The Lakers' best actor?

Mitch Kupcake for his impersonation of a General Manager

Letting Shaq go (West would have found a way to keep him), saddling us with Brian Grant's ridiculous contract, staking our future and more big bucks on Kwame at center, leaving the team without a point guard last season and thrusting a hapless Smush into the role - why you'd almost believe he was a real GM. Not to mention his dazed looking and cliche spouting news conferences.

I'm sure Mitch is a nice guy - and I certainly hope Kwame lives up to his potential one day. But I think a great franchise like the Lakes and a great player like Kobe deserve better.

LakerFan4life..i second that thought....He Got Game was a awesome movie..Allen and Fox hitting up all the white chicks..great stuff

Von Wafer, for acting like a basketball stud while in actuality he's the complete opposite.

The Best Laker Actor ever is Kareem for his for his roles in Airplane! and one of The Bruce Lee Movies with Dragon in the Name.

The Best Current player who would be a good actor would probably be Von Wafer, because an actor has to put up with a lot of rejection before he finally makes it, and no one else on the team personifies that better than Von. Also, he has the star name already.

The Niners packed Rumph off to the Redskins. Cleaning house. I'm liking Nolan better and better.

Go Niners!

LakerFan4life & Jay Jay, shout out to you for the first two posts...my sentiments exactly

A great Sacramento King actor would be Ron Artest, playing himself in "Testes, The Back Breaker".

My guess is after this season Sasha will have a lot of time on his hands to pursue his acting career, so my money is on him.

I'm with you AK, Sasha's expressions do seem almost beleivable sometimes even though we all see him reaching the whole way down the court, at the top of three point line, and as his man drives past him to the lane right into a Mihm foul.

the ultimate ROLE player

YALL should try to find a 2001 PLAYOFF tape and watch it. YA, thats the year the P&G was dropping DREAM TEAM stuff on the QUEENS and SPURS Azzz. the only PERFECT basketball team I've seen in my life(KAREEM says the 85 LAKERS were perfect too but I missed that one). EVERY TIME somebody talks about RICK or I see RICK it reminds me of that year. the GUY would CLOSE DOWN the best SCORERS, make all the CLUTCH THREES and put the BALL were SHAQ just needed to turn and it was a sure basket. thats what I call an ULTIMATE ROLE PLAYER.
he's a LAKER hall of FAMER.

Vlade D! With his flopping!

i wouldnt mind calling some Laker girls for some private screening. ;)

but seriously, i'd probably go with luke. he's got the right look.

or Farmar in the Little Rascals remake as a grown up Alphilfa.

or Odom in Half Baked 2 as a taller and less funnier version of Dave Chappell.

"Game of Death" Bruce Lee & The Captain

Kareem plays a dude who's eyes are sensitive to light, and he rocks these pimped out shades. The best scene is when this dude gets snathed fron the top of the stairs by Kareem standing on the ground level. Kareem jumped up, reached over the banister and pulled this guy down like an offensive rebound.

For those of you you haven't seen it, you should netflix it for sure!

>_<

I love Gary Payton's face...

Even though he's not doing anything...he's face is funny. He got this "TRASH TALKING" face everytime he plays.

nice mentionings... but ya'll are forgetting the Magic Man and his turn as a thespian in michael jackson's "remember the time" video! ... out of retirement and into pop music, magic was the best 6-foot-9 egyptian eye-liner wearing, royal guard i've ever seen. sheer genius.

btw, i'm now looking at espn's the "top five reasons to you can't blame kobe bryant for all things that went wrong in the western civilization" ... good tuesday night television.

Brian Cook's posture for the "Hunchback of Notre Dame"

or...

Or how about Cookie's oscar winning performance in "Can't Play D II"
with best supporting actor Eric Dampier.

Can't even play respectable D on the pickup courts of $anta Monica. Plays hard enough to get hurt...but can't get in a bent knee stance?

Got to hand it to Mitch, he sure has a gift for making poor defensive players rich.

For anybody who didn't see BASEketball, Kareem was awe-inspiring. He sat inside a glass case, and I think I remember him turning his head once.

Why all this speculation when everyone knows the Lakers have one of the greatest actors Hollywood has ever produced: Jack Nicholson.

He is on the payroll, isn't he?

yikes! http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/5872400

I gotta go non-Laker on this one -- Hands down, Shaq and DWade for acting as though they are both head over hills in love with one another!

Taliq,

The show that you were refering to was on espn classic. I checked the guide and it doesn't appear to be on again at leat this week. I caught the last two reasons last night, but I'll wait for cbuck to comment. I don't want to give away the ending.

>_<

ok ok no more arguing. we all know the best movie of all time was KAZZAM!!! Shaq brought that movie to life and should have won an Oscar for that.

by the way, incase some of you guys didnt catch TOP 5 REASON YOU CANT BLAME KOBE FOR SHAQ LEAVING on tv yesterday.... here they are:

5. Jerry West's departure

4. Malone & Payton not winning a championship due to Payton's inability to play in the triangle.

3. Shaq for wanting to be the man when Kobe was the best player. Thought Kobe would be his little brother like Hardaway did, except Kobe wasnt going to be anyone's little bro.

2. Phil Jackson for isolating Kobe and not developing a good relationship between the two. Using Kobe as the scapecoat. Not liked by his players due to his cocky attitude.

1. Jerry Buss for wanting to change the Lakers into the 80's style Showtime team. Never liked the Triangle offense.

I've got a HUGE BEEF to get off of my chest....

First, I'm tired of all of the negative talk concerning Mitch Kupchak. I could make this argument long, but I'll keep it short and sweet. How many championships did the Lakers win in the 1990's? Who was the General Manager during all of those years? Until 12 years have past without another Laker Championship, I think we all should get off of Mitch's back. By the way, his last name is KUPCHAK....not cupcake or any other 2-cent attempt to be funny! It's amazing how we get upset if someone call sus out of our name but then we in turn call another person out of theirs just because we feel that there is probably no way they'd ever find out that we did it.

Second, I have grown tired of the Kwame Brown bashing. Except for Kobe Bryant there is no other player that dawned a Laker's uniform last season that is exempt of criticism. Unless every single one of them get equal time on the hot seat in here, I believe that it is high time that the criticism stop. Besides, the critism of Kwame in reference to having poor hands and weak finishes in the paint should also go for Chris Mihm, who would rather shoot layups in the paint most times than dunk. He fumbled and missed his share of baskets last season as well. Get off Kwame's back and let the guy play basketball.

Third, I am tired of these unrealistic expectations on individual players. If you would only take the time to look at past performances of some of the championships of the past you will see that what you are trying to say should be required, really isn't. Kwame doesn't have to give 15-10 a night for the Lakers to win a championship. Lamar doesn't have to give 20-10 a night for the Lakers to win a championship. Pippen never avaeraged 20-10. Horace never averaged 15-10. It wasn't necessary because collectively as a team, they performed at a high level.

In closing, I fail to understand how certain players can be unrealistically expected to achieve the things that some of you are proposing, yet your expectations for the team itself, remain low? That seems highly inconsistent to me.

That's my BEEF, for now!

Ken -- Lamar is from the the SOUFFSIDE !! QUEENS NY and went to Christ the King H.S..

as for having a driver -- maybe he goes that route sometimes -- still kinda interesting...

JJ,

I agree, I think Kupchak has done a very good job. To go from a HUGE franchise break-up like the Shaq-Kobe-Phil thing and to come back into the playoffs after only one year is a good deal. I think the team is in a relatively good financial place and he really hasn't made any bad deals or signings out of sheer desperation.

As for the LO and Kwame stats thing, maybe I should say that I somewhat agree. First, in regards to LO and averaging 20 points, I think that is true but the 20 points in more indicative of him being a #2 scorer behind Kobe. We need another guy to step up and he seems the most likely candidate. As for Kwame and the 15-10, I think that is more of a reflection of Kwame's need to get more active on the glass. I think his 7-6 averages or whatever scream that the dude just wasn't putting in the effort (at least before Mihm went down). He has the athletic ability and talent to get 15-10 in his sleep, it's his motivation and energy that I question.

That all being said, I agree that wins and success are about the team playing together as a TEAM, but in the course of that happening we need a guy to establish himself as a #2 scorer and threat behind Kobe and we need a big man who is extremely active on the boards and gets easy buckets around the rim. those two roles should probably turn out to be a 20 ppg scorer and a 15-10 big man.

Lamar Show....and LakoFan.....I disagree with you.

5. Jerry West's departure - Jerry West's departure had nothing to do with it. Phil and Jerry had butted heads several times in those championship years, so Phil was most likely happy that he left. Mitch running the show was also not a reason either. If you are going to blame anyone from a management standpoint, blame the owner, Jerry Buss!

4. Payton was not unable to play in the triangle....He was UNWILLING to. There is a big difference between those two.

3. You are wrong here as well. It was not Shaq's unwillingness to let Kobe take the lead or vice versa. They had done that for 3 titles. The problem was that Shaq wasn't willing to keep putting forth the neceesary work to remain the man. His "the man" years officially ended with the closing of the third title in LA. Kobe sensed it and challenged Shaq to step up and be a man. Shaq was offended and started sabotaging the relationship of the team in order to force them to trade him. He KNEW that the Lakers would be forced to trade him if he asked for the kind of money that he did. Did you not notice how he took much less in Miami....because he knew that they wouldn't pay him either, but he wanted to stay there. If he had wanted to stay in LA he would have taken less money. That had nothing to do with anybody but HIM.

2. Phil saw Kobe as the one that never needed the extra attention. He was right during the early years, however, when the Colorado stuff happened, Kobe became vulnerable. Phil should have changed his approach with him then, but he didn't. Do you not remember Kobe saying that Shaq nor Phil made attempts to talk to him after the situation? They were treating Kobe like they always had, and things had changed.

1. Buss wanted an exciting team, yet a versatile and competive team. HE WAS RIGHT. The Lakers had become increasingly stagnant and pititful to watch. If he hadn't made changes when he did, the Lakers would have been stuck with an aging Shaq, frustrated Kobe, and a revolving door of overaged veterans trying to get that 1 championship. That's all they would have been able to afford with both Kobe and Shaq making max dollars.

On #3, Kobe and Shaq got along for 3 seasons....or at least that's what was presented to the public. Magic Johnson was saying that they were on their way to 10. However, was Shaq or Kobe being honest? How do we know that either is being honest now? Does Shaq like Wade, or is he just saying that because right now it is in his best interest to do so?

The one thing that we all need to consider is that with highly successful people (from a natural standpoint) they always have a few "defects" that make them hard to deal with at times. It is those defects that also make them so successful at other times. Do you think everybody always got along with Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Isaiah Thomas or Michael Jordan? We have seen a lot fo Isaiah's defects since he retired. Look at the mistakes and bad decisions he has made. We saw similar things in relation to Michael Jordan. Magic tried his own television show and we all saw how horrible that was....LOL. You have to learn that with people like this you take the good with the bad. You cheer and celebrate the good, and you take the low times in stride remembering how good the good was.

Kobe, Shaq and Phil had a great run, but that run was destined to end when it started because of who was a part of that union.

JJ

I was just recaping the show from ESPN last night. dont get all upset, just a summary of the show man. ;)

Ken

If i was making millions, which i am certainly not ahha, i'd hire a driver too. just think about it, having a personal driver is pretty pimp. also he might not even know how to drive since he's from NY hehe.

JJ umm lets educate you....lakersrydeordie you might want to grab a pen or paper too

On cupcake ... shaq for brian grant's bloated contract. It's not just the fact that he let shaq go and didn't get much in return. It's the fact that he saddled himself with a bad contract. Not to say he did a terrible job, because if we're being honest, kobe might be in a clipper jersey if cupcake had waited to find decent value for shaq...but still he could have been more inventive...pull in another team with miami, but dnt take on a huge contract for a player that's not worth it. It's not like brian grant was a star in miami and then layed an egg in L.A. He brought that egg with him from miami.

Kwame brown is not chris mihm. I love his uncanny ability to get good position in the post, however the man cant catch a pass to save his life. You can knock mihms game on several points, I won't elaborate since i'm not trying to be like mike ( lakers blog "mike t" that is ) but one of them is not dropping balls. It's like how do you become a basketball player if you can't catch a pass? It's in asking that question that makes me pick kwameh over mihm...you must be good in a whole bunch of other things and everyone that has picked you for their team is banking on the fact that they can teach you how to catch a pass ( jeez....kobe i feel your pain....really we shouldn't shyt on cupcake ). Kwameh has the tools needed to be good in this league...he just needs a tabdit more self confidence...patience boy, wait, focus, be aware of your sorroundings, anticipate the ball and catch the ball...lmao...i love you kwame and i do believe you'll learn, just saying there's a reason some folks aren't keen on you

And last but definately not least. You there equate pippen to some sort of mediocrity. I don't care what his numbers are...to try and indirectly call one of the 50 greatest players to ever play the ball ordinary just to prove your point is unforgivable. I don't have time to go dig around and show you the numbers but hopefully the two points below is enough to get you to rethink your statements.
All nba defense ( 91-2000, btw 7 of these were 1st team selections )
All nba team( 92-98 )
sample season...2nd bulls championship ( 21pts..8rpg...7apg...2spg )

Hate to burst your bubble but asking lamar for 20-10 is a whole lot less than asking him to be like pippen. Brand averages 20-10 and i dare you to show me the moron that would call brand better than pippen at his prime.

In Kobe we trust,
Go lakers.

On a similar note, does anyone have a link to an audio clip of one of Kobe's songs from the record he made a few years ago? That has to be hilarious, I'd love to hear it. Surprisingly it didn't get much radio play.

Just to add to the Pippen, LO, Stats debate, I think the Lakers need another guy who could go off for 40 points. LO is not that guy. I've seen too many games where he's started off hot or had a great first half and then just backs away from it. All the top teams have at least two guys who, on any given day, will go nuts and put up 40. And no, Kobe putting up 81 by himself doesn't count as two putting up 40. Until they secure that guy, the Lakers won't be in a position to win it all.

Andrew & Brian,

Maybe you could consider this for a topic, if it hasn't been done before, (I'm a newbie to the blog so though I'm trying to digest all the content its gonna take some time).

I wonder what our fellow fans consider their most special moment or event from last season. I couldn't (can't) decided between 81 and Game Four fantastic finish.

I thought I had eventually settled on 81, kinda, but not by much over Four's fantastic finish, but every now and then I remember how I felt watching The Finish.

Which is most special? Sometimes I feel like that character in the first Batman movie.

Off-topic:

Nice to know that Ronny Turiaf is doing well with The French National Team.

"Brazil were out-rebounded by France 35-27 while the tough French defense anchored by Los Angeles Lakers center Ronny Turiaf shut down the Brazilian fast break."

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/basketball/more/08/15/brazil.france.ap/index.html

Hope he becomes the monster this coming season to complement our defense.

Where are Arthas and Mr. Tienente these days?

Strike up the band. Counting today, it is 76 days and a wake-up. Mark your calendars boys and girls.

Taliq,

Yeah, it was actually a couple months ago When they were playing the Knicks, and they played it on Foxsports a few weeks after that, it was kinda cool, I guess. Yeah, with his contract I guess its acceptable. But he better dominate this year!

did anyone mention Jabbar's spot on "Airplane"???
Now that was fantastic!!!

Glenn,

Game 4's fantastic finish is like that great meal you had...only to find out the next morning you've got food poisoning. Looking back, the meal still tasted great, but all you can remember is the pain you had the next day.

Heck of a game it was, but all i remember is Tim Thomas 3pointer in game 6. Please lord let a new season begin already, so we can atone for our sins.

In Kobe we trust,
Go Lakers

im guessing shaqs role in scary movie four wasnt that amazing then. . .??

I agree Cali....the off-season is way toooooooooooo long. Lace 'em up, tip it up, let's ball!

"Pippen was among the top 50 players for one reason, and one reason only -- Michael Jordan "

In Pip's 2 years without MJ:

1994:
22pts 8.7reb 5.6asst 2.9stl 0.8blk 49%FG

1995:
21.4pts 8.1reb 5.2asst 2.9stl 1.1blk 48%FG

Factor in that Pip is one of the best defensive players of all time. Pip remains to be one of the more underated players ever.

Kobe Announces Vivo Foundation

"The goal of Vivo Del Mondo is to provide the students with an international travel experience that will offer them a broader and expanded context to discover and develop their life passions and encourage students to think, question and formulate their own beliefs, according to Kobe."

" encourage students to think, question and formulate their own beliefs, according to Kobe."
That's great, for each individual to make their own decision without any hidden agenda. And traveling to other countries helps in that and Kobe knows it.

http://www.nba.com/lakers/news/vivo_060814.html The rest of the article.

Mitch 'Kupcake' is an flaming IDIOT due to him LETTING the MOST DOMINANT Center of ALL TIME in Shaquille O'Neal get away for virtually NOTHING!!! Kupcake in keeping an OVERRATED, bad decision making, dirty-nasty underwear wearing hotel Clerk assaulting Kobe Bryant shows the direction the organization has taken.

Kobe Bryant makes BAD DECISIONS in life and on the court playing basketball. In life Kobe Bryant was recently married to a very beautiful bride who just had his first child, however he goes out and sexually assaults some hourly waged, no-underwear changing, broke, small town living, nasty, hotel clerk who does not change her underwear for days after having sex with OTHER MEN!!!

Out of ALL the women in the world this millionaire sports-star could have decided to have an affair with, this IDIOT shows his true ignorance and FORCES himself on some nasty, broke and ugly hotel clerk. Some can understand his selfishness in NOT PASSING the basketball on the court, however it boggles the mine that he can not PASS on FORCING himself on questionable and nasty hotel clerks and not wear a condom!!!!

Out of ALL the Paris Hiltons, the Hallie Berrys, the Angelina Jolis, the Beyonce Knowles, the J-Lo's, the Laker cheerleaders, hell even the Martha Stewards and Oprah's of the world, here this idiot risks his marriage, family and health of his wife and child's to FORCE himself on some small town broke woman that DOES NOT practice BASIC HYGIENE of changing her underwear?!!!!

This goes to show a microcausm of some BAD DECISION making illustrated by Kobe Bryant!!!!

OUT!!!
the Truth

Guys, don't be jealous of L.O. because he uses a driver. Driving in L.A. sucks, and if he can afford to pay someone else to drive, more power to him. At least he's mot gonna scratch the 26"'s birdwatch'n.

>_<

JJ and all those who are in LOVE with KUBIAK AKA CUPCAKE

FIRST, JJ that cupcake name is so FITTING buddy.

CAN DOs
if you wanna LOVE your GM, don't hasitate. I mean you probabely don't EXPECT much from him. Or, you probabely don't see how, JEOF PETTRIEs and DONNIE WALSHes even JON PAXONs and DANNY FERREYs are doing their jobs. You probebely don't UNDERSTAND that a GM's job is to MAKE things happen rather than WAITING for them to happen. But you can LOVE him and APOLOGIZE for him all you want.

CAN't DOs
don't get excited and compare the job JERRY WEST did with MITCH the VILLAGE IDIOT. cause MITCH would tell you himself that its comparing a LION and a HYAENA. MITCH being a HYAENA, ofcourse. And don't ask those of us who EXPECT more from a PROFESSIONAL to let him PASS with SHITY grades.

I don't blame or dislike MITCH CUPCAKE as a person. I am sure he is a good guy (I'm not). But, in general, I don't approve of an NBA GM who's best DRAFT PICK in a 6 year span, before a LUCKY 06 1st round, was RONNY TURIAF in second round. or was TOO MUCH of a WANKER and CLUELESS to ask for HASLEM instead of BUTLER in the SHAQ trade. The guy couldn't even sign ISIAH RIDER if PHIL wasn't here.

If i was rich enough, I'd have people carry me around on their back.

AK/BK,
Your blog is a great forum for Laker fans. However, how could you allow that post by Steven which is not basketball-related to begin with, is in poor taste and besmirches Kobe's character? I am not defending Kobe, mind you. I am merely voicing my objection with such a disgusting post. Shame on you!

The Lamar Show:

Farmar sure does need to do something with his “do.” Even with a suit on, he still looked like he needed a cut.

Tom

Tsphere:

Good post about Jack. If he isn’t on the payroll, he should be. I have always loved his work but his recent “As Good as It Gets” and “Something’s Gotta Give” showed Jack is even getting better as he gets older.

Tom

Niner Bandwagon:

Here is a link to Bill Walsh's glowing comments on the "New" San Francisco Niners.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/15282176.htm

Tom