I gotta figure Ali would have pulled this out, but it's hard to bet against Wilt in anything. Even out of his element. But nonetheless, I'm giving it to the G.O.A.T.

I have no doubt, however, as to which fighter would have... um, "celebrated"... bigger after the match, regardless of who actually walked away with the title.

AK

Seriously, can we knock it off with all the Lakers going under the knife these days? Vegas is probably about to offer "Next Purple and Gold Surgery" as an official prop bet. Folks will be at Bally's laying down 20 bucks on a three-team parlay of "The Mets, the Over and Luke Walton's Shoulder."

But if there's gonna be operations going down left and right, at least the news keeps coming back positive. Chris Mihm underwent successful arthroscopic ankle surgery today. No mas scar tissue. He should be ready for training camp come Oct. 2.

—AK

Otherwise, I seriously question the credibility of those in charge of rehabbing Chris Mihm.

It also just dawned on me that I have absolutely no clue as to the golfing skills of anybody on the Lakers roster. That feels like something I should know, because golf tends to be a huge deal among professional athletes. I've actually been on a few assignments where I accompanied athletes swinging the wrenches. Jocks talk woods and irons all the time. But yet I've never heard squat about purple and gold golfers. I didn't even know Mihm played (although now that I think about it, I seem to recall seeing a photo of him at a past charity tourney).

But that aside, not a clue as to anybody else's enthusiasm for the sport. Thus, it got me to speculating about a day of Lakers golf, should they actually hit the course outside of my knowledge. Here are some random thoughts.

I posted this article (thank you, Faith!) for two reasons. One, a new thread is more than in order. Two, to remind some folks that when it comes to using SPL play to as definitive proof of Jordan Farmar's readiness to man the starting point guard spot... slow down. We still gotta see the kid play against guys who actually know what they're doing. I saw enough of the Summer League to know that a) the majority of Farmar's competition wasn't NBA bound and b) Farmar occasionally had trouble with those cats.

Don't get me wrong. I liked what I saw in the four games I watched. A lot. I think Farmar will get some PT this season, regardless of whether he starts or not. And it's absolutely not out of the question that Farmar could eventually start. His competition is hardly world beater caliber. He's got great court vision. He's got skills. He's confident. But those qualities also describe just about everyone the kid will be squaring off against, many of whom have forgotten more about hoops than Farmar has ever learned.

And when it comes to learning, anybody who says Farmar already knows the triangle is mistaken. He knows the abridged playbook quickly taught for the purpose of SPL. There's plenty more where that came from. Does the quick success theoretically fare well for his future? Absolutely. Again, like what I've seen quite a bit. But the NBA road ahead is considerably more complicated than one traveled in Long Beach.

But as long as Wednesday's arthroscopic ankle surgery and subsequent rehab go well for Chris Mihm, he'll probably be content looking at the bigger picture.

—AK

AK will be along shortly to pitch in with his observations, but here's what I saw at the 111-108 loss to Memphis:

First of all, Bynum didn't play because of what was described, I believe, as a bruised right knee suffered in yesterday's big win over the sort-of Wizards. He finished last night's game but apparently experienced some discomfort and rather than risk serious injury on a game that registered about a -59 on the Meaningful Scale, he sat. Nobody seemed concerned.

Strong night once again from Farmar. 23 points on 7-15 from the field, including 2-4 from beyond the arc. Three assists against four turnovers — not so good — but he again displayed a knack for getting into the lane. That's the good part. Unfortunately, he almost seemed to get there too quick and/or penetrate too deeply and didn't leave himself in position to finish. As a result, he had a couple fairly wild layup attempts. But overall, he was strong. It wasn't his best showing of the series, but like I said at the start of the league, you want your No. 1 to be one of the best guys on the floor. Again, Farmar was tonight.

One thing's for sure. You wouldn't label today's 132-123 win over the "Wizards" a "slugfest." Entertaining game, for sure. But the phrase "lockdown" didn't enter my head a whole lot. Still, a few guys did look pretty good as I enjoyed myself in an atmosphere heavy on Laker family, both immediate (I talked a while with Andrew Bynum's brother and sat in front of Devin Green's dad during the second half) and extended — I met Marcus Douthit's agent and ran into Laron Profit, who was medically cleared about a week ago and would have played in the SPL, but wasn't in good enough shape yet. In the meantime, he's been working out hard. He said the time since the injury "flew by... real slow."

Anyhoo, the rundown...

As a couple of folks have already noted, Brian Cook underwent surgery on his thumb last night. I talked to a Lakers media relations rep during today's SPL game (more on that later) and apparently, he hurt it playing pick up ball in West L.A. In medical speak, Cookie suffered an open dislocation of the interphalangeal joint on his right thumb. Dr. Steve Shinn, who did the cutting at Centinela Hospital Medical Center, can probably explain what that means better than me. But please refrain from actually calling the doc. (And if you just can't restrain yourself, please don't tell him you got his name from the blog. Blame it on the "Loose Cannons" show, or something like that.)

Should all go as planned, Cook will be splinted for about three weeks, ready to play again in about eight weeks and fully recovered in about 12. We're hoping he has a speedy recovery.

—AK

Some thoughts on the Lakers from Hoopsworld regarding the roster having potentially reached maximum occupancy. And when it comes to guards in particular, being on the bubble may result in some unpleasant news.

Of course, you never know. Perhaps Kobe ends up the odd guard out. Mitch likes what he sees in Pinnock and rolls the dice. Not counting on it, certainly. But again, you just never know.

—AK

Harp... Shaw... Wafer?

Also, a little background on Marcus Slaughter. I wish the guy luck, but I don't care what he says. Reeeeeally should have stayed in school.

—AK