I like Luke Walton. Very nice guy. Improved a lot in the second half of last season. High hoops IQ.  And absolutely zero threat whatsoever to the throne of Jack, Denzel, Leo and the rest of Hollywood that shows up regularly to watch him play. You could make a serious argument he wasn't very convincing playing himself. Of course, you could also make a serious argument he may just have been phoning this puppy in. But either way, as long as he had fun.

And on the positive side, at least we know Luke hasn't forgone off-season workouts in favor of intensive theatrical training. He should be in excellent shape come October.

By the way, did anybody happen to catch the entire episode? Was there even a shred of context established or does Luke Walton just happen to show up while pretty boy is shooting hoops by himself? Kind of reminds me of when celebrities pop by Springfield on "The Simpsons."

(Thanks to "Eric" for the link. BK and I had planned on reviewing his performance in live blog format, but forgot the date. As it turns out, with the 1 minute, 37 seconds running time, we simply spared everyone the most anti-climactic real time gathering ever).

AK 

... Because we could use a break from debating Smush vs. Farmar, Pinnock vs. "The System," and "KG Joining the Lakers" vs. "Ain't Gonna Happen." And your comment presents a pretty cool topic of discussion.

"Of all of the role players we have had over the years, do you think there are some role players worthy of having their jersey retired? The first one that comes to mind who should be considered is Michael Cooper. He was on all 5 Showtime Laker championship teams, defensive player of the year 86-87, and played his entire career with the team. Any thoughts?"

Interesting question, indeed.

But it probably can't hurt, either. Mike Montgomery was struggling big time in Golden State. Nellie is back, but don't worry. It won't make a big enough difference to change our "Know Thy Enemy" entry on the Warriors. Lakers? Still better.

—BK

And after that headline, not hiring me as his speech writer for the ceremony. But I digress.

While it remains a mystery how much Aaron McKie can help the Lakers next season, what's not in question is how much he's helping his hometown of Philly. The guy has clearly not forgotten where he came from. Kudos to the cagey vet.
AK

It's a candle-heavy time in Lakerland. We're just two days past what would have been Wilt Chamberlain's 70th (check out Roland Lazenby's blog for some Stilt-related material), and today, folks are singing "Happy Birthday" to Kobe Bean Bryant, who turns 28. It feels like the guy has been around way too long to still be two years short of 30, but as more players start their careers at 18, we're going to have to get used to it. (Maybe we should start thinking of hoopsters like hockey players, who fairly routinely start their careers before 20 and seem to play until they're 108.)

So what do you get a guy who makes more in a year — hell, maybe a month — than all of us put together? The idea of running down to Macy's to pick out a lil' somthin' seems a kind of silly, unless you can buy veteran point guards off the rack. So assuming Kobe would even accept a gift from me after last season's MVPgate, what exactly can I offer? Material goods aren't looking like a good option. That leaves birthday wishes, and this would be mine for the former Ocho:

Doesn't matter if he's squaring off against a bunch of kids. Dude removes his collared shirt, blazes the guns and goes to work. Then again, it's his mug on the cover, so one can't blame him for not wanting to get schooled by a bunch of tots. Besides, the younger set was probably pretty stoked that Kobe dropped by the first place. And to talk a little hoops, real and electronic.

I wonder how much Von Wafer shoots as a video game Laker.

—AK

The "Al Harrington to Indiana talks are dead" talk is dead! Long live the "Al Harrington to Indiana" talk!

Who knows what the hell is going on with this ordeal? Frankly, I'm starting to doubt there actually is an Al Harrington. I think the whole thing's been a hoax to sell papers.

By the way, it's now official that there aren't two teams less talented at putting an NBA transaction into motion than the Hawks and the Pacers. The Hawks' last sign and trade (Joe Johnson) led to a court battle. And the Pacers frittered away half of last season before trading Ron Artest to Sacto for Peja Stojakovic, who was not only the most glaringly obvious one-for-one swap option available, but was rumored to have on the Pacers' radar before the brawl, much less Artest's trade request. It's only fitting that these guys would be struggling so hard to pull triggers with each other. Honestly, I'm shocked everything's progressed this quickly.

—AK

Marquette Assistant Coach Dan Panaggio was hired to lead the Lakers D-League team into their inaugural season. He's worked recently with the Blazers (presumably not as an "off the court" mentor) and racked a boatload of CBA wins (and not that various commonalities always guarantee similar larger scale success, but so did this character, who you may have heard of). The three-time CBA coach of the year won it all in '94 and '98, so expect to see him flashing those championship rings throughout games in an effort to intimidate the D-League opposition. "That's right! Those Quad City Thunder squads, baby! How you like me now, bee-yach!"

And for those sensitive types who can read anything as some kind of Kobe-Wade comparison, relax. Panaggio was never at Marquette during Dwyane's glory years. No connection to be had. Take it back down to orange.

—AK

I'm never terribly confident about projects involving David Arquette (although thankfully, it sounds like the spazzy one will remain behind the camera), but I'd tune in to check out Rick Fox's work. Fox is that rare athlete-turned-thespian that can actually act his way into a puppet show. He did a nice job in a small "He Got Game" role and was absolutely terrific as prisoner Jackson Vayhue on "Oz". I have a few movie geek friends who are huge "Oz" fans and don't follow sports whatsoever. They assumed Fox was a professional actor who happens to be very tall. Considering how critical these guys are, thems are hard earned props. I talked with Fox a few times about acting when he was on the team and it's a skill he treats with respect. He took (and may still take) private instruction and wasn't satisfied simply cashing in on his famous name (the "Kazaam"-esque route most athletes use to get into film).

Back by (semi) popular demand! Today we'll take a look at the rest of the Western Conference's lottery squads. While the Baltic Avenues of the West don't shape up as threats this season, this bunch, including the Rockets, Sonics, Hornets and Jazz, could make a little noise. But will they be better or worse than the Lakers?

HOUSTON ROCKETS (34-48 last season)
Big Gains: Traded for Shane Battier, Kirk Snyder.
Big Losses: Traded Stromile Swift. Bob Sura?

Big things were expected from the Rockets last season, with Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady (permanently referred to by Mom as "Yao's friend," since she always draws a blank trying to remember his name), having played a full season as a duo. Instead, the team suffered so many injuries, you expected news of Jeff Van Gundy getting shanked in the shower as a capper. But the talent is there, if stunningly fragile.

After healing up, Yao Ming spent the season's second half newly aggressive and absolutely balling, including a 28 point/11 board/2 block March. With Shaq on the decline (and content to let Wade carry his ass), "NBA's best center" could be Yao's for the taking. T-Mac is labeled by some as a poor man's Kobe Bryant (one hopes he has a rich man's Kobe Bryant health insurance plan), but Kobe-lite still shreds teams on a regular basis. Throw in Shane Battier, who can do just about everything (including take pressure off McGrady), and that's a pretty tough trio, reinforced by solid compliments Juwan Howard, Luther Head, Ryan Bowen, Rafer Alston, Deke "Cookie Monster" Motumbo, Snyder and Sura (assuming injuries don't force retirement, resigning him to life as a Stephen Baldwin impersonator). Then again, should everyone's medical history remain consistent, you could very well end up with Van Gundy's slower-than-a-parked-car offense being run through whoever's capable of walking. We watched that version last season. Ain't pretty.

Final Verdict: This a really tough one to call, since it's entirely health dependent. Should they all stay on the court, Yao-McGrady-Battier could keep Houston running side by side or even slightly ahead of the Purple and Gold. However, I've firmly established myself as a "gotta see it to believe it" kinda guy on this blog, so I'm gonna label them "worse than the Lakers." But an asterisk is understood. (AK)

Thought y'all might find this article interesting for a few reasons.

1) Well, it's interesting.

2) It mentions Kobe (in a positive light) and Kwame (not so much) by name.

3) It makes you think about both the contracts of newest Lakers player Vlad Radmanovic and the non-contracts of players such as Antonio Daniels, Marcus Banks and even Caron Butler, all of whom would have liked to have been Lakers, but were deemed unworthy of the theoretical price, length of stay, or both. And given that it'll be a piece of time before the Lakers are well under the cap, it's a topic that will probably end up heavily discussed for a few seasons.

—AK

I mean, with the new number kicking in next season and such, eight students seems sooooo "my first 10 seasons in the NBA" ago.

But either way, it's a very cool gesture by Kobe.

—AK

Not Al Delvecchio, the sad sack who ran Arnold's on "Happy Days," but Al Harrington, who recently fired his agent in favor of Art Tellem (and subsequently set back a sign and trade with Indiana, widely assumed as a done deal).

Ever since he switched up his representation, the market's most coveted free agent has been on many a blogger's brain. He's also been on the brain of Hoopsworld's Eric Pincus, who broke down a theoretical scenario that would bring the forward to La-La Land. But don't get too excited. He considers this a tiny possibility at best. I don't even consider the odds that good. I'd be thrilled to be wrong, since Harrington would be a nice pickup. But holding your breath on this one would likely be an exercise in eventual death by lack of oxygen.

And now that I've bummed out everyone with a dream...

—AK

As you may have heard, Devean George signed his name on the dotted line with Dallas. Gonna be weird seeing him in another uni. BK and/or I will add some more detailed thoughts on Devean's departure when we get a chance, but for now, we just wanted to keep everyone in the loop.

—AK

We've spent a good portion of our collective summers discussing every move the Lakers have made, along with the imaginary ones they didn't actually do. I think we all agree the team will be better next year — how much being the discussion point. The degree to which those improvements will translate into wins, playoff positioning, and (this would be a good time to say a little prayer) playoff advancement is very much dependent on how their Western Conference brethren have spent their summer vacations. Who they brought in, who they kicked out, and most importantly, if they're going to be better than the Lakers this year. It's been suggested that we discuss just that. Good idea. We'll start with the bottom feeders from '05-'06: Portland, Minnesota, and Golden State.