking about it. I mean, what can you say?''

It's another Nike scheme, I suspect, perpetrated to create a rush on LeBron James' new, customized No. 6 jersey. Seems even the swooshheads have to compete against the iPod Touch, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3 and Guitar Hero, right? That said, if it truly was LeBron's idea to relinquish No. 23 out of deference to Michael Jeffrey Jordan, I congratulate him for his style.

While admonishing Stan Van Gundy for his ignorance.

James wants every NBA player wearing No. 23 to follow his lead and find another number. It's an idea akin to placing the image of longtime basketball great Jerry West on the league's logo, a silhouette that has survived to this day. If Jordan indeed is the greatest player ever -- and anyone who disagrees should have his sports fan credentials revoked -- it's appropriate to, in effect, retire his jersey without the actual ceremony. James is the one player worthy of the number, as a legitimate heir to Jordan, and he doesn't feel right wearing it. So why would the inferior likes of Devin Brown, Toney Douglas, Stephen Graham, Wesley Matthews, Jodie Meeks, Byron Mullens, C.J. Watson and Martell Webster not feel sheepish, much less embarrassed, in continuing to wear the sacred digits? Only Jason Richardson, Marcus Camby and Kevin Martin have displayed enough skill and accomplishment at the highest level to not draw sneers for wearing No. 23. Yet they, too, should pay tribute to Jordan and get with the LeBron plan.

It's hard not to like Shaquille O'Neal, the most compelling NBA player of his era and arguably the best center in history. His love of the spotlight, his often-outrageous, sometimes-egotistical, always-entertaining behavior made him a must-see attraction since he entered the league with Orlando a long, long time ago.

It's why there will be some sadness in seeing him get destroyed on his former home court Wednesday night by Dwight Howard.

One of the things that makes the Lakers one of the league's best teams is the size and skill of their two biggest frontcourt players, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. But Gasol has yet to play a game for the team in this young season, and now it looks like Bynum will miss some time as well with an elbow injury.

Both players are listed as doubtful for Friday night's game against Memphis, and if neither ends up being able to go, the Lakers will be forced to use some rather interesting lineups.

There weren't too many fireworks between Ron Artest and his former teammates during the Lakers' overtime victory in Houston on Wednesday, other than a double technical called on him and Trevor Ariza in the first quarter.

But judging by what Artest had to say afterwards, there certainly could have been.

Artest claimed that the Rockets were being extra-physical with him in hopes of getting him ejected. And after taking a shot from Ariza early, Artest admitted that thoughts of getting violent out there definitely crossed his mind.